Life Lately | April 2019

Hey there, kids.  Nice to see you!  We are just going to jump right into this public diary of events in Jordan’s lifey-life.   You know… for the future when I don’t remember much and need a giant assist.

So, what’s been going on?  Everything!  Life is fantastic!

January trip to the Duck Races in Avoca, NE with these Quacks.

 

We had Beer Olympics… I mean WINTER Olympics… in February at EBBC.  Competition in costume and on the floor.  My team killed it in beer pong, naturally.  I love this gym.

Skiing / Snowmobiling in Colorado in March.

 

Cat snugs on the daily.

 

Did I mention Edge Body Boot Camp?   We 5am’ers are crazy… about killing ourselves.  Seriously.  Love.  This.  Place.   And the great friends made!  We’ve got the MURPH coming up next month! I live and breathe for the challenge.

Rowing below… girl next to me is Simone.  She’s a lean mean fighting machine.  And the jolliest of the 5am’ers there ever was. 😉

 

Re-did the spare bedroom, formerly Kyle’s.  It went from a Ford Blue storage unit to a grey/white clutter-free zone that Harley has claimed as her own.  Friggin’ Princess.

Cats world… we just live in it.

 

Experienced Mr. Justin Timberlake himself in March!  Claire, Briton and I had an absolute blast.  JT … dang, man.  That was a show.

 

Clint and crew are killing it at the Walkup’s.  Both WT and WWP are coming into their busy season, so I visit the shop when I can in order to see that husband o’ mine.

 

I recently got the chance to sneak a few shots of Bodi, my biker B, Liz’s, newest addition.  Future biker right here, folks.  What a little heart-breaker.  All the heart eyes on this lil dude.

 

Work.  Well, it’s fast-paced and each day something new. I love it.  It’s certainly challenging me in new ways that I didn’t expect, but am embracing and facing it on the daily.  Growth mindset.  It’s beautiful.  It helps that I have an absolutely INCREDIBLE staff.  My office mates/colleagues are equally as incredible at what they do and keep me afloat on the reg.

 

Still part of the Nebraska Wind Symphony.  We had our Spring concert a few weeks back and now I am on hiatus until the Fall season rolls around.  I enjoy playing still, but will admit the Monday evening rehearsals can be a bit much sometimes with the early 4:20am alarm clock.  Girl needs some zzz’s!

Also back to teaching fitness classes again and my heart is so happy.

 

Motorcycle season is FINALLY here and your girl is feeling all sortsa warm fuzzies.  Coming off Easter weekend and two days on the bike.  Saturday Clint and I rode down to Coin for Easter dinner at the Swanson residence, which provided us the opportunity to chase the sunset on our way home.  Sunset rides are LIFE.

 

Easter Sunday I took off on my own to Clarinda for what was hands-down the windiest ride I’ve had in a while.  Good solid leaning for all 50ish miles of Highway 34 on my way down.  Unfortunately just North of Goecker-ville I had a little malfunction.  It was little due to my low speed coming off a stop sign.  I am telling you… I have RAD angels who ride with me.  It could have been ugly, but it wasn’t, and so a quick call to my dad, Craig, and Jeanne and we had her loaded on their mower trailer and in dad’s garage in under an hour of being sidelined.

 

Saddlebags off, motorcycle up, dad’s magic hands and all necessary parts, and he had me back on the road only two hours late to mom’s Easter lunch.  🙂  Sorry Gr’pa for missing yours completely.  I had all good intentions.

 

Left Clarinda around 3:30 for what was an even WINDIER ride home.  To the folks in the white Grand Cherokee who initially set out to pass me on 34 but then decided to tail back a bit… I am just going to say thanks.  I am going to assume you held back after watching the wind own me like a little b!tch and you were just watching out for my well-being.

‘Preciate ya.

 

And, for the most part, I’d call that a nice brief wrap-up of a handful of events these last few months.

 

Happy Spring to ya.  Be Present in all you do!

 

Cheers!

Life Lately | 5.31.16

Hi Friends!   Today’s exhilarating and nail biting post brings you a few key moments in Jordan’s life from the last half of May.  Thrilling… I know!

