My kitchen musings!

Over the last two weeks or so a couple of my favorite bloggers have posted some very poignant posts and it got me to thinking a bit about where I am in my life right now. They both reflected on the here and now and what is important to them NOW, which is unique because I think some people, myself included, are always looking to the future. You can check out their great posts here (This & That and Going Dad ) and take a minute to look through their sites as I think they are both fascinating and inspiring!

As i mentioned in a previous post celebrating our one year in Puerto Rico, I overlooked another very important milestone: the first birthday of my daughter, Gabriela Esperanza. Well, I did include her but i really didn’t include her. It’s amazing when you think about it that the little one year old sitting in my playroom grew up in my belly (well, if you’re a woman) and now here she is. I am still baffled by this. What is even more baffling is now that she’s 13 months old, she really is taking in the world around her and you can see it in her face everyday.

  
So I wonder…what do you think these little creatures are pondering when they are playing/exploring/discovering all on their own? Do you ever just stop and look at them? I’m in awe at all that she’s learning everyday. 

We give Gabi lots of time together but we also want her to be a bit independent and play by herself. This actually works out great because her little “playroom” is right off the kitchen so I can prep/cook lunch and dinner and still keep an eye on her. She’s becoming quite mobile and I’m thinking she’ll be walking very very soon! I can hear her cooing and oohing and when i peek around the corner to spy check on her, it’s so sweet to see her little eyes darting around and she’s actually talking to herself in her own unique “gibberish”. This little one makes me smile.

   
    
   

One year ago, my husband, 6 week old baby girl, my father, and I made the long plane trip to our new home: Puerto Rico! 

 

 
I can’t believe it’s been a year. These last two months, between Gabriela turning ONE and our one year anniversary in PR, have been truly amazing. I never imagined my life would be truly as wonderful as it is: a beautiful, healthy little daughter and living out one of our dreams on an island. 

 

When the husband had declared Puerto Rico as his first choice of duty stations we were still trying to get pregnant. We had experienced a miscarriage in 2012 and I think that really made us want to live our lives to the fullest and explore all that we can (CARPE DIEM) so why not Puerto Rico?!!? We didn’t ever think, however, that we’d have a newborn when this new adventure would begin but, hey, what can you do? 

 

I can honestly say that it was incredibly daunting moving to a ‘foreign’ country where we didn’t know the language (well, at least for my husband. I can talk some mean Spanglish and my father is fluent), didn’t know anyone, nor how the country worked. You hear stories of this and that but until you get there and experience it, the stories don’t matter.  We had some trying days but those days were met with meeting a lot of incredibly sweet and kind-hearted people who went out of their way to help us. In the year we have lived here I can honestly say that we have never come across anyone who was cold or nasty to us:the Puerto Rican people all have a big heart and (most) want to represent their county in the best possible way. Now their driving…that’s a whole other matter! 

As I mentioned, we heard different takes of life on the island ranging from someplace great to get out while you can. But the husband and I are ones to experience something for ouseselves and decide on our own. We went into this with an open mindset, knowing things would be strange and different but always looking for the positive (I’m still sometimes working on that positive bit myself) but so far, it’s been amazing. This really was the best decision we could have made! 

 

So in looking back, there’s no regrets about our decision to come here. Everyday we wake up and are thankful for a healthy family and for the beautiful place that we live in. Now that Gabi is getting bigger we wil be able to explore different places and do a lot more adventures so we are totally looking forward to this upcoming year and many more years after. 
I really can’t thank my husband enough for all his hard work and dedication to get us to where we are today. I know I’m a handful and then to welcome my father to live with us, we’ll, that takes a special man and I’m lucky to have found him. He always puts me ,and now Gabriela, first and we can’t appreciate him enough. 

  

  
Here’s to another great year! ¡Salud!

  
  
  
 

 

On a side note: there’s a hurricane heading our way: Hurricane Danny. This will be our first since moving here. Word around the campfire is that it’s going to dissipate once it hits the Carribean waters so we may not actually get anything. In case there is a storm surge (and by the way, we’re on the western side of the island) we have our hurricane party all set up with beach chairs and Don Q. But seriously, we’re hoping for nothing too bad but we really do need the rain as some cities are rationing water right now. I’ll keep you posted! 

Wow! Before I know it, it’s going to be 2016! When did life get so fast??!!??

Our weekend was pretty good. My dad and I did another group 5k run on Saturday. At 7 in the bloody morning. Ugh. I’m usually up around that time, which is no big deal, but being up AND ready to run 3.1 miles is a whole other story. Which is pretty funny because BG (before Gabi) we used to do 5k’s about twice a month. I never quite understood why races had to start at 7 or 8 in the morning. It’s like runners are dedicated or something. But there we were, with about 30 other crazy folk ready to run. For fun. 

I do think that knowing there were Bloody Mary’s waiting for us after really did help!

The run went great. I improved my time from last month and actually <GASP> had fun. I know, I know. Running can be fun. 

The rest of the day was pretty laid back, which was awesome! I’m so lucky to have found a husband who’s just as happy and content either exploring the island one or just laying low. Being constantly on the go would drive me crazy, I think. 

 

 
Sunday was spent working on the garden and doing some much needed landscaping around the house while the husband snuggled and napped with Gabriela. They’re too cute together. I’m sad to report, however, that I think it’s Iggy the Iguana who’s going after the young seedlings in the garden. The eggshells aren’t really deterring him, lol. We’re thinking maybe chicken wire around the perimeter to see if that’ll keep him out.  So this is going to be round 3, –no 4, oh crap, who’s counting– of planting my squash and beans. Sigh. Did I mention we’re still in a drought?

So dinner tonight: it’s grill time! Who says you can’t grill on a Monday night! **NOTE: no outdoor grilling as we had no charcoal; mom fail. So meat was ‘grilled’ indoors via a grill pan. Still great char! ** I’ll be doing some churrasco on the grill and doing up some soft shelled tacos using this Tyler Florence recipe. Have I ever mentioned I LOVE him??!!??