End of the Year Business News

We have news. We're not sure if you'll take this as good or sad news (and it's certainly bittersweet for us), but here it goes... we have started the process of putting My Gym Arvada up for sale. 

This has been something Thomas and I have discussed since he was hired at Victory Church the end of 2013 and we knew we were expecting twins. There has been all kinds of emotions throughout the year, but I'm happy that we are both on the same page with our decision and at total peace about it. 

We have loved working at My Gym for 11 years, and owning My Gym Arvada for 6 of those years. However, seasons and priorities change. The Lord is number one in our life, and really what we have is His. That's what makes this easier. 

The thought of walking away and My Gym Arvada closing down absolutely devastates us, but we no longer can maintain it at a high level nor give it the attention it needs. With lots of prayer, we think it's best to try to find a buyer fairly quickly. We still want My Gym part of our lives, but we want to experience it as a customer, as a family, more than as the owner.  

Through our business journey, we cannot thank you enough for all your support, and pray it continues as we go through uncharted waters again. God brought us the right buyer at the right time for My Gym Colorado Springs last summer. We hope and pray we have the same fast experience here. However, we have agreed to stay as committed as we can be to the success of My Gym Arvada until the day it is no longer ours. Hopefully that is clear in the email that was sent out to our email database (below). 

Dear My Gym Friends, 

We are writing to let you know that we are currently seeking the right person to take over as the new owner/operator of My Gym Arvada. While we absolutely love teaching and sharing My Gym with all our families, with the recent addition of twins to our family, it has become increasingly difficult to manage the business as well. As you all know and understand, our young family is our highest priority, and we must downsize our business/work responsibilities to be the best parents we can be to our children. This is a very difficult decision for us, but one that I hope you understand. 

We want to assure you that we remain committed to delivering the highest-quality classes and programs while we search for the perfect owner. Our full schedule of classes, camps, Parents’ Night Outs and birthday parties will continue while the search is underway. We know we will find the right person who will be totally dedicated to enriching your children’s lives and continuing the excellence of My Gym. 

This is an amazing opportunity to get involved with My Gym at a much-reduced cost, with the financial investment being far lower than new, start-up costs. My Gym is a very rewarding business. The support from My Gym Enterprises is exceptional. If you love children, want to run your own business, and would enjoy leading the great team we have here, please consider this franchise opportunity. Serving the families of our community is a very gratifying experience.

The new My Gym owner can look forward to much excitement ahead too. My Gym Arvada already has a phenomenal, highly trained staff and great location. And there’s so much room to grow. Gyms around the world are expanding with martial arts, art classes, mobile classes at day cares, a partnership with Zumba, and more. These are all programs we have yet to implement here in Arvada. For the right person, this is a great opportunity to take a successful, growing business (we gain new members every month) to the next level. 

For more information on the sale of this gym, please feel free to call Mike Chalovich (My Gym Enterprises) at 818-907-6966, extension 116 or email him at mchalovich@mygym.com to discuss the purchase opportunity in more detail. 

Thank you,

Thomas and Juli Hobby

Last September 12th

A year ago today (September 12, 2013) feels like yesterday. It was one of the biggest days of my life, yet I haven’t really shared much about what my husband and I experienced that day. Just 5 days before, we announced we were expecting! We had the confirmation doctors appointment and choose to make our news public at just 6 ½ weeks pregnant. Then came what I thought was the worst days… bleeding, cramping, cold sweats. Two different nights I felt like I was going to pass out and not make it through the pain. The first time I called the doctor, they said it was implantation, but I knew that didn’t make sense with being almost 7 weeks. The second time it happened, I was able to schedule an ultrasound for the next day. I remember laying in bed that early morning, still bleeding and crying about the thought of a miscarriage. I sent out a text to my mom, my sister and my best friend that said “please pray for my baby.”

When my husband and I arrived at the doctor on September 12th, we both were at peace. The room was silent as we watched the TV screen (although I wasn’t sure what I was looking for). With no excitement, the tech soon said “Well, I see two babies.” I remember I held my breath and then cried, then laughed, then cried AND laughed. It was very hard to keep still. I wanted to jump up and hug Thomas who was next to me squeezing my hand with excitement. I exclaimed “are you serious!?!” and the tech said “if I lied about that, I would loose my job.”

I think our appointment was close to an hour. We got to see not one, but two little heartbeats on the screen. It was truly amazing. Each baby had their own sack… but if there were only two babies, why were their three sacks? That’s the part of the story that I don’t talk about much. I struggled with grieving over a possible 3rd baby because I was blessed with not just one, but TWO little bundles. I was still pregnant! At that first appointment, however, the doctor couldn’t confirm nor deny if the 3rd sack had a baby that we lost or if it was a hemorrhage that developed.

