winter break

There were some last minute flight changes and thanks to the fact that I have a set of amazing friends who will take me to the airport at 3:30 am, I made it home Friday morning. I then went to the ward pancake breakfast where I got to sing with my sisters and witness me dad as Santa Clause...that was fantastic. Then that night was the Clifford Christmas Party, where we ate WAY more than necessary, look a few 5 minutes naps to attempt to conquer the food coma, and played Bunko (which of course got extremely loud and competitive)...and it doesn't get much better than that.


The next day I went to church with Davis, so happy he is back! Two years is just way too long for these boys to be gone, but so proud of him. Then it as the week leading up to Christmas, that is always a blur. Monday I went to lunch with Kyle, then left that night for two days of SNOWBOARDING! in Big Bear with Sam and the other crazies. That was a lot of fun and I got to practice my urban cooking skills making a grilled cheese with an iron...it actually works better than you might think. I hung out with Sarah...a lot. Went and saw lights with Kristin & Sarah...and random other intermittent activities


Then...CHRISTMAS! Woke up, took our traditional kids on the stairs picture when attacked the presents. Then our traditional cousin waffle breakfast at Uncle Randy's house, church with the fam bam, then I fell into what much have been a three hour Christmas nap. Woke up just in time for the 25 + people to com over for dinner. LOVED IT, we had two families of cousins, the missionaries, and friends. By the end of the night Colin was teaching everyone wresting/fighting techniques...things got real funny. Then I ended my night with the lovely miss Sarah.

This week I've just hung out and finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy...so good! Tuesday got nails and toes done with Alyssa and mama bear then game night at the Brashears...the game "Things"...BUY IT!

2 more days until Chico.

this too shall pass.

"...and all thing wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good."
D&C 98:3

endurance, faith, patience...remember this.

'tis the season.

This Christmas is a special one. I feel like I'm remembering more than ever the real meaning of Christmas. I'm so grateful for my religion, for the truths that I know and the joy and peace it brings into my life. This time of year there are constant reminders of the Savior and his love for us. Material gifts are just substitutes, the only true gift is to give a portion of yourself.

Wise men still seek him.

"...They presented him with frankincense and myrrh. These are not the gifts that Jesus asks of us. From the treasure of our hearts Jesus asks that we give of ourselves." -- President Thomas S. Monson

I urge us all to remember the real meaning of Christmas. To love our families and give meaningful gifts to others, not mere material, but gifts of love. Merry Christmas!

ps. One thing that I've reestablished is my love for is the Book of Mormon. It gets me through my best and most difficult days.

Fall 2011 recap

Wow, I suck, and entire semester and I posted once...maybe twice. in all fairness, this semester feels like it started and ended yesterday, it went by SO FAST!

So here is the re-cap.

I showed up to school mid August in a sling where I stayed on two different friends couches until I could move into our amazing house on 6th Avenue with Maddie, Jody, Austin and of course we can't forget Duke and Alex.

I couldn't have asked for a better living situation, it is the first time I have been totally comfortable and confident at home. We all have our days, but no matter how many times i forget socks, my ipod, charger, ect... my roommates never failed to help me out. those dishes we all hate to do get done, the floors get vacuumed, crafts are made and we simply spend time laughing together. Here are some of our family pictures.

I got to check going to an Outlaws game off my Chico bucket list.

I hung out with this bunch of boys who together make up a good amount of entertaining late nights and self esteem boosters. You boys have been so much fun to get to know and of course I've also enjoyed: picking you up at 2m, free tea, ironing shirts, taking you clothes shopping for dates, girls problems, late night food runs, supervising wizard staff fights, ect... and the nonsense goes on.

Then there was Halloween.

My previous blog was about the joys of having Duke around, if you're looking for a little laugh you can read that.

My pride and joy of the semester though was definitely working with Habitat for Humanity. It's been amazing to see these houses go from simple foundations to homes. They are almost done and I am so excited for the families to finally be able to move in! There were definitely some Saturdays that the 7:30 wake up call and cold weather was a little rough, but there was never a Saturday that I regretted being out there giving service working with the families, students and other community member to help build. I learned so much about the actual construction but more about life and the importance of giving to others. Thanks Bob & Ken for your patience in teaching us all and sharing with us some greater lessons.
-H4H-building-pasta feed-volunteers-tabling-mock build-meetings-bear nights-service-


Oh and I took a trip to Reno to visit Sasha. I drove up with Ryan, where I made him keep pulling over so I could take pictures of rocks for a project. Then I got there, got stuck outside in the rain where Stephanie saved me for a bit. Then hung out with Sasha that night, spend the night in her sorority house, then the next day we went hiking in Tahoe, then got dropped off and spent that night with Ryan and his parents. Then made that track back to Chico. It was a really fun trip :)



I work at the WREC. I'm a personal trainer and I teach group X classes. I ABSOLUTELY love it.


