Marvelous Monday; so tired edition.

We traveled for near 18 hours yesterday. We left our wonderful little beach town at 7 AM {6:00 AM our time here in CA} and landed at SFO around 12:30 AM which is 1:30 AM Costa Rica time...but I didn't get into bed until 2 AM so let's tack on another hour and a half. Those 19 and a half or so hours involved a very convoluted passport-check-baggage claim-baggage re-check-customs-re-entry through security-two tram rides-approximately one mile covered on foot-and a combined total of almost two hours in a plane on the tarmac-ordeal that lasted about 4 hours total in and around the Miami airport; I never want to go to Miami again. All's well that ends well, though, and we;re all safely home; but thank goodness for no more standing around holding bags in an airport!
I'll do my marvelous five and maybe a few of the last few day pictures. I don't want to go through a mega-post right now so I'm trying to space it out over a few days you'rewelcomeverymuchdearreader.

Here goes:
1. Yesterday is over {see: above}.
2. I had a GREAT trip, even though it's a really busy season of my life and I wasn't thrilled about having to go.
3. I'm getting married in 26 days!
4. My great friend Becs is coming to visit me this weekend!!
5. My doggy is still super cute {though very odoriferous} after a week away.


Tori took some great beach pictures in the last few days so these are a mix of hers and mine.

More high tide

and low tide to compare. I loved low tide because you could walk out forever and low tide was great because you could just get right into the water; I liked it all!

The top of the coconut palm

to the bottom

and what comes in between!

These coconut palms ran across the beach and the gate to our school is right behind them.

The bright colors and pictures made me smile every day.

Speaking of, this is the little courtyard of the Intercultura in Sámara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

A few more monkey shots, because I love 'em.

A fun plant.

A 7-11 style store, The Green Iguana; lovely murals.

Some horses that we walked past on a hike we did {the hike will be tomorrow's post}.

The sunset as we ended our hike.

Not an oft occurring sight considering that it was usually overcast/rainy by this time of afternoon.

A few clouds to make it even prettier.

Our humble abode...a bit messy.

Our hallway {it was just our room, this hallway and the ladies room; spacious, though}.

Our in-the-shower light switch which really concerned Tori, though as long as it wasn't an electric shower, I was cool.

We went crazy our last night a got tatoos.

Tori's wrist one looks like the one I got on my hip.

Don't worry, they're henna, we didn't get that crazy.

The surf school we frequented had this outdoor table set-up which includes electricity.

As well as this super-cute outdoor shower.
I also really liked how many signs like these

were all over the place in Sámara, not just our school. Where we stayed there is a lot of awareness of the environment and efforts to maintain things and take care of the place => awesome!

The view from lunch on our last full day; we really liked this place seeing as how you could dig your feet into the sand and enjoy your lunch/dinner/whatever {plus they had wi-fi [how crazy is that there's wi-fi while at a beach front restaurant in Costa Rica? Hella crazy, that's how.]!}.

This was our second mama Tica Marta and her perritos.

Eating breakfast with her on Friday {I think} in our fabulous outdoor dining room.
Now that I look back, this is a mega-post, but it's all of the random pictures that I want to include. Tomorrow I'll put up pictures from our beautiful hike and I think that I'll be even-steven by then.
Happy Monday y'all!
xoxo, natty ♥

On our way home...

We're at the airport now...Miami here we come; then SFO...St. Christopher help us travel!
xoxo, natty ♥

Last night.

It's our last night and I'm writing this from a beach front restaurant to the sound of the waves. It's been a great week but I am looking forward to going home, even if it does mean going back to reality {wedding planning & the dreaded work}; there are some very dear faces and four certain paws that I've been missing.
We did it up canopy-tour-zip-lining style this morning...I was very apprehensive on the first platform because it came at the end of a rickety bridge {we were clamped in the whole time}, but I soon got over my slight vertigo and really enjoyed it.
I'll have plenty more pictures when I get home later this week...get pumped; yo.
Buenas noches and wish us luck with the traveling tomorrow.
xoxo, natty ♥

Police Blotter & lots of fotos.

I have some fun animal pictures to put up and a quick update of our day yesterday, but as I was checking the Mercury News website, as I do even when on vaycay {I can unplug myself whenever I want, even at home, so I have no qualms with staying connected thousands of miles away if I'd like to...or, since I'm even mentioning it, do I? Oh well...anyway.} As I do every once and a while I checked out the Police Blotter this morning.
Having to report something to the police can be traumatic and I'm not making light of the serious offenses posted, but since I try to find humor in things, there are always some listings on the blotter that strike me as notable. It sometimes seems like they're fake. For example: 

Why go in to steal beer more than once at the same place? What can you possible do with a surveillance camera and a fire extinguisher?

What specifically constitutes a "road rage incident"? How is a pole run down? What type of pole; telephone? How did the woman in the police station get a call about her stolen phone? Did the assailants know that she was at the station? How would they know that?

"Prowlers" makes me think of raccoons...and a foot chase? Boys...I'm assuming.

There's not much to say about this one, I think it speaks for itself. However...the nerve of some people; a collie?!

On a more relevant note, this guy

showed up on the cables outside of our home two days ago.

