Since the start of this year we have seen dozens and dozens of new members become regulars at our studio. Although their faces and their movement become very familiar, getting to know you all personally can be slower! Here are some things about our history you might not know…

K1

Kristen has 11 tattoo pieces that she started getting at 18 including this one she wanted to get for me. Isn’t she cute! Side note, she fell ASLEEP while getting this done on her foot, who does that?! Her most recent tattoo is the 9 fruits of the spirit on the inside of her arm which she swears is her last one, yeah right.

M1

I proposed to Kristen 4 months after meeting amongst the staff on the cruise ship that we were working aboard in the Caribbean. Kristen and I ended up talking the whole first night we met and fell asleep in her cabin. We spent the whole next day together exploring St Thomas as it was my day off and ended up watching movies all night,  I moved into her  “supervisor size” cabin and never left. Effectively, we’ve lived together from the first night we met!

The day after we met, our first date!

K2

Kristen did not like school at all, her mum resorted to installing a doorbell in her room during high school to make getting her out of bed easier. She was no slacker though, she took classes that allowed her to finish year 12 earlier and took off to Disney World for a position she had been offered as a professional dancer in one of the park shows. Kristen worked their for over 2 years before moving to LA to pursue her dance career further, she has never been afraid to chase her dreams!

M2

I liked school a bit too much, the school sent home a letter to his mum asking her not to permit me on school grounds while the cleaners are still working. Apparently showing up too early for things is a common occurrence as friends have been known to tell me a slightly later time for parties to prevent me arriving while still showering or setting up! hehe. I completed high school and studied Mechatronic Engineering at university for a few years but i was too immature for the course load. I enrolled in massage school without ever having had one myself!  I saw it as a break from “real study” but quickly fell in love with the most beautifully designed and created machine ever, the human body. I swapped calculus for biomechanics and never looked back.

K&M3

One year, as an anniversary gift, I hired Kristen and I a triathlon coach and together we trained for 18 months. Starting with no background in any of the disciplines and culminating in the completion of the Busselton full Ironman, it was such a memorable period of our lives. Although i was a bit quicker through the swim and bike, Kristen beat me on the marathon portion by 3 seconds on the day! By far one of the greatest experiences of our lives and we got to share it together. Kristen would love to return to triathlons at some point, i would love to complete the Rottnest channel swim as a soloist.

M4

I left home when i was 18 in dramatic fashion, stubbornly i refused to go back and slept on friends couches before finding a more permanent place sharing with 2 other mates (sorry mum). I’ve always been very independent and wanted to do things my own way. Luckily for myself, in those days you could afford to share a rental with other young people! At the age of 22 i took a job working overseas and left Australia for the first time on a new adventure.

K4

Kristen became interested in Pilates way back in 2001, she drove from Orlando to Tampa everyday just to learn from the best studio in Florida for 18 months. She completed a comprehensive certification from the physical Mind Institute which is still well known and respected in the industry. Kristen continued to learn by attending different events and courses over the years throughout America, she was even luck enough to meet and learn from some of Josephs original students known as “The Elders”, many of whom have now past.

M5

I always wanted a motorbike as a child but wasn’t allowed, boo, “the bug” never left and I bought his first in 2005. Since then i’ve had a handful of bikes and ridden on a few tracks during our time in America. After a 5 year break i recently got a new one… It took a long time to bring Kristen around! I love how focused and present the mind becomes when riding, it brings calm to my mind and i always feel refreshed after a good ride around.

K5

Kristen spent 6 weeks in Koi Samui island off of Thailand becoming a certified Yoga instructor many years ago. The combination of a warm, tropical setting, fresh and organic cooking, daily meditation and movement was her idea of heaven. If you didn’t already know, Kristen’s a loving, peaceful hippie at heart. Although Kristen doesn’t offer yoga specific teaching, she does incorporate many of the principles from that training into what she does. This was also the longest time we have spent apart since meeting all those years ago.

