Musings on Vacation

So, first let me start by saying I am VERY thankful that we are able to take a wonderful vacation every year. Of course, having no kids sort of helps with that.

Now, I suppose it was the way I was raised, but my idea of a decent vacation is: a) at a beach b) relatively inexpensive to get to and 3) should not be stressful. My husband has some different ideas. So we went to Ireland and Scotland one year and then Spain the next. And I wouldn't trade those trip for anything. I'm not sorry we went. However, I was feeling kind of 'wrong' because I'm a beach girl...and we hadn't been in way too long. So my deal was - okay Spain in 2011, but in 2012, we're going to a beach, dang it. (I used slightly harsher words).

I have a wonderful husband, so he did not forget, nor did he argue. So a few days ago we decided to start looking for places. We'd been to Key West before and LOVED it. It was so low-key and relaxed (and a beach, and not terribly far away, etc). But he didn't want to go to the same place again. Fair. So I was looking at Clearwater Beach, FL. While he was looking at St. Barts and Aruba. We appear to be on slightly different pages again. I say - one flight to get there + no passport needed = a less stressful trip. He says - why not go all out? So, my negotiation now is...which Caribbean destination has the shortest plane ride, and is still nice but costs the most reasonable amount.

Who knew planning a destination would be harder than planning the actual trip?

So who's been to the Caribbean? Any thoughts? I've been to the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands before we were married, but that was a LONG time ago...and he's never been to any place in the Caribbean. What's a reasonable place to go that will be beautiful and not too overcrowded?

I'm still here!

It occurred to me the other day, that some of you may have missed me. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you hanging. I rediscovered my passion for fitness and wellness and have been totally absorbed in it.

No excuse, I'm sorry. I'm sure you've all been sitting here, every day, just staring at the old blog post...wondering...where is Amy....

SO to make it up to you, here's a cute picture of my dog at Christmas. Yes, we don't have kids. So my pictures I'll bore you with are of my PUP. But isn't she the cutest dang elf you ever saw??

So how was everyone's Christmas? New Year? Hanukkah? Anyone make new years resolutions? Mine is to stop biting my fingernails. Again. Yes I'm 32 and still biting my nails. I've tried everything and have stopped several times, but alas, my psychology degree does not help and I go back to doing it again. Hate it. Trying again. Wish me luck.

So I apparently have nothing terribly heavy on my mind today. Hope all is well, comment below and let me know what your new years resolutions are! :)

Grandmothers - musings on what I'm missing

Aren't grandmothers supposed to be sweet, supportive, cheerleaders? 


Just sayin. My only grandparent I have left just makes me wonder. It's sort of sad (don't worry, I'm not asking for pity!) because I only see and hear her pulling others down. What's more, is while it doesn't work on me, it does work on others in the family and affects them greatly. But perhaps even sadder (sorry!) is that I've lacked that sweet, jolly, spoil-your-grandchild type of experience that others have had. And I'm her ONLY grandchild. Crazy, huh? 


So if any of you have one of those sweet grandmas who likes to cook for you, calls you just to say hi (not to complain and talk bad about everything and everyone and how awful her life is)...I'd like to rent her for a day or two... can we talk about it? :)


Now, you may think I'm being too hard on my grandmother. I'll just say this...if you do think that - then you don't know her. And that's for the best.


To offset the depressing post - I thought I'd share a bit of wisdom: Your brain is magnetized to whatever your thoughts are. Make them good thoughts, believe you CAN make something happen and you WILL.  Don't just think it - believe it. I'm reading "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. This is one of his messages. Love the book so far, makes me feel like I really can do anything!


Alright, off I go to call my grandmother, listen to a world of complaining and try not to let her poison my own head. *sigh*

Goodbye sweet tooth!

I'm so excited, I just had to share...


I've been drinking Shakeology for a few weeks now, just started using it as my breakfast. One of the best effects = my cravings are all but gone. I rarely want cookies, or ice cream anymore. I'm so happy; just wish I'd found it sooner :) Now, I must admit, I WILL still eat stuff I shouldn't occasionally, but it's more that I just DO it instead of NEED it. Hope that makes sense. So many times I have literally felt like I HAD to have dessert. In the last week or so I've noticed that even if I reach for dessert out of habit, I really don't want it. Woo hoo!


