Friday, March 4, 2011

I’m Home, Okay?

I love vacations for all of the typical reasons:

  • Watching sea turtles mating while on the catamaran cruise and seeing all of those Girls Gone Wild b*tches throw their young, taut bodies around yelling, “Oh, yeah! Turtle sex in Costa Rica!” (Chris K., you really should have been there). No, I’m not jealous of those twenty somethings with the boobs, tattoos and legs up to their earlobes. Carefree, single and reeking of possibility and potential. Not at all. Bet they can’t run a mile.
  • Trying to keep my kids away from the adults mating in the hot springs pool
  • Drinking cerveza at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Never a reason not too, really.
  • Sleeping in the same room with my kids for days on end. I can just lean over and swat them if need be.
  • Not running and not worry about not running because, well, there was cerveza

But really what I love about vacations is that you can re-invent yourself. It allows you the time and space to take a breather, to step back from real life and to ask yourself WTF? WTF have I been doing? Am I doing WTF I want to be doing? WTF was I thinking? Do I need to make changes, and if so, WTF do those look like?  I am happy dong what I do every day and if not, WTF?  Sometimes it takes getting away to get some perspective.

Do you do that on vacation? Soul search about changes you could make? Or maybe it’s just me and everyone else is taking in the scenery.

I promised pictures. I have 1,987 so I am picking out the highlights just for you. Let me say this. Costa Rica was incredible. Seriously. I could rave and rave, but more than anything I loved the feel of the country, the lush landscape, the smiling people. It is so simple, but every one is NICE. I don’t use he word “nice” much because it is boring and stupid, but seriously, these people define NICE. Pleasant, accommodating, simple, eager to please, content.

Can’t I get just one stinking picture of myself without someone’s bloody fry in there? Karma will bite you in the ass for sure.

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Fresh off the red eye flight and taking a 3.5 hour hilly, windy drive to the Arenal Volcano. If Emma looks like she is about to hurl, she is.

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Beautiful countryside on the Costa Rican Highlands:

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I seriously do not know what is wrong with him:

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Our hotel pool with great volcano view.

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Me posing with volcano. I made him steam.

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The love nest. Where it all goes down.

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I love this father/daughter picture:

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Getting ready to zip line. We look like four penis heads. Purple and blue tips.

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SUAZL!!

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Ken post-ziplining. Looks like he went coal mining or rolled in some coffee grounds.

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At the lava flow of the volcano. Too cloudy to see the top.

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Manuel Antonio Beach. Clearly I slept through the jumping in unison class.

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Monkey love:

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My favorite picture ever. Love Mr. Snaggletooth. These are capuchin monkeys which are all over the park/beach.

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View from our hotel. Stupid blue skies, warm sun and Pacific Ocean. Ho hum.

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Moi above the Pacific. Eff you girls gone wild.

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Manuel Antonio Beach. Paradise found.

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Catamaran trip:

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Avocados on steroids. Best avocadoes I’ve EVER eaten.

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Running? Oh yeah running. I did run. Once. Down a huge hill to the beach and back up again. And it killed me. Probably the steepest run I’ve ever done. But I did it and my hip liked it. Now I’m ready for Heartbreak Hill. See? No more training necessary for this thing called Boston.

I’ve been up since 3:00 a.m., so it will be good to sleep in my own bed. Missed you guys.

SUAR

71 comments:

  1. Welcome back! I love the jumping pictures. And MONKEYS.

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  2. yay!!! welcome back and love the pics!!!

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  3. Finally you are back. Please tell me your soul searching will not halt you talking about farts. or butts or anything else gross. Because I will have no where else to turn for my daily laugh.

    If i time warp to be a little kid you can so adopt me and take me to Costa Rica.

    If i were a better person I would be happy for you getting time to take your family on vacation. But I am not. So I won't.

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  4. Welcome back..what beautiful pictures!

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  5. ahhh yes!! Recaps! I love this. Its looks like a great time to reconnect and revamp. So happy for you.
    ;)
    LC

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  6. Glad u r back, great pics. Omg the monkeys or whatever u callem, so cute. I would like an avacado now.

