Settling in...?

So it has been 5 weeks now. I am working fairly consistently but definitely not full time. But there is a huge part of me that is starting to miss home a whole lot. I miss my friends, I miss my family, and I miss my job. My best friend had a really bad week and I wasn’t able to be there for her… thanks mom for picking up the slack for me. I miss the city. One of my friends told me I "just need to relax, city slicker". And believe me, I am trying but as most of you know, I am not very good at that. 

But really its more than that. I came down because I wanted a change and I wasn’t ready to marry my job yet and I wanted adventure. Now all I think about is my job and wish I had something full time here. Maybe I am just not cut out for this beach town lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful and amazing but I just don’t want to get lost in the surf and the parties. I still need to have direction and need to be making progress. And I just haven’t figured out if I will be able to make that happen here or not.

Maybe I am just having a mini freak out, and in another 2 weeks I’ll never want to come home. But I left a lot of security back in Seattle, and it doesn’t matter who you are, that’s scary.

I’ve been meeting a lot of really amazing people though. Everyone is so nice and so loving. And I’ll be FINALLY learning to play my guitar thanks to two beautiful ladies down here!

I did meet with the owner of Rincon Vacation last week. Come October they will need someone full time to do reception and reservations for their company. Go to the website. It’s awesome. I would get to help people all of their travel reservations and upsell them better packages. Sounds pretty perfect. I really want to do something in the travel and tourism industry, so this could be exactly what I need. Plus he said they would send me to do all of the adventures before I start so that I would be able to speak to that and get to know the vendors for each thing (zip lining, bio bay, kayak tours, etc.). Bummer, right? I won’t know anything until mid September, but cross your fingers for me!

I have been terrible about taking photos, but here are a few!

My mom and sister sent me down this for Izzy. She has to chase it around to get her kibble out of it! It is quite entertaining. 

Typical sunset from the beach across from our apartment.

When I went to pick Mat up from the airport 2 weeks ago, we ended up driving around the whole island. I took the top route to get him and we took the bottom route home.

And had lunch here.

I am also happy to say that I have lost 10lbs since starting with Team Beachbody on Shakeology and Insanity. Now keep in mind, I have totally slacked off with my workouts since I moved. So, I’m gonna say 10 in less than 2 months is ok with me! Back on the horse again and moving forward.

Big shout out to my Mom, Sister and cousin Erika who are starting their Challenge Group this week! Let’s kick some butt ladies!

For those of you who haven’t wanted to join one of my Challenge Groups, I am doing a 7 Day Challenge next month that will be a Shakeology and Clean Eating challenge. I’ll send you a 7 day supply of Shakeology and you’ll commit clean eating to go with it. That way all of you who are interested in it will have to opportunity to test it out! It’s going to be awesome so keep it in mind and I’ll keep you posted. 

ALSO please please please go donate to my charity: water page! I'll be doing this once a year and I really want my first one to be a success. I know so many of you out there know how important water quality is to people around the world. 

Three weeks down...

Well I didn't mean to wait this long to update, but oops!

I can't believe I have already been here 3 weeks. I have to admit, I've been stalking the Nordstrom Instagrams and all the ladies FB pages. Anniversary Sale started, and while I am happy to be in the Caribbean, I still really miss it. I'll be back one day, have no fear!

We got settled into the new apartment just in time for Mat to head back to the states for two weeks. I got the room with the better dresser! Great, right? Little did I know what my neighbors had in store for me.

They have chickens and roosters (that go off at 5:30am like clockwork), 3 dogs (that go off anytime someone passes on the street), and a parrot. The parrot mimics the rooster and the dogs, says hola, and sings at every opportunity. Short story; it's never quiet here.

I've been eaten alive by mosquitoes. Its horrendous. I have to go buy all sorts of insect repelling plants for the house. I'm dousing myself in OFF which means I am dousing myself in Deet. Next mission: homemade bus spray, recipes welcome!

Izzy seems to be adjusting, but not enjoying her diet. This is where I usually find her.

But she has explored the patio a little, meaning she checks the perimeter then rolls around. 

And she NOT a fan of the lizards that live in the ceiling and scurry around. 