I also met these fun girls...

got ATTACKED by hail, with the top still off my jeep...


...and this boy finally came home.

...then my semester ended with another item crossed off the bucket list, I WENT CAROLING!

oh and I also discovered Pinterest, best thing everrrr. Overall it has been an amazing semester. I've been surrounded by amazing people at work, school, church, and especially at home. I've experienced so many amazing blessings and growing experiences, and of course they continue. Especially this last week, I've witnessed how amazingly blessed I am to have certain individuals in my life. There have been some rough days, but they can't compare to the amount of good ones. I'm excited for this break, I've missed the family and Sarah.

One semester to go, I can't believe my time at Chico is winding down. I love this town.

duke, seriously?

I know I haven't updated this in awhile, I'll fill in the gaps later but this is a pressing issue. Duke, this is begining to get ridiculous.

this week:
english muffins, trail mix, box of treats, bread, beagles, a hot chocolate package and THIRTEEN FIBER ONE BARS. separate days, but still. Honestly? most of which was on a 5 foot shelf....NO FREAKING IDEA HOW HE IS DOING IT.

this semester he has also gotten to:
- Jumbo pack of marshmellows
- multiple loaves of bread (bread makes him weak in the knees, he will go to desperate lengths to get his paws on that)
- chocolate covered raisins (yes, I'm aware both grapes and chocolate are bad for dogs)
- cat food
- cat litter
- multiple trash cans
- half a sandwich and Pizza (from right in front of Jody)
- and heaven knows what else...

First thought, we must be awful and neglectful...false. I take him on a walk or run almost every day, the dang dog sleeps in my bed half the time. And trust me, he is justly punished (not cruelly obviously) but sufficiently, when he does these awful things...but he is 8, no puppy, I think he's pretty stuck in his ways.

Have you seen Marley and Me? yeah, he is that dog...questionably worse. and I've talked to other lab owners, apparently we are not alone in these dog antics.

So we've learned to laugh it off and just count on spending a little more on groceries than originally planned. When I call and update dad about his awful dog, we just laugh...literally there is nothing else to do at this point. He is the best worst dog you will ever meet. I want to skin him alive half the time, but at the end of the day I wouldn't trade him in for anything.

(ps. he also likes to socialize with neighbors and is the master escape artist...seriously some of the escape stories I could tell you would baffle your mind andddd has also discovered the neighbors yard, and will hit his head on every single one of our fence posts until he can knock one out...he's busted through 9 so far...I'm sure that will increase)

But isn't he just so cute?

chico,

I'm feeling really good about this year, and we're off to a good start.

priorities

I really like this.

“You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage – pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically – to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The enemy of the ‘best’ is often the ‘good.’”

my wild 21st birthday.

I was woken up by mom and Austin with balloons, signs and a fruit bowl with a candle. Sarah the came over for my birthday hair wash. We then went to an 11am movie with all the old folks (because apparently that's who goes to the movies at 11am). That was followed by an amazing Mediterranean lunch where I ate suchhhh a good wrap. Went home to my Aunt Jenn, Lauren and my favorite little cousins playing in my pool. Socialized for a bit, then passed out on the couch for a crazy wild birthday nap. Got up and met them all back out at dinner, no one I'd rather have spent dinner with. Came home, plopped on the couch with mom and watched Pretty Little Liars. The end.

To mothers who still help bathe their children at 21.

Yes, I know, its embarrassing BUT my other choice would have been to suffer through the last 6 days without showering. (for anyone not up to date in my life I had major reconstructive surgery done on my shoulder Tuesday, yes it is awful, hence my inability to shower myself at the moment) I think that those around me appreciate my decision to let my mom help me. But mostly I'm so amazingly grateful for my mom and the relationship we have. We make jokes out of the hard parts of life and enjoy the simple things. It has been a rough week physically and emotionally and she's been there to deal with it all. Thanks mom, I don't know where I would be without you.

my shoulder really hurts.

