Monthly Archives: August 2012

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The Happiest Place on Earth…

…or is it? Day One of our California adventure started off in…California Adventure. Quite fitting, I think. I think we brought the heat and humidity from the East Coast to California with us. I think at one point it was 97 degrees. No clouds. Humid. Not the perfect conditions for trudging through a theme park with three kids and a baby in tow, but they were all troopers. I think for the most part, we all had a great time. We walked through Cars Land, but the wait for the Racers was 110 minutes. We moved on, thinking we would get to it later in the night when the lines wouldn’t be as long. We rode Soaring over California. It was air conditioned. Lovely. We rode the Little Mermaid UnderSea ride. Air conditioned. Lovely. We rode Monsters Inc. Air conditioned. Still lovely, except for Ethan didn’t really want to go on that ride. I took Halle on her first roller coaster. That was actually a great experience.

And I had the best corn dog EVER.

We decided midday to head back to Grampy’s house to cool off in the pool. That was a fantastic addition to the day. The kids had a blast, and we all got some welcome relief from the heat. It actually cooled off quite a bit once the sun started setting. 

Dinner was at In N Out Burgers. Best burger I’ve ever had. With Animal Style fries. Just like the kid said. Heaven. The kids got their In N Out hats. 

By the way…at this point, we’re still thinking it’s the happiest place on earth.

So we head back to Disney, thinking that we will hop on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We run through the park, only to get there and find the rides in Adventure Land have been temporarily closed for the Phantasma show. And the attendants are rushing every one along, and then the park plunges into darkness. Really? How are seven people and a baby carriage supposed to keep track of each other in the DARK???

We make it through. We get a little settled down and decide to ride the train through Disney back to Main Street for the fireworks. Uneventful, relaxing. We get to Main Street and watch the fireworks. 12 minutes and 24 seconds. I recorded them. Hopefully I can figure out how to post them later 🙂

Then the pain and agony starts. 

We now have to rush back over from Disney to California Adventure to get on the Radiator Springs Racers. The queue is deceptively wound under and around and through, so you can’t actually see how long the line is. We ask the attendant if he thinks we will make it on the ride before it closes (in an hours). He says, sure you will, go on in. After standing in line for an hour and 45 minutes, the kids are falling asleep and Ryan is frustrated beyond belief, but we are finally at the front of the line and about 15 people out from getting into a racer….

and the ride breaks down…

and they start it back up about 10 minutes later…

and the ride breaks down…

and doesn’t start back up….

…and this is no longer the happiest place on earth 😦

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Earlier, the CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler posted a blog with some very exciting news concerning the future of Beachbody. As you may (or may not) know, I was previously a Beachbody Coach. I let that fall to the wayside in pursuit of, what I thought, were the “right” things that I should be going after. Through much thought and soul-searching, you all know I came to a very different conclusion, and abruptly, it seems, changed course.

This is the comment I posted on Carl’s blog, which I pretty much think sums up how I feel:

When one door closes, another door opens. Sometimes you have to be the one to close that door, or several doors, before that right door opens up for you. In February, I “quit” being a Beachbody Coach. I didn’t have the money (I know, I know) and I didn’t have the time to dedicate to growing my business. I had the “I don’t want to sell” mentality, even though deep down I know that’s not what it’s about. It never was, for me. At the beginning of July, I decided I had had enough of the grind I was in. I wasn’t making a difference, and I wasn’t doing what my heart wanted to do – help people through health and fitness. I gave my notice, resigned my job, without another job to go to. I had a vague formulation of a plan. I was going back to school to get my degree in nutrition and fitness, and I was going to become a certified personal trainer. I thought about Beachbody again, as I have every day since I gave up my coach membership, and I knew that was where I belonged. I never had a second of hesitation when it came to leaving my job, or knowing that I would succeed with this new path that is in alignment with my priorities.
I’ve been doing Chalene Johnson’s DVD workouts for what seems like forever. I started with Turbo Jam, jumped on the release of Turbo Fire, and busted my way through ChaLean Extreme. This announcement is like that parachute I was waiting to have open after I took the plunge. That Beachbody has partnered with Powder Blue, at this precise moment in time, is like a bright shining light telling me that I was right in following my gut, my intuition, my heart. Thanks so much for all you do for your employees, your coaches, and the rest of the world that benefits from Beachbody products. I AM a Beachbody product, and I can’t wait to shine.