He certainly wasn't shy about sharing his...ahem business with us.
Also, since the other shots weren't close up

here's a view of one of the little crustaceans. 
As well as our intrepid

kayaking guides. ¡Muchas gracias hombres por no dejarnos en el agua!
A group 

that came to Costa Rica.
The pavilion at our school...

and the view from the sand...perfection.
Flowers...

that are on our walk from home to school.
Not to forget my favorite part of the day...

when the dogs roam around like they own the place.

The silver guy kept leaning up against me and the other dude was happy gnawing on his stick.

I'm super red from the sun and salt and shiny from the humidity.

Happy beach dogs ♥.
I've said it already this week but if you're still here at this point in the post, you're quite a dear and patient reader. Today we're going on a nature hike and I'll be the happiest girl on the island if I see a sloth. Tomorrow we're going zip-lining and I'll probably be the most nervous girl on the island, but I'm determined!
Happy Friday y ¡pura vida!
xoxo, natty ♥

Kayaking and hermit crabs.

I'm eating a chicken empanada on our school's patio which is oh-so-close to the sand and water. I'll wash it down with a piece of tres leches cake and local coffee. Life's great. Our school has these ladies that come and sell snacks during the class breaks. I've resisted until today and I regret I hadn't given in earlier; ha!
Yesterday we went kayaking. 

There's an island about a mile away and we left two-by-two at 7:30. 

The water was calm but we still got help from the guides who pushed us through the surf.

Tori and I went together.

A four legged creature directed our activities.

Tori took the back of our kayak which is where the stronger arms go

which worked out well for old muscle here!

The view was pretty easy on the eyes as we slid into our private beach.
There were lots of little shell-covered crawlies on the beach.

It looked like the sand was moving, there were so many of them.

The sand next to the water was super pretty and I definitely spent a good hour just sitting in the surf since it's so warm here too.

Our guides made a beautiful spread of fruit for us on the back of a kayak.

When they threw the scraps up into the side of the hill next to us, these guys came to scavenge. 
Also, to add to the signs around town that I put up yesterday, this gem

is right down our beach. They're actually a pretty legitimate, clean looking on-the-beach massage parlor. I probably won't take advantage of their offer, though; I'm perfectly "ok" with where I'm at now since Costa Rica was a place I'd never been.
¡Pura vida!
xoxo, natty ♥

Aye ¡que cansada estoy!

Aye, how tired I am! Yesterday afternoon we surfed. I wasn't going to do it, but the kids talked me into it. I'm so glad I went! It was much easier than I thought. I had surfed once about 10 years ago in San Diego but don't remember much so yesterday was kind of a first. We had to stretch before we started which was fine but we also had to wear their rashgaurds which were oft used and pretty smelly...no one had thought to bring one. 
This was the outdoor gym when we arrived at the surf school... 

pumping...wood?
We were in groups of three or so and our instructors were very nice. 

They made us practice paddling in the sand. 

Over and over again. 

I kept getting sand into that rashgaurd.
Our teacher was named "gato" which means "cat" in English. 

Show us your eyes!

He told us it's because of his eyes.
The water here is oh-so-lovely and bath-tub-temperature {unlike the showers, which are cool} and the waves are gentle so I was up and surfing in no time.

Booty shot...remember, this is for the sake of remembering.

I had a few little spills but the hardest part, for me, was controlling/directing my board through the waves {for this, I woke up sore this morning}.

By the end, I looked like a pro semi-pro learner. 

I rewarded myself with a coconut!
Our lunch yesterday was quite nice too. I try not to take pictures of meals; I have a weird thing about knowing that food can't always look the way it's supposed to...anyway, I've been doing it here.
This is casado which is typical in Costa Rica {I think I may have mentioned this, but I'm too lazy to read the last posts...sorry folks}; beans, plátanos fritos {fried plantains}, rice and a protein {I had the fish yesterday and it was ¡rico!}.

Our restaurant was on the water and here was our view

as well as some

pretty pots/vases/urns they had sitting around...lovely!
We had a bonfire with the chicas last night and made s'mores on the beach...I guess I can't complain ;)
Today, we went kayaking. That's also what's contributing to my exhaustion. I'm sitting in the school office right now while everyone else is in class and I'm glad that I'm not taking a class, I wouldn't be able to stay awake!
I'll give y'all the kayaking post & pictures tomorrow to cut down on another mega post.
¡Pura vida!
xoxo, natty ♥
PS
We get married in one month!

Roosters/Gallos.

This morning I woke up to my alarm. Before my alarm, though, it was gallos {roosters}. I hadn't woken up to these guys since the days when Mr. Mikey was in El Sal {see: some point in the über post I hashed out yesterday} and I would visit him in the rural campo where he lived. The gallos aren't the ony creatures roaming around, I saw a cat last night, iguanas are here and there {in trees, on roofs; I love it}, we have geckos in our outdoor dining room, dogs are EVERYWHERE and apparently there are monkeys swinging about above us. 
It's lovely.
That's all for now, maybe more pictures later today. My coworker is kind enough to let me use her ipad to upload my pictures to photobucket {it has this cool adapter thing that connects to the power plug and you just stick in your memory card}; she's in class right now and I haven't taken anything since yesterday anyway, so...you're spared!
¡ciao!
xoxo, natty ♥