Fresa

Did you know that on my mission, my nickname was Sister Berry? (Yah-guh-duh...is the "beautiful" Russian translation.) In Spanish, fresa is someone who likes things a certain way...a nice certain way. It also means strawberry.

I don't know if it's because some of my earliest memories are roaming through strawberry patches...or because my favorite toy was Strawberry Shortcake...or if it's because June through September, I've got every imaginable juicy sweet berry on the brain.... But I can't stop buying things with strawberries on them!

and it's only May 27th.

Michoacan

Just when I think I need to be laboring away in my day-to-day, I realize I'm falling deeper and deeper into ruts and negativity. So I took a 12-hour 4-bus adventure down to Michoacan in search of surf and renewal.

After a white-knuckle ride through some mountain curves, the bus made it down to flat ground and miles and miles and miles of beaches.

Why are all the good waves in Mexico lefts? All the same, it was great surf.

All beach and no ice cream? no, thank you.

I'm sure one of my photographer relatives could have done this justice. The last sunrise on our way back home.

A Tribute

Four years ago, I was hit by a Pepsi truck. (Contact me for boycott details.) After some very frustrating months, I was written a check for "total loss." I don't do change very well, and that was my very first car. My dad was good about teaching me how to take care of things, and so I was certain I would never be able to find a suitable replacement, especially in Mexico. I just wanted my Corolla.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving 6 months later. I am at a loss for many of the details due to an altered mental state. All I know is that I was driving down State Street in Orem, and I saw her. A mirror image of my first car, only purple. (Actually Spiced Plum. Actually...Sugarplum.) A thorough once-over by the reliable Uncle Buzz, a quick trip to Wells Fargo, and she was mine.

This month she also reached an important milestone: 99,999 miles. Today I was finally able to get around to some of the pampering I had promised her. The ding in the windshield is fixed. No new brakes needed. Tires are good. Alignment: check. Suspension, go for launch. She is superCorolla.

That is why I love you, Sugarplum. You're my partner in crime. You've gone places where no Corolla has ever gone--and I am very sure of that. (We were spinning wheels in a salty shrimp flat not too long ago...) And you keep going like nothing. We are a great team. Thanks for supporting me through all my adventures. Happy 99,999!

Belated

Swine flu and cancelled vacations changed my plans *a bit*, but I couldn't improve on how this year's birthday turned out...

Lauren gave me a massage at midnight, and then woke up early the next morning to make me my favorite breakfast.

Settlers? On my patio in Mexico? With my family?

It was a very happy birthday.

I love you, I do

Happy Mother's Day

Somewhere in Mexico, Part 2

This is probably one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to in my life. Still quiet and undeveloped and hardly any garbage.

Someday I'll show you the movie Lauren made with these photos of me snorkeling. For now, just download Tokyo Drift from 2 Fast 2 Furious. Don't Worry Bout It.

I hope I got the genes for aging gracefully.

im laughing WITH you

i don't keep a journal,

so this will have to do.

it wasnt the endorphins, i had already taught a spin class (my last at the hotel for now) and surfed for 3 hours.

it wasnt my bike. although i love her, most mexicans have nicer bikes than i do, and most mexicans prefer not to bike, if you get my drift. i bought my bike the summer after my freshman year at BYU (read my blog title and do the math), working double shifts at the days inn as a bedmaker (promoted from housekeeping) and night receptionist so i could afford the latest thing...a mountain bike. without shocks. it has been kept outdoors in a humid, salt-air, hot sun setting for about three years now. it definitely wasnt my bike.

it wasnt the weather. it is really starting to get hot.

it wasnt the company. my 3 surfer girl friends decided to reroute to maui after swine flu became an issue, and the bay has been anything but bustling ever since.

it wasnt out of boredom. i should be studying for an exam, cleaning my bathrooms, cooking meals (since my family left, i have been existing solely on the frosted mini wheats they left in their absence), and visiting teaching (since i've finally, after 4 years, been given an assignment. and i leave in a month).

it was because i just started to break down. warning to all male readers. a combination of losing work and paying rent in the same day, beginning to worry about the jobs i am supposed to be looking for, and pms.

and at just the right moment, a good friend who always knows the right things to say to me, sent me an email and told me go out and do something fun.

so i threw the bike in my trusty sugarplum (whom i love as much, if not more than my bike), drove to the nearest resort/ghost town, and rode my bike for hours through the empty roads that lead to the empty hotels with a sea-breeze blowing in my face and the sun setting over the hotels' horizon.

and even if it didnt last forever, and even if i came home to everything the same as when i left...

go out and do something fun.

Pila del Rey

More adventures...some 4 X 4 action took us up the mountain, through guanabana orchards (see http://www.killerplants.com/herbal-folklore/20040126.asp...which we picked and ate Sunday morning) to a very off-the-beaten-path set of ceremonial carvings.

Ixtlan del Rio and Chacala

When the family came to visit (yay!), one of our first "adventures" was a drive into Ixtlan del Rio, some ruins just outside of Guadalajara. We finished a long day off with some seafood at the beach.

Cooling off and checking out the view.

Three girls enjoying some shade and (un)edible seed-pods.Dad and Danny: good buddies

Swine Flu

I've never liked to choose sides, so between the conspiracy theorists (yes, they exist in Mexico) and the hypochondriacs (myself included), I can only say that I am fine and do not feel in danger.

Chiles Rellenos

My former colleague and forever friend, Sylvia came to visit not so long ago. Two things I will remember:

Her neverending search for the best chile relleno in town.
Our horseback riding adventure up into the mountains.