If you care to talk more about it, let me know. I’m always open to talking about things that I feel passionately about.

 If you’d care to read Carl’s announcement, here is a link to his blog:

http://www.carldaikeler.com/2012/08/the-leader-in-health-and-fitness-extending-the-lead

Earlier, the CE…

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One Door Closes..

Earlier, the CEO of Beachbody, Carl Daikeler posted a blog with some very exciting news concerning the future of Beachbody. As you may (or may not) know, I was previously a Beachbody Coach. I let that fall to the wayside in pursuit of, what I thought, were the “right” things that I should be going after. Through much thought and soul-searching, you all know I came to a very different conclusion, and abruptly, it seems, changed course.

This is the comment I posted on Carl’s blog, which I pretty much think sums up how I feel:

“When one door closes, another door opens. Sometimes you have to be the one to close that door, or several doors, before that right door opens up for you. In February, I “quit” being a Beachbody Coach. I didn’t have the money (I know, I know) and I didn’t have the time to dedicate to growing my business. I had the “I don’t want to sell” mentality, even though deep down I know that’s not what it’s about. It never was, for me. At the beginning of July, I decided I had had enough of the grind I was in. I wasn’t making a difference, and I wasn’t doing what my heart wanted to do – help people through health and fitness. I gave my notice, resigned my job, without another job to go to. I had a vague formulation of a plan. I was going back to school to get my degree in nutrition and fitness, and I was going to become a certified personal trainer. I thought about Beachbody again, as I have every day since I gave up my coach membership, and I knew that was where I belonged. I never had a second of hesitation when it came to leaving my job, or knowing that I would succeed with this new path that is in alignment with my priorities.
I’ve been doing Chalene Johnson’s DVD workouts for what seems like forever. I started with Turbo Jam, jumped on the release of Turbo Fire, and busted my way through ChaLean Extreme. This announcement is like that parachute I was waiting to have open after I took the plunge. That Beachbody has partnered with Powder Blue, at this precise moment in time, is like a bright shining light telling me that I was right in following my gut, my intuition, my heart. Thanks so much for all you do for your employees, your coaches, and the rest of the world that benefits from Beachbody products. I AM a Beachbody product, and I can’t wait to shine.”

If you care to talk more about it, let me know. I’m always open to talking about things that I feel passionately about.

Here is a link to Carl’s blog, if you are interested.

http://www.carldaikeler.com/2012/08/the-leader-in-health-and-fitness-extending-the-lead/

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Juice du Jour – August 3, 2012

With the ever-growing interest in finding balance for a healthy lifestyle, yet not giving up the things I truly love (insert fast food, donuts, booze – you get the picture), I have been hot on the trail of the juicing trend. I hate to call it a trend or a fad because those terms imply that I will, at some point, drop it and move on to the next big thing. I hope not. I actually do enjoy juicing, and the health benefits I am getting from it.

That being said, I’ve decided to blog about my juice. I won’t write every day about the juice I’m drinking. I’d like to steer clear of redundancy and boredom. However, I will take the time to blog about the really great concoctions that come out of my juicer, and those not so tasty treats that end up on the epic fail list.

Today’s juice was more epic fail than great. It sounded like a solid way to up my antioxidants. I used my staple greens that I use in all of my juices – kale, romaine, spinach, broccoli and cucumber. Today I decided to throw in a pear and blueberries. I love pears and blueberries! They’re sweet, refreshing fruits. However, the juice that resulted, not so much. It was definitely the most bitter juice I’ve made so far, and there really wasn’t a hint of sweetness to cut that kale & romaine flavor. I was pretty much drinking essence of old grass. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan dumped his out on the way to work.

I did, however, drink that juice down. I couldn’t give up all of those juicy good nutrients. I do recommend, though, that if you’re looking for a sweeter juice, stick with apples and pears, grapes, even baby carrots to sweeten it up.

I think I’d like to try some watermelon, though. I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out 😉