I started picking up a few shifts at Lucky 13, so if you haven't already gone and liked their FB page, do it now! Work is good, I'm grateful to be working at all during the slow season. Learning lots and meeting new people, which is great since Mat will be home for maybe 5 days then off to work for 2 months.

Toni (who I work with at both places) took Leah and I surfing for our first time last week! It was hard but a total blast, so expect to hear lots more about that. 

Leah snapped this pic of our boards.

I've spent the last 3 days sick as a dog. Apparently when there is bacteria in the water, it can get you real sick. Luckily, the Surfrider Foundation does regular water testing and updates their site so you know when and where to swim. See how Rincon Town Beach/Balneario is High Risk? Yeah, thats my beach. 

Luckily for me, it's still beautiful and the beach is perfectly acceptable!

I expected to have more to update on here, but I think I am just still sick and my brain is not working properly.

So until next time, I miss you all!

And so it begins!

6/21/13 1:45pm DAY OF ARRIVAL 

Well needless to say the 48 hours before I landed did not go as planned. Of course my last day of work was incredibly stressful, but I was lucky enough to have drinks with the ladies after, which was much needed. Thursday before my flight was absolute mayhem. Everything that could be stressful was. From luggage, to my cat, and everything in between, it was a mess.

Saying goodbye to my nephews was all tears. I’ve gotten so attached to those boys its ridiculous. But my mom, sister and best friend caravanned me to the airport, got some Benadryl in Izzy and even walked me through the monstrosity of a security line. More tears.

I don’t think it really hit me until I was actually leaving the house. Holy crap, I’m moving. Not just to California or some, but to the middle of the Caribbean. To a place I have never been before, and only know one person. I quit my job, said goodbye to friends and family and packed up everything.

For what? An adventure.

I keep saying that I would rather regret the things I did than the things I didn’t do. Why not go? So many people would kill to have this opportunity, and the freedom to actually do it. As my mother said “you’d be an idiot not to go.”

So here I am sitting on the floor at baggage claim. My backpack is sitting to my left, and my 2 boxes to my right and poor Izzy in her bag on top. There are no carts to gather my things. There are no restrooms in sight meaning no change of clothes for me, and no potty break for Izzy before the 3 hour drive home. Not that I would have anywhere to put my things when I found a bathroom. And Ronne’s flight won’t be here for another hour. And I only got maybe 2 hours of sleep.

So I’m sitting. Debating if I have made the right move, or if I have just screwed everything up.

Take a chance they said…

It will be fun they said…

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It has been a week and a half now since I got down here. We got into the new apartment which is so exciting. The old one had no furniture and only 1 bed and not and no internet. The new place is furnished, colorful, has wifi and appliances, we have our own rooms and it's walking distance from the beach and a bar. 

I've met some pretty awesome people so far. Lucky 13 BBQ is amazing. The owners Ryan and Leah are the people we hang out with most. The food is great. We eat there almost every day. (this is also partially because we've been eating out for every meal because our fridge didn't work until today, but still). 

I'll start working at Casa Islena on Friday just as a Hostess and Busser, but hey its a start! 

As many of you may know, I also recently became a Team Beachbody Coach! I work part time to help people get healthy and fit and its awesome. So if you're interested in joining one of my Challenge Groups, let me know! I'm really putting a lot of energy into this because it is something I really am passionate about! I restarted my Insanity program today because I got so far behind during the move. Everyone down here has bangin bodies, so it's time to get serious!

Other than that, my roommate Mat is headed out of town for a week tomorrow. I'll be all alone! He'll be gone a week or so then be home for two and then gone again for 2 months at work. 

Here are a few shots of the past week in Rincon! (since I uploaded apartment photos on FB, I won't add them here. so follow my FB and IG for more)

This was me "packing"

Such a sad empty closet

Ryan and Leah at Tamboo on Mat's birthday...

...and Mat on his birthday

I took a total of 6 photos on Noche de San Juan. 

These photos do it zero justice. 

So here is a link to a video that has a decent reflection of what happened. But, its not the beach we were at and it doesn't show that at midnight, that entire beach full of drunk people run into the ocean. Yes, I was one of them.

Leah at the waterfall we hiked to.

So I guess that is it for now. Thanks to everyone for encouraging me to start a blog!