Somar Lodge

I can't quite figure this place out. There's four or five cabanas (mini cabin type things), but we seem to be the only people in any of them. There were some people here the first night, but I'm pretty sure we've been on our own other than people that work here since then. I think there are three people that work here - a general manager type woman, a cook and a waiter. There seem to be a fair number of people who come here to eat and drink and some get in the water, but for a large part of the time we've been alone. Nicaragua had a holiday all of last week, but today (Monday) everyone is back to work, so we literally had the place to ourselves all day. It was awesome!

The beach is about fifty feet outside our door, but I think we only went to the beach two or three times. It's pretty to look at, but it's too salty, too windy and the waves are huge! Which is why Nicaragua is becoming a big place for surfing (so say the websites anyway). The wind also blows the sand which stings big time when it hits your exposed skin. So we did some time in the ocean our first night and our second day, but most of the time we've been in one of the two pools that they have. So we can still see and hear the ocean, but don't have to deal with the bad parts. :)

Davie got most of the good pictures. I'm going to try to move them to my phone tomorrow when we get to Managua if we have time and can find a place with Internet. I have a feeling the first will be harder than the second!!

It really is beautiful here though. A little more rustic than I had hoped with the salt water showers and toilet that didn't always flush, but the food has been really good and it's been nice and lazy here. I'm not ready to go back to work after five nights here! I could get used to this. :)

The beach!!!

What a great first day of our beach vacation. I couldn't have asked for a better start to our getaway!! It's so nice being back with Davie. I feel like all is right with the world and I'm whole again. :)

It was a little weird going through customs and everything alone. While I've traveled alone a lot, I've only traveled by myself domestically. But it was super easy and quick. While there are a lot of things kind of backwoods about Nicaragua, they do seem to be efficient in some areas. Of course I'm sure it helps that they probably have like one international flight come in every few hours, so there's not the backlog waiting at customs like there can be other places.

I didn't cry when I saw Davie and Eduardo for the first time. I just want to give myself props for that. :) At least right now I'm trying to take the stance that we've done this now, we're pros, and we should enjoy the time we have together and then part in six days without being sad because we know we'll be together again soon and in the meantime we'll be fine. I'm hoping that mindset lasts me through saying goodbye on Tuesday!

We got a cab to take us to the hotel as buses weren't running today because its a holiday here. The cab saved us time but cost us more money. It was convenient though, and I'm a sucker for convenience.

We stopped on the way at a scenic lookout on the shore of Lake Managua. Nicaragua has a lot of volcanos and there were two on the other side of the lake. It was nice of our cab driver to stop so we could see! I got pictures!

It got a little disconcerting when we turned off the main road onto a gravel road on our way to the hotel. While I hadn't expected the hotel to be in a "big" city, I hadn't realized quite how much it was in the middle of nowhere. We drove for what seemed forever once we got onto the gravel road. Cars here don't go very fast once they get off asphalt. I learned that last trip. Today was no exception, and I feel like we were probably going about 15 miles an hour, if that. It was also interesting in that the closer we got to the hotel the more we started seeing big piles of salt. Our cab driver gave us a little background. Turns out the people in this area harvest salt from the ocean water. (I don't know if harvest is really the right word, but it seems to fit.) I didn't quite understand how they did it, something about putting the salt water into big pond areas then drying out the water so the salt gets left behind. I'm not sure. It was pretty neat to see though. The salt made the dirt around the water ponds sparkle like diamonds. And some of the salt piles were HUGE!

Eduardo loved his first trip into the ocean. It was so fun to watch him. I was patting myself on the back for bringing him goggles and a life vest until we got him in the shower after we were done in the water and he starting saying his underarms hurt and then had a mini meltdown. :( The vest was chaffing and it burned in the shower. I felt bad! We're going to have him wear a shirt under the vest tomorrow though and that should help matters. I do still think the goggles and life vest were a good idea. :) He loves them and I think they helped him a lot. The life vest also helps me not freak out as much about having him in the ocean for the first time. Sometimes I don't know if I'm ready for this parent business!! It's stressful.

I'll write more about the hotel later, but for now I'll say it's interesting because the shower water and sink water in our cabana are salt water. It's very weird to shower in salt water. And really shocking to go to brush your teeth and realize the toothbrush is now full of salt water! Other than that though, I'm very pleased with the hotel and I think this is going to be a great trip!!!

One thing I forgot to mention, Asael and his family ended up not being able to come. :( Davie said Asael ended up having work, which is so difficult to get that it doesn't get passes up when the opportunity presents itself. I wonder though if it had more to do with the fact that Asael didn't want us to pay for the room. Which makes me feel bad, but hopefully we can all go on vacation on day!

The first two pictures below are of Lake Managua. The next two pictures are of Eduardo and Davie crashed out in the restaurant / reception area / gathering place while we were waiting for our food. The second to last pic is Eduardo doing one of the puzzles I brought him. He love puzzles! And the last pic we took on our way back to Managua of the salt ponds. The road is first and then the ponds are in the background. It's hard to see, but hopefully that gives you some idea of what they looked like.

I've got a lot of baggage....

