My life looks like:

First of all, I'd like to dedicate this post to my Australian readership (aka Jane) who are apparently waiting eagerly for another exciting post about my life. If I had a picture with Jane, I'd start off with it. I like her. She, being Jo's mom and wedding preparation expert, has been an important part of the biggest and most exciting event of the past month: the wedding!

More on that later, but first a few other photos that are hanging around to give you a glimpse of what my life looks like these days, or at least what it looks like when there's a camera around. Shout out to Karri for providing most of them. (FYI, you can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.)

These first couple pictures are from trips to Antigua. I know I've said this before, but Antigua contrasts sharply withe dinginess and grunge so abundant in the city. It's a whole different world 30 minutes away, and as much as I'd love to say I'm tough sometimes escaping is exactly what I need.


Jenny and Karri got roped into dancing a traditional Guatemalan dance at a dinner (well, they had maracas shaken at them which apparently indicated they should get up and hop around). I refused but judging by the joy on Jenny's face in this picture, I missed out.


The wedding! There are tons of pictures out there displaying the beautiful location and people involved in this wedding, but here you get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at what went into making the day. The morning of the wedding, a bunch of us were put in charge of transporting the beautiful cake Jo's grandpa's wife made from the house, and then I was put on guard dog duty, keeping all admirers away while the cake's creator put it all together. I put the mean face that comes so naturally to good use. It was worth it: with very little stress and no falling layers, the beautiful cake featuring traditional flowers from both Guatemala and Australia was a big hit.


Jo looked amazing. Victor too. I am so happy for them, and loved the wedding so much. So many people came together to make it wonderful - it definitely had a community feeling and that's probably what I loved most about it.


The morning of the wedding it rained. It rarely rains in the morning here, so it was kind of a bummer. However the ceremony looked gorgeous with the sprinkles in the background, and as the reception went on the clouds cleared up showcasing the volcanoes that surround Antigua, which lay below the hill where the wedding was held.


Here's a snapshot of our new house! It is so posh, I feel guilty living here, but the price was SO right and it was available for exactly the amount of time we needed it.


Although I love the house, it's already caused its fair share of problems. See the previous post for an explanation of this picture (which Alex so kindly took before going back to bed).


After I locked our keys in the house and had to be rescued by the landlords, Karri and I decided that the only logical thing to do was to stop at the beat up yellow Datsun that we often pass on the way home from work to get another set made. I mean, why not? Why go to a store when you can pull to the side of the road put your hazard lights on?


It's kind of a sweet set up, when you think about it. A pegboard of blank keys in the back, cutting machine in the passenger seat, bag of Cheetos on the drivers seat, the ability to work from anywhere...


Birthday party for a coworker's niece. This was so much fun, especially because I got there before Alex did and made friends with the kids before he had a chance to steal them away. Kids always like him the best so the victory was sweet. That is, until this girl started dragging me around the house, racing me everywhere, forcing me to sit on (and therefore pop) balloons and completely wearing me out. She was awful cute, though.


The birthday girl. I believe this is when we were singing "Happy Birthday to You," which is always sung in English here. Unfortunately I've started singing it in the Spanish accent with everyone else. Yikes.


We had Army Day off, so Alex, Karri and I headed to the beach. As fun as it was, I think I liked cruising down the highway in Roscoe best. Guatemala is so beautiful. Check out this volcano that we drove past: we're going to climb it on Sunday!


The drive to the town was beautiful, but hazardous. Aside from a million cruel, giant speedbumps, there was an abundance of livestock crossing the road without looking both ways including this pig and her family, which I almost hit.


All worth it for the ocean. The waves were MASSIVE, however, and immediately took me out, filling my face and bathing suit with the black volcanic sand. It was still beautiful, if painful.


I recovered by laying in the sand for hours.


Nope, not Oreo on my face, although that wouldn't really be out of the ordinary. (It's sand.)


And finally, the cutest things to come into my life lately: the baby sea turtles. Apparently Monterrico, where we went, is famous for its nature preserve. Since it was Army Day the center was closed, but we sneaked in for a peek at these little cuties. If they hadn't been in the preserve to protect them from people who wanted to steal them, I would have stolen one.