Dave and Cathy's Family Blog

December 31, 2018

December 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 7:52 pm

December Highlights:

A Month of Dramatic Sunsets, Waves and Weather

The first winter storms arrived in earnest this month. Relatively heavy rainfall — at least for southern California — meant Mammoth had an epic snow storm in which they received 6+ feet of the white stuff in 4 days. Luke and I were on hand to experience the first great day of the season. Well, kind of great. Snowboarding in a snowstorm has it’s challenges as you go higher up the mountain.    (more…)

November 30, 2018

November 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 1:06 am

November Highlights:

Seeing The Damned with Lilah in Santa Cruz

Some time in October Lilah sent me a text letting me know that The Damned, a punk band I used to listen to, was going to be playing in Santa Cruz, apparently touring for their new album. I jokingly suggested I should come and take her and a friend to the concert. She did not seem put off by the idea so I took two days off work and took her to the show.   
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October 31, 2018

October 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 9:44 pm

 

Dad Celebrates His 75th Birthday

Despite his sometimes gruff exterior, my dad is a sentimental guy. Slowly he has come into the modern age through the help of his smartphone, my mom (who helps him configure it), and the various apps he uses to communicate with his peeps back in his homeland. But his favorite app by far has to be WhatsApp — it is the app that pretty much our entire Chilean family uses to send messages and make old school phone calls. On his birthday, his day is typically filled with phone calls from friends and family. And being that he’s retired, he has the luxury of answering them all, relishing in the love he receives from his sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews. 
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October 8, 2018

September 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 3:16 am

September Highlights:

Lilah’s Initial Impressions of College Life

The big highlight of this month was picking up Lilah from school. It provided me with a chance to see where she had been living for the past 5 weeks, meet her roommates and new friends, and also hear about all her new experiences. I already had a feeling things had been going really well as the only times I heard from her was when she would respond to one of my e-mails or texts.  
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July 31, 2018

July 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 11:30 pm

July Highlights:

Lilah Goes Away to Summer School

Not one to have a big party for herself, we convinced Lilah to let us throw her a small family get together at our local Toppers’ pizza. The reunion was a late birthday party as well as a family send off for Summer school at Santa Cruz, which lasts 5 weeks. When we got together she seemed to genuinely be in a good mood — maybe because she knew she would be leaving in a few days ;). My uncle Mario also joined us for the occasion giving it just an added special touch.   
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June 30, 2018

June 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad,Uncategorized — dave9169 @ 11:24 pm

June Highlights:

Awards and Performances Continue for Lilah

Public Speech
This month, Lilah was again forced to come out of her introverted shell. Reluctantly, but focused and determined, she rose to the occasion, beginning with a 3-minute speech she gave to members of the Camarillo Optimist’s club, thanking them for the generous scholarship they awarded her. It was the first time I witnessed her give a speech in front of a crowd and I have to admit I was more nervous about it than she was. All I can say is I was blown away by her poise. Somehow, this high school senior got up there in front of people she didn’t know and proceeded to tell them her story.   
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May 31, 2018

May 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: 2018 Lake Tahoe,Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad,Uncategorized — dave9169 @ 6:55 pm

May Highlights:

Lilah Shines at Senior Awards Ceremony

Lilah confessed to me that she doesn’t like praise because it feels like bragging. So what a conundrum she found herself in when she was invited to attend the senior awards ceremony along with us. At the ceremony, we figured Lilah would be recognized for two scholarships she had won so it wouldn’t be too bad. Well, good thing the school has these ceremonies, because there we found out that Lilah had not only won the two scholarships we already knew about, but had also won two more scholarships, a top 10 scholar award, and had been selected as one of the school’s valedictorians. This meant that Lilah was repeatedly called up to the stage to receive her multiple prizes. 
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April 30, 2018

April 2018 – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 7:30 pm

April Highlights:

Volleyball and Swim Seasons Nearing an End

Luke is Having a Great Season
For a kid who didn’t start playing volleyball until the end of last year, Luke has done remarkably well in his first season with the freshman volleyball team. In their last tournament of the year, his solid play in the middle led to some great momentum shifts for his team. Not only was he able to block or deflect shots (what middle players are expected to do), he was also able keep a few points alive with quick reflexes that kept the ball in play and gave his team a chance to score. The coach even singled out Luke’s play as being one of the keys to their success in the tournament. It was kind of cool to just sit back as a parent and hear the coach speak about Luke in glowing terms.
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April 20, 2018

How a Mom Went from Being Out of Shape to a High Performing Fitness Instructor

Filed under: Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 7:16 pm

Sports was never my game, let alone getting sweaty and dirty. The shy, unassuming girl of the past would have much rather spend an evening fine-tuning my nail polishing skills and gathering the most fashionable outfits possible.

