A Week

We've been back a week. The kids went to their Dads for the week that happens once a year. However it hasn't been as bad this year. I spent a solid 12 days away with them which is huge, so now it's time to get back to the grind, work, home and working out. They're busy with their friends that are home and out of the last four years, my ex and my relationship has significantly improved. In large part because of someone no longer in his life, along with the positive changes he is trying to make, and finally being honest on all accounts. Truth, honesty, it's what I value the most in all my relationships. We're not perfect co parents, but we are significantly better than what we were, and that's a great step.

Work's good, feels much busier at the hospital than years past. Unfortunately (for patients) it's a good thing for me, yet at the same time I crave the slower days of the past when I really got to connect with the people (employees in particular) there. It's six hours of non stop line up of coffees, of all varieties. It's loud, messy, and I leave with a serious knot in my back. Yet, I wouldn't be anywhere else.

Travel. We returned from Iceland Novemeber 30th and took off for Costa Rica December 12, both were amazing. Both ignited that passion in my soul. I had forgotten how much I love international travel. How much I love other cultures and different perspectives on the world. How much we can all learn. I can't believe it had been so long. I believe the last time I had left the country was for a trip to Hong Kong in 2001 (pre 9/11). The fire has been relit, and I crave more, lots more. Where I don't know, I just know there is a very big world out there I need to experience and learn from.

 

* on the Costa Rica trip I realized there is a little misconception about me. You see my fiancé does NOT like travel, once he's there he's fine, but the getting there is not pleasant. He made a comment on the way home about me not minding it, I thought about this, for a while. Truth is, does any of us like being crammed into a seat for 7 hours, getting restless legs and swollen feet (yeah that's new for me, is it an age thing), or the mass cattle herd through security in which we all scramble to get our liquids out, belts shoes and coats off, then promptly back on, I don't think so. I know I don't. For me it's mind over matter. That part all sucks, but it's unavoidable IF you want to travel, so create the opportunity for something good in a crappy situation. I enjoy reading, and never seem to have enough time for it, I usually put a couple books on my IPad and pack a few paperbacks (something I love), I talk myself into how great it will be to have that many hours to read. So really I don't totally dig the travel itself, but I can and will get excited for it so the misery doesn't win and ruin my experience.

 

Now to figure out how to save for more travel. In the meantime I will keep Pura Vida in my heart

 

 

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Pure Life

I think it's obvious we like it here. I am glad we came when we did, we've had the pool to ourselves, a group tour that ended up being private the roads haven't been bad. As Christmas week approaches things have gotten busy.

This was Playa Conchal

Our last full day here (today) we chose to spend at our favorite beach. Playa Flamingo. No complaints, the four of us have love it here, we will be back (knowing Spanish next time)!

 

 

 

 

Ok this is pretty nice, most restaurants in Tamarindo are beachfront, dinner and sunset.

 

 

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Full Heart

I crawled out of bed at 5:30 this am to the sound of the Howler monkeys (yes I am obsessed), the thought that they were awake and moving through the trees was too much temptation for me. Two hours, two cups of coffee later the condo is still asleep and I am sitting out on the large lanai enjoying the sounds of the surf, lizards and birds, the monkeys well they must've went back to bed because they are nowhere to be seen now.

This vacation, or even more so the last month has been nothing short of amazing. Three weeks ago we were in Iceland going as hard as we could to cram everything in, this last week has been sleeping 8-10 hours at night, lounging , reading books, swimming, only brushing my hair when it seems absolutely necessary, but the most important part is this time away with my kids, and this time Rick too.

Holidays are hard. I use to love them so much, but things changed when I got divorced. My kids were 8 and 13 when some of the magic of the season was lost. Not intentionally, but as a single parent financially  we had to cut out a lot of things that didn't make sense to spend money on. Baking gets pretty costly, and when you only have your kids half the time through the season it seems silly to spend so much for no one to really enjoy. We don't buy extra decorations. Each year the kids get to pick one ornament that will one day be theirs. I don't do a real tree, again because of cost and the hassle of trying to line people up to help me. Things like Christmas lights haven't been put up in years, instead we make do with a decorative wreath and enjoy our neighbors lights. The kids typically get one gift from myself and one from Santa (if they are at my house Christmas morning). Stockings are simple. Things had to change, not because we wanted it to but now we had different priorities. For me that is maximizing my time with them during the holidays. I decided that first Christmas without them those would be the years we would take a long vacation before they left to their dads. This would be the gift that year, it eliminates feeling rushed up to the holidays, running around to to make sure we fit in time with everyone. It's a bit selfish but it allows me quality time with them, by getting away. It certainly makes the week to follow a lot more bearable, for myself.

For now I will just enjoy this time away, exploring, gathering shells at the sea, watching sunsets and just simply being in their presence.

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Pictures Worth 1000 Words

Quite honestly yesterday was one of the most fun days I've ever had on vacation. We visited Palo Verde National Park. We had an awesome guide who's actual name I can't remember because he asked us to call him Dirty Martini (true story). Have I mentioned how awesome the Costa Ricans are? If not they are, gracious, polite and very funny. My only regret is not knowing Spanish, I can only imagine how fun it would be to converse in their native language!

Ok so I haven amazing video too but I will have to upload that later, here's the pictures to get an idea. Granted these are not quality pictures because I couldn't exactly reel in the excitement I was feeling over the monkeys jumping on our boat.

 

 

 

 

Pretty sure the boat behind us is jealous the monkey hopped on ours, and LOVED my son

I should mention, because it's not yet peak time, when we booked a tour the day before for this it ended up being just us with a guide and driver...bonus!

