
Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025! From Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New Year, the holidays flew by in a blur. This must be the nature of getting older as the passage of time seems accelerated. Just the same, there were memorable moments with my adult kids being home from Dallas, Texas and Auburn, Alabama. In addition, my daughter's boyfriend traveled from Roanoke and enjoyed our tremendous snowfall transforming our drab, brown grass into a winter wonderland. We shared laughter with our friends and neighbors at our annual White Elephant gift exchange where a 6 foot tall inflatable reindeer was a cherished win and a porcelain Chinese monk (a special $3 find at the Bargain Basket in 2023) made a repeat appearance and was likely considered a loss. One man's trash is definitely another one's treasure as my front door is adorned with a sparkling, geometric festive package that I delightfully received a few years earlier. Probably my most treasured memory was simply sitting with my family at Kettlebrook Church on Christmas Eve, grateful to have them home, for the comfort and familiarity of our church of 20+ years and a beautiful message of the joy, love, and forgiveness that comes from the Christ child. It is definitely a sermon worth listening to again. It was an abrupt transition from Christmas to our departure a few days later, driving the kids to the Milwaukee airport at 4:30a.m. and then continuing our journey 1500 miles south, eventually reaching South Florida!

This first week of 2025 has been an adjustment from the preparation, celebration and sometimes even a little frustration that exists during the holidays to a remarkably quiet, warm, and peaceful arrival to Florida. My primary objective was to attend the new Island Pilates Studio and return to practicing as a student versus teacher. I have attended 3 different reformer classes with 3 different teachers and 3 different levels. All classes have resulted in the overall accomplishment of feeling centered, balanced, stretched and strong! It truly is amazing how the reformer delivers these outcomes consistently, regardless of skill level and even in a class of 10 students ranging in age from 40-80. It's been refreshing to be the student and follow the journey of the instructor's cues from footwork, to lunges, core work and invigorating stretches. This particular studio teaches a more contemporary program, primarily exercise based versus the traditional, classical sequence of specific exercises. For instance, I have yet to be directed to Elephant, or Stomach Massage, or Knee Stretches, and yet the end result is still I feel pain-free, grounded and energized. These classes provide new inspiration for my teaching upon my return to Wisconsin. I will share more in the days ahead about my Pilates and fitness experiences, partly as a method to commit to memory these new ideas to share with my own Pilates friends.
Wishing you all the best of health and happiness in this New Year. Thanks for reading!