tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39032542503639082812024-03-13T17:00:59.991-04:00Two Plus One.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-84430697633038073442013-01-03T18:10:00.002-05:002013-01-03T18:18:30.355-05:002012 in pictures.The obligatory "I cannot believe another year has gone by" post.<br />
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But seriously. I can't believe it.<br />
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When I was looking at pictures on my computer from the last 12 months I had to double check the date I took them because some of them just did not seem to be over a year ago.<br />
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<b>January...</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_YsaWgb9hLw/UOYIMITeQVI/AAAAAAAABRQ/ISwGt2GHc0U/s1600/IMG_6104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_YsaWgb9hLw/UOYIMITeQVI/AAAAAAAABRQ/ISwGt2GHc0U/s320/IMG_6104.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{A trip to Jungle Gardens.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxA1fOit2o4/UOYIMJL4ZRI/AAAAAAAABRU/EvqCCfq8QFo/s1600/IMG_0851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gxA1fOit2o4/UOYIMJL4ZRI/AAAAAAAABRU/EvqCCfq8QFo/s320/IMG_0851.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{A new found love for Playdoh.}</i></div>
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<b>February...</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ExxcXo_SPjU/UOYLNUUJh7I/AAAAAAAABT0/kafd4zvixSg/s1600/DSC01890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ExxcXo_SPjU/UOYLNUUJh7I/AAAAAAAABT0/kafd4zvixSg/s320/DSC01890.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wk3IFsShR2Y/UOYLQSdIDzI/AAAAAAAABU4/CHRZUbjsy6g/s1600/IMG_0897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wk3IFsShR2Y/UOYLQSdIDzI/AAAAAAAABU4/CHRZUbjsy6g/s320/IMG_0897.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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{<i>San Fran with the mama. First mom-daughter trip.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vKPU1n6_y1E/UOYLQo9qmoI/AAAAAAAABUw/fxY2I36o4UU/s1600/IMG_0956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vKPU1n6_y1E/UOYLQo9qmoI/AAAAAAAABUw/fxY2I36o4UU/s320/IMG_0956.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<i>{First Gymnastics.}</i></div>
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<b>March...</b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGBVBXc0fq8/UOYLRfXZ7CI/AAAAAAAABU8/D94BeTE3r5Y/s1600/IMG_1005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGBVBXc0fq8/UOYLRfXZ7CI/AAAAAAAABU8/D94BeTE3r5Y/s320/IMG_1005.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MEU_DB8dRA0/UOYLRlgrIZI/AAAAAAAABVA/1YUcSot55fY/s1600/IMG_1018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MEU_DB8dRA0/UOYLRlgrIZI/AAAAAAAABVA/1YUcSot55fY/s320/IMG_1018.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<i>{Lily's first ice show, Toy Story 3.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FNpsoTE1c1E/UOYLHlUuREI/AAAAAAAABR8/jZbKSW0kXmQ/s1600/DSC00115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FNpsoTE1c1E/UOYLHlUuREI/AAAAAAAABR8/jZbKSW0kXmQ/s320/DSC00115.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{Big girl bed time.}</i></div>
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<b> April...</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wTnSFh7KSYI/UOYLSQDbY_I/AAAAAAAABVU/PYFxzF0sEs0/s1600/IMG_1094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wTnSFh7KSYI/UOYLSQDbY_I/AAAAAAAABVU/PYFxzF0sEs0/s320/IMG_1094.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zHoLP1ywiqE/UOYLH9kGS4I/AAAAAAAABSc/73BtxcHM6Z4/s1600/DSC00291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zHoLP1ywiqE/UOYLH9kGS4I/AAAAAAAABSc/73BtxcHM6Z4/s320/DSC00291.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i> {Easter.}</i></div>
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<b> May...</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUOZSCC9HLM/UOYLIVwf5hI/AAAAAAAABSI/2YkDy8uaoqI/s1600/DSC00570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUOZSCC9HLM/UOYLIVwf5hI/AAAAAAAABSI/2YkDy8uaoqI/s320/DSC00570.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{First Disney trip.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2FyMK_0m2rI/UOYLIu_S5ZI/AAAAAAAABSQ/KGsmUlcUquQ/s1600/DSC00612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2FyMK_0m2rI/UOYLIu_S5ZI/AAAAAAAABSQ/KGsmUlcUquQ/s320/DSC00612.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-G2Ay-x4Sg/UOYLJNhvjoI/AAAAAAAABSY/Td1RSESC79Q/s1600/DSC00848.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-G2Ay-x4Sg/UOYLJNhvjoI/AAAAAAAABSY/Td1RSESC79Q/s320/DSC00848.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{She turned 3.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QuM3NoNR8g/UOYLKggRHUI/AAAAAAAABS8/KCTbZzsPSfg/s1600/DSC01344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QuM3NoNR8g/UOYLKggRHUI/AAAAAAAABS8/KCTbZzsPSfg/s320/DSC01344.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxaY6Fsdxzo/UOYLKIBpvII/AAAAAAAABSo/DS9yrcnq25U/s1600/DSC01020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxaY6Fsdxzo/UOYLKIBpvII/AAAAAAAABSo/DS9yrcnq25U/s320/DSC01020.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<i>{Chicago trip for Jeff and Alyssa's wedding.}</i></div>
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<b>June...</b></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XHHsrAYhzZ4/UOYLSYm2c6I/AAAAAAAABVQ/XxeQJmu2LaI/s1600/IMG_1313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XHHsrAYhzZ4/UOYLSYm2c6I/AAAAAAAABVQ/XxeQJmu2LaI/s320/IMG_1313.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{Lots of beach time.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yEmq4XMQVzM/UOYLSRxigWI/AAAAAAAABVY/ZySLBQdXIoE/s1600/IMG_1332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yEmq4XMQVzM/UOYLSRxigWI/AAAAAAAABVY/ZySLBQdXIoE/s320/IMG_1332.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EFHP9rhYHCc/UOYLKq8kKXI/AAAAAAAABS4/HJl_hg_neVo/s1600/DSC01352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EFHP9rhYHCc/UOYLKq8kKXI/AAAAAAAABS4/HJl_hg_neVo/s320/DSC01352.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIYw7vd2F2s/UOYLK07SHdI/AAAAAAAABTA/5pv7hMLiVb8/s1600/DSC01357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gIYw7vd2F2s/UOYLK07SHdI/AAAAAAAABTA/5pv7hMLiVb8/s320/DSC01357.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{Father's Day.}</i></div>
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<b> July...</b><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OP3PU9NyxmI/UOYLS7v8bJI/AAAAAAAABVg/MHCty39T0lc/s1600/IMG_1423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OP3PU9NyxmI/UOYLS7v8bJI/AAAAAAAABVg/MHCty39T0lc/s320/IMG_1423.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{Apparently not much happened in July but we did go to this YMCA water park.}</i></div>
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<b>August...</b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7p5Qodnb08/UOYLWHB6gQI/AAAAAAAABWY/-D5cfvdMWTo/s1600/photo-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7p5Qodnb08/UOYLWHB6gQI/AAAAAAAABWY/-D5cfvdMWTo/s320/photo-18.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i>{We turned 4.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pOoGVHRsof4/UOYLLe6j4NI/AAAAAAAABTE/mxf2L2ABrGY/s1600/DSC01494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pOoGVHRsof4/UOYLLe6j4NI/AAAAAAAABTE/mxf2L2ABrGY/s320/DSC01494.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jf1Pzw9RhCA/UOYLLw8AgcI/AAAAAAAABTY/j5emqBUJ0H4/s1600/DSC01525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jf1Pzw9RhCA/UOYLLw8AgcI/AAAAAAAABTY/j5emqBUJ0H4/s320/DSC01525.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{Our 2.5 weeks in Costa Rica began.}</i></div>
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<b>September...</b></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rWIcB-lkHUA/UOYLL2UffvI/AAAAAAAABTU/3ltL4V3VERU/s1600/DSC01553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rWIcB-lkHUA/UOYLL2UffvI/AAAAAAAABTU/3ltL4V3VERU/s320/DSC01553.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j5ku8AZewkM/UOYLMFCvWoI/AAAAAAAABTc/QkGfVVCaYKY/s1600/DSC01618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j5ku8AZewkM/UOYLMFCvWoI/AAAAAAAABTc/QkGfVVCaYKY/s320/DSC01618.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g_WFzFnxEAw/UOYLMn9NVbI/AAAAAAAABTk/My4NulRb4NE/s1600/DSC01672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g_WFzFnxEAw/UOYLMn9NVbI/AAAAAAAABTk/My4NulRb4NE/s320/DSC01672.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YNAJqgrQ28U/UOYLMpr1VXI/AAAAAAAABTo/Sb97HQcthdA/s1600/DSC01812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YNAJqgrQ28U/UOYLMpr1VXI/AAAAAAAABTo/Sb97HQcthdA/s320/DSC01812.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnfpQrEC4sE/UOYLM70QPmI/AAAAAAAABTs/Bjvyg7hdGvU/s1600/DSC01886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZnfpQrEC4sE/UOYLM70QPmI/AAAAAAAABTs/Bjvyg7hdGvU/s320/DSC01886.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WNIomveL_bU/UOYLTGlotTI/AAAAAAAABVk/CHhBPG6lAgI/s1600/IMG_1546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WNIomveL_bU/UOYLTGlotTI/AAAAAAAABVk/CHhBPG6lAgI/s320/IMG_1546.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<i>{Good lord, these pictures make me happy.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nOljr2O39Y/UOYLT62wM0I/AAAAAAAABV0/QCRPcb6US6A/s1600/IMG_1574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--nOljr2O39Y/UOYLT62wM0I/AAAAAAAABV0/QCRPcb6US6A/s320/IMG_1574.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<i>{A Costa Rica inspired tattoo for my 36th (OMG!) birthday.}</i></div>
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<b>October...</b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l_sLY7I4h-8/UOYLNrFXohI/AAAAAAAABUE/MfpRd_k0OpU/s1600/DSC02197.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l_sLY7I4h-8/UOYLNrFXohI/AAAAAAAABUE/MfpRd_k0OpU/s320/DSC02197.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<i>{Soccer!}</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xcU2JzqHFd8/UOYLN9Wi8FI/AAAAAAAABT8/6FKa7BxcNh0/s1600/DSC02251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xcU2JzqHFd8/UOYLN9Wi8FI/AAAAAAAABT8/6FKa7BxcNh0/s320/DSC02251.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i> {Hunsader's Farm.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-45aggxdQLjk/UOYLOFwy4VI/AAAAAAAABUA/2Yto-ktoT8k/s1600/DSC02295.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-45aggxdQLjk/UOYLOFwy4VI/AAAAAAAABUA/2Yto-ktoT8k/s320/DSC02295.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<i>{Halloween costume one.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--u0bfbfVw58/UOYLOpirb6I/AAAAAAAABUM/Ss_0JN3tcVA/s1600/DSC02388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--u0bfbfVw58/UOYLOpirb6I/AAAAAAAABUM/Ss_0JN3tcVA/s320/DSC02388.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i> {Best friends over for Halloween.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hKo0ovnTfBo/UOYLVYFwA0I/AAAAAAAABWQ/gemJaPsCgXI/s1600/Nichols-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hKo0ovnTfBo/UOYLVYFwA0I/AAAAAAAABWQ/gemJaPsCgXI/s320/Nichols-19.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--OHkU0BeVvQ/UOYLWDrLhaI/AAAAAAAABWc/5n7QYra-KrU/s1600/Nichols-41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--OHkU0BeVvQ/UOYLWDrLhaI/AAAAAAAABWc/5n7QYra-KrU/s320/Nichols-41.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<i>{Gorgeous family pictures by <a href="http://www.kerrigagnephotography.net/" target="_blank">Kerri Gagne Photography</a>.}</i></div>
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<b>November...</b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8vaAzfWxbVI/UOYLO03Rh_I/AAAAAAAABUQ/ESopY1UIVAw/s1600/DSC02435.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8vaAzfWxbVI/UOYLO03Rh_I/AAAAAAAABUQ/ESopY1UIVAw/s320/DSC02435.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{First Busch Gardens trip.}</i></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T21_cfndkmw/UOYLU7JnTqI/AAAAAAAABWI/LF1duPidbfs/s1600/IMG_1770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T21_cfndkmw/UOYLU7JnTqI/AAAAAAAABWI/LF1duPidbfs/s320/IMG_1770.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>{Acoustic Face to Face.}</i></div>
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<b>December...</b></div>
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<i> {Back to Busch Gardens for their Christmas celebration.}</i></div>
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<i> {Looking at Christmas lights with her best friend.}</i></div>
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<i> {<span style="text-align: center;">The most fun Christmas ever.}</span></i></div>
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It was a great year.</div>
Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-79590233119004543562012-12-14T22:55:00.002-05:002012-12-14T23:41:21.836-05:00Tonight, we hold them tight.I am rarely motivated to write when a national tragedy occurs. I have now lived to hear of many: Columbine, 9/11, Virginia Tech, and the Colorado movie theatre shooting, to name a few. It isn't that they don't evoke emotion. They always do. Fierce emotion. They have all rocked me to my core, questioning humanity, wondering what has happened to our society, wondering what has happened to our society's general mental health. But, I have never written because so many writers do, excellent writers with convicted words, and I just read, nodding in agreement with how sick our society has become. My words seem insignificant in such monumental tragedy.<br />
