About Me

I have been an R.N. for over 30 years and currently I am a SAHM, or to be exact Grandma! I love anything to do with Social Media, Personal Development, Affiliate and Relationship Marketing.  I am a perpetual student and as I learn I love to share with everyone! My blog posts are mostly about the things that I am learning on the web.

I chose the title for this blog because I usually call myself a "picaflor" or hummingbird! The reason is because my condition causes me to have a high heart rate when I just move or change position. So my heart is all a Twitter!  P.O.T.S. or Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome causes multiple symptoms and at some point I will discuss it further, but now I will start back from when we moved to Puerto Rico back in 1973!

Although I grew up in upstate NY, we moved to Puerto Rico when I was 15.  We started going there for our yearly vacations when I was 10 years old.  Although my dad nor us kids spoke a lick of Spanish he fell in love with the place.  My mom was from there originally, but she wasn't that excited to move back.

So at 15 we packed up everything and left our little town of Sloatsburg, NY.  It was quite the culture shock moving to a small rural town in Puerto Rico and not understanding the language.  We had to learn Spanish with the kindergartners who were failing Spanish!  You can just imagine these awkward teenagers sitting on tiny little chairs learning to speak, what would soon turn into being our primary language.

The Casita, the house I grew up in
Watching I Love Lucy and Bewitched dubbed in Spanish was hilarious! In those days there was no cable television, just a hanger as the antenna!  What was really funny was watching Godzilla, not only did you have the mouth moving out of sink it was now re-dubbed in Spanish!

During Nursing School, still in Puerto Rico,  I had just received a packet from George Washington University to work as a nurse there.  I had so many dreams of moving back to the states.  For some reason I had this fantasy life all up in my head and living in Puerto Rico was not part of that dream.  I didn't even tell my boyfriend any of this, he still doesn't know.  I now think back how selfish that was.  The decisions I made that night changed my life forever.  I moved away in 1982.

So for this post I decided to share a little of the Island that ironically I now miss so much!







Old San Juan
1634 Chapel of Christ and Parque de las Palomas
Isla Verde
 
Beach Near Naguabo

Rio Grande

Rio Grande

Ponce
El Yunque Rain Forest Ferns the size of trees!
 The Five Things I Love Most About Puerto Rico:
  1. Walking on the beach and feeling the warm white sand underneath my feet
  2. The full moon shining through the palm trees swaying in the wind
  3. The warm breeze from the ocean hitting my face
  4. Party time!  Spending time with family and friends, singing, dancing, great food and music
  5. The warm blue green ocean, hitting the shore with quiet strength

This was just a little tour of the island and where I grew up so many years ago.  Hope you enjoyed the trip!

My husband and I now live south of Seattle, WA. We have five sons, two daughter-in-laws, two beautiful granddaughters, four Labrador Retrievers, two cats and a horse named Sioux.






23 comments:

  1. Wow....I love your story :)

    Sharon from VoiceBoks.com

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  2. Hi Sharon! So nice for you to stop in. Thank you so much!~Lisa

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  3. Lisa,

    I've always wanted to visit Puerto Rico! It has so much to offer tourists and natives alike. I'd like to read a descriptive post about the beaches, things for tourists and families to do there, best travel time of year, etc.

    I wanted to comment on the video about sugar and obesity, but could not type anything into the comment box. I tried several times.

    Anyway, thanks for visiting my website as well!

    xoxo
    Samantha (from vB)

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  4. Lisa, such a great, interesting story you have! I've been in the same place my whole life. In fact my husband and I live just one block from my mom who still lives in the house I grew up in. I couldn't imagine moving away during high school! That must've been a tough transition.

    Thanks for visiting my blog last week!
    Jenn
    Coolest Family on the Block
    (voiceboks)

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  5. Hi Samantha! Yes, Blogger was having issues regarding commenting! I will be writing a post soon about PR. Thank you for stopping in!~Lisa

    I am all a twitter about life

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  6. Hi Jenn! Yes, it was hard leaving NY at 15, but in the end I am glad we did. I was able to learn a second language and have certain experiences I would have never had. So glad you stopped in!~Lisa
    I am all a twitter about life

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  7. Lisa,

    I just watched the video on Puerto Rico and am ready to book flights over. I like the idea of visiting those sister islands to the East with white san. Have you been there. As you may know, we uprooted our kids and moved to Belize for one year. The best thing we ever did to take our teenagers away from Orange County, Caliufornia. So glad you found me through VB. Sonia

