Puerto Vallarta daydreamin'

A week ago I was lounging by the poolside of our amazing time-share resort in gorgeous Puerto Vallarta. An entire week spent with the company of good friends, family and without any connection to email, text message, Twitter or school work. It had to be the most fun I've had in a long, long time

There are so many pictures and so many things I'd love to write about but instead I'm going to share the highlights with you ~ a collection of my favourite moments, things and people that made this past week absolutely amazing.

• The company of great friends! This wasn't the first vacation for Denise, Paisley and I but this is the first time we'd flown somewhere exotic and spent an entire week together. It wasn't just us ladies as Denise's dad and stepmom, their friends and their friends family members were all at the resort as the same time as us. It was like vacationing with one big family unit and the laughter never stopped.

• Lindo Mar Resort. This gem was introduced to me by Denise whose dad Bob is an owner. Amazing building, location, views, courteous staff, and overall good times. I only hope to be back again next year.

• Sunsets. The weather may not have been the best but we were given stunning sunsets night after night. Just couldn't beat it.

• The food. Oh my goodness! I forgot how much I loved and missed authentic guacamole, salsa picante and fresh mahi mahi tacos. I readily admit I went waaaayyyy over my allowed caloric intake each day.

• The drinks. Oh la! Tequila sunrise, pina colada, margarita, beer, tequila shots, daiquiris, wine and on and on and on!

• Puerto Vallarta. From the malacon to the flea market, Nuevo to Centro to Zona Romantica and finally Conchas Chinas (where we were located) Puerto Vallarta offered up cobbled streets, amazing shopping, hilarious characters, sand sculptures and amazing views.

• The ocean and beach. Some love the pristine beaches of the east coast of Mexico. I would have to say that I actually preferred our rocky beach. We hunted for shells, chased crabs the size of our hands and watched the whales come to cavort in the cove. The surf was always fierce sounding but strange enough it lulled me to sleep. It's too quiet back home in Edmonton now at night. 

• Things that remind me of home. You can't quite make it out but there hangs a Saskatchewan Roughrider flag from the balcony above. Apparently the Mexicans love to market to sports lovers who vacation in their city (smart move methinks). And finally a photo with a former professor from my Mount Royal University days (I had arranged a brunch with Jim when we arrived but this photo was taken one day when we 'bumped' into one another on the street. Just. Like. Home).

If I close my eyes I can hear the surf crashing on the rocks outside our room and the happy hour bell dinging back in PV. I'm already looking forward to going back next year!

Preparing for the next adventure....

Ha, it's true! I am finally going on an adventure (I usually go on one a year which at least lends some credibility to the title of my blog).

Next Friday I jet off to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for seven glorious days of sunshine, surf, laughter and no schoolwork. So. Can't. Wait!

Curling for kicks

This Saturday I shook off school work for a few hours and got my butt out for my third Curlapalooza. This is an annual curling bonspiel that my work organizes to get people out mixing, mingling, having fun and engaging in one of the most fun winter sports (in my opinion) - curling!

 We had a sell-out again this year, 64+ people out slipping, sliding and strategizing against their opponents. It was so much fun and I always love to see the faculty, students and staff having fun outside of the traditional Monday-Friday silos.

My very happy un-birthday

Well I celebrated a milestone yesterday ~ 35 years old. Sigh. A year ago if you asked me what I'd be doing for my 35th I would've told you that I was renting a hall, hiring a DJ and doing my birthday up in style. But as the date approached I just felt like doing absolutely nothing. I didn't really mention my birthday was coming up, I didn't plan anything elaborate to celebrate, I just kept it under wraps.

Thankfully I have fabulous family and friends that dragged me out of the house to celebrate in some fashion. Biggest thanks to my parents who drove from Saskatchewan to celebrate and my friend Courtney who came all the way from Calgary. Wow, just....wow. So amazing.

And huge thanks to my roomie Natalie who organized the friends and grabbed a table at the local. It was an amazing Tuesday for me and it really was one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time. Thank you all for your texts, tweets, phone calls and emails. I so appreciate you all.

In search of snow...

This winter has been the barest I can ever recall. We cobbled together a skiff of snow for the holidays to make it feel somewhat like Christmas but it has been bare, brown and warm'ish all winter long.

I was in Calgary last week taking a block-week intensive elective and when I finally emerged from books, papers, presentations and procrastination I felt like heading to the mountains in search of some "real" snow.

After celebrating little Miss C's first birthday on the Saturday, I headed to Banff with a familiar character (can you recognize Will anyone?) to celebrate our friend Amy's birthday. We had a fabulous visit, homemade pizza and wine and on Sunday, the best part of all......cross-country skiing outside of Lake Louise. There was a lot of uphill climbing and then some downhill spills but we had so much fun and it felt good to be out gliding through the snow again.

I think I'll be heading west more often if winter doesn't show up properly soon. The lure of snow is just too great! Thanks again Dave, Amy and Will for a fun Banff adventure.