A Place to Call Home

Our move date is drawing in closer and I wasn't doing much about it. The only thing set in stone was that Jesse would be doing an internship and we needed to be out of our current apartment on July 31st. That is only 2 months away, I should probably start getting things in order.

Yesterday, I asked Jesse to call on an apartment that I was interested in. I had called them very early in the process (February/March) and they did not have any opening for August, but to call them when the time got closer. Much to our surprise they will have an opening in August!! It is exactly what we wanted and were looking for!! Praise the Lord!!

We will be upgrading from our lovely one-bedroom to a GIGANTIC two-bedroom!!! This is so very exciting for us - we will have an office and our very own bedroom!! Some more perks: vaulted ceilings, 1.5 baths, gas fireplace, computer nook, 2nd floor, and over looking a lake that we can swim and fish in!! The best perk of all... it is cheaper then our current apartment! : )

Here is a link to the website: apartment

Mexico!!

Thursday, May 10th Jesse and I (along with our friends Ben & Katie) headed for Mexico. This was going to be our first time to Mexico. I wasn't really sure what to bring. Katie and I had talked and decided that we will probably need two sets of clothes per day. And we are going to need lots of sandals!! When the airline lost our luggage last year I bought a really big one to replace the lost one with. You know what that means... I can get way more stuff in there!!

We had a 'minor' delima right off the bat! Our luggage was 15 pounds over weight. Hummm. Now what. So we started shifting things from one luggage to the other. We made it work. If you all know Jesse, he was not happy with me. I just tried to put on the charm and say I was really sorry and to be glad that he wasn't traveling with my cousin Megan!! ; )

View from our window of Mexico!!

Going through customs in Mexico... what a treat! We landed at the airport which seemed like it was in the middle of no where. The airport was empty besides the workers. We picked up our luggage off the belt and headed towards customs. The lady looked at our slip of paper and pointed to this stop and go light. (Seriously it was a stop light with a red light on top and green on the bottom.) You were suppose to push a button to see if you get the red light or the green light. Ben and Jesse both got green lights! Katie and I didn't push the button we just walked through with our husbands!

As soon as we get through customs you walk into a lobby area full of workers. One of the workers spots us and asks us if we have a ride waiting. Yes. He points to a counter with a guy standing behind it and tells us to go see him. We do. The guy starts telling us all this stuff the city has to offer and showing us where everything is on a map. Great! We are learning so much! Then all of sudden it takes a sharp turn and he tries to get us to come see his hotel and he will give us free stuff. Not interested. He starts telling us our hotel is boring and that we can come and do things at his hotel. We finally get the point across that we are not interested and we go to find our ride.

We see a lady holding a sign with our names on it. We were so happy to see her! We told her we already got trapped and she told us to be careful of that! : )

We load our luggage into a white van and head to our hotel. We had a family with us from Australia and they were going to a different hotel, we dropped them off first. After that our driver starts asking us if we want a beer. The guys are all over this one and say yes. Driver pulls over and points to a store and says, "They sell beer here." He gets out, leaves the van running and the guys follow him. Katie and I stay in the van. We weren't sure what we were suppose to do. The van was running, the doors are NOT locked, Jesse left the side door open and here two cute American girls are sitting in this van!

Here is what I see out my van window...

The guys come back with a bag full of beer. I think they had six bottles of beer. The driver starts opening bottles and even opens one for himself!! Mexicans already drive crazy - and he only drove crazier with his bottle of beer in him. Katie and I held on for life - we squeezed into such tight spaces with this van! And cut so many people off! All of us giggled and enjoyed our first taste of Mexico.

We arrive at our hotel and we are greeted by a bell-hop named Leonardo. Leonardo was our age and he use to live in Beaverton (a city very close to where we live). We start chatting with Leonardo and telling him that our driver was drinking and how crazy of a ride we had. We soon became friends with Leonardo.

While we are checking into the hotel we were handed a glass of wine and wet towel to cool down with. : )

Our first sunset.

Our first umbrella drink!! Katie and I have been dreaming

of the day when we would have umbrella drinks on the beach!

A Banana Tree.

Palm trees everywhere you looked. I got a little carried away with pictures of palm trees.

Our resort had such great food. We were very happy with the food at every restaurant. The drinks on the other hand were a bit weird. I ordered a glass of milk one morning and it came warm and was so sweet. I couldn't take more than two sips of it. The soda didn't have carbonation. And the juices were always a bit off. We stuck to water and umbrella drinks!! : )

Supper at one of the restaurants.

At this same restaurant the guys ordered Mexican Coffee. Our waiter put on a big production with fire. He would light the alcohol on fire and then pour it from one cup to the next. When he was finished he lit the glasses on fire. You can see a little bit of a blue glow in the picture.

Mexican Festival Night. We watched Mexican dances and listened to a live band. There was a little market set up and you could look at all the stuff they were selling. I bought a ring. Of course Jesse loved getting to bargain with the lady over the price of my ring. I almost didn't get it because she wouldn't go down one more dollar. I had to tell him that I really wanted the ring and I really liked the lady- give her the dollar. : ) Even Ben and Katie were saying give her the dollar. Jesse was looking for a good deal. The lady told me it was a real opal... not sure if she was telling me the truth or not. It was also a little tight on my finger and she told me that my hands were swollen and it would fit better once I got back home. Well, it fits the same here. : ) I just force it on and smile. Don't want Jesse to think he should have gotten his dollar back!

