Feliz Dia de Reyes!

Well, today was our big Dia de los Reyes (Kings Day). We had a small (very small) handful of presents leftover, since we haven't exercised much self-control in the present-opening arena. The funnest part of the day, anyhow, was probably hiding little slips of paper inside the Rosca, and then finding them. I've never actually had a Rosca before, but I knew it was supposed to be a big circular sweet bread (I saw one at Walmart, go figure). Ours was an orange monkey bread Rosca. Really, you're supposed to hide a little Baby Jesus figurine in the bread for one lucky person to find. (or money? okay, the point of this is not for me to educate anyone about the traditions of Dia de los Reyes, because obviously I'm taking stabs in the dark.) Anyway, we didn't hide a figurine. Instead we wrote out lists of our favorite memories of 2012 and resolutions for 2013, wrapped them in tin foil, and hid those in the bread. It was fun to pull out each other's and read them. New family tradition? Maybe. I think the game could only be enhanced by little kiddos clamoring to pick the right slice of the Rosca.

Also, we've been working on a couple of home-improvement projects. One of my Christmas presents for Chad was a new area rug! Only instead of forking over $100 for a big one, I decided to buy some supplies so we could paint one ourselves (people do that now!).

I looked around a lot on different blogs and found that plenty of people were painting cool prints and designs on flat-woven rugs (see here, http://tatertotsandjello.com/2012/05/how-to-paint-a-rug-seven-tips-to-a-perfectly-painted-rug.html for some examples), but the one I wanted was a $40 rug from IKEA, and IKEA doesn't ship items and they're not in our area. So for some reason I thought a drop-cloth would make a great alternative. The problem we have run into is that it soaks up paint like crazy (hello...probably because that is what it was designed for). But a couple of coats later, it is looking better.

My pointers on rug painting:

1. Paint is expensive. If you buy a drop-cloth (around $15), a rug pad (also around $15), and paint ($11 per small can, and we used 3), and other supplies like brushes and painter's tape, you might be spending just as much as you would have to buy a rug. (But still, maybe not. Some large rugs are upwards of $100.) But on the flip-side, you can pick your own design and colors, which might be worth it to you.
2. Get a rug pad, to keep your rug from slipping.
3. A drop-cloth is good because it is cheap, and readily accessible online or at hardware stores. However, it soaks up paint, so be prepared to paint multiple coats. All things accounted for, I probably would have preferred that plain flat-woven rug from IKEA, but that's hard to say since I've never tried painting one.
3. Use painter's tape, just like others recommended. It'll save you from ugly or time-consuming mistakes.
4. Choose a design you love, and then figure out how to transfer it to the rug. We did a google image search for the letter S until we found the one we liked best. We printed it in a word document with a grid overlay, and then we drew the same grid onto the drop cloth and used it as a guide to sketch out our S.

I'm excited to see how it turns out. Happy Kings Day! You should give someone a hug to celebrate.

Aruba, Again. Also, Christmas 2012.

Being in Aruba for Christmas was awesome in some ways. I can't say there is anything particularly magical about the island during the Christmas season. Yes, there were Christmas trees at every roundabout, and we made a visit to the Cas di Lus (a fake little traditional house they build up on a hill and decorate with lots of Christmas lights). We also noticed it was Christmas when our beloved pan keshi (cheese bread) was sold out by the time we got there at noon on Christmas Eve. But otherwise, it felt a lot like being in Aruba at any other time of year (which is AWESOME, by the way).

The perfect part, though, was going to Church on Sunday, and going to the branch Christmas party on Sunday night. Several people performed Christmas musical numbers, we ate great food, and TONS of people were there. I have never seen that branch building so full before. Chad and I sang, "Merry Christmas, Baby," with Chad playing guitar and me playing piano. I'm really good at agreeing to musical numbers and forgetting that I get really nervous and embarrassed when I actually perform. But overall, the party was great.

Going back to Philadelphia on Christmas Eve was a great choice. We had so much fun being there for Christmas morning. I spent most of the day Christmas Day playing music with Kaitlyn and Ainslee--Kaitlyn got a ukelele for Christmas, and Ainslee plays guitar. We did some mad Taylor Swift and Ingrid Michaelson covers. It was so fun!

This was my first year not going home to Colorado for Christmas (other than on the mission). I definitely missed my family, but altogether, I'd say it was a great Christmas. Also, Chad and I decided a couple months ago to celebrate Three King's Day (Dia de Reyes) like they do in Latin countries, so that we wouldn't have to lug all of our presents with us to Philadelphia. So the season continues! Except, we lost our reserve to save the presents and have opened one or two every day, pretty much. Now I think there are...two left. Good thing Dia de Reyes is tomorrow!! :)

Aruba, Part 3

Warning: Lots of pictures today. I could spend the rest of my life documenting this trip on my blog if I only go 2 pictures at a time.

So our second day in Aruba, we woke up and drove to Bright Bakery to pick up one of my favorite treats of all time--pan keshi (cheese bread). It's got Gouda cheese stuffed in the middle of a loaf of slightly sweet bread. (side note: I'm glad we got it that day. We tried a day or two later, and Christmas Eve, and both days they were sold out by the time we got there.) Anyway, bread in tow, we headed to the Hooi Berg (which I had always believed to be the highest point in Aruba, until we went to Arikok National Park on this trip and found out that the highest points are actually within the national park. Boo.) There are stairs all the way to the top, and it takes about half an hour if you don't stop for breaks. It's worth the hike, in my opinion, because you get a good view of most of the island, including the shorelines, the refinery, all the red-tiled roofs, and the cactus. 

