Say it like it is...

Things that make you go hmmm...

So I was sitting outside for my lunch break today and I saw this:

It's not a one time occurrence either. I usually see them mowing the lawn dressed like this at least once a week.

Oh, and here's the trimmer buddy:

I wondered why they are wearing hoodies (with the hood up!) when it's nearly 100 degrees outside! Maybe it's company policy or maybe they have a skin disease or possibly they don't want to get sunburned or that's just the way they like it.

I would think sunscreen and a hat would be much easier.

Hmmm......

Even adversity has some sweet uses...

Here's a thought for the day. I saw this quote yesterday and really liked it. I can't stop thinking about it so I thought I'd share it here:

Life isn't always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel much as the pioneers did as they crossed Iowa--up to our knees in mud, forced to bury some of our dreams along the way. We all face rocky ridges, with the wind in our face and winter coming on too soon. Sometimes it seems as though there is no end to the dust that stings our eyes and clouds our vision. Sharp edges of despair and discouragement jut out of the terrain to slow our passage...Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just traversed. Tapping unseen reservoirs of faith and endurance, we, as did our forebears, inch ever forward toward that day when our voices can join with those of all pioneers who have endured in faith, singing: 'All is well! All is well!'
M Russell Ballard, Ensign May 1997

Take a look at Weathering Life. It's a great article that was published in the LDS Church News on July 17, 2010. It gives great insight on weathering the storms of life we all face.

Another sunny place I'm lucky I know...

It's sad to say but this will be my final Costa Rica post.
I can't stop thinking about the trip. Costa Rica changed me!
I'd love to go back.

Two members of our group flew out early June 21. The rest of us decided to have one last adventure since our flight didn't leave until that afternoon. So we drove up Volcano Poas, north of San Jose. It was a beautiful drive!

We also saw more skinny cows...they were all over Costa Rica!

We got a little lost on the way back to the car rental
but we still made it there with time to spare.
We turned in a well used SUV.
Then Scamber (not sure on the spelling but
he's the guy at the car rental that helped us) took us to the airport.

I was sad to leave but it was good to go home.
By that time all of my stuff was wet and smelly
from the humidity and all the time at the beach.

After changing planes in Houston we arrived in Denver about 11pm... sunburned, tired, and happy! That's when the problems started. We couldn't find a shuttle for our hotel where we had parked. I even called but no one picked up, it just rang. So we rode a shuttle that took us to a hotel on same street as ours. We told the driver to stop at a random car just because we felt silly we had taken a wrong shuttle intentionally. By then it was already 11:45!
Here is our 'new' car:

We walked to our hotel but our real car was gone. Seriously, just gone. The front desk staff were no help and they couldn't tell us where it was. After an hour of calling tow companies looking for the car we eventually called the police. The officer thought it had been stolen because it didn't show up on any of the towing records! Not long after that we found it parked in the back parking lot of the hotel. It was a serious break down of communication between staff and management! We were glad to have a way home though and decided to just drive through the night.

For the drive home I started in the back seat
and put my feet up because by then they had turned into balloons!

It was a new experience for me (swollen feet) and one I hope to never repeat on any future vacations! I guess it was a combination of traveling and a bad sunburn.
Thankfully they were back to normal after a few days.

It was a long night with only one short stop at a rest stop to sleep.
We didn't stay long but it was enough time for me
to have a weird dream about one of us getting kidnapped!
I was happy to get home early the next morning.

Costa Rica...Pura Vida!

Monkeys and Mangroves and Boas...oh My!

June 20th was a full day! We got an early start and went on a boat ride that morning to Isla Damas to see mangroves and monkeys. Do you know what mangroves are? I didn't until we went but they are bushes or trees that grow in marshes or tidal shores, noted for their interlacing above-ground roots. We saw 4 varieties...red, black, white, and pineapple.

The pineapple mangrove was my favorite:

They have their name because when you pull the leaves together

they look like the top of a pineapple.
We also saw a lot of wildlife. We saw...

crabs
Basilisk, aka: Jesus lizards
(that's their name because they run on water)
Racoons, massive termite nests, various types of birds, boas...
and my favorite, capuchin (white faced) monkeys!

That afternoon we did find a chapel
but by the time we arrived church was over.
I guess they only had meetings in the morning.

We brought our lunch to the beach
and just enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.
Later we all decided to try piña coladas on the beach to cool off (since we all got fried!). Three of us got spiked piña coladas, we had ordered them virgin but when my first sip tasted funny and burned my throat I knew they weren't virgin! The waiter insisted they were so he tasted them and said "that's good rum."
Oops, so we drank rum by accident.
The virgin drinks he brought back for us were very good!
We had to leave the beach when a storm rolled in...

That night we drove back to San Jose. What an adventure! On our way we stopped at the Río Tárcoles bridge which is commonly known as crocodile bridge. What a view!

When we got to San Jose the gps led us through a sketchy part of the city, down a pedestrian walkway (where we got plenty of strange looks since we were driving!) and ended at our hotel which had barred windows with a "for rent" sign posted!

We decided to find the temple since we were close.
It was dark when we arrived but it beautiful to see all lit up!

We decided to head towards the airport and find a hotel there. The gps played another joke on us and took us on a road that just ended! By then so much had happened we were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe! It was frustrating but funny.