M&K6

We spent 6 months living in Australia before we moved to Indianapolis. We lived in a tiny apartment in Wembley that backed onto Herdsman Lake. Kristen fell in love with the culture, the people and the weather.  Kristen would of stayed but i wanted to try the States! We knew we wanted to raise a family here one day and i told my mum i’d be back, it just took a decade.

K&M7

We almost didn’t meet! Kristen was auditioning for Madonna World tour and on the 3rd day of endless cuts, performed in front of the woman herself. The dancers for that tour had to shave their heads and wear wife beaters which, Kristen said would not of stopped her! She narrowly missed selection and decided to accept a position as Dance Captain on a 2nd contract at sea.

My journey to London, prior to be chosen for the cruise ship we would eventually meet on, did not go well. One of the engines caught fire and forced the plane back to Perth airport where i waited 17 hours before being able to get myself onto another flight. Upon arrival the wrong bus dropped me off more than a 25 minute car ride from my hostel, a random guy was out waxing his car at 11pm (almost 0 degrees!) and took pity on the young aussie. He drove me into town and, after finding my accommodation, slept for a few hours to make my start the next morning. If i had not arrived that morning i would of been made to wait for the next intake and been sent to a another of the more than 100 ships the company operated Day Spas aboard!

K8

Kristen had two dogs before we met she raised form puppies. Kya was a purebred Alaskan Malamute and Echo was a German Shepard mix with Malamute. They lived with us in Indianapolis, they absolutely loved the snow and wanted to lay on us like lap dogs which they were not! Echo pasted away before we moved and Kya lived with Kristens parents until she also pasted. One day we would like to get another puppy together but right now life feels too full to add that into the mix.

M8

Following the Busselton Ironman i fell into some depression, having achieved such a singleminded goal i had for so long became difficult to refocus and i drifted for a while. 2 years later, i realised i had let myself go far enough and hired a personal trainer. I realised the power in setting a challenging goal and signed up for Physique stage show in 6 months time. I did my best to lose fat and gain muscle in the short time, although i came 7th out of 8, i was really proud of the transformation i managed.

M&K9

We spent 14 weeks in Europe on a mega trip that evolved from 3 smaller plans into one because it took us 5 years to actually go!  We rode touring bicycles from the south of France over the Pyrenees mountains into and across the north of Spain on a path called the Camino De Santiago before heading back to Pamplona where I ran with the bulls. We hung out in London during the Olympic games and went to Brussels for a 4 day music festival known as Tomorrowland. We sailed around Croatia for  a week and finished our adventure with a month long Contiki bus tour around some major European cities. It was the trip we wanted to take before parenthood and we cherish every memory from it! Just before we left we found out Kristen had fallen pregnant which made some of the trip difficult for her, i still fondly remember the trip although at times it feels like a lifetime ago.

K10

Kristen is very thoughtful and loves planning surprises. She has organised both surprise birthday parties i’ve had in my life (got me good both times) and also organised a trip to Las Vegas for my birthday one year with some friends! Being in the entertainment industry she knew many people there and got the “hook up” for all sorts of cool things we did together. We even went to a day time pool party night club that was super exclusive and super fun. We didn’t travel extensively while we lived in America, something i wish we did more of, but we did get to see some of the country in our time there.

M10

When we first moved to Perth i started cycling with a friend from University and, like many things before it, dove head first into a new obsession! I booked a trip to cycle many of the famous climbs from the Tour De France event and trained for 18 months riding all over Perth and the Hills. It was a really great way to become reacquainted with the city i grow up in, i still sometimes drive to an area i wouldn’t normally and see familiar roads from cycling around during this time. The trip itself was magical, the roads and scenery are breathing taking everywhere you turn.

2 weeks ago marked our 15th year together and 13th wedding anniversary! The wildest adventure thus far would have to be the past 5 years combining the birth of our 3 daughter, Mia, Téa and Noa along with the creation of this new studio, The Pilates Klinik. It has by far ben the most challenging period of our lives and, although less exotic, filled with just as many special memories! Mia is now 6, Téa almost 5 , The Klinik is 4 and Noa is 3.