Blog Header Image

crossfitrewnew

   •    

February 8, 2023

Member Spotlight: Amberley Romo and Kyle Smith

Member Spotlight: Amberley Romo and Kyle Smith

We’re calling it now: this will be the most surprising Member Spotlight you’ve ever read. Meet: Amberley and Kyle.

Q: Where are you from? If not here, when did you move here?

Amberley: I am from good ol' Dallas. I went to college in Washington, DC and lived there for eight years before moving back to Texas -- to Austin -- in 2016. With the exception of a year in Dallas to help my family, I've been here ever since.

Kyle: Frisco, TX. I moved to Austin the summer of 2016. I fell in love with this city when I first visited family here when I was in high school, after that I was determined to move to Austin (after a few detours to Lubbock for college, and then a small town in Louisiana called Houma for a few years after that).

Q: What brought you to Renew? How long have you been a member at Renew?

Amberley: I came to Renew... the month before Covid started! (So three years now, wow). I was between gyms and had moved nearby in late 2019. I searched on Google maps for nearby gyms to check out, and then when I walked into Renew for the first time, I saw that a former coach of mine from my gym in Dallas was there! Cosmic. That coach is no longer there but now Renew is stuck with me

Kyle: Amberley convinced me after years of dating to finally check out CrossFit. Prior to that we'd always watched the CrossFit Games together so I've been familiar with the exercises for a long while, it just took a few Bring a Friend Fridays to finally get me to check it out. This February marks a whole year of being a member.

Q: What do you do outside of the gym? Both for work and play?

Amberley: For work I'm a software engineer -- more recently now an engineering manager -- at a fully distributed tech startup. For fun, we are pretty classic Austin DINKs -- dual income no kids with two labrador mixes that we spoil. I have lots of hobbies, to varying degrees of consistency. I tend to get really obsessed with something for 2-4 weeks and then move on.

Kyle: I work at Austin Energy as a transmission powerline engineer (the high voltage lines that usually are strung into the air in giant steel poles or lattice towers).

For play, well a few things come to mind. The easy answer is that I love to run. I try to run at least a mile on every non-CrossFit day and I usually run 6 to 10 miles every Sunday.

I also have an on-and-off again hobby in podcasting. My first podcast, Everyday Superhumans, was a show dedicated to showcasing the many charities in Austin and the people behind them. Everyday Superhumans won Austin Monthly's Best Podcast of ATX award in 2017. Although we haven't released an episode since 2020. I also co-hosted a productivity podcast called The Productivity Lab for a few years, where a friend of mine and I would test out different so-called productivity methods and see if they helped us (from cold showers to task managers and everything else in between), but we put the show on indefinite hiatus last year, mostly to focus on my main obsession right now... writing!

It's been kind of a dream of mine since I was a kid to write novels, so I'm putting a lot of my energy into honing my creative writing skills and write awesome stories. I've actually written two books so far and even self published one a few months ago. My first self published book can be found on Amazon called The Novel Killer under my pen name Jonathan K. Webb. It's a short read at just over a hundred pages, but was a blast to write. I intend it to be the first of many books written by me!

Q: What's your favorite thing to do together?

Supporting each others' creative pursuits. We love to go to a coffee shop or other "third place" -- and sit together and brainstorm and work on our personal projects or read. A close second -- after we've had plans for the night (meeting up with friends, or whatever) we love to get a nightcap together at our neighborhood bar before we go home.

Q: What's something about your partner that no one knows (silly or otherwise)?

Amberley: He has a soft spot for quirky romcoms.

Kyle: Amberley helped make the thread emoji a thing! (Along with a few others sewing related emojis). She has a whole blog post about the process that you can check out if you want to learn more.

Oh okay so there are celebrities among us?? Y’all – how fun it was to learn more about you! We’re so glad to be celebrating 1 and 3 years with you this month – thanks for sticking around and brightening up the place. Can’t wait to pick up The Novel Killer at my friendly neighborhood mega website conglomerate.



Jealous of how cool our members are? You, too, can be this cool. Come join us! Book a free No Sweat Intro and talk to a coach about membership options. Whether it’s Personal Training, Group Classes, Nutrition Coaching, or Pregnant or Postpartum training – we’ve got whatchya need (and whatchya want). Book here: crossfitrenew.com/no-sweat-intro

Continue reading

Blog Image Spacer

Sweet & Spicy Korean Turkey Spring Roll Bowls

serving of meat makes 8 servings: Calories — 565⁣ Protein — 40g⁣ Fat — 21g⁣ Carbs — 33g⁣ ⁣ 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐲⁣ 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥: ⁣ ⁣ 3 lbs lean ground turkey⁣ 9 tsp garlic, minced about 9 cloves⁣ 34 cup brown sugar, packed⁣ 34 cup low-sodium soy saucetamaricoconut aminos⁣ 6 tsp sesame oil⁣ 1 tsp ground ginger or 2-3 tsp minced⁣ 1 tsp crushed red pepper⁣ 1 tsp black pepper⁣ Sliced green onions for garnish⁣ 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞⁣ 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥:⁣ ⁣ 10oz bag of shredded cabbage⁣ 10oz bag of julienned carrots⁣ 10oz bag of broccoli slaw⁣ 12oz bag of sea kelp noodles ⁣ 5oz greens of your choice, roughly chopped⁣ 5-10 mini cucumbers, sliced⁣ 1 bunch each of cilantro, mint, and Thai basil, roughly chopped⁣ 13-12 cup peanuts, chopped⁣ Sesame seeds and sliced green onions for garnish⁣ ⁣𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠⁣ 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥:⁣ ⁣ 12 cup olive oil⁣ 6 tbsp rice vinegar⁣ 4 tsp honey ⁣ 2 tsp minced garlic⁣ Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste⁣ ⁣ To prepare: ⁣ — Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat.