WW II and my trip to France

I am back now from an incredible family trip to France. 16 of us went. The trip was orchestrated by my father in law, Joe Collie. You see he fought in WWII in the 100th Infantry Division at the young age of 18.

This trip was to commemorate all that the Americans and French did collaboratively to free the French in WWII. Of course we started in Paris seeing all the wonderful tourist sites like Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle, Arch De Triomphe, The Louvre, Luxembourg Gardens and of course the Eiffel Tower. All of this was Grand! But then...we went to Normandy. A most humbling place and sacred too. It was hard not to shed a tear as you studied how the Germans retreated and fought and then to see the gravesites of all military who gave their lives for this cause. I observed my father in law intently through all of these locations...Days later we boarded a train and set off for Strasbourg. From there we drove to the small town of Bitche where my father in law spent many months in and out of foxholes in the freezing rain and snow during WWII. This was proving to be an unforgettable experience.

As they have done in the past the three towns of Bitche, Lemberg and Rimling planned ceremonies for the 65th anniversary of their liberation and we were honored to participate. My father in law and some of the remaining soldiers (25 vets from across the world were present)(there are only about 4,000 across the world that are still alive out of 25,000 who served in the war).

The program went something like this:

May 7: 10 am: a special visit of the Citadel will take you down to its most secret parts, the cells where English prisoners captured by Napoleon 1st were kept in captivity for many years, a most fascinating place. You will also understand why the Citadel never surrendered in the course of history, and especially in March 1945. And we will pay tribute to the Sons of Bitche who liberated the area and who are honored by a plaque at the entrance to the upper level of the Citadel.
5 pm: oecumenical service in remembrance of all the victims of this conflict, civilians and soldiers.
6 pm: review of the troops of the new unit stationed in Bitche, the 16th Infantry Bn followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the War memorial outside the townhall.
7 pm: reception in the townhall.

May 8: 10.30 am: official ceremony in the Lemberg woods at the monument erected in honor of Maurice Lloyd and Seventh Army. Transportation will be provided for the veterans. This story is amazing. google Maurice Lloyd to hear how his body was found some 30 years after the war...
11.15 am: reception in the Lemberg townhall.
12.15 pm: lunch in the Saint Augustine College, a place famous for some Sons of Bitche. Transportation provided by the association of re-enactors and drivers of ancient vehicles.
2.30pm: visit of Schiesseck, the Maginot Line conquered by the Sons of Bitche (only the outside part, the fort having been sealed to prevent vandalism).This was incredible.
5 pm: Rimling will commemorate the battle of January 1945 with the participation of a Franco-German. Followed by a reception.
The three mayors will be greatly honored by your presence at these ceremonies.

Other highlights:
Our children and my father in law visited a school where they sat in on a 7th grade class and had firsthand interviews with my father in law and other vets about WWII. My children as well as the French 7th grade class were in awe of one another.

Each town was extrememly gracious and we were humbled by all the vets like my father in law who had fought through WWII. With Taps playing in the background it was a most humbling experience and as the American Star Spangled Banner played and our flag was risen high beside the French flag, folks embraced one another as if we were all mere neighbors. It brought tears to my eyes.

One other amazing thing that happened on the trip was on our last day in Rimling.... My father in law took us to one of his foxholes, literally it was high on a hillside (currently a beautiful field of canola, if you don't know what that looks like think fields and fields of vibant yellow flowers. Visit my facebook to see the photos...)

Here is the crazy story, across the road from his foxhole was a farm house and barn. He looked across the road and said,"I slept there in that barn one night during WWII." So upon his request, we went to the farm house to ask to see if we could look inside the barn. Sure enough after fumbling through communication barriers of french and english, we learned that this in fact was the barn he slept in (it had been rebuilt since the war). Furthermore, one of the owners brought out an American rifle he found on the land and an American helmet as well as a German helmet. Of course, my father in law donned the American helmet and rifle and stood proudly for a photo opp! :-) There are many treasures like that still remaining across the countryside.

We left for home shortly after that. Witha 9 to 10 hour plane ride home (yes we diverted over the arctic circle due to volcanic ash) I was replaying the memories of the trip in my mind. I do wonder what we would do now if our young men had to go to war like that again. I am grateful for all those who came before us. I hope we all will take note of history among our nations. It is worth remembering....

I'm Leaving...

