Mind and Body Fitness Connections

Well Brian deployed on the 24th.  I went to the National Guard and watched as they got on the bus and then we followed them to the airport.  This was a very different experience than what Marines get.  With Brian, when we got to the airport they gave us all passes so we could wait at the gait until his plane arrived.  During all of Kinny’s deployments we waited outside (for hours) while the units got organized, loaded up on the buses and left.  I never got to go to the airport with him. Oh the difference between Marines and other brances of he armed service….. enough on that…… Brian’s family is just glad he will still be on US soil for the next 4 weeks training before actually going overseas. Anyway here are some pics.

Brian’s family at the National Guard Base before getting on the bus (it was 6:30 a.m.)

Kelly and Brian at the airport.

Brian, Kelly, Jacob and Kirstyn at the airport.

Brian and his mom, Kitty at the airport.

Brian and me at the airport.

As I mentioned in a previous post my husband’s best friend from grade school is deploying this Sat. on Jan 24th.  He is in the National Guard and works in public relations…. he’s the camera man.  He will be flying to New Jersey for a month of training on Saturday and then he will fly to Kuwait for processing before being stationed in Tikrit for the remaining 12 months.   I just want to send out a special thank you to him for being willing to serve our country and to his wife for the job of managing the household and children he is leaving behind.  I can relate all too well to her position and my husband is seeing things from a completely different perspective (having to say goodbye to your loved one rather than being the one leaving). 

This is Kinny and Brian in uniform together.

These pictures were taken at Brian’s pre deployment ceremony on base.

Kinny, our son and Brian at the ceremony.

Brian and his wife Kelly.

This picture was taken the next weekend at the family and friend deployment party he had at his house.  From left to right (Eric, Brian, and Kinny).  They have all known each other since grade school.

I have moved around several times in the past 12 years and it is always great to make new friends, enjoy new cultures and to see what a truly beautiful country we live in.  One thing I have realized though, is that there is nothing that can compare to the joy felt when you reunite with those people who have known you for countless years….. They know the good, the bad and the ugly about your life and still love and support you in spite of yourself.  Here are some of those special people in both mine and my husbands  lives.

Me and my high school friend Natalie who has been living happily in Colorado for the last several years.  She came to visit for the holidays and we had the opportunity to hang out.

My friend Dee who I met when working at Gold’s Gym in Virginia.  She flew out to CA for Thanksgiving and was there to see us off during our move.  She has always been able to make me smile when life seemed as though there was nothing to smile about.  LOVE THE DEE!!!!

This is our friend Carrie who I met through Dee and she and her cousin moved to CA about 1 1/2 years ago.  She and her girlfriend hosted Thanksgiving Dinner at their house just before our move.  My husband and I always considered Carrie, Sheri and  Drew (not shown) our California family.  I will post  pix of Sheri and Drew when I get some other pix off my laptop.  Hopefully  they already know how much we appreciate their friendship!

This is my husbands good friend that he has known since grade school; Brian.  His son Jacob was born on Chrismas day and after we had Christmas Lunch with them we had his birthday party that night.  This shows Jacob getting his 10 birthday spankings.

Brian’s daughter Kirstyn was born on New Years Day and this picture shows her in all of her glory at her 6 year old party opening her gifts.

This next one made just  about everyone in the room tear up.  Brian gave Kirstyn a ring to keep him in her thoughts during his 12 month deployment to Iraq.  He will be leaving on Jan 24th.

I think we must have had 4 or 5 Christmas and Birthday parties to go to for  all our family and friends…. not to mention that my husband’s best friend has two children, a 10 year old son born on Christmas day and then their 6 year old daughter born on New Years day.  It definately made for a busy holiday season.  It has however been so great to spend time with everyone and see our son have so much fun with his Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.  There were too many good pictures to post all of them, but here are a several great ones.

Kinny and Dylan (my husband and son) at my sisters house for their Christmas celebration.

Trinity and Dylan (my sisters daughter and my son at that same party opening gifts my Dad, Curt and his wife, Carol sent from California).

Me and my older (and only) sister Chey.

My Sister’s family from left to right (their adopted daughter Amanda, Chey’s daughter Trinity, Jason’s son- Little J, Jason, my sisters husband and my sister).

My husband Kinny and I.

My mother, Donna and I.

My son Dylan and niece Trinity in their new PJ’s.

My husbands family from left to right (my husbands niece Kylie, 2nd cousin Reye, brother-in-law Toney, mother Esther, sister Shelly and son Dylan). 

Well I have to say, it has been 5 years since my husband and I made a cross country move.  In December 2003 when my husband got orders to report to Camp Pendleton we packed up all that we owned from our one bedroom apartment in Reston, VA (just 17 miles outside Washington DC) and moved cross country to Oceanside, CA.  Its amazing how much we accumulated during our  5 years of living in CA.  This move was definately a bit more complicated even though we had less miles to cover.  We had a son while living in CA and its amazing someone so small can possess so much.  Also, I had all of my business equipment to move and we were packing up a 3 bedroom house, plus we had just adopted a 7 month old pit bull weeks before the journey.  Here are a few pictures of our caravan as we started out the packing process and then hit the road.

