Anniversary #1!

So as I said, pictures from our trip to San Carlos...

headed south

exploring a tiny beach by our guest house

my handsome hubby

there were thousands of beautiful shells

anniversary dinner...bacon wrapped shrimp

Next morning, we went on a hike and explored a bit of the coast.

Tetakawi mountain in the background

climbing on the rocks

the scenic lookout

another delicious shrimp dinner except the scenery was prettier than the shrimp, so...

Wednesday, we went to the main San Carlos beach.

thousands of colorful stones

Thursday, we went to a beach we'd seen during our hiking

hiked up a hill, then we went down and swam by the shade of those overhangs

crystal clear water

my stone fortress instead of a sandcastle

In the evening we went to "Algodones" Beach and watched the sunset.

Also, this month we've been eating a low-carb diet. 

Here's a few photos of the meals I've had fun making

Cheese stuffed meatballs and cauliflower rice

 plain yogurt with strawberries, blueberries, and almonds

(I also had fun with the dishes at the guest house in San Carlos as you can see..)

Cheese crisps. Delicious and super easy. Just fry pieces of cheese until crispy.

We've also been trying to be more active and the last two Saturdays we've climbed cross mountain. This last Saturday we caught a beautiful sunset. And in the photo above a bit of lightening. 

Passing Shadows

Man is a shadow that passes away,

A vapor that comes and is gone,

A leaf that scurries by on the breeze,

The sunset chasing the dawn.

God is the Sun of the ages

Light of before and beyond,

The vastness of heaven, whisper of earth,

From orbits to covalent bonds

God from the cosmos unending

Came to this planet by birth

Touched the shadow and breathed it to life

Gave it a home beyond earth.

Spotlight on Tamales!

Two Thursdays ago, Bertha, our cook at CVE, made tamales. So I decided to spend the day helping her and learn a thing or two.

The tamale dough is a mixture of ground hominy, lard, salt, colorado chile powder or sauce, and broth.

These are the ingredients for tamales Sinaloenses. Lots of veggies, olives, potato strips, and shredded pork in chile sauce. The dough gets spread in a soaked corn husk, the other ingredients added and then the corn husk is rolled up.

Featuring the completed tamales (and my feet on a stool, so I would be tall enough to take this picture.) They were the best tamales I'd ever tasted...maybe the veggies, maybe because they were freshly made!

The Tuesday before tamale day, I took Balto to the vet to get fixed. 

Poor guy, he doesn't know what is coming! 

The aftermath of the anesthesia, featuring the "cone" we attempted to make out of plastic pop bottles to keep him from opening his incision.

I'm glad to say that Balto is feeling just fine a couple weeks later.  Here he is rolling in the grass. Below he is obeying my command to "stay," so I could take his photo with the sunset.

The credit for this awesome photo goes to my beautiful, fun friend and former joy camp partner, Britney Lanz! Thanks for the delightful walk, Britney! Britney heads back to Iowa tomorrow and CVE and I will miss her!

Yesterday and today, we finally received some truly torrential rains which took over some of the streets!

And last, but certainly not least... a photo of my handsome hubby and I at Estephania Schick's graduation party last week! 

Almost forgot to leave a poem....

So Many Smiles

So many people, so many smiles

Pasted, professional, maybe sincere,

So many colors ‘neath weary eyelids

Deep depths of someone special and real.

What are you thinking? Where are you going?

Is money or Jesus or love your life’s goal?

Under your smile and eyes like the cosmos,

Have you followed dreams in exchange for your soul?

Often I wonder, often I ponder

What if I had been born in your place?

Silently seeking, prayerfully pleading,

Searching the sea and sky of your face.

So many people, so many smiles

Happiness, sadness, anger and fear,

Know that to Someone you are so special.

Know that to Jesus you are held dear.

Thanks to all of you readers for your attention, support, and most of all your prayers!

Next week, will be Miguel and I's 1st anniversary! It's so hard to believe it's already been a year. Next post, the spotlight may be on our upcoming anniversary trip, so

stay tuned...