Nightmares

Have you ever had a really bad breakup that took years to get over?  I might be in the middle of one of those now, and it sucks.  Oh, and did I mention it is a breakup with a friend?  Yes that's right, I have split paths from a friend whom I considered one of my best, and after 6 months I am still having a really hard time with it.  I do not wish to get into the details of what happened, as I do not want to embarrass my friend publically.  This is more of a way for me to put it out there, I am hurting.  Perhaps somehow she will see this, and know how hurt I am, and she will contact me.  As she made it very clear that she never wanted to speak to me again, I will not be the one to call her.

The dreams were pretty constant in the beginning.  I would wake up after spending the night dreaming about her yelling at me.  This was causing major anxiety, and days spent tearing up without provocation.  Months later, the frequency of the dreams has gone down, but the reality still remains the same.  I miss my friend, and my brain will not let me forget it.  We were so incredibly close, it seems impossible that we could end our friendship.  Believe me, if it was up to me, it never would have gone this far.  Friends have disagreements all the time, but you figure it out because you care enough to do so.  Well at least that's what I thought friends did.  Perhaps this is something true friends do, and I was mistaken by the level of my friendship.

I find myself thinking about her often, wondering why things ended the way they did. Hopefully some day I will find the closure I have been seeking.  Until then I just hope these nightmares will go away.

Working 9-5... I wish

I have been back to work now for a little over a month.  While I wish I was working a 9-5 shift, I cannot complain to much about having a job.  Not too many people get to take 8 months off work, only to return to a promotion and a raise.  As Winston on New Girl says, "I have an adjusted schedule," and I am trying really hard to get used to it. By 9 o'clock, I am hitting my wall, and it takes all I have to push through.  It is starting to become easier, but I am really looking forward to having my schedule change to days.  Only a couple more months...

Home Again

I went home to Spring Creek last week to catch up with some great friends.  Many of whom I have not seen in well over 5 years.  It was so great to see everyone, and their beautiful children.  Unfortunately we were unable to get enough people together for the big race that I was so excited about, but the get together was reason enough to make the trip.

Here are a few pictures from the barbeque at Shyra's house. 

On Monday, a few of us went for a little hike up in Lamoille.  I had so much fun taking Beast Master up in the mountains.  He loves to be outdoors, so he thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  I'm so happy to have my Beastums back.  I missed him so much, and cannot even fathom the thought of leaving him again.  

I always love going back home.  Hopefully I'll make it back before the end of the year.  In the mean time, I am looking forward to reconnecting with old friends in the Reno area.  I don't have many friends left in these parts, so I need to hold on to the ones I've got.  Time to make some phone calls. 

The In-Between

I am currently living in-between my relaxed life in Costa Rica, and my future life of working and being a productive member of society.

I have been back in the States for almost a month now, and this in-between time has been fun and stressful all at the same time.  My brother and his wife have been kind enough to let us stay with them until we get on our feet, so that is one less thing for us to worry about.  I will be forever grateful.

I like to think that I have spent the last of my free-time wisely, seeing as I will not have the freedom for much longer.  I have spent much needed time with my family, tried to maintain my once glorious tan, roadtripped to visit Joe's sister in Seattle, secured a good job, and of course I have fallen ill with nasopharyngitis, otherwise known as the common cold.

The first and foremost, I had to meet my new niece, precious little Zoey.  And of course surprise my family with my return.  My brother was the only person that knew when exactly we were coming home, so everyone was in for quite the surprise when they showed up for lunch and I happened to be there.

  
Our trip to Seattle was so much fun.  We made our way up the Pacific Coast, which was absolutely breathtaking.  There was so much to see, and we took our time to see it.  

We saw the house from The Goonies, the school from Kindergarten Cop, as well as the tourist sights in Seattle, such as Pike's Market and the Space Needle.

As for the job... The Hyatt has asked me to return as the Assistant General Manager.  I am pretty excited for the promotion after my extended absence.  I am very aware of how fortunate I am for this opportunity.  I know a lot of people are having a hard time finding jobs, so I am grateful for the opportunity.  Work starts on Tuesday, so I've got 3 more days to enjoy my freedom!

