Amy Aerobics - My Alter Ego

I adopted an alter ego 2 1/2 years ago when I began teaching fitness classes at the gyms on campus... Amy Aerobics!! My favorite format is kickboxing but I teach various strength and cardio classes. My latest endeavor is instructing indoor cycling which I've totally fallen in love with! This summer Amy, I mean I, have taught 8 classes a week...
www. recsports.ufl.edu

Make Sushi, Not War

Recently, my roommates and I went for sushi to celebrate Derrick's 21st birthday at our favorite local restaurant Dragonfly.. it was delish!

TO BE (Blonde) OR NOT TO BE (Blonde)?

I was blonde my whole life... naturally until about age 13 . Last October, I decided to try something new and crossed over into the dark side by becoming a brunette. I can't decide if blondes really do have more fun and as my next hair appointment nears, I am faced with the question: To Be (Blonde) or Not To Be (Blonde)?

Single & the City

My roommate's brother, Jordan, joined me in NYC where the 3 of us celebrated being single in the city. I took this candid picture on the subway and I think it's just fabulous.

That Old-Time Feel

Central Park Zoo

Monochromatic.

Carly, the New Yorker

After spending an incredible 2 months in Los Angeles as a talent intern for Last Call with Carson Daly, Carly has headed to the East Coast for a two-week internship with an advertising company in NYC. With a competitive edge, a love for Broadway plays and a second nature to the intricate subway system she is the quintessential New Yorker!

New York, New York

I spent the past weekend visiting my roommate in New York City! It was a fabulous 3 days jam-packed full of fun! We ate many great meals, visited the Museum of Modern Art where I saw my favorite painting- The Starry Night, mastered the subway system, took the Staten Island Ferry & saw Lady Liberty, ate dinner with our roommates from Italy that are from NYC & saw two marvelous Broadway shows! We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge & ate at Grimaldi's (amazing pizza)! We also shopped at South Street Seaport & saw amazing views 70 stories up at the Top of the Rock!

The Pathological Optimist

This past Thursday I endured what could be considered the worst lay-over ever. Originally booked on a 1:30 flight, it was canceled due to mechanical reasons and I was then placed on a plane that was delayed 5 separate times before eventually being canceled as well. They put me on a stand-by flight that was leaving at 10:20 p.m. (4 1/2 hours after my scheduled arrival to Mecca... I mean NYC) but the minute we boarded it also became delayed due to restrictions in Washington's airspace. Finally, I arrived in NYC at 2:45 a.m. and was safely reunited with my roommate in Manhattan around 4:00. It was no surprise when my luggage was lost but it did shock me that my bag not only beat me to NYC but arrived at the airport I was originally supposed to land at. While one might vow to never fly again after my experience (I have a flight booked August 14th to Vancouver), the pathological optimist in me found much to be thankful for on my little endeavor. Not only did I receive two free round trip vouchers but I met a very nice man in Casa Bacardi (the bar in the airport!) that even let me share his company cab with him into the city. His name was Randy and he was wonderful. Having 3 hours to kill before take-off, he told me all the great places to go in NYC and all about his career- an independent film maker. He is currently working on a documentary on kids in Africa with the premise of how culture gets passed down in orphans when they have no parents to instill their beliefs which I thought was just fabulous!
Check out his website: floatingfilms.org

Magnificent Multi-taskers!

Tonight, Jess and I practiced our multi-tasking skills by combining studying for our psych quiz that is tomorrow while walking five miles, our first night of training for the breast cancer 3-day (5 down, 55 more miles to go!) ... It has been an incredible blessing having a roommate who is also in nursing school to drag you out of bed at 5:15 am for clinicals, help you stay awake during 3 hours lectures and make you study when all you can think about is this reoccurring daydream of a romantic bike ride you wish you were on instead... Headlamp and all, we walked for an hour and a half memorizing the effects of anti-psychotic drugs and tried not to fall into a temporary depression ourselves as we learned all about the etiology of Bipolar disorder. We topped off the completion of our multi-tasking endeavor (studying and training at the same time) with the very necessary consumption of a cookie dough shiver from TCBY right before midnight! Tonight was a night of complete perfection.

