my life is a romcom....minus the rom

My life is insane. No really. I sometimes just sit and think, I am so weird/awkard/ridiculous. But, hey, that's my life. Just a list of things that happened recently that made me laugh.

I was looking at possible places to spend my birthday. This popped up on the screen: "Due to United States travel restrictions, we are unable to display travel itineraries that include Cuba.". BOO!!!

That awkward moment that you are trying to change lanes at a stop light and the little old lady next to you makes eye contact and shakes her head no. 

I was chatting with Lindsay about a boy coming over to my place and said: I feel like people think I'm cooler as soon as they find out I live in a hotel. I want people to like me for me, not for my hotel. #firstworldproblems

I told a joke to my work mentor that I already told to my boss, Michael, and my mentor thought it was super funny. Last month, Michael told me he wanted to have a graduation get-together for me and the other new-hires for our one-year mark. I told him we should do it at our facility in Brazil and have a team building sandcastle competition on the beach. My mentor thought it was very funny and said "You are very good at thinking outside of the box". #professionalpride #gtforever

Jarrett making an acronym in anticipation for our Groundhog's Day adventure in Punxsutawney, PA. #GHD2K13

Family dinner discussing a date I went on: 

     Mom "Did he try to kiss you?"

     Me: "No"

     James: "It's because he didn't want to"

     Me: "No, he probably did"

     Saryah: "No. He didn't"

and it someone turned into a debate where I was arguing that I could kiss any slutty guy if I wanted to, but I choose not to. #bestfamilyever

I have a new bff. He's my brother's best friend's wife's brother, Seth, who I always thought was younger than me until a month ago when I realized he was 30. lol. I told him he was my new go-to guy because he lives so close to me. I've always wanted a cousin bff. Just like, through this marriage, Saryah finally gets a cousin her age (Seth's youngest sister) who we're friends with. Way to marry into a cool family Stevie. Best idea EVER!

My grandma has decided to throw herself a birthday party....on my birthday, after weeks of me trying to determine what I wanted to do for my big celebration #speechless

I still don't have a name plaque for my cube....so I printed and cut one out for myself. It looks legit #proactive

At work we were practicing with a fake fire extinguisher and a virtually simulated fire, and the funny Brazilian lady had her turn and started singing the line from Alicia Keyes' new song "This girl is on Fire" #mylifeattheoffice

I even have the sassy co-worker bff character in my romcom life. This role is taken by my new work bestie, Charles, who denies that we're besties. I tell him about my boy problems and he gives me advice

Example 1:
     Me: So, I'm thinking of just going up to him and telling him I would like to get to know him better.
     Charles: Yes! If girls just did that, the world would be a better place
Example 2: 
     Me: I'm so mad he didn't text me back last night!
     Charles: That's because he was with his wife and kids.
     Me: He does not have a wife and kids.
     Charles: That's what he wants you to think. 

I had a really bad day the other day. In order to make myself feel better, I listened to My Favourtie Things from The Sound of Music on repeat. She's right, when I simply remember my favourite things, then I don't feel so bad. :) #iwishmylifewasamusical

Me thinking: I wish I had a dvd player for the tv in my room. I want to watch the Sound of Music from my comfy bed instead of the couch. #firstworldproblems

I sometimes forget/forgo sleep in order to read a book #bookaddict

I have been lazy all week and have been wearing my glasses. But it's sunny and I do not have clip ons. So I wear my big hipster sunglasses over my normal glasses and no one is the wiser. #twoglassesarebetterthanone

I've decided: if there was an actress that had to be me in my life movie, it would have to be Mindy Kaling. I feel like she is the only ones who would be able to capture my essence. (plus, erica agrees)

being ASSERTIVE

So it turns out I am not assertive in many situations. SURPRISE!
This discovery all started at the end of last year. At work, my manager asked me and the other new-hires take a management skills assessment test. When we got the results back, it turns out I FAILED, and I mean EPICALLY FAILED, the managing conflict portion. I got a 47%. Seriously. Jon and I both received that section as our lowest section, so our boss, Michael, told us to do some training. The training was interesting because there was one part that really stuck out to me. It was about constructive confrontation. Say what? I know. The Assertive Communication part was like an epiphany to my soul. The irony of it came from how the day before I took this training, I was agreed to a second date with a guy, even though I didnt want to, and was planning on lying and cancelling it (avoidance = passive/bad communication).

