Pura Vida

Original Artwork by Mason 2/16/23 Have you ever lost something, and didn’t realize the hole it left until you found something to replace it? That was just the thing that happened to our family.   In early August we had to say good bye to Sahara, as it was time for her to cross the rainbow bridge. Michael, Blake and I had 15 years with her, and the boys had seven years with her. Of the boys, Hunter took her death hardest. He asked for weeks to dig her up and say good bye to her one last time. Afterwards, he continuously said we were getting a new dog to anyone and everyone, let it be known he has also said he’s getting a horse. We told him we were doing too much traveling for a dog, and we were not able to get a new dog right now.   Most recently, I heard the boys talking about the type of pets they wanted. Hunter said he wanted a dog, then he said he wanted a kitty for outside, since I am allergic to kitties. Grayson said he wanted a doggie. Mason said he wanted a dinosaur 🦕 ...

Each year I like to pick a word as a theme for the year.  I've been so  exhausted from last year, that it's taken a whole month into this year to figure out a theme for 2023!   In 2020 my word was actually a mantra - This is my year. I didn’t actually choose this, my gym chose it as their theme for the year, and I wore the shirt. As crazy as 2020 was it actually was my year. At the end of 2019, I found an amazing gym that supported it members through the craziness of 2020. It help me grow in many ways, and not just physically. There I solidified friends and create a community I still connect with through social media and in the gym when I come back to visit. In 2021, my word was Unstoppable. At the beginning of the year I found a planner and the word on the planner was Unstoppable. It seemed to fit coming out of 2020 and into a new year. Half way through 2021 we decided to move to Costa Rica, and haven't slowed down since. The word for 2022 was Connection. Starting the ye...