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But, today. Today is different. I need to write, no matter how insignificant.<br />
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Babies. 20 babies taken from their mama's, their daddy's. In an elementary school shooting.<br />
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Be still, mind, be still.<br />
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These babies are just a couple/few years older than my baby. Happy. At school to learn how to read and count. I can't. I just...can't.<br />
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I have not saturated myself with media today. I just turned on the 10 o'clock news to get the whole story... and I heard NBC reporter say, "This is such a delicate topic to cover and I don't know how to articulate this...but...the bodies of those children have just been removed from the school...their parents have been with them all day...".<br />
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Oh, dear God.<br />
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I am sobbing, aching, absolutely broken for those families. Their joy has been stolen. It's vanished, one week before Christmas. I imagine those kid's fear in that school. What they had to endure. What they had to hear and see. What their moms are feeling, which is completely unimaginable.<br />
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Evil is not enough of a description. There is no description to this act.<br />
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Tonight, I studied Lily's every move, her every physical characteristic, the way she speaks, how she observes, what the sound of her voice is truly like. I hugged and kissed and hugged and kissed. I said "I love you" more times than I could count. I let her eat pizza and M&Ms and let her wear her Spider-girl costume to bed. I just was. I just was with her, in the moment. Recognizing. Loving being her mom and absorbing her joy.<br />
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Because I could.<br />
<br />
I want to remember this day for what it has taught me. I want to carry it in my heart and with every frustrating parental moment I want to remember how heavy my heart is tonight for these strangers that cannot and will not ever hug and kiss their babies again. This will never make sense to those families, or to any of us.<br />
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With every fiber of my soul, I am thinking about those families and praying for peace for them.<br />
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And as my baby just woke up from a bad dream, I take the opportunity to hold her tight. And just be.<br />
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<br />Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-932445275677901382012-10-27T12:58:00.003-04:002012-10-27T13:01:36.095-04:004 years of pumpkin patches...<table bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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<tr><td><a href="http://smilebox.com/play/4d7a4d324e7a55794d54633d0d0a&blogview=true&campaign=blog_playback_link" target="_blank"><img alt="Click to play this Smilebox collage" height="330" src="http://smilebox.com/snap/4d7a4d324e7a55794d54633d0d0a.jpg" style="border: medium none;" width="420" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="http://www.smilebox.com/?partner=smileboxa&campaign=blog_snapshot" target="_blank"><img alt="Create your own collage - Powered by Smilebox" height="46" src="http://www.smilebox.com/globalImages/blogInstructions/blogLogoSmilebox.gif" style="border: medium none;" width="420" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">This <a href="http://www.smilebox.com/" target="_blank">picture collage</a> customized with Smilebox</td></tr>
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I cannot believe how time flies.<br />
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{I'm trying out this new app, <a href="http://www.smilebox.com/" target="_blank">Smilebox</a>. It doesn't really "play" anything, just uploads the picture. Very cute if you're into scrapbooking and/or collaging. I just have the free version and it has a lot of templates to play with.}</div>
Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-86705206958264506752012-09-16T16:26:00.001-04:002012-09-16T18:26:26.273-04:00In case you're curious: An informative post on Costa RicaAnd I swear this will be the last post on Costa Rica..for a bit.<br />
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People ask us all sorts of questions relating to Costa Rica and what it's like to travel there. So many people have it on their bucket list, and it should be, so I figured I'd help you all out and give you some insight into what it's all about, aside from the gorgeous sunsets.<br />
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If you've been there, you can pretty much stop reading this now, unless you've only been to some fancy resort and think that's all there is to this amazing culture. In that case, or in case you are curious about the lifestyle, then keep reading.<br />
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This trip, I decided to make it a mission to take some pictures of the culture and not just the beauty. Sure, there is raw, natural beauty within their culture, but it is an Under Developed county (I don't care for the term "Third World Country". I think that term is a bit outdated) and there is a lot of poverty, especially in the rural areas where we visit most. It wasn't my objective to capture poverty, per se, but just the lifestyle, in general.<br />
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We have been privileged to travel all throughout the country, with the
exception of the eastern coast. We have been to Arenal to Tamarindo, to
Mal Pais, to Punterenas, to Manuel Antonio, to Uvita, to Osa and San
Jose. We have seen it all, mountain towns to bigger cities and tourist
traps. What's most amazing to me about Costa Rica, everywhere, is their people. They are humble, they are gracious, and they are thankful for tourists. Tourism is a $2.2 billion dollar a year industry. It is the most visited country of Latin America, which says so much about this place. Yes, there is an upper class there, especially in their capital of San Jose and some of the surrounding suburbs. You can find plenty of million dollar mansions and shopping malls bigger than we have here in Florida in San Jose. We have even encountered snotty, snobby attitudes to accompany some of these upper-class Ticos (as the locals are called), but for the most part, they are wonderful, hospitable people.<br />
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A view into their world, all taken from small towns on the Pacific coast... <br />
A typical Tico house is very, very small. one or two rooms, maximum, fitting an entire family.<br />
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{A family home off of a dirt road near Parrita. This would most likely be considered middle class.}</div>
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{Apartment-style living near Playa Hermosa}</div>
As I've mentioned a bunch of times, they are laid back people, never in much of a rush. They are proud people, always taking extremely good care of what is theirs, whether it's a shack, a bike, or a business. They love their country, which is why we love going there in September. Their Independence day is September 15th so their flags are flying everywhere the whole entire month.<br />
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{A school near Parrita, decorated for Independence Day. They still use pay phones throughout the country.}</div>
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{A bus stop at the foot of a mountain.}</div>
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{A graveyard near Parrita.}</div>
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{The front yard of a small house near Playa Hermosa. Chickens included.}</div>
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{Off of the main highway near Playa Hermosa.}</div>
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{Palm fields. They use palm oil for everything. This is a typical road made of rocks and dirt.}</div>
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They love, love, love babies and children. Ticas are meant to be mamas. All of them. And Ticos are great daddies, from what I've seen.<br />
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{A Tico on Playa Hermosa with his baby girl, about 10 months old, showing her the waves. She had beautiful curly hair, like Lily, and the sweetest face. These two live in a 10x10 shack just off of the beach.}</div>
They love their soccer. There are soccer fields everywhere.<br />
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{A school yard near Parrita.}</div>
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{A soccer field near Playa Hermosa with a school in the distance.}</div>
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So, if you're still curious and want to travel there someday, here are some of the questions we get most often:<br />
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Q: Is it expensive to travel there?<br />
A: It depends on how you like to travel. We usually spend an average of $100/night on lodging but you can certainly find hostels and cabinas for $30-$50/night or you can find luxury hotels over $300-$400/night. We prefer the boutique style hotels that are small and still have a Costa Rican feel, as opposed to big Americanized resorts, but have all of the amenities such as A/C, TV, etc. (That's how I like to travel. Dustin would stay in a tent.)<br />
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Food can be expensive if you don't know where to eat. If you're in a tourist area, an average dinner costs about the same as the States, around $50 per couple. We love the Sodas, which are small, locally owned restaurants with typical Costa Rica food for around $2-4 a plate. The food is delicious.<br />
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Car rentals are about $500/week in low season but public transportation is super inexpensive. Flights from Florida are usually around $250-$300 per person.<br />
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Q: Is it safe?<br />
A: It's just like anywhere else. It's safe and it's dangerous. Most crimes in Costa Rica are non-violent. They want your American stuff, specifically electronics because there is a huge black market for those items there. They will take your stuff if you're not smart. You don't go walking on the beach at night or leaving your iPhone on your rental car seat. Be smart and you won't have an issue. In eight years, we have never had an incident.<br />
The murder rate is lower than Washington DC, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, and many other U.S. cities. <br />
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Q: Where is a good first location to travel?<br />
A: Take a whole week and split it between Arenal and Manuel Antonio. These are very popular tourist areas. They are easy to travel to, with paved roads, and there is so much to do in both locations.<br />
Arenal boasts a beautiful active volcano and you should zip line and hike here, go to the hot springs at night. Manuel Antonio is on the coast and you should white water raft, paddle board, and hike the National Park.<br />
You will want to come back after your first trip and visit Mal Pais, Samara, Osa, Uvita...and the rest of the country. There is so much to see.<br />
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Q: Where do you usually stay or where have you gone back to?<br />
A: We usually stay in Playa Hermosa, outside of Jaco, at the <a href="http://www.hermosabeachbungalows.com/" target="_blank">Hermosa Beach Bungalows</a>. This location is awesome because it's only 1.5 hours from the airport, it's one of the best surf breaks in the country, and it's close to Jaco for shopping and restaurants (we do not recommend staying in Jaco). There is plenty to do in this area for first timers, too. <br />
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Other hotels we recommend:<br />
<a href="http://www.hotelsilenciodelcampo.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Silencio Del Campo in Arenal</a><br />
<a href="http://www.hotel-cantarana.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Cantarana in Playa Grande</a><br />
<a href="http://www.cristal-ballena.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Cristal Ballena in Uvita</a><br />
<a href="http://www.puravidahotel.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Pura Vida in San Jose Alejuala</a><br />
<a href="http://www.bosquedelcabo.com/" target="_blank">Bosque Del Cabo Resort in Osa (this is an eco-friendly, all-inclusive UNIQUE resort. It is considered luxury camping and is not for Marriott type travelers!) </a><br />
<a href="http://www.lamansioninn.com/" target="_blank">Hotel La Mansion Inn in Manuel Antonio</a><br />