And for anyone who knows of Ukrop's....you can appreciate my most recent example. Last night we went to get dinner at Ukrop's. They had those pieces of their RIDICULOUSLY good birthday cake for sale. I actually picked one up to buy - because they are soooo heavenly. But. Then. I put it back. I just didn't want it. What the...??!! 


Fine by me. 


Just had to share. :)


If anyone wants to see what's in it and what all the fuss is, here's a video....Happy to share other info if anyone wants it - email me: fithappy@yahoo.com





Shakeology, Shakeology results, Try Shakeology, Beachbody products

My new business

I'm happy to say, I now own my OWN business - fitness consulting, but also helping other start their own businesses as well. I've always enjoyed helping others to get fit and healthy...and I finally found a way to do that in a bigger way!

I've been using several workout programs since I was in the Air Force. I started with Turbo Jam, and now use Turbo Fire. I've also tried P90X and enjoyed that too. I love them all so much, and now I am helping others find the right workouts for them and helping them to reach their goals.

Anyhow, I thought I'd share what it is that I'm doing with my friends, especially since some of you have asked what it is. Here's a youtube clip of Turbo Fire - the workout I'm doing now.


Just wanted to share my successes and my passion! If there are any friends out there who silently have been wishing they had help with fitness or nutrition, shoot me an email (fithappy@yahoo.com). Likewise, if you'd like more info on starting your OWN fitness biz, email/call/facebook be too! :) Best wishes to everyone :)

www.beachbodycoach.com/amyromero
www.facebook.com/avromero

A trip to Valencia, Spain

While we were in Spain last week, I kept thinking of things that the world really needed to know about Valencia. About the food, the style, the weather, everything. I have no way to tell the world. But I can tell my 13 readers of this blog...


So here goes.

What to expect in Valencia, Spain...


First, Valencians speak Spanish, but some also speak Valencian. Yes, that's a real thing, and no, it isn't Spanish with a couple of little changes. In fact, it looks alot like a fusion of spanish and french. Odd. However, many Valencians, and Spanish folks in general do speak at least some English.


Now, on to the important stuff. If anyone ever intends to go to Spain, there are some things you should know. Like other places in Europe, the service industry is not as we're accustomed to in the U.S. When you walk into a restaurant or bar or store, you likely will not be greeted. You also are not 'seated'. Your waiter or waitress will come to you eventually. You order what you want, they bring it, and that's about the end of the service. However, they do not expect tips. Some people do tip, but we witnessed most locals do not. A 10% tip is considered a great tip, so that does make up for the lack of service. Also, you have to request your check. They don't just bring it. I think it's because they're just a lot more relaxed than we are. They want you to sit and enjoy your time, your company. So, when you're ready for it, just say "La cuenta, por favor", and they'll bring it on over. 


On another note - what do people in Spain wear? Regarding fashion, the spanish dress 'smartly'. It's hard to describe, but I'll try. Men and women wear well-fitted clothes. They are fashionable. They coordinate appropriately. You will see very few people wearing anything with rips, tears, discolorations, stretched-out, ill fitting, unattractive things. Also, in Valencia, at least, scarves were not at popular as they were in Ireland and Scotland. Women in Spain tended to wear skinny jeans or pants. There were plenty of ladies in leggings and a reasonable amount in shorts. Their shorts typically were nicer shorts, not much denim shorts. Shirts were varied, but all were hip. Lots and lots of sundresses and skirts. And let me tell you, when they go out on Friday or Saturday night they do it up! Hair, makeup, short dresses, heels...the whole nine. Speaking of heels, everyday shoes were about 50% ballet flats and 50% heels. Some heels were pumps, but most were espadrilles. 


Men wore more fitted jeans than we're used to in the U.S. They even wore capris. Not a ton of shorts, but same thing, the ones that were wearing shorts were nicer looking shorts - not really jean shorts. Lots of driving shoes for men. And most of the driving shoes were brown hues. LOTS of flashy, fly tennis shoes for guys too. You could tell they took pride in what they looked like. No wifebeater type shirts, but plenty of polo style and button down types of shirts along with lots of cool, trendy t-shirts. 


