Time flies by so fast, when you are having fun!!

I can't believe its over!! We had such a great time!!! It had been so long since we had taken a vacation like this, plus Ale came along for all the fun!!! I'm glad that we had this time to spend with each other specially with my dad!! I'll share a few pics of our trip, but its sooo hard they are all sooo good....and we did so much..... Anyways here we go:

Thats my dad, sis and FI waiting at the airport for our flight

I wantded to take some pics of the sky!

Hahaha this is pretty much how things would work out when we went to the malls!!

This is a common picture of my sister at all the malls, while my dad carried her around

Yeah!! we went to Orlando as well!!

Outside a town call Celebration!! It was "snowing"

Did you know that Starbucks imports their coffee from...Costa Rica!! yeah!! I love our coffee!!

We went to this town called "Old Town" and they had this HUGE car!!

This is us, right outside one of the many water rides at

Universal's Island of Adventure!! It was sooo cold that day

Yep!! that's a Who!! From Dr. Seuss

It was cold while at the Island of Adventure

Next day! We went to Magic Kingdom!! It was colder that day hehe

Say hello to Minnie!!

The castle changed colors throughout the night!!

Us having dinner at Applebees, yummie!!

We also went a couple of times to minigolf!!

Back at Miami we visited Bayside! Lots of latin tunes!!

We celebrated Ale's B-day!!

With my dad

TAMALES!!

These are not the normal/ordinary mexican tamales that most americans know. These are speacial Tamales!! They are supposed to be different from country to country, and the best ones are the homemade. These are a tradition in our country for the holiday season. And a very large and awesome tradition in my family. My grandfather plans for all the whole family to be there on a certain day, and we all help out with the makings of the tamales.

My Uncle and FI mixing the tamales base

Dough was to be mix by hand to get the right consistency

My cousins cleaning and cutting the plantain leaves.

And this year it was not the exception. I had a blast, and enjoyed watching FI help around and being part of this large family tradition. At the beginning he didn't understand why so many of us had to be there, and why so early in the morning. Well, he later learned and understood why, and was happy to be part of the process of making tamales. And much more, to taste the final "product".

Preparation Table for the tamales!!

Everyone helping out!

I love my grandpa!! Here he was trying the first Tamal!!

Rushing!! I don't think so...

So we've been told to do 3 things:

• Plan a Budget
• Set a Date
• And make an estimated guest list.

Well, for us to do those three things, except for the guests list, which we are calculating is going to be around 100 people, we need to find the right venue, and then we can set a budget and date for the wedding. Ohhh!! and also the time, cause we still don't know if to do it in the morning, or in late afternoon.

So I was on a mission to find the right venue for our wedding. I bought "T.H.E Wedding Magazine" for Costa Rica, which has all the info for venues, churches, decorations, flower places, photographers, etc. I called every venue and hotel; was asked a bunch of different questions, which for all I answer, "I don't know mam' depending on the price, the cheaper it is, the sooner we'll be getting married". And so, I was emailed all these info regarding menus, budget, music, food, dates, etc.

After sitting at home on tuesday with FI, and looking at numbers, and prices, and the different options we were given, we've decided that it is time to look for a plan B.

Today's my Birthday!!

For my B-day present, FI (I love calling him Fiance :D) gave me a weekend at one of the most beautiful beaches here at CR. We drove for 4 hours on friday night, and got to this beautiful place!!

Here are some gorgeous pics of our trip, and of course of my brand new engagement ring!!

The view!! Sitting under those palm trees was heaven, it was soooo hot!!

My Ring!!

Us talking a walk by the beach

I love this pic, we were having so much fun that day!!

Our first trip after our engagement!!

White sand, clear water Playa Carrillo, Guanacaste!

And of course, you can't never go to the beach and not have a snowcone!!

Delicious!!

I’m engaged!! I’m going to be getting married!!

I still remember the first date I had with Ale. It was a long time ago, the day before my b-day. He took me to this really cool restaurant, which I remember we were both sick of our stomachs so we barely ate, we just talked and talked for hours. Later we went to the movies, and I just didn’t want the night to end. A few years later and we have been through sooooo much. We’ve had such a year, that never in my mind did I think it was going to end in such an unexpected way.
I’m so excited and thrilled to say that in a year or less I’ll be marrying my best friend. This is going to be such an interesting year; I’ll get to plan the wedding of my dreams and enjoy each and every blessing that this new adventure will bring to both of us.

Count Down ‘til Christmas/Christmas Break!!

30 days and counting ‘til Christmas….. Not only will I have some time off work for Christmas and new years, but I will also be traveling out of the country for a nice, relaxing time during those 10 days of my Christmas break!!!

I'll be very honest, this was not the christmas I was expecting nor dreaming of. It will be a rollercoaster, from now until probably next year. I will have my good days, and my “sad, just wanna cry” days. I’m glad we are taking some time off, and going away, especially on those days. I know that between shopping and going to Disneyworld and other theme parks it will help for sure to keep my mind away from falling into depression. On the other hand, I’m really looking forward to next year and what 2010 has in store for both of us.

Cold Water!!!

90% of the houses in Costa Rica do not have a water heater. Most houses, have a “thermos” in their showers, and will only heat the water on their shower. Since our house is only like a year old, we did want a water heater so we would be able to have hot or cold water on most of our piping system. Well, our contractor recommended a water heater tank. It was a timer, and has a capacity for 30 liters of water. It was supposed to be the best choice compare to a tankless water heater, because if the power for some reason went off, we would still have hot for 24 more hours.

Well, it was sooooo not the best choice!!! Not only is it a huge tank and it takes up too much space in the laundry room, but the tank only works fine for 4 months, and then it dies. Every four months I need to call the manufacture and book an appointment, so they can come and repair it. It takes them forever to book an appointment, and sometimes I’ve had to wait more than a week for them to come over. And when the repair guy comes in, which he can only come during weekdays during working hours, which means that either Ale or I have to ask for permission at work, they end up charging us more than $100, because their guarantee only covers visits. Seriously!!! We got this tank last December, and it stopped working for the first time on March 2009. The repair guy came in and said it was the timer. Well, it stopped working again on July. And now, last Friday I woke up to a cold shower, ‘cause our tank stopped working AGAIN!! I’m so tired of having to deal with this every four months. So instead of calling in, waiting for the repairman to come over and charge us a fortune (which it is, at least here in CR) we’ve decided to buy a tankless water heater.

It is much smaller, and though it will not heat water if there is no power; I rather not have a hot shower once in a while, than have to wait over a week every four months and be charged a ridiculous amount of money for something that I know it will have to fix in four more months.