The Fabulous Life of... a Two-Year-Old!

It has been a month since I have seen Ms. Kate and I'm always amazed at how much she grows in a week, let alone the amount she changes in a month! It was a lot of fun today learning all her new phrases and deciphering her ever-increasing vocabulary. After a morning of imaginative tea parties, we went for our traditional smoothie following our visit to the pet store and the book store where she picked out a book about ladybugs! Play dates with Kate are a wonderful reminder of the unscathed innocence little kids possess. In a world where immense happiness is found in simple things like blowing bubbles or eating watermelon, twirling like a princess is an adequate form of exercise, putting bubblegum flavored toothpaste on your Hello Kitty toothbrush "all by yourself" brings about a great sense of accomplishment, kisses really do make you feel better, afternoons naps are analogous to a rebirth, your only responsibility is to grow and learn and the biggest decision you'll have to face in the day is which ballerina slipper goes on which foot, I'd say it's a pretty fabulous life being a two-year-old! =)

Personal Canons - First Decade

This past Sunday I attended church. Although I cannot remember the last time I set foot in a church as I am not a religious person and did not grow up in a church, I try to maintain an open mind in all aspects of life and decided I could use some enlightenment in my life. The United Church of Gainesville is independent in spirit and congregational in organization, embodying a wide range of religious convictions and values the human diversity each individual brings including racial identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and religious background. I found today's sermon incredibly thought provoking. As the minister spoke of her "personal canons" (which she described as "a standard, an established principle or belief") she recalled the significant events and life lessons she learned through each decade of her life that define the canons she lives by. As I sat through a fabulous rendition of "Amazing Grace" I began to ponder my own "personal canons"... Because I have only just completed the second decade of my life, I reflected on the canons of my first 20 years. My earliest memories were at the age of 3 when my life role was that of a little sister - a shadow to my talented "big sister" who, only 17-months older, seemed so smart and distinguished. From there, I became a college-bound 4-year-old in a hot pink convertible Barbie car. I had decided I wanted to attend university by watching my mom spend countless hours working on her master's thesis in neuropsychology; Kara and I spent countless hours poking the brain-in-a-bucket in our fridge, petting the test rats (which probably skewed the study results) in the laboratory and sitting through long collegiate lectures with the chickenpox. At age 6, I was a first grader who had an urgency to pee. Never learning how to ask to use the bathroom in French, I sat through everyday of kindergarten and first grade in my French-immersion school cross-legged and impatiently waiting for the bell to ring. In second grade, I made the first of many wrong decisions when Mom let me choose my own haircut and I looked like a boy ("Josh" as they called me) for a good two years of my life. My first insight into the medical field came when I was in 3rd grade and became ill with Scarlet Fever which put me out of school for about 3 weeks. Some of my proudest moments of fifth grade consisted of winning the D.A.R.E. jacket, becoming a Patrol, and perfectly executing the closing act of our 5th grade musical as a Pointer Sister! My first ten years left me a little girl with big dreams ready to take on the world...

TEE TIME

As Tiger takes some time off for paternity leave, Jess and I decided to fill his shoes and take up a new hobby this summer ... Golfing. On our way to the golf course this morning, we picked up a set of pink Wilson 'Hope' golf clubs that are gorgeous and glittery! Here are the highlights of our first round:

Country Fest 2007

"Grandmas Are Moms With Lots Of Frosting!"

Not many granddaughters are as lucky as me to consider their Grandma one of their best friends! Each summer I come home to visit we play countless games of backgammon,crib and yahtzee!, drink bottomless cups of tea and have endless conversations filled with laughter! Thank you, Grams, for a fabulous holiday!

Something Borrowed

This was my mother's wedding dress. Each summer that I try it on, it fits a little better...

Over the Hill

While in Winnipeg, we attended Keith's Surpise 40th Birthday Party! It consisted of a lot of good food and good company! Happy Birthday, Keith!