HOT HULA fitness® certified

I remember hearing about this new craze, HOT HULA fitness® and I was excited about it because my friends had taken a class out in SLC and told me how fun it was. I had forgotten about it and continued to gain lbs and be a fat pig. I realized though that I needed to do something 'cause I didn't feel good about myself, especially from gaining so much weight from being pregnant and not working out after my pregnancy. I needed to join a gym, so I did with Planet Fitness, and it was the best $10/month I spent.

I was going to the gym maybe 3-4 times a week working on the treadmill and elliptical. Between doing that and taking Visalus, I had dropped 20 lbs from February to September. The only thing is I HATED going to the gym. I dreaded it. I would have to talk myself into going. It was terrible.

In August, my aunty had posted her sister's schedule for HHF and I decided to go check it out. Oh my goodness!  I was sweating GALORE and my legs were burning. A fire was lit. I wanted to attend as many classes as I could, but unfortunately the only classes were in SLC area and up north. I couldn't justify driving to SLC multiple times a week to attend classes when I knew gas prices were so high. So whenever I could, I would attend. I'd ask my husband if he needed to do anything in SLC, and if he did, then I'd get to go :)

 I remember after my first class, the instructors told me that Anna-Rita (the creator of HH) was coming the end of September to certify people. I was considering it until she told me that it's a full day, like 7 hours. I told my husband, heeeeeck no. I'm not about to spend a full day certifying when we're supposed to be moving to Cali the next day. So I forgot about it, but kept getting this feeling that I should get certified and I even had a weird dream that I needed something to fall back on, just in case. So I registered but didn't pay yet 'cause I was still unsure. The week before certification I finally went ahead and paid for it.

The day finally came to certify. I was soooo nervous! I was kind of scared to meet Anna-Rita since everyone said that she works you and you need to take pain reliever after. Oh dear, but Anna-Rita was freaking hilarious! I loved her from the moment I met her. She started speaking in Samoan to me and I was like, oh, I'm Tongan/Fijian so the rest of the day she kept saying "Bula" to me. haha. Anyways, they weren't joking when they said she works you. I was sore 3 days after. It was surprising too that she auditions on the spot. By the end of the day though I was so tired I just wanted to get it over with. I'm glad that I got certified though 'cause it was such a good experience and now I love working out. No more treadmills, no more ellipticals, no more dreading going to the gym. I'm in love with HHF and all that it does for my body.

I'm now an instructor in Twentynine Palms, CA at Luckie Park (racquetball courts). I teach every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday at 6pm. I also teach my RS sisters at our chapel on Thursday at 730pm.

Here's more info on HHF for those of you who may be interested.

HOT HULA fitness® is a fun, new and exciting dance workout. It provides a “total body workout” in 6o minutes. HOT HULA fitness ® isolates your larger muscle groups, increasing strength and definition to your core with specific emphasis on the abs, glutes, quads and arms. Inspired by the dances of the Pacific Islands,HOT HULA fitness® incorporates easy to perform dance movements set to the sounds of traditional Polynesian drum beats fused with funky Reggae music, resulting in a modern, hip fitness workout. All ages and fitness levels will enjoy HOT HULA fitness®.

anna-rita.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjFSkDpjnwM&feature=player_embedded

Fam Pics 2012

I always love the work my SIL Martha Kristi does and so I was extremely grateful that she did our pictures. I wanted to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and get Leone's 1st b'day pictures (Carnival theme) and our family photos done at the same time. We seriously took these in 20 minutes and I think Kristi did an amazing job.