<a href="http://www.buenavistaluxuryvillas.com/" target="_blank">Buena Vista Villas in Manuel Antonio (very pricey but perfect for a honeymoon or splurge)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.villasnicolas.com/" target="_blank">Villas Nicolas in Manuel Anotnio</a><br />
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Q: Do I have to know how to speak Spanish?<br />
A: You should. But I don't and we get along ok. I <i>try</i> to speak and learn the language when I'm there and the locals appreciate that.<br />
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Q: Can we drink the water?<br />
A: No. I wouldn't in most locations. Try to stick with bottled water. We've never had a problem but nothing ruins a vacation faster than having the shits for days.<br />
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Q: Is driving safe? <br />
A: Nope. But it's fun.<br />
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Q: Where wouldn't you travel back to?<br />
A: Probably Tamarindo/Playa Grande because it's too Americanized. It's beautiful there but we like the southern and mid-Pacific better than northern. And we did not LOVE Mal Pais as much as we wanted to. It's beautiful, too, there but it's difficult to get to and we didn't love where we stayed. <br />
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We're going back in November, actually 7 weeks from today, on a 4 night trip to <a href="http://www.blueosa.com/" target="_blank">Blue Osa</a>, an eco-friendly resort in a remote area. I'll keep you all posted on my thoughts of that place. <br />
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That's it. That's my sales pitch for CR. I should figure out a way to get paid for this advice, right??<br />
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If you have any other questions, leave me a comment!<br />
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<br />Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-77342567090377871782012-09-10T10:14:00.003-04:002012-09-10T10:14:57.402-04:00Vacation Journal #4: The Last DaysI will admit that I got teary eyed this morning thinking that at this time on Wednesday we'll be driving back to San Jose, headed home.<br />
It's been an eventful trip, good, bad and ugly, but it has also been the best out of the eight. That's actually not really true. Every trip has been special for different reasons but just because of the mere fact that we've been here for so long this time has made it SO great.<br />
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I will miss our lazy days here, which go like this...<br />
5-6am- Wake up at the crack of dawn, little feet running into our room, wanting to snuggle...or play with her iPad.<br />
7-9am- Dustin goes surfing. I wash dishes, sweep, clean up, make a little breakfast, maybe go down to the beach with Lily to watch Dustin surf. Lily plays:<br />
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9-11am- Get some work emails done, while Dustin plays with Lily, with this as my view:<br />
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{The Pacific is in the distance in that second picture}</div>
11-12ish- Go to the pool with Lily, playing with the other kids in the neighborhood.<br />
12:30-3ish- Lunch, errands in Jaco, more work emails, naps.<br />
Late afternoon and evening- Beach again, maybe pool again, cook dinner or get some to-go.<br />
8-9ish- Bed. For all of us.<br />
This has been the majority of our days. So peaceful. It's the kind of boring that I long for everyday back in the States. Nothing rushed, nothing stressful, not spending a lot of money. It's been exactly what I imagined it to be and more.<br />
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We haven't done anything too adventurous this trip because it isn't easy to do with a three year old, but we did do a hike to a big waterfall called Tres Piscinas (three pools), where you can jump into the pools from the tops of the falls.<br />
It was about a 30 minute hike up the river, literally, and it was gorgeous. Thankfully we remembered to bring the hiking backpack to put Lily in that we bought for our trip 2 years ago. She's about 15lbs heavier now, so Dustin's back was a little pissed off, but she couldn't have hiked it. She loved the adventure.<br />
We brought a picnic, sat and listened to the rainforest sounds, watched Dustin jump like a 10 year old kid over and over into the pools, saw dart frogs, and relaxed.<br />
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While Dustin and I were in Manuel Antonio, we did hike the National Park for about three hours, walking for miles (read:getting a bit lost and walking in circles around one specific trail). It was so beautiful but I'm afraid all of the recent construction down there has scared a lot of the wildlife away, which was sad. Manuel Antonio was gorgeous, though, as always. It will always be my MOST favorite place on earth. For any newcomers to Costa Rica, we always suggest this area. It's more than amazing.<br />
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Our last two days will be spent doing more of the same, just relaxing and taking mental notes on how much we love life here.<br />
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Here's hoping that time will stop sometime in the next 48 hours...<br />
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{I haven't been adding many pictures because I forgot my plug-in to upload them from my camera. I will do a picture-full post when I get home.}Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-39074078600508189942012-09-09T13:02:00.002-04:002012-09-09T13:03:47.683-04:00Vacation Journal #3: Planning for Someday...I cannot believe we only have three days left here. It never seems like enough time. I can't figure out if I feel that way because it's vacation, and, let's face it, who wants to NOT be on vacation? Or, if it's because I want to live here and adopt this lifestyle.<br />
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We talk seriously about moving here every time we visit. We have discussed this since our second trip in 2007. Dustin could definitely live here, no question. He is simple and could be content, happy with surfing everyday. He wouldn't mind if he never saw another store again, or any other American convenience for that matter. Me, on the other hand, I haven't figured out quite how I feel about making such a huge move to another country.<br />
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The longest amount of time we've ever spent here was 12 nights which was out wedding/honeymoon trip. At the end of that trip I was ready to go home, mostly because our last three nights were spent without electricity (purposefully) at an eco-resort, plus I was just exhausted from the excitement. As soon as we got home, however, I couldn't wait to go back, missing everything about it.<br />
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I thought 17 nights would be a good indicator of how I would feel here a little bit more long term. Not that I'm comparing 17 nights to 365 days a year but I thought the vacation-y feeling would subside after about 7-10 days, Lily would get bored and I would start missing everyday U.S. staples.<br />
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But. No.<br />
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All that I'm missing are my family and friends. <br />
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We'll never really know if it's right for us until we just do it. Or at least make a plan to live here part-time...somehow.<br />
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We have spent a lot of time this trip talking to other Americans that made the huge commitment of moving here. We drilled our bungalow neighbors, Laura and Brian, asking them what they miss about the States, how they worked out the logistics of moving here, what its like for their two young children, what do they do when they get bored, and on and on. They've lived here for almost three years, moving away from the high end living of Orange County, California, and they have no regrets.<br />
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I asked another young, 30-something, expat that has lived here for seven years, "Ryan, do you ever regret leaving the states?". After he finished laughing for a good 10-15 seconds, he said "HELL no!! I sat on my porch everyday for a YEAR, drinking Costa Rican coffee, laughing my ass off, knowing I achieved my dream. That newness wore off a bit, but no, I love everyday here".<br />
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They all gave us sound advice but at the end of the day, all it takes is money.<br />
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Could we make it work financially? Hmmm, maybe. It would be a sacrifice, selling everything in the states except for our rental property, that we would keep for when we come home, and Dustin's truck, since it's paid off, but we could do it.<br />
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The problem? What would we do for income?<br />
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Foreigners are not welcome to work in Costa Rica, unless they're on a work Visa which is very, very difficult to obtain, and expensive. Many Americans own businesses here, which is risky, of course, and you must hire locals to work for you. Costa Ricans believe in generating employment for THEIR people. A novel concept. All other Americans that live here either have gobs of money and are retired, or have an American business that they can run efficiently from over here, online.<br />
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I'm not even sure of the point of all of this rambling. Perhaps it's my way of beginning to develop a longterm plan of some sort.<br />
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Ideally, we would love to make some sacrifices in Florida and invest in a bungalow down here, renting it out for the majority of the year but being able to come here as we please (or as we can afford!). That's a very real possibility over the next couple of years: saving, planning and researching.<br />
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If you want something bad enough...Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-15532740859166002922012-09-07T21:08:00.003-04:002012-09-07T21:20:45.102-04:00Vacation Journal #2: Vacationing is DangerousSo, I droned on and on in my last post about some traveling challenges we've faced since arriving in Costa Rica two weeks ago. Sure, we experienced the worst thunderstorm that they have had here in over 2 years, losing power, therefore having to move accommodations...yada, yada, yada.<br />
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But, have I mentioned that Lily almost drown on the first day in the Pacific ocean, that I broke a bone in my big toe on the 6th day, and OH, there was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake here on our 10th day (the 2nd largest that this country has ever had)? If you're a friend of mine on Facebook then I know you heard about the last two. I failed to brag about my questionable parenting skills when Lily almost drowned.<br />
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Vacationing is dangerous.<br />
I will go in sequential order...<br />
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On our first full day, I took Lily to run around on the beach.<br />
First, for those of you who have never been to Costa Rica and don't know anything about surfing, Playa Hermosa is one of the most famous surf breaks in the world. In 2010 they even hosted the World Surfing Championship here. This is AWESOME if you're like my husband and surfing takes president over most things in life but if you're just an average beach goer, Hermosa is not for you. Think 10-12 foot walls of water with deadly rip currents, even in the shallow portion. It's a crazy amount of energy.<br />
Gorgeous beach, but not for swimmers.<br />
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So. Lily was LOVING running around in the white water, splashing around as the waves finished crashing on shore. She was in no deeper than ankle high water. She was getting more and more comfortable and I was letting her see how strong the water felt on her feet as it pulled back into the ocean. I started chasing her, letting her get a little more independent and further away from me, as she was running through all of the seemingly harmless white water when all of the sudden a bigger wave came, probably up to just under her knees, and as the wave pulled back, it took Lily under with her, causing her to fall backwards.<br />
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I was only about two steps behind her but it seemed like ten minutes before I was able to get a hold of her. The force and weight of this water is so unbelievable that it took all of my strength to hold onto her and pick her up. She was 100% submerged at one point, as I tried to lift her up. It was as if the ocean was hungry for a redheaded three year old, trying to suck her out to sea. It's so powerful.<br />