I'm incapable of finding a comfortable position, everything hurts and I'm venting and using this as temporary distraction to the constant pain in my shoulder. I don't remember it ever being this constantly irritating after my first surgery, butttt I guess I did a pretty good job messing it up. I'm just assuming my pain medicine is working, I haven't given it time to wear off before taking my next dose but it is making my head a little groggy. I need a distraction, but moving hurts and TV just is not all that exciting. Any suggestions? Dear shoulder, please stop.

stay mad, or get over it.

I was told growing up that you have two choices -- you can stay mad, or get over it. Simple. When you choose to stay mad the only person you are hurting is yourself. If the person who hurt you is worth it then talk it out and forgive, if they aren't then there is no point harboring resentment, just walk away from the situation. I think I live by this pretty well, I'm virtually incapable of holding a grudge. If you upset me I either brush it off as misunderstanding or confront you about it, OR option two, I've gotten good at walking away, simply letting go of relationships that tear me down. Sorry, gotta go, no resentment, it's been fun, I'm just exhausted.

This isn't meant to be a dramatic scene, quite the opposite actually. It is simple, stay mad or get over it. Hold onto the relationships that build you up and learn to let go of the others.

LAKEEE

I got to spend my weekend at the lake, I was definitely one happy camper. When I decided that I needed shoulder surgery again this summer I made sure to get one trip in before I got hacked into...yes, I planned the surgery around a lake trip.


So Friday night we made the rounds and by 7:30 pm we were officially on our way with Dad, brother, Kristin, Sarah, Jenn, Jared, and Kyle squared. The drive up went smoothly, stopped and got some In--n-out....and then not so smoothly blew a tire on the suburban only a mile away from the house, fantasticccc. So boys did what boys do and dad and Austin changed the tire. Finally at the house we got shower and all passed out. 6:30 am came really quick, but we were all up, filling the ice chest, putting on the sun screen and getting ready. (some complained slightly less than others, but at least they all got out of bed) The lake was perfect, hardly anyone else was on it, the water was glass and we got one of my favorite beaches. The day consisted of sea doo rides, rock jumping, floating, some wake boarding, knee boarding & of course some ultimate tubing sessions. Life is good.

We were pretty exhausted when we got home but I took the Kyles to the store, which was an adventure all on its own. They danced towards each other, made a scene and I got a lovely little surprise while sitting in the aisle.


Sunday was a repeat (with an extra margarita or two for the Kyles, that got entertaining). And we stopped at "hole-in-the-rock" (which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like) to take the big jump out of the top. Made our way back to the house, washed up and were back on the road home. The trip was short and sweet. Such a good weekend :)

red, white & blue

These colors are especially special to me because all three countries that I have lived in and come to love have red, white and blue as their national colors; but today is a very meaningful day for my home country: the good old US of A. This is my favorite holiday (I'm big on history, summer is my favorite season and July is my birthday month, and fireworks are one of my FAVORITE things...it all just adds up). Today I want to offer a special thanks to all the service men and women for all that they have done and sacrificed for all of us. Special thanks to Jake, Kyle and Trevor for all you are doing. I love you boys.

un día a la vez

I'm officially home and curled up in bed. The flight was delayed about an hour and a half due to rain, but as usual I barely noticed because I fell asleep minutes after sitting in my seat.

Today was a low key day. Woke up, breakfast, got Torrie at the airport and then came back to Ran's house to pack. (beach wood fit in my bag perfectly) Afterwards we met Ran's mom and went to a market to get a few last things. Ran and I had a conversations that had me dying laughing in which he has decided he talks like a turtle and is going to start introducing himself as such: "Hi, I'm ran and when I speak English I am a turtle." I thought it was fantastic. After that we met Marcial for lunch and then headed to the airport. I was stressing a little cause we were late, but of course everything worked out fine. My plane was delayed so I even had a little time to spare. These last few days in Costa Rica were some of my favorites, that definitely made it more difficult to leave. A HUGE thank you to Ran and his family for hosting us for those few days, you guys are seriously the best. I'm going to miss everyone so much, you guys better actually fly up to visit me and I know I'll be back at some point. Pura Vida <3

So now I'm home. Mom, dad and brother were there to get me (dad and I had to coordinate a little to find each other, that was fun). It was hard to leave, but it'll be good to be home for awhile. My little sister is in for a tough time now having to share my car (when I want to, because she is having a hard time grasping the idea that it is still MY car) and the dog and I both desperately need to get back into a running routine. Home, home, home. Breakfast date with Sarah in the morning :)

look how cool I am, dancing in a cloud.

