A New Chapter Begins

Dear Friends and Fans,

I had a lot of anxiety about my original trip to Florida. I was headed home after 6 years of being away. I wondered to my life coach if this was the beginning or the ending of a chapter of my life. He says it could be both, but I don't see it that way. It has to be black or white!!! I choose these past 3 weeks to be an introduction into the next chapter of my life.

I left for Fort Meyers Jan. 30Th to visit my oldest sister and her family. I met my nephew right before I left six years ago , he was an infant, and my niece... never! I was looking forward to seeing how they reacted to me. We had a blast! Went swimming and goofed around.they were so sweet, lots of cuddles. XOXOXO!!! We all packed up and headed for St. Petersburg for my youngest sister's wedding. She had a beautiful sunset wedding, and we danced like rock stars at the reception. Everyone had a great time. My grandfather was cutting a rug!! LOL. I spent the next 4 days with my mother on Pass-A-Grille Beach. We talked, and tanned on her porch. I visited with family, trained SOME, but the days went fast. Sunday before I left ,I went to the Bon Aire where my good friend "Philly" tends bar. Me, Philly, and my sissy had a blast laughing and being stupid. It's kinda funny... My sister's new husband ,Pete, was a bit upset with us because we were out playing and he didn't want me to miss my plane. He was driving me to the airport. The 3 of us giggled and talked about their upcoming honeymoon to Tennessee, to see snow... leave it to the Floridians to find the perfect place for snow.. LOL. Well ,I was early for the plane..LOL, and made it home with intentions to get PUMPED for my upcoming show May 10th. 4 days later my sister called me from the cabin, crying, and asking me to come back home. I got to her house before she did. Thank god she was there with 2 other couples, they were all best friends. They packed Melissa up and drove her back to Florida. In a nutshell here is what happened... They were in TN for 3 hours.. enough time to unpack, grab a cocktail, and head down on the Gondola for a nice dinner. Pete only made it half way down. He suffered from a pulmonary embolism. Not much could have been done for him. It was the longest ride of all o f their lives!!! Pete was 41 years old. He had by pass surgery 1.5 years ago. My sister is 35. She is coming around. Thank you for all your prayers. Me and my family greatly appreciate it. Melissa is taking it one day at a time... and is experiencing textbook mourning. I would like to personally thank Melissa's support system. She really has great friends. The men of the bunch all stood up and took care of things that to tell you the truth.. I couldn't do. The arrangements, and finalization stuff... OMG!!! No one was ready for this!! Everyone pulled together. It was hard for me, to train and keep on my diet. Her friends and families all made food and had get togethers. I never realized how important these things were to people in this situation. I guess I never thought it matters, well IT DOES. I'm really going to change some of my ways.

I did take some time to myself. It's not easy lying around with someone in mourning. My goal was to watch the sunset every night. It was beautiful!! The weather was perfect everyday. I walked to the Don Cesar and back every morning... it equals 3 miles... in flip flops. my leg, calfs and glutes were hard pumped. It felt great the hot sun on my back and body... OOOOH a feeling I miss!

So, how this is the beginning of a new chapter in my life... I gained new self respect. I was feeling like my life here was becoming to hectic and a hassle.. to much work for one person. After going back to my roots, I've realized the empire I've built for myself. All the hard work and life I built for myself became accentuated in my mind. I was geared to come home and really work hard at my practice and get motivated in the gym. I've been back a week today, and have managed to grab on to 6 lbs. My shoulder is almost to 100%. I'm big, full yet ripped. I want to hold my weight as long as possible. It's funny.. most are the other way around. I have to keep the body fat low by slowly starting light cardio. I've never been in such a good position. I'm going to continue to keep my muscles pumped and hard. I have my posing music and am working on my routine. I'm feeling strong... I look forward to bringing in a tight symmetrical package.

The picture is from my moms back yard.

Thank you again for all your support. I do appreciate you all. I'm getting to my emails today too, so you should hear from me shortly if you have not been answered.

You Pro,

Dr. Dena

May He Rest In Peace!

Dear Friends and Fans,

I would like you all to say a prayer for my sister and our family tonight. My sister got married at sunset Friday.... Her husband died tonight. Pete was a wonderful person, and took very good care of my sister. He is loved and will be missed dearly. I pray my sister can rise above!

My regular blog with my training journal and my trip report to Florida seem unimportant right now but I will write again shortly

XO

Homeward Bound

Dear Friends and Fans,

Well the time has come.... for me to return to my roots. I haven't been back to Florida since 2002. No particular reason except for life and running a business. It is a bit nerve racking though returning to something that is now something different. I have changed, Florida has changed.... all for the better. I will stop off and visit my older sister and her family for a couple of days and then we will all head off to St. Pete Bch. for my younger sister's wedding. It will be nice. She is getting married at sunset. I will take some beautiful sunset pictures. I miss watching the sun kiss the water.

