San Jose del Cabo Mexico Vacation; Staying at the Worldmark Coral Baja

Holah! Como estas? 

Estoy bien!

Today I'm starting to blog about our vacation to San Jose del Cabo, and our stay  at the Worldmark Coral Baja Resort. It was a great trip! As I have mentioned previously, I haven't traveled much and this was my first trip out of the U.S. I got my first stamp in my passport!

(and how adorable is my carry on below from modcloth?)

I surprised to see that much our view from the plan, after leaving San Jose, California, looked like this. Desert mountains, and ocean seeming to pop up right off of the cliffs. Oh, we also jumped ahead an hour during our flight.

Getting off the plane and arriving at the airport was a little chaotic, as the timeshare people grab you right away (yes we got suckered in to going one, but we got some free stuff in exchange). After setting up the appointment with the time share guy, we went out to find the drivers we had arranged ahead of time to pick us up. That was also chaotic, as there are cab drivers everywhere! All calling out if your ride is here, or trying to be "helpful" in helping you find your ride. Luckily our drivers found us, and it wasn't to long before we were on our way.

One thing that was surprising to me, was the extreme difference between the resorts, and the surround areas. A lot of the area was still run down from the hurricane that hit last year. The picture below, was just right next to our resort. Apparently there used to be a trailer park there, but the hurricane completely wiped it out.

The lobby in our resort was beautiful! When we arrived for check-in we were greeted with a margarita and a Pacifico! Reality check: we are in Mexico!!

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the Coral Baja Resort. We have stayed at Worldmark and RCI resorts before, mostly just in Oregon, once in Carlsbad, but I am in love with the Coral Baja!

We got up to our room, set our things down, and then of course, I had to take pictures of everything--to the jesting of my husband, oh well, I don't care. I loved the decor of our room!

My husband thinks I'm weird for taking a picture of the tiles in the shower, but, I mean--hello? I love birds! I also love art and thought these were really cool.

The first of my crappy mirror pics. I loved this mirror though! My favorite shade of blue :)

The main room.

Frida. Love.

The view from our balcony!

Another view from our balcony.

Another view of our room, and my hubby :)

All settled in and ready for vacation!!

Once we checked out our room and got things unpacked, we headed down to the resort restaurant for lunch. We had been flying since 6 am that morning, so needless to say when we arrived to our room close to 3 pm, we were pretty hungry.

There were cute little birds that hung out all over our resort. We got to watch them while we ate.

Joel had a combination plate.

I had fish tacos, of course. They are my favorite; and they were delicious.

Outside on our balcony, I thought the reflection of the palms behind me were cool. 

I woke up early every morning and sat out on our balcony and read, and watched the resort staff scrupulously clean and beautify the grounds. So much work goes into keeping it nice!

It was relaxing and quiet to be awake before the rest of the resort was screaming and laughing in the pool. To just hear the ocean waves and the breeze. God's creations are amazing.

We spent a lot of time sitting on our balcony, playing cribbage.

And thus ends our first day in Mexico. A little uneventful, mostly spent traveling, but oh what a wonderful evening once we got settled! How blessed we are to get to stay in such a beautiful place!

More Mexico to come!
Audios for now amigos!

Reading; Me Before You

I have this horrible habit when it comes to reading. When I start a good book, I just read it like a maniac until it's finished. Then I mope around for several weeks after, depressed that the story is over. I get so invested that the characters in the book are like real people to me and when the book is over, I'm sad because I won't ever see them again! I know, I'm a nerd.

I actually decided to write about this in order to deter myself from reading my current book, in hopes to make it last a little longer than the last one!

While we're on the topic of books, I want to talk a little about the last one I read... Me before You.

I brought in vacation with us, and I flew through it! It's a good thing I was in Mexico when I read it, because then I had lots to distract me when I finished it so I wasn't so sad about it being over!

*Spoiler Alert*

If you are planning to read it or see the movie and you haven't yet...

READ NO FURTHER!

So if you have read the book, you know that is controversial, because the love interest, Will Trainor, commits assisted suicide in the end of the story, despite the heroine's, Lou, attempts to convince him that life is still worth living. I had the book spoiled for me before I read it, knowing that he dies, I chose to read it anyway. Many people are upset because they feel that the book promotes assisted suicide. After reading the book, I don't feel that this is the case. Not a single character in the story wants Will to do it. They do everything they can to stop him, but in the end, he cannot be persuaded. His parents and Lou go with him to the facility to end his life. The society in the book, as well as real like, felt like this was an act of support in what he was doing. I, however, don't agree with this. He was going to die, with or without his loved ones. Wouldn't you want to spend every last second with someone you loved if you knew they were going to die? Wouldn't you want their last living moments to be sweet and comfortable? 

I fell in love with Lou and Will. I related to Lou, and I was given a glimpse of someone else's life. Someone else's dilemma, that I, hopefully, never have to go through. It game me an idea of the complications that come along with quadriplegia. Of course, I am a hopeless romantic, and I wanted Will to choose life and my heart broke for Lou, but it made me think.

If you have only seen the movie, and haven't read the book, I encourage you to read it!

As always in a movie, they leave so much out! The character and relationship development just isn't quite there in the movie. The book, however, does have quite a bit more colorful language than the movie. 

I'm currently reading the sequel, "After You". So far, I don't love it quite as much as the first, but like Lou, I'm having a hard time moving on after Will's death, and discovering what her next steps will be.

Any other book nerds out there?

Thoughts?

Happy Reading!

Independence Day Celebration

We are back from our Mexico vacation(posts coming soon) and while I was a little sad to leave such a fun and relaxing vacation, it was nice to come back to such a festive time in my own country!

My parents threw a big 4th of July gathering this year, so we left town to go there.

Our town has a HUGE Independence day celebration; parade, carnival, fireworks show. 

I swear we were the only people leaving town!

We had lots of festive treats!

Hippo :)

We painted pallets to look like American flags!

Lots of pinochle and corn hole!

The cuteness that is Remisita

We had a lot of fun with the "photo booth" that my mom set up!

My youngest brother put on a fireworks show for us!

Sparklers

Photobomb!

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day!
I am so grateful for my family and friends, and that I get to live in this beautiful country.
God Bless America!