So my last full day in Costa Rica for this trip is over. We woke up, had a little bit of a lazy morning start and got ready to head out to a volcano. Oh and at breakfast one of my back fillings in my tooth decided to come out so now I have a large hole in my back tooth, yes I know, gross and its rather uncomfortable. Adding the dentist to my list of doctors I need to see upon coming home, mom and I got a good laugh out of that. Then on our way we stopped at Walmart (yes, they've invaded this country as well) to get snacks, because who am I kidding, even in other countries I cant go anywhere without snacks. After an amazing drive up we reached the top of Volcano Irazu (which I think is actually the highest point in Central America). The minute we got out of the car we were joined by this loved raccoon like creature who wanted my fruit. So after rushing the food back into the car and being told not to feed the animals Desiree decided to take a picture, drop her granola bar and the little sucker snatched it and ran off! It was actually really funny.


We then walked up to see the crater where we were literally walking through clouds. (yes, we're so cool we can walk through clouds because....wait Des Des...look how cool I am!) Anyways, then we went up to the highest point and it was cloudy but apparently on clear days you can see both the Caribbean and Pacific sides to Costa Rica. On our way back we stopped by an old abandoned mental hospital and Desiree was just in heaven with all the amazing pictures she got to take.

We got home about 4:30 pm, and took it easy for awhile. Then Marcial came over, I attempted to steal his amazing music but my computer fail, so sad. But then we drove up this really steep hill to an amazing restaurant with the most amazing view of the entire city. After we went out to a college bar for a little bit and called it a fairly reasonably timed night and headed home.

once upon a time, I think so

Bocas was fun, but we cut the trip a day short because we were just ready to be back in San Jose taking it easy. So water taxi, van thing to the border, the sketchiest border crossing ever, and then finally a lovely 6 hour bus ride, BUT Casey randomly ended up on our bus so that was a lot of fun.


So we're back in Costa Rica. We got here late Tuesday night, the bus ride was a little rough but our shortest so far so it wasn't terrible. Ran picked us up and we went back to his house, met the family and pretty much just went to bed. Wednesday we went to Jaco with Ran and some of his friends on a day surf trip (which meant the Desiree and I walked up and down the beach collecting shells, sea-glass and a paddle?) I am coming home with ridiculously obnoxious things. I have two pieces of wood from the beach in Puntarenas (Ran keeps making fun of me for this), another piece from yesterday and then Desiree and I collected things for hours yesterday. I'm definitely going to go into major craft mode when I'm in a sling. Countdown to surgery is officially T-minus 12 days. Anywayssss, after Jaco we went about 15 minutes down the road to Hermosa Beach, so beautiful! There Desiree and I just got a little bit ridiculous and my face hurt from laughing so hard by the time we left. We left there about 3pm, got lunch and headed back into San Jose. It was raining like crazy.


Then last night we decided to go Ran's friends house up on the mountain to have a little BBQ. We stopped by the grocery store on the way where of course Des and I got ice cream and the sugar definitely kicked in. The house was so much fun and on our way back we stopped at a view point thing and looked out over the entire city! Everything has been working out great. I got home tomorrow, I'm so excited to be home with family (and of course Sarah, but she counts as family). It'll be good to finally be home for a substantial amount of time but I'm already trying to plan to come back. Alright, off to start my day!

let the Bocas adventures begin.

We're officially in Bocas del Toro. This bus ride was shorter, but definitely didn't go as smoothly. With about 3 hours to go I decided that it was acceptable to try to sleep on the floor in front of our seats and then Des had two seats to spread out a little. It worked out but the Panamanian sitting across from us thought we were crazy, oh well. Bus, taxi, water taxi, short walk and we are staying at the Gran Kahuna Hostel. It's currently early in the morning so we're just taking it easy and updating things before we head to the beach in a few hours.

Redhead in Panama City.

