Last week

Did I mention I got ANOTHER flat tire?  I did.  #$@(**@^$%$!.(New car...different tires...?!?) 

Shannon & Shakira, what a lovely combination

How does it happen that one night you're watching Shakira rock out on the Nivel Principal... and the next morning  you're walking through bat #^$*&^$% wondering if the supposedly gorgeous view justifies cave hike, flashlights, and fluttering of wings overhead?!?!  THEN, as if  that's not enough, you later find yourself and your favorite Spanish speaking friends trespassing to sneak a peak at a humungous waterfall.  Cap it all off  with  your first ever Caribbean sunburn and you'll have a small glimpse of the ridiculousness that was my last weekend.  Three cheers for spontaneous friends.  Three cheers for Shannon!

I choose adventure. people. life.

Vacuum cleaners suck. Mine, for example, just made the whole apartment smell like burning hair which (naturally) set off the fire alarm.  The rewarding result for all of the toil and trouble??  A dirty AND smelly apartment.... and neighbors that think I'm crazy.  But don't throw a pity party yet, cause I found an easy solution: less vacuuming. More living.

Why exactly do people spend soooo much time cleaning their houses?  I've decided it's a peacock effect (B: please note the hand over head gesture that goes with all peacock references).  Have you ever met a bear that says "oh, my you just haaave to see the new stone I found" or a horse that pulls you into the barn to show off the freshly painted stable doors??  NO my friends! NO YOU DO NOT!  But humans **cough cough, supposedly so much more intelligent** spend hours and hours decorating, shopping for, and then cleaning their living space.  Reality Check: if you have less space, and you have less stuff, you ALSO have less to clean.  I just gifted you back hours of your life, please, embrace it.   (Hehehehe, and if you can't, at least don't judge me when you come over and my house is in a state of chaos!!)

So why am I VACUUMING?  Because last weekend I was thinking about nothing but adventures and beaches and friends.... and this weekend I want to think about nothing but adventures, beaches, friends, and losing my voice from screaming/singing/laughing at the SOLD OUT SHAKIRA CONCERT ON FRIDAY NIGHT.  Vacuums suck. My life...absolutely does not.


Pics from Meg & Rob adventures:

Waterfall hike and swim in El  Yunque

Beach day in Isla Verde

TANDEM BIKE (Look, no hands!)

Man vs. wild...waves 1, Katie 0.

Biking. It's part of my identity

Vegetariano, Katie, y Daisy in Isabella

Today, I bought a bike.  Yes, it's the cheapest one Wal-mart could sell me. Yes, I waited in line over 20 mins at the checkout to get it. Yes, I used it immediately after purchasing.  This was one of the MANY things that made this weekend one of the "best yets" of my time in PR.  Check out these pics of what I've been up to (please note, having a functional camera makes capturing the moments sooooooo much easier!)

Katie and Daisy

Sunset in Aguadilla&

Biking Beach

Biking Trail

I love Puerto Rico

Yup, this is el vegetariano!

Biking path over the beach

Wisconsin Dreaming

Katie & Katie

Ironman WI  - September 11, 2011:  7am swim start (Rick's by the ski jump!!)

Rick running on State Street

Finish line family - less than 13 hours later!

Signing their lives away

I think this one is Rob :)

Celebrating after everyone is safely down (Bloody Marys to follow)

Silly cheap pumpkins, big red barns, and lots of corn fields?!?!

My parent's 4 legged beasts - Paco and Lola

Where is Cinderella??

Dad & Nana with the puppies up at dad's house

The team that makes it all possible.

Huelga = Strike

This whole not having a car thing is....

1) Coming to an end today.
2) Managing to crack me up regularly!

Coming to an end?!?! YES! I'm buying a lovely little black volvo. It's 2002. It's Turbo. It runs. WOW. Hurrah!!

Cracking me up?! YES! I decided that naming my last car Pituffo (and calling it Pit) was just setting myself up for failure. It lived up to it's name. I decided I'm naming my new car Suerte (Luck) and buying fabulous and ridiculous car seat covers and adding a Bucky Badger sticker.

Cracking me up?! YES! Last night (when I was still a non-car-owner) I was waiting for the bus...waiting...and waiting...and waiting. Normally the bus stop is full of people, last night it was different. After ~20 minutes of waiting and not seeing a single bus, the only other guy there came over and told me his buddy just told him that all of the bus drivers went on strike. STRIKE = STRANDED! Option 1: Go to the mall, buy work clothes for Thursday and commit to sleeping under my desk at work until the strike ended. Option 2: Pay megabucks for a taxi. Option 3: Call el vegitariano. Ahhhhh it's good to have friends!!

Feels like home

I flew back to San Juan yesterday afternoon after 2 action packed weeks in WI. I saw the WI people I needed to see, ate fish tacos, cheese curds and apple pie, and am now ready to begin the second phase of the Puerto Rico adventure. Today I see new car prospect #1, I go back to the noisy Latino office, and I start researching Spanish classes so I walk away from this with the best language skills possible, and as many new friends as possible.

Speaking of friends, el vegitariano and my new friend Carla plotted out my whole evening. El V picked me up at the airport and we all went to the coolest beach restaurant (hang out in hammocks and look left to the sea and right to the mountains). I got my much needed dose of fried food and plantains. Ahhhh it's good to be back.

Pictures of WI to come. Here's what I came back to :)