We were there at the end of May, and the weather was quite perfect. Every morning the sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky. The weather was in the upper 70s and the humidity was notable lower than here in Virginia. 


Regarding food, breakfast starts at 8ish, lunch at 2-3pm, then a siesta (yes, most everything really does close down), and dinner at 8-9pm. We didn't experience the discos really, but we understood that they didn't get going until 12pm or later. Also. We were hungry. Constantly. The food was outrageously priced for what you got. Breakfast was no more than a pastry with a cup of coffee for about $3-4 US Dollars. You'd be lucky to get a piece of potato omelet and a chunk of bread for lunch at about $7 US Dollars. And any decent dinner (using the term loosely) was $10-15 US Dollars; and you'd be lucky to be full from it. Most of the time, the serving size was about 1/2 of what you'd expect. I'm not a fan of McDonald's or Burger King, but we ended up there ALOT simply because we could only get full there. We also lived off of Starbucks. They didn't close for siesta, and they had actual sandwiches with some meat on them. It was still overpriced, even by Starbuck's standards, but at least we didn't starve to death.  My advice: Get a room with a mini kitchen so you can go to the market and get some food to cook/prepare yourself.


Oh, and the beach. Valencia is close to the beach - about 1+ hour walk, or a bus for about $2 US Dollars will get you there. It's the mediterranean! And it's gorgeous. View of the mountains, very low, calm waves...and no one there seems to care about keeping up appearances like we're used to at our beaches. Topless is okay there, so once you get over the initial shock, it's quite nice to realize people aren't judging as they do in the US. No one to impress, and no one cares, so if you're pale like me, it doesn't matter. If your bathing suit isn't the newest and cutest, no one cares. So nice! They generally seem to just be okay with natural states. So you'll see people picking their noses, they will blow their noses anywhere, and not everyone was as keen on deodorant and whatnot as we are. Just saying...


Watch where you're walking. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. And people on bicycles will not move for you. Ask me how I know...?


Anyway, would I go back? Yes. Maybe not to Valencia, but back to Spain. The people were rude-ish by our standards, but once you got used to them, you could tell they didn't mean anything by it; it's just different social norms. The architecture is unparalleled, and as with most of Europe, there is a great transportation system in place. 


Glad to be home though...it felt weird speaking english to the first few people we saw in the Atlanta airport; but now we're rockin' and rollin', spewing it all over the place just like the good ol' times.


Tags:
What to wear in Spain, Vacationing in Valencia, Traveling to Valencia, What to wear in Valencia, Culture in Valencia, Spain

Where did I go?

Well, I was feeling like all of my posts were becoming pessimistic. I found it humourous, but didn't want to run the risk of appearing poopy to everyone else. ;) Anyway. I'm back. I have a few updates. A) I've been running. I now have shin splints...but I'm still running. Is that crazy? B) I've gotten back into my physique 57 DVDs and I'm addicted all over again. For those that aren't familiar...it's the most effective workout I know of. It's based on the Barre Method, and it's for serious. I'm convinced that my hubby won't do it with me because he can't take the burn. ;) (Or maybe its because he's afraid of trying to do the splits?) C) I'd been making a fair amount of money by writing articles online, but now I can't find any titles that work. So, I'm on hiatus from that. Instead, I started using a search engine that awards you virtual 'bucks' that you can redeem for gift cards. Not making NEARLY as much as I was by writing, but it's way easier and I'm still excited to be getting gift cards to Amazon and Starbucks. At least it offsets our out of pocket that we already spend at those places.

Okay. That's enough updates for now. Oh. And it's 75 today. I would be SO flipping happy if this was the actual beginning of Spring...but for now, I'll take it. My pooch enjoyed our long, leisurely stroll today :)  Happy pre-spring, all!!

(In case you care to see more about the search engine thingie, here's the banner for it. I do get a few 'virtual bucks' if anyone signs up, so if you decide to, please make sure you do it through my link -  www.swagbucks.com/refer/thqueenbe)