Scuba Diving--Cabo San Lucas

There are a few things we learned when we went scuba diving in Mexico.
1- You can buy anything in Mexico for cheaper than in the US.
2- When your Dive master says he can catch fish with his bare hands--believe him.
3- In Mexico, even though we are haven't dove in 3 years, we can still dive down 60 ft.
4- A $15 disposable camera without a flash still takes decent pictures from 60 ft down.
5- You can't smile or look cute with a regulator in your mouth
6- After diving in warm, clear water with friendly fish--we are HOOKED!

Jimmy with a puffer fish our divemaster caught

Me with a blowfish
Even though we look dreadful--we're really happy!

Puffer!

Sting ray in our face

Jimmy holding a blowfish

Jimmy actually ran out of air down below and somehow remembered how to buddy breathe. If you haven't tried this yet...I definately recommend it. It's such a rush.

Surfing-Capitola

There is a little hidden jewel in a small town outside of Santa Cruz. It's a cove where you can surf some small waves, be away from the crowded lineups, and learn new moves while trying to improve surfing skills without stealing anyone's wave. The vive is great. Capitola--we will miss you! Surfing one last time before moving--here are the pictures:

Here's me

Here's Jimmy
Jimmy again

Jimmy, Nikki, and Me. We will miss you Nikki!

I love this picture because the janitor here (the guy with the paddle board who looks like a janitor when he catches waves) dropped in on Jimmy (yellow board) and you can see me (blue board) dropping in on him (and him yelling at me). Oh the courtesy...

Sweet shot of me and Jimmy--can't believe we caught this baby wave

Gonna miss this!

Jimmy lookin' good

Jimmy and I agree; of all the watersports we enjoy, nothing beats the feeling of catching a wave and taking it for a ride as long as you can.

Mexican Riviera Cruise

We've been talking about going on a cruise for the past 3 years and finally did it. All I can say is I can't believe it took us so long. It was incredible--especially for the cost. The food, entertainment, ship's amenities, and people were fantastic. Of course Mexico was a blast and reminded us of the DR. It was relaxing, adventurous, new, and fantastic (I keep saying fantastic mocking the cruise director becuase he said "fantastic" every 5 seconds!)

Dinner! We tried duck, lamb, lobster, escargot and a dozen desserts. Amazing!
We went scuba diving for our first time since getting certified. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever done in my life. The water was crystal clear and our divemaster caught puffer and blowfish for us to hold and touch. We pet different sting rays, saw eels and all sorts of tropical fish. Jimmy ran out of air underwater and remembered his training from 3 years ago and continued his dive, buddy breathing with the dive master. I can't wait to go again!

In Cabo we also did the Zip line excursion. There were 8 zip lines and the longest was over a half a mile long across a huge cliff. It went 50 mph.

We were super sweaty! It was so hot! Jimmy also got to meet Pete Rose who chickened out at the last minute from going on the zip lines.

Jimmy tearing it up at Karaoke

The casino. Nope--didn't spend a dime.

If you've served a foreign mission you know that Coke in another country is so much better! Why? Because they use real sugar and there is nothing like that cold, glass bottle against your lips on a hot day. Jimmy LOVED this moment!

I loved this mural! And I matched!

Puerto Vallarta city

If I could capture the smell here I would. It made us very nostalgic for the DR. It's humidity + sweat + diesel fuel. Sounds weird but we loved every minute of it!

Sunset in Puerto Vallarta

I thought this sign was funny: Do not introduce the fingers

Meet Natalie. We hung out with her and Jen at this pool a lot. She and Jen stuck alcohol onto the ship in a listerine mouthwash bottle and this contact saline solution bottle. I had to snap a shot of her in action.

Pina Coladas in our room

Eating escargot for the first time--not too bad

One of the formal nights

They would fold our towels every day into some cool creature. This was my favorite--the lobster.

Playing mini golf

This was the group we ate dinner with every night and hung out with a lot. So fun!

Our first 10 minutes on the cruise ship in Longbeach--ready to go!

Trip 2: Ohio and CT

We went to the Edwards family reunion and Jimmy got to meet that side of the family for the 1st time since we've been married. We went and toured the Kirtland sites, hung out, went boating, and to the amusement park for a week. It was SO FUN and grandma rented the best house on this peninsula on Lake Erie. It was called "the glass house" and we had a gorgeous view of the lake from the front to the back.

My dad scored some VIP tickets from his friend at work and for Jimmy's bday we went to a Yankees game.

So in the Dominican Republic, everyone is OBSESSED with baseball. It's the one way that they can escape poverty. To compare it to something that American's obsess over, it would be like comparing it to--hmmm--I can't even think of something we're so passionate about. So when Jimmy goes to baseball games, he brings our dominican flag, signs with dominican spanish on them, and shouts dominican slang to the dominican players. So far he's gotten a ball thrown to him from Melky Cabrera, Neyosi, Jeter (although we dropped it and another guy got it--and Jeter isn't dominican para que sepas), and Robison Cano. This is a picture of one happy boy below holding his dominican flag. He just got a ball thrown to him from Cano and signed by Neyosi. Benefits of serving a mission...

These were our seats. Yeah--it was really nice. We had unlimited drinks, buffet, and our own waiter who doted on us the whole time. We didn't even know people actually ate steak, lobster, sushi, and shrimp at baseball games. We feasted!

Here is one of the signs that in Dominican means "Neosi is my homie." When Neosi came up and gave Jimmy a ball in front of like 30 kids who were begging for one, everyone was like "what in the world does your sign say?" and "how did you do that?"

We got to see my family off to Hill Cumorah Pageant which they are currently castmembers in. And just hang out and have fun. Good trip back east!

Trip 1: Vegas

As of June 1st, I had quit my job and we were off to have ourselves a last "hoorah" before we have kids and begin the life where school owns us again.

So we moved all our stuff to Vegas and are waiting to close on this house! Isn't she gorgeous!? Turns out, in Vegas, a mortgage is cheaper than rent! Go figure. We can't believe that we're going from a 700 sq. ft. apartment in Sacramento to a house in Vegas for hundreds of dollars less a month. So glad we got into UNLV. We're just hoping to close on this baby asap!

This is my favorite part of the house--a granite counter-top kitchen that isn't galley style!

We move ourselves out there in August sometime so Jimmy can attend orientation. I was able to transfer to the BBB in Vegas so things are looking good. And if you're in Vegas, we can't wait to come play!