On September 27th at just over 9 weeks pregnant, the 3rd sack was still there, and I was still bleeding. I think I was even more excited that day to still see two healthy heartbeats. I was already showing so much that we decided to make our twin announcement public. From then on, it was just about two babies… but not to me.

At my 12 week ultrasound, the 3rd sack had shed and I had no other complications beyond that point. I was labeled a “high risk” pregnancy, but that just meant I got to have lots of ultrasounds and see my babies every 2-4 weeks. I was so joyful and completely blessed that I quickly got over what I had experienced the beginning weeks of my pregnancy.

Flash forward several months to my water breaking, preterm labor, a c-section and the birth of my two little 3 pound baby boys. Bringing Thomas II home after 6 weeks in the NICU was such a happy day. Matthew’s homecoming 5 days later on my birthday was even better now that we were all together. But those were the days (April 2014) that I thought about our 3rd baby the most. I struggled emotionally at the thought of bringing their brothers home without them joining our family. But they are part of our family. We talk about him/her to the boys. We tell Thomas II and Matthew that they have a brother or sister in heaven.

It might sound weird to anyone who hasn’t experienced this. I might even sound crazy that I feel/felt this way and still have two children to hold. I think that’s what kept me quiet, out of fear of being vulnerable and no one understanding (it’s hard enough for people to understand what it’s like having twins). When people see me in the craziness and say “can you imagine how triplets would be?” I actually do imagine that. Today though, a year later, I celebrate the memories because I believe life happens at conception, and I know we will meet our little triplet one day.

My pregnancy so far...

The evening of August 21st: I found out I was pregnant! We couldn't be more excited.

 

August 28th: Confirmation doctor’s appointment... I’m really pregnant!!

September 2nd (Labor Day): We told our family.

 

September 7th: Our pregnancy goes public on Facebook.

 

Then... I had very painful cramping (2 different times) and actually started bleeding (3 different times). The doctor told me to come in for an ultrasound.

 

September 12th (7 weeks and 2 days pregnant): The ultrasound showed 3 sacks. TWO babies had healthy heartbeats. Everything was alright. They cannot confirm nor deny if the 3rd sack had a baby that we lost or if it’s a hemorrhage that developed.

Baby A measured at 7 weeks and 1 day; heartbeat 137.
Baby B measured at 6 weeks and 6 days; heartbeat 140.

 

September 27th (9 weeks and 3 days pregnant): Second ultrasound confirms we still have two healthy babies. TWINS!!!

Baby A measured at 9 weeks and 2 days; heartbeat 168.
Baby B measured at 9 weeks and 3 days; heartbeat 175.

 

September 27th: Our TWO babies announcement goes public on Facebook!

 

Totally natural. Totally surprised. Totally blessed... Times TWO!

The Blessed Life

What a summer it has been... a blessed summer, indeed!

This summer, I studied the difference between grace and mercy. Grace is getting something you don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. "For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time - to show us his grace through Christ Jesus." - 2 Timothy 1:9

Blessings... Grace... Mercy...

On July 26th, we sold the Colorado Springs My Gym to an amazing buyer. After meeting Ally at the My Gym Pasadena in California back in January, the Lord worked out an amazing story bringing her and her husband to Colorado for this opportunity. We are so excited about the future of the Colorado Springs gym and are relieved we only have My Gym Arvada now to focus on. Some days it feels weird to only manage one gym, but it is nice not to be commuting so far away (and have Thomas home every night).

Because we had a buyer lined up early in the summer and Thomas was going to be back at My Gym Arvada full-time, I (Juli) took a job at our church on July 1st. I was hired as the Adult Life Ministries Administrator part-time with plans to be full-time in August once the gym sold. I just completed my first 40-hour work week and still love it. 

I was actually just promoted and will be “Executive Assistant” to our Senior Pastor and Executive & Worship Pastor (Senior Pastor’s son) starting tomorrow. I will still be the Adult Life Ministries Administrator until someone is hired to cover that, and I also will be learning the position of HR Director. I feel completely blessed and where I want to be!

Blessings... Grace... Mercy...

I work Sunday - Thursday at Victory Church, run staff meetings on Fridays at My Gym Arvada with Thomas and our Director, then enjoy Saturdays off. Thomas works random hours at the gym, teaches our My Gym Mobile classes at a few schools and stays busy with phone calls being the FAB (Franchisee Advisory Board) President.

Next month (September 3rd), we will celebrate 7 years of marriage, and the following month (October 6th), we will celebrate 5 years of owning My Gym Arvada. Wow!

Blessings... Grace... Mercy...

Mexico Diaries (from March 2013)

Last month, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Mexico City on a missions trip with Victory Church. I wrote a little bit about each day and wanted to post it in case anyone was interested in my "Mexico diaries". I also made a short slide show (YouTube link at the end of post) with some pictures from the trip.

