Mexican Monday: Finally February!

So Justen is basically the stinkin cutest thing ever, but he is also way crazy. I wasn't able to email him on Monday because I was in Cuetzalan, so I had to email him ahead of time and missed being able to email chat back and forth with him while I was out being adventurous. However, he emailed me back, but said practically nothing about himself.! I mean, I am glad he thinks the world of me, and wants to ask me stuff and tell me mushy secrets about love and hugs and clouds, but come on dude... tell me about your life!!

He said this week, he got a ton of snail mail from me, which made his week! What a blessing that the mail shows up at the perfect time, when he is struggling a little. Cool huh? I know he probably got a TON of cards and letters, because the mail was extremellllllly backed from the holidays. Mexico is ninety seven times slower than mail in Antarctica. The best thing he said in my letter that is sharable with the entire world was:

"One day we will go to tons of places to visit. But I would be completely happy sitting with you and just eating a bowl of cereal"

Yes that is true love right there! haha!

I borrowed the email he sent to his family from one of his sisters, so I would know what he was really up to this last week. First of all, he moved into a new house, and the missionaries have been busy fixing it up and making it much prettier. Jehu, a recent convert is going to get to go to the temple soon, so that is very exciting for everyone! The funniest part is what he told his family NOT to tell me:

"I have a Mexican Mom now, and she feeds us all the time, so I am probably gaining weight"

Yes, he is crazy I know. I love it.

Anyways, here is another picture of Cuetzalan as I sat and watched the sunrise this Monday morning from our indigenous village hostel. 44 Weeks to Go!! Happy Mexican Monday to my chicas!!

-Sara Jacqueline

Soaked on Sunday.

I didn't believe anyone who said Cuetzalan was cold until Sunday. It rained from the time we woke up until the time we went to bed. Non-stop rain. No rain = No Sun, which means wearing a scarf and seeing your own breath in Mexico is possible.

After sleeping in our cozy hostel, we had breakfast with the indigenous women. The made us eggs, mexican style, freshly squeezed juice and tons of hot tortillas straight off the fire. We ate tortillas till we wanted to roll out of there. Hot tortillas are addicting. Caution.

Dressed in our rain gear, we hit up the market, where tons of vendors fill the street with everythin they could possibly sell. Every single person of Cuetzalan was out today. One of the best things is the cheap produce, you can get a banana for like 6 cents. It's fantastic.

We also tried some candy which is made in Cuetzalan. The fried roll thing, was like a sweet egg roll with foamy milk inside, just okay. The squiggle is like the candy from Puebla, sweet and carmel tasting, somewhat like fudge, very good. The other bar of soap looking thing, was beyond nasty. The texture, the taste, everything about it was gross.

Since we were freezing our butts off, we decided to go inside for a bit in hopes of warming up. We visited the cathedral in el centro de Cuetzalan, which was GORGEOUS inside. I was totally expecting it to be less nice, because the outside didn't seem well kept, but the details inside were incredible.

Once we were way over shopping, and swimming through the rain, we decided to grab some snacks, fill our backpacks, and head back to our cozy hostel. Our hostel was really nice, warm, clean and we just enjoyed time together. We got in our pajamas, listened to the rain and played cards all evening. Story telling, snakcing and then bedtime made for a perfect Sunday night. These beds were the comfiest I have been in since I left home in Kentucky. Gotta Love that indigenous village!

-Sara Jacqueline

Super Saturday: Como se dice..Longhorn Bull?!?

For Saturday, the weather in Cuetzalan was perfect, it was hot, sunny and humid. We signed up for an all day tour of the best views in Cuetzalan, and we definitely got our money's worth.

We started the day off super excited, and drove out to our first stop. We were dropped off with our 25 year old guide, in the middle of the road leading to a pasture...bizarre. Our guide, Jesus was hilarious and begged us to speak english to him. We decided he looked like Adam Sandler, so we called him Adam and spoke spanish instead. haha!

With our walking sticks in hand, we made our way down the mountain into this hole in the ground...which was a GIANT cave. We couldn't go as far back in it as they used to, because there was an avalanche of rock that blocked it off. However, it was believed to be the cave of the devil and when you left you needed to call your spirit back to you, so that the devil wouldn't keep it.

