A GREAT BIG THANKS AND….This is CrossFit!

So we have had a few days to recover from the shock we received on Wednesday.  It started with a text at 10:30pm Tuesday night stating it was “Coach Appreciation Day” tomorrow and we were required to be at EVERY class for the day.  I (Danielle) heard my phone when the text came through but didn’t look at it right away.  Jessica called me and said, “um what is this text, I am not going to the 6:30am class.”  After some strong persuasion from one Traci Gilbertson, we agreed that we would BOTH be there. I pulled up at about 6:15 to a parking lot of people that were WAY too cheery all wearing black and yellow.  From shirts to head bands, socks and antennae.  It was quite a site to see. However, I was not allowed to enter.  Why, you ask?  We needed to wait on Jessica. Here was what went down….

There were black and yellow streamers, tables with food and……gifts!  Lots of gifts, so we thought at the time.  Little did we know that this was JUST the beginning.  We then entered the actual workout area where the floor was COVERED with balloons, more streamers on the pull-up rig and OH MY GOSH, they wrote on the floor WITH the chalk for our hands.  “Who is going to clean this up” Jessica blurted out, as she knew that this was what the expected response would be!

After being totally overwhelmed and taking it all in, it was time to meet Fran!  Thanks to one Cody 2.0, who else would pick Fran for their birthday WOD.  Yes, appreciation day and a birthday WOD in the same day.  The 6:30 class killed Fran, literally, all decked out.  Marcus got in the spirit…..

What a great time we had with the “cool kids” class as the resident doughnut maker has named it.  Arpana, Elly, Emily H, Kathie, Lindsey, Cristina, Andrea and Marcus were the first class to tackle Fran.  Oh yea, the resident doughnut maker’s kid, Ashni, also known as the 6:30 mascot got into the spirit as well.  Look how cute she is….

After the 6:30 class WOD we then had our first “treats” which consisted of Dutch Monkey Doughnuts (of course), fruit and we may or may not have had mimosas.

Time for the early morning risers to get on with their day.  Next up was the 8am class with Joy, Max, Brooke and Colin.  Again, the pattern repeats with more spirit as they all had on black and yellow too.  They got to meet Fran and more champagne and doughnuts were consumed. Next up the 9:30 “hens” as Max likes to call them.  Even more impressive outfits of black and yellow.  Striped tights and head bands were seen in this class.  Christel, Kim, Terri and Traci showed up for their date with Fran.  Again, more doughnuts bit the dust and their kids were part of the festivities too.  Next up, real breakfast.  Unfortunately, Jessica had to go since we had someone coming to the now closed therapy clinic to hopefully buy some of the equipment.  Through six degrees of separation, actually was less than that, the person that Jessica ended up meeting was no other than member Joy’s sister-in-law, who happens to own a pediatric therapy clinic of her very own.  While Jessica was gone the 9:30 girls took Danielle to breakfast then we got back to our dates with Fran.  It was Joe and Michelle’s turn next.  They also came bearing gifts.  For those of you that don’t know Michelle and Joe have changed their diet enormously over the past few weeks, with great results and new PRs I must say.  We mentioned that we like to eat at Uncle Maddio’s since they have a really good gluten free pizza and now her and Joe frequent there quite often.  They handed us an Uncle Maddio’s Pizza box and to our surprise it contained…….

Yep, Paleo Vodka!  Oh and whistles and Uncle Maddio’s gift certificates.  I was thinking that these would come in handy for the 9:30 “hens” but they were broken in during a 5:30 class.  Michelle was sporting some bee wings and Joe was in the spirit, of course, in a Sting t-shirt and antenna head band.  Again, Fran proved to be the biatch that we all know she is and it seems like Joe hopes to never meet her again.

Jessica and I got to chat with them a little after the WOD, still kind of in a daze and so amazed that everyone would go through so much trouble for us.  In fact, we have only been open 6 months and some of these people doing such nice things have only been members just a month or two.  Truly, unbelievable!  After the noon class Jessica and I took some pictures, replaced the balloons to the middle of the floor so those that did not participate in the decorating party the night before could get the full effect.  Oh, and sorry about being at the box a little later than normal interfering with the decorating party.  You know, Jessica and I rarely see each other so we had some catching up to do.  That and we were busy logging attendance and WOD results.  Anyway, back to the story.  Much needed nap time was attempted between the noon class and the 5:30om class. However, my phone was literally blowing up and practically smoking.  We were added to the infamous Facebook message feed earlier in the day but instructed NOT to read it until after the 6:30 class so as not to ruin the other surprises.  Great, but you were all STILL messaging each other, like 3-4 a minute and the damn phone kept giving me the notifications, keeping me from napping.  On to the 5:30 class.  Next up for their Fran date was Alex (poor Alex this was his 3rd WOD I think), Anna, Cody, Andrea, Brent, Jenna, Emily, Peter, Bob, Staci, Matt and Cody 2.0.  But wait, there were more gifts to be had.  We already had a gift card tree and lots of yummy food and drinks, vodka and whistles.  What more did we need?  Well, really cool new coach t-shirts.  Check these out that Brent and Ashley designed and had made.

Two more gift baskets were received that included various kinds of tea and even a bottle of wine with a BEE on it. More vodka and Margaritas and a picture frame with pictures of Jessica, me, and the resident pet mascot, Jackson.  The picture of him should have been him cowering under the desk as that is where he can usually be found.  The other basket consisted of all kinds of Paleo snacks!  Emily and Peter brought a cooler of beer for everyone to enjoy post Fran.  Everyone had completely out done themselves!  Such amazing gestures and kind words were also received.  Cody 2.0 finished Fran for his birthday and left an extra special present for us outside in the parking lot.  Fran is the gift that just keeps on giving.

The 6:30 class consisted of Sheila, Scott, Kara and Stan.  The all got to take on Fran with everyone that had had just finished Fran at 5:30, including a few others.  Some members came back to the box that had already done the WOD in the morning just to hang out with everyone and have a drink.  It’s still kind of a blur but Pierce, Andrea U. and Arpana all resurfaced.  It was a full house and so fun to just chill out.  Classes ended but the party didn’t.  Ashley, Arpana, Stan, Shiela and Brent took us out to Taco Mac for some much needed food and more fun conversation.  Still totally overwhelmed.

So, the day ended and we can’t thank everyone enough for making this all worthwhile.  Opening “The Hive” has been fun and scary but most importantly so rewarding.  This has completely validated that.  I know there were more contributors to the gifts so I also want to thank Jami, Cammie, Tagrid and Ginger for their contributions too and I’m sorry you couldn’t be there for the festivities.  If we missed anyone we apologize….but hopefully we got you all mentioned at some point in this enormous thank you blog.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU…..THIS IS CROSSFIT!!!

Danielle & Jessica (Queen D and Queen J)