– Erin –

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Meet our lovely Viegirl, Erin Calata!

She is the first of the new VieGirl Vignettes, a weekly interview featuring one of our VieGirls.

This girl is a classical singer by day, explorer always, and total foodie! Erin has been attending Vie Athletics for four months now and has captured a special place in our hearts. She always bares through the pain with a smile and is never shy about encouraging those around her. We couldn’t be more thankful for this woman! When we think Viegirl, this chick comes to mind.

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Interview:

V:   How long you have been a member at Vie?

E:   4 months

 

V:   What does Vie mean to you?

E:   Vie is a commitment to my well-being. It gives me a space to focus on myself and set aside the rest of life for an hour in my day.  It is extremely motivating to have coaches teaching form, looking out for me and cheering me on to complete the workout of the day.  Vie is also a community where I have met tons of great women who come together, work hard and sweat together, motivating each other to keep going and celebrating little victories in each class.

 

V:   How has Vie made an impact on your life?

E:   Vie has been a great environment for me to grow in my physical strength and belief in myself.  I am stronger and more motivated to work out than I’ve been in a long time.  I am happier with what I see in the mirror, but more than that, I have greater confidence in what my mind and body are capable of accomplishing.

 

V:   What crazy thoughts enter your mind when working out?

E:   “This is why I can have milkshakes.”

 

V:   What motivates you to get to Vie?

E:   I get excited to see the workout of the day.  I always walk in wondering to myself, “what exercises will we do? Will I be able to do it?” and with the help of the coaches and supportive classmates, the answer has always been “YES!”

 

V:   Tell us a bit about you!

E:   I met my husband, Dom, in college at Pacific Lutheran University where he was involved in the ROTC program to become an officer in the Army.  We knew this lifestyle would have its challenges, but we had become so close that we were willing to make anything work.  We dealt with a long-distance relationship while I prepared for graduate school and Dom moved around the country for Army training, and when we finally got engaged, we found that the distance element was far from over. Dom had to immediately deploy to Iraq and I moved to Arizona to begin my Masters degree.  Once he returned from the first deployment, we quickly learned that he would be deployed again to Iraq a year later, so in between my two years of graduate school and his two deployments, we got married, spent as much time together as possible, and then returned to school, military work and a long-distance marriage.  We finally moved in together after the second deployment and lived in Texas and Arizona before being stationed back here at JBLM, happy to be home in the Northwest where we could put down roots.  Since we’ve been here, Dom deployed one final time to Afghanistan, and soon after, he decided to put in his paperwork to leave active duty service.  We both were tired of moving and couldn’t bear the thought of leaving the Northwest again.  Dom still works for the Washington National Guard Reserve, but has moved on to work as a Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Throughout these years as a military wife, I can look back at the challenges and see so many joys and blessings.  Our networks of family, friends and colleagues were always there supporting us, and we made many new friends wherever we were sent.  The years of long-distance taught us how to be independent in times apart, but to value every moment that we have together.  The military life taught us that we have to pick up where the other person leaves off, we have to communicate, trust each other and be flexible for whatever might come up (and anything can)!  Before meeting my husband, Dom, I never thought I’d be strong enough to handle this kind of lifestyle, but I have a lot of faith that this was God’s plan for me, and it has been a very rewarding life that we’ve lived through together.