This guy was at another stop, a little more wary than the last guy but still curious about Luke.

 

After we enjoyed an authentic Costa Rican meal in a nearby village

 

And a little sunset watching back at Tamarindo Beach

 

 

Ok should probably mention we saw a few of these guys too

They're in the rivers here. Eek.

 

Today, back to doing what we do best. Lounging. The kids and I are sun worshipers (with sunscreen of course). Rick opts for the huge lanai at our condo with shade and a view of the ocean. We've each finished a book, which is pure bliss to me.

Another worthy mention, any Into The Wild fans, I just read The Wild Truth, written by Chris's sister, hoping to accurately portray why Chris did what he did. I enjoyed it.

 

 

 

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A Glimpse

I'm getting the feeling we are only touching on a small part of what an amazing country Costa Rica is. I am very happy with our choice to stay in Tamarindo, and experience the Pacific side, as I've heard the beaches are a little nicer this way.

 

This doesn't mean however I wouldn't love to come back with a backpack and travel throughout the country spending a coulple days here and there. This time we have a rental car, and it is a very nice convenience but if I were moving around more frequently, based on how friendly and helpful everyone is here I would probably take public transportation.

 

A highlight for me so far was the visit to our condo complex by a large group of howler monkeys. For those that know me, I love primates. As a kid I wanted nothing more than to be Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey. I took offense when people implied Fossey had gone crazy living in the mountains protecting her beloved gorillas, and sympathized and cried at the loss of her beloved Digit. I find primates fascinating, and so close to humans.

Rick and I set out to run Monday morning but on our way out noticed the monkeys in the tree, we grabbed Lo (who was awake) and watched for an hour, ran woke my son up and watched some more, this time the male in the group was "howling" at the groundskeeper with the leaf blower, later after some pool time I returned to standing under th trees watching these fine creatures. ( I have lots of videos I will try to share later)

There's also a large resident iguana in a tree by our condo I am fascinated with.

 

He/she makes frequent trips down to the pool for water.

Lots of these guys, I haven't determined their appropriate name yet. Large lizards or monitors, not sure

 

In any case I like them.

We went a little outside Tamarindo yesterday a to Playa Flamingo, a beautiful beach.

There is nothing more I love than the sounds of the sea, the smell of the fresh air and the feel of salt water, with my loves.

 

 

 

Returned in time for this.

 

It is love.

 

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They Say....

Pura Vida, the pure life. I love it. We are on day 3 in Costa Rica, and fulling embracing the chill vibe and laid back spirit.

Getting here is a slight pain, I'm not oppose to red eye flights, but when they are only 3.5 hours longs it's a bit painful. We took off Friday night at 23:50, getting into Dallas at 5:30 (3.5 hour flight) and four hours of hanging in Dallas before our other 3.5 hour flight to Liberia. The plus side and I highly recommend this to anyone traveling in Costa Rica, flying into Liberia. We are staying in Tamarindo just a 45 minute drive away on the northwest coast of Costa Rica, the airport is small, clean and a breeze through customs.

Rick took over our car arrangements (my mind was mush after returning from Iceland). I probably would've done the cheapest one on Expedia. He researched and talked to our friends that had been. Determined that neither of our insurances cover foreign car rental and we would need to purchase extra coverage at the rental company, we were also warned driving here is a bit sketchy as things aren't actually labeled, so he wanted a GPS loaded with current maps. Trip advisor had high reviews for a local company called Vamos and that's what he did. Excellent experience with them, very easy. They had a guy meet us at the airport and take us to the car rental, we were given a phone in case of emergency (given the type of car this is wise). Granted the car is a bit of a piece of sh*t but we didn't want and obvious rental car here because car break ins is quite common.

We're in an older condo at the Diria but it's large and beautifully remodeled. We were fairly exhausted so have spent the last two days, swimming, beaching, reading and vedging.

 

Our view

 

 

 

This morning before my run on the beach, We stopped to watch the howler monkeys in the tree and large lizards (not sure if they are iguanas or not) in the grass. Pretty magical.

Another noteworthy mention, the people. Friendliest people I have ever encountered on my travels, I thought that about Iceland too, maybe I've just been around way too many rude people back home, but in any case they are positive and friendly and I like them a lot!

 

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With Love

Four years ago my friends and I started a tradition of a friends Christmas.  In my life I love my friends so much it's nice during this busy time of year to take time for each other and celebrate. Granted I think it was originally thrown together by my friends so I had something to look forward to during the holidays and not completely fall apart. My husband had left in Novemebr that year, we had a big Hawaii vacation planned but instead would be splitting it, meaning my kids first time away for a week and on a vacation without me. I've often said how grateful I am for my friends. The depth to which we love and support each other is honest and pure.

This year again they've been there. My ex recently went through a break up, part of his healing has been to come clean and be honest with the events (or person) that lead to our divorce. There's so much good in my life, friends, kids, my fiancé, work I didn't really think "I" needed to hear the truth at this point, but understood the importance for him in his quest to move forward being a better person. Surprisingly (or maybe not) it brought up a lot of the hurt and deceit I had felt through that time, although thankfully I've had years to process what I had already known. It still hurt but in a healing way. Again, my friends who were there four years ago, have been right beside me again. Letting me talk with them about this and work through it, again. I love them so much. I have no idea what I've done to get so lucky to be surrounded by the most loving, amazing women, but I am grateful. My life is better with them in it, and I cannot imagine a life without them.

Cheers to the blessings life bestows upon us!

This years party we decided to step out of our comfort level and paint at a new place in town. It was a blast, and we all created a masterpiece (the same) we now have prominently displayed in our homes!

And ta-da!

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