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When the water was safely back in the ocean and I was able to see her face...I cannot even explain the look. She was really just...surprised. She whined a bit because she had a TON of sand in her mouth, which she immediately started crunching on, not able to figure out what really just happened, but overall she was pretty brave. She was black, from head to toe, with the volcanic sand of Hermosa. It was in every orifice. Her ear canals were full, it was embedded in her scalp...it was actually a pretty great kodak moment but I was too busy shaking from the mom-of-the-year experience to snap a picture, although I'm pretty sure my mom took one soon after which I will post here soon.<br />
The good news is that Lily is not scarred by this and continues to LOVE playing in the surf. Me, on the other hand, scarred.<br />
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*****<br />
Toe story...<br />
Not much to it: I'm clumsy and tripped up the stairs at our hotel. I wish there was a better story, like the alligator sized iguana that we saw in Manuel Antonio National Park stepped on it or bit it, but no, I'm just clumsy. Had a difficult time walking for a couple of days when the toe was double it's normal size, but the swelling has gone down some and I have gained some mobility back, able to walk somewhat normally again. Classic me.<br />
****<br />
Earthquake...<br />
Sigh.<br />
I might have a little Post Traumatic (funny that my computer auto-corrected this word to "Dramatic", which is very fitting, I'm sure) Stress Disorder from this one.<br />
I live in Florida. We have hurricanes. I know nothing about earthquakes and tsunamis, apparently. We have DAYS to prepare for a hurricane, at least 5 days. Earthquakes just happen, as do tsunamis that follow earthquakes.<br />
Well.<br />
Dustin went out surfing around 7-7:30am on Wednesday morning. I was cleaning up the bunglow, doing some laundry, and playing with Lily. Around 8:40ish, Lily was sitting on the couch watching Scooby Doo and I was about 4 foot away from her, sitting at the kitchen table taking off toe nail polish. The bungalow started to sway, which isn't unusual since it's on stilts and even running up the stairs or the dryer makes the place sway. I thought to myself that Dustin must be home from surfing, running up the stairs.<br />
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But within seconds the severe shaking added to the swaying and it felt like the whole place was going to collapse from under us. I ran over to the couch, hugged Lily tight, smiled and said, "We're having an earthquake, baby!!", as happy and calm as I could muster. She wasn't afraid. She seemed confused and was just looking around at everything falling off of the walls and the shelves.<br />
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It lasted all of a minute but it felt like 10.<br />
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The first thing Lily said? "Mom, you need to clean up this mess!". Wonder whose daughter she is?<br />
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After it was over, I ran outside where I saw the cute family next door from California (now Costa Rican residents) loading up their kids in their car, telling me that we had to leave right.now. I was slightly confused. I was not thinking about tsunamis. I failed middle school science.<br />
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California family educated me, quickly, on the tsunami warning that was in effect and that going to higher ground was necessary. My mind flashed back to that horrible tsunami a few years ago in Sumatra and the devastation it left behind.<br />
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I really started to panic at this point because Dustin was still surfing. I asked Laura from California to watch Lily for just a minute so I could run out on the beach to find Dustin. Of course, on this day, the surf was PERFECT so there were about 40 guys in the water. Not one clue which one was Dustin. Not only were there too many, they were spread out over about 600 yards. Another surfing widowed wife and I tried diligently to wave in...someone...to no avail. Those surfers had no idea what just happened and that they might be riding the biggest wave of their lives any minute.<br />
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I ran back to the bungalow, cute California family takes off, and everyone else was in a panic. A couple of the other American residents thought that the threat of a tsunami was ridiculous, but they are also burned out, single hippie men that probably are not even sure of the day...or year.<br />
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The property manager, Twinka (yes, that's right), came racing up in her pick-up screaming, "VANESSA, YOU NEED TO LEAVE RIGHT.NOW. DO NOT WAIT FOR DUSTIN! GET TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN NOW!". She begged for me to just jump in her truck with Lily but I could not convince myself to leave Dustin...yet.<br />
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I was now completely shaking, realizing the severity of what was going on but I had to be calm for Lily. I went back into the bungalow and calmly collected a couple of things and told Lily we needed to go for a ride. I made the decision to leave my husband behind. The "what ifs" running through my mind were unreal. Anxiety sufferers will understand. Shit, even if you're not an anxiety sufferer, you would be in this situation.<br />
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Just as I put our Suzuki in reverse, my husband came running down the road. And I started to cry a little. I was so overwhelmed.<br />
I pulled it together quickly and we drove to the top of the cliff where about ten other bungalow residents and renters were parked. We just sat up there, recounting our experiences, and feverishly trying to get a cell phone to work to see about this tsunami warning. After about 15 minutes, someone said, "Tsunami warning has been lifted!!", which was complete bullshit but we wanted to believe it, so we went back to the bungalows. CNN told us that the tsunami warning was indeed still in effect. So we left again, complete with a picnic this time.<br />
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We returned an hour later, sans tsunami warning.<br />
There was very little damage to this immediate area. A few broken water pipes, cracked tiles, shifted door frames, broken drinking glasses, but nothing major. Closer to the epicenter, about 90 miles north of Hermosa, there was some more significant damage but nothing what a 7.6 could really do. Apparently, the earthquake originated 25 miles deep, which is what spared Costa Rica this time. This was the second largest quake to hit, the highest was a 7.9 in 1991 in which the result was 160 billion dollars in damage. We were all lucky this time.<br />
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It was a very surreal, crazy experience. We felt a few aftershocks that night which got my heart racing a bit.<br />
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A vacation to be remembered, for sure!<br />
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And yes, I still want to move here.<br />
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Cookies for anyone that read this. It's a novel. I just had to capture these memories before I forget.<br />
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<br />Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-40372466523158006682012-09-01T20:58:00.000-04:002012-09-01T20:58:15.048-04:00Vacation Journal, Costa Rica 2012<br />
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This year is such a different trip for us. </div>
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We obviously come here every year which began in 2006. What began as a simple trip of surfing and curiosity, a birthday present to Dustin, turned into a wanderlust for Costa Rica. We wanted to see it ALL and we certainly have come close. To date, we have spent approximately two months vacationing here since our first trip. This trip is our longest at 18 days.</div>
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We had originally planned to stay for 3 months over the summer of 2013, which we started planning for in late 2011, but logistically with work, a child, and overall responsibilities, we couldn't see how this was going to work. We then turned it into planning for a month for this trip. I did my thing and researched where we would stay, car rentals, etc., and of course, the best laid plans fall through as things with my job changed and a month off of work wasn't possible. We settled on 15 nights. We saved every penny in the past year to make this work. Bonus: Thanks to living in Florida, we had the threat of a hurricane so we got to leave two days early, making it 17 nights.</div>
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I had intended on writing everyday, or almost everyday, capturing everything I can about our days. Well, tomorrow we will already be here for a week. So much for that.</div>
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I cannot explain how I feel when I'm here. I want to freeze time. I want to bottle up the scent of the fresh air. I want to capture the non-anxious, non-hustle-and-bustle lifestyle. I want to memorize every waking second because it truly is that tranquil for me here. I know that this is what vacation is all about but it goes beyond that for me. I wish I could elaborate more but words will not transpose well enough.</div>
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Even when we're faced with several traveling challenges, I still love it...</div>
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We rented a privately owned home this time, which I knew was going to be a gamble. Thanks to the internet, I am a wiz at researching, planning and generally making awesome decisions when it comes to vacation lodging. This time, I may have missed the mark a bit. </div>
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We arrived to the house, which I had come to memorize because I looked at the pictures online so.many.times. over that last 10 months, and as soon as we pulled up I just knew it wasn't exactly what I had lusted after in those pictures. It was close and had a lot of similarities, but it was far from perfect. I could tell by looking at Dustin's and my dad's face that they weren't too stoked on it either.</div>
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It was secluded, which sounds like a lovely term but in a 3rd world country...you just never know what seclusion can bring. We were met by the grounds keeper, Victor, a charming Tico who did not speak one single word of English. No problem. We're used to that here. But the house just seemed...big...and stark...and not homey or welcoming. It was lacking any kind of wow factor, aside from the amaing views of the beach. The first thing I actually hated were the amount of stairs. Sounds silly but I knew it would be a problem for Lily. The private pool was gorgeous, and what I was most excited about, especially having Lily with us, but it was not so clean. Neither was a lot of the rest of the house. </div>
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Ok. I can deal with that. We are on the beach, literally, so saltwater damage happens. But I could still tell that the rest of the family was iffy. Dustin was the first to actually admit it.</div>
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But. We were going to make it work. Until our 4th night when we lost power. for 24 hours. It was one of the worst storms we have ever experienced in Costa Rica. Power outages are common here but not for 24 hours. That was a long, long night. Lily couldn't sleep because she was so hot and the rest of us couldn't sleep because we were scared shitless. Being without power, secluded in a remote-ish part of a foreign country...hmmm. No power = no alarm system, no phone, no nothing. Unsettled is the best term I can muster to describe the four of us adults. Especially at 3am when the policia were flocked on the beach right in front of the house, flashlights a blazed. Still not exactly sure what was going on there.</div>
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The next day, still without power, into about the 13th hour, I was getting pissed. It's hot, this is our vacation which was starting a little more like torture because of the heat and the inability to even use the pool because of how stagnant the water was getting, and oh, by the way, why the HELL does the community right down the street have power?? Why did it appear that EVERYONE had power except our secluded house after only 3-4 hours after it had gone out? We were all pretty miserable at that point.</div>
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Long story long, we decided to make other arrangements for the following night, fearing power wouldn't be restored and we would be forced to have another night sweating our asses off and trying to grin and bare it. Fuck that. We're on vacation. So, we called the owner, told him our plan, told him to call us when power was restored, and we headed down to our old stand by accommodations, The Bungalows. </div>
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As soon as we checked in, I felt like I was at home, being that we had stayed there 4 times prior. I immediately kind of dreaded going back to the other house and {not so} quietly hoped that it would not be restored...but it was. Within 2 hours of checking into the bungalows, that mother-effing power came back on. Such is life.</div>
