A little bit about the most amazing man I know!

Tonight I write from my heart in honor of a birthday that will be celebrated tomorrow August 31, the birthday of someone I am blessed enough to have shared my life with for the last 30 years.........

MY DAD RON

My dad is 1 of 9 children, growing up in a large family and having grown up with a lot of responsibility and engrained work ethic, which he has passed on to all of his children including me. I am the first born of 3 in my family and I have 2 younger brothers, so as you can imagine when I was young I got to be daddy's little boy/girl, that was before the boys came along. I remember fondly many evenings, him coming home from work, heating up corn dogs for an on the go dinner, packing up the fishing gear and dad and I going out to Lewis Bridge to go fishing after work........yep just him and I such awesome memories! From a young age I suffered severe migraine headaches, I would get them so severe that my dad would come to school pick me up, take me home and stay with me comforting me, rubbing my head until I fell asleep and the pain passes.........we went through lots of year of head rubs didn't we Dad? Then there was his long stint in coaching my basketball team...........we had a lot of fun, learned a lot about life and as a result my dad lot a lot of hair, but he was such a good sport about!!

He is an amazing cook as well, one thing I can not live with out are his home made biscuts and gravy...........can you say heaven!!!!!

Besides being a great cook he can also build or fix anything, yes I mean anything. I was the kid in school who always had the BEST projects, not because my dad did them for me but becuase he had all the great ideas and tools in his shop to help us create wonderful battle scenes from the civil war or the most realistic looking volcanos for science class.

Dad hard at work on one of his many amazing creations!

I was always so proud in Highschool that my dad was the one to sew all the letter on my Lettermans jacket! I dont know anyone else who's dad was talented enough or cared enough to do that! Oh I forgot to mention to those of you who don't know he is a extremely talented upholsterer...........for those of you who are scratching your head........that means he sews for a living. He can take a old raggy piece of well built furniture and turn it into something wonderful!!!!!!! Just ask Stacey, he did this chair for her last year and I am insanely jealous it's just perfect!!!! He is truly talented!!!

When I decided that I wanted to have horses and take up horse back riding and rodeoing, my dad was right there, he became Old McDonald and my biggest fan. He then decided it would be a good idea to get pigs and cows, well of course, because Old McDonald had them. Until the fateful day the pigs escaped, it was not funny at the time but to this day the memory of my dad diving for the loose pig and the pig biting him on the hand.........Or the day the cows broke through the fence and ate the corn dad had been meticulously tending to all summer long.........So the cows and pigs went down the road but the horses stayed. Dad would get up every morning to either let the horses out to pasture or to feed them during those cold winter days. Dad took over at home so my mom and I could spend the weekends in the summer out on road rodeoing! Such wonderful memories.

When I decided that after 2 years of college and a year in Mexico studying I didn't want to go back to college.........my dad and I had a very long talk. He opened my eyes to all the opportunities that I in front of me, he made me promise that I would finish college. He told me that if I finished college he would support me in whatever I wanted to do after........Hmm Dad, how did that one work out? 8 years later and I am still in Mexico! At least you get to come during the coldest part of winter and we get to hang on the beach!!! These are memories that I look forward to making every year and that I will cherish for all of my life!!!


My dad loves my mom with all his heart. They will celebrate 34 years of marriage this fall!! Pretty incredible in this day and age. They seem to be eachothers ying and yang and have navigated through 34 years of ups and downs, raising a family, careers, deaths, births celebrations, holidays, birthdays, good times and bad........here's to 34 more!

Who can forget the most important men in my life after my dad, my brothers Marcus and Gavin....................They have surely given him a run for his money and coudl also have been the cause for a little of that hair loss. With that said, they have turned out to be outstanding men like my dad!

So to put it in a few words my dad is the hardest worker I know, unselfish provider for our family

Full of unconditional love, support, encouragement, and my biggest fan, he believes in me no matter how corny my idea or how big my dream, he is always behind me ready to cheer me on or pick up the pieces.

It's rare and it's something that not everyone in this life is fortunate enough to have. I can say that I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life. You've set the bar very high, thank you dad, happy birthday, I love you to the moon and back!!

Love Me

Thoughts about today

I really want to write a long post and complain about how shitty of a day today was. About how my clients with who I have been working for months on end decided today not to buy after we were just to enter into contract. About how working with inept agents makes my job so much harder..................blah blah blah..............

But instead I will choose to look at my day and write about all the wonderful things that happened! For starters I get to get up and go to work with an amazing group of people every single day. We have moved our amazing office to a great part of town and everyone is so great and friendly, popping in to say hi and welcome us. I spent my morning on the south shore with my awesome partner Johnny!!

showing our awesome beach front listing!! 379,000US and it's yours!!!