My husband Kinny loading the Penske Truck the day after Thanksgiving

Family photo just  before hitting the road on December 3rd 

 Our caravan parked at the hotel in Big Springs Texas the day before our arrival in Oklahoma.  WOW was it cold there!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season.  I realize this can be a busy and stressful time of year, but it can also bring great joy as we slow down and spend time with our loved ones. 

I am sending this email to let you know of some major changes that are going on with myself and Mind and Body Fitness Connections.  After a great deal of thought, my husband and I made the decision to relocate from California.  The first week of December Mind and Body Fitness Connections packed up and moved from The Wellness Center in Vista and will remain out of commission for several months.

My family arrived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on the 6^th of December.  Most of my husband’s and my family live here.  We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our family and our four-year-old son is having a blast with his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. 

My husband was in the Marine Corp from June 2003 to August 2007.  During the 50 months he was in the service he spent only 17 months home with us, serving two tours in Iraq and one in Japan.  This separation took a large toll on our entire family.  After a great deal of discussion we decided it would be in our family’s best interest to take some time off to reconnect and heal from the struggles deployments like these can bring.  So, we will be spending time in Oklahoma until after the New Year and then we plan to spend several months traveling in a RV that my sister and her husband have been gracious enough to let us borrow.  We plan to spend the winter months in the Southern states (and will be back in Oceanside visiting friends sometime in February/March).  Then, we will head up North for the spring/summer months. We are currently planning to settle down in Oklahoma City sometime in the summer of 2009, at which time I plan to open the doors of Mind and Body Fitness Connections again. 

I will be updating the blog on my website with news of our travels as frequently as I am able.  I would love for you to keep up with our journey and keep in touch with me.  My website, email and cell phone numbers will remain the same.  I greatly appreciate your business and friendship and look forward to sharing my family’s journey and growth with you. 

Have a joyful and blessed Christmas and New Year!

With gratitude,

Jennifer Tolbert, LMT, CNMT

Mind and Body Fitness Connections

760-297-0264

jenntolbert@mindandbodyfitness.net

www.mindandbodyfitness.net

A couple weeks ago I attended my second level course of lifestyle coaching through the CHEK Institute with Dr. Oliver and Emma Lane teaching the course.  It was phenomenal!  Five days has never flown by so fast.  It was a pretty intensive course, with lots of sitting and listening.  However, I have to say the CHEK Institute is my favorite place to do continuing education because they provide a place to get up and stretch at the back of the room, with foam rollers and balls provided, which is so nice to have.  This course really reinterated the importance of the 6 foundational principles that we learned in the first class, which I have already been teaching clients.  It also took a much deeper look at how stress effects systems of the body, in particular, digestion.  Life truly does begin and end in the digestive tract, and if we are constantly in a state of stress (hence, fight or flight), our digestive process suffers, leading to a multitude of possible negative effects.  After having read Paul’s book “How to Eat Move and Be Healthy”, attending his first lifestyle coaching course, and going through the personal health challenges I have had over the past couple of years, this class really tied everything together in understanding how the disease process comes to be.  While it is sometimes a long and tedious road back to health, the process for regaining vitality becomes crystal clear after taking this class.  I am very excited to start working with my clients in this new realm of healing!  I look forward to sharing my personal journey for health with others and watching as they achieve health and fulfillment within their lives.  Thanks to Paul, Emma, Dr. Oliver and the others that made this course happen.  We truly can save lives with this knowledge!

During the month of April I have the privilege of presenting information about healthy eating to 5 groups of city employees.  This week so far we have done 2 of the lectures and they have both gone great.  The Chiropractic Rehabilitation Wellness Center has sponsored and set up the event.  Along with myself, addressing primarily nutrition, Dr. Rick Barrack who is a Doctor of Chiropractic specializing in orthopedics, has been discussing the importance of exercise and proper rehabilitation.  Dr. Craig Heller who is also a Doctor of Chiropractic, but with a speciality in sports medicine, has been speaking on proper warm up prior to exercise or work that involves labor. 

I know for me personally, it has been a great opportunity to hear the Doctor’s lecture on their individual topics.  While most of the information is not new to me, its always neat to hear another professional speak about a subject I am already familiar with because it seems there is always some new way of wording or some new example the person might use that makes me think of possibly a better way of expressing that topic to one of my clients.  It just goes to show you can always learn something new. 

It’s also been a good opportunity for me to work closely with members from our team here at the Wellness Center.  Over the course of the last several months since we moved to our new facility, it’s been great to see how our team can rally together around a patient to bring them expertise on a subject, from different educational angles.  I think it has allowed us to provide superior treatment to patients and clients. 

 I believe great things are happening here at this clinic and I’m looking forward to what the future holds!

This is a new and exciting way to unleash the thoughts of Jennifer onto the world!  Now I can share all of my concerns, hopes, dreams, and opinions with those that choose to be brave enough to read through this