So Panama has definitely been an interesting trip so far. We got off the bus at 3pm yesterday and got in a cab with two others into Casco Viejo. We attempted o stay at Luna’s Castle but they only had 1 bed, and well we are two people and they wouldn’t let us share, soooo moving on we ended up a couple blocks away at another hostel that we loved so it worked out. We got to the dorm room, hung out for a bit and then decided to wander. We ran into a lovely couple from California who was on our bus so we went to dinner and wandered with them a little bit. Wandering was about as wild as we decided to get before calling it a night.


Sunday we woke up, went down for breakfast which consisted of PB&J and bananas (I honestly could not have been more thrilled, seriously). Then we embarked on the “we need to buy tickets to get to Bocas early because the bus sells out," we obviously weren’t very creative in creating a title for our mission. So after asking about 8 people we found the bus to take us to the terminal, got the tickets…now that was the easy part. Then we were told to get on a particular bus to get back to Plaza Cinco de Mayo, well apparently we missed the stop to get off so we just stayed on the bus and got a wonderful city tour. It was actually perfect, we got to see all around Panama City and even went though part of the ruins of the first city in Panama that was ramshacked by Captain Morgan or someone like that? Eventually we actually needed to figure out where we were so about 30 minutes in we were assisted on which other bus to get onto to take us back. Well, he didn’t stop at the Plaza so once we reached the original place we bought our tickets from he decided that he would give us a personal ride back to the plaza. Yep, an entire bus for me, Des and the bus driver who kept asking us if we were married and telling us to call him when we came back to Panama. (yeah, ok) FINALLY, Plaza Cinco de Mayo…..Where we were then relentlessly harassed by some guy who insisted upon following us and trying to give us his number, then we walked into a shop and the owner told the guy he was calling the police. Thanks random shop owner! So we wandered around a little more, got back to the hostel, packed our bags and headed to the Canal. Of course to get there we had to take another bus and then opted for a taxi the last half of the way, it wasn’t too far.

The Panama Canal was really neat. It’s crazy to think how important that one waterway is. We got there at the perfect time to get up to the observation deck and we were able to watch 2 different HUGE ships make their way through. At about 5 we decided to head back to the terminal and we took a taxi with the most wonderful lady in a bright pink 70’s dress.


We needed to be at the Albrook Terminal, but got dropped off at the Albrook Mall…no problem really, the terminal was just on the other side of the mall but we were quite the scene walking through the mall with our ridiculously huge packs on. (I mean really, imagine someone walking through South Coast Plaza with a backpacking backpack on, you would be a little confused to). Oh and the fact that at one point Desiree and I decided to play bumper cars with each other and pose with the giant animal statues. It was a good time. Now we are sitting in the terminal waiting for our bus. Panama City, it’s been fun.


Oh side note: being a red head in Panama is not advised. Today alone I’ve had my hair physically touched 3 times, been cat called, lightly hit on the arm by a man trying to say hi to me and the best was when 3 old men started to literally howl (yes, like wolves). Meanwhile Desiree can barely breathe she is just laughing so hard at me, thanks, you’re a great friend. Anyone got some scissors and hair dye?

update.

We are officially about 13 hours into our bus ride to Panama. It’s gone by surprisingly quick and relatively painless. The border crossing took a couple hours between the exit line, walking across the border, the entry line and bag check we were finally loaded back on the bus and on our way. We’re both getting some much needed sleep and someone just left so we both just acquired 2 seats a piece. We are definitely two happy campers.

San Jose for a day

We’ve officially said our goodbye to our family; I’ll miss them and my daily charades games. Adriana and Elizabeth, thanks for everything! We taxied to the bus station…because of course we were running late and I didn’t want to walk carrying my wood. (so far operation TWH is going great). Two or so hours later we were in San Jose being picked up by the wonderful Ran. He made our day so much easier. We went to his house to unpack some of our stuff, had lunch and took much needed showers. He then won us over by taking us to ice cream (and once we all finished our first scoop, he got us a second…little does he know that Desiree and mine one true love = ice cream). We then went out and met up with Fernando and Rodrigo. Ran decided that he needed to bring things up to my level and slammed a Red Bull, definitely a good time. Then we got dinner at this adorable restaurant where I got and amazing quesadilla and finally some tea!!! After we went out again and the boys had us to the bus station by 10:30 and saw us safely off.