I had a VERY interesting lunch meeting at a very nice restaurant that was picked up by the folks inviting us for lunch. We had an AMAZING rain storm here that cooled things off and flooded everything in site!!

I love summer in the tropics! The hurricane has headed out to sea, so we are safe!! Yipee! There was lots of eye candy at the said meeting which made for a fun afternoon. I got to Skype with my mom and dad which always makes the day good. I then after long said day was invited to have a glass of wine at our corner bar after work. All in all, it was a great day with a few minor speed bumps. I get to sit in my living room blog to you all and look out at this~! Life is good!

Carmen's Birthday

So Saturday night was my dear friend Carmens Birthday. I met Sarah and Orlanda first at Kensao............Yummo Sushi, had some great food and a few drinks then headed next door to Barra Bar, oh yeah, 70's 80's and 90's at their best. The night went a little like this:

Becuase it's not a good birthday without fire at the table

Then at 5:30 am my bed kindly welcomed to to sleep!!!

Living life backwards

Some times I miss the old me..........The new me or the current me, well is a little unmotivated and confused. I have spent the last year in a confused state. You know what they say............if you don't know what you want, just stand still until it comes to you..............well I've pretty much been standing here for a year. Still waiting..........hello, anyone out there, universe............hello...........yes I am here, show me a sign, what is my next move.

Do I stay here or move somewhere else, I like it here, it's warm, I have a great group of friends

I like (don't love) my job, mostly because it does not provide me with the financial stability I need and want. Oh yeah and the craziness that I deal with most days...........I feel so torn between 2 worlds, the country girl that I was back home and the Guera that I am known as here, speaking 2 languages fluently and living here as the "Guera" (for those of you who don't speak Spanish, Guera means light skinned girl.


It's so strange, I have made packing lists half a dozen times, even went as far as to call my brother and sister in law a few months ago to see if they would take my cat and let him live on the farm with them back home. I know crazy right.



But here I sit, in my palace (not really but I love my little Mexican place and the view is super chido!) on the hill 5 blocks from the lapping waves of the Pacific Ocean, in such a beautiful paradise........why would I leave.

I had the thought the other day, hey I figured it out, "I am living my life backwards." Most people work all their lives skimp and save to buy a house here and live out their final years.......Nope not me, I moved here at 23 and here I sit at 30.

Fun Weekend!

Such a busy fun weekend!!! I am taking a few minutes to say hi to everyone and update you on the hip happenings here in Vallarta. It's been hot and wet, I was complaining to my friend today that all my clothes have a damp smell.........this time of year without a clothes dryer it is almost impossible to completely dry out your clothes. We have moved our Real Estate business into the "Village" as we call it. We have moved down into the old part of town 1 block from the beach and are expecting a ton of walk in business so we are super stoked about that. All furniture is moved and basically in place, now to just wait for phone, internet and the network to be set up! Lots of celebrations, birthdays, vacations, and more birthdays August is a fun Month! Only 18 days until I leave for the States, so much to get done, although I have to say I have made my list and tackle a few of the shopping projects and gotten some of the supplies~ Yipee, it's always so fun to go and see my family and be back on the farm again. Being home really makes my heart smile, although living in Puerto Vallarta and looking at the Ocean from my living room, kitchen, bedroom and terrace all make my heart smile too. Tonight I am headed out with the girls to celebrate Carmens birthday. Carmen is a dear friend I met 8 years ago my second day living in Vallarta. Many of you know how it feels to move to a new place and know no one, well Carmen was at the same party I was and was so kind and sweet to invite me into her group. We have been friends ever since and subsequently she is also in Real Estate now too! I tell ya Vallarta is a very small town! Well I better finish my house work and start getting ready, sushi dinner with a few ladies before the party tonight! YUM!!!

For your viewing pleasure a few sunset photos from last night, it was quite spectacular ~ Taken from my bedroom window!



Saludos from Puerto Vallarta!

Another Week~

I just realized a few days ago that I leave for a visit back to the US in 20 days,,,,,acckkkkkkkkkk shit, I promised myself that I would get my butt in gear and not wait until the last minute to get stuff done like my last few trips. I got a lot of errands done yesterday and today, I am working on finding some cool stones for my jewelry project. Dad and I are excited to work for 3 weeks on my little project and moreover I am so excited to make some $$$. This last year has been a long dry road, a lot of anxiety over what to do..............go...........stay..............change careers? So many questions..........I stuck it out and it looks like things are getting better. Well of course they are, the day I booked my ticket to go home I got 3 sales.....isn't that how it always goes!