At the Mexican festival they had a guy walking around making balloon hats. He made sure to let us know that he works for tips!! : )

Jesse's says: Super Sexy Stud

Mine says: Princess in Love

Our husbands left us to go talk to the bellhop Leonardo- so we took a picture. When our husbands were not with us we sure did attract the guys. Not even joking. Katie likes to blame my blonde hair and I like to blame her freckles for the all the attention we were getting.

More palm trees. This one has to be one of my favorites.

Rock and roll night. Imagine this: Good 80s rock songs sung by a Mexican!! It was so good!

We had a blast and he was a very good singer. They had tiki torches and these boats in the sand for the concert.

Trying to get a picture of us at sunset. Turned out a bit blurry.

Yes this is Jesse picking coconuts from the trees.

The guys trying the coconut. Someone is going to get sick. Just kidding.

No one got sick - but Katie and I thought for sure they would.

Jesse rock climbing on a real rock wall. This was included in our resort.

Our first activity out of the resort was a sunset cruise on a Pirate Ship. We arrived a few hours before we could board the ship so we walked around a little flea market. Most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday. The guys found a guy who was selling Cuban Cigars. They were "real" Cubans. They asked the guy many times, are these real. Yes. They believed him. Well, a few nights later they go to smoke their real Cubans. As you can guess... they were not real. They probably got two puffs off the cigar before they about gagged and put it out. One of the workers at our resort was selling real Cubans and she showed them what to look for. She actually worked at a Cuban factory. Ben did buy a real one from our resort and let Jesse have a few puffs.

Before we even pushed off from the dock, Jesse was picked to go up and do something crazy. The only downfall is that he had the camera in his pocket so I don't have any pictures of it. : (

Shortly after that all the girls were called up and we had to dance around.

Of course Jesse had the camera for that.

On the ship they had a show which was to simulate a real Mexican tradition of them sacrificing their body to fire.

And then the Pirates put on a show.

After we got back to land we had to get a cab back to our resort. Katie and I loved hailing cabs!! This cab driver was a kid about our age who hardly spoke English. Basically the only english he knew was 9 Dollars. This cab driver was the craziest ever!!! Jesse told him to "drive it like you stole it" and he did!! We weaved in and out of traffic like never before. He then found another cab driver who he must of knew and he started racing him. Our cab was going to win and we are all cheering for our driver and this just makes him driver faster and crazier! He starts going around blocks to get in front of him. One time he even passed him going around a corner and up a hill!!!!! We did make it back to the resort safely!

Supper ocean side.

During this supper we were able to see dolphins jumping out of the water!! Also seen sting rays jumping out of the water!! Even the couple behind Ben and Katie got engaged. For some reason we missed it all and just had to listen to the bride-to-be cry the entire rest of our meal. She was so surprised and couldn't stop crying!!! At first it was so cute.... but after awhile it became a bit annoying.

Speaking of sting rays... they were very active during our entire trip. We seen a lady get stung by one in the foot. She was in severe pain and was bleeding so much. Jesse went to try to help and actually went to get the Doctor. She said it felt like her entire leg was broken. We seen her a few days later and she said the pain lasted for over an hour. The medication that they gave her didn't help too much. We also heard about 3 more attacks. All of the attacks were on females!

Our second (and last) activity out of the resort was renting dune buggies!! You went out on a four hour dune buggy trek and made a stop at a Tequila tasting factory!! We were fully warned that we would be getting very dirty, dusty, muddy, and wet. You were going to be crossing rivers so I left the camera at home... which means I don't have any pictures. : (

Ben and Katie did have an underwater camera that they brought but I don't have the pictures form the yet.

We arrive at the dune buggy place and get all geared up. We were given bandanas to put over our mouth and nose (going to be very dusty) and goggles!! That's it!! No helmets! Okay, I am alright without the helmet - we are in a dune buggy and I am sure they have seatbelts and we have roll bars. If something does happen we should be some what okay. At least that is what I was hoping for.

Jesse picks outs his dune buggy and I climb in. I look over at Ben and Katie in their dune buggy and Katie is all seat belted in, snug and safe. I start looking for my seat belt..... still looking... um, I don't have one!!!! I tell Jesse that I don't have a seat belt and I am bit concerned. He goes to tell one of the workers that his wife would like a seat belt. : ) The worker comes over by me and leans down and says, "This is a Mexican vehicle... you don't need seat belts!" I started laughing and said okay and gave him a little fist tap!!

We had to take the dune buggies down the streets of Puerta Vallarta!!! This was insane! I told you how the Mexicans drive... they don't care whether you are in a real car or a dune buggy - they will cut you off and push the limit over and over!!