 

Tuesday 3/12/13

We met at my church today at 11:30am and finally arrived at our hotel in Mexico at 2:30am (the next day). It took 2 hours to check in with all our luggage and go through security. There were 8 of us who each were checking a piece of equipment (either sound equipment or an instrument). One of our crates was 92lbs and was going to be $400 (they charge double for heavy luggage on international flights). We were able to move things around and get it below 70lbs; costing only $200. Once we were at the plane, not all our carry on luggage fit and we had to gate check 2 guitars, a mini keyboard, and my suitcase.

The 8 of us from Victory Church arrived safely in L.A. to meet up with a girl from Oregon who is joining us to sing in our band (we have 3 other singers, but they aren't fluent in Spanish like Marisa is). Our 1.5 hour layover turned into a 3 hour flight delay due to mechanical problems. We actually had to wait for another plane to come from Houston to take us to Mexico City. We were given $10 vouchers to spend within 24 hours because of our delay. That got each of us a piece of cake and a glass of water at the airport.

On the plane, we had to fill out customs/immigration forms that were in Spanish. Luckily, we have 3 out of the 9 of us who know Spanish so they helped us through it. The first thing I learned is that the date is written day/month/year so it was 12/3/2013 for March 12th. My birthday was easy to write 04/04 but I kept messing up the date.

Once we landed, I learned that the temperature here is calculated in Celsius (it was 62*F). We arrived finally in Mexico at 1:00am, but it took awhile to go through immigration, customs and get a ride to the hotel. Someone from the church here picked us up. The 3rd difference that I learned is that red lights are more like yield signs. We went through every one of them, even right in front of police cars (who drove around with their lights constantly flashing for no reason - and there were a lot).

When we arrived at the hotel, we walked a few blocks but couldn't find anything open for us to get food at. We will just have to wait until breakfast at 9am in the hotel lobby (Mexico time is never rushed). It's almost 4am now... good night, Mexico!

 

Wednesday 3/13/13

We had a nice, slow morning. The breakfast buffet was interesting because I wasn't familiar with any of the food except mini pancakes. I was able to order scrambled eggs, and they were cooked with onions, peppers and tomatoes (like an omelet). After breakfast, we headed out to see the city. We took a bus there and a taxi back. The driving behavior here is worse than any city I've seen (even worse than New York). I honestly don't know how people crossing the streets don't get killed!

Police guarded every corner it seemed, and some even had guns. We went in a few Cathedrals to see the beautiful buildings and even saw part of a service. Before that, we went to the top of Latin American Tower, 44 floors high, to see and pray over the whole city. For lunch, we ate at a hole in the wall place for tacos. It was really good, but much past my spicy level.

Tonight we went to a daughter church of where the church conference is (that starts tomorrow). We traveled an hour outside of Mexico City so the scenery was a lot different. People were selling things (gum, fruit, etc) at busy intersection as if it was the flee market. There were also a ton of dogs roaming around.

This church seated 75 people downstairs and one row of chairs for the kids upstairs. There wasn't a piano or another hook up for electric guitar, so Mike and I "sat out". He filmed and took pictures and I sat with the kids upstairs to catch some little smiles as the night went on. Our worship band sounded so good and the people sang so loudly, clapped and jumped. They really go into it!

Pastor Ryan (our missions pastor) spoke in Spanish, then there was an alter call. In a second, all the chairs were moved and stacked up because everyone had responded to the alter call. After service, the church had dinner for all of us and their pastors. We were told to finish everything on our plate, if we could, even if we didn't like it. I'm glad it was salad, a flat, breaded chicken, mashed potatoes and bread. So far on the trip, we have gotten bottled water or soda, but nothing is cold.

When we left the first church, the pastors drove us to the big church where the conference will be held. Their worship team was there practicing at 10pm! It was fun to watch, check out the sound system, and explore the building. They are so welcoming and excited we are here.

Thursday 3/14/13

It was a lot cooler today. I'm glad a brought a jacket and a variety of clothes. Fun fact: There is a serious Mexico smell that doesn't seem to change with temperature.

We went to breakfast at a place that reminded me of a Denny's. It seems pretty popular here since there was an identical one across the street. There was a guard at the front door with a shot gun! I ordered pancakes because I could read "hot cakes" on the menu.

Mexico City is like Washington D.C. in a sense of it being Mexico City, F.D. which means Federal District. We had a safety talk about the subway system and strategically put the girls in the middle for the guys to surround us. We rode two stops down to Museo Nacional de Historia (Museum of National History - basically a castle). There were a lot of school groups there and the kids looked at us like we were famous. People randomly take our picture just like we are taking pictures of then.

For lunch, I had an enchilada with cheese inside and beans on top. The sour cream looked like milk and is called cream (real Mexican food doesn't use sour cream). The team seems to like the food, but one did say 24 hours in that they missed Chipotle.

