I was the Little Mermaid

I have been bit by the snorkeling bug.  I now am searching places out just so we can vacation and snorkel.  I had no idea when we had book this it would start something so crazy.  First let me explain to you I hate...I mean HATE...being in water where I can't touch the bottom.  I thought this might be a GIANT problem being that most snorkeling is not where you can just stand up.  Yet I was determined to make this fun.  We bought our own snorkel gear because the thought of putting a snorkel in my mouth that someone else had was ...well....gross!  Which I was so happy I did.  I bought the ones that allow the snorkel to become water tight when you dive under.  So there is no no need to purge the snorkel of water when you come back up.  You are ready to breath the air again with no work at all.  HIGHLY recommend that!  We took the ferry boat over to Culebra which is actually closer to the U.S. Virgin island's then it is Puerto Rico.  I highly recommend you take something for sea sickness which was a VERY smart decision on our part.  We were jumping the swells in a large ferry boat.  The poor crew were following people around with little barf bag, paper towels and steam cleaners. I believe the boat carries about 600 people.  We met up with our paid guide who took us to Flamenco Beach to play for about 2 hours and eat at some of the food stands there.

The guide then took us over to the nature preserve.  We took sea kayaks out to the reef for about an hour and a half.  Then we went back to shore to have some snacks and head out to the sea grass beds where we were able to swim with some sea turtles.  They had us with life vest on, which proved very difficult to dive down so out at the reef that sucker came off after about 20 minutes. Good bye any fears I had!   Before we went out to the sea grass beds the guide came up to us and said that since we were strong swimmers and obviously knew what we were doing we did not have to wear out jackets.  HA...little did he know this was my first time snorkeling! LOVED not having the jacket.  It allowed me to dive down to the floor and take some pictures that you just could not take 20 - 30 feet on the surface.  I also was able to swim right next to a large sea turtle.  

Someone was nice enough to take our picture with my underwater camera.  

Here are some pics taken...of course I took a million but don't want to bore you. 

Now we could not stop there.  That trip took all day long which resulted in a NEED for more snorkeling.  So we took advantage of the beach at our resort, as well as a few other beaches around Puerto Rico, to do more snorkeling on other days.  There were sea grass beds and about 300 yards out we swam near a giant reef. Here are just a few pictures. 

This was a spinney star fish

Little blurry but he was moving fast.  This was a BIG fish with a a mane like a tiger.  Not sure of what it's called.

Sea grass beds

This little guy kept following us everywhere we went.  Well he really wasn't little about two feet long.

I had the most amazing time snorkeling!  I was going to combine the rain-forest with this but I will have to save that for another day this week.  There were just to many beautiful underwater pics I wanted to share.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Dallas we have a problem...

Yes, I know that would be so much better if I lived in Huston but work with me people!

I have been home from vacation for about a week now.  The problem being I have not been able to shake the vacation return blues.  Even worse is I think I have caught a terrible case of the Island need to be there! I have never been to a tropical island before Puerto Rico.  I have never seen the beautiful  color of the water.  If asked ocean or mountainous I was always an ocean girl but now...now I am an ocean snob.  I want more then just salt water...I want tropical salt water...and I want it NOW! :)

If you don't mind indulging me a bit this week I would love to take a few days and share some pictures and stories with you.

On our first day we went to Old San Juan.  It was amazing to say the bare minimum.  We went to see forts El Morro and La Fortaleza.  We wondered along the streets with brightly colored homes and churches.  One of the things I loved the most was all the stray cats that wonder around the island.  We of course shopped and ate in an authentic Puerto Rican restaurant.  

Our Resort was amazing.  We had the most beautiful ocean view right from our room.  The beach was so very private as well as there were the most adorable hammocks hanging from the palm trees.  We would walk the beach and see cute little hermit crabs running from here to there and would even run across the local iguanas who seemed to walk so slow until I would try and get up close to take a picture of them. 

This is the view from our room. 

Resort Gran Melia 

Resort Gran Melia 

Resort Gran Melia 

My feet

Rain-forest in the back

Rain-forest in the back

Seriously I only picked a few pictures.  We took almost 600 pictures in the 4 days we were there! :) I would love for you to come back tomorrow because I am going to share my snorkeling and rain-forest pictures.  One one of our snorkeling trips we went over to Calebra Island and went to Flamenco Beach which was the most beautiful water I have ever seen.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great Monday! 

National Women's Health Week Day 6

Here we are at the end of the week.  If you have not signed up for the giveaway you have little time left so make sure you do it before you leave.  

Today we are talking about relaxation.  How do we in the busy of our days, our to do list or ever growing list of responsibilities, find time to relax? When we go to the doctors they ask us about our health, have we noticed anything different, eating healthy and making sure we get the recommended daily exercise This last check up my doctor asked me something I have never been asked before.  Do you find time to relax?  What... relax??? Wouldn't that be irresponsible of me to sit down and do nothing?? Such a funny question.  Then she started telling me about all the research there is showing the  relationship between stress and health. That stress not only affects our moods but major and potentially dangerous disorders.  Stress can cause digestive disorders, raise cholesterol levels, create hypertension, damage arteries to the point there becomes a blockage and heart disease. Stress is also known to lower your immunity which can cause our bodies to be more susceptible to infections and viruses.   Is all this stressing you out even more?  There are some simple and easy ways to relieve stress.  The most important things is to find what works for you. We are all wired differently so what might stress someone else out might not stress you out...same goes for the decompression of that stress. 

