La Navidad de Mexico

I shouldn't be writing this blog; I'm trying to pack to head to Salt Lake for the week. (Why do I even unpack my bags?) But what can I say? I'm a people pleaser. Be prepared for photos, photos, photos! (And nary a collage in sight.)
(Also, if you're not reading Alicia's blog, you should be. She's very funny. And I don't think she'd mind your creeping.)

Like I said, I'm heading to Utah tomorrow to help celebrate the wedding of my sister-cousin Rachel. (Weddings, weddings, weddings! Welcome to my life.) Before another smorgashboard of photos begins, I must get CHristmas out of the way. (Of note, I still have Mexico City to post as well, but I must not get overwhelmed. Must. Not. Get. Over. Whelmed.)

Christmas! It was awesome. Two weeks out of Boston. One week in Portland (no photos), five days in Phoenix, three days in Mexico. And now the photos with minimal explanation. (This post is for all of you -- those who read every word, those who skim, and those who look for pictures. Every. One. Wins.)

And in no particular order:

Three of us flew into Arizona Christmas Eve morning. Sisters' Christmas Eve lunch at where else but COSTA VIDA! (Note to self: Costa Vida probably deserves its own label.) This should become an annual tradition BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY ONE THING I LOVE MORE THAN MY SISTERS (and caps lock) AND IT'S COSTA VIDA.
We laugh that our family vacations are like the Family Channel: All Family, All the Time. We're lucky my G-parents have a spare few rooms for us to crash in.
Once we got to Mexico, I'm one of the very few people who don't love leaving the compound. This is the one day I left to hit "Rodeo Drive" to scout out the wares. Mallory and I bought the sweetest BFF rings.
Ope, back to Christmas. Look, we got aprons!
The G-parents hire cooks to come into the Mexican compound to cook (O.M.G. Best. Food. In. The. World.). Our last night in town however, we hit a local stand. This is one of my favorite photos from the holiday.

Please note my Gramp playing Rock Band.This is what most nights in Mexico looked like -- our extended family sitting around chit chatting. We introduced two new boys to our family this holiday (Alaina and Rachel's betrothed) -- Brad and Chad. This of course led to many funny quotes and questions (from my cousin's daughter Ashlyn, "Why do they have the same name?") and our decision to title our generations NBR's (non-blood-relatives) "The Ad Boys." (Since they're mostly boys and apparently they mostly end in -ad.)

I basically lived in that chair. And got sunburned one day!
Who wouldn't want to go here? And guess who stares at this every day on their work desktop background? My immediate family stayed in the house whose porch this photo is taken from (we've outgrown the single compound!).
At night, we sat around drinking pure-cane-sugared soda (long live Vita!) and laughing. Or watching Kendall and Josh buffalo kiss, crazy synchronized ball-on-elastic dancing, reading, eating, and basically enjoying each other's company.

I've explained a million times before, but we're double cousins. Our dads are brothers and our moms are sisters. We look equally different and equally the same of each other.

And there's the happy August couple.

Mallory's coming to Boston in May to run the Half marathon with me. Wahooooooo!
And there we are.
Look! Now there are six of us! (Oh yah, my sister Alaina eloped three days after this trip. Huzzah!) I'm sure we'll take too many foursies photos, but these boys are starting to creep into our lives...


Yes, I already posted this photo, but I love it. And it's already hanging in my room.

Christmas Eve! Our family has the CRAZY FACTOR ability to never mismatch. It's virtually impossible. It's actually one of my favorite things to watch for. WE CAN'T MISMATCH.
Oh yah, and I have a niece. (Am I bad aunt for not posting a hundred thousand pictures of her? Umm. No. And? You're welcome.) This is Adrie, DRINKING FROM A CUP FROM COSTA VIDA. WE TRAIN THEM UP EARLY.
So there you have it! Christmas 2009! I hope everyone's was as grand as mine. How many days until Christmas 2010? (Lucky for me! My entire family is gathering again this weekend. We can only be apart 2 weeks apparently.)

((ALso, of note: blogging during American Idol auditions is a brilliant double-duty activity. It's true, January is pretty lame -- but I have a special place in my heart for Idol. Don't hate.)))

Too bad our Christmas cards were already sent

auld lang really?!

I fell prey to the trap of New Year’s Eve again. This was my twenty-eighth new year ringing and naturally unfortunately, another addition to the annual string of year-end memories ripe with failed hype and befuddlement. Surely the opening of a new year, and (like it or not) the feeling of a new start, deserves something more. Conversation with others leads me to believe this sentiment is common, so I don’t feel like a defective cog in the system of life, I just wanted to add my voice to the collective harmony reminding people that New Year’s is lame.

New Year’s is lame y’all.

Driving home from another lame Young Single Adult gathering (though for the record, I was in a location not my home without a core group of friends), I spent a few relatively despondent moments somewhere between pity and disappointment but anchored most closely to frustration. Not loving any of those feelings, I got smart and counted the number of amazing ways I finished 2009.

Sharing the Compound in Mexico with my family, Coke Light, Costa Vida(!!!), Long Way Round viewing party, sharing a room with my sisters, being the first to bed every night in Mexico, playing Rock Band with my Grandpa, getting to know my brother-in-laws, laughing late into the evening with a very overdue (8 years!) high school girls’ reunion where if you know me and at least the name of one other person in Tempe or Mesa between 1995-2001 I can probably give you an update on said person, FREE parking, straight roads, a phone call with a crusty ex-Bostonian whom I infrequently phone who but always makes me laugh, dinner with some old BYU-pals, hours catching up with the family of one of my high school best friends and his cute baby and wife, a belated video slideshow that made me cry, constant repeats of the “In the Heights” soundtrack, so many 69 cent diet coke refills at the QT the cashiers remembered us, more Mexican food than you can imagine (is this me actually getting sick of it? sadly, maybe!), chatting with my BFF grandparents, TRANSFERING CASH MONIES ON MY PHONE (seriously, technology rules), printing the perfect family photos at Costco, and a host of other things.