The assertive communication said I needed to:
1. Express my thoughts, concerns, feelings and ideas
2. Request what you want directly and specifically
3. Refuse someone without feeling guilty
4. Avoid being self-sacrificing and confrontational

Now I know what a lot of you are thinking. Natasha, I know you; you are totally assertive. I'm very assertive with people I know and am comfortable with. I still am, when I'm feeling extreme or negative emotions. For example, if you hurt a friend/family member of mine, I will destroy you without any guilt or remorse. However, this is another post-mission new personality trait that I've discovered. So when I am trying to be polite or nice or I don't really know a person, I my assertive abilities are severely lacking.  For example, take the guy I said yes to on a second date. For privacy, we will call him Mr. Presumptuous. Mr. Presumptuous thought that taking me out on a date automatically means he gets to kiss me and take me out again. Negative. In my internal freak out, after deflecting said kiss, I agreed to a second date just so I can continue my fleeing of the scene (in this fight or flight scenario, I took flight). After this training, I thought, I will be direct, specific, and refuse without feeling guilty. I should not have to feel guilty about my own feelings. I should not have to sacrifice my happiness just to allow a guy to feel good about himself and get a second date. No thank you. So because i'm not 100% assertive, I was honest and specific, over a text, and not the phone. It was like a weight was lifted off me and I felt great!

Why do I have this fear of making people feel bad? Maybe because I use to be really mean and now I am forever trying to make up for the past by being super nice to people. It's true that the mission has made me way nicer than I ever have been. Or maybe I can blame my parents. LOL. JUST KIDDING! I read the other day something along the lines of: if you never saw conflict when you were young (from your parents) then you never really learn that conflict can be resolved and are likely to be afraid of conflict. I guess that's the price I will pay for never having seen my parents fight my whole life. But seriously. Maybe I'm overcompensating for my Bad Natasha years.

Another example of me learning to be assertive. I went to Monroe, LA last week for work with my boss, Addy. We had a 7 hour car drive there because it was hardcore raining so Addy didn't drive over 55 mph most of the way. It normally should only be  about 6 hours. On the drive up, it was very enjoyable because Addy is such a good ol' fashion family guy. After driving for a few hours, I really wanted to ask him some advice questions about my career. My passive voice said "Don't bother him with that because he'll think you're too needy or annoying." My assertive side said "Do it. You will never get what you want unless you ask." So I asked and he had some really good advice and things to say. The next day, I was giving a presentation to some people about the project I had been working on and had to ask a lady about getting some more data from her. She was really defensive about it and kept telling me I didn't need the information. I was hoping Addy would step in and she would respect his authority and do what he says...but he didn't. It was up to me to deal with it. I was assertive in my request and eventually she agreed. I was SOOO PROUD of myself! I felt like I could do anything!

My last example happened yesterday, when Addy told me to set up a meeting between us and a vendor. Oh man. I felt so out of my league. I felt like I had no authority to be requesting meetings with VPs of other companies and telling them when and where we need to meet. I had to put aside my feelings of inadequacy and be assertive. It is so funny because ever since our training and discussion with Michael over what we learned, Jon and I have been constantly sharing our experiences of being assertive and the outcomes. It is really encouraging. It's kind of like my own personal support group of being assertive. I can do it!

Topic change...but it will tie back to my assertiveness theme.