The New York Pro show ,May 10th, is really getting packed with quailty. It will be a very tough show. I plan to train at my old gym while in Florida, and of course keep up my cardio up on the beach, but when I get back it will be 14 weeks of crunch time. I can tell my shape is different, I just have to stay hard and full. I'm working hard at getting my 6 meals in. 2 (16/day)egg meals, 2 chicken meals, 2 shakes and all with carbs. It's hard at times to get that in.

I hurt my shoulder boxing a couple weeks ago, so I've had to take it easy on my chest and shoulders again!! It's feel a lot better and I hope with the trip to Florida it can have some rest from adjusting. Charles and I will get together and put my workout plan together once I get back. I'm sure we will be focusing on back and legs; the 2 things to give me flare.

I goofed around with a Valentine's Day shoot the other weekend. We will have the update up closer to the day, but here is a little sample.

Thank you so much for your support. Keep pushing me to be the best I can be!!

Your Pro,

Dr. Dena

Straight Out of The Hatch!

Dear Friends and Fans,

I must say that the new year has been great so far. My business is really getting some organization. I find that it gives me organization all over. At times, I get a chance to sit back and look inside to really see what all I'm doing. I think I'm doing damn good!! It's not easy to hold up the world, but I'm doing it!!

I've been back in close touch with the 2 sculptors behind my physique, Dave and Charles. I'm just full, strong, positive and ready to go. I've been pulling my diet together.. that for me means getting back to eating 6 meals a day. I've been doing it and it really shows. I took this picture here at the gym on Friday. You can see I have full hard muscles. I'm really excited to see what I can bring to the stage. I'm looking forward to the open class. Species nutrition has been a great sponsor in such a short time. Dave really has it going on over there. I'm looking forward to being part of something great!

I'm hoping to get to Indy to see barry Brooks before I leave for Florida. I then plan to be doing mainly pre contest footage and shoots. the video quality on the new updates will be better soon. We have a bit of a problem with the size.. please hang in there. I'm hoping to get a vidoe shoot in with Awefilms and WPW this year too, most likely before the May 10th New york show. Lots going on. I'm ready. Oh, one more thing... next week I start boxing with my friend Gary. Tuesdays at 5 he is going to come hold my targets and call my combos. Soon I will have video out of me throwing some POWERFUL punches!! I'm so psyched!!! I can't wait to explode in 2008. "Year of The Dena".

Your Pro,

Dr. Dena

" Year of The Dena"

Dear Friends and Fans,

LOL... I like this title! My manager says "it's year of the Dena" I asked him if he meant hyena..lol. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and I wish you the best in 2008! Thank you so much for your support, and for making 2007 a break through year in regards to my site and your excitement with Dr. Sexy. Well, I must admit that the last 2 weeks of the year were a different experience for me. First of all, I had way too much time on my hands! I had to take off a bunch of days just because of the holidays and patients desire to shop and spend time with family, 2 things I don't do much of..lol. I also got an overdose of my female hormones that left me feeling every particle in the air...OMG! I was a mess, and then to just sit around and feel all of this stuff was, to tell the truth, painful!! Blah that is gone.. I've now sealed the 2007 envelope. On we go!

I get to start off my 2008 with a trip back home to see my family, and attend my youngest sister's wedding. I have not been home since 2000. I'm sure my mother will be a puppy in the window. I am looking forward to seeing my family, and spending my time at the beach.. I'm good at that. I'll see if the ground still stomps like it use to. I'll be heading into February full speed with the May 10th NY Pro show in my eye. I will be competing as a Species Nutrition athlete, http://www.speciesnutrition.com/ , this is my diet guru's company and my NEW sponsor... http://www.davepalumbo.com/ . I will be talking more about the products and how I use them personally. You can also check out the athlete profiles on the Species website. My bodybuilding goals for 2008 are as follows... well ultimately ending in an Arnold invite for 2009. I would like to apply for this show with a higher placing that my last show which was 4th place at the 2007 Europa. The IFBB has gone back to an open class which means everyone competes together and the top 3 will go to the Ms. Olympia. If I get my way, I will be headed for the Olympia for a 2nd go round in 2008. I'm sure tthe NY show is going to be packed...and packed with a lot of girls coming off the 2008 Arnold classic in March. Not sure how to look at that.. but I know that for some reason I haven't really peaked the last 2 times. In my mind, they are looking for a look. I strongly feel I have a look. I just have to make sure I don't get overlooked. My competition is me, yet how am I going to pull it together while continuing to grow my practice and have more responsibilities? I will have to bring out my focus power and drive it!! I hope to slide in at 143-145 lb, this will be my heaviest weight on stage. It'll be going to 2.5 years with my team of the 2 best in the sport, Dave and the "Trainer of Champions" Charles Glass! The 2 of them will uplift me.

