Where Did Fall 2015 Go?

I was surprised to come back here and find out I hadn't posted anything in all of November and now nearly all of December.  What happened?!  I remember Thanksgiving . . . vaguely - and doing this puzzle, feverishly, to be able to finish in the weekend - it was a tough one!

I know that we had one brief period of time that we skied!  Four glorious days in November with a good snowfall - then it rained, an unusual amount for here.  I just know that was supposed to be snow!  Now we have a tiny bit on the ground, but only enough to ski on for die-hards who have junk skis they don't mind scraping.  We're waiting!  Here's a picture, though, of us out skiing with Lance & Mary.

First Snow November 2015

In early December, we took our first trip to Costa Rica as a part of a conference for me - the Year End Vacation Course for Landmark Wisdom Course Area.  That was fabulous . . . and hot and humid . . . and a pretty intense week.  We came home with even bigger lives and promises for living a full and productive life and with visions of white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, a sustainable ecosystem, and the beautiful and warm people of Costa Rica. Oh, and we also took a trail ride (on horses) one afternoon while we were there.  That was fun and a good way to see more of the terrain, which ranged from rolling hills and grassy fields to tropical dry forest to beaches.  There are a LOT of volcanoes in Costa Rica, and this was the northwest corner in the Guanacaste region - a beautiful beach that I didn't see much of, but I made it into the ocean one day for about 10 minutes! One of the things that I enjoyed most about the trip was coming away with a typical expression there - Pura Vida!  Used for hello, goodbye, responding to "How are you?," Pure Vida means literally "pure life." I came back with the vision that it doesn't matter what I'm doing as long as my life is an expression of THAT!  

Sunset at Dreams Las Mareas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica 

Our Afternoon Trail Ride 

 It also turns out that Anchorage, Alaska is a LONG, LONG way from Costa Rica!  Two days each way, overnighting in Atlanta.  3 1/2 hours to Seattle, 5 1/2 hours to Atlanta, then 4 to Liberia, Costa Rica.  And the same thing in reverse after an hour and 40 minute bus ride back and forth to the resort!  But it was worth it.

So there was nearly a week here to get back into being able to stay awake at night, and I'm still not back on my Alaska time schedule!  And now it's Christmas!  We just made plans to stay at the Hatcher's Pass Bed & Breakfast  (http://hatcherpassbb.com) in their "Sourdough Cabin" on Wednesday and Thursday, coming home on Christmas Day.  That is about an hour from here, and the only place right now with reliably great snow for cross-country skiing!  They were already booked starting Christmas night, so we'll get up on Christmas Day, check out, ski for a bit and head home for Christmas night - maybe a movie! More next week on the Christmas adventure.  For now, packages are sent east and south as of yesterday, Christmas cards mailed the day before, and our potted "Christmas tree" is now up on a table instead of the floor - that signifies it is now a Christmas tree!  We could use a few more decorations!  And maybe some Christmas cookies! That will be the next project.