Let us define harassment in a legal sense:  the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party...including threats and demands. The purposes may vary, including...personal malice, an attempt to force someone to [do something]... or merely gain sadistic pleasure from making someone fearful or anxious.

http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/strategies/assertive-responses/

Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday I was a victim of harassment and I was not assertive about confronting it. Let me tell you a story. And I will change names for the sake of privacy. There are two guys in this story, one is JR and the other is Mr. Should Have Been Slapped (Mr. S) So the story begins yesterday, after I had a long day at work and went to work out, and FHE. (PS. I'm FHE Coordinator #awesomecalling). Afterwards, I was having a good time and was called over by Mr. S, who kept on saying stupid things like "you have to say yes" and repeating phrases along those lines. Then JR asked me out for Saturday night. I had to say no, because I had just made plans with someone else to do something. I felt bad because I always seem to have plans when JR wants to do stuff. His intentions have been made known, and I get the picture. Then Mr. S started bothering me again saying "you need to say yes" "you hae to say yes" and other unwanted commentary. Yes Mr. S. I get it. You really want your friend to go on a date with me. JR then took a proactive approach and asked when I will be free. Sadly, the next time I can go out is Feb 8th. So he has to wait about 2.5 weeks before a date, but it is written in my planner so I will not forget. Afterwards, Mr. S came up to me and was like "did you say yes?" and i said "yes" and he said "when" so i told him. Then he started saying how if you really want to do something you can always find time. I told him that I was a busy person and that is the only free time I have. I was like, I'm done here and walked to my car. Mr. S called me back, and I went back because I thought he was going to apologize for his harassing behavior. Instead he made me feel bad about myself. He had crossed the line from concerned friend to complete jerk and I wanted to slap him so badly. Come on, Mr Presumptuous had to wait like a month because we had such conflicting and busy schedules, not like I told him that, because it is none of his business! Get over yourself Mr. S! I should have been assertive and said specifically and directly without any guilt "Mr S. You are acting like a jerk and not like a friend. I hope you do not go around harassing girls to date your friends often. If you talk to me again about this subject, I will slap you and maybe even punch you in hopes of breaking your nose or severely injuring your person." Granted, it wouldn't have been as polite if I had stayed to respond to him. Instead, I walked off, without him knowing of his inappropriate and harassing behaviour, and he may do it again to some other girl. As a disclaimer...JR is a really nice guy, and if he wasn't, i probably would have called him by now and broken off the date due to his stupid friend.

I was so upset that I called Erica and she had to talk me down from it. She reminded me of how I need to be assertive and not worry about other people's feelings when they are doing something like that. Don't laugh it off. It's not okay. This is my number one goal for 2013. I am going to be assertive in all I do. 

2013

At the end of every year, I name it. Normally by the summer, I have already determined what the year will be called. I have done this since 2009...so it's a pretty recent thing.
2009: The Year of Natasha
2010: The Year of My Mission
2011: The Year of Adjustment
2012: The Year of Change

So the real question I have is...what will this year bring for me? There are endless possibilities. As a new year comes, I'm making goals. Goals are awesome. So far, I have decided that 2 quotes will reflect my attitude this year:

Well...the full quote I wanted but couldnt find was:

"Be of good cheer. The Future is as bright as your faith." -Thomas S. Monson

and 

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just ordinary people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. . . .Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."   -Jenkin Lloyd Jones

Resolutions:
1. Handle adversity with grace; don't complain so much (aka don't be a negative natasha)
2. Re-discover being independent. Embrace solidarity. (I used to love being single and doing things on my own....but these past few years, I have changed)
3. Be more cheerful. Laugh more. Adulthood is making me too serious.
4. Stop forgetting to have morning prayers.
5. Go to the gym AT LEAST 2 times a week. preferable go 5 times...but at least 2.

