Come what may

This week:

woke up to no running water...
water came back on and...
had to go to bed with a flooded bathroom..
there is now a hole in our bathroom ceiling from condo upstairs.

Woke up to HORRIBLE news...that I don't even want to mention on here...

slammed my toe into a rock wall on the way to the bathroom from beach volleyball..
Was in so much pain, once I got to the bathroom i fainted.

10 minutes later I got up...walked outside, luckily Spencer was just then walking up from the court, cause I almost fainted again, and he caught me.


Now my toe AND my computer are broken...

*sigh*

but then I get to see a picture of this little guy and everything gets a little better...

i love him.

My computer is fried

I am so sad.

My computer killed itself over a week ago.

I am on Spencer's laptop.

I hate laptops.

No mouse, tiny keyboard, uncomfortable.

I want my computer fixed.

Salud

Another one of my favorite things about living here.

The greeting

We don't just shake hands anymore...we get a LOT of love.

A handshake + the added bonus of a kiss on the cheek.

Merry Christmas!

Yes, I'm a little late posting this. Especially, it being after my New Year's Resolution post. But for posterity's sake it had to be done sometime before 2010 hits.

This is our family Christmas photo for 2009. Taken in front of our ONLY Christmas decoration.

A picture of Jesus.

We hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas.
We spent our Christmas Eve celebrating with new friends. Learning very special traditions, and singing all our favorite carols in Spanish.
Thank you Galbreiths!

Christmas Day we were supposed to go surfing but the weather was COLD and CLOUDY.
I think that is how we will bring in the NEW YEAR instead. Bring on the waves baby!

Oh, and our gifts to each other....BOOGIE BOARDS!

Hero-flex...a resolution

So we went to our favorite place for dinner last night on the marina. Baja Cantina.

We met our friends there that Spencer went fishing with yesterday (they caught 9 MahiMahi).

As we are sitting there laughing and talking there is a HUGE commotion behind me. I turn around and see a bar stool from the restaurant next to ours being tossed into a guys face. And guys chasing another guy and beating him down. My natural reaction to such circumstances is, I'm sorry to say, FREEZE! I become completely frozen. I HATE IT! Well, as soon as I realize what is going on, I also realize that Spencer is nowhere to be seen. Apparently his natural reaction is to jump in and help, or at least find out what happened and then help.

Apparently, some American walked up to another American having dinner, and said, "I think I should punch you in the face." And then proceeded to do so. The guy who got hit..his friend picked up the barstool to throw at the guy doing the hitting. Spencer immediately jumped up to go find out what was happening and help if need be. (crazy).

This is what I have labeled as the 'hero-flex'. The film-producing Dutch man who took out the terrorist on that flight last week has it. Spencer has it. Many friends of mine have it. Marie Edgar Bleak...YES YOU HAVE IT! A natural reflex in the face of trauma or disaster to act IMMEDIATELY. I am very pissed that I don't have it. I just freeze and look like a deer in headlights. It is very frustrating.
And that is going to be my New Year's resolution. To work out my hero-flex. No matter what happens, I am going to jump up and do SOMETHING.
It may just be yelling or jumping up and down on one leg clucking like a chicken for now...but I just hate sitting there and being useless.

A change in weather

We had our first day here yesterday of pouring down rain, and coldness; lots of coldness.

Which I have to say, I was grateful for. There was no need to run to the beach for ANYTHING, or to the marina or anywhere!

We stayed inside all day, I got to throw on sweats and I read an entire book. While eating Costco pizza.
It was a GREAT day.

This is the book I read...AWESOME!

A Job? What's that?

I am constantly bombarded with the question...

So, what do you DO?
(accompanied with a glare that really says, "if you say, play volleyball all day every day I hate you)

Truth is...I have been yearning, nay pining, nay pleading to be guided toward something I can enjoy and be good at, whilst Spencer is working. I have felt so "lazy" and kind of pointless lately. I have no kids YET, so really, I need to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause".

My prayers were definitely answered.

Pueblo Bonito MonteCristo (resort that my family is apart of) has NO ONE renting out their villas for their owners. It is really up to the owners to get that done themselves. Which really separates them from being time-shares. It is actually a fractional ownership.

If you go through a regular rental company to do that, the company charges AT LEAST 50-60% of the rental price. That is ridiculous.

That is where I come in. I have started my own website/business and my fees are LOW! 15%!

AND...I meet personally with clients' renters at the concierge and guide them through what they may not understand...(the ever-so-common-language-barrier) which adds a lovely personal touch.

For now, I am focusing only on the MonteCristo Estate Villas, since I am so familiar with them, and I already have clients.

There are NO pictures anywhere on the internet of the NEW PHASE 2 MonteCristo Estates...
UNTIL NOW!

I was able to get special access to the villa and take my own photos. And I have created a lovely video, which I humbly say...I am quite proud of.

So...yes...I DO DO SOMETHING!

AND I LOVE IT!

In case someone IS interested in spending a wonderful vacation in this MOST BEAUTIFUL villa...we do have the 3rd week in February still available. Normally, they rent out at about $4,000/night. However, due to the economic downturn...the owner's are willing to rent this out at $350/night. They are just trying to cover their maintenance fees at this point.