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The following morning I called the owner and basically told him we didn't want to go back so his eerie, large, unwelcoming house...in really nice words. He argued with me, which I knew he would, saying he can't give us our money back, so we regretfully agreed to return. </div>
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Low and behold, he then shows up to the bungalows an hour later with our money back, hands it to Dustin and tells us to go get our stuff. He must have decided that losing the money was better than listening to us bitch again, should the power go out. Smart man.</div>
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The bungalows it is. And we love it. And so does Princess Lily.</div>
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Speaking of Lily, she has melded right into this lifestyle. Granted, she has plenty of technology to remind her of home, but she still has done amazingly well. She's loving the pool and the beach, chasing bop-bop around in the white water. I love watching these memories being made.</div>
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Dustin and I are on a two day mini trip down to Manuel Antonio, where we got married, and soaking in my most favorite place in the universe. The perfect combination of rainforest and beach, this place is amazing. The views are, well, more amazing. </div>
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Aside from the scary house, a flat tire, and a jammed toe from tripping up the stairs (classic me), this trip could not be any better so far.</div>
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My parents leave on Tuesday, so it will just be the three of us for the last 8 nights. I'm already dreading leaving, which sounds so odd but it is just that amazing here. </div>
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If anyone actually read this...kudos to you. You deserve a cookie. </div>
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I will add pictures to this post soon to make it way more entertaining.</div>
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Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-2126531590638353782012-08-10T08:55:00.003-04:002012-08-10T09:00:57.775-04:00Anniversaries.1st {2009}...<br />
Actually, I had zero recollection of our first anniversary. None. I knew we were knee deep in newborn, with Lily being around 10 weeks old. I just looked to see what pictures we took around that time and here is what I came up with:<br />
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Oh yeah! I remember now. We went to St. Augustine with a barely-three-month-old!! I noted that the stats said this was taken at 5:30am on 8/9/09...<br />
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2nd {2010}...<br />
We had just moved into our new house. I have no idea how we celebrated but I do know that we took this picture on August 9, 2010:<br />
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(Why is my memory so bad??)<br />
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3rd {2011}...<br />
I remember exactly what we did on our third. It was the day we left for Costa Rica, spending a week with our friends Kim and Robby:<br />
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4th {2012}...<br />
We went paddle boarding and relaxed in the sun most of the day:<br />
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We laid on the paddle boards, connected ourselves with a paddle, and floated down the bay, letting the current take us. We even {tried} to do yoga on them. It was the most relaxed I have been in so long.<br />
In the evening, we took some take out back down to the beach and this came on Pandora radio:<br />
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Our wedding song. It was completely random.<br />
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I have come to realize that anniversaries are really a celebration of navigating through a pretty tough journey. Marriage isn't always tough, of course, but life is in general. It's weathering the storms together and seeing how strong you become from that. It's about teaming up and learning how to parent your emotional three year old. It's about realizing why you make sense as a couple. It's about so much and every year we tend to celebrate us more and more.<br />
I'm a lucky girl to have so much to celebrate.<br />
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<br />Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-50076205579060878742012-08-08T18:52:00.001-04:002012-08-08T18:52:52.057-04:004.4 years ago tonight, we were sitting at Ronny's Place in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, at our rehearsal dinner, with this view...<br />
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Our rehearsal dinner was simple, like everything in Costa Rica. It was held at an open-air, no frills restaurant. As we were pulling up, our wedding coordinator came racing to our car to inform Dustin and I that the restaurant made a mistake and forgot about our party, which meant no buffet meal. I said, "Oh, well, do they have a table for us?", "Well, yes.", Karen replied. "Ok, great. Let's eat off the menu!"...and so we did. A limited menu of 4 dishes we had to choose from, while some of our food cooked in a toaster over, as observed by one of our wedding guests. It was delicious. It was perfect.<br />
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And the very next day I married someone very special....<br />
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Every year I get so nostalgic as I think back to this trip. <a href="http://nicholsbabyblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/reminders.html">I liked the words I put together in last year's post</a>. It wasn't just about a wedding. It was a celebration, sure, but it was the most amazing memories because of who accompanied us. We were definitely missing quite a few important people for one reason or another, but it was as close to perfection as we could get.<br />
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Happy 4 years, babe. I love this life we have. Thank you for being you and giving me such an amazing life. I love you. <br />
<br />Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-66387379178028372942012-07-25T16:40:00.002-04:002012-07-25T16:40:39.359-04:00My kind of town.This post is 2 months overdue. I really suck at this blogging thing, huh?<br />
My cousin got married in the suburbs Memorial Day weekend so we decided to make a weekend out of it. <span style="background-color: white;">Dustin and I spent a whirlwind two days in the Windy City. I'm originally from the suburbs of Chicago but I haven't been a tourist in the city for many years. Dustin has never been to a city bigger than Tampa. He was convinced he would hate a big city and always insists that city life isn't for him. Well, I swear that he was ready to move there after being in that city for a couple of hours. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Chicago is such a clean, radient, friendly city with so much to offer. The weather could not have been more perfect and the energy there was so great.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">We...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Stayed at Hotel 71, on the corner of Whacker and State Street, right on the river with a fantastic view.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Walked for miles and miles, looking at Navy Pier, the skyline, Millenium Park, and so much more.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Ate.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Shopped.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Went to the Shedd Aquarium which was FAR superior to any aquarium here in Florida. That holds irony for me.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Got a tattoo. My husband did, anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">And we relaxed.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">It was such a fun mini tour of the city. I wish we had a couple more nights there. We definitely plan to go back just to play tourist again. Everyone should visit Chicago at least once in their life. It's such a unique, beautiful city.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">We also had a blast with family in the suburbs. My cousin Jeff married a wonderful woman and it was such a fun wedding.</span><br />
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Next trip: Costa Rica, of course. 4 weeks, 5 days, and 18 hours. I might be counting.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-15469889087118647492012-05-14T23:43:00.000-04:002012-06-02T16:22:56.390-04:003.<div style="text-align: center;">
We once had this in our arms...</div>
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And then...</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>1.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>2.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>3.</b></span></div>
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It's been a blink of an eye.</div>
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Happy 3rd birthday, my love. We love you more and more everyday.</div>Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-31364248615267531622012-05-13T15:00:00.001-04:002012-05-13T15:00:18.478-04:00Happy Mother'sDayLily'sBirthdayPartyWeekend!And it all ran together just like that.<br />
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I'm not even going to engage my brain to do a full post because I have a toddler birthday party hangover, which didn't even include alcohol.<br />
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Randoms:<br />
- We took Lily to Disney last week for a quick overnight trip. More details to come once I'm done processing those 24 hours. It was fun...but who has a complete meltdown on "It's a Small World"?? My kid does.<br />
- Lily's 3rd birthday party was yesterday, as mentioned above, and it was such a blur. More to come on this, too. Such a good time. And how is it possible that I will have a 3 year old in less than 48 hours?<br />
- Happy Mother's Day! My husband got me a half day at a spa, which I'm so excited about. He also made a delicious brunch for the families. It was lovely. I also received a really awesome sculpture molding of Lily's little hand that bop-bop helped her with. Something I will cherish forever since it captures every detail of her 3-year-old hand. Such a cool gift.<br />
- Thank you to all the mama friends and family I have that help me through this journey, especially my mama. My life is full of amazing, inspirational women (the non-mamas, too, of course!).Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-33729160332014405462012-04-22T15:28:00.000-04:002012-04-22T15:28:16.276-04:00Physically challenged.I'm ashamed of my physical self.<br />
<br />
I've never been much of a fitness buff and I am absolutely not an athlete. I never did true sports as a child or an adolescent. I was a pop-warner cheerleader for two years in middle school and I danced for two years on high school. I tried desperately not to break a sweat in either activity. Imagine my disappointment when I had to cheer OUTSIDE in 99 degree Florida summer heat. Hence the reason why I only survived two years of cheer.<br />
Middle school PE was absolutely horrible for me. You know how 99% of kids love PE and it was usually the one "A" on the report card that kids bank on? Yeah, that was not me. I hated it. Our middle school PE geniuses divided us into groups based on our activity levels and abilities. They tested us by running, mostly, which I detested and still detest to this day. We were in group 1, 2, or 3, which was so great for our self-esteem :::eyeroll::: I was always in group 3 with all of the overweight kids, sprinkled with the science kids or book worms that actually enjoyed studying more than they enjoyed physical activity. That was not me either. I was just lazy.<br />
<br />
Now, when I say I "danced" in high school what I really mean is that I was on a reject dance team, labeled a "community dance team". It was a dance team created by former high school team dancers (which I was not one of) that were tired of the politics of being affiliated with the football team and dancing on the school's terms. I'm not even sure what those politics were or why there was so much distention, but I was always one to go with the rebellious group so I tried out for the team and I made it...somehow. I still contend my popularity got me on the team, not my dance skills.<br />
It was lead and coached by a school guidance counselor who had a passion for dance. There were some really great dancers on the team, which I was not one of. I'm really not speaking out of low self esteem. I was not good. And I was so lazy.<br />
I remember we attended a dance camp at a local college for three days before my senior year began. We danced alllll day long, each day. We were taught new dances and had to preform them the same evening we were taught in front of a panel of judges. I was the only one on the team that received nothing higher than an "Honorable Mention"for my performances, which was basically a "You're So SO Bad but Thanks for Trying and We Have to Give You Something" ribbon.<br />