I am so thankful the abundance of work right now! Now back to the other reason for my trip home...........My lovely folks have bought me tickets to see Sylvia Browne Live! She is on one of her last tours and I am so very excited to get a chance to see her! See you September 9th Sylvia!

A GREAT WEEKEND

Phew, busy weekend! Friday and Satruday were spent celebrating my friend Sarah's 30th birthday. Friday 9 of us embarked on a day long boat tour of the bay! Followed by Saturday nights beach front taco feast and awesome DJ! I am worn out and headed to bed to rest up for tomorrow, enjoy the pics below of the festivities!!


THE BIRTHDAY GIRL VERY HAPPY!


THE GIRLS AND RIGO IN LAS ANIMAS

LAS ANIMAS BEACH

Today

Today was a full day, a good day! As many of you know I am a busy Real Estate agent here in Puerto Vallarta! Today consisted of walking a fussy client through picking the color of her kitchen cabinets and determining what height of fence we would need for her dogs. Today was a good day, working with my partner Johnny, fully of life and such a lovely English boy! Today was a day that was hot and humid. Today the traffic was especially heavy due to the convention of national police of Mexico being held at Velas Vallarta in the Marina. Today was a day of eating dry chicken tacos for lunch because I had to get an escrow account open so couldn't get away from the desk to go any where and get a decent meal. Today was a day of sending lots of emails on different deals and Skyping my mom at least twice just so we can see each other. Most times we don't have much to say but it puts both our hearts in a happy place just to glance at each other for a few minutes even though we are 2000 miles apart in different countries. Today was a day I called my English friend Sarah to attend an open house with me. This evening was an evening where we drank lots of wine, learned about new condo projects in the Marina and met people from Macedonia. Tonight is a night where my broken AC unit decided to work and work hard! As I write this post I can hear my little Pinguino cranking away in the bedroom cooling it off so I can get a good nights sleep! Today was a good day!!!

Excited!

I AM SO DARN EXCITED TO SEE THIS MOVIE! That's all I wanted to say!

Frangipani

I love how the little things make me SOOO happy! So today I was out and about showing houses in the 400 degree heat (you have to love living in Puerto Vallarta in the summer) I found a Frangipani flower tree and there was one beautiful fragrant perfect little flower just waiting for me.

I had shown this particular house before a few months back to my clients, actually the same clients we returned with today. I remembered that this property had several of thise wonderfully beautiful flowering plants. So I picked the Frang' and proceded to wear it in my hair the rest of the day! At one point I was in a meeting with a real estate developer and kept smelling this very lovely scent, I thought they had a great candle or air freshener...............turns out the Frangi hanging out in my hair above my ear was smelling up the entire room! Yum!

As some of you know I am on the quest for a person to share my apartment with me for a few months. I've spent the last 3 days meeting, interviewing and swapping text messages with possible "roomies" the one I really wanted to move in called me today and kindly let me know he is looking for something more permanent for a year or more! DARN IT! Oh well onward and up ward. Back to the reason for writing the above. So if someone is to move in, I think it is only fair we start off with a really clean house. So my friend who helps me around my place Delphi (she is such a doll I just love her, I don't know what I would do without her!!)She has spent the last 2 days at my house cleaning. Now, when I say cleaning I mean CLEANING, beds moved, closets cleaned out, pantry totally cleaned out shelves wiped and organized, all dishes taken out of cupboards and washed (I don't have a dishwasher either) refrigerator totally cleaned out (gross I hate that job)balcony scrubbed, bbq grill cleaned, laundry washed, ironed and folded.................Not sure exactly what I have done to deserve a person as kind and wonderful as her in my life but I am GRATEFUL, THANKFUL AND APPRECIATIVE FOR HER!!! When I got home I walked in to the house and started to cry, I was so happy to come home after a long (but successful day) to a sparkling clean house! I always make it a point to call Delphi after she comes to my place to thank her for doing such a great job, always want her to know how much I appreciate her!!! Tonight I called her with tears in my eyes!!! I expressed my gratitude!! So that there is why I think it's SOO great to appreciate the little things like a flower and a clean house!

Favorite Summer Purchase

So my favorite purchase for this summer has been this:



I am trying to drink more water and this helps a lot! It's all about making it fun!!! What has been your favorite purchase this summer?

Picture Post

Slowly starting back into blogging! Here is a post with pictures....more to come soon!!!!

1. What one food could you eat every single day?





2. Do you wear glasses or contacts?



3. What kind of cell phone do you have?



4. What did you have for dinner last night?



5. What is your favorite candy?