Despite moving stuff around, my big bag still ended up being 20 pounds overweight. My other "small" bag was 46 pounds. I pulled out the weight from the big bag so I didn't have to pay a $200 fee, but then I couldn't get it all in my carry-ons. Both my carry ons got flagged for searching when coming through security, but thankfully there didn't end up being anything that wasn't allowed. The last big test will be to see if the stewardess gives me a hard time for how big my carry ons are / the fact that I have some things in my arms because they don't fit in the bags. Ugh. The only good thing about the baggage issue is that it's only an issue on the way there. The way home should be much easier since almost everything will get left with Davie. However, I've also decided that I have a serious buying / spending problem and I am no longer allowed to go shopping before a visit to Nicaragua. I seriously bought A LOT of stuff!! :) But if Eduardo and Davie like it, I can't feel too bad about it. :)

Separation Anxiety

While I am, of course, very, very, very, very excited to get to see Davie in less than 36 hours, I have to admit to a certain amount of apprehension about the trip too.  Will it be different seeing him again after being apart for three months?  And what will I do when it's time to leave again?  It was so hard to leave him the first time, and while we've done okay apart the last three months, I don't know that I'm ready to have to say goodbye again so soon. 

We've done well the first three months, so I'm sure we'll do fine our second three months (and how ever many more three months we have after that).  Although, I also don't want to do too well when we're apart because what happens if we get so comfortable apart that we decide we don't need to be together anymore?  I think that having these worries is probably a good sign.  If we weren't worried about keeping things together, wouldn't that make it much easier for them to fall apart?  Or at least more likely that they would fall apart?  Davie and I recognize that relationships are work, and we are willing to do what it takes, but sometimes the work is hard!  :) 

The hardest part right now is thinking about having to leave him again.  I know our six days together will go way too quickly and then it will be time to go back to being apart.  But I am very much looking forward to getting to see Davie and Eduardo again - while I have enjoyed my time the last few months doing things with friends and watching whatever I want on TV, it just hasn't felt the same being alone!  I miss my husband!

Just a quick note...

......to say how excited I am because I just got an extra room at the hotel for two nights for Davie's brother and his family to come to the beach with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was bummed about Randy (Eduardo's cousin who is a year younger than him) not getting to go to the beach since the two of them do EVERYTHING together, and Davie made a comment Friday that Randy's mom hasn't been to the beach before either and that just decided it for me - I emailed the hotel Saturday morning and asked if they had any rooms available and they do!  I booked one for two nights, so Davie, Eduardo and I can have the first two nights just the three of us, then we'll have two nights with Asael's crew and then they can take Eduardo home with them Monday and Davie and I can have a night to ourselves before I leave Tuesday!  It really could not have worked out more perfectly!!

There's actually lots and lots to update y'all on.  Last week ended up being a busy week!  But I haven't had a lot of time to get on here between work and all my working out!  So here are a few bullet points and I'll try to post more before I leave for vacay.  I'm not sure if I'll post any while I'm gone - I think I'm going to go with the "not use my phone at all" route this time since the last trip cost us $200 in extra charges on our phone bill.  :P (Although I will use Davie's phone to text so you know I made it and am okay while I'm there.)  I'll have lots of pictures when I get back, I'm sure.

- I finally have the Costa Rican police certificate!!!!! 
-  Davie got his passport back!!
-  I'm going to do a half marathon - 13.1 miles! - at the end of April.  I'm losing my mind....but I'm also losing pounds, so it works.

-  Davie has to go tomorrow to get another Nicaraguan police certificate because it's going to be expired at the beginning of April since it took so long to get the Costa Rican one.  Thankfully that's a much easier process.
-  The amount of stuff I'm taking hasn't really decreased any since the first trip 3 months ago.  :P  Maybe one day we'll be able to make a trip to Nicaragua without taking half the house!  Everything in the picture below is going to the beach with me.  Now I just need to pack clothes for myself, and I should be good to go!

-  In addition to the half, I decided to do this madness.  It's hurting worse than training for the half has been!

I'm so excited to be here in just three days!!!

Two Weeks!!!!!

One of the blogs I read had posted these quotes this morning and they all resonated with me.

"The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings."

- Ralph Blum

(This is one of my favorites - Davie and I often daydream about what life will be like when this is all behind us and we are together again with Eduardo in the US.  I can't wait to start that part of our lives!)

“Life is so risky and so scary, and yet at the same time, so beautiful. Maybe the truth is, it shouldn't be easy. Then everything would be. It's the things you fight for and struggle with before earning that have the greatest worth. When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder -if not impossible- to lose.” ― Sarah Dessen, Along for the Ride


“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I have lived through this hardship, I can take the next thing that comes along.” . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”




And it's just two weeks before Davie and I are together again!!!  We finally have a confirmed reservation for our beach getaway at Somar Lodge!  It looks beautiful and we are very excited - I can't wait to take Eduardo to the beach for the first time and to be with my boys again!!!
 





This week has been going much better than last week.  Davie was finally able to send me the verification letter from the US Embassy in Nicaragua saying he is in Nicaragua and the Costa Rican lawyer promises that the Costa Rican police certificate should reach me any day now.  The plumber fixed the overflowing problems and I've been getting a ton accomplished at work.  I'm glad it's been a good week - we needed it!  :)  I hope everyone else is having a good week as well!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Success!!!!

Today, for the first time in around two years, I am under the weight I told myself I never wanted to go over. I still have a long way to go - ideally I'll lose about 50 pounds more - but it's been fun and rewarding to see results so early. I'm excited to be making so many great changes in my life and I can't wait for Davie and Eduardo to get here so we can make working out a family affair!