Costa Rica (pt 2)

Thursday (12/27) was an early morning, and we hopped in our little shuttle to the Cloud Rain Forest Reserve....who would have thought that it's cold and rainy in rain forests? Not I. We had to buy a poncho when we got there. It was cold too. Colder than I expected. The hike was really nice, except that I ruined my new cross-trainers with all the mud. And I slipped and fell, missing the mud by an inch as the tour guide caught me right before I hit it. (which makes my fall from the morning before, where I slipped on a rock and fell into the waterfall pool in front over everyone, a little more silly). So after the hike we went to a hummingbird reserve and there were so many hummingbirds flying all around, you could hear them and see them! They are adorable! And there was a little furry animal that climbed onto one of the wires to steal some sweet stuff from the hummingbirds. It was super cute too. Then we went back to our hostel as it rained all afternoon. I read a book and mom took a nap. Cold weather is a bad influence. Mom did manage to escape for a bit to buy a guanábana ice cream. It was interesting. Then we went to our Canopy Tour in over the Cloud Forest. It was cold and rainy. I made friends with a Tico who was on vacation there and spoke little English. Have I mentioned how grateful I am to know Spanish? We had fun. The best part of the tour was doing a Superman zipline across the tops of the trees. YAY! There was an annoying family vacation on our tour, and they were super intense. Everyone was feeling sorry for the guides. It was bad. And the kids were harassing the guides; the family was very stereotypical for the country they're from. They made us wait for a different bus because they insisted that their family go on the shuttle back first. During this time, I was able to talk to 2 Canadian girls, Helen and Julia, who were pretty cool that I talked to earlier. We went back to the hostel and went to bed.

Don't I look like a garden gnome?

I woke up in the middle of the night smacking that was on my arm. As I becoming more conscious to the night, I just knew what I would find when I turned on the flashlight app my phone. I looked down and there was the spider I saw crawl into our room earlier that night, which I couldnt find as I looked for it. It was dead and in my bed. I felt so violated. Why do bugs think they are allowed on my bed?!?!?!?! I couldnt sleep, even though my mom went back to sleep no problem. I stayed up reading in the common room for all hours of the night until I was so exhausted I couldnt think of spiders crawling over my body and I prayed intensely asking for spider protection as I dosed off to sleep.

I can FLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday (12/28) saw us off to Arenal. Originally, I wanted to horseback ride from Monteverde to Arenal, but after the horseback riding, I realized I was not emotional stable enough to attempt that as the trail would be cold, rainy, and probably mountainous. No way, Jose. On the shuttle, we saw Helen and Julia. Cowinkydink. We got to the lake and had to wait for the boat to pick everyone up. This time, I wasn't the one who fell. It was mom. And she got muddy. That's what happens when they want you to walk down a muddy hill to get to the boat.  The boat ride was fine and then we crammed into a shuttle to take us to our accommodations in La Fortuna. (Please note: everyone refers to this place as Arenal, but that's not the name of the town. So if you're searching for hostels, you have to type in La Fortuna or it will say that no hostels are available) 

The hostel we were staying at was really nice and had it's own pool, except once again, it was raining. It was rainy, and overcast, so the Arenal Volcano we were suppose to see, was never seen. We got there and went across the street because I was craving ceviche, and there was a sign advertising it. #effectiveadvertisement The food was good. We went back to our room, and did I mention that Helen and Julia are there too. I'm thinking maybe they are stalkers, and it is no longer a coincidence. #joking Then I fell into a stage of siesta due to all the muggy weather. Mom, in her brilliance, decided to go to the computer room and do work. #crazylady
When I woke up, I decided we should continue with the plan we had, even though the weather was terrible. So we went to the hot springs. Not the swanky one that I wanted to go to, but the cheaper one because the weather was terrible, and I didnt want to go to a nice hot springs if the weather was going to ruin the experience. (and we shared a taxi with Helen and Julia #newfriends #cheaptaxi) The hot springs were SOOO NICE! They were all warm and relaxing. The cold drizzle was surprisingly relaxing and added to the experience. Mom and I enjoyed the hot water, went on a slide, and then had to change in order to go eat dinner. This idea was dumb, because it was super rainy and there was no covering to get to the hot springs areas to the dinning hall. Lame. But it was a yummy buffet full of goodies. We were then able to head back to our hostel after the nice relaxing evening.