I’ve learned that: my Spanish is still suffering greatly, ok I actually already knew that but this reaffirmed it (luckily I had Ran as a wonderful translator), Desiree looks adorable in yellow, I use my hands A LOT when speaking and describing something & apparently my tone of voice changes greatly from when I’m speaking English to attempting Spanish. Huntington get ready because there are a few handsome Ticos planning a visit, oh and I have a fabulous paparazzi that likes to take randomly adorable pictures all night. I’m so excited for Panama but Des and I were both a little sad to get on the bus and leave this day. Loving this country more every day.

rowdy

Summer Session has finally come to a close. The last week was good, nothing too crazy just studying for finals. I got A’s in my classes, yahoo! My exam was on Wednesday so I had Thursday to just hang out and pack. I went into Centro with a few people….the sole purpose of my mission was marshmallows. (it had started raining and I figured our bonfire plans were cancelled but dang it, I still wanted smores, Will has a toaster oven and I was stubborn…surprised?) Mission was a success and that afternoon Desiree and I were just hanging out in my room, packing, when I realized I was running late for my cooking activity of the night….when I encountered the dilemma of having packed all my pants. I was packing in bathing suit bottoms and a tank, because it was ridiculously hot in the house….and I had all my pants packed. Decided I’d borrow a pair of Des’s…haha that was a funny joke I couldn’t even get her pants over my right thigh, so I threw on my skirt for the night and literally ran out the door. I’m including this little story solely for my entertainment,it was a funny little interaction, one of those you had to be there sort of things. Got there, got fed really good food, hung out, went back home to get ready for the night. At about 8:30 pm after Des & I had scattered the rest of our unpacked things around my room took off for Wills house.


Drinking games in the front room, and of course Amanda in the kitchen. Needless to say, smores were a major success…I’m a huge fan of the original bonfire style, but the toaster oven put up surprisingly steep competition. At some point we decided to take off and head to the infamous Mystical. We were there for a bit and then scattered a little, some to the beach, some back to Will’s. That’s when the night got messy. I ended up trekking back to Mystical to meet up with Sasha and whoever, found them halfway there…that’s all I’m going to say about that. Then while walking Heather home I almost got my bag swiped off my arm by a guy on a bike who thought he was only dealing with a little 5’3”, red-headed Gringo….well I’m a little spitfire, held onto my bag, gave his bike a pretty good kick and a few choice words at a really loud level. He got the point. I then decided it was a good idea to drop my stuff off at home before going back to meet Sasha. We had a nice little talk on a bench, met up with Joe, banged on Will’s door until the little passed out one woke up so we could get her keys, then walked Sasha home, discovered Joe lost his keys and yeah….like I said the night got messy but it ended up being a good one all the same. And in the morning I got to play secret escape mission, so that was entertaining. Puntarenas just wouldn’t let us leave without a little bit of a scene.

Joe, Austin, Des and I aren’t going on the group trip but wanted to wake up and say goodbye to everyone. Man, I never thought that I could get as close to some people in 5 weeks as I did to the people I studied with for 5 months, but I did, and goodbyes are still a bummer but the nice thing about this is we’re all stateside so hopefully we’ll plan something before long. Hugs, hugs, hugs and then Joe, Austin, Des and I gave them a special goodbye as they drove past us…I’ll add a picture if someone got it.

Our goodbye to our house mama y hermana.

Now off to San Jose for the day until our 11pm bus to Panama!!!

-Annemarie attached herself to the gate - Marcella hiding from Austin I think? - My professor and I - Us and the lovely aerobics teacher - Gabriella the other red head in Puntarenas-

Everyone else has their finals today, but I’m a champ and finished mine yesterday so I had the day to fill. This morning I woke up, should have gone for a run, didn’t want to, so I didn’t. I figure that’s how it should go when you’re not in season. Ate breakfast with Des, headed to school, wished everyone good luck on their finals and then walked across the street to enjoy the morning beach (yep, while everyone else slaved away on exams. Tough life, but someone’s got to live it). The beach is so peaceful in the mornings and late at nights, I love it. This morning I decided to lay out my towel, write a couple letters, (meanwhile ignoring the Tico man who decided to come lay next to me, I just told him as gringo as possible that I didn’t speak Spanish….which is still partially true). I also played tag with the waves and watched the water fill up my footprints. The beach, well maybe just large bodies of water in general because I feel similarly about the lake, but they are just the best early in the morning or late at night. It is so peaceful to wake up to the sound of waves or the serenity of seeing absolutely glasslike water.

Finals are now done and it’s time to pack up and get a little rowdy.