Oh man. Today. At 7:25am I had an exquisite Vacation Coffee morning.  Saturdays are getting busy from a training perspective so I rolled out of bed and decided to grab a cup of ambrosia.  My first sip was so excellent it inspired a blog.

When Chris and I first started dating a few friends of mine said, "Oh my god, this makes too much sense."  Well, they weren't wrong. Five years later (this April) we are still going strong.  The last three weeks have been very busy for me with the powerlifting team competing in two separate meets, various snow storms, cancellations and reschedules, new clients, old clients returning, etc.  However, Chris' birthday did not go unnoticed.  His dear friends Veronica and Jordan sent him a delicious Kings Cake, complete with tiny baby hidden in the cake, and I honored his 37th year of earthly presence by watching a Nicolas Cage movie.

Face. Off.

In celebration of the birthday boy, here are a few things that make him wonderful:

• There are rumors, and various pictures, that say he had beautiful hair, worthy of the God's, and because of this they smited him and took back the locks of gold, returning them to their heavenly realm.  In return they had given Chris an incredible beard.  I love that beard.
• Chris can bake and he's pretty great at it.  My favorite are his scones and honey beer bread.
• He is kinder than any other human I know.  
• He's very good at trolling people.  Again, in a very kind way. Chris manages to troll without insult.  It's a gift.
• He doesn't remember anything he does. I remember everything he does.  This does not bode well for Chris, but it makes for fun stories.
• Chris has never shadowed my light.  Never tried to extinguish my flame.  I am a stronger woman because he is a good man.
• When I get scared or angry, he stays calm.  When he gets scared, I stay calm.  I cannot say I have ever seen him truly angry.  Frustrated, yes.  But when he gets frustrated that's when I know I pushed things too far, and I apologize and reel myself in.  
• He brings chaos to my obsessive compulsive organization.
• He's the best.

How many of you have tried to disconnect from social media?  

"Bye Facebook!"
"See ya later, Instagram!"

My favorite is when it's announced.  I did this for a month last year and the world was very quiet.  Social media is clearly back in my life, but it's different now.  Do I occasionally find myself mindlessly scrolling?  Yes. Ugh. Such a bad pointless habit.  What's different then?  I am learning how social media is working so that I can work with it.  I need it for my job.  That truth is something I cannot escape.  It's "free" marketing and advertising, in a sense, and it is where a lot of us socialize.....or is it?  

Are you socializing or are you stalking?  I'll fully admit to stalking people.  I mainly stalk cake blogs, though.

Now that I have used social media to my advantage by interacting with people, tagging, placing links in the right place, etc, my analytics are improving! AND THAT'S GREAT!  That is what I need from a business perspective.

But what about personal?  Well, personal is how Vacation Coffee started, my friends.  Why? Because FitPOWER is not just Jess anymore.  FitPOWER is now an us. Jess is a....me. I am a Jess.  Some things you may have noticed about Jess:

• My personal Facebook page showcases more community happenings and FitPOWER activities rather than personal beliefs or posts.
• My blog is where I open up more.  It's a bizarre thing when people are quick to be petty on social media (maybe it's that quick satisfaction of getting to say something punchy just to stir the pot), but are more thoughtful on a blog.  Or, I'm just not that popular on a blog!  Win win.
• Instagram has the Jess factor.  Fun memes.  Our doggos. Chris being goofy. But it's instagram, so its a quick happy feeling wrapped up in a picture!
• Guess what I discovered!!! PINTEREST!!!  My name is Vacation Coffee! Give me a follow!  Right now I have a book board and my blog board.

This blog can tie in very well with a longer one I wrote the other day called Boundaries.  I gave social media boundaries.  That is what is different.  It may be near impossible now to fully disconnect ourselves.  As a society, we just aren't heading in that direction.  But you can make it better by being clear about where and when you connect to the world, and when you decide to be fully present.  

Watch the video below for an awesomely insightful vlog on this exact topic.  When you get to minute 8 I suggest you really tune in and connect to what she is trying to say.