 

May 21st, 2016 – INSANITY Certification – Waterloo, IA

This actually was thrilling.  And, apparently, I am lucky to have come out alive from my overnight stay in ol’ Waterloo.  Listen, I am a cheap-o when it comes to hotel rooms the night before out of town certifications.  That is money out of my pocket for less then an 8 hour stay, so I choose cheap over lux.  I guess this particular hotel I stayed in usually means trouble.  Let’s just say I got 4 hours of sleep, saw multiple deals go down in he parking lot.. and by deals I mean things I can’t even repeat.   I had about enough of the commotion by 5am that morning that I was up, ready and out the door by 5:30am, found a Starbucks and sat in my Jeep until 8:15am.  After hearing the whole hotel story, Kayla made me promise to put a $100 minimum on any future hotel stays when flying solo.  Clint told me to not forget my gun.  Got it.  Check!  When all was said and done, I survived and helped certify this  AMAZING crew of new INSANITY instructors.  They asked some of the most intelligent questions and really dug deep into the material.

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CHAMP Snuggles.

As mentioned in my last post, Champ has cancer.   And it’s getting really close to the end of his time with us.  Closer then I had ever hoped it would come.  It’s been a rough last 24 hours.  I will keep you posted and many many many many thanks for the love and well wishes.  I feel them.  And WE are going to need them in the days ahead. ❤

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Memorial Weekend

Friday – A wonderful Happy Hour with none other then Ms. Tyree.

Saturday – A trip to Brownville, NE where I was overdressed, the town was packed with junk… err, “treasure” if you are a flea market type, the beer was good, the company in our gorgeous cuz Erika was great, the pickings for Clint was just what he wanted and the afternoon away from the city was glorious.

Sunday – A trip to Clarinda on the bikes…

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for some grillin’ and chillin’ with the greatest friends a couple could have.  We even got to hang with Kyle, the Lane’s and Dustin.

It was the perfect summer night.

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And that Sunset was INCREDIBLE!

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Monday – A trip to the soon to be open Walkup Woods to watch Clint get some mill-work done.  Clint is opening a second business, in conjunction with Walkup Tree, slated to open on June 20th.  He’s the hardest working, most dedicated and most visionary man I know.  Proud of him.  More details to come on this new adventure.

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Ended Monday with a ride to Blair for some afternoon beers, good music and time spent with friends.

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May riding wouldn’t be complete without getting caught in a storm.  I love the thrill of watching the rain roll in, the lightening crack across the sky and those first few raindrops.  It’s not so bad getting poured on when you know you are headed home.   It’s another story when you are just starting out your journey to Sturgis in the pouring rain, but we won’t go back and dig up old bones now, will we?  🙂 😉

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Cheers to a lovely May full of friends and fun.  And here’s to bringing in June with a much needed girls vacation around the bend and a few more long lasting hugs with my buddy, Champ.

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Life Lately – A Whole Month!

It was exactly one month ago today I published my post on Solitude.   That is the longest stretch I have ever gone without writing something, even if the something was nothing.   So, what have I been up to in this last month?  A lot of awesome and not awesome.

Let’s start with the AWESOME!

Pre-Thanksgiving Christmas Decorating.

Yes, it went up a solid week Pre-Turkey Day.

Judge away.

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Dave’s Retirement.

After 43.5 years, my step-dad RETIRED from Eaton Corporation.   What a proud moment for us all!   Dave is a pure example of what hard work and dedication looks like.

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Thanksgiving

Lot’s of family at the Swanson’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  Good food, drink and family fun.

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Thanksgiving at Gr’pa Goecker’s.

The best part? We got my DAD to show up to!   It was an early Christmas Miracle – it’s been a few years since he has attended.

Love that crazy man.

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And then… this happened.

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Iowa vs. Nebraska Game, Friday, November 27th – Lincoln, NE.

It. Was. FREEZING but Oh. So. AWESOME!

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We tailgated with a few friends while attempting to stay warm.    Clint had the right idea with his Carharts.   He looks like he is going to work, you say?  Ask him if he cared.  He was WARM!

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Was I warm?

Semi-warm pre-game thanks to cuddle time with the girls.

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…but NOT WARM mid-game.

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Seriously.  23 and breezy.   Whew!  But, totally worth it for that Hawkeye WIN!

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Chiefs Game – Sunday, November 29th

It was 7 degrees warmer than Fridays game, so it felt like a friggin’ heat wave.   The rain, however, was a bit of a damper on the atmosphere but not our spirits!   What a blast.

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I even ran into my Brother and Sis-in-Law!  They are legit Chief fans; as in not sure they have ever missed a home game.