But I'll be back soon. I'm traveling to France with the whole extended family to relive WWII through my father in laws' eyes.... A very cool experience it will be. Emotional I am sure... unforgetttable too...He was stationed there in a fox hole for months in the snow... something some of us could never imagine. I am thinking this trip will be more meaningful than we know. Hope it makes as much an impact on our kids as it does on me and my husband, Charles. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I will be gone from April 30-May 10. Kevin,Naina, and Bonnie will be holding down the fort. I will miss you and our workouts. I am planning on taking a bell of course, but with a twist. On Kev's( he is so smart) suggestion, I am taking the 12kg to see just what I can do with soley that. I am thinking already Pistols, Bottoms up clean and presses, Bottoms up Getups, multiple high rep snatches (think 100 rep snatch test 5 mintues), bottoms up floor presses.... of course I'll throw in some burpees for good measure.
Take life one moment at a time and make the BEST of it! Love an honor your body and those around you. Take nothing for granted. Be Thankful. yes, even if there are getups or lunges on the board.
I will see you all on Tuesday, May 11. Until then keep focusing on your own quality of life. Then pay it forward.
All the best,
Betsy
Ps I'm really gonna miss you!

Words of Wisdom To Live By

"Keep your words positive, because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your vaules positive because your vaules become your destiny."
Mahatma Ghandi

Celebrating Moms who train with Kettlebells

The RKC and Dragondoor have come up with an ingenius media online called dragondoor.tv. I love it because they are bringing up to the minute news in the RKC world about kettlebell training and the like. IF the masses want to know where the gold standard is in kettlebell training, it is none other than RKC Dragon Door.

This weeks episode they are running a contest on Moms who train with Kettlebells. I am one of the contestants. I have three boys ages, 6,11, and 13. They use kbs too. I would love your vote for me as favorite Kettlebell Mom. To vote for me click here: www.dragondoor.tv then click on contests and vote for me under my name, Betsy Collie. Thanks for your vote! Make it a GREAT day!

Final Nail in the Cardio Coffin

As a Kettelbell instructor and over 25 years in the fitness industry I can't agree more with the article below. I couldn't have said it better!



http://figureathlete.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/training/the_final_nail_in_the_cardio_coffin

Walking, it does a body good....

So I started back walking this week. I used to walk regularly. Usually on the days I didn't train with kettlebells, sometimes even on the days I did train with kettlebells. It was(still is) a great compliment to intense kettlebell training. I personally love the way my legs, hamstrings, and glutes feel after a brisk walk.

In my neighborhood there are some pretty good roads for walking. Ups and downs, flats, you name it. So I put on my ipod and off I go. Now here is the thing... I try and walk to the beat of the music I am listnening to. When I do this I get an awsome leg/glute workout. But here is something else I noticed about myself after training with kettlebells, my posture is so much better while walking. No slouching, no dead weight hitting each foot on impact. In other words my torso (core) is engaged. Vertebrae stacked one on top of the other, standing tall through the crown of the head. I started noticing this because as I would try to walk to the beat of the music I had to "engage' in other words muscle contraction took place in the core and glutes to get the legs to fire harder. Does that make sense? When I did this, then my posture fell into place. And guess where Iwas looking? Straight ahead. It felt awesome!

So I began to take note of other subtlties. Like were my feet striking the ground with the same impact? Were my arms swinging alike in opposition to my step. And if not, could I make them so?

Remember your first step? What a fuss everyone made! And then you continued to walk right on through childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood, but somewhere along the way, like most adults, you probably stopped walking so much. In fact, the percentage of adults who spent most of their day sitting increased from 36.8% in 2000 to 39.9% in 2005! Part of the reason may be your hectic, stressful life, with not a moment to spare for recreation or formal exercise. The environment plays a part too; inactivity has been engineered into our lives, from escalators to remote controls to riding lawn mowers to robotic vacuum cleaners to electric toothbrushes to the disappearance of sidewalks and safe places to walk. But research shows that all this automation is bad for our health. Inactivity is the second leading preventable cause of death in the United States, second only to tobacco use.

You'd think a simple activity like walking would be just that, simple. But fewer than 50% of American adults do enough exercise to gain any health or fitness benefits from physical activity. Is walking our salvation? I don't know for sure, but evidence suggests that it's probably a good start.

SO having said that I am off for a brisk walk with my favorite tunes and enjoying the last of the beautiful sunshine before nightfall. Join me and let me know what you discover about your walk....

How do you walk in your neighborhood?

Weird question to ask, huh? Well, I have some key points I'd like to make on that when I continue. Stay tuned shortly for my post on this. I have to run out briefly but will return soon. (Guess I should be twittering, huh?) Anyway, I think you'll find it interesting what I have to say. Food for thought for sure. Have a great afternoon and check back for the update.