Saturday (12/29) started abruptly, with my mom waking me up saying "what time is the shuttle coming to pick us up, because I think it's here" SAY WHAT? My phone died in the middle of the night and so the alarm didn't go off. Even though I told my mom a million times the day before (because she asks a lot) she forgot, and assumed I would wake up on my own. False. So I literally grabbed my bag and brusquely went to the waiting shuttle...in my pjs. Now I'm all for travelling in pj pants, but in your actual pajamas, without planning on it, is not as fun. When we got to San Jose, we took a little break and then went out wandering. Fact: San Jose is really confusing at times to walk through due to the lack of street signs in some areas of the city. But seriously. We attempted one outing and had to turn back because i couldnt find us on a map. The second time we got it right. we walked all downtown and saw all the important things before heading back for a much needed rest and early night.

Sunday (12/30) we had to take an early morning taxi to be at our pick up location by 6am. We hopped onto the bus, and I passed out until we arrived at where we were having breakfast. Did I not mention where we were headed? Our yacht cruise to Tortuga Island (on the Pacific side in the Gulf of Nicoya). They gave us some yummy gallo pinto for breakfast before boarding the boat. It was a nice 1.5 hour ride where we had unlimited nonalcoholic drinks and kept feeding us fresh fruit. It was super relaxing. And the view coming up to the island was remarkable. It was gorgeous. It's a private reserve island, so they monitor the activity there, and it has some of the earth's 2% of tropical dry forest. The day was spent relaxing on the beach. Avoiding getting sunburnt. Going on a banana boat ride. Snorkeling. Playing in the water. Eating a huge lunch while speaking spanish with out new Costa Rican friends who were on holiday. I was really surprised how many latinos were on the tour with us, I was expecting a lot of white people. Pleasant surprise. It was a nice long day of fun in the sun, and i cannot complain

Floppy hat and cute sun dress provided by Saryah

Our last day (12/31) in San Jose consisted of being nice and lazy. Enjoying the day. Going to eat some pan dulce and having fun. It's really been a great trip with my mommy. She's the coolest. She was able to keep up on all the activities. And I think she's learning to relax a lot better than she could before hand. I would also like to add that vacationing with Saryah in New Zealand earlier in 2012 helped me to really enjoy this trip better and have more fun. On that trip I think Saryah helped me to chill out and not stress so much, and this trip I was able to show that. Progress.

We got home in time to start some laundry as I got all dolled up to go out to the YSA New Years Eve dance party and I had a BLAST! I danced my little heart out and was inspired to just let go and have fun.

Happy 2012 and looking forward to what 2013 brings. 

December & Costa Rica (pt. 1)

Oh how life changes when you get back to the United States. My monthly pictures used to be in the hundreds. Now I'm lucky if I get over 50 in a month. In December...I took only 11 pictures. Sad day.

So I have a few highlights for the month of December (pre-Costa Rica).

1. I got a hair cut so my hair finally has proper layers. I'm sick of hairdressers telling me I'm not allowed to have layers because my hair is too short and curly. #liars

2. I took a basic pistol 101 class and learned how to properly hold and shoot a pistol. I shot a Glock 19. Lesson learner: I will not be owning any guns in the foreseeable future.

3. I saw The Hobbit with my old friend Tim. It was soooo much fun. My inner geek was unleashed and had a wonderful reign in my life.

4. I went to the Museum of Natural Science with the sister missionaries on their P-day (I took a half day) and it was awesome. I loved hanging out with the sisters.

5. I got to hang out with Hollister who got some days off during the week, and we had a sleepover in my hotel, went shopping, and had too much fun!

6. Family Christmas dinner on the Saturday before Christmas so we could have a family get together. It was quite pleasant.  I had an interesting consternation with an uncle, who said I could plan a vacation for him and my cousin. IM SO EXCITED! I love planning vacations! WOOHOO!

