Viva Mexico!

Caleb and I had been wanting to get away somewhere for reading week. We figure our chances to get away together as a couple will be more difficult to come by as things start changing in our lives, so we are taking advantage while we can! We basically want to live it up before we have kids! Although we knew we wanted to go somewhere, our decision to where we were going had to be pretty last minute. We fly standby and all the flights were filling up fast! We wanted to go to Mexico because I have never been there, and it looked like Cancun was our best bet. I researched online and it seemed like Cancun is a crazy party town, so we decided to go a bit south to the city of Playa Del Carmen. It was still pretty crazy and touristy! But we loved it. We could walk to everything and the beach was so close. We went for three days and four nights. I am missing the beach already!





\We took a bus to Tulum to see the ancient Mayan ruins. It was pretty cool, but I have to say Caleb was a lot more interested in everything than I was! Maybe I'm just uncultured, or Caleb just gets excited about everything! It was definitely a neat experience though.

Caleb had an exam he was super stressed about on the Monday after we got home. He took advantage of our beach time by reading and studying. Very impressive!!

Well I just now I should write about our accommodations. Caleb and I think of ourselves as hostel people. I don't mind staying in something less fancy for way cheaper. Who spends time in their hotel room on vacation anyways? So I found some hostels online and we booked one. I should have been a bit more wary of booking a hostel in Mexico, but it was only three years old and the pictures looked nice. Well when we showed up there after a long day of flying...I have to say it was not really what the pictures looked like! It seemed ok clean, but our room had no window making it look more like a closet, it had a weird musty smell...which is to be expected in the climate...but still didn't help things, and the sheets they had on the bed were a faded beige color with some kind of pattern on it making it look like stains everywhere! not a great choice for sheets!! So after a few tears shed on my part, we walked a few blocks to the wal-mart, bought some cheap new sheets, a mattress protector, AND pillows. Turns out I am not the hostel traveller I once was. So I thought things were ok, but it turns out that there was a night club literally on the roof of the hostel! Good thing we brought ear plugs. Even with them you could still hear the loud thumping. Needless to say I did not have a very good sleep. I started psyching myself out thinking that there were bedbugs and other things going on in the room! When we woke up the next morning, we were not very well rested and decided to look for a new place. We found a brand new hotel advertising for a cheap rate because they had just opened. They were right on the beach and it was a beautiful place, so we made the move down the street. It was worth it I think! At least we got some sleep!

We had a great time eating tacos, shopping, and enjoying the warm weather. But the best part was that I got to spend some quality time with my sweetie. I love you Caleb! Thanks for the fun reading week!

Update

So I noticed that on the side of my blog it says that we are still in Halifax! And although we clearly have moved, I thought I'd write a quick update about our current lives. We moved to Calgary in September for Caleb to start on his PhD at the University of Calgary. I have to admit that I was hoping to move to Edmonton, but Calgary has been great so far. We came back for a family reunion last summer and basically had a day to look at places to rent. Caleb's Aunt Jolayne told us about someone in their ward who was renting out their basement so we went and took a look at it. After some prayers we decided it was the place for us to be. It's in a great location and also close to Caleb's family here which is nice. It is not the biggest basement suite, but it works for us for now and we love it. It's cozy!

Caleb has been working away on his PhD and is doing his last year of classes. Horray! After this will be three years of working on a dissertation. He works so hard and I am so proud of him. He is also still working part-time at WestJet. He's kept this job for three years now, and it was only supposed to be a temporary job while he took a year off school. I know it can be an inconvience for him, but I really appreciate the extra money and also the cheap flights! It has been amazing for us to be able to do some travelling together while we are still newlyweds. We love it!

Last semester I did my senior practicum here in Calgary at the "former" AADAC. I had the most amazing supervisor. She is close to my age and went through my same program. She taught me so much, and allowed me to learn at my own pace but also pushed me out of my comfort zone. Everyone I worked with there were so nice and helpful. I loved it and I miss working with all those amazing people! Too bad they are now under Alberta Health Services and on a hiring freeze! I went there at the wrong time! But I am hopeful something will open up in the future. It would be an amazing job!

This semester has got to be hands down our craziest yet! And we've had some pretty crazy times! I have three classes left and I am commuting to Lethbridge to do them. So in a typical week I will be gone to Lethbridge from Tuesday until Friday. I am grateful for loving parents who let me stay with them! I also got a part time job working night shifts at a women's residence. The amazing thing about them is that I get to sleep! Getting paid to sleep is never a bad thing. So I work there Saturday and Sunday nights. The shifts are also 17 hours long so two shifts equals to about full time hours. But that means a lot less time with Caleb! So we basically only have two nights a week together, and that is if he's not off working. I am going to be very happy when this is all over! It hasn't been as horrible as I thought it would have been, but actually living with my husband would be nice!

Caleb got called as the second counsellor in the young mens a few months ago, and I got called as the Beehives advisor. We have been having a lot of fun in our callings so far and are still getting to know everyone in our ward.

I'm sure many more adventures will be coming our way when this semester is over! When we look back at this crazy time in our life, we will know that we can handle anything!!

Across the country

A few weeks ago Caleb and I went on a cross country ski trip with the Young Men and Young Women in our ward. It was my first experience cross country skiing, and I fell a few more times than I would like to admit. There were quite a few hills to go down, and I have no idea how to control those things when you're flying down a hill!! We stayed at the end of the group and ended up skiing with our little friend Emily the whole way. I teach her in Beehives. Even though we were behind everyone else, and she had a difficult time getting the hang of it, she kept up a positive attitude the entire way. And I think it may have had something to do with this guy....
Caleb was so encouraging and so patient, and made the trip so much fun. All through the trip I could hear "way to go!" and "good job!" He was so willing to help her learn, and I think because of it she had a really good experience. Even though we were behind everyone with little Emily, we had a great time!


After the trip, we all went to the hot springs to warm up and relax our sore muscles! It was my first time going to the hot springs in Banff and I never thought it would be with a bunch of teenage kids! But we had a great time, and I'm glad we got to go!

What a trooper! :)