A Little Bit of Motivation

About a year and a half ago, my brother asked me if I would join him in running a race called the Reno Tahoe Odyssey.  Well after years of inactivity, asking me to join a 178 mile relay race was quite a tall order.  After six months of training, I was feeling incredible.  I hadn't been in this good of shape since high school.  The race was such an amazing experience, and I have kept up with my running ever since.

Well I say I have kept up, but since the move to Costa Rica, the motivation just has not been the same.  While I do still try to run a couple of times a week, it is easy for a couple weeks to go by before I realize I haven't gone in a while.  I have been pretty busy with going to Panama, working, Joe's family visiting, working, and I can't believe I had let a whole month go by without running.  Yikes!  Well lucky for me, some motivation just came pounding on my door. 

A group of friends from high school has decided that we are going to run the Ruby Mountain Relay in August. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be doing this.  Some of these friends I have not seen in years, one in particular since high school.  So not only are we going to have fun because we are running an incredible race, but it is going to be a two day gigglefest I'm sure.  We were all pretty crazy together in high school, and I anticipate a lot of the same hijinks to take place.

So now it is back to training mode, as I do not want to be the one that dies on the trail somewhere between Wells and the Ruby Marshes.  Yesterday was my first day back (besides some hill sprints earlier this week) and let me tell you, the 4 or 5 miles is still having it's way with my quad muscles.  My legs are sore, my back muscles are sore, my arms are sore, AND I FEEL GREAT!  I am looking forward to pushing myself again, to get in even better shape.  I hope that training at sea level does not kill me when I get to higher elevation.  I will try to post updates on the race, and my training, but no promises.  We all know I suck at blogging. 

Six Months and Counting Part 2

So at this point you may be asking yourself, "Christina, you said Breanna would be there at the end of March, where is she?"  Well that is very vigilant of you to remember such a thing.  Well Breanna and Marshall finally made their way down here the beginning of May.  I wish that I could say that things are going great, but unfortunately that is not the case.  After only two weeks, they decided to move to another city.  I wish them the best of luck, and wish that things had worked out differently.  Without getting into too much detail, I will just say that I am heartbroken that they have chosen to cut me out of their lives.

On to bigger and better things, let's talk about our SECOND trip to Panama!  My dad and Mabel were going to be there, so Joe and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to tag along.  We were able to travel to Panama City to meet up with my dad.  While there we did some sight seeing around the amazing city.  I had no idea how huge it is, and all of the buildings it has.  It is a very developed city.  We also made our way to see the Panama Canal, which was as awe inspiring as I thought it would be.  We then made our way to the Caribbean Coast, to the islands of Bocas Del Toro.  We spent a week bouncing around the different islands, seeing all that they have to offer.  The water was crystal clear, warm, and full of life.  We saw dolphins, stingrays, starfish, eels, all kinds of colorful fish, coral, just about everything.  Snorkeling in the water was our favorite thing to do, which we did a few times.  Every day was nonstop action from the moment we woke up, until the time we crashed at night. The hotel that we stayed at was unbelievable.  It was individual cabins over the water, with a dock leading to each one.  It was like paradise.  Spending the time with my dad was great, I'm on track to see him three times in one year, which is a record of sorts. 

Panama City in the background

Panama Canal

Me and my Dad with Panama City behind us

Give peace a chance.

Starfish at Playa Estrella

Heading out for a day on a boat.

Snorkling

After bidding farewell to Panama, we came back to Costa Rica just in time for Joe's Mom's visit.  She came down with his little brother for a short visit, but it was great.  We were so happy that they were able to come down and see us.  It really meant a lot to both of us that they would come down.  We had a great time showing them around, and like I said, we got them an awesome room at the hotel I work at. It was such a relaxing time.

And now it's back to just Joe and I.  We can't believe how lucky we are to have this experience, and are trying to treasure every moment we are given. 

Six Months and Counting

It's hard to believe, but Joe and I have been here for six months and two days.  A lot has happened since the last time I wrote, so I better get to it.

