I was recently reminded that I have a blog and that I should scribble some stuff down once in a while so the people back home know we're still alive or whatever... I checked to see how long it's been since I last bored you with my ramblings, and it's been 3 months!? You poor things.
Here I am, alive and well!! (I'm just using this "proof of life" photo as an excuse to post a shameless, after-salon selfie from 3 weeks ago. Sorry, not sorry.)
I think I feel less inspired to write now because things feel less "weird." The totally bizarre has become the relatively normal. Guy juggling machetes while riding a unicycle at the stop light in hopes of getting a few coins? Normal. Finding out about a Mexican holiday because celebratory cannons are going off at 4:00am? Normal. Dude walking around with his shirt pulled up and belly hanging out because he feels like it? Normal. (I'm telling you... That is a THING here. Every time we see someone with their shirt pulled up, Ty and I gleefully chant, "Bellies out!!!" in unison.)
It happens a lot... (Thank you kind stranger for your contribution to my blog post.)
We drove down to Zihautenjo, Gerrera and stayed in a cute hotel for a week as an early Christmas present to ourselves, and on our 14-hour drive South I remember driving through Manzanillo and being all like, "Holy smokes, this city is HUGE! There are car dealerships and fast food restaurants and a Costco and Sam's Club and TWO cineplexes on the SAME STREET?!?" Which in hindsight, is hilarious and forehead-smackingly stupid because I was in genuine awe by a place that resembled absolutely any generic place in the Portland or Seattle suburbs, where I have lived most of my life… Understandably, Ty was looking at me like we had moved out of the States 20 years ago instead of 20 months ago.
(Remember that cheesy 90s movie with Tim Allen where he visits his ex-wife in the jungle and finds out that he has a teenage son and then he takes him to New York or wherever and the kid is all like, palms-against-the-windows-jaw-dropped-in-awe of the Big City the whole time, and he pees in the house plants and whatnot because he doesn’t know how to behave in “civilization?” Yeah, that was me in Manzanillo. I need to get out of La Cruz more, apparently.)
Meanwhile, back in Nayarit, when I see a baby smooshed in between his parents on a motorcycle, or I have to slow down to let an iguana cross the road, or we have to make a trip to the "rope store" (where they literally only sell rope) to rehang a hammock that fell down...I don't even bat an eye. I guess you can say I've acclimated to coastal life in Mexico.
May marks TWO years since moving here and I cannot believe it's been that long already -- it feels surreal, yet kinda encouraging. Like, we haven't totally bombed at Ty's-early-mid-life-crisis-thingy yet! Wahoo!!!
We've been running a boutique, beachfront hotel (www.jardin-del-mar.com) in between La Cruz and Bucerias for the last 13 months and we (*I*) have been very, very busy since "high season" started around mid-December. Some days I'm on my feet for 10+ hours dealing with never-ending tasks and to-dos and laundry while also trying to play housekeeper, maintenance, hostess and concierge; while other quieter days, I spend glued to the computer from dawn til dusk catching up on admin work (which I actually enjoy because I'm a giant nerd who would rather make Excel spreadsheets than talk to other humans); and some days I'm so tired that I brattily refuse to get out of bed and tell Ty I'm taking a sick day and that he's in charge -- which, of course, never works because both he and the staff need me to translate for them. Don't get me wrong, we definitely have more freedom than we used to, but so much for "early retirement" during the winter. I'm sure we have your sympathy, right?
Maybe I'll write a post about what running a small, busy hotel is really like... Because everyone wants to read about me folding 187 towels per week; unclogging toilets while standing in an inch of water while also scream-texting at Ty about "how my day is going"; spending our own money to improve the hotel only to have things be broken, stained or stolen; having to bribe a Telmex technician to fix our internet outage before anyone else's so we don't have 20 guests angry at us because there's no WiFi; and nagging at Ty to make sure there's no dog poop in the yard everyday, right? We live a very glamorous life. It's okay to be jealous.
I *do* get to wake up to this view every morning, so I'll quit complaining. (For now.)
I'm getting off-topic... What else is new with us?
We were fully-booked over Christmas and New Years, so those we're kinda a blur. I insisted on getting a tree this year to help combat some of the homesickness I feel during the holidays, so that was fun.
It was also cold and drizzly the week before Christmas and I was freeeeeeezing! And it was GLORIOUS! It felt very homey and cozy. It was in the mid-to-low 60s during the day and I actually got to bust out my slippers for the first time. (I joked that I had to check them for scorpions before I put them on because they had been in storage for so long...but, it wasn't really a joke. I totally checked them. Because, duh.)
Immediately after the holiday rush was over, we had a full house of friends come visit us from Portland. One of Ty's best friends decided to have his bachelor party at Jardin so he had a great time catching up with all of his college buddies. We weren't able to fly back home for the wedding, so it was good to see everyone...but 6 days with a house full of 14 aging frat boys was enough for me!!
Thankfully, Dan and Hilary (Ty's cousins) made the trip too (their third time to La Cruz!), and Hil and I got to do fun lady things like pedicures and massages while the boys did silly shenanigan things like play pool beer pong for six hours straight and stay up until the wee hours of the morning.
Hil and I also kept up our yearly tradition of making the hour-long walk along the beach into Bucerias to have lunch and do some shopping... Playing hostess is rough!
This past week we had even MORE friends come visit us from Portland (one of them being Ty's ex-boss and my "work dad" back when we all used to work together at Oldcastle.)
Their first night in town we took them to the La Cruz Inn for dinner. (I have no idea what Ty's face is doing in this pic, but let's be honest, I only choose photos I think *I* look cute in... Sorry, babe.)
An afternoon in San Pancho...
Sailing and whale-watching with Red Dolphin Cruises...
I accidentally took them to Bucerias on the busiest day of the year (The Blessing of the Boats) and it was PACKED, but they enjoyed the dancing horses and the music and bartering with shop vendors. It's always fun to get to take people to our favorite restaurants and places and share "our" Mexico with friends and family. (Hint, hint!)
Well, I think I've caught you up on the highlights over the past few months. February through April are going to be crazy busy with hotel guests checking in and out, so I'm sure it'll fly by. Hope everyone is doing well and staying warm up North! Adios!
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