After hiking some more, we stopped to enjoy the view. Cuetzalan was a lot like The Road to Hana in Hawaii, which my family visited several years back. Crazy heights, but beatiful views!

When we made it to the second cave, we had to put on helmets and carry in our flashlights. This cave was much bigger, and went on for over 5 kilometers. We actually got to go pretty far into the cave, walking, wading and crawling through holes, tunnels and more. So much for trying to stay clean.

Next we hit up the waterfalls, the first one was huge, but the water was freezing. No worrieds, we just deicded to take a swim...

The second waterfall we climbed to was even bigger, and more people were swimming there too despite the fact that the sun was beginning to hide. At this waterfall, we watched our guide repel down the rocks right next to the waterfall about 80 feet high...and then...get ready...we did it too!! Thats right, all six of us repelled down a waterfall. Bam! It was awesome, and I will never regret it or forget how hilarious it was.

Yes I was soaked from head to toe, and yes I was ice cold. After our super long day filled with fun and adventure, we were all starved. Even Dora needs some tacos after her adventures. We found this fabulous restaurant where we all got dinner for 10 pesos, or less than $1. We ate motoles, tacos, tostadas, and more. SUPER delicious.

After dinner, we were pretty wiped out, so we headed out to our hostel for the night, which was near the pyramids, so again we had to take a 25 minute combi ride. We stank so bad from being wet and dirty..hope we didn't offend anyone. We were so grateful for showers.....too bad they were ICE cold. haha! Oh well, we slept cozy and warm in our lovely bunk beds at the indigenous hostel. What an AMAZING Saturday in Cuetzalan!

-Sara Jacqueline

TGI(W)F

Thank goodness it was Friday, because..drumroll please.....We had no school!!! That's right, we had the day off, so we packed our bags and headed out for a vacation to Cuetzalan. Pronounced Kwet-salon, it's a small town nestled high up in the mountains and is about a 5 and a half hour bus ride from Tehuacán. We left home around 7 in the morning and arrived in Cuetzalan around 2 after taking two different buses.

We were oh so excited, because we heard it was a magical place, and for the most part, we heard right. On Friday afternoon we spent most of our time tootin' around town, staring at the gorgeous views.

Because Cuetzalan sits in a mountain, the entire town is either up or down. Nothing else. So already we were workin' out our buns and thighs. haha! Our next stop was to see the pyramid ruins, which we had to take a combi (like an oversized taxi) to. The combi only had to go four miles, but it took almost 25 minutes, because the roads are all made of cobblestone, and like I said before the roads are either up or down, nothing else, and they are windy and skinny. We finally got to the pyramids, which weren't as cool as others, but thats ok.

That night, we checked into a hotel for our first night, since we couldn't get reservations at the hostel yet, and then we walked around the city. We found this little restaurant, had jumbo tortas and teeny weeny tostadas..go figure, the prices were the same. The other awesome part was the street food. I have been dying to eat an elote, because Justen has insisted I eat one or a hundred. I had my first elote and it was quite the experience. I loved it!! An elote is corn on a stick, spread with mayonnaise, lime juice, cheese and then chile. I hope those are in heaven.

We did some shopping, and enjoyed people watching until around 8 p.m. when the entire city died. Literally, there was no one out but the guerras (white girls) on a Friday night. Crazy. So we went to sleep.

Our Friday was awesome, and we had only started our vacation!! Viva Cuetzalan!

-Sara Jacqueline

It's a Peñafiel and Pizza Day!

Today we took a tour of the Peñafiel factory, which is located in Tehuacán. They make things like Dr. Pepper and Snapple drinks, and also supply many other drinks to Mexico, like mineral water. The Spaniards came here to Tehuacán to mine for gold, but all they found was mineral water, which drains off of a volcano, and takes five years to get from the peak to Peñafiel. Pretty neat.

Many of their flavored waters are created from the many kinds of cactuses, which they have a beautiful garden with lots of them to see.

For weeks now, we have been craving Dominoes pizza, so after our trip to the grocery store to get some weekend snacks, we picked up two pizzas for lunch. This was SUCH a good idea. We tried to be native and eat picante sauce on our pizza...genius.

