Raising the Bar for Fitness in Gresham

I am the oldest of six kids — four brothers and one sister. I moved every 2-3 years as I was growing up but was born in Grants Pass, OR. In my younger years I was a dancer (world champion clogger to be more specific) and I was pretty active growing up. My family moved my senior year and I became a very angry girl and gained a significant amount of weight. After graduation I started taking group exercise classes and loved them so much! That experience lead me into the fitness industry which I’ve been in for 22+ years. I was introduced to CrossFit in 2012. In 2013 I got my CrossFit Level 1 certification and fell in LOVE and there was no looking back.

Q & A

1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
My favorite thing to cook is any kind of dessert and Mac & Cheese. I think right now my favorite thing to eat is french fries but really I just love ALL food except Chinese.

2. Favorite Holiday?
Fourth of July!!!

3. Favorite movie?
Couples Retreat

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
Definitely Dog

5. Credentials
CrossFit L2
Endurance Certificate
Gymnastics Certificate
CrossFit Weightlifting Level 1
CrossFit Judges Course
CrossFit Scaling Certificate
CrossFit Teaching Movement Certificate
Scaled Nation Trainer
NASM

My fitness journey started long ago on the soccer fields of Gresham. I ran and ran and ran my little heart out for years and I hated every second of it. All I ever wanted to play was Baseball.

In middle school I realized I just loved to run. I ran with the Dexter McCarty Track Team and specialized in sprints and hurdles. Because of track, I was lucky enough to have found football but at the very same time, discovered I wasn’t very good at it. Try as I might, I could never remember the stupid plays. I just really liked hitting people as hard as I could and was always shocked that it was actually encouraged.

Later in life, and after a bout of addiction, heavy drinking, and various troubles with the law, I rediscovered my love for running. I enjoyed getting lost on the trails around Gresham, Portland, and Mt. Hood. I often ran for miles until I felt like I couldn’t run anymore. I was cathartic for me. I think I also viewed it as a sort of penance for all my sins and transgressions in my youth.

In 2012 I was introduced to CrossFit by my then crazy girlfriend (now wife and ride or die), Chausse. I love the punishing aspect of it but also the opportunity to turn everyday stresses into actual physical strength and endurance gains. Everyday is a new adventure inside the gym and presents a new opportunity to test yourself.

I cannot envision my life without CrossFit, 3-46 GRIT, and our amazing community!

1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
Breakfast food! Theres nothing I love more than cooking my family a Sunday morning breakfast with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and a hot cup of coffee.

2. Favorite Holiday?
Thanksgiving, by far! There’s literally nothing better than sitting around a table with your family and friends, sharing all the foods. Oh, and FOOTBALL!!!

3. Favorite movie?
Goodfellas – “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
Honestly, I’m neither. I don’t believe in offering up extra affection to anything, let alone an animal. My dogs name is the Honey Badger and she acts like the queen of our home and is of course treated a such 😉

5. Why you love our community?
Our community is my family.

6. Credentials
Certified CrossFit Trainer Level 3
CrossFit Weightlifting L1
Scaled Nation Trainer
CrossFit Gymnastics L1
CrossFit Endurance
CrossFit Spot the Flaw
CrossFit Coaching Fundamentals
CrossFit Scaling Course
CrossFit Judges Course
CrossFit Programming Course
USA Weightlifting Level 2
USA Weightlifting Club Coach
Carl Paoli Muscle-up Master Seminar

Q & A

1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
I enjoy cooking breakfast, however my favorite food is Cafe Yumm bowls. These bowls consist of some type of rice, beans, avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, sour cream, protein of your choice, salsa, and their special Yumm sauce.

2. Favorite Holiday?
New Year’s Day. I love partying with friends and anticipating the new adventures I get to experience in the upcoming year.

3. Favorite movie?
Rocky IV- It’s one of those movies I can sit down and watch anytime.

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
We are a dog family. My wife, Jodi, fell in love with the Corgi breed, so we have two of them. Samson is our 2 year old and Bellamy is our 7 month old.

5. Why you love our community?
The diverse group of individuals that make up our community is what I love most. We all share the common goal of trying to be better versions of ourselves, in a sport we will never really master. There’s always a movement or lift we can continue to perfect. This community has been such a life giving component of my life and I love investing in the relationships we have with each other.

6. Credentials
CrossFit Level 2
CrossFit Weightlifting Level 1
Crossfit Spot the Flaw

Q & A
1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
I love making a big ol’ tomahawk steak on the grill with some asparagus and loaded mashed potatoes.

2. Favorite Holiday?
4th of July. Fireworks are cool and all, but the sunshine, yard games, light beer and of course the BBQ food (hot dogs and hamburgers for the win).