The Hooi Berg looks much less puny in real life. Bad angle, I guess.

A view from the top.

Another look from the top.

Made it!

After our hike, we decided to stop by "the Waf." I don't know if I'm spelling that right, because I've never seen it written out. The Waf is where you would probably spend a lot of time if you were a tourist on a cruise ship--it is a strip of little outdoor shops near where the cruise ships come in for the day. It feels just about like any other flea market with trinkets and souvenirs. We stopped by to pick up some gifts, but mostly in hopes that we would run into my dear friends Carlo and Jela, who I got to teach as a missionary years ago. And we were not disappointed! Jela and her son, Carl, were there running their shop. They sell beautiful hand-painted canvases. It was fun to see them again.

Across from the Waf, in front of a fancy shopping area.

with Jela and Carl! 

 We spent some time taking silly pictures and trying pastechi--a typical local food. A pastechi is basically a fried calzone filled with Dutch cheese, or sometimes with cheese and meat. Yum.

pastechi. tastes better than it looks here.

And finally, we headed off to do more snorkeling. As mentioned in an earlier post, we first snorkeled at Baby Beach, which is a fairly popular spot to snorkel. On this, our second time snorkeling, we went to the far west end of the island (before you reach Arashi Beach), which was a spot recommended to us by Bill (a native). Chad was more impressed with the snorkeling here than at Baby Beach, but I got kind of cold and my mask wasn't working great, so it wasn't my best day. But we also stopped by one of the shipwrecks on our way back to San Nicolas, and snorkeled there. It was pretty awesome to snorkel right around the ship, where lots and lots of fishes like to hang out. 

While I'm talking about snorkeling, I'll share what I learned about snorkeling in Aruba. Just in case you're ever in Aruba, or snorkeling in Aruba. :)

Where and How to Snorkel in Aruba:

1. Ask local people where to go. There are certain places marked on the map that attract a lot of tourists, that don't seem to actually be the places where you can see the most fish. A good example of this is Baby Beach. Lots of tourists snorkel in the cove there, and you can see a fair amount of fish. However, someone recommended that we drive just past the Baby Beach parking lot to an area where this is a narrow channel flowing towards Baby Beach. We hopped in and just floated down for half a mile or so. We saw SO MANY FISH. 

2. Sometimes, just stay in one place and stop swimming, but keep your head underwater. I'm not sure if the fish forget you are there, or decide you're not a threat, but sometimes they come out from their hiding places if you just idle for a minute or two.

3. It seems like you find more fish closer to the reefs, so if you are swimming in an inlet with a barrier reef, you might just swim along the reef. 

4. Our favorite places, in order: 1. The channel just east of Baby Beach (tons of fish, NO swimming required, but you do have to walk through some rocks to get to some deep-enough water). 2. Mangel Halto (feels like a neighborhood beach, big area to cover and plenty of fish in some areas). 3. Baby Beach (nice area, especially if you want to lay on the beach when you're done snorkeling). 4. The beach between the shipwreck and Arashi Beach, near the west end of the island (I can't remember much about this one, but I think there was a nice beach area to lay out on and plenty of fish).  

5. It would be so awesome to have an underwater camera. We saw so many amazing fish and we wished we could get pictures. Although, sometimes it is nice to just enjoy something without focusing on documenting all the time. 

6. Your experience could be totally different than ours depending on the time of day, the weather, or your personal preferences. Just explore and have fun!

Aruba, Part 2

So, where was I? Snorkeling, right?

Much of our trip was spent going to church functions and also visiting people I had gotten to know as a missionary.

I had a blast introducing Chad to Sister Dowling. I had explained to him before we went that she is sort of... mean. Okay, not really. She just pretends to be mean, most of the time. But you know she secretly loves you, because after she spends one or two hours delivering berating comments, she'll usually say, "I love you, dushi," as you're on your way out the door. (You can guess why, when I described her that way, Chad wasn't sure how excited he was to meet her.)

Anyway, her advancing age and continued health problems have taken their toll, and she is now confined to her home most of the time. She uses a walker to get around the house, and a wheelchair if she ever leaves the house. So visiting with her was bittersweet, because it is hard to see someone with so much spunk be so limited by her body.

The first day we visited, the exchange went something like this:

Sister Dowling: Who's he?
Me: My husband!
Sister Dowling: Your husband?!
Me: I told you I was bringing him to meet you.
Sister Dowling: You told me you was bringing someone special, you didn't tell me about no husband.
Me: Oh, well, the special person was my husband. This is Chad.
Sister Dowling (turning to Chad): Oh, so you love the ugly woman?
Chad: Er, I think she's pretty...
Sister Dowling: Well, I see you does wear glasses, so I can forgive you for that.

She totally won him over, though, in spite of (or because of?) her sassiness. The hardest part about being there was hearing her repeatedly express the feeling that no one (particularly people from church) cared about her enough to visit. While I know this may have been exaggerated somewhat (several church members reported having some contact with her, if not frequently), it made me sad to think about her living out her old age a lonely, bitter woman. I think I needed the reminder that there are probably people around me who feel no one cares. These pictures aren't the greatest, but the hours spent in her home with Chad will always be a special memory for me.

Favorite Posts.

Maybe you're new to this blog, and would like to be directed to some of the better posts on here. Really, who has time to wade through 4 years worth of scribbles? Some of these may not be interesting to other people, but they are the ones that mean something to me and I feel represent some of my most genuine, funniest, and/or best self.

Aruba! here, here, and here
Funny rants here, here, and here
Projects I'm proud of here.
Therapy stuff here and here

I may add to this list in the future. Really, I should be going to bed now instead of doing this, so I'm gonna.

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