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A successful run after TWO months of no runs (minus the trail run first of November).  I’ll get to that in the not-so-awesome section.

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Group Date – December 11th

A group of us went out on the town for a fun Friday night.   Let’s just say we all had a grand time.  Some more than others. 🙂

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Claire’s Birthday – Saturday, December 12th

Live music at Bogey’s West Bar and Grill for the birthday girls 35th closed out last weekends shenanigans!

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Oh – and I am now officially a Master Trainer for the INSANITY brand too!   TurboKick and Insanity certifications coming up in Omaha, January 23rd and 24th.   So freaking excited to train some new instructors in these formats.   Insanity is already at capacity – how awesome is that?!  It’s going to be a great weekend! 🙂

Can’t make Omaha?  Join me in Knoxville, IA in February! 🙂   Email me at jordan.pirtle@yahoo.com.

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So, what about the not so awesome?

Stupid back and hip issues.   On-going for years, but always self-correcting.   End of October I was nailed with incredible, debilitating pain, that even bending over to put my shoes on, or getting my toothbrush from the bottom drawer, was a painful process.  Heaven forbid I try to do a squat.  UGH!

Here we go…

  • 1 Chiropractor
  • 1 Orthopedic Doc
  • 3 Physical Therapists
  • 1 Massage Therapist
  • Laser Treatment
  • 2.5 weeks of ZERO workouts
  • 1 crabby girl who ate and drank her misery
  • 1 General Physician
  • 1 OB-GYN who listened to me complain because he’s been my doc for 8 years now and that’s just his thing to listen to crabby women (Thanks, Dr. Mark Carlson)
  • 1 MRI (again, thanks Carlson)

  • 1 Pain Specialist that injected me 8 times:

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  • …that left me with bruises that I still have (and have grown quite impressively) a week later.

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…And a partridge in a Pear Tree.

Am I better?  Yes.

Am I healed? Nope.

Can I teach classes again?  Yes.

Can I run again?  Tried once and it was a success. (see above)

Can I put my socks,shoes, pants on?  Not without some pain.

Can I sit comfortably?  Yes.

Can I stand comfortably?  I have to slowly get up and let my spine readjust for a second before I take off.

Can I do Yoga?  Nope – tried again and I just get stuck.

Will this ever go away?  Thinking no.

Thank goodness Champ gives me kisses to make it feel all better.

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Yes, I am better then I was a month ago.  I couldn’t hardly do anything.  Now I can.  The pain is still there but not nearly as severe.   Am I able to explain it well enough without sounding like a pansy?  No.  It’s hard to explain.  It isn’t just a sore muscle.  Trust me – I know what that feels like.

#duh

Sore muscles you recover from, warm-up and push through.  I am not an idiot (like some people were thinking)

It’s more than that.

Leaning over to pick something up isn’t just garnering a sore or tight feeling – it’s painful.  Sometimes it’s more than painful in the fact that I physically just CAN’T.   Period.  My body won’t go that way.   When I end my classes with stretches I have to support myself in every single move.

The best comparison is that feeling when something feels like it’s going to snap, or break, or pop out of place RIGHT before it happens.

That is what I feel like all the damn time.

Again, yes it has gotten significantly better.  I can push through it to a point.

(People are so over listening to me, I get it)

(Try living with it and then talk to me)

So, today I am back to a Chiro.  The day I had my MRI, I was feeling friggin’ fantastic, of course.  <insert eye roll here for me>  Like ready to go run a halfsy or rock an entire hour of Insanity with zero pain!  YESS!  But, as a result, the MRI showed minimal disc bulging in L4 and L5 but nothing else.  NOTHING ELSE.

The next day after said MRI?  I had to grab on to the side of my bed to even roll over and then had to push my legs over the edge to stand up.   My body just wouldn’t do what I needed it to do.  Period.

And that is my life.  Great one day.  A 150 year old woman the next.

You tell me!  

 

Tomorrow is our last day at work.  We are closed until January 4th.  I can’t begin to explain my excitement.   Lot’s of stretching, workouts, family time, pampering time, curriculum preparation for my certifications, fitness classes, learning new choreography, getting my diet back on track to drop these 10 gross pounds of extra garbage (thanks summer fun and my month of back depression) and whatever the heck else I want to do!  Bring it on!

 

Cheers!