And my laziness? I have a video of us doing a dance at a Christmas festival downtown and we did a kick line (think Rockettes). I was the only one who stopped about half way through because I was winded. As in, I stopped performing and just stood in the line while everyone else continued kicking. I have never had endurance and have always been quite lazy.<br />
<br />
All of that said, I have always been on the thin side, thanks to genetics. There was a time in middle school that I was somewhat overweight. I started going through puberty and hormones hit me outta nowhere in 7th grade, which is when I packed on some pounds. By the time I hit 9th grade, I gained some height and thinned out. Outside of pregnancy/post pregnancy weight (which happened to fall off within about a year and a half after having Lily) and that couple of years in middle school, I never have weighed over 120lbs.<br />
<br />
120lbs looks much, MUCH different at 25 years old than it does at 35. Actually, at 25, I was around 105lbs since I was in the restaurant business, walking probably 5 miles a night. I was much too thin.<br />
<br />
But lets talk about now.<br />
I'm 120lbs and 5'7". I'm not unhappy with my weight but I am devastated by my endurance and my muscle tone. My bones look like nothing more than hangers for my skin due to my lack of muscle. I have the negative muscle underneath my bicep and the cottage cheese on my legs is leaking around to the front of my thighs, instead of staying where it should be in the back. I'm just not in good shape.<br />
<br />
Today I had an epiphany that I have to do something and it had nothing to do with my image in the mirror.<br />
I have a very large area rug in my living room that I cleaned with a steam cleaning type of machine today. It required me to get on my hands and knees and put some muscle into it. By the time I was half way through my arms were fatigued and I was wanting to take a break. It wasn't more than 25 minutes that passed at that point. I pushed through, embarrassed for myself. It lit a fire under me.<br />
<br />
I need to get healthy. At the age of 35 I also have high cholesterol. That's unacceptable. The best shape I have ever been in was about 4 years ago. I was going to yoga 2-3 times a week, doing some light weight lifting a couple times a week, and fitting about 2-3 hours of cardio in a week. I have always been really consistent about doing cardio but it's not enough. I need to build more muscle and challenge myself. I know I would feel so much better. I have to start pushing myself and finding time to make my health important.<br />
<br />
So, it's on. I'm joining a gym and making a schedule.<br />
Tomorrow.<br />
The rug cleaning counts for today, no?Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-60630168568397203732012-04-09T15:42:00.001-04:002012-04-09T15:52:59.425-04:00Easter Weekend......was filled with...<br />
Coloring eggs...<br />
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Jelly bean planting so the Easter Bunny could find us...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IFaC6Y8828E/T4M4xaEMCwI/AAAAAAAABFA/5AvFh5fPbZA/s1600/DSC00211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IFaC6Y8828E/T4M4xaEMCwI/AAAAAAAABFA/5AvFh5fPbZA/s320/DSC00211.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HIV04u-Mfe0/T4M5KvfiJHI/AAAAAAAABFI/UsqJpMbDfaY/s1600/DSC00213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HIV04u-Mfe0/T4M5KvfiJHI/AAAAAAAABFI/UsqJpMbDfaY/s320/DSC00213.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Egg Hunts...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EqdUfBpZRus/T4M5wqn-x9I/AAAAAAAABGY/X88k3F80DgU/s1600/DSC00325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EqdUfBpZRus/T4M5wqn-x9I/AAAAAAAABGY/X88k3F80DgU/s320/DSC00325.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WehR9lm3Br0/T4M514ypQwI/AAAAAAAABGg/H1UuYXB4nRM/s1600/DSC00332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WehR9lm3Br0/T4M514ypQwI/AAAAAAAABGg/H1UuYXB4nRM/s320/DSC00332.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Easter Baskets...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ipC1S9JbubE/T4M56ulrCZI/AAAAAAAABGo/L6RCCyk6aMk/s1600/DSC00335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ipC1S9JbubE/T4M56ulrCZI/AAAAAAAABGo/L6RCCyk6aMk/s320/DSC00335.JPG" width="212" /></a></div>Cooking and eating lots of food...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wj9mMRLle9Q/T4M5qsIoKPI/AAAAAAAABGI/F8ixw3h62UY/s1600/DSC00304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wj9mMRLle9Q/T4M5qsIoKPI/AAAAAAAABGI/F8ixw3h62UY/s320/DSC00304.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Post tantrum calmness...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zECXk3310rc/T4M588HUhqI/AAAAAAAABGw/l12hyDEbsuk/s1600/DSC00348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zECXk3310rc/T4M588HUhqI/AAAAAAAABGw/l12hyDEbsuk/s320/DSC00348.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Playing with family...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wazIPu3Uyg8/T4M7IH_3J3I/AAAAAAAABHY/TvxpgE8cQks/s1600/DSC00363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wazIPu3Uyg8/T4M7IH_3J3I/AAAAAAAABHY/TvxpgE8cQks/s320/DSC00363.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Dancing with Donald...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qKwAjuOFRdM/T4M5sgcrEuI/AAAAAAAABGQ/sy-uVjkrmNk/s1600/DSC00316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qKwAjuOFRdM/T4M5sgcrEuI/AAAAAAAABGQ/sy-uVjkrmNk/s320/DSC00316.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><br />
And last but not least, Bop's 63rd birthday...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cNI5Csn-wFE/T4M6CoxQKyI/AAAAAAAABHA/CIL_N1bwg2c/s1600/DSC00376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cNI5Csn-wFE/T4M6CoxQKyI/AAAAAAAABHA/CIL_N1bwg2c/s320/DSC00376.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mt5sPKX2XYA/T4M5_wl8ppI/AAAAAAAABG4/qLp6pbk47Aw/s1600/DSC00369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Mt5sPKX2XYA/T4M5_wl8ppI/AAAAAAAABG4/qLp6pbk47Aw/s320/DSC00369.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UrSbK19Fj2I/T4M6GdjrteI/AAAAAAAABHI/w9dDuy0n8oo/s1600/DSC00382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UrSbK19Fj2I/T4M6GdjrteI/AAAAAAAABHI/w9dDuy0n8oo/s320/DSC00382.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>It was a good weekend.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-65626140000288873262012-03-12T22:25:00.003-04:002012-03-16T22:30:49.033-04:00I need to start blogging in the morning.I cannot even believe it's been over a month since my last post. I say that often, right?<br />
<br />
You know how your mom always told you, "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say it at all"? Well, that's why I've had so much lag time between posts lately. Sure, I'm busy but truth be told, the majority of what is really in my heart to write about lately...I just can't over the interwebs. I hate to be so cryptic but...<br />
<br />
Here's what I will say:<br />
<br />
It's still a man's world, no matter how we would like to believe it isn't. It just is and that pisses me off. Being a business woman in a man's world is...interesting.<br />
<br />
It isn't that I don't have wonderful things happening in my life, because I definitely do, but I've figured out the problem to be that I blog at night- you know, after the trials and tribulations of the day to day have ran their course and I am just...well...tired and ready to zone out to Friends episodes (because they just never stop being funny). I need to start blogging in the mornings, with a fresh start and a clear mind.<br />
<br />
I can say that February flew by at warped speed.<br />
<br />
My mom and I went to San Francisco for 3 nights, which was the highlight of my February. I had a work meeting and decided to treat my mom for her 60th birthday (60?!) and had her join me since I knew I would have some down time. We had such a great time. It was our first mother-daughter trip- ever!<br />
<br />
San Fran is a quirky city, much bigger than I thought it would be. The food is excellent and the cable cars are.awesome. We walked around Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiarrdelli Square, had chowder, stayed in Chinatown, ate at our first Vietnamese infused restaurant, saw bison lounging in a park, had the best cabbie tour guide take us around, went down "the crookedest street", and were about 20 feet away from the Golden Gate bridge and couldn't even see it because of the fog. It was such a fun trip and exactly what I wanted to experience with my mom. I hope to be able to do this again with her soon.<br />
<br />
So, we meet again, spring time.<br />
Florida did not see a winter this year so it feels strange to even acknowledge that the season has changed, but I'm glad it has. We have a lot to look forward to in the next few months: Toy Story 3 on Ice (Lily's first time to a show like this!), birthday parties, a weekend trip to Chicago for a wedding, and Lily's THIRD birthday.<br />
Bring it on, spring.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-70236068381115663532012-02-06T17:51:00.000-05:002012-02-06T17:51:54.724-05:00Reverse Bucket ListBucket lists seem to be en vogue. There is even a show on Discovery or National Geographic, or one of those channels that I don't watch, on the topic. It seems that ever since that terribly depressing movie, "The Bucket List", with Jack Nicholson portraying a dying older-than-middle-aged man, people have been making and talking about what their Bucket Lists consists of.<br />
<br />
Me? I don't have one. There are plenty of things I would love to do and places I would love to see but I don't feel inclined to write them down. I really don't want to be 82, pull out this list, and realize that I didn't accomplish much. It just seems like setting myself up for failure in some ways. Pessimistic?<br />
<br />
Anyway, what I do have is a Reverse Bucket List. I post frequently in a forum, where my FIFs are, and someone posted about the reverse bucket list. It's made up of the things that you've already accomplished in life. Things that you're proud of. Things that others may not know about you. Things that may even make others a little envious. Things that may seem menial to others but are big accomplishments to you. I suppose it's a brag list but it was so fun to think about.<br />
<br />
Here is my list, in no particular order, all since the age of 18....<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Completed over 1000 hours of volunteer hours in college.</li>
<li>Graduated from Florida State University with honors.</li>
<li>Was thrown in the Wescott Fountain on FSU's campus on my 21st birthday.</li>
<li>Worked in the Social Work field.</li>
<li>Have bought 3 properties so far, still owning two of them.</li>
<li>Had a destination wedding.</li>
<li>ATV'd in the mountains in Costa Rica, seeing amazing mountain towns, mountain tops, and beautiful waterfalls.</li>
<li>Saw lava flow from an active volcano in Costa Rica.</li>
<li>Baked a human being.</li>
<li>Survived child birth with a failed epidural and semi-serious pre-eclampsia.</li>
<li>Hiked with my toddler in the Costa Rican rain forest.</li>
<li>Zip-lined in Costa Rica.</li>
<li>Have traveled to San Diego (numerous times), Mexico, Dallas, San Antonio, New Jersey, Miami, Orlando, the Bahamas, and flying to San Francisco as I type, all thanks to my career.</li>
<li>Been to San Diego Zoo twice.</li>
<li>Raised a dog from a puppy.</li>
<li>Fostered several dogs from a rescue.</li>
<li>Survived an infant with colic/silent reflux.</li>
<li>Experienced all that is good, bad, evil, awful, joyful, amazing in raising a toddler.</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
I know there is more and I'm skipping some, generalizing others, but those are the things that came to mind. I just loved, loved, loved thinking about all that I'm proud of. In life, we tend to be negative and focus on what we want to do, and where we want to go, wishing our lives away (or at least I tend to). Compiling this list made me feel proud and fortunate. It's amazing to say I have done so many fun and brave things in life.<br />
<br />
I would love to read others Reverse Bucket Lists, so if you have a blog and you'd like to share, please do.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-86876953680086870222012-01-22T15:28:00.001-05:002012-01-22T22:23:57.890-05:00Fashion (non)SenseI have no fashion sense. I was clearly born without the gene. To be honest, I don't even like to shop. I'm the one that likes to go for what I need and if I can't find it, I give up quickly. I just don't have the patience. Or, I'll go, with intentions to buy work clothes and end up with a ridiculous amount of clothes for Lily, simply because it's easy and fun to buy her clothes.<br />
<br />
Even more shocking to most females, I HATE buying shoes. Hate. I will see a cute pair of shoes, pick them up and think to myself, "what would I wear these with?", which is when my brain goes on overload and shuts off, quickly dismissing the sale of the shoe. I get overwhelmed with not having the right outfit to match the shoes and the mere thought of finding something to match, OMG! Too.much.thinking. So, my closet is filled with black and brown shoes- flip flops and 2 pair of work shoes.<br />
<br />
On top of the lack of fashion sense, I am also cheap when it comes to clothing myself. I don't think I have ever spent more than $40-$50 on an article of clothing, or shoes, I insist of making $100 go far. I will absolutely adore a pair of shorts but if they're marked $42, it's a no go. I'm too practical. <br />
