Please accept my apologies for being absent in the blog world for a week. I have received some comments from certain individuals that they have been upset with my lack of blogging over the last couple of weeks. You have my word that I will try to keep up on sharing my every waking moment with you : -)
Last week I experienced some truly touching moments. For those of you that don’t know, some people who come to Hilton Head Health Institute come here to make life changing decisions. Up until their arrival they haven’t lived healthy lives either at all or not for many years. Some have serious physical limitations either orthopedic and/or diseases that prohibit them from engaging in certain activities. Others have chosen, for whatever their personal reasons are, to remain inactive and consume an extremely unhealthy, unbalanced diet. It is a huge step for all these types of people to even choose to come to Hilton Head Health; I can only imagine how intimidating it might be for them. Changing the way you live your life is no easy task, for anybody.
Among the other interns and professional staff at the institute, everyday I have the chance to positively impact somebody’s life. Sometimes these chances come about in an obvious way, other times I haven’t realized just how much we assisted in changing, even saving, someone’s life. Friday afternoon after a class I taught I was approached by a man who was with us for about 3 weeks. I had watched him work hard in every class he participated in and caught him in the gym on his own numerous times. He wanted to say goodbye and thanked me for all of our help and support; that he couldn’t have done it without us and that he appreciates us and what we do more than words could express. Before I knew it I was embraced in a hug from a man who, unbeknownst to me until this moment, probably wouldn’t have lived another 5 years if he hadn’t made life altering changes to improve his health. He began to tear up and shot me an ear to ear smile as he scurried out the door. Later that evening after dinner, his friend approached us girls at the intern table and reiterated just how much we had helped his friend. He told us that he had quit smoking before he came here and had quickly put on a lot of weight; adding to his already unhealthy conditions. We were informed this man has a 4 year old daughter and was determined to be around to not only raise her, but be actively involved in her life for many years to come. It was an amazing feeling knowing that I played even the smallest part in changing his life around; not only for his sake but for his loved ones as well.
On a lighter note, the girls and I went kayaking on Saturday afternoon. It was low tide so we got to navigate through a maze of oyster beds. The sand bars and oyster beds were so tall we couldn’t see over them; it was truly a maze full of wildlife. We saw fish jumping, all sorts of birds, and crab pots that had been stranded on the sand waiting for the tide to go back out. We felt like we were on the discovery channel or on a photography mission for National Geographic. After over an hour paddling (against the wind) we decided to head back. Being the smart young ladies we are we decided to go against the wind on the way out so the paddle back would be a breeze. Yes pun intended. Anyway, of course the wind decided to completely die at the very moment we were ready to turn around. We were exhausted and starving so it was a rather interesting/cranky paddle back to “Water Dog” where we’d rented the kayaks. At least we got a killer upper body workout out of the deal!
I have posted some photos of Saturday and Friday night. Friday we just went to a local bar down the street from us called the “Big Bamboo.” They always have live music and a casual beach front atmosphere. After the Big Bamboo we walked across the street to the “Frosty Frog;” another local fun spot with loud music and all sorts of fun fruity drinks to choose from. Saturday night we went out to Savannah, Georgia to check out the club scene we’d been told so much about. Savannah is a fun city only about an hour away from us that we spent the day in a couple of weeks ago and had a blast. So this time we decided to check out the night scene and see what it’s all about. We had an amazing time being around tons of people and experiencing new fun places to go. It was extremely warm out so the walk around the city from one place to the other was quite pleasant.
We are about to head out to a bbq we’ve been invited to by a couple of locals we met Friday night. Should be a lovely way to end the weekend! Keep checkin’ in, I’ll try to write again in a couple days! : -)
Love and miss you all TONS!
Last week I experienced some truly touching moments. For those of you that don’t know, some people who come to Hilton Head Health Institute come here to make life changing decisions. Up until their arrival they haven’t lived healthy lives either at all or not for many years. Some have serious physical limitations either orthopedic and/or diseases that prohibit them from engaging in certain activities. Others have chosen, for whatever their personal reasons are, to remain inactive and consume an extremely unhealthy, unbalanced diet. It is a huge step for all these types of people to even choose to come to Hilton Head Health; I can only imagine how intimidating it might be for them. Changing the way you live your life is no easy task, for anybody.
Among the other interns and professional staff at the institute, everyday I have the chance to positively impact somebody’s life. Sometimes these chances come about in an obvious way, other times I haven’t realized just how much we assisted in changing, even saving, someone’s life. Friday afternoon after a class I taught I was approached by a man who was with us for about 3 weeks. I had watched him work hard in every class he participated in and caught him in the gym on his own numerous times. He wanted to say goodbye and thanked me for all of our help and support; that he couldn’t have done it without us and that he appreciates us and what we do more than words could express. Before I knew it I was embraced in a hug from a man who, unbeknownst to me until this moment, probably wouldn’t have lived another 5 years if he hadn’t made life altering changes to improve his health. He began to tear up and shot me an ear to ear smile as he scurried out the door. Later that evening after dinner, his friend approached us girls at the intern table and reiterated just how much we had helped his friend. He told us that he had quit smoking before he came here and had quickly put on a lot of weight; adding to his already unhealthy conditions. We were informed this man has a 4 year old daughter and was determined to be around to not only raise her, but be actively involved in her life for many years to come. It was an amazing feeling knowing that I played even the smallest part in changing his life around; not only for his sake but for his loved ones as well.
On a lighter note, the girls and I went kayaking on Saturday afternoon. It was low tide so we got to navigate through a maze of oyster beds. The sand bars and oyster beds were so tall we couldn’t see over them; it was truly a maze full of wildlife. We saw fish jumping, all sorts of birds, and crab pots that had been stranded on the sand waiting for the tide to go back out. We felt like we were on the discovery channel or on a photography mission for National Geographic. After over an hour paddling (against the wind) we decided to head back. Being the smart young ladies we are we decided to go against the wind on the way out so the paddle back would be a breeze. Yes pun intended. Anyway, of course the wind decided to completely die at the very moment we were ready to turn around. We were exhausted and starving so it was a rather interesting/cranky paddle back to “Water Dog” where we’d rented the kayaks. At least we got a killer upper body workout out of the deal!
I have posted some photos of Saturday and Friday night. Friday we just went to a local bar down the street from us called the “Big Bamboo.” They always have live music and a casual beach front atmosphere. After the Big Bamboo we walked across the street to the “Frosty Frog;” another local fun spot with loud music and all sorts of fun fruity drinks to choose from. Saturday night we went out to Savannah, Georgia to check out the club scene we’d been told so much about. Savannah is a fun city only about an hour away from us that we spent the day in a couple of weeks ago and had a blast. So this time we decided to check out the night scene and see what it’s all about. We had an amazing time being around tons of people and experiencing new fun places to go. It was extremely warm out so the walk around the city from one place to the other was quite pleasant.
We are about to head out to a bbq we’ve been invited to by a couple of locals we met Friday night. Should be a lovely way to end the weekend! Keep checkin’ in, I’ll try to write again in a couple days! : -)
Love and miss you all TONS!
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