Vail...15 years later

When I was a a Senior in high school my best Eleanor and I decided that we were too cool to stay in high school a single minute longer and we moved to Vail, Colorado. We left just after Christmas for our senior venture. The idea was that we were sick of high school and really didn't need any more credits to graduate from high school so why stick around? Anyways my friend Eleanor's family had a condo there so we thought it would be the perfect place to go work and save money for college the following Fall.
For a Texas girl moving to a Colorado ritzy ski resort town (the biggest ski resort in the U.S.) was a big adjustment. I think I spent the first week just playing in the snow. Right away we started working bagging groceries at Safeway. (Hey it was $8 an hour which was good money in 1992!) After pushing the mop and gathering too many grocery carts out in the freezing snow, we quickly found jobs working in the Vail Village gift shops. Those were the days of selling ski clothing and souvenirs to rich snobby people, coming home and soaking in the hot tub, and surviving on diet coke and pretzels. We lived there from Jan- April and had so many incredible adventures, which one day I will have to write down. Two of the most memorable involved me pleading guilty to using a fake ID (to get into a night club) and the other involved me and Eleanor going to Kansas city with several bands that we had met when we were at their concerts. After a semester of fun, and before we got into too much more trouble we returned home to graduate with the rest of our Senior class.
It's been 15 years since I have returned to this venue of my wild and reckless days. Yesterday I took Jake and the boys up to Vail, a 2 hour drive, to show them where I used to live and work. The town was incredibly busy with tons of skiers and snowboarders. We found where I used to live and then parked our car and took the bus down to the village. (The whole town caters to the skiers so the bus is free and goes all around town).
The memories came flooding back and it was great to reminisce. We walked into Vail village, and of course all of the shops have changed and it has all been remodeled. The place I worked isn't even there anymore. We grabbed a great little lunch at a Mexican restaurant as we watched all the skiers and snowboarders racing down the hill. I swear we were the only ones not in ski boots.
Of course my boys have never even seen skiers so they were all fascinated. After Vails Village we caught the bus down to Lionshead where we caught the Gondola ride up to the top of the mountain.
The views were amazing and the ride was so much fun! Then we headed back down the mountain for an icecream cone at Haggan Daz. We caught the bus ride back to the condo and took a quick dip in the hot tub before heading home.
It was a great day trip, and it made me of course think of how much my life has changed in 18 years. I don't think I would but oh to go back to the days when all you really worried about was whether or not your hair looked good and whether or not I had enough diet coke in the fridge to last me through the week...

Where's my cabana boy?

I think that my favorite place to be is Culebras. Culebras is a little island off of the East side of Puerto Rico. My first trip to Culebras was as a single gal with my friends about 12 years ago. When we moved to Puerto Rico I insisted on taking my husband and boys and sister in law and we had a fabulous time. Then a few months ago when we decided to move we knew the one thing we HAD to do before we left was head to Culebras. You drive to the east side of Puerto Rico to Fajardo and pay about $3 to jump on the government owned ferry. It is about a 90 minute ride on the ferry. This last time we went some of our best friends on the island, Rafael and Osiris. Born and raised in Puerto Rico and they had never been to Culebras. Most Puerto Ricans dont even know their own island and haven't even been all the way around it. (The whole island of Puerto Rico is only 115 miles by 35 miles!!!!)
Once you arrive on the dock of Culebras island there are several buses waiting to take you wherever you want to go. My favorite place is Flamenco beach. It is the type of beach that you see on post cards. It is the type of beach that you dream about in the Dasani water commercials with the hot cabana boy bringing the lady on the beach her water. The sand is so white and fine and soft. The water is the most amazing color of turquoise and green that you have ever seen. The waves are great to play in but not so rough that they send you doing nose dives to the bottom or knocking your swim suit bottom off. The water is the perfect temperature. You can swim out as deep as you want and you can still look down and see the color of your toe nail polish. There are picnic tables set up under the palm trees or you can rent giant umbrellas and lounge chairs to sit right out under the sand. You are welcome to pack a picnic and cooler for the days adventure but if you're not up to it you can eat the wonderful authentic carribean foods from the vendors and stands under the trees.
So right now as I shiver in my flannel pjs in Colorado knowing that I should be at Culebras right now sitting under the umbrella on the sand listening to the waves roll in and wondering where the heck my hot cabana boy is with my bottled water....

Rico in the slammer

So if you don't have a dog probably not worth your time to read the following post. In fact it annoys me that I am even writing it but here goes:
Never a good thing when a policeman shows up at your door. But I knew immediately why he was there. Alot of you know that we have a little white poodle named Rico. He is a great little dog and we all love him. I was never a dog person before but 5 years ago my husband begged and begged me to get him. Just like a little boy he promised, "I will do all the work and walk him and feed him and clean up after him" etc etc. Well just like any little boy in this situation, he indeed did not like all the work involved and since day #2 I have been the one to take care of him. Rico is very loving but true to all Smith males, has a true independent streak. He thinks he can come and go as he pleases and roam the neighborhood. We had a huge problem with it in Vegas, with him always getting out. Then in Puerto Rico he kinda had free reign and went wherever he wanted. But here in Fruita where we live there is a really strict leash law. Rico gets out every time the door is opened. He always comes back but I guess some neighbors are complaining and a policeman showed up at my door today, letting me know I had been warned and next time it is a huge fine.
Here is my dilemna. Rico has never been trained as far as not leaving the house or coming back when we call him. He has been a free spirit too long. I could probably just get really strict and train us all to put him in the laundry room when we are going to open the door. But then what about using the bathroom? Our backyard has a little white picket fence that he can fit right through and he will not go to the bathroom when he is on the leash. And I CANNOT have accidents in the house. UGH! My boys will be devastated if we get rid of him. What should I do? I admit that this is a lame post so anyone who has a dog and has an idea let me know.

