I mentioned this in last night’s post but the reason for my weekend trip to Georgia was to visit with friend and blog reader, Louly, who is the director of the Y in Covington. They were launching BodyPump 80 this weekend so it was perfect timing for me to visit and participate in the launch. (Side note, read my review of BodyPump 80 in this post.)

Picking up where I left off (read about our amazing dinner on Friday night here)…

I awoke Saturday morning to this beautiful sunrise right outside my bedroom window. It made for such a relaxing and peaceful start to my day.

Louly had a big batch of apple cinnamon oatmeal waiting in the rice cooker. I couldn’t believe how fluffy and perfectly textured the oatmeal was. It made me want to get a rice cooker so that I can have perfect oatmeal ready and waiting when I wake up! I topped bowl with Justin’s Maple Almond Butter, Crofter’s, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. Oatmeal and lots of coffee was just what I needed to get energized to teach back-to-back BodyPump classes!

We arrived at the Y around 9:45 a.m. to get set up for the launch. There was so much demand that they had to offer two classes – 10:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. I have to share that the Covington Y just started offering BodyPump about a year ago and it has been really successful for them and the members are loving it! Louly and I e-mailed back and forth a bit when she was considering bringing the program in and I’m so happy to see that it was successful!

The launch was so much fun! We had five instructors and each of us taught two tracks while two instructors demoed along with the lead instructor and two walked around to correct form.

I taught biceps and cool down. I love the bicep track in BodyPump 80 – there’s no break! And it was great to lead the stretching at the end of class. It always feels so good after a tough strength workout.

Thank you so much to Louly (center) and Kelli (on the right…she’s the group ex coordinator) for hosting me this weekend. I can’t wait to come back and visit soon!

I was more than ready for lunch after two BodyPump classes (and some fun “by the numbers” stats…in doing two classes I completed around 300 squats and 100 push ups…crazy!). Louly and I picked up Southwestern Chicken Salads from Chick-Fil-A and took them back to her house. We doctored them up by heating up the chicken, adding some fresh fruit on the side and using dressing Louly had in the fridge. I went with a combo of honey mustard and balsamic vinaigrette at her suggestion and it was so good. I’m definitely going to start mixing my dressings now.

After lunch I made the short 35-minute trip over to my parents house and proceeded to spend the remainder of the day on the couch. I did get up for about 30 minutes to eat dinner!

We started with a salad (never enough green stuff! ;)) with mixed greens, toasted pecans, dried cranberries, aged cheddar and balsamic vinaigrette. Simple but delicious.

The main event was Hungarian Beef Stew over egg noodles and topped off with sour cream. I was so in the mood for this dinner. I have been craving red meat lately and it was cold and rainy out. It was nice to stay in and have a comforting dinner at home with my parents.

I was so excited to discover that my mom made one of my very favorite desserts of all-time, banana pudding from The Southern Living Cookbook. Seriously, this is one of those foods that only my mom can make for me and the first bite brings a big sigh of happiness!

And then we watched Worst Cooks in America. I think I have a new TV obsession. I laughed the whole hour. And then I slept for 10 hours.

Off to eat lunch and think about getting myself back to Charlotte. Hope you’re staying warm and dry today.