This past weekend, Venus members from around the world met up in fabulous South Beach in Miami, Florida, on the beach. We enjoy each other so much in the community that we knew we would have a blast in real life! We put a heads up in the forum about 2 months ago, and I could hardly wait until it was time to go!

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying a night out on the town; dinner at Meat Market on Lincoln

 

 

 

 

 

From left: Coach Lita, Coach Liss, Coach Jenny, and Naomi enjoying Miami Beach

 

Bonding

As crazy as it sounds, we make some pretty tight bonds in the Venus forum.  We are from all over the world and completely different walks of life, but driving change puts us on a similar path.   We all struggle and we all have to find our own way, but our tight knit community makes a difference.  The forum is our life line and there is always someone there with a lending hand or a sympathetic ear. The people that help us find our way become part of our story and meeting in person only makes those bonds stronger.  Not everyone could make it of course, but we shared pictures and stories that included them and we hope to see them down the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coach Jenny, Coach Liss, Coach Lita, and Kerry enjoying time together

 

Enjoying dinner at A Fish called Avalon on Ocean Drive

 

 

Personal Support

Many of us email, call, and text one another- making bonds deeper than just diet and fitness. We can lean on each other for family, relationship, work, and emotional issues. We KNOW each other, so getting together in person is easy.  We just click like we have always been “real life” friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coach Jenny, Coach Lita, and Coach Liss

 

Enjoying the boat ride and chatting before Paddleboarding

Brad Howard, Kerry with her husband, and Jackie 

 

Brad Pilon gave us a demo before Paddleboarding

 

We loved paddleboarding!

 

 

Making Memories

Our time together was special.  What I enjoyed the most was getting to see everyone’s facial expressions, having eye contact, and hearing vocal tone and laughter. The hugs were pretty great too!

Training at the outdoor gym in South Beach

 

 

Michal, Vaclav, John Barban, Jim, Martin, and Luke

 

Enjoying lunch after the workout

 

The Life

We shared some great conversations and enjoyed fabulous food and drinks. We fit in a few workouts and spent time relaxing by the ocean.  Some days we all went our own ways in smaller groups, but we always met up for dinner.  It was a whirlwind, but so worth it to get to have a little time IN PERSON with friends and co-workers.  Next year cannot come fast enough!

Speaking of next year, we are looking at April or August 2016. We are also looking at hosting the meet up in Barbados or California. Which would you prefer?