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  8. Hi Sonia!
    Thank you for taking a quick trip to PR with me! I have been to Culebra, it is wonderful. I would love to retire there, it is dryer than PR, for some reason the rain misses that little island. I have never been to Vieques, the Navy used it for years, so I have been leery about what kinds of waste was left, if radioactive. I think the Navy left around 2000, and there is a significant cleanup going on. To get to Culebra there is a ferry that leaves Fajardo, northeast PR. I think it was only $2.50 each way. Don't quote me on that! We went on my cousins boat and it took around 30 minutes to get there. Hope you get to go. ~Lisa
    I am all a twitter about life

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  9. Lisa,

    Came over from twitter to read your goal poster article! Dropped by to read your fab bio! Hey, my folks are from NY....I was born in Plattsburgh, air force brat.....

    @shelleymolitor

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  10. Very fascinating story. Absolutely love it.

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  11. I just watched the video and I REALLY want to visit PR. It must have been so nice to live in such a beautiful place!

    I have always lived in the same, small, rural town and have rarely traveled. I've only just recently even seen the ocean (back in December when my son graduated from boot camp in San Diego) and have never swam in it.

    Did you go to nursing school in PR? Did you have any problems with working in the states? Can a nurse from the states go work in PR without problem? Perhaps I need to move there - I hate winter!!

    Christina

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  12. Hey Lisa,
    I'm here from VoiceBoks. Thanks for visiting my site!
    I totally understand this post, with its tinge of sadness over Puerto Rico. I live in the most gorgeous redwood forest, surrounded by wildlife. Yet I'm always griping about California and wanting to leave. Once in a while, I realize I am missing the blessings all around me! I will be sad to leave someday. I wrote a post about that, too, called "Every Creeping Thing."
    I live in an A-frame that looks kind of like the one on the pic!
    Blessings,
    Lisa
    http://susannasapron.blogspot.com/

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  13. @Shelly,
    So glad to see a fellow New Yorker visiting!Thank you for stopping in!
    @Syed Store! Welcome to Puerto Rico!! So glad you visited!
    @Christina! I went to nursing school there, and when I moved to the States I just had to get licensed in that state to work there.
    @Lisa I need to read your post! Thank you for visiting!
    @Shahida shimul Thank you! Looks like I need to visit Beautiful Bangladesh!

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  14. I've never heard of POTS. The Puerto Rico pictures are so gorgeous. <3

    (Here from VB, too. :) I'm loving finding new sites like yours!)

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  15. Your story is so moving and so inspiring. So glad we connected on TWITTER! Stay healthy and happy.
    Sharon www.emptyhousefullmind.blogspot.com

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  16. @Quirky Jessi, I had never heard of it either and I am an RN!! So glad you stopped in for a visit!

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  17. @Sharon Greenthal, So glad you visited, and that we are connected elsewhere too! Hope all is well. Lisa

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  18. What a beautiful place to grow up! I too moved far from home, though not as far as you. I came from Florida and ended up in Nebraska! I know exactly what you mean when you say that you didn't realize how selfish it was. Now that I am here with kids of my own I want nothing more than to be back near the rest of my family. I feel bad that my kids won't grow up around any of their family. I am grateful to have had the advantages of visiting places I had never been. I just never realized I would never be able to make it back.

    I am a new follower from the Tuesday Free Hop. I hope you have a chance to visit and follow me back at http://cooperave.blogspot.com

    Vanessa

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  19. Thank you Lisa for sharing your beautiful photos from Puerto Rico and about your lovely family. We perrhaps undersand a little how you feel, because we are originally from Germany and Hungary/Austria and miss Europe every single day.
    Wishing you a Happy New Year and hope you get to visit your beloved Puerto Rico soon.

    Cheers:)
    Judit & Corina

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  20. Hi Vanessa! I will check out your blog! Thank you so much for visiting. Hopefully one day you will make it back if you want to! Lisa

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  21. Welcome Judit and Corina! I would be missing Europe too! Those areas are some that I would love to go visit. Thank you again for visiting my blog! Lisa

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  22. Hi Lisa,
    Culinary teacher looking for food design for her cook book.Love your cover. Would appreciate you imput.
    soursopena@optonline.net

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  23. Would you mind sharing who you Dr. is at the UofW? My son (18 yo) just got back from the Mayo yesterday and was diagnosed with POTS. Looking for a local Dr. that can help manage his symptoms.

    Thank you!
    Fran

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Not what we give,
But what we share,
For the gift
without the giver
Is bare.
~James Russell Lowell

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