Livestrong

I love working out. Not only because of it's physical benefits, but also because of the opportunity it presents to do some good in my community. Over the past year and a half, this opportunity presented itself through spinning.

Spinning is something I've always liked but it took getting involved in a local fundraiser for Livestrong get me hooked. The Ultimate Cycling Challenge (started by a fantastic group in Grand Rapids) is a 12 or 24 hour event (depending upon your team's stamina and availability) with live entertainment, food, music and dozens of spinning bikes that annually come together to raise money for the Livestrong Foundation.

It's a truly inspiring event, I met both cycling enthusiasts, cancer survivors, cancer patients and families of those fighting cancer. These people share their stories and help put a face to a cause. My team included 3 other women (my sister and two friends Amanda and Cat) who have all been affected by cancer in our lives at some point and had been looking for a way to become more active in our communities - needless to say, we couldn't say no when our friend Katy emailed us about this event.

Team Old School was born. To date, we've participated in 3 events and plan to keep it going. This past year was our first pass at the 24 hour challenge and it was great motivation to get into shape to compete with other teams. I'm hooked.

So now I'm challenging you - how are you getting involved in your community and using your passions to make a difference?

More to come,

Nicole

Catching up

Now that I'm back from the dead, it seems the most appropriate thing to do is recap the past eight months - in true NWLife style: bullets and photos!

• In July, Greg (or for those of you on Twitter @CoachYelland) and I celebrated our first year of marriage in Mackinac Island
  
• After nearly four crazy years, I chose to leave my wonderful friends, coworkers and clients at Airfoil Public Relations for a new job as Social Networking Coordinator with the Detroit Red Wings
• In my first month at new the new gig, I not only traveled to training camp with the team in Traverse City, MI but also got the opportunity of a lifetime to go to Sweden with the team where I live blogged from the road.
• Feel deeply in love with our new Akita-Chocolate lab mix, Coach.

• Made new friends (like the really good kind) at work. Breathed a deep sigh of relief.
  
• Made the best EVER Halloween duo combo with my sister.
• Celebrated my birthday tradition by heading to Crossroads Village to see the Christmas lights (I'm a Christmas Eve baby) with great friends.
• With the help of Medical Weight Loss Clinics I learned how to eat right for my body and celebrated the loss of 20 pounds and a new beginning.
• Took some time for myself during the Olympic break with my best friend from childhood and spent Valentine's Day in NYC for Fashion Week and was inspired by art.
• Headed to Grand Rapids for my annual Ultimate Cycling Challenge spinning event with Team Old School where we not only raised money for Livestrong but also managed to clinch the most spirited team award after 24 hours of spinning.
• Celebrated the birth of William Louis Urbanik, the son of Nikki and Phil Urbanik - my first friends to have a baby.
• Celebrated Coach's first birthday with special doggie cookies from Doodle Dog Bakery.
• Adopted and temporarily housed a siamese kitten as a gift to my dad for his 49th birthday.
• Started taking boxing lessons and really loving my time at the gym.

This brings us to today. At home, blogging while snuggling up with my puppy (I still call her a pup) waiting for Mr. Y to get home from his baseball tourney and have a date night. There's so much to be thankful for and happy about. This post doesn't come close to capturing it all, but it's a snapshot of my wonderfully charmed life.

More to come,

Nicole

I'm alive

Hello bloggosphere! I know, I know I'm very guilty of not posting for a long time. The good news is that I have inspiration to post. For the past eight months I've been manning my post at my new gig as the social networking coordinator with the Detroit Red Wings. It's been a whirlwind few months but I really do love it and am inspired every day by bloggers, social media types and becoming even more of a nerd than even I thought I'd ever be.

Not only am I inspired by Wings bloggers, but even my own sister-in-law has started a blog full of deep thoughts and mental deep breaths.

So thanks guys, I'm back from the dead!