A New Paradise - Day 1

This past week, Tom and I had the unbelievable experience to travel to Todos Santos, Baja California Sur. Here is the short story: (start laughing, there's no way this will be short!)

Friday, July 24, 2009
Flew out of Austin around 9:30am. After a stop in Houston, we landed in Los Cabos a little after 1. From there, we rented a couple vehicles and started traveling towards Todos Santos. We passed Cabo San Lucas and I must admit, I was a little sad we weren't staying there. It was SOOO beautiful!! We continued on an hour and a half journey through the desert, but generally always in sight of the shoreline. Arriving in Todos Santos, we drove past many small little stores/spots/houses, but nothing looked like a typical Tourist Town in Mexico. It was definitely not your top tourist destination! On the outskirts of Todos Santos, we hit the sand road. Since we were riding in the "Shockless Wonder", it felt like we were driving on washboards! NOT good if you have to pee! Venturing further into what appeared to be no where, we FINALLY came upon a gate. "Santa Cruz". The gate had a guards stand and as we opened it, I saw what I would have traveled DOUBLE to see! PURE PARADISE!




We checked out the grounds and chose our rooms in the house. The house was 2 stories, plus a roof (obviously, I know...but the roof was a hangout all of it's own with a fire pit, table, lounge chairs and bar/stools! Oh yes, there was also a urinal. Totally a man's house!)
There were four bedrooms, each with 1 or 2 balconies (all with great views), and each had it's own bathroom. In the center of the house there was a large fountain that was amusingly used as the dogs' water bowl! The kitchen was equipped with it's own large barrel of tequila. Who doesn't have one of those? The stairs were made of all stained glass tiles. There was an eating area, but the main table and chairs was actually on the back patio. One thing that was quite new to me was the fact that the windows and doors stayed open 24/7! There was no A/C, but it was breezy right off the ocean and I'm sure can get down right cold in non-summer months!

I've just decided there is seriously no way I can keep this recap short. I'm going to chunk it into several posts. :) I hope you return to check out the others.

A Marriage Recipe

On Monday, July 20, Tom and I celebrated our SEVENTH wedding anniversary! I believe this year meant more to us than the previous 6 combined. Seven years can be a little or a lot, depending on how you look at it. When I think of people who have been married for 30, 40, 50 years...our 7 is just a drop in the bucket. However, if I think of how much Tom and I have grown, what we have experienced, what we have accomplished and what mistakes we have made, we've done A LOT in these 7 years!

Everybody has their own recipe for a successful marriage. I happen to like this one.

1 cup consideration

1 cup courtesy

2 cupfuls flattery carefully concealed

1 gallon faith and trust in each other

2 cupfuls praise

1 small pinch of in-laws

1 reasonable budget, a generous dash of cooperation

3 teaspoon pure extract of "I'm sorry"

1 cup contentment

1 cup each confidence and encouragement

1 large or several small hobbies

1 cup blindness to the other's faults

Flavor with frequent portions of recreation and a dash of happy memories. Stir well and remove any specks of jealousy, temper or criticism. Sweeten well with generous portions of love and keep warm with a steady flame of devotion. Never serve with cold shoulder.

If I could sum up my words of wisdom for any new couple starting out. I would tell them to always communicate, always encourage, always pray and never give up! God led you to one another and He alone knows the true recipe. Because He is the Chef! And a very good one at that!

Tom, I love you more today than I did seven years ago. And I know in another seven years, I'll love you even more.

Having a ball at 11 months!

Aubree is ELEVEN months! I am so happy to have such a fun and healthy (though very high maintenance) little girl...but I am SOOOOO sad! I can count down the days until my baby turns ONE. I remember being so excited for Brock's birthday. I'm excited for Aubree's party, but I'm not exactly thrilled about her growing up. I wish there was a way to capture her like this, forever. Hmmm, how about a blog post! ;)

Here is Aubree at some of her finer moments this month. As you can probably guess, she's very active and quite a handfull these days!

Some of Aubree's milestones:
* Clapping *
* Waving *
* Using a sippy cup *
* Starting to eat Solid Foods! *
* Getting really good with "mama and dada" *
* Sticking her tongue out! (It's totally cute...for now) *
* Imitating *
* Getting to the end of our size 3 diapers! *
* Officially in 18 month clothing. Big girl! *
* An absolute PRO at fighting a diaper change! *
* Swimming *
* Splashing *
* Beginning to use her stroller as a walker *

Stay tuned. Just one more month until we get Birthday pics!! :)

Pals

I don't have much energy to blog tonight, but I wanted to share a picture with you that I just love. Which then reminded me of another very similar picture. Brock just loves his dog. Sarge probably isn't the very biggest fan of Brock, but he does tolerate him really well! I think Sarge prefers Aubree...but she's getting quite mobile now, so we'll see if it lasts.

I don't understand

Do you have those days when you just "Don't Understand"? I'm having that day today.
A dear friend of mine is fighting a battle many couples fight. She and her husband want a family so badly but are unable to start one on their own. They are two extremely amazing individuals. Two people who would nurture and cherish and love their children unconditionally. I pray for them often, but I just don't understand! Why is it that two amazing people cannot bring a child into this world? Why is it that weak, unfaithful, unlawful people have children every day and in far too many cases abandon, abuse and neglect those innocent little lives? My grandmother always said when she got to Heaven, she wanted to ask God one question: "Why didn't He give everyone a child of each sex?" I always liked that question and would like to know that answer myself seeing as I have one of each and can't imagine what people are missing out on! However, I think I'll leave that one to Grandma (and have her give me the answer later!) and ask God my question. Why can't good, deserving people have children? It's a question I may never understand. All I can do is pray. I pray that my friends are able to have a child of their own. If not, I pray they are able to rescue a child in need of such wonderful parents. And I pray and praise God for the two little blessings in my life. I'm pretty sure if Tom even looks at me the wrong way, I could end up pregnant. I wish I could share that "blessing (??)" with others.

The Watermelon Crawl

Aubree brought new meaning to "The Watermelon Crawl"!
Happy 4th of July!

Save the Date!

Our little Princess Baby is turning ONE in a little over a month! I figure since not many people other than my family ever read my blog (if they even read it!), I'd let you know we are planning to hold Aubree's party on Saturday, August 22nd! If you're not family, are reading this blog, and are willing to come to San Antonio for a birthday party, we'd absolutely LOVE TO HAVE YOU! (That would be a pretty funny way to find out who all reads my blog!)

And, for anyone who knows or has a little girl, I highly recommend the book above. The Easter Bunny brought this book to Aubree this year and ever since we've been calling her "Princess Baby"!

a blurb from the book:

"But I am not a buttercup
or a giggly goose.
I am not a cupcake.

Please don't call me Little Lamb,
and never ever
Sweet Gumdrop."

and it goes on to finish with:

"My name is PRINCESS BABY!"