We were able to eat with the church pastors and two other men who flew in from North Carolina to speak at the conference that started tonight. When it was time to head to the church, the pastors picked us up in 2 different cars than what we used yesterday. Apparently, there is a law where you can't drive your cars on certain days (the day is determined by your license plate) because of the smog.

We showed up to the church around 3:45pm to set up all our gear and run a sound check. The conference started at 6:00pm. We lead worship, of course, then one of the guys from North Carolina spoke while Pastor Ryan interpreted into Spanish. After, I think our band played for another hour during the alter call. Many people received healing, and I didn't see a dry eye in the entire place! Even kids were being ministered to and receiving like I had never seen before.

I had people thanking me and hugging me after we played. One teenage boy wanted me to teach him how to play the piano right then. That was hard to communicate to him even with a translator because he wasn't understanding what I meant (even in Spanish), but I showed him what I could.

We hadn't eaten dinner yet, so when we stopped playing at 9:30pm, the church had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for us. We are guessing they wanted us to feel at home. Even after one of the guys had 7, we weren't really full.

While we ate, I enjoyed "talking" (Marisa, who's with us from Oregon, translated) with some of the pastors' kids. All of them want to know my name and show me their tricks. One boy did a split, a little girl did a swan stretch, and a couple others did a little break dance. When I tried to guess their ages, Sophia (the only name I recognized/remembered) was disappointed in me when I said 6 and she was 7. Even with that "mistake", the kids are so patient because they are enjoying learning about us.

Before crashing for the night after being dropped off at our hotel, we walked across the street to the same place we ate breakfast. Most of us ended up ordering dessert, though, including myself. It was midnight before we got in our rooms for the night. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow since breakfast will be at 10am. More tomorrow... Buenas noches! (Good night)

 

Friday 3/15/13

It was rainy all day. We walked to breakfast around 10am, and we were finally offered an English menu! I was thrilled to find an omelet that sounded good, but still had to order it in Spanish.

We took a taxi to the Basilica (important Cathedral) because it wasn't safe to take the subway to that part of town. Pope Juan Paul spoke at this Cathedral one time. We also went into the most visited shrine in Latin America where some people are found crawling on their hands and knees until they are bleeding during the day of the virgin (in December). Pictures and statues of Jesus on the cross are everywhere because that's where they think the story stops. The way the virgin is worshiped is idolatry.

After being out in the rain for awhile, we took a long taxi ride back to lunch. We had family style tacos with just meat and beans (no regular toppings like lettuce, tomato, etc). I had a bite of cactus!! I thought I would try it since it was the only "vegetable" in sight, but the slimy, thick texture couldn't get me to eat more than one bite.

We had 15min to change for the church service and clean up from being out in the rain. I pulled my hair up and threw on my dress. We then were in the car almost an hour and a half driving to the church because of traffic. I wish I could time laps a video of how people drive here. Basically, stop signs/lights, the lines on the road and which way traffic is going is all optional. Four way stops don't have stop signs, just speed bumps, so you'll have all these cars jumbled up and everyone is honking even though there's nowhere to go.

When we arrived at the church, the kids were standing right by the curb to wave like we had just arrived to the red carpet. Since traffic was so bad, we didn't even have time to do a sound check tonight before the conference started. We at least had everything still set up from last night. After worship, Pastor Ryan shared a message in Spanish, then another alter call that lasted until 9pm.

More and more kids wanted to take pictures with us and gave lots of hugs and kisses. A few older kids were learning some English at their school and could ask things like "how old are you?" "you're married?" "can I touch your hair?" One boy told me he could understand us if we spoke slowly. However, there are a few words that mean different things so when someone was taking a picture with an iPad, I tried to be helpful and said "I can take it." He moved that iPad away from me so fast! I had to have Marissa explain in Spanish that I was offering to take the picture, not that I wanted to take the iPad from him.

The church fed us a late dinner again. It was called soape, but it was basically like an open taco with a thicker corn shell. It was good, and I was happy about real sour cream being on the table. I've noticed that they always offer coffee at breakfast and dinner, but it's black with sugar on the table (no creamer).

We rode back to the hotel in the same vehicle that brought us to the church today, but there's often a different pastor/leader driving us so I'm not even sure what car belongs to whom. Two of the pastors have cranked the music (sometime even in English even though they only speak Spanish) so much to where we ask if they could turn it down so we can talk. Somehow, it often gets turned back up again. We want to say 'just because we are in a band doesn't mean we like loud music' but we just laugh about it.

Since there was traffic again at 10pm, we didn't get back to the hotel until an hour later. We wanted to a store where I got M&Ms and a milk (packaged like a juice box). I was still hungry, but the snacks are different, so I went with dessert.

