“I AM what I eat.” 

That is the philosophy of the Heuvel family, owner/operators of Iamsterdam Panini Café located on Cypress Gardens Blvd. in Winter Haven.  At Iamsterdam, you can eat healthy without giving up great taste.  The family members bake all of their breads from scratch, and their soups and sauces are all homemade too.  Iamsterdam opened for business in September 2009, offering Breakfast (the best Belgian Waffle in town), Pastries, Soups, Salads and Paninis.  Some menu items that are customer favorites are the 3 Cheese Roast Beef Panini and the Grand Cypress Panini.  Val Heuvel is a nutritionist, and has even created a ZeroCarb bread, called The Protini.  It is a flatbread, focaccia style bread that is packed with protein, fiber and antioxidants.  Dave and his wife Karin run the daily operations, along with brother Val, while their parents, Joan and Harvey, bake the breads and make the homemade soups and chutneys.  If you have not tried Iamsterdam Panini Café yet, I highly recommend that you do.  Your taste buds will thank you!  I recently had the Chicken Marinara Panini on Ciabatta bread and it was outstanding! You will also want to try their new restaurant, Iampasta, opening this month in the Miller’s Landing shopping plaza.

                          

Well, here we are – this is the last blog that I will be writing for SIG Insurance.  It’s sad really; this is something that I love to do.  Expressing myself through words has always been something that came very easily and this is a dream job to have. 

Truth be told, my reason for leaving is that my life has gotten very complicated and I need to scale back.  I have another job that I work 40 hours per week and I also go to school part time.  Perhaps the most important thing is that my son is about to embark on a heavy mission, high school.  He, more than anything else, needs my attention right now.  He’s headed to a college prep high school that has a military way of doing things.  This will be a challenge and one that I don’t want to ever be “too busy” for.

So, with that – I want to thank you for your following over the past few months.  I’ve shared with you things about me that I never really anticipated telling an “audience”.  I’ve written about both of my parents, my child and my opinions on several topics.  I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it.

I wish you all the best of luck with life, love and insurance.  Take care of yourselves.

                          

In just a couple of weeks the kids in Polk County, Florida will be heading back to school.  I am sure you can remember the feeling.  I have fond memories of school clothes shopping, getting new supplies and of course…the new shoes!!  There is another thing that I also remember though, back to school anxiety. 

Now, as a kid I didn’t know what to call it but I knew I was nervous about going back but excited at the same time.  Going back to school is like starting over.  Especially when going into middle or high school, there is that whole new element of a lot of new people.  All these new people mean new friends, new adventures and new activities.  It’s a whole new opportunity to succeed, maybe to be better than you were the year before.

However, for a lot of children going back to school is an event that causes little more than anxiety.  They are wondering if people will like them, if they will be accepted or if the new clothes they got (if they got any) are up to par with what their friends are wearing. 

Here are some tips to help with the “first day back jitters”:

• Do a dry run.  Get up and see how long everything takes.  This way you will know what time to get up as to avoid adding stress on day 1.
• Go with your kids to orientation.  Meet the teachers and have your child introduce themselves. 
• Set out the clothes the night before.  Folks, I am 33 and I still do that; otherwise I stand there starring at my closet for 5 minutes in the morning.
• If your child is especially nervous, maybe take them to school on the first day.  Sometimes baby steps are the best way to go.
• Make it fun!  Make a special breakfast for them or pack a special treat in their lunch.

Now, zip up those backpacks and HEAD OUT!  Have a great school year!