One of the most exciting parts of testing, board breaking. I’m not going to lie, watching this is kind of a rush because sometimes I don’t believe I can actually do this shit.
Spin hook kick – 1 1in board, Side kick – 2 1in boards, Elbow Strike – 1 1in board, Axe kick – 1 1in board
Stike – 2 1in boards
I get performance anxiety BAD. (you need an example?) Like I want to throw up or curl up into the fetal position and suck my thumb. Having gone through multiple testing sessions now I’ve learned some tricks on keeping the panic under control.
Deep Breaths – Since I was last to go at everything today I spent a lot of time sitting in lotus position inhaling and exhaling deeply
Observe – While lower belts are demonstrating their poomsaes I quietly whisper each move they are making
Focus – The kids are adorable and it’s amazing how much they learn in a matter of months
Zone the Fuck Out – C told me afterward that he wasn’t sure if even he (the extrovert) would be able to stand in front of all the Masters and parents/families that make up the audience. He also said that while I was standing in front of the Masters answering questions I looked like I was zoned out or stoned on Xanax. Whatever works kids, you better believe I’m going to do it.
I did have a slight mess up on the last poomsae* they asked me to perform, but after 150 pushups, 50 situps, 50 roundhouse kicks (50 each side) on my dad’s back, 5 instances of self defense, One-Steps* and question answering I’m not going to beat myself up over it.
All that was on top of the 2 hours of warm ups and combination kicks that I had done with the class.
My blackbelt will come from Korea, embroidered with my name with one gold strip on the tip to represent 1st dan. You bet you will see a picture! When I get the pictures from KW from her Canon Rebel I’ll be putting some up. C took a few but he didn’t change the setting and they didn’t come out very well.
And this happens to be a pretty good shot of my first tattoo I got on my 25th birthday in Honolulu.
{Malia is Maria in Hawaiian}
*I realize you have no idea what some of these things are, all you need to know is that it’s work. lol
I had a love/hate affair with this weekend. The LOVES were the best of the best and the HATES well, you know.
– The mitten blogger meet up, skillfully arranged by Sillygrrl. She planned a great night of dinner and bowling in Midtown Detroit. I haven’t been to the Majestic since I saw Treble Charger play there in 2001!
(Ginger Mandy, JenRem, Maeko, LauReality, Sillygrrl, Supergirl)
Strikes!
This is an awesome group of ladies! I’m so glad I finally got to meet all of you in person. Supergirl (along with Sillygrrl) was one of my first Michigan bloggers in my reader. It was nice to see her face 
(Missed you Mel!)
– Hanging out with Maeko before the meetup. I <3 her. She helped me with my makeup and I might have spilled some secrets on the way to the meetup. Afterwards we drove around looking for a grocery store open to buy mac and cheese. But our mac and cheese eating and glee watching plan came apart because of her sick doggie. She also let me borrow socks to wear with the cute bowling shoes they make you wear. It should be said that I was quite bratty about it, but I think I’m ok since she’s family and she can’t exactly get rid of me. Haha.
– Aerial Yoga – I got up on the high trapeze!! And I flipped upside down on the fabric. I don’t have any photographic evidence, but I think Ginger Mandy will vouch for me
– Sparring on Saturday morning. I got Master J in the head. He even stopped to give me a high five. Don’t worry, I didn’t have time to be excited about it because the next round I got a foot, firmly planted in my face.
– Going to lunch with my great Aunt who is in her late 70’s who became faint after lunch. I’m the last person you want around when you aren’t feeling well. It was also reminiscent of my mom and completely got under my skin.
– Sunday I got up feeling quite emotional because these past couple of weeks have been really wearing on me. I’ve had a lot of stuff going on. Some really great, some not so fun but things that needed to be done. I’m stressing about my black belt testing and yada, yada. Bottom line I tried to get some errands out of the way Sunday before aerial yoga. I was running late but thought I had enough time time get in and out of CVS. Um no, they’ve only been filling my birth control pills for years now. They took Sunday to mess it up and instead of spending 2 minutes in the store it was more like 15. I might have bawled my eyes out on the way to yoga.
– When I got to yoga I was split up from Sillygrrl and Ginger Mandy. Ok, totally not the day for that, I almost started crying again. Yeah, I was that girl. What a big baby. It turned out ok. I totally saw Ginger Mandy kick ass on the trapeze (you go girl!) and I heard that Sillygrrl was totally climbing the fabric to the moon. I have no doubt, she’s inspirational on the fabric.
– I got home from the grocery store to find Scooby chewed more of the couch cushion we haven’t started paying on.
– I had just made some tea, the dvd ready to play Crouching Tiger Hidden dragon, and made a comforting grilled cheese when someone knocked on my door. My friend AP stopped by with her 2 kids (ages 1 and 3) and husband. While I was happy to see them because it’s been so long, last night was not the perfect night.
How was your weekend?
