Week of Love

In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I'd do a post about the things I love.

First, a newbie: my decision to become vegetarian.

After a few instances here in Latin America with the meat triggering some unwanted sights and smells, I decided to get educated. Knowledge is power, right? Or maybe I should have stuck with ignorance is bliss. Anyways, I did some reading and research and made my final decision this past weekend. For anyone sort of on the fence about becoming a vegetarian, may I recommend the book Skinny Bitch to really seal the deal on your decision. Go vegetables!

Second: my friend Hannah's baby, Ian.

He's 8 weeks old and the most ADORABLE baby! I've been able to play with him on a couple different occasions, and he is such a smiley hip baby! And, the thing I'm most jealous of, he'll be able to grow up bi-lingual. Why wasn't my elementary school an immersion school when I was there?!

Third: My work with Habitat for Humanity.

During this entire 6 month period, I've always known that the work I was doing would be something that I was happy to be doing. I knew volunteering abroad was something that I just had to do before starting any sort of a career, and once I made that happen I knew this was something I would always look back on positively. After the earthquake in Haiti, this increased triple fold. My job, and the work of Habitat for Humanity, all of a sudden became that much more necessary. As my office oversees the work of all Habitat offices in Latin America and the Caribbean, we were working directly with Haiti. As my boss and other co-workers have gone to Haiti post-earthquake, my sense of purpose for this organization only grows.

Fourth: the beach.

My gosh, every time I am at the beach during sunset I have to remind myself how lucky I am to be here and how gorgeous it seriously is. In Australia, over time, I started to really lose my appreciation for the beach since we were so close and had constant access to it. I made sure that in Costa Rica, I didn't start to lose my appreciation again. The circumstances are a little different as it takes more effort to get to the beach here (but now that the new freeway is opened, we can cut our driving time in half! Woo hoo!) and I only get there around once a month or so. However, I am constantly remembering that the closest I'll get to an ocean once back in Minnesota is looking out onto Lake Superior. Oh how looks can be deceiving! I love all things beach. Especially my first stellar surf lesson: check it out! (ha)

So, these are a few of my favorite things this February. And all of you of course (are any of you out there anymore after my lack of posts?) Peace Love and Surf