In the past two days, folks. TWO. DAYS.

Okay, I’m feeling better about 2010 already. And I have a lot of big ideas and plans for the year, but I’m still winnowing down the vast list of improvements resolutions for the year. True, I’ll agree that most formal resolutions never see March, but if I’m self aware enough to make character resolutions (as opposed to financial, educational, vocational, etc.)—I keep those thoughts with me a long time. I’m well aware of the rough areas of my personality needing smoothed; there’s something I love about the 1st of the year and the chance to reinvent.

Hi. I’m in Arizona. It’s been a whirlwind eight days from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day spent in the Valley of the Sun sandwiching four days in Puerto Penasco, Mexico with my extended family (photos coming soon-ish). I haven’t had consistent access to the internet—and it’s been relatively nice. However, I’m out of blogging habit—has this post jumped enough logic trains or what?

Ten years ago I was 17 years old and five months from graduating high school. In ten years I’ll be 37. If the time between 27 and 37 is relative to the distance between 17 and 27, I’d better GET ON IT.

This blog is exhausting my brain. I’m sure I’ll make sense of it in my mind eventually, but this is where I’m at, 27 years old and no discernable months from any major milestones or life events. Yikes. I need some goals. Wiiiiiiiink.

Welcome 2010! I have big plans for you, none of which include better use of segues or thought organization. Resolutions still intact. Take that!

The Northwest, The Southwest, and South of the Border

My time off the grid was longer than anticipated. Am I the last one to post any kind of Christmas update? Yes. I've read the updates from coast to coast. I'm so far behind in the posting, most bloggers have posted their year in review, New Year's shenanegans, or pled for accountability on the goals they've set for 2008. I'm about three weeks behind. (Here's hoping I get those things blogged too.)

It's taken me so long to post on my Christmas vacation due to the sheer volume of photos taken--my hard drive (thanks Santa!) has Christmas photos from seven family member cameras. That's 1500 photos to sort through. It's overwhelming to look at them, let alone take the time and sort, choose, and upload to Blogger. (But really readers, has anyone figured out a faster easier way to post a ton of photos? Clue me in!)

If I were writing this post the day after (like I do with most recaps), I'd waste time giving you the nitty gritty details. Why do I do that? A good chunk of you don't even know me, let alone care who drove in whose car, or whose burrito didn't have onions. Oye. So. This blog will NOT be split into a Portland, Phoenix, Mexico section. I'm going to let you do critical analysis on your own.

And so it begins....



Rachel made a list of her favorite moments from the trip. To her list, I add some of my favorite memories: "Acting natural" in the lounging photos on the beach chairs; having the Mexican cooks come in to feed us every night--I'd about die to have some more of that bacon-wrapped shrimp; the fascination with the babies, watching the hundreds of photos every night on the TV (I've told many of you friends that we do this on vacation, here's the proof!); my continued streak of terrible posing; rehashing some of Pierre's choicer phrases.



I've blogged before about being a double cousin. Eight of us, two sets of parents, but all identical genes. Yeah, it still sounds funny to say it that way. The last time the 8 of our photo was taken was 2.5 years ago, here's the update.


The only reason this picture is so large is to show you how incredible the scenery/landscaping is and how well the shot is set up. My sister Alaina does an amazing job--check out her business blog.

Everyone and their sister did a jumping shot or two--check them out on this Mexican Christmas recap post.

More fun memories: the activities Gram planned so no one would get "bored"--a treasure hunt, felt ornament beading, and a late night (6pm) glow stick rave; running after cars and waving when people are leaving, seeing dolphins with Grandpa and Alaina (I'm not only good at whale watching), and watching all the Grandmas (3!) take care of everyone else.




During the sunlight hours, this is what we do in Mexico. Sometimes we'd go to town, but most of our waking hours were spent in this location drinking Vita (sugar-laden Mexican soda that creates the funkiest/most vivid dreams), and debating whether the longest part of the "day" was in the late afternoon waiting for the cooks to come or at night when it was cold and dark and we had to be inside.


After the babies and the 9-year-old owner of the Wii went to bed, the tennis tournaments began. Most of us are actual players, so it was fun to duke it out in the virtual world when we were mostly equals. Rachel and my Williams/Williams took down Babb/Babb, Nielsen/Nielsen and any other combination of Williams/Williams put together. But really, it was all in good fun--and a good way for the 3rd generation to bond.


There were several "not planned to be funny" activities that were perhaps the highlight of the trip, and they turned out a little different than planned--including the Diet Coke/Mentos rocket launch and fallout, the kids fort to trap the "bad mexicans" ("It almost trapped some good mexicans! so I know it's going to work!" --PR) and the great White Elephant Movie/Music/Book exchange. You can't imagine what kind of multimedia treats there were. The best gift was "The Italian Job"--until Rachel stole it and we discovered it's a NYC knock-off. I had to leave my 1994 Olympic highlight VHS at the house in Mexico because no one wanted to cart it back across the border.

I love vacation. I love my family. The two are always a genius combination. Coming back to reality is always a bummer--especially considering it's -5 in Boston and I was in my bathing suit less than a week ago. Sigh.

It's taken me 2.5 hours to write this blog and I'm ending it before something tragic happens.