3. Favorite movie?
Pretty much anything Marvel – especially Avengers but even Ben Affleck’s Daredevil.

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
I love all animals, but I definitely prefer to own dogs, specially larger almost 100+ pounders. My dogs names are Ruby and Bear – they are the complete opposite personalities.

5. Why you love our community?
Not only is everyone greatly supportive in the gym and workouts, but the support and willingness to help anyone is really what separates GRIT as a gym and community.

6. Credentials
Certified CrossFit Trainer Level 3
Precision Nutrition Certified Level 1
Coaching Fundamentals Certificate
Scaling Certificate
Spot the Flaw Certificate
Teaching Movement Certificate

Q & A
1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
Poppyseed Chicken (My Mom’s recipe)

2. Favorite Holiday?
Christmas

3. Favorite movie?
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
Both: Cat – Jules, Dogs: Penny & Cooper

5. Why you love our community?
The Grit community is family to me. I often tell people that I go to the gym to hang out with great friends, and we happen to get a killer workout in at the same time. Grit is my 2nd home, my therapy, my self-care. I honestly don’t know where I would be today if I hadn’t found the community that is Grit, 6 years ago!

6. Credentials
CrossFit Level 2
CrossFit Judges Course
Outlaw Olympic Lifting Seminar
Carl Paoli Free+style Connection Seminar

Q&A
1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
Best I can do is narrow it down to two answers: Detroit style pizzas in my brick pizza oven and/or ginormous sushi spreads with fish I caught. Doing both are what I suspect to be the real reasons I have friends.

2. Favorite Holiday?
Whichever ones give me a long weekend! Otherwise, my “holidays” are whatever days throughout the year I can get out doing the things I love.

3. Favorite movie?
I don’t have a definite answer to the question as I’ve always preferred books and story-based videogames as my method of enjoying stories. If I had to give an answer though, Lord of the Rings Trilogy is up there, and a rare example of movies being better than the books.

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
Easiest answer ever: Dog. I have two little dorks named Charlie and Emet.

5. Why you love our community?
It’s been by far the best and most consistent social outlet for me. As we grow older, meeting friends and building new relationships gets increasingly harder. Can’t imagine I’d have much of any real friend group if not for the people I have at Grit.

6. Credentials
CrossFit Level 2
Crossfit Endurance
USA Weightlifting L1

Q & A
1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
I don’t think I have a favorite because that’s not fair to all the delicious food. I really enjoy when my significant other and I have some amazing team work in the kitchen and make an amazing meal for our two boys (soon to be three) and ourselves.

2. Favorite Holiday?
Lately Christmas has been fun. Watching the kids get excited over the little things like Christmas music or the lights really has brought more joy into the season for me.

3. Favorite Movie?
I am not a huge movie person. I do love musicals though. Sweeney Todd is always a good one. Never gets old to me.

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
I have both, I love both. We have two cats and four dogs. Our cats are Rebel and Lily and our dogs are Henny, Eva, Odin and Kylo

5. Why you love our community?
I love that

community wants everyone to improve their lives. It’s like having your own personal cheerleading squad and then you also get to be all of the members cheerleader. CrossFit has an effect on people where it just makes you want to do better. I 100% believe I wouldn’t be sober today if it wasn’t for CrossFit, it saved my life.

6. Credentials
CrossFit Level 2
Registered Nurse and Certified Emergency Nurse

Q & A
1. Favorite meal to cook/eat?
I love cooking, so it’s hard to narrow it down. I have a very particular pallet, if I eat something once I can probably recreate it. So, I enjoy traveling and eating food to come home and recreate my own version of it.

2. Favorite Holiday?
Thanksgiving. It’s a time where we can gather as a family, I have an excuse to spend all day cooking while watching football!

3. Favorite movie?
I don’t watch a lot of movies – but I do enjoy watching a lot of Korean/Chinese TV shows.

4. Cat or dog person? And pet(s) name?
Im definitely a dog person. If there’s a dog around I’m probably on the floor petting it. I have an 11 year old golden is named Ollie.

5. Why you love our community?
What began as: “You spend so much time taking care of others, why not spend 60 minutes taking care of yourself?” has grown into something far beyond what I ever imagined.

GRIT gave me the space I needed to learn how to take up space and own it. This community genuinely cares for one another and shows up, no matter what. Grit has magic in the walls; I’ve traveled around the world and dropped into other boxes along the way, and none of them can compare. CrossFit became the outlet that taught me how to move my body in ways I once thought were impossible, while building strength that extends far beyond the gym.

6. Credentials
CrossFit Level 1