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  7. Welcome back!!!
    love the pics!
    your son cracks me up!

    now go do some sit ups clearly you need it

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  8. Amber, no need to worry. All the soul searching in the world would never take me away from my beloved farts, poop and general crudeness. It's what makes me authentic, right?

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  9. Welcome back-love the pics!

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  10. Oh God I need a vacation! And abs like yours!

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  11. Welcome home SUAR! You certainly have been missed. Love the pics and the captions.

    Not sure if you have seen this, but I thought this was right up your alley... welcome back to blogosphere

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4TFTJStlxg

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  12. SUCH a beautiful family, Beth!!!

    And that bed!!! Wow...

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  13. Can't even know how much we missed you!

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  14. Wow. Those pictures are absolutely gorgeous!!! Glad you're home safe and sound. :)

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  15. Missed you too. Love your pics. It's been minus WTF here weeks on end now. Seeing warm places is good. I miss running. And the girls gone wild are jealous about your abs.

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  16. Keith - yeah I rubbed my abs on their tattoos and soft breats just for good measure.

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  17. You're back! Yay! And you brought me an avocado!

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  18. Looks like you guys had fun. Just what you needed!

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  19. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great pics of Coast Rica, The Fam, your abs, blah, blah, blah, but if you did not take pics of the wild chicks and their young taut bodies you will be in big trouble. Big. Oh, okay, I get it, you are going to email them directly.

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  20. Ahh. This is awesome. I love your "I'm flexing my abs but looking like i'm just smiling and chillin' pose" . classic. :) Your kids look just like you! Or do people say differently? Fabulous pictures. Gorgeous family. i'm so glad you got away from it all Beth! You Look Great! We missed you. ;)

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  21. Great pix! Glad you had a blast! I wish you'd brought me back an avocado :P

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  22. I want to go to there! Looks like u all had a "nice" time :)

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  23. yay you're back! I'm new to the blogging world but have been lurking/stalking you for about a month now (GAWD, did I just type that?)

    Anyways... love the pics!

    I love traveling! I need to add Costa Rica to my list

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  24. You had me at Monkey Love!!!!!!!

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  25. Just added "obtain SUAR Abs" to the bucket list.

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  26. GGW b*tches don't have your fabulous abs and guns.

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  27. I will second, third and fourth the other comments. Tell us about your abs. I am always interested in the tips to gain and maintain abs post-babies.

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  28. Glad to have you back!

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  29. speaking of turtle sex....i had a professor in college (she taught the psych of sex classes) whose husband would call/text/shout to her wheneever animals having sex was on tv or something.

    i need a vacay like yours. or like the girls gone wild ladies ;)

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  30. Absolutely incredible pictures!!!

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  31. Your trip looks so incredible and someday when I grow up and have a husband and kids, I want to have a family that has this much fun together!

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  32. Avo's, Love Avo's, and I love your ab's

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  33. Your trip pics look AMAZING! Glad you had a good time.

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  34. Welcome home! Looks and sounds like an incredible trip. Glad you enjoyed!

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  35. Great pictures! Glad you had a great time!

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  36. I REALLY want to go there!

    Your son REALLY cracks me up :D

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  37. Welcome back! Great pics...you have a beautiful family...and they have a hot mom :)
    I don't comment often (time constraints), but I read pretty much every post! Glad you're back.

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  38. Ok that bed...WOW!!!!!!

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  39. Looks fabulous! I think I love your kids...is that creepy? Please leave me some "last 6 weeks of marathon training advice" on my blog. I will give you free chipotle. I even mention lettuce poop in my post. You may enjoy it.

    unprofessionalrunner.blogspot.com

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  40. SOOOOOO glad you are back!!! But SOOOOO glad you had a great time. Thank you for the pics. Who cares about the Girls Gone Wild bodies, I and everyone else would rather have your body. Your abs are to die for. And thats about what I'd have to do to get mine to look like yours! Cant wait to start gettin my daily dose of SUAR again.

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  41. Looks like a great trip!

    I see you jumping in that photo, you're just not getting as high as everyone else.

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  42. NICE!! I love that getting perspective and re-inventing-ness of vacations too . . . I too have ab envy. Since I'm catholic, I will give up my sorry-ass abs for lent.