I started in Woodland Hills with my younger sister and immigrant parents (Mom is Hungarian and Dad is Persian…they met at Los Angeles City College) with the 101 Freeway as my backyard. We moved to Agoura Hills when I was in the 4th Grade where in the new house, my dad had to keep me company for a while at night because it was too quiet with all the “wildlife” sounds of chirping birds and crickets, and the croaking frogs at night, I couldn’t sleep. I made it through high school, graduating from Agoura High, and went right to Cal State University, Northridge. I picked English Literature as my major because though I was shy in person, writing always came easy. While at CSUN, I met my husband, David, and we finished our last semester in December 1993, one month before the devastating Northridge Earthquake.

Life moved on in a whirlwind blur. World-travels (backpacking thru Europe; two trips to Chile to visit husband’s extended family; hiking and whitewater rafting down the Colorado River,), marriage in November 1994, purchasing our first-home in 1997 (that we are still in today!) and then came babies: Lilah (almost 18) and Luke (15). Life got busy and I got out of shape.

For the first time in my life, I walked into a gym.

I joined the YMCA in the Fall of 2007, as a new mom looking to lose the “baby weight” and I took small, small, barely noticeable fitness steps. It took me 9 months (!) to work up the courage to step into the cycle room. I sat in the back, like every beginner wanting to and trying to hid from the instructor 😉 But after a few classes, I got the bug. I got it bad. This cycle thing was fantastic!! I loved how it challenged me and I felt myself getting stronger. I thrived pushing my limits and excitedly seeing that my body really was capable of doing so much more than I thought. Why was I holding back?

And this brings me to my Trainer Tip:

“Go outside your fitness comfort zone.”

The moment you stop accepting challenges

is the moment you stop moving forward.

The leap from being a Y-member to a Y-instructor was incredibly terrifying. THE most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Cycle was my first format to teach, it was a long, painful, almost-threw-in-the-towel journey. The shy, no-confidant girl was creeping up. Where was my teaching voice? What was my unique style? How do I coach to others effectively? I was far out of my comfort zone. But determined to prove this to myself. I practiced, made mistakes, more practice, more errors. I found I enjoyed the Group Fitness experience and wanted to expand my opportunities. Soon I was a certified Personal Trainer, and certified in Les Mills’ BodyPump, CXWorx, and the latest and greatest, BodyCombat.

I used to walk on the treadmill to warm up. My friend would walk by and punch up the speed to make me run and I would laughingly yell out, “I’m not a runner!” That’s what I had told myself my entire life. Why was I negatively labeling and limiting myself? So I pushed out my comfort zone again….starting running and completed 3 half marathons.

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Are you doing the same fitness routine as you were a year ago?

C’mon!! Let’s take your fitness comfort-bubble and pop it!

One of the most satisfying moments for me as an Instructor is to see that ah-ha moment, that smile, that look of accomplishment when members embrace a new, mentally and/or physically challenging fitness program and I recognize the thought they’re having:

“I can’t believe I just did that!”

Yes!! I get it. I understand it…because that was me as a member (and is still me now) and that, that moment is what refuels my passion for instructing: to see YOU fall in love with movement, with YOUR possibilities, with all that YOU are capable of doing.

See you in Combat!

March 31, 2018

February & March – Family Updates

Filed under: Lilah and Luke,Mom and Dad — dave9169 @ 1:46 am

Feb/March Highlights:

Touring Universities with Lilah

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
The reality of Lilah soon leaving the house to pursue university studies got a little more real this month with a visit to two of the universities she was accepted into – UC Santa Cruz and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I managed to get us an official campus tour for San Luis Obispo and our hosts did a great job of showing us around, complete with intermissions in which they mixed in some corny jokes to keep things light and fun. The tour was an 1.5 hours and we learned a lot about the university, including the fact they have the largest recreation west of the Mississippi, a very robust agricultural studies program where you can raise chickens and other animals, and a direct connection to NASA for students in the aerospace/engineering program (thanks to a professor who started teaching there in the 50s or 60s).  
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