We did manage to find a place to stay at the Mango Hotel. We were all tired and didn't feel like venturing out to try and find food. So we thought we'd order a pizza. Ha! Here's our receipt...

Yep, that's right. We paid $21,890 colones (about $50!) for 2 pizzas. Crazy! So that night we stayed at the hotel to shower, we watched some TV, and ate some expensive pizza!
What a day!

Waves and Windows

Ok, so I need to finish telling about Costa Rica. I admit that I'm blogging about the trip mostly for me so I can remember all the fun we had. Hopefully my blog readers enjoy the posts too.

On June 19 we rented surf boards and a boogie board.
It didn't last long though. We went to Dominical
(the beach they recommended at the board rental)
but the water was really rough.

After one girl broke a fin on the board and tore her swim suit
and I cut my foot we decided we'd had enough
of getting smashed into the rocks.
We returned the boards
and headed for a waterfall that was close by.

We met a couple at the waterfall who took our picture:

They sounded European
(and looked it since they were swimming "free").
They made it hard to look at the camera...
as you can tell by the looks on our faces we couldn't stop laughing.
It made for a funny, awkward memory. Haha

The waterfall was a natural waterslide with about a 20 foot drop.

I didn't go over the falls but it was really beautiful to look at!

That afternoon we went to the Playa Ventana.
We had to hike to get to it...

...but it was worth it!


It was my favorite beach on the trip!
It's a beach where ticos (the locals) hang out.
It was quiet and beautiful!

The beach got it's name
(ventana means window in Spanish)
from the natural windows in the rock.
The tide was out so we were able to walk through the tunnels.
It was amazing!

That night we found our hotel, the Blue Monkey.
They had a blue cow in front of the hotel though...hmmm

We went back to our favorite gelato cafe
in Quepos for dinner that night
(we had gone the day before for lunch).
I tried the pineapple, coconut, and chocolate gelato.
So yummy!

Summer Fun

Today I hiked to Stewart Falls with some friends.
I forgot how beautiful it is up there!

It's been a while since I hiked to the falls. I remember hiking
there when I worked at Aspen Grove which is at the trail head.

Utah mountains are so beautiful!

I wish I could spend more time in the mountains.
It's nice that Provo Canyon is close and easy to get to.

The waterfall was really full too thanks to
all the melting snow and the rain we've had.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

We all learned some new things too, haha.
Sorry, it's inside information and I won't post it here.

It was a great day!

Slow down and Relax

At the Vista Serena hostel on June 18th I woke up to this:

There were iguanas everywhere, inside and out! The one in the rafters above our beds was a lot bigger than the little guy whose picture I posted above but I didn't get his picture.

That day we went to the beach at Manuel Antonino, a national park. We did some shopping, saw a sloth, and we saw lots of capuchin (white face) monkeys. They were everywhere!
We had to hold on to our stuff,
watch out...they might take your sunglasses!

I had to chase a monkey away from our stuff at the beach too. One of my friends wasn't as lucky...a raccoon got away with her mango!

Most of the day we just hung out at the beach. It was beautiful!

It was at this beach that I checked something off my bucket list...but I won't write it here.
All I will say is yes, it was broad daylight and we were in the ocean.

Later that day we watched some of the surf instructors play soccer

That night we hung out at the hostel and just played cards and talked for a while.
Later we went dancing at a club named Bambu Jam...it's something I'd rather forget
but now I can chalk it up as a life experience.

Just remember if you're ever in Quepos
you need to follow the signs...

Slow down for people, dogs, sloths, and monkeys.
Take time to relax too!

Extremo tarzan swing

Yep, I did this too. I found a random video on youtube since I didn't take one. Being pushed off the platform was the worst part but the swing was awesome!

ZIP LINE AMAAAAAZING Costa rica

I found this video and it made me laugh but it gives you a good idea of what it was like when I flew 'superman' style over the jungle in Costa Rica!

Is this what flying is like?

Time to talk about on of my favorite parts of Costa Rica...the zip lines! On June 17th we took a 3 hour tour of the jungle by zip line. It was amazing! Click here and watch the video. It gives you a good idea of the last line we went on which was over a kilometer long!
I flew 'superman' style and had the most amazing view!

After the zip lines we found lunch at a local grocery store. We stopped a lot to buy fresh fruit during the trip. We couldn't get enough! We had pineapple, papaya, watermelon, mangos, and bananas so juicy and fresh...amazing!
They're just not the same in the states.

That afternoon we drove south to Quepos.
On our way we got a flat tire...good thing we had expert help! :)

A nice guy stopped (I think his name was Diego) and let us use what looked like a tiny hydraulic lift he had. As we were finishing the 'tourist police' stopped to help...really, that's all they do is ride around on motorcycles helping tourists.
They took us to gas station where we got the tire 'fixed'...kind of.
Their patch job was awful!
Good thing we had a full size spare that lasted the rest of the trip.

That night we stayed at the Vista Serena hostel near Quepos.
The name sure fits...this is the view from the balcony of the hostel

That night we took our lives in our own hands and walked into town. After nearly getting hit by a SUV gone wild we quickly decided walking was a bad idea and drove everywhere else for the rest of the trip. We did make it to the Barba Roja (a sports bar) that night for dinner and to watch the sad display when the Celtics lost to the Lakers in the NBA finals. The food was good though...especially the chips with fresh guacamole and salsa. Yum!

Come back later...I still have more adventures to tell about
but they'll have to wait for another day!