In my last post I said that we were heading to Panama to renew Joe's visa, and that we were looking forward to the adventure.  Well we sure were in for an adventure, because absolutely nothing went as planned.  We arrived in Paso Canoas after dark, and it was insane.  There were cars, buses, trucks and people everywhere, moving in patterns that I just could not understand. We were told to get off the bus, which we figured they just need to check our passports and send us on our way, but then the bus drove off!! After a minor heart attack, because all of our stuff was on the bus, we were told that we would meet back up with the bus after going through immigration, and to follow some guy on a bike.  So off we went, making our way through the crowed streets, until we found the line.  After waiting for what seemed an eternity it was our turn.  All was going well until they asked for our exit tickets, proving that we would be leaving Panama.  Well..... we hadn't really thought of that.  After purchasing some fake tickets from some random guy, and waiting in line again, we were finally cleared for entrance to Panama.  We stayed a couple of nights at a really cool hostal in David.  We were really amazed at how cheap things were there, and definitely enjoyed our time.  The way back was another "adventure."  Lets just say that when you combine missing ticket agents and $100 cab rides, you are just happy to be home. 

Luckily for us, we didn't have time to wallow in the stresses of traveling, because my family came to visit!  It was so much fun having them here, and we were really able to do a lot of things and enjoy the amazing weather.  We went to the National Park, we went to the beach, we snorkeled, we boogy boarded, we really just had a ton of fun.  Philip and Stephanie were here for one week, my mom for two, and my dad for about two and a half.  So we really got our fill on family time.  I will try to insert some photos from their time here, when I am not at work.  Oh yeah, I found a job!!! Let's move on to that.

I have been working at a hotel that is up the street from our apartment for about a month and a half now.  I started working in the restaurant, just to help out for a special event, but then they asked if I could help out at the front desk because they were loosing someone.  It is only a few days a week, and it pays hardly anything, but it gets me out doing something, AND I got a super awesome discount for when Joe's mom came to visit.  I think at this point I am going to end this post and have a Part 2, so that this doesn't get ridiculously long.  Stay tuned...

3 Months

My mom keeps telling me that I should be writing down all of my stories.  I will try to do one better and start blogging all of my stories.

I have been living in Costa Rica for about three months now.  It has been an adjustment, as this is a much slower paced life, but things are good.  We have not completely settled, as we are still awaiting the arrival of my friend Breanna and her boyfriend Marshall.  They should be here by the end of the month, and then we will find a house for the four of us to live in.  In the mean time, Joe and I have been living in a studio apartment.  The location is great, and the rent is cheap, so we are pretty happy with the place.  I will be the first to say however that we are looking forward to having a little more space.

Our days are filled with late breakfasts, walks to the beach, frisbee, and lounging around.  I was actively trying to find a job, and had an offer, but it just didn't work out.  The job was for a tour company, which is awesome, however they wanted me to work in the office Monday through Saturday from 8 am to 5 pm.  All for a whopping $600 per month.  Now I am aware that $600 is the average monthly salary down here, I just couldn't justify spending all that time working for such little money, and not be able to go do things that I want to do.  That would only allow me to go to the beach one day a week, and really that is the biggest reason for being here.  So I respectfully declined, and am continuing to live unemployed, and enjoying every minute of it.  It has actually worked out for the best, because my family is coming to visit in 12 days.  Now I will have all the time in the world to hang out with them.  It would have been awful for them to come all the way here, and not be able to visit with them.

Things have been pretty quiet around here, so we are looking forward to a new adventure that we will be setting out on next week.  Joe's 90 day Visa expires next week, so we must leave the country and get a new one when we cross the boarder. We have decided to go to Panama for a night, do some sight seeing, maybe some shopping. In any case, it will get us out of the cage for a little bit. Hopefully the bus ride isn't too grueling.

Alright, more to come.  But for now, it's bedtime.

The Craziest Thing...

While sun bathing on the beach the other day, I was hit in the middle of my back, with the force of a thousand slaps...by a decapitated fish. The force was so great that fish was disemboweled all over my back, causing me a great deal of pain and confusion. I imagine it was the spine of the fish that cut through my skin, causing the stinging of sand, salt, and guts mixing with my blood. In my state of shock, I was unable to positively identify the source of this dangerous weapon, I was too busy crying or something. Joe and I came to the conclusion that a bird flying high above must have dropped his dinner, with the precision of a sniper, onto my back. It was traveling at such a high velocity, that when it hit me, it did not make a slapping noise, it was a very loud thud, then it bounced off me and landed about a foot away. No worries, the swelling has subsided, and I will probably survive this traumatic occurrence. Seriously, one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me.