• Listen to what you body is telling you. If you feel like you need a break take one.

• Stretching exercises can be used to release tension built up in the muscles and improve flexibility.

• Calming and relaxing the mind.  Your mind needs a brake on occasion just as your muscles do. Take time out of the day to clear your mind. Try to think of little or nothing for a few minutes.  I know that might seem hard as a mom but really a little goes a long way.  It also will help you be equipped to handle those curve balls that come with motherhood. 

• Help build your confidence.  When we are confident about ourselves we tend to worry less.  I suffer from low confidence and even meeting new people or being in a conversation I might not be comfortable with will stress me out. 


• Control over-reactions.  Ha...so easy to say right.  I tell my kids all the time to ask themselves.."is this the hill I want to die on?"  Reminding them you only get to die once make sure that is really the hill you want to take a stand on.  They usually find that it's not and that in it's self releases a lot of stress.  It helps put things in perceptive.  

• Caring for ourselves by removing people from our life that only causes hurt.  As I have grown older I have had to make decisions and ask myself.  Does this person add to my life or take away.  If I find it is the later of those two options then it means it is time to remove them from your life.  There are to many great people out there and allowing a negative person to steal the space of a positive person is only hurting yourself more. 

Again, finding what works best for you is the key here.  I could list 100 great ways but if not one of them works then it is all for waste.   Of course for myself I find comfort in my faith.   There are many times Jesus talks about worrying and stress in the bible.  One that I like to read when I find myself overly worrisome and stressed is:

Philippians 4:6-7 
Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ 

Aloha Blog Hop...$750 giveaway!!

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<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/search/label/aloha" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee419/whatjeanlikes/AlohaFridayBlogHopbutton.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Welcome to WEEK 56 of the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!  

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Here's the extra special addition to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...
 

<div align="center"><a href="http://acatlikecuriosity.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Aloha" title="Aloha Hoapili" target="_blank"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U4bM2HwNLY8/UKnx1zTR7aI/AAAAAAAAI1I/jrflm1VMyzw/s1600/Aloha+Friend+button.jpg" alt="Aloha Hoapili" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend...

Melissa at This Girls Life.

Melissa blogs all about DIY, food and the adventures of life!

Want a little taste of her blog? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing:

Tips for Happy Feet
DIY Spring Wreath
Cake Mix Cookies

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National Women's Health Week Day 5

Yay for Friday!!  Which brings us all the way to Day 5 of National Women's Health week.  I am so sorry my post did not go through on Wednesday and Thursday..I had no idea and sad to say those days were so busy I didn't even stop to look at my blog and make sure that everything was running peachy.

Today I want to talk about things I just can't live without.  Of course, I could actually LIVE but these are things that make everyday just a bit more happy.  They make being me a lot easier with them as part of my day then if they were not there.  I thought about this for a while.  I seems like a big responsibility to place on something.  Yet I was able to come up with a few and here is how it breaks down.

Morning MUST have: COFFEE.  yes....I am a proud coffee addict.  I never was that way to be honest. I would never have touched the stuff when I was younger.  Yet when I started working for the Doctor back in the days that I worked between the early office hours, patients in and out and all the stuff that came with the job one of the sweet office ladies introduced me to my first cup of coffee and it has been love ever since.  It is a staple in my home and really is what helps put the jump start in my morning runs.  Which as you know is my vice for staying healthy. 

Afternoon MUST HAVE: 10 minutes.  That's all I ask for.  10 minutes of quite before the kids come home from school.  No music, no chores, just 10 minutes to clear my mind and prepare for the madness that comes after school.  When they are on break you can imagine how difficult it is to come by 10 minutes  but that allows me to be focused, calm, and show patience.  

Evening MUST HAVE:  Now I know a LOT of health articles would tell me how wrong I am  but I am a stickler to evening snacks.  I think the key here is to keep in mind what you eat.  I am not saying you have to eat carrots and celery...actually usually my evening snack is ice cream or some type of indulgent treat, but just don't eat a family of 6 snack at one time! It's my treat.  It's my way of saying "you made it through the day honey you deserve this!" 

These are must haves for me.  I know they might not be fitness related but to be real with you here if you are not taking care of yourself mentally then you are not going to be prepares to "be there" physically.  After all when you are working on your health and wellness if you are not mentally put together you are not going to be able to have what it takes to break those walls, to push yourself in a run when it hurts or to overcome a challenge that is between you and success.  So don't ever forget how you feel or see yourself.  

Have a wonderful Friday!!  If you haven't yet entered the giveaway you really are missing out!