Then it was off to Costa Rica for me y mi madre :) As Bilbo Baggins says "I think I'm... quite ready for another adventure!"

Sunday night we flew in, and I was lucky enough to sit next to a nice Costa Rican guy. Yay. Mom was recovering from sickness, so she was passed out against the window in her seat. Poor little mommy. lucky me. He was super funny. He works for Amazon and we got our nerd on, talking about movies and superheros. It was a really good flight over, especially because we were able to switch back and forth from English to Spanish during our conversation. He seems like a really great guy. Anyway, we arrived at our hostel and went to bed because we had an early morning ahead of us.

Monday morning (12/24 aka Christmas Eve) we woke up to get ready for the shuttle bus to come pick us up. In all the hustle and bustle of the morning, my mom was in the bathroom and I was changing the bedroom. When I tried to get out of the bedroom...I discovered I was locked in. Not because the door locks from the outside or the door knob was stuck, but the door knob had somehow detached itself from the latch in the door that you have to turn to get the door to open. So I was turning the door knob and nothing was happening, all the while, time was counting down to when our shuttle would be arriving to take us away. Now, I've watched enough tv to know what to do in this situation. I channeled my inner Sydney Bristow (reference: Alias) and started looking for an escape. The windows had bars on them that would not move. and the window part was separated in parts where I would have to individually remove slides of glass to get to the bars. Realizing there was no window escape, I turned towards the door. I tried to push and pull at the door knob, but did not feel it was time to try and break down the door. Instead, I channeled my inner Neal Caffery (reference: White Collar) and started to work on opening the door with my student id card (as I didnt want to hurt my credit card or ruin my driver's licence picture in this amazing feat) I worked on the latch with my card, and praying up a storm, the latch seemed to open and I was freed from my temporary holding cell. Now who says tv is detrimental to our brains?

We got in the shuttle (luckily it was a few minutes late, because so was I) and we drove to Manuel Antonio. We made a little stop and mom and I were able to have some empanadas for brunch. Yum yum yum. We got to our new hostel and there was a porch area overlooking forest and the ocean with hammocks lining the area. It was so relaxing. We got into our little hostel apartment area and enjoyed the hammocks, and walked to the market to get some sunscreen before our first Costa Rican adventure. Kayaking and Snorkeling. When we got to the location, I SAW A SLOTH!!!!!!!!! AND A BABY SLOTH! they were just hanging out in a tree. My first sloth sighting. It was beautiful. I want one. Now, about this adventure, first thing you must remember, I get motion sickness. I often forget this, because I'm so used to taking preventative measures, that it often doesn't become a problem. I haven't gotten super sick since December 2008 (that's a fact/tmi) Anyway, my mom and I were put in a two-person kayak together and started kayaking across a part of the ocean to a where we would kayak. After a little bit, I started feeling terrible. Sadly my mom didn't realize it, and so I was not a happy camper. So I was having to kayak, and focus on not getting sick on our little adventure. Luckily we made it to the other side and I was able to get into the water, and my body normalized because I'm part fish. The visibility wasn't that great, but it was fine. The worst part was kayaking back, as my arms were tired and my nausea was exponentially worse. Miracle 2 of the day: we made it to the other side. Kayaking in the ocean causes motion sickness...who knew? Aka...I'm never doing that again. It seriously made me reconsider if I wanted to go on a yacht cruise later in the week. But we were able to go to dinner and eat a classic Tico dish, casado. It was good, and we met the other people on our little tour. They were really nice and funny. One of the girls loved my swim suit. (I fell like a 60's movie star in it). We went back to the hostel and I spend the rest of the evening reading on the hammock until I joined my mom (who was trying not to fall asleep until 9pm) in watching a little of The Big Bang Theory in our living room. 