We were able to see some yucky parts of Mexico before we made it to the river. On our drive you seen lots of kids outside playing! (Don't see that much here.) They would just be playing with a kick ball and laughing and just enjoying themselves. I wish I had my camera so that you could see it. Katie said she tried to take pictures but she is not sure what she got. I'll post them when they come in.

We get to the river and we have to cross one by one because there is a guy in the river ready to take your picture. While we are waiting for our turn to cross, three little Mexican boys are running around with no shoes. They come up to a running but stopped dune buggy with their hand out saying "One dollar!!"

Our turn to cross. (I am riding with a crazy dirt biker who has little to no fear!!) Jesse steps on it and we go tearing into this river. The next thing I know is there is a sheet of water coming over the buggy and I am drenched!! We come to a screaching halt in the middle and now water is coming in backwards!! Jesse has accidently put it into reverse!! (Manual transmissions!) We get going and get out of the water and now we are soaked!! Not a dry spot on us. My bandana is soaked and every time I breath in - it gets stuck to me. And the bandanas were super cheap so the green dye is bleeding onto my face and hands because I keep poking at it to keep it out of my mouth! Yuck! Jesse is just grinning from ear to ear - he thought that was the coolest thing ever!!

Next stop the Tequila factory!! Whoohoo!! The Tequila Master hands out little cups (kind of like the ones you used for floride in school) and I try to tell him I don't want a cup. I don't like Tequila. He tells me I can't say that until after I hear his story about how the REAL Tequila is made and after I try some. Okay.

When he would come around to pour a little sample into our cups I would tell him over and over - just a little!!! Little drop is all I need!! He was very good at giving me just the proper amounts. We tried the real Tequila and it tasted like wine to me. Then the flavored Tequila came out... Melon, Banana, Coffee. Those were all pretty good except Banana I didn't try that one.

You want to know the craziest part of this all? We all have just tasted about 6-7 samples of Tequila. There is time for you to get another drink. Now get back in your dune buggy and get back home!!!!! It all just seemed so bazare to us! Every one did make it back completely safe and sound! Ben and Katie did have a minor run in with a stop light - but they managed to stop 1/2 way through the intersection! And a bus tried to squeeze in between their buggy our and ours. Whew! That was an adventure to say the least!

These are our friends Victor and Alex.

Victor is the boss of the entertainment crew and Alex was in charge of the rock climbing wall. Every morning (except Thursday - he has that day off) he climbs the rock wall free hand (no ropes) by himself!! (He has to put the ropes up.) He has been doing this job for 3 weeks. He was telling us how one morning he slipped and was hanging by one hand and he showed us the scratches he got from it. We asked him if he got paid good. He said, this is my job!

Ben and Jesse with Carmon.

Carmon was also on the entertainment staff and she was in charge of playing volleyball. The guys played volleyball with her one day and she enjoyed picking on them.

Every since we found the Dreams Resort we noticed on their website that you could help release baby sea turtles. Katie and I thought this would be the coolest thing to do. Well, we actually got to! They made an anouncement that said they were going to be able to release 40-50 baby turtles and we could be a part of it.

We all stood in a line and they handed you a baby turtle. You held the turtle with your thumb and index finger. They were so cute!! They little legs were just a going. When the workers said "go" you took one step forward and put your turtle in the sand. Took that one step backwards and watched them run for the water! It was so sweet! After our turles were in the water you could see all these baby turtle heads sticking out of the water. Cute!

After releasing the turtles we sat down to watch a Latin Night Performance. To get the crowd warmed up they wanted to play a little game envolving the audience. Our friends Carmon and Alex knew about this and instantly came over and grabbed the four of us to go up on stage. We asked them over and over and over if there would be dancing involved. They said NO! It was like musical chairs!!

This musical chair game had a twist and it DID involve dancing. We don't have pictures of this either because we were all up on stage. There was a resort photographer running around taking pictures and they have some great ones. But, Ben and Katie have those pictures as well... : )

This is Ramon showing Jesse how he is suppose to dance! Can you see Jesse's head is down!! I got out of the game by this time so I could take pictures!! Ben and Katie also had the privilege of getting to shake their booty on the stage!!

Jesse won!!

The real Latin dancers.

Last sunset... starting to get a little creative with my sunset pictures.

Our last show was the fire show. Very impressive.

The entertainment staff posing for a picture with us!!

Our last night!!

Whew, that was a long post. I hope you made it to this part! : ) We all had a great time and I would highly recommend the resort! Everything was perfect! I can't wait until we get to go again!

Oh I should add... that my luggage was still over weight on our way home by 9 pounds. You know how well you pack when you are going home!! Well, Jesse was really not happy with me this time. We didn't know what to do!! We had our bag we used for when we went to the pool so we loaded it up with Jesse pants, jeans and shorts!! and carried it onto the plane with us!! I can't help but laugh out loud when writing this... but there was NO laughing when were at that airport packing his pants into this bag!! Ah good times!!

It is all back to business now that we are home. I am starting to interview and train my replacement. Jesse is continually working on growing his business. We still don't have a place to live. And nothing is packed. I am one of those that can't pack until the last minute - what if I need something. Even if I haven't touched it in the four years I have been here! : )