 

I saw the CUTEST family photo of my friend Sarah's sister's family and they all wore plaid jackets. I was inspired to do plaid, but unfortunately I did everything last minute and so we didn't match. haha. Oh well, I thought it still looked alright. My arm looks extremely huge in this, but I promise it's the shirt :)

 

 

 

 

 

Leone's 1st Birthday Party

It's like 2 months after the fact, but here are some pictures from my son Leone's Carnival Theme Party. I had been getting ideas from Pinterest for months before and tried my best to put my vision into it. We had a bouncy house provided by my brother Ma'afu's boyfriend Shaun's family, and I'm so grateful to them for coming through with that. It was pretty much the only thing that the kids were wanting to play in even though I had games (it wasn't quite as organized as I would have liked), but we had games. I asked my friend to do the signs and I had already decided what games I wanted before we actually had it, so when she brought her signs, it didn't match any of the games, ha! I was so stressed trying to put on his b'day and worrying about moving to Cali the following weekend. I knew what I was getting myself into though.

I'm so grateful that Leone made it through his first year of life safely. My mom was freaking out 'cause I did Leone's party 4 days before his actual birthday and I guess in the Tongan culture, that's a big no-no. They think it's going to jinx the baby. I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of worried 'cause I too am superstitious. I know, I know, but when you have a mother who is constantly reading into everything because of how she was brought up, it tends to be passed down to their offspring. I'm going to try my best not to do that to my children.

Another thing that happened the night of Leone's party was that we ran out of food! I couldn't believe it! I was so embarassed! Luckily there was a grocery store and little ceasar's up the street so the hubby got more food. Someone else went to get food without our knowledge. One thing that no one knows about my brother Heinrich is how sweet he is. He comes off as mean 'cause he does kinda look scary, but like a good big brother, he went to the store without telling anyone and bought more food. I seriously wanted to cry because of his kindness. He's always helping us out and I'm truly grateful for him and his wife Kristi.

The happy birthday boy

 

My cute nieces. I taught them a hula and they had never danced before, but they did so well!

 

The prize table that the kids kept stealing from (mostly my nephews). hehehe. We bought most of our prizes from WalMart and the dollar store.

 

Here was our "photo booth" that my wonderful friend Sarah Levao helped me with. We bought some props from the dollar store and here's my cutie cousin.

 

The happy birthday boy with his elmo cake. We got this from WalMart for $30. I was kinda pissed off 'cause it was supposed to come with a smash cake they include for a 1st b'day and when my cousin went to pick it up they said they weren't told to make the smash cake. Pretty soon I goin' smash them. Oh what?

 

Our good friend John Fanene and his cute enormous son Rock who's only 6 weeks older than Leone, but looks like he's 2 years older than Leone.

 

 

I love these letters my SIL did. It was supposed to go on Leone's high chair but because we were running late on eeeeeverything I didn't get a chance to display it.

 

 

All done. Super long day of partying and opening gifts.

 

Thanks to everyone for coming to his b'day and for all his gifts and to those who came and helped with the decorations and food. We love you guys!!!!!

 





Halloween 2012 Larsen Style

This year's Halloween was super last minute. I had been looking online for costumes for our son, Leone, but nothing stood out. We had gone to thrift stores and other stores, but to no avail. Two days before we went to the dollar store and found some armor and a helmet and wanted to dress Leone as a knight. We were pretty excited about our decision, then the day of we changed our mind. Ha. Even our costumes were figured out the day before, but not Leone's. We decided we wanted to be a zombie wedding couple (because Aaron wanted us to be scary, not cute). I would've preferred to do a cute family costume but was surprised at how well our costumes turned out.

Here's our costume

 

 

I got the dress for $3 from the thrift store and the head piece/veil was from a yard sale we went to a couple years ago for some yard decor aaron did for Halloween. All of Aaron's clothes were his and the wig was $3 from the thrift store. The makeup we got half off 2 days before Halloween from Rite Aid. I know right? Who would've thunk, the day before Halloween things would go on sale already.

For Leone's costume I literally said the hour before let's just make him a baby bum/hobo whatever you want to call it. So we put him in clothes he already had and we used my SIL's beenie and just drew on his beard. I thought he looked so adorable. We got the idea from Pinterest, so I'm not trying to take credit for it.

 

 

This is part of the trunk or treat at our church that my SIL's decorated.

 

 

The Fly and The Burglar? Perhaps?

 

I'm not sure if next year will be planned or will be on the fly again. Whatever we do, I'm sure it'll turn out fine :)