I'm channeling my inner 60's girl

Christmas day was wonderful. We ate breakfast and were picked up to go on a surfing lesson. The surfing lesson was fun. We had our lesson in Spanish, which was awesome. We could have done it in English, but once the guy found our we spoke his language, he was happy, and i was happy. We started off on the sand, like they do in the movies, before moving into the water. The waves beat me up a lot, but I'm pretty tenacious when I want to do something. I was able to get up more than I thought I would, but only stayed up the entire time without the wave knocking me over once. I felt super accomplished. One of the surf instructors was american, named Aspen, and he's my new life hero. He had a successful career and decided one day that he wasn't living the life he wanted. He decided to travel the world. He says that surfing saved his life and it taught him to enjoy nature and life more. He's living in Costa Rica now. But he said something that I liked: that people save money to spend it later and never really enjoy life because they're so worried about their money, so he's spending his savings and living/loving life before he's too old. I was inspired. A side note: what they dont tell you about is the surfboard can sometimes rub your skin, so my elbows and tops of my knees were scrapped up after the 2 hours. Another note: one of my favorite things is when everyone asked me how I learned my Spanish, they think it's from school. Yeah right. I never understood Spanish  not even after 3.5 years of studying it. I learned it from with the Latinos of Northern California when I served my mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. #toolegit 

Christmas afternoon was spent reading on the hammock, listening to the Spanish Christmas songs I put on my phone before the trip, and reading the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures. I should have read it all in Spanish, but I wanted my mom to understand everything. (I also discovered on this trip, that my Spanish skills have surpassed hers...oh how the tables have turned...must remember to not become prideful) It was a very special Christmas for me, as it was my first time to Central America. I had a very precious moment as I read the story of our Saviour's birth as the Spirit, once again, testified to my soul that it happened, and that the people in ancient America knew it too. (reference: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 3 Nephi 1:4-25) They also had signs of his birth and knew of his divine mission to come to this earth for us.

Later, We were picked up for horseback riding on the beach. It was a little nerve wracking (as i have been thrown/fallen off a horse 4 times already). But we went. I tried to go slow on the horse. Eventually I felt comfortable enough with the horse, I let it trot a little. The guide was super funny. He had a machete, and said it was part of his uniform, along with his jeans, spurs, and cowboy hat. There was a old lady in our group who wanted to canter and was freaking out trying to get her horse to canter. It was interesting. We had a nice dinner before going back to the hostel and me relaxing with a book. (I used my NOOK app on my phone. I love my NOOK) It was a very happy Christmas.

Mom on one of the shorter ziplines

Mom repelling down the waterfall. Can you see her?

Boxing day (12/26) started early as well. We got up and ready for our outdoors adventure. We were going to repel a waterfall and we weren't sure what to expect. We went with Quepos Canyoneering, and it was AMAZING! loved it. It wasn't only repelling. We had to climb up rope ladders, zipline from different platforms, walk on a tight rope between trees, and did a drop into a waterfall  in addition to repelling down a waterfall. It was LEGENDARY! We made some cool friends along the way, Deepa (a Harvard grad student) and another guy whose name I forgot. They were our buddies. On the drive out of the forest, on of the guides was telling me how he built his house with his own two hands out of wood, and it took him 2 years. He's cool. We had a really good lunch before catching our shuttle to Monteverde. Fact: it had been a miracle that I hadn't been car sick yet, but this drive was borderline. I had to drug myself up and it was funny how mom was getting nervous with all the windy mountain roads. I could never drive in central america. One of our drivers told us at one point, that Costa Ricans are bad at two things: driving and giving directions. I would like to say, that they are pretty good at driving, as I could never drive on such narrow roads up a mountain in a big van when other big vans are coming the other way. #truth But we managed to get to Monteverde without incident. One of the hostel guys showed me a sloth in a nearby tree in the darkness (while i fought my crazy side that said "dont follow him in the darkness or you will be taken!). Mom and I went to the market and made spaghetti for dinner. And I made some reservations for tours tomorrow, something I had been waiting to do in order to get a native person's opinion, because there are so many organizations that do the same things there.

Waterfall we were dropped into from a scary height backwards :)