Costa Rica

I have travelled fairy extensively in America, but before our honeymoon, I had never been out of the country (with the exception of walking into Canada very briefly on a trip to Niagara Falls).  I love to see new places, so I was particularly excited to finally make my first international voyage.  Britt has travelled pretty much all over the world, but this was my first "big trip," I guess you could say.

We boarded our plane from Atlanta on Sunday, June 6 and flew to Libera, Costa Rica, which is on the Gulf of Papagayo.  Our aptly named resort was the Grand Papagayo, and it was absolutely beautiful.

We made it out to the beach every day and enjoyed the very convenient shade trees, which prevented any chance of inconvenient sunburns.

On Tuesday, we partook of a Costa Rican classic:  the zipline.  I was so afraid I'd wind up in traction like Toby from The Office!  But it was actually very safe and very fun.

After travelling by taxi to the Borinquen mountain resort, the guides strapped us up with our zip equipment, and we took horses through the forest to the base of a volcano, which is where the ten-zipline course began.

Britt is an experienced rider and therefore looked much more at ease on his horse, which is the reason he is featured ascending the mountain instead of me.

Once we reached the course, one guide preceded us, and the other helped us connect to the line and zip across the canopy to the next platform.



Again, Britt is featured for the aforementioned reasons.

Back at the resort during the week, I managed to snap various photos of things that catch my interest. 

Costa Rica was full of beautiful flowers...

and some strange animals...

Of course, we got to eat lots of authentic Costa Rican food (which equals a lot of rice!) as well as their versions of our favorites.  Which were....interesting.  Don't try the cheesecake.

And of course, the natural beauty was astounding. It was my favorite part.

You were beautiful, Costa Rica.  Perhaps one day I shall see you again.

Step by Step

Step by step, little by little, this...

is turning into this....

Cluttered spaces...

are becoming clean spaces...

Chaos...

is turning into order....

Slowly but surely, I am able to focus less on this...

and more on this...

And of course, more on this....

Heck, I'll probably even have a little extra time for Britt, too.

As If I Didn't Have Enough to Do....

...without having to take care of THIS new little guy....

Britt casually strolled in from work last week carrying this little fellow.  He had been found on the steps of the vet office he called on, and I guess Britt had that "I could be convinced to take home a stray animal" look on his face.

With unpacking boxes (and boxes, and more boxes) and trying to get this house organized, it's not like I don't have anything better to do than take care of a sweet, fuzzy, adorable, playful, loveable kitten, whom we named Rush (NO, not after Rush Limbaugh, as I keep explaining to my family).  Britt said he got him because he was cute and so he could keep me company during the day since the other cats (frownie!!) are still with their "babysitter" in Georgia.  I guess what he meant was that he was getting the new kitten so he could keep me company and totally kill my productivity.

Why would I want to organize the silverware drawer when I could throw little fake mice for the new guy? After all, it's definitely my very important job to make him feel at home, so if you don't mind, I'm headed to work.

So Outta Here

Today when I breeze past the front desk, head to the parking deck, and crank up my car, I will not be re-entering the casino.

It is with great delight that today, I formally announce the end of my own imprisonment and officially declare an end to my 12-day casino captivity.

Yesterday we finally found a house we both agreed on, a house that had been totally elusive and potentially non-existant.  I was losing hope.  I had even begun to negotiate a long-term reservation at the casino (ok not really). 

There are so many things I can't wait to do, like see this little guy:

and this little princess:

...even though heaven knows when we will finally be able to fetch them from their current babysitter and spirit them away to their new home in Mississippi.  I hope it's sooner rather than later!

So today, the test called "Live in a Casino for Nearly Two Weeks" comes to an end and so begins a new trial called "Move Everything You Own to Another State in Three Days."


Anyone have any good moving advice?  I need all the help I can get....

Cereal and Sanity

 My moment of realizing my sanity was slipping away came today when, as I pulled into (yet another) Wendy's, I thought to myself:

"I'd give $100 for a bowl of cereal."

Hello, madness.

Anyone out there get so tired of fast food/eating out?  How do you work around it?

No, I Do Not Have a Gambling Problem

It is Monday, and it is the dawn of the second week I have been the resident of a casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

No, I do not have a gambling problem.

What I do have, however, is a husband who is the new territory manager of a huge chunk of coastal Mississippi and Louisiana, and he has to work.  Even though we have no house.

My wake up call?  Sunlight streaming over the bay and bathing the fishing ships in the morning sun and streaming into my window.  My neighbors?  Mostly quirky older couples (with fannie packs and tube socks) who wake up early to hit the buffet and then settle in at the casino.  My days?  Visiting house after house (after house) usually to discover that there is visible water damage present or that the neighboring yard is full of large, mistreated (and therefore aggressive) dogs.  My nights?  Dozing off with craiglist open on my computer screen and a list of potential homes at my side.

We did, however, visit the casino Saturday night, just for kicks.  It might has well have been a foreign planet, or the Chuck-E-Cheese of the adult world.  Take your pick.  After fighting our way through the smoke and the cougars with their cocktails, we managed to lose about $40 in slot machines in what must be record time, so we fled back to our room where we could pretend like everything is normal.

But it's not.  We live in a casino, for crying out loud!  At least there's a lady to make the bed.


Has your husband's job ever taken you somewhere strange?

A Daddy for Amos

I adopted Amos (my Big Strong Man) on September 9, 2006 (happy almost adoptiversary, sweetie pie!)from a shelter in Tallahassee, FL while I was in grad school at FSU.  I always hoped this sweet fella would one day have a daddy of his very own.  Someone to look up to. Someone to put treats in his bowl.  Someone to turn on the water in the sink when he's thirsty.  Someone to fish the toy mouse out from behind the refrigerator.

Did that happen?  Well, let's just say, Britt and Amos are both still alive.  That's something, right?  Britt loves dogs.  He's never owned a cat (gasp!).  He things they are boring, morose, and cold.  (Clearly, he misunderstands them.)

When Britt first met my Big Strong Man, he pushed him off the back of my sofa so he could have a headrest (Ah young Britt had so much to learn!).  He still pets Amos too hard (like a dog) and doesn't understand which look means "scratch behind my ears" and which means "I'm trying to nap here, k?"  And Amos still jumps on Britt's chest at 5 A.M. and wakes him up, causing a string of in-the-dark cursings. 

But the bond is forming.  The other night right after we turned out the lights, Amos jumped into our bed and positioned himself carefully across Britt's knees and immediately fell asleep, causing Britt to sleep awkwardly for half the night, all for the sake of not waking Amos, who was resting so peacefully.

He's officially a true cat lover, wouldn't you say?

Did either of you bring a pet into the marriage?  What did you or your husband do to adjust?