 

Saturday 3/16/13

After about 5 hours of sleep, I was up getting ready for our long Saturday at the church. The breakfast buffet at the hotel wasn't open yet, so we walked to the restaurant we've been eating at a lot. They had just opened when we showed up at 7am and no one else was there. Mornings are really slow here, especially on Saturdays. I wanted something lighter today, so I had cantaloupe with yogurt and granola.

We arrived at the church at 9am to pray. We prayed that people today would not see us so "famously" but instead be moved by God as they worshiped. We also had a chance to pray over each other in the band. We've really been able to get to know each other and want to build each other up. It's so nice to be in a laid back setting where planning and structure is out the window and has been replaced with a go with the flow mindset.

For example, after we were done with worship at the 10am session, the pastor motioned for us to keep going with one more song and we did very smoothly. Another guest speaker gave a message in Spanish that went until about 1pm. We had a 10min break then went right into the next session with worship and a message. Abnar (from North Carolina) spoke again with Pastor Ryan interpreting.

After that service, a little girl ran up on the stage and gave Matt (our worship pastor) a note that had a snowman drawing on it. The note, written in Spanish, was basically telling him how great we were and that she'll always remember him. She even wrote his name (Mateo is Spanish) in her Bible so she would never forget him.

We finally were able to leave the church for lunch during a short break in the conference at 4pm! We drove to another church where they had some kind of meat and spaghetti on the same plate with taco shells on the table as "bread"... 3 things I wouldn't ever think about putting together.

That church didn't have any running water so guys were bringing buckets of water in for you to dump in toilet to "flush" itself when you were done. Before we left, they gave us gifts of hand painted vases for Matt and Ryan (our leaders) and homemade Mexico treats/snacks for everyone in our group.

We got back to the conference church at 5pm and it had already started again! These people just want to be in church all day. For the night service, their church band played instead of us. They played for over an hour and 15min. It was so fun to see their style of worship. Their pastor also spoke for the final session of the conference.

We were bombarded with people wanting to take our picture tonight after the conference. I think every single person who attended gave us a hug, too. We ate dinner at 9pm (actually early), and of course had tacos again. Over dinner, we discussed our day and opinions on the sessions. After and ice cream run at the corner store again, we made a video announcement/update to send for Victory Church to play tomorrow morning at church.

We are all still healthy, but tired. The conference is now over, and we just play one more time leading worship tomorrow at the church. We then will explore the city more.

 

Sunday 3/17/13

Today was the first morning since Wednesday that we saw blue skies and sunshine. On the way to church, we spotted smoke coming out of the volcano - that was cool. The church service started at 10am with a band of little kids from the church. It was adorable! We followed them with a 5 song worship set, then the church's worship band lead another 5 songs. A couple of the songs had both Spanish and English words on the screen for us. They then had 2 special songs prepared in English (Amazing Grace and Worthy is the Lamb). They said they were nervous but wanted to bless us because we've been such a blessing to Mexico. It actually made me tear up because we have been here all week singing in another language for them and they wanted to return the favor (it was clear it was difficult for them).

English doesn't just translate to Spanish word for word and vise versa. Sometimes there's different phrase order or words. Mexican culture also claps off beat. We were clapping double time to not look like we were weird, but it was very funny to me because being musical, it doesn't make sense to me to not clap on the beat.

After all the songs and worship, Pastor Ryan preached and their pastor joked that he was going to translate in English. The message began at 11:50 (usually when American churches are ending). Their church band played during the alter call so that we could pray for the people. That was an amazing experience, then they prayed for all of us. We ate lunch at the church around 1:30, then packed up all our gear and said goodbye.

After a nap back at the hotel, we took a bus downtown. We had a buffet dinner on the roof of a nice hotel overlooking the Square in the historical district of Mexico City. We explored a little more during our 5 mile walk back to the hotel.

 

Monday 3/18/13

Today was our "free day" so after breakfast, we headed to the market. We only had 1 hour and that went by so fast. I'm the type of shopper who likes to look at everything, then decide on my purchases, but today I experienced impulse buying as I was trying to get rid of my Mexican money. You lose a percent when you exchange, and the prices were really good, so I enjoyed getting some souvenirs since I had the money.

We took the bus back to the hotel to drop off our shopping bags, then 10 of us (Mike was sick today and stayed behind) crammed into 2 taxis to head to the floating gardens. One of the guys on the team liked repeating some Spanish that he would hear either for the fun of it or to learn it. He repeated one of the words our taxi driver said and Pastor Ryan said "you just said the F-word." It was too funny!

When we were trying to get on a boat for the floating gardens, the owner told Ryan a price that was 4x as much as it should have been. He was so annoyed because he grew up in Mexico City and knows the rates, but felt like he was trying to walk all over us because we were Americans. We all walked away and another boat owner ran up and quoted a good price.