I also will not buy anything that has to be dry cleaned. Or ironed. (I just went from practical to lazy in two sentences.) I once bought a pant suit from Banana Republic on super-duper clearance and it ended up in the Goodwill bag a couple years later, after wearing it about 5 times, because it was dry clean only. I washed and dried it. The pants, of course, ended up to be clam diggers, which, apparently, is out of style now? <br />
<br />
With the help of Pinterest, I have recently been inspired to become more fashionable. Or try to, at least. I see all of these great, trendy outfits, complete with accessories and shoes, and I want them. I want to be able to put an outfit together, other than a t-shirt, jeans, and flip flops, or black pants with a gray shirt for work, complete with my 5 year old black pumps. <br />
<br />
Not being able to afford the trendy "pinned" outfits in their entirity, i decide to try my hand at being fashionable. So, I went on a mission today. I went with intent. I was going to find some cute, trendy clothes. Clothes that screamed that I know how to out an outfit together AND <br />
that didn't look cheap. <br />
<br />
After an hour and a half in the mall and an hour in Kohl's, I left with.... A pair of black pants, a pair of gray pants, a black shirt, a pair of black flats, and a pair of neutral flats.<br />
<br />
Fail. Sigh. I give up.<br />
<br />
Anyone want to dress me?Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-83021990555474277382011-12-28T21:53:00.001-05:002011-12-30T10:13:35.781-05:003 Christmases.At 7 months, 2009...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o5LWx2eA9nc/TvvUmjYtMcI/AAAAAAAABE4/LygXlaeWcis/s1600/DSC05685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o5LWx2eA9nc/TvvUmjYtMcI/AAAAAAAABE4/LygXlaeWcis/s320/DSC05685.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8JtsJrcpgZc/TvvT5bbSidI/AAAAAAAABEU/VhPIFRWnZ1Y/s1600/DSC05568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>At a year and a half, 2010...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5AHFM9SjJc/TvvUMZRYu3I/AAAAAAAABEg/EZwzqe9IkmA/s1600/IMG_3998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v5AHFM9SjJc/TvvUMZRYu3I/AAAAAAAABEg/EZwzqe9IkmA/s320/IMG_3998.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>At two and a half, 2011...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-deGEpqtl5hs/TvvUXQsF9cI/AAAAAAAABEs/ShKA0MV0toU/s1600/IMG_5979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-deGEpqtl5hs/TvvUXQsF9cI/AAAAAAAABEs/ShKA0MV0toU/s320/IMG_5979.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We had another beautiful Christmas filled with food, family, friends, and more presents than necessary. Lily really started to grasp the concept this year. She understood who Santa is and that he was going to leave presents. She LOVED the whole idea of opening presents, of course, but she also loved the fact that we all got to open presents. She would deliver a present to one of us and say something like, "And one for you, mom!! OPEN IT!!!".<br />
<br />
It was so much fun and I can honestly say that Christmas is magical now. She is the only child that we've ever had in our family, so I've never experienced the holidays through the eyes of a little one. It's amazing. <br />
I don't use this word often but I feel very blessed to have Lily and just to have this life in general. Lily continues to teach me so much and make my life...well...magical.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-22714856274373500962011-12-19T21:24:00.000-05:002011-12-19T21:24:57.695-05:00Christmas is in less than 6 days? Oh really?You would think with all of this spare time I have that I would make some blog posts. Pfffftttttttt.<br />
<br />
I don't have much spare time. And when I do, I'm sleeping. I miss spare time.<br />
<br />
I'm not complaining. Really, I'm not. I love being busy, but I do wish I just had a couple extra hours in the day. Since my kid goes to bed at 9-9:30 every night, as opposed to the old 7-7:30, I usually go right to bed, too. Man, life is so different with a child. I still can't get over that sometimes.<br />
<br />
Thanksgiving came and went like a blur. We had a great dinner at my in-law's house. No commotion, no tantrums, no drama, just dinner. It was lovely.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9UVEKon9NQE/Tu_uiswMNVI/AAAAAAAABC4/l_qqlOqawh8/s1600/IMG_5645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9UVEKon9NQE/Tu_uiswMNVI/AAAAAAAABC4/l_qqlOqawh8/s320/IMG_5645.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>We then attempted our own photo shoot, after a Black Friday JCPenney Studio photo fail. Ok, maybe it wasn't a complete fail since we rendered this beauty out of the deal:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYsnHH6LeBk/Tu_u0t22GAI/AAAAAAAABDA/p_M0DqAjwwA/s1600/P16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYsnHH6LeBk/Tu_u0t22GAI/AAAAAAAABDA/p_M0DqAjwwA/s320/P16.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>She has quite the personality. She did this unprompted just to be cute.<br />
Aaaaand since that's the only picture worth anything out of that deal, we decided to take Lily to this field near our house:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0cESLZbttC8/Tu_vLbAH6uI/AAAAAAAABDQ/19EeljFBo10/s1600/IMG_5680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0cESLZbttC8/Tu_vLbAH6uI/AAAAAAAABDQ/19EeljFBo10/s320/IMG_5680.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>And take these pictures that my friend Jessie edited:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oJnfdle1NM0/Tu_vI8TyHoI/AAAAAAAABDI/AVFbpvdaTnU/s1600/6423309305_6391a56b2b_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oJnfdle1NM0/Tu_vI8TyHoI/AAAAAAAABDI/AVFbpvdaTnU/s320/6423309305_6391a56b2b_o.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hd_WWowJnXo/Tu_vMGknv_I/AAAAAAAABDY/1HFr1hEBD0o/s1600/6423302447_21e6b9967e_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hd_WWowJnXo/Tu_vMGknv_I/AAAAAAAABDY/1HFr1hEBD0o/s320/6423302447_21e6b9967e_o.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4J0_hY6hHTQ/Tu_vNqmV6fI/AAAAAAAABDg/3yG0VTbbxu4/s1600/IMG_5696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4J0_hY6hHTQ/Tu_vNqmV6fI/AAAAAAAABDg/3yG0VTbbxu4/s320/IMG_5696.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
Then, the next weekend was our Ugly Christmas Sweater party. 1st annual. It was fun and I think might become a tradition!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KHwqdI8fzi8/Tu_vPGmPEgI/AAAAAAAABDo/8fiymbaEaiM/s1600/IMG_5825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KHwqdI8fzi8/Tu_vPGmPEgI/AAAAAAAABDo/8fiymbaEaiM/s320/IMG_5825.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bgvgLo_YObw/Tu_vQ2oF7PI/AAAAAAAABDw/9nl-bDlgSD4/s1600/IMG_5876.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bgvgLo_YObw/Tu_vQ2oF7PI/AAAAAAAABDw/9nl-bDlgSD4/s320/IMG_5876.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1QTdODK0sRU/Tu_vSaM_vZI/AAAAAAAABD4/WzVFgzXEcPA/s1600/IMG_5878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1QTdODK0sRU/Tu_vSaM_vZI/AAAAAAAABD4/WzVFgzXEcPA/s320/IMG_5878.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Finally, this past weekend, we were a part of our friends', Danny and Kendra's, wedding. Danny was a high school friend of Dustin's, a surfing buddy, and Kendra and I became really close over these past couple of years. They came to our Costa Rica wedding and we just fell in love with them as a couple. We knew this day would come for them. It was a great beach wedding, on a perfect day, with a fun reception to follow. Could not have asked for a better day...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zj0MX2fTPe4/Tu_vUJvHThI/AAAAAAAABEA/rU4wIj6iW80/s1600/IMG_5940.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zj0MX2fTPe4/Tu_vUJvHThI/AAAAAAAABEA/rU4wIj6iW80/s320/IMG_5940.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkdGsdhgF2k/Tu_vVE-zdSI/AAAAAAAABEI/WiJPZcc0tXw/s1600/IMG_5953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fkdGsdhgF2k/Tu_vVE-zdSI/AAAAAAAABEI/WiJPZcc0tXw/s320/IMG_5953.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Which brings us to this week- Christmas week- with all of the hustle and bustle that comes along with it. Work is super crazy busy, still have a present or two to buy, all the gifts have to be wrapped, and Christmas Eve dinner menu has to be figured out. I love the overall feeling of these last few days before Christmas every year. There is a certain energy that is just...fun.<br />
<br />
I promise that one of these posts will have more substance than just boring updates that can be seen on Facebook. I really would love to get back to actually writing posts with some thought behind them. Perhaps a New Year's resolution....among others.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-18827170828568338032011-11-20T15:24:00.000-05:002011-11-20T15:24:32.635-05:00Opposite LifeA conversation between my husband and I last week:<br />
<br />
Me: So, this might sound weird but do you ever imagine what your life would be like if it were the exact opposite of what it is now?<br />
Him: :::Weird side eye look in my direction:::<br />
Me: Like, for you, it would be having a suit and tie job on Wall Street, living in New York City, single, no kids, going out every night...you know, opposite of what it is now.<br />
Him: Well, the Wall Street thing would suck but the rest sounds AWESOME!<br />
<br />
I wasn't quite expecting that kind of honesty from him, but I had to laugh because, well, it does kind of sound awesome.<br />
<br />
That conversation was inspired by an episode of Sex and the City that I had watched the night before. In that particular episode, Carrie was dating a guy named Aiden and she found an engagement ring in his bag, obviously meant for her. Her reaction was visceral, vomiting at the mere thought of her life going down that opposite path of what she was used to. It almost made me feel as though I was missing something important by not truly ever living the single, big city lifestyle. Is getting married and living a suburbia lifestyle really vomit inducing to big city girls??<br />
<br />
Whenever I watch a movie or television show with Carrie Bradshaw-type characters, I imagine I am that person and try to imagine what my life would be like as a city girl. It would be the complete opposite of the life I'm living. My little "escape my life" fantasy is this: I imagine myself as a writer for a column in a magazine, living and working in downtown Chicago or New York, calling home a small, but very well decorated, apartment with windows overlooking the skyline, having a small group of girlfriends, all single as well, going out for martinis often, shopping at only the high end stores, and giving looks of pity to women pushing baby strollers.<br />
<br />
Glamours, isn't it??<br />
Sure, but how does this story end, I always wonder? Do I become an old dog lady? The eccentric one who travels to exotic locations with friends, or alone, who practices yoga every day, who dies all alone because she was too selfish to get married and have kids? My mind takes me to some weird thoughts, doesn't it?<br />
<br />
I believe it's human nature to have curiosities about things we don't have. Not necessarily things we want, but just things we don't have. As a comparison, how many times have you wished you were wealthy? If you're like me, probably many. We assume life would be easier, more fulfilling, because we have money, which probably is far from the truth but it's nice to fantasize about.<br />
<br />
Is there a true moral to this post? No. This is just me sharing my randomness.<br />
And no, I don't want a different life, nor would I trade my life for Carrie Bradshaw's. She ends up getting married, ruining the whole fantasy anyway.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-76856867334790603262011-11-03T15:07:00.001-04:002011-11-03T19:07:58.583-04:00Three Halloweens.At five months old...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SSQU2A8DpyI/TrLi6QHE6RI/AAAAAAAABCA/QLmWjfgGFBg/s1600/3+of+us3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SSQU2A8DpyI/TrLi6QHE6RI/AAAAAAAABCA/QLmWjfgGFBg/s320/3+of+us3.JPG" width="282" /></a></div>At 17 months old...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMkh4lR0UOg/TrLjT1-22hI/AAAAAAAABCI/O2RVGM9I5qs/s1600/DSC06346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMkh4lR0UOg/TrLjT1-22hI/AAAAAAAABCI/O2RVGM9I5qs/s320/DSC06346.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--wHGgJi1Hog/TrLjU39CLbI/AAAAAAAABCM/8LmleGoAmuM/s1600/IMG_3541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--wHGgJi1Hog/TrLjU39CLbI/AAAAAAAABCM/8LmleGoAmuM/s320/IMG_3541.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>And at 29 months old...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sPiS21eLizw/TrLjoka7JGI/AAAAAAAABCY/gWii0jvnKck/s1600/IMG_5573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sPiS21eLizw/TrLjoka7JGI/AAAAAAAABCY/gWii0jvnKck/s320/IMG_5573.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26ru9sHWB_E/TrLjzqR_RQI/AAAAAAAABCo/LPAgNcrYKbs/s1600/IMG_5584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26ru9sHWB_E/TrLjzqR_RQI/AAAAAAAABCo/LPAgNcrYKbs/s320/IMG_5584.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>My, how time flies.<br />
