Just Relaxing on the Beach

A few friends got together today and just relaxed on the beach. We grilled some burgers, hot dogs, and chicken to fill our bellies and just got to know eachother a little better. The day was so beautiful and the water was of course amazing. My buddy Katie, her husband Zach, and I went out to look for live sand dollars in the ocean. Well it ended up that only Zach found them. He found like 8 of them in a matter of minutes, while Katie and I were struggling to even find one.

Katie finally found one and I found none. But Zach was nice enough to give me one of his. Thanks Zach! It's beautiful.
The boys played bocce ball,


...while the girls chatted and enjoyed the day.

We had a great time. These are the kind of days I'll miss when we're all done with Puerto Rico. I've been trying to really take advantage of the little time we have left, because I usually don't go to the beach this often. I'm more tan right now than I've ever been in my life. I look like a true Puertorican.
Here we all are for a final group picture. Well the girls I should say.

I met a few people today so let's see if I can remember everyone's name. From left to right we have: Kristen, Janel, Katie, Brianna, Julia, and Me! If I got any of your names wrong please forgive me. I know I'll ask you again. Thanks for a fun time.

Chicken Cacciatore

Yesterday Kristen and I got together to cook some grub. I've been watching the Food Network with Ellie Kreger and just love her recipes, they're all so good, super easy and healthy too. They are all a perfect balance of what you need in every meal. I also love that as she's cooking she'll tell you what type of vitamin or mineral or antioxident is in each food..so cool. This way I know exactly what I'm eating. So I found this one recipe called Chicken Cacciatore and yet again it turned out really good.

If any of you ever want to join us, just let us know. We do it once a week and share yummy recipes with eachother. I've been able to add so many to my repertoire. And I would love to add some more.

Later that night Matthew and I got together with our good friends Lily and Joseph Miller for some Churrasco (skirt stake). We went to one of my favorite restaurants here in Puerto Rico called Metropol. Everything on the menu is good, but I love the Churrasco there, my favorite. Lily had mentioned that her electricity kept going out around the same time for three whole days, they figured out that the electric system at their place heats up and shuts off around the same time each day so they couldn't use the stove to cook or anything requiring electricity. The weird thing is that after the electricity came back their television screen would turn on but it would only show the picture in black and white. Same channels, just black and white. So we invited them and their three kids over to our place to watch a movie. The kids decided to watch Meet the Robinsons. Great choice, we had a good time. Thanks Lily.

What Beautiful Sites

This past weekend Matthew and I didn't really have anything planned, but we still wanted to get out and enjoy the island. We decided to go to El Morro and fly a kite. We found a free parking spot and on our way to the fort I took some quick pictures of the beautiful buildings in Old San Juan. The bold the colors really make this little town shine.



The wind was incredible, I could hardly wait to get that kite in the air. We bought this kite a while back at Costco and flew it only twice on the beach. It is beautiful and flies really nice. I quickly put it together and as soon as I let it go it was in the air.



Poor Matthew could barely keep his hands around the other end, the string kept releasing on its own. Then suddenly the kite snapped right off the string because the wind was so strong. Matthew dropped the string and started chasing after it. The kite just kept rolling faster and further away from him. I just stood there laughing and couldn't believe what had just happend. Finally a guy on the other side of the field saw the kite coming towards him and Matthew trying to catch up to it. He caught the kite (thankgoodness!) and gave it to Matthew. After a few other attempts, the kite finally gave out and snapped in half. By this time Matthew was fed up and just gave up.

So we put the kite away and just enjoyed the rest of our day. I took advantage and shot a few photos of the fort...








This cemetery is righ next to the fort. Not a bad place to be buried huh? Right on the beach.

And I love this water fountain across the street from the fort, you always see kids getting wet in it. I wanted to go in there so bad because it was hot out, Matthew dared me too, but I was too chicken. Maybe next time, or not.


When I got home I took a dip in my pool instead and we had a little BBQ to end our day. We made shrimp skewers and rice and beans and a salad to accompany them. They turned out really good.

Until next time.

≈Valentine's Day Get Away≈

This year's Valentine's Day was probably my favorite yet. We had an awesome day from start to finish. Matthew and I took off early Saturday morning to meet up with our friends Kristen and Rudi and drove to Fajardo (Northeast tip of Puerto Rico)

...to take a small boat out to an island called Icacos. Icacos is actually the name of a fruit that grows on this little island. I've never tried it, but we were told that it doesn't grow as much as it used to a while back.

The boat ride was perfect because it only took about 10 min. to reach the island.

There it is at a distance.


It was paradise! The water was crystal clear, the skies were blue, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. I was in beach heaven. We arrived around 10:15am and from then on enjoyed every minute of our time there. Matthew was happy not to get sea sick.






After finding a good spot, we relaxed for a while and then started looking for some shells or whatever we could find to add to our shell collection. We found these beautiful polished shells that I've never seen anywhere else in Puerto Rico. They were easy to spot because they just glittered in the sun, but they were a little rare we only found a few.

While looking for shells, I found this crab, he was so cute.

Here we are taking a dip in the water. The water was a little cold, but after a couple of minutes it felt so refreshing. I love how clear it was, like we were in a swimming pool.


Kristen and Rudi brought this fun game called Bocce Ball. Here we are playing. It was girls against guys and of course the girls won.



I was really excited about the snorkeling because we heard it was really good out here, but it took us a while before we could find a pretty good spot. And when we did, we had to head back because our pick-up time was getting close. But it was really enjoyable nonetheless. We were able to see a lot of cool looking fish, I wish I had an underwater camera to show you.

We saw some really nice boats around the island. It made me want one. Here are some of my favorites




and here is the Fajardo lighthouse, we were able to just barely see it from Icacos.

Before our boat arrived we had time to lay out and dry off and then we took some quick last minute pictures before leaving. I couldn't believe how tan I got. It'll last for a good while.







Our boat arrived around 4:30pm, these are some pictures from the way back.




There's a small park by the docks with cute little eateries where you can buy pinchos, piña coladas, ice cream, and other snacks. One of them has these beautiful parrots, and the owner allows you to take pictures with them. They were so bright and colorful.




Such cute little birds



After getting a snack we headed home, but we were still hungry when we arrived so we decided to go home, shower and meet up again for dinner. We ate at J.H. Yee's an Asian Bistro in Isla Verde.

The food was so delicious, best asian food on the island. And the waiters gave all the ladies in the restaurant a red rose. We felt so special.

It was the perfect way to end the night. I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day as well.