The lake was crowded because it was a Mexican holiday, but it was a better experience with how crowded it was. My pictures show the type of boat we were on, then there were smaller boats like vendors - food, music, plants, candy, drinks, etc. We had quasadeas and rice from one of the food boats.

After the floating gardens, a few of us had to use the bathroom before we met up with the pastors and their families at another market. The public porter-potty type restroom cost 5 pacos each! Later that evening, we all went out to dinner at a taco place down the street from the hotel. It was kind of sad to say our goodbyes.

I packed up my bags before going to bed, then tried to get some sleep. We left the hotel at 5:15am Tuesday morning. It was an amazing trip! It was a great team to work with, and we all grew so much together with our challenging conversations about what we believe. My heart grew, too, with love for children, a passion for worship, and a deeper desire to discover God's truth. Thank you for all your love, prayers and support!

Here is a YouTube video I made with some pictures of our trip: http://youtu.be/WXH67KcYuBQ

Happy New Year

A look back at 2012, and an anticipated 2013

Our Christmas card listed our top 5 favorite things from the year 2012:

·         We went white water rafting

·         We got a Mymo (My Gym mascot) costume

·         Juli’s brother became a Marine - and we were able to attend his boot camp graduation in April

·         We took over our 2^nd My Gym in Colorado Springs – about 1.5 hours away – on January 2, 2012

·         Thomas was elected to the FAB (Franchisee Advisory Board)

o   The FAB consists of a representative group of franchisees that meet periodically with the management of My Gym Enterprises (corporate) to review plans and discuss other matters and common interests. The FAB members are elected for a two-year term of office, and they may serve a maximum of 3 terms. Each of the 11 FAB members represents various geographical areas of the country (Thomas is over the West region) with a President and Vice President.

In 2012, I also made it a point to try new things. I tried golf – even had 6 golf lessons – and found that I actually liked golfing with Thomas. I tried fantasy football and shortly knew that was something Thomas could enjoy without me. I also tried to read more books this year. I didn’t accomplish the goal I set, but because I set a goal, I doubled the amount of books I read in 2012 from the year 2011.

January 1^st – Easter 2012, we realized that we never had a day off work besides those two holidays. Easter (April 8th) was the day we started a daily Bible reading plan together. The plan takes us through the Bible in chronological order, and we have less than 100 days left before we have read every word. A few weeks after starting the Bible reading plan and realizing how much we were working instead of going to church and having a day off together, we decided to close both My Gyms on Sundays. Thomas said, “If Chick fil A can do it and still be profitable, so can we.”

The biggest change last year (besides taking over a second My Gym), was moving just last week. In December, we found out that the townhouse we had rented for over 4 years was being put up for sale. After one showing with two realtors and two prospective buyers (who didn’t end up buying) walking through the house after a days notice, we didn’t want to go through the emotional stress of not knowing when we were going to be out of a place to live. We quickly began looking for other rentals and were blessed to find a home available on the same street as our friends Dustin and Kendra. In less than a week, we packed up our old house, moved, had it cleaned, patched and painted holes in the walls, and turned in the keys. Ten days after that, we were completely unpacked, organized and settled in our new house thanks to being off work for the holidays.

Our new house is less than 2 miles away from My Gym Arvada, but we now live in the city of Westminster, Colorado. Instead of the townhome feel, there is just one house connected to ours (kind of like a duplex) so we have a driveway, two car garage, and a little side and back yard. It’s a two-story, two bedrooms, with two and a half baths. Our favorite part is the wood-burning fireplace (our gas fireplace was a joke).

Thomas wasn’t able to visit Florida any in 2012 because of work, and I only came for a quick weekend in October to surprise my best friend for her baby shower. We are excited to be coming in just a few weeks to spend some quality family time with everyone and meet our first niece, Emma Joy. Emma was born on November 19, 2012 even though her due date wasn’t until February. Today, she is 6 weeks old in the NICU, weighs 3lbs 15oz, is nursing and taking a bottle, wears clothes, and was just transferred to a crib. She’s a miracle, and we pray she is home when we arrive in Orlando.

Before our Florida trip, I will be driving to California for a two and a half week work trip. I’m taking two of our key staff members from Arvada for them to attend formal training at My Gym Pasadena. I’m excited for the fun 15+ hour road trip (not including food, gas or restroom stops) with the girls. I also am anxious for them to come back with a passion and drive for the company that will help us take the gym to the next level in 2013.

