Oh Maria...

If you have hit up Maria Bonita's you will know the glories of the monster dishes that they serve!! Here is Jesse's Fajita Salad, yeah and then Jesse had a taco as well!! This is why Jesse loves this place so very much is because it is cheap enough that I will agree to go out to eat there and he comes home full and sometimes with left overs!! Well, left overs are for me but still exciting!! See how happy he is!!

UUGGGHHH Snowing Again!!

Being in the warm weather for 3 weeks makes coming back to the cold miserable!! I am always cold and all i want to do is go to sleep and wait for warm weather. This is what happens also when I don't go skiing because that is the one thing that makes me enjoy all the snow!! I know it will be a few more months of this but come on, lets have a short winter!!

Panama Temple

Saturday my mom and I decided to hit up the temple for a session and were a bit nervous about how it all worked with translators and such. The temple in Panama is beautiful and is up on a hill overlooking the canal. We got there and I think a stake was visiting because the parking lot was full of taxi's and Red Devils (the bus mafi). We had a nice American lady that helped us get our clothes and point us in the right direction. Even the Temple runs on Panama time, which is ssslllooowww!! The session started 45 min to an hour late, what Temple do you know that doesn't start sessions on time?! It was great to just relax and feel the peace that is there and enjoy watching the young men that were taking their endowments out. It brought back lots of fond memories and was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

A Sloth!!

My mom and I were driving back to our apartment which is at the very top of the island and we saw this orange furry thing in the road so of course we stopped. It was a Sloth!! We thought it was run over but he was looking around and moving a little bit and didn't look like he was run over or in pain just like he was chillin' in the middle of the road!! So of course after a little Google search I learned sloths don't move very fast even if in danger and that their only defense are their long claws. They usually only come out of the trees 1 x a week to go to the bathroom or find a mate to breed. He was either out to use the facilities or to find a little action, not sure which!!

Happy Valentine's Day

While out to dinner this monster ball drove by strapped to a little car. Kinda stalkerish message but creative!!



Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day with your loved ones!!

Spread The Word Get Your Taxes Done For A Cause

Kerry, a wonderful friend of mine is in the process of an international adoption. She is a tax preparer and is offering to do your taxes for a donation towards their adoption fund. You can read more about their journey here. They also have a donation link on their blog if you would like to donate to their wonderful cause. If you haven't had your taxes done yet you can call or email her to set up an appointment. She is wonderful to work with and is excellent with taxes. Call Kerry at 801-471-9682 to set up an appointment.

Attacked by a Semi

Today I just got into my second ever car accident! The first was in my dually crew cab Ford truck hauling two horses in the middle of the City which was stressful but this was worse!! In Panama there is craziness everywhere in the city and the roads are not sufficient for the amount of cars that are on the road. My mom and I had just ventured over to the fish market and bought some delicious ceviche and pineapple juice and were on our merry way to have the "Better Soup In The World" as we were informed by a Panamanian when our little happy world was uprooted!!



JUST LOOK HOW HAPPY I AM EATING FRESH CEVICHE

There is a large interchange where three different three lane roads converge into one 3 lane road. I am edging my way into traffic and there is a Semi Truck that has stopped so I pulled in front of him into the lane. Traffic started to move but then stopped again, apparently the truck did not see me, I will admit I was in a tiny Yaris so I can understand the visual impairment the driver had. He proceeded to hit the back of us and push us into a truck in front of us and then pushed both of us a few feet until he figured out there was us between him and the truck I was know attached to it's bumper!




SEMI IN MY FENDER



THIS IS HOW BIG THE SEMI WAS, VIEW FROM BEHIND



THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A SEMI PUSHES YOU

The best parts of the accident was we were in bumper to bumper traffic and now we were causing a huge back up and people were laying on their horns left and right, then it was incredibly hot at the moment, then it took about 2 hours for the police to process the accident, then the torrential downpour as I am driving my newly smooshed car back to the rental office. Needless to say our day a just a bit ruined!!

Amador Causeway

With a little wheeling and dealing I was able to get a great apartment for the rest of our trip for a great price!! We are on the top of a hill on the second island of Amador. We have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and we each have a balcony with beautiful views of the ocean and Panama City.

Pedicure Jesse Style

My mom and I hit up one of the malls to pass some time and decided that a pedicure would be a nice relaxing way to spend our time. Ha! We picked a professional looking nail salon and the lady said they did clinical pedicures, we figured that meant they were clean and thorough? They walked us into our own little rooms with a chair facing the wall and we waited for our pedicurists to come. They offered us a drink and so I thought this will be lovely. That was until she whipped out the blade, cuticle clipper and stick thing-a-ma-jig and proceeded to terrorize my toes!! She also removed part of my big toe nail that apparently was ingrown, I wanted to kick her in the head with my free foot and sprint out of there! Instead I tried to politely and in Spanish tell her to lay off the toes and move on!! The best part that made me laugh though is she whips out a dremmell tool to smooth out my feet and nails!! I know I have ugly feet that are fairly caulousy but I have never had anyone attack them with such vigor and perfection! I thought if Jesse were a pedicurist that is exactly how he would do it, with power tools!! Maybe I will have him start dremmelling my feet when I get back, they are awfully smooth now.

Bocas

My mom and I were able to stay in Bocas for 5 blissful days. We stayed in these cute bungalow/treehouses that were in the middle of a jungle. We didn't see or hear anyone and there was plenty of wildlife to keep us on our toes!! The last night the howler monkeys came by and boy are they creepy to listen to!! I had images of them attacking us all night long! The weather was amazing and the water was just beautiful!

So our taxi driver that we used most of the time was William and he sported most days a Hustler shirt of some variety! On the back it said, "Relax it's just sex". Soo funny we were dying of laughter about him, he seriously thought he was a hustler!!

We are now staying on the top of an island near Panama City in a lovely 2 bedroom apartment overlooking the ocean and City. More pictures to come!