Ahhh. Together again.

After 6 long lonely weeks, we are reunited and it feels so nice! I thought I was never going to make it through this separation but I survived! I finally have my computer back!!!!!
Shamelessly I admit that I have felt quite lost without my computer. I really felt so out of the loop. Seriously I think that I check my email, blogs, facebook and bank account atleast twice a day. You would think that with all of the time I saved being away from the computer I would have learned how to bake bread or something useful or constructive. Nope just transferred that time to more tv and reading cheesy little 18th century romance novels (although my husband approves of the latter!)
Anyways I am connected again and it is wonderful.
We are adjusting to our new life in Fruita (right outside of Grand Junction). We are all happy but really miss Puerto Rico, especially Jake. Jake is trying to get used to all of the lame white people. I am trying to get used to putting lotion in new places that I had never even knew I could get dry skin! Jett is getting used to speaking English again in school and not being the gringo superstar of the school (although he already has made a ton of friends). Luke is getting used to being home with me again after having been in all day kindergarden and Tommy is just getting used to wearing clothes again. Seriously it is so wierd to see the boys all bundled up, wearing shirts and shoes etc.
Now that I have the computer back I have to back track on tons of pictures to blog etc so more Puerto Rico adventure posts on the way!

Smith Family- Colorado Style?!?

No. I dont think it works. I think I will stick with the Smith family- Puerto Rican style although we have indeed moved to Colorado. It happened incredibly fast and since moving we are still waiting for our computer so I have not had internet access at home for almost a month and it is killing me! So I do apologize for going a month without updating my blog. I hope to be up and ready blogging our new Colorado adventures soon.
Around Nov 15th my husbands business partner called and offered him a nice piece of pie at his Colorado office, running the internet business. Although it was the last thing Jake wanted to do to leave Puerto Rico, we both felt like it was the best thing for our family to do. The only thing is that Jake had to be there right away so we had 2 weeks from the time we found out until the day we caught the plane back to the states. I think I cried everyday during that 2 weeks. Although it was one of the hardest times of my life it was also one of the best times of my life. (Don't the two go hand and hand?) Puerto Rico was a wonderful adventure for our family, and a time that we were richly blessed. We learned so much and loved so many wonderful people that it will change who we are for the rest of our lives. I know that I am a better person for my time that I spent there both as a missionary and then 12 years later as a wife and mother. I FREAKING LOVE PUERTO RICO and it will always be a magical special place for me. Thus I chose to keep Puerto Rican style blogging because it is who I am forever now! And PS all you suckers who never came to visit missed out but I love you anyways!!! And for those of you who did come... thanks for coming and sharing such a wonderful place with me!

Elcetion day in Puerto Rico

Election days in Puerto Rico are the best! It is a giant party and the entire island shuts down. No school, all offices are closed, in fact illegal to make anyone work this day. Even the day before people start celebrating. Politics are huge here, 3 different political parties. One party is for Puerto Rico becoming a state (PNP),one party is for staying how it currently is as a US territory(PPD), and the other is a independent group that wants to be separated from the United States. Anyways Puerto Ricans are very passionate about politics. Since we could not vote we headed to the beach and had a wonderful time. All up and down the roads people were having ralleys and lined up and down the streets like a parade. Everyone hangs out their car windows and waves flags with their political parties colors and signs and honks their horns and makes lots of noise. It is a big festive day. We of course love that Puerto Ricans will celebrate anything. I think that when it comes to celebrations the United States could learn a few lessons from Puerto Ricans!

Tailgate trick or treating

We have been here for 2 halloweens now. It is funny because the stores are stocked with costumes and decorations but not many places actually do trick or treating. Our neighborhood does however and it is a big party. Our gated subdivision is divided into 2 sections, one "richy" section as I like to say and the other part (where we live). Every year it seems like the whole town heads over to the richy section of our neighborhood. Those houses who want to give out candy sit out on their lawn chairs on their driveways. The trick or treaters then just go out to the people sitting in their chairs and get their candy. Here the children have to sing a little song to request the candy. It goes like this:

"Trick or treat, Trick or treat
Da me dulce and no mani"

Trick or treat, trick or treat
Give me candy and not peanuts!

Anyways the whole thing is like a giant parade going through the neighborhoods. Those who are handing out candy turn on their music and set up tables with beers, sodas, chips and snacks for whoever is hanging out with them. I even saw a few people with grills set up! Droves of people just move up and down the streets. I would say atleast 50% of the adults are dressed up to. There was one house who had set up a haunted house and were letting kids go through. One house had even hired a dj. It was all very fun to watch and be a part of. I bet that there were way over 500 people going through the streets! Easy costumes this year. Jett was a lifeguard (very smart since last year he got so hot going outside trick or treating the boys had to take off their costumes!)Then Luke was a sheriff and Tommy was "Woody" from Toy Story. Fun night. I would pretty much say it was a Halloween tailgating party!