Here is our upcoming travel schedule for this year:

·         Juli is in California January 5^th-20^th

·         Juli is in Florida January 27^th-February 12^th

·         Thomas is in Florida February 5^th-12^th

Somewhere in there, we will be having a garage sale and an Open House at both gyms the weekend of Valentine’s Day. I also have the opportunity to go on a Missions Trip this year. The worship team from Victory Church will be heading to Mexico City March 12^th-19^th. We will be putting on a 3-day Worship Conference with sessions that will deal with the philosophy of worship, as well as a day of ministering to the local church “Familia Cristiana Taller de Dios”. Our band will also lead worship for their church that final Sunday that we are there (yes, in Spanish!). Tomorrow, I will be turning in my paperwork and deposit for the trip, but there will still be a balance of $1,100 (due overtime). If you have on your heart to give or to send me to bless the people of Mexico City, I will gladly give you more information.

Tomorrow (January 2^nd) is also our one-year anniversary of owning My Gym Colorado Springs. Although we still do not know the fate of that gym, we are starting 2013 with great anticipation. We are truly blessed even through our struggles, and we know even more great changes are on their way. We are most grateful for the family and special friendships God has given us near and far, and we wish you all a very happy new year!

4 Years Ago

Today, I decided to stop feeling overwhelmed and to think of how far we have come.  October 6^th will be our 4-year anniversary of owning My Gym Children’s Fitness Center in Arvada, Colorado. We have been through so much and experienced more than I would have ever imaged since becoming business owners.

Matt Redman’s song “Never Once” explains how I’m feeling:

Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we’ve come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us

Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Was Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

 

Four years ago, we moved away from all of our family and friends to a place we had never been before. Today, Colorado is our home and we have made friends who love us like family.

Four years ago, we took over a business that was not going to survive the economy crash of 2008. Today, we are still maintaining double the enrollment from when we started.

Four years ago, we said that we would “never” own multiple locations so that Arvada could always have our full attention. Today, we own two My Gyms, and the original thought of selling Colorado Springs is dwindling down since we see the potential of what we can bring to both locations.

Four years ago, we didn’t have any employees and worked every single class and birthday party 7 days a week for 16 months by ourselves. Today, we have 6 staff members in Arvada (not including us) and 4 in Colorado Springs.

Four years ago, Arvada’s location really needed a face-lift of new carpet, paint, etc. Today, our year-old facility still feels brand new, and we are in the works of trying to go through the same re-location process in Colorado Springs.

Four years ago, we were 21 and 22 years old with one car and a few pieces of furniture. Today, we are 25 and 26 years old with two new cars, a fully furnished town-house, and a dog.

Four years ago, our future felt like a dream. Today, we are living our dream… and loving it. HE has been faithful, and we are so blessed!

September 3rd

Eight years ago, today, Thomas asked me to be his girlfriend. Six year ago, today, we said "I do". I truly cannot believe how time flys when you are having fun! 8 years as a couple, 6 years as husband and wife, and almost 4 years as business owners together.

This anniversary card was perfect:

Still think you're hot.

Still love your smile.

Still laugh at the cute things you say.

Still need your hugs.

Still craving your kiss.

Still love when you touch me that way.

Still glad you call to simply say "Hi"

or just cause you're thinking of me.

Still like the way I start out the day

with you as the first one I see.

Still having fun just staying at home,

or when we go try something new.

Still falling in love more and more every year -

and I'm so glad I'm married to you.

I could add... No matter what, I still love our life because I get to spend it with you. I love you, Thomas! Happy Anniversary.

Summer Stories

Every time I say I'm going to get better at blogging, I take longer and longer to post. My computer didn't even remember my blog address this time (I actually had to type every letter of hobby-family.blogspot.com). I really want to blog more, but sometimes I feel like it would just be the same, same stories or updates.

We work a lot, but you already know that. We did make ourselves take a few days off in a row the week of July 4th. We closed the gym and had a nice stay-cation around Colorado. We hiked Seven Falls in Colorado Springs, went to our first Lacrosse game (just to see the fireworks on July 4th), and used our LivingSocial to enjoy a half day of White Water Rafting. It was a great week of fun and relaxing!

Even though work keeps us beyond busy between the two gyms, we are having fun. We have been blessed with staff (the picture is both Arvada and Colorado Springs together). Even with two of these girls completing their final day with us just yesterday to leave for to college, three more applications have come in and interviews have been going well. It is a never-ending training kind of job, but you get to work with some fun personalities, for sure!

Coming out of summer, enrollment is starting to go up in Arvada, but it is still struggling in Colorado Springs. At times we get burnt out. At times we wonder what in the world are we doing making our life so busy. Then I was reminded last week that 'when great direction is needed, great direction is given'. However... automatic doors don't open when you pull into the parking lot; they open when you walk through them. I feel like we are still walking up to the "door" particularly in Colorado Springs. Hopefully things will change in another month and that 'great direction' will be given.

After a crazy work load each week, we have really been enjoying our Sundays. The 3rd Sundays of each month, we have had the opportunity to have an interactive booth at our local Arvada Farmer's Market. We bring a lot of our big My Gym equipment for the kids to play on in a grassy area right by the library. We have done two already and have three more to go. It's has been great, free advertising (not to mention the free, yummy fruits and veggies they give us for entertaining the kids).