Because Wishcake is so inspiring and because I hate when I’m all emo about my body, I’ve decided to join in Work It Out Weekends
Monday – 10 minutes on the god-awful treadmill and 30 minutes of the 30 day shred
Tuesday – 1.5 hours of taekwondo (including stretching, warm-ups, sit-ups and testing preparation)
Wednesday – 1.5 hours of taekwondo (including stretching, warm-ups, sit-ups and testing preparation)
Friday - 1.5 hours of taekwondo (including stretching, warm-ups, sit-ups and testing preparation)
Saturday – 45 minutes intense sparring (taekwondo fighting). I left the dojo literally dripping (dripping! sick) in sweat and with bruises in places they shouldn’t exist.
Sunday – 1.5 hours of aerial yoga with Sarah and Mandy (which will get it’s own post!)
The box of Candy Cane Joe Joe’s that are sitting on top of my fridge
Being so hungry when I got home from sparring on Saturday that i had a muffin and then went out for a calorie filled breakfast with C.
The stuffing my face with the pumpkin oatmeal muffins i made
Cannolis
*do you notice that I can’t resist sweets, candy, chocolate and cheese? mmmmmm
I think that I’m off to a good start, I just need to keep at it
Today would have been my Mom’s 54th birthday. So I’m sending birthday love up to heaven today.
In other news this weekend was BUSY!
** Friday was fantabulous. I didn’t have to leave the house until 5pm which was lovely because it was raining ALL day!
** I actually squeezed in some baking and cooking. I made pumpkin scones I found over at Larissa’s. I have to say this was my first time making scones and I think they turned out decently. I love that they are not overly sweet with just a hint of pumpkin. I also made pumpkin spice and fresh apple spice pancakes. I have leftovers for breakfast today and tomorrow! Lastly, I tried out a new mac and cheese recipe. All I’m going to say is we finished all of it.
** I had my final pretest before my blackbelt test in January. I’m really excited because as it looks now my dad is going to be testing for his 4th degree blackbelt with me!!
** I built the final firewood rack outside and loaded it up with the wood C split a couple of weeks ago. I’m really glad that is done because it was tedious and my shoulder is still been bothering me 
** We bought our halloween costumes this weekend. Thank you for all your input. I can’t tell you what we are going to be, you’ll have to wait for pictures! I’m mean aren’t I? I will say that C decided he didn’t want to wear a mask all night so he changed his mind on his costume so he wanted us to go together as a couple theme. Here’s a teaser…I may have a couple other teaser shots for you the rest of the week 
** I’m rocking my glasses today because my eyes are tired from not sleeping well last night. I just got them in August and they need to be taken in to be adjusted. So annoying, but I love them anyways.
Happy Monday!
koryo poomsae
hook kick
koryo
That. Is. All.
Thank You for all the positive thoughts and finger/toe crossing. When I logged into Facebook this morning this is what I saw,
Dad: ” I have a good news to everyone. I have the certificate of occupancy and the new school will open tomorrow afternoon as soon I get everything move tomorrow. I just start early and get the place clean and carpet clean. Then I’ll set the mat so that… I could have class at 4:30. Other problem they wont let me put my sign, they say the sign is to big and Livonia require smaller sign, that mean I need to get a new sign made”
Yes, you read that right. He didn’t call me, I had to read about it on Facebook. Oy. But YAY we are going to have class in the new building and not in the cramped temp one. Woohoo!
Next I’ll be doing price comparisons for signs. They are so expensive!
xoxo
The lastest in the TKD School Saga…
My dad is just about ready to give up. We painted all weekend and he found out yesterday that the city won’t let him open until he puts his sign up. He had made arrangements to move his old sign (which he paid 5k for) but the new city says his sign is too big and he doesn’t have the money for a new smaller one.
So in short he can’t open. He has an appointment with the Fire Marshall this morning. He’s hoping that by some miracle the Fire Marshall will approve the paperwork and he can go to city hall. If not, well your guess is as good as mine.
The good news…I stayed home this weekend and helped my dad paint. 8 hours worth of painting. No that’s not the good news, that would be that I’m not sore, which means my arms and shoulders aren’t as out of shape as I thought they might be.
The other good news is that most of the 2,000 square feet is painted. 10ft walls be damned. 1 office, 2 bathrooms, 1 hallway and 1 changing room be damned.
standing at the front door - looking left
Standing at the front door - looking right - see the red in the back? that's my dad
With good news there is bad news too right? Right.
Saturday night the lights in the hallway and bathroom decided to quit working. They have always been a bit funny, you know flickering and burning out light bulbs. All I can think is FIRE. So we turned the breaker off to the bathroom and C has been trying to figure out the problem. He spent at least a couple hours checking circuits and other things I don’t care to understand. He’s not an electrician but you know what guys? He is handy. I don’t give him enough credit but he really is. So there. I’m doing it now, just don’t tell him ok? He has a tendency to let things go to his head
I’m not going to lie. I was a little bummed out we didn’t get to go up north and look at cabins. But you were right and I needed to stay here. My dad is always there to help us out and I wouldn’t have felt right about leaving.
Well I’m out of time, I need to get back to work. Boo.
Happy Monday!
I’m waiting for my video blog to upload for a future Tough Girl post (excited?). So you get yet another post from me. I know 3 in one day!
I finally ordered this shirt
And I felt sassy while waiting for my video to upload
Happy Friday!
"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection."
~ Anais Nin
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rialeilani (at) gmail (dot) com
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