I would like to say a special thank you to Joel Goldberg ( my manager), and Colette Nelson ( my webmaster) for their hard work on my site and really making it something to be proud of. They make it easy for me to stay close to you..My Fans.. I will keep you updated on the WE TV show I will be featured on in February. May all your dreams come true.

Your Pro,

Dr.Dena

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends and Fans,

Well here it is.. 2007 almost gone. Time really flies when your having fun.. or once you hit 30..lol! I have really been working hard on some projects dealing with my practice. I feel good that I've learned another avenue of my practice that I can implement and grow from.. that feels good.. although it is still going to take a lot of hard work and extra time. You see that is what one of my problems is, time. It's hard to do the job of 5 people and be a bodybuilder. Each year i just have to learn how to do a couple extra things as well as everything else. Nothing good is easy!! I hope you guys liked the santa video.. we are going to work on the choppiness..but wanted to get it up for Christmas. It was so funny making, me and Gary the camera guy, were laughing our asses of when we saw that huge butt print!! lol. I guess I'll have to say it again and again, that Missouri has the strangest weather. 2 weeks ago we got 18" of snow dumped on us, the next week we got cold slush, and now the past couple of days have been cool but clear and beautifully sunny and all snow is melted away. Today is supposed to get into the 50's. It's really nice. I cleaned the house, and opened my windows.. could have sworn it was may! I've had a good break.. holiday.. I call it a break! I'm about to go crazy with all this time off work. My mom says idle hands are evil hands.. oy vey! She always said"Dena don't go looking for trouble,it finds you quick enough!" Ha, I wonder what she meant by that.. no I'm just kidding... I just need my structure back shortly... You guys know me by now.. and how I love my routine. I have a couple more cleaning things to do, if you haven't noticed by now I have a neurotic thing with cleaning. I do it to burn off excess energy that would other wise get me in trouble.. remember what mom says! Damnit! She is always right! My friend and neighbor Patty wants me to come over. Her lasagna has been in my fridge all day because she didn't have room for 2 13x9 pans. I just pushed the egg cartons aside and slid them in..lol! My friend Jillian likes to make fun of what is in my fridge.. she says it's bare.. eggs, chicken, tuna, broccoli, coffee, water, diet coke or diet Dr. Pepper...oh and a tub of http://www.speciesnutrition.com/ protein called isolyze, on the counter. I'll tell ya later about Species my new sponsor. I've spent the majority of the time alone. Thank you to all the wonderful people in my life who invited me to spend the Holidays with them. I'm weird.. sometimes or most of the time.. I prefer to be alone. It gives me time to get to know myself. I love being stuck doing nothing but understanding the person in the mirror. It may seem crazy.. but I"M CRAZY!!..lol.

Training is going well. While my body continues to be in it's "rest" mode.. I've been doing some Kettleball training. I like it. It makes me feel similar to one of my Martial Arts sessions. I miss that deep core soreness. I think this training is going to wind me tight!! i'm thinking the first of Feb. I'll be back in the saddle again! I have to hit Florida at the end of Jan. and then back and ready to pull in the hottest physique since Cory and Rachel!

Happy Holiday to all of you! I appreciate your support, and am honored to have so many people who care about me and my life. Thank you! Kisses

Your Pro,

Dr. Dena

Growing Pains

Dear Friends and Fans,

I'm not even sure where to begin. I guess that is why I named this growing pains. I finally felt like I got everything in my office "caught up" just until this seminar over the weekend. It does feel good to know that I'm not alone.... but I felt like the student that didn't get the "good" notes for the test!! lol, meaning the insurance game. My issue was just a little decorative flower hanging on the perimeter of the cake, I need to get the damn recipe to the cake!!! I did have some colleagues talk to me about some specifics within their office that will be of great value to me. I think here is where my organization problem has been. I had to get from underneath the paperwork to see what I could do better. Although I'm stressed about a new issue now this is all making me better at what I do, and will get me the efficiency I've been looking for.

It's hard for me because every year I grow as a practice and a person with that growth comes more responsibility. I was never the "smartest" kid in class, I really had to try. When people would say "you're so smart because you went to college" well college taught me a trade just like a mechanic and his trade, I'm not smart enough for his job, the difference is college education, especially my chiropractic education, taught me time management, organization skills, social skills, how to work hard under pressure and most importantly how to reach my goals!!! Those are the best tools of life! And although I sometimes still feel like that student running around looking for the good notes...life is the teacher and I am the student. Learn from your mistakes and move on. Have a great week.

Your Pro,

Dr. Dena