To change the subject off of work, our Sundays are also filled with being active in our church and attending basketball games. Juli has started occasionally playing the keyboard on our church's worship team (in addition to the youth band) and still serves as a youth leader over the high school girls. She just got back from their Summer Camp (youth retreat) last week - 5 days away with no cell service and not much sleep. Thomas has joined a basketball league that plays every Sunday night. It is fun watching him (even though some of his games don't start until nearly 9pm).

Some other random blogging thoughts...

•  Angela (Juli's sister) comes to visit next Wednesday through the weekend. Unfortunately, the boys will be staying behind, but it'll be great sister time as we get pedicures, go shopping and take bets on if we will have another nephew or our first niece in January.
• Our anniversary falls on Labor Day this year. Yippy for a day off to celebrate SIX YEARS of marriage!
• We go to California in October for another My Gym owners-only seminar. I can't believe we have been in Colorado AND a business owner for almost 4 years already.
• I miss my grandparents. I think about Mimi a lot when I'm playing the piano. I think of Pop even at the most random times. If I'm remembering correctly, their anniversary is this month. I wonder how you celebrate 63 something years with your love in Heaven.
 



Our May

I cannot believe it is already the month of May! One of my new years resolutions was to blog more often, but there is so much that has already happened this year... it's hard to keep up. I am on track with another new years resolution, though: to read 12 books during the year 2012. I am not a fast reader, and it's hard for me to make time to put my feet up and dive into a book - that's why I thought it would be a perfect challenge for me. I only read 4 books in 2011, so I set a goal this year of one book a month and even if I accomplished only 50% of my goal, it would be more than the previous year. Currently, I am on my 5th book since January 1st, and considering it's the 5th month of the year, I feel like I'm right on track.

One of the books Thomas and I read together last year was Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace" while we were completing the Financial Peace course at our church. It has changed our life! We are medical debt free as of last month (from Juli's emergency, no insurance gallbladder surgery in May of 2010). We are no longer purchasing things on credit cards as we are chipping away at that debt each month, and My Gym Arvada should be paid off by this time next year. My Gym Colorado Springs will be put up for sale once we finalize our lease (hopefully this month), but the timing of that sale is in God's hands.

Summers are hard for us financially at My Gym in this gorgeous state. People travel or prefer to be outside ALL Summer instead of continuing their weekly My Gym classes. We are already seeing our numbers drop (March was a very high enrollment month, but we have dropped 30+ kids in each location since then), so we are trying a new marketing approach to capitalize on those who might think of My Gym during the Summer.

Our drop-off Summer Camp starts in both locations the first week of June and we have had successful Summer Camp enrollment nights for those. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, so I took the time to research local elementary schools and type all the teacher's email addresses into a database to send them a summer special just for teachers. Memorial Day is just around the corner, too, and we'll be advertising a huge military discount in Colorado Springs since that gym is located right by the Air Force base.

Staffing is our biggest struggle with owning two gyms. We ran My Gym Arvada for 16 months without staff (just Thomas and I on every class and every birthday party), but now that Juli is mainly in Arvada and Thomas is mainly in Colorado Springs, we are becoming highly dependable on other people. We are hiring in both locations because we need to. It's a little stressful to do so during the approaching slow summer months, but we have to stick to our belief that we will never be able to grow our business if we don't grow internally with dependable/available, highly trained staff.

Some more quick updates...

 Pepper turned ONE on April 29th. He has grown so much since we adopted him at 8 weeks old.

My brother is a United States Marine!

 We were able to fly to South Carolina for a quick 3 days to be a part of Micah's family day and graduation from Marine boot camp. We were able to visit with Juli's dad, mom, step-dad, aunt Sheila, brother, sister and nephew Jacob.

 The Waits siblings: Juli, Micah, Angela

And finally...

I would say that a "chapter" in my life is coming to an end, but it feels more like a book is coming to a close. I have been a nanny off and on since she was 14 years old. Caleb and Chloe (our flower girl and ring bearer in our wedding) were my first "job", and my love for babysitting turned into long-term nanny commitments along side of My Gym duties. Anelise was my most recent almost full-time nanny job, but I had to close that "chapter" when we took over the My Gym in Colorado Springs. I was so sad to not have that "mommy practice" anymore and thought I was done with nannying until Kate (pictured) came along once a week on Thursday mornings. I thought it was manageable since it was only 4 hours a week, however, with the work load of both gyms and staffing troubles, May will be my last month as a nanny. I would still love to babysit here and there for families I keep in touch with, but my consistent day to day and even week to week work will always be My Gym until the glorious day comes when I get to "nanny" my own children for a lifetime.