We had so much fun trick-or-treating. Lily really understood it and got into it, running from house to house saying, "Can we do another one, mom???". She pooped out after about 15 houses, which is when I chauffeured her around in this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5GBBzbYf_Ls/TrLknM2bqOI/AAAAAAAABCw/yViITUibwGc/s1600/IMG_5606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5GBBzbYf_Ls/TrLknM2bqOI/AAAAAAAABCw/yViITUibwGc/s320/IMG_5606.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">{Pictured with Ty the chicken}</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I'm not sure who had more fun, Lily or me, but I can tell you it was the best Halloween yet!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-is6Uop3rRjo/TrLjpqitOFI/AAAAAAAABCg/RSz0lAr5j7g/s1600/DSC01723_B.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div>Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-90963224386070598682011-10-31T14:15:00.000-04:002011-10-31T14:15:04.325-04:00Uninspired.I have either been really uninspired by my life lately or I am exceptionally boring. Maybe both, I'm not sure. It's unlike me not to write for 5 weeks. I can say that it hasn't been for a lack of excitement or eventfulness because that wouldn't be true. There has been plenty keeping me busy and on my toes. Some of which is work related, which I unfortunately cannot discuss, but the rest is simply just having a 2.5 year old keeping me busy.<br />
<br />
<br />
Today I was inspired because it's Halloween! I love fall and I love Halloween. It's especially fun now that Lily understands the concept of trick-or-treating and can go out tonight and get me some candy!<br />
<br />
And from our pumpkin carving party.... <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tclzKFD7hoA/Tq7lBaWsYxI/AAAAAAAABBI/_lWrXbSWV10/s1600/IMG_5523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tclzKFD7hoA/Tq7lBaWsYxI/AAAAAAAABBI/_lWrXbSWV10/s320/IMG_5523.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ubFpqkfMnM0/Tq7lFfsduRI/AAAAAAAABBQ/2bcjPe3nRtI/s1600/IMG_5532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ubFpqkfMnM0/Tq7lFfsduRI/AAAAAAAABBQ/2bcjPe3nRtI/s320/IMG_5532.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-apeGKLl4n_0/Tq7lKb55r0I/AAAAAAAABBY/pfiq2kzdR_g/s1600/IMG_5543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-apeGKLl4n_0/Tq7lKb55r0I/AAAAAAAABBY/pfiq2kzdR_g/s320/IMG_5543.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugvveZi0MI0/Tq7lNxA1f7I/AAAAAAAABBg/7ekap5hsm1s/s1600/IMG_5553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ugvveZi0MI0/Tq7lNxA1f7I/AAAAAAAABBg/7ekap5hsm1s/s320/IMG_5553.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1_YPLsotQE/Tq7lR0eZ3-I/AAAAAAAABBo/m7kXQrvav-o/s1600/IMG_5558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1_YPLsotQE/Tq7lR0eZ3-I/AAAAAAAABBo/m7kXQrvav-o/s320/IMG_5558.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>And from school this morning...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_mkpYs9KqE/Tq7lfBnx5QI/AAAAAAAABBw/T0p6Ijn34cI/s1600/IMG_5573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Y_mkpYs9KqE/Tq7lfBnx5QI/AAAAAAAABBw/T0p6Ijn34cI/s320/IMG_5573.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGwk173Le7U/Tq7linPFnII/AAAAAAAABB4/tFGEbmpHY1o/s1600/IMG_5577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZGwk173Le7U/Tq7linPFnII/AAAAAAAABB4/tFGEbmpHY1o/s320/IMG_5577.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Next up, trick-or-treating!Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-48131755952479290962011-09-23T23:00:00.002-04:002011-09-23T23:31:57.188-04:0035 years.Today, I am 35. No, I'm not looking for "happy birthday"s.<br />
This has been a hard number for me, in some ways. Yes, I had a beautiful day because I have beautiful people that surround me, but, the only phrase that has been running through my mind all day long has been:<br />
Life.is.crazy.<br />
It just goes by so fast. <br />
<br />
I'm 35. <i>35.</i> <b><i>35!!! </i></b>Think back to high school. Think about when you were 15 and you met someone who was 35. Shit, your MOM could have been 35 when you were 15!! 35 sounded<i> old.</i> Realistically, I know I'm not old, 70 is old, but man, life has really flown by.<br />
<br />
All day today I have been trying to think of my birthdays past. What did I do for my 5th birthday? My 15th? My 25th? Honestly, I really could not remember many. I hope this is normal.<br />
<br />
I remember a few. Of course, I remember the previous few years, Probably 29 through today, but aside from my 21st, I had a really difficult time remembering. So, tonight, I decided to hunt for old birthday pictures, after putting Lily down for the night.<br />
<br />
This was easier said than done.<br />
<br />
Thank God for the digital age because I really sucked at keeping pictures of milestones when pictures were only on paper. I have plenty of pictures of Bear, other people's birthdays, proms, college parties, etc., but my birthdays? Not many. Which is funny because I love pictures. I can sit and look at them for hours. Pictures are what make me remember. I can't believe I didn't keep many from my own birthdays!<br />
<br />
The only one I came across from my early teenage years was....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Szc2TPH180/Tn0_KK89z_I/AAAAAAAABAk/sbX3QsuTFqw/s1600/My14th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3Szc2TPH180/Tn0_KK89z_I/AAAAAAAABAk/sbX3QsuTFqw/s320/My14th.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">14.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Yes, 1990 brought 1990's bangs. After stumbling across this picture, I remember this night. I had about ten friends for a sleepover. We all didn't have matching shirts but Jaime was my best friend, still is, thankfully, and we NEEDED to match. Do you see the collection of Baby Sitter's Club books on my shelf? Classic.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And then the next...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3coYOkwtisY/Tn0_piZC1lI/AAAAAAAABAo/I4ZrSgPQQBM/s1600/My18th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3coYOkwtisY/Tn0_piZC1lI/AAAAAAAABAo/I4ZrSgPQQBM/s320/My18th.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">18.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Jaime and I clearly got over our matching phase but Jesus, why did I straighten my hair...chemically?? Someone should have stopped me. You can't see it in this picture but it turned green and it wasn't even straight, really. Awful. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Again, this picture jogged my memory a bit. A different ten friends, aside from Jaime, Tatum, and Gina, gathered at our local (and new!) Chili's. I'm sure the remainder of the night had something to do with a dance club. I can't be sure though.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I also had pictures from my 19th and 20th, which also included Jaime. I love how pictures tell a story and sometimes reveal who is important in life.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Then...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqDTrj4iDTU/Tn1Aez18j4I/AAAAAAAABAs/NYn9SYHA1VQ/s1600/My21st1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqDTrj4iDTU/Tn1Aez18j4I/AAAAAAAABAs/NYn9SYHA1VQ/s320/My21st1.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">21.</div><div style="text-align: left;">(This was taken at AJ's Sports Bar in Tallahassee with my friend Jody. I met her about 9 months before this picture was taken. We bonded instantly. We're still very close. I am so lucky to have long standing friendships. Priceless.) </div><div style="text-align: left;">Sigh. 21. I lived in Tallahassee, attended FSU, worked at Hooters, and lived a fantastically fun life. Not that I don't now, but lets face it, I was 21. Life was easy.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3-PR2Ptw5HI/Tn1AnnhZ8dI/AAAAAAAABA0/rdc_ewEwlbw/s1600/My21st3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3-PR2Ptw5HI/Tn1AnnhZ8dI/AAAAAAAABA0/rdc_ewEwlbw/s320/My21st3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was thrown into the Wescott fountain, like all 21 year olds who attend FSU. I don't even know who these guys are but 1.) they were fun and 2.) They saw my panties. Good times.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YR277pUBAxE/Tn1AmcYE1jI/AAAAAAAABAw/o-ddw2ZGSWc/s1600/My21st2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YR277pUBAxE/Tn1AmcYE1jI/AAAAAAAABAw/o-ddw2ZGSWc/s320/My21st2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>My parents took Jody and I to Vegas for my 21st. Oh.My.God. Vegas. We had such a blast. We met Jamie Foxx (circa In Living Color) and Charles Barkley, at the same club. I also think what's-his-face from that band Sugar Ray was there, too. He's a gossip T.V. host now. Gah, what's his name??<br />
Anyway, I DO remember my 21st like it was yesterday.<br />
Next... <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xdlxU_99hD4/Tn1CLj1LqfI/AAAAAAAABA4/r98-8mYtRUw/s1600/My24th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xdlxU_99hD4/Tn1CLj1LqfI/AAAAAAAABA4/r98-8mYtRUw/s320/My24th.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">24.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Pictured with my grandma. I was in a completely different life by the time I was 24. It's so funny how quickly I wanted to grow up back then. These stumbled upon pictures during these mid-twenties years scream "FIND YOURSELF AND DO IT QUICKLY BECAUSE YOU'RE KIND OF FUCKING UP!". I now know that's what you're supposed to do in your 20's: fuck up. How else would I have learned?<br />
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There were others from my 25th, my 29th and then....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--lpRliSzD0A/Tn1CsufX6XI/AAAAAAAABA8/uiB3HhpSKsA/s1600/DSC00424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--lpRliSzD0A/Tn1CsufX6XI/AAAAAAAABA8/uiB3HhpSKsA/s320/DSC00424.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">30.</div><div style="text-align: left;">Pictured with Jody. This seems like just a couple of months ago. I cannot believe five years has gone by. 30 was not difficult for me. I was still basking in the "my boyfriend is eight years younger than me and people think we're the same age" phase.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And today...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qmo-1JM4pXM/Tn1EqsLaKTI/AAAAAAAABBA/rV1nMyUY_Ok/s1600/IMG_5446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qmo-1JM4pXM/Tn1EqsLaKTI/AAAAAAAABBA/rV1nMyUY_Ok/s320/IMG_5446.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_WrJpMoaXDo/Tn1Eu8XFuqI/AAAAAAAABBE/sCvMw--Hyp8/s1600/IMG_5447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_WrJpMoaXDo/Tn1Eu8XFuqI/AAAAAAAABBE/sCvMw--Hyp8/s320/IMG_5447.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">35.</div><div style="text-align: left;">A little more tired looking, perhaps some darker circles under my eyes, a few more wrinkles...but then there's Lily. This innocent little being who is just beginning her journey. She only has had two birthdays (well documented and photographed, I might add). I only have celebrated three birthdays as a mama. She began such a huge <b>new</b> chapter in my life. She makes me proud to be 35 simply because I am her mama.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And, cheers to <i>my </i>mama, on this day. 35 years ago, she gave me life and began her journey as a mama. I cannot imagine how I will feel when my baby turns 35!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It's been an amazing 35 years. Here's to at least 35 more.</div>Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3903254250363908281.post-57664425629886470392011-08-20T14:06:00.000-04:002011-08-20T14:06:46.274-04:00Foggy.There is something about vacation that completely warps my mind upon returning. I stay in the dream-like cloud for DAYS, as though I am in denial about living in reality. I begin to obsess about how much I do, in fact, despise my job (even though I really don't on most days) and that everything about where we live is stale and boring.<br />
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I suppose this is a sign of a good vacation.<br />
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And it truly was a great vacation.<br />
<br />
We went to Playa Grande, Costa Rica, a new location for us, and then back to Volcano Arenal, where we got engaged in 2007. We brought our friends Kim and Robbie this time, a part of our huge group that went last year. I believe they love Costa Rica just as much as Dustin and I do, so it was an awesome traveling foursome.<br />
We didn't have much of an agenda. We went to the beach, the pool, the hot springs, ate a lot, hiked, and just overall relaxed. It was an amazing, baby-free, beautiful vacation. (That's right. I said baby-free. Judge away. It was amazing and marriage needs attention, yo.)<br />
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I've already looked up ticket prices to go back in a couple of months. Sure, that's a pipe dream because we really can't afford to go away again, but it's fun to pretend. We will, however, be planning next year's trip very soon because we are that obsessed.<br />
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Gracias por otro buen viaje, Costa Rica. Nos vemos el ano que viene!<br />
Pura Vida.Vanessahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16829238849522998105noreply@blogger.com0