    Good to have SUAR back, for selfish reasons!! Need a daily dose of motivation for my 1st marathon april 30th in nash-vegas.

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  43. Glad you are back! And glad you had a great trip. The pictures are awesome and it looks marvelous (says she who is buried alive in feet of snow).
    And those girls gone wild got NOTHING on you. :)

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  44. Kovas. You are right. I jumped, but too early. I need to go to photo jumping school.

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  45. wow... those views... AMAZING!! I love the monkey picture! :) It looks like a great vacation! :)

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  46. Looks fantastic. I can't afford Costa RIca at the moment, but I am now taking a vacation. Because you told me to. See? You have this amazing influence in my life.

    PS: Welcome back!

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  47. D*mn woman, your arms and abs are amazing! Share the killer workout please. :) I'd never thought of going to Costa Rica, but it looks fab in your photos. Glad you had a good time. I always re-think my life while on vacation. I suspect it has something to do with getting sleep and not doing much I don't want to do, shifts the perspective and opens the mind to options....and then there's the fun job or house "hunting" in favorite vacation locations. Welcome back!

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  48. Girls Gone Wild have nothing on you!!
    Give me those toned abs and your running ability anyday. Who needs perky boobs anyway??

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  49. Costa Rica looked like it treated you all well! Awesome pics. You are looking very buff, btw.

    I did a summer project in C.R. during college. Was up on one of those mountains in a little village, surrounded by coffee plantations. It was great--they really are nice hosts.

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  50. Just when I was going to go and post a pic of my svelte abs... you post AMAZING pics and your abs. UGH!

    Great pics... and NICE abs... thanks for showing me up! :)

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  51. Beautiful pictures! I'm totally jealous of your vacation...*starts planning trip to Costa Rica* and welcome back!

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  52. I missed you suar!

    Girls gone wild? Ef that! Look at them abs!

    Hot mama do sho!

    I'm jealous of your vacation!

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  53. Looks like a bast! And I'm not sure if I believe if those are really your kids....your stomach looks like a 20 year old's.

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  54. My favorite picture is the one of your son imitating the girls gone wild... who taught him that shirt trick? What an awesome place! So glad you had a great time :) And happy to see you back.

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  55. It's just as well your bed had a curtain around it if your kids were in the same room. You wouldn't have wanted to destroy their innocence.

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  56. Hola!
    Love, love that your family went to Costa Rica. Love that place.

    And girrrl, you're lookin' RIPPED in your Athleta clothing! Holy Dang!! Love both the hanna run short and that top;-)

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  57. Love the pictures! And now I kind of want a pet monkey.

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  58. Oh, I want to go there! Right now! Never mind that we are interviewing candidates for our program next week, or that I have my own interview for a doctoral program the following week, and to heck with the landscaping and remodeling I hope to get done this spring - what I really want is to go lie on a beach! Wah! :) Oh, well - glad you had a good time. Can we have more photos? Please? So we can live vicariously through you???

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  59. Love it! Please take me with you next time, k?

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  60. I love the monkey pictures and have serious vacation envy. So glad you got to get away with your family.

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  61. Welcome home, Beth! Looks like the time of your life - those kiddos will remember that trip for eternity!

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  62. So beautiful! Thanks for sharing - looks like it was an awesome vacation!

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  63. Welcome back! Those pictures are ridiculously gorgeous and the captions are pretty hilarious too. I wish I had a volcano and tropical oceanside in my backyard. No fair.

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  64. I can only assume your son's problems are from his father's side...

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  65. Moooonkeys! Why are they always so dang funny? And so naughty too?

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  66. OH the avocados! They probably fueled you up that hill, eh? bliss!!!

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  67. Was excited to see your son representing JMU! Harrisonburg VA is my hometown and JMU is my place of employment. Love the pictures and your blog!

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  68. are you from VA? love your son's JMU tees! my alma mater!

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  69. How did I miss this precious post!?

    Those monkeys made me laugh, especially snaggle tooth monkey.

    Those girls gone wild aint got nothin' on you, girl! (did I just say AINT)??

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