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Here I go.

Friday, 08 August 2008

I've moved.

Sunday, 13 July 2008

San Jose.

We spent the first few days in San Jose. While there, we stayed at the cutest bed and breakfast, Casa de las Tias. It had some scary artifacts in them (see below), but the breakfast was wonderful, and the hosts spoke English. We toured the National Theater and walked the streets of San Jose. Like most cities, there were a lot of pigeons. And like Seattle with pigs, they had cows. Trends are contagious even in the developing world. One night we dined at La Monstere, an old church converted into a French & Belgium restaurant looking down on the lights of San Jose. It was our fancy meal of the trip. The waiters were dressed as monks.
Rincon de la Vieja.

We took a 12-passenger plane to Liberia and then a cab ride to the Rincon de la Vieja Park. The plane ride was absolutely wonderful and beautiful. Karli and Sarah weren't too thrilled with the size of the plane, but I loved it. The cab ride gave us a good view of what the country side of Costa Rica looks like. The highlight of this segment was the mud bath. The spa people put us in a sauna for about 10 minutes. We used paint brushes to plaster ourselves with volcanic mud. Then we sat in a warm pool of muddy water and rinsed off with a shower. Ecotourism at its best.
Playa Hermosa.

The next few days we relaxed at a small, quiet beach, Playa Hermosa. Sarah and I rode on Freddie's boat past "Monkey's Rock" to another small beach and went snorkeling. It was my first time. It took me awhile to figure out how to breathe, but once I got the hang of it, I got caught up in it all. That's why I was really surprised when I started throwing up 30 minutes into the adventure. I think it was due to drinking all the salt water when I was figuring out how to breathe. I'm a little slow.

Our hotel was about a block away from the beach. It had 2 pools, bar by the pool, and Latino men on staff who replied upon any request "No problem." "Can we get hot water in our bathroom?" "No problem." "Can you tell us about all the options for outdoors activities one more time?" "No problem." "Can we borrow a knife and spoon?" "No problem."

All in all, the trip was fabulous.

Saturday, 28 June 2008

My vacation pants are on. Costa Rica. Tomorrow.

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

Remember 2004?

I saw John Kerry. He was about eight feet away. I said to my boss, "Hey, that's John Kerry!!" He said, "Um, yeah" in a tone that you would use to say "Yeah, I'll have a baked potato instead of fries." So I pretended like I didn't think it was a big deal and walked away. But inside, I was screaming "I JUST SAW JOHN KERRY!!" I also saw Dan Abrams & Newt Gingrich. It was a good day for star gazing.

Sunday, 15 June 2008

Beats watching Grey's Anatomy reruns.

My mom sent me this email on Friday:

So are you up for a little adventure this weekend. I would love to send
you on a surprise trip! It would take you about 3 hours to drive, but
you could take a swimsuit and towel, and swim at the end. You would end
up in a state you haven't been in yet, and you would see some people you
haven't seen for years. Are you up to it?

Absolutely I am.

I packed a swimsuit and towel, printed off Google Map directions, checked out The Devil Wears Prada on CD from the library, and took off. The adventure led me to New Jersey where I crashed the high school graduation party of Ryne, who was a toddler the last time I saw him. The Davies were family friends of ours when we lived in Ohio. They hadn't seen me in 16 years. They were completely shocked, but recognized me pretty quickly. I must look like a Kropp. Good job, Mom! Thanks for the fun!

Saturday, 07 June 2008

The Concession.

We woke up early to stand/sit in a line for an hour. (Julia's visiting this weekend!)

Then we got in the building and stood for another 2 1/2 hours.

And then it was all worth it when we saw the Clinton dynasty at Hillary's concession speech. Seeing people in real life whom I've been seeing on TV and in newspapers for half of my life was just... pretty darn sweet.

Friday, 06 June 2008

Lights out.

Have you ever loved something or someone for a really long time without realizing how much you loved it and then you realized and it was like discovering the very thread of your existence? Well I found that thing. It is electricity.

I can not live (happily, at least) without it. I get cranky and easily annoyed and become someone you would not want to be around when I don't have it. Just ask my roommates.

On Wednesday the electricity went off in the afternoon. And we were one of the 40,000 homes and businesses who still did not have electricity this afternoon.

The electricity came back today around 5 or 6 p.m. I feel complete again.

Sunday, 01 June 2008

Shots of Grace.

We had another visitor this weekend: Grace. She went to JBU with us and was in town for a conference. We're glad she extended her stay so she could hang out with us for a day. It gave us the perfect excuse to go out to eat and for Karli to convince Amy and I to drink a shot of tequila.

I was not a fan.