This week I have been teaching kitchen to my classes, and we made nutella-graham cracker sandwiches today. Some of my kids were messier than others, including Rubin. He is nine years old, but somehow managed to get Nutella ALL over his face, hands, arms, sleeves and chest. What a goofball. These kids LOVE Nutella.

For dinner, my mom made me tostadas, which I was actually really afraid to eat because the last time I had legit Mexican food, I was sick. But they were super yummy!!

The green sauce on top is a salsa with avocado, which I am pretty sure my sisters in Ky would die for.
I just discovered that my sunglasses were broken from my backpack. Crud.

In about 5 hours, we are leaving to go to Cuetzalan for four day! We are SUPER duper excited to get there. I am only packing my backpack..haha..this should be interesting. Vamos!!

-Sara Jacqueline

Havin' Fun (not) in The Sun!

One of my good Missionary girlfriend friends tagged me in a fun blog post, and since its cloudy here in Tehuacán, we really haven't had anything better to do but sit around and think of lots of random facts and questions. I hope you enjoy!

The Rules

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 12 fun facts about yourself in the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and then create 12 new questions for the people you tagged.

4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

12 Fun Facts About Me

1. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and am so thankful for all my many blessings.

2. I love to sing, and I really miss being in Choir.

3. Sending and receiving postcards is one of my favorite things to do, and my family even has a big big collection put together in a book. Send me one please!!!

4. You could feed me broccoli for days and I would be the happiest camper ever.

5. My Missionary only has 10.5 months left!!! :)

6. I love making lists. Lists for anything: baby names, places to go, states to live in, things to do, everything!!

7. Even though I tend to dread exercise, I love it, and spend a lot of time running around like a fool in the cold weather.

8. I love to kayak!

9. I have never dyed my hair, which lotsa people tend to not believe me, but this is All Natural baby!

10. I am obsessed with my sewing machine. I got a fancy pants machine for my 12th Birthday, and we have been best friends ever since. I have made a lot of my clothes, gifts, and also things to sell. At 11 years old, I sold over a hundred scarves I had made.

11. One of my favorite fattening things to do is bake. I have a huge collection of recipes, sometimes I just make stuff up, and I like to try everything from cookies, cake, bread, pie. If you want some sweets, just ask me!

12. I might slightly be obsessed with everything and anything Vera Bradley. Its ok though, I'm a girl.

12 Questions from Candice for Me:

1. What's your favorite season, why?
Fall because it is beautiful weather, and I love wearing big sweatshirts and shorts. With all the trees in Kentucky, the scenery is really wonderful with all of the changing leaves.

2. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
I am actually very happy with where I am, Tehuacán, Mexico is quite an adventure in itself..but I would love to be home for a quick moment to have some lunch..haha..I just want some normal food for a moment! haha

3. Why do you blog?
Well for several reasons: I think it is a lot of fun to share with my family and friends the stuff going on in my life, also I am waiting for my missionary, Justen, and I want to document everything so he won't feel like he ever missed out.

4. Who is your hero?
Probably my Mom, because she gave birth to a 12 pound baby, and without that great effort, I wouldn't be here!

5. What is your favorite tv show? Why?
Well recently I have been away from all sorts of T.V. But I really miss Teen Mom, and all other sorts of documentary series like that. I just think they are so so interesting. But Also, I love Gilmore Girls, and it's my go to series for lazy days, cold days, sick days, or long nights. It is just humor for smart girls, I love it.

6. Do you have a new years resolution? what is it?
Ummm...not really. Of course, I always try to eat better, exercise more, read more, help more, pray more,be a better friend, but those are things I always try to do I think.

7. If you could go back in time, where would you go?
To High School, when I was 17. Gooood times.

8. If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be?
Paula Deen Maybe?? She eats a TON of food, and its all yummy, and yet she is not a 300 pound lady. That could be fun.

9. Who inspires you?
I can't pinpoint any one person, but I would think that all the young women back at the Shelbyville Ward are pretty inspiring. When I had a calling with the young women, I learned so much from them and from the other leaders. I loved hanging out with them, they are all so beautiful and wonderful.

10. What makes you happy?
Mexican Mondays, frozen yogurt, black bean chili, finishing something, thinking about December 2012, Justen, 4-H Camp

11. If you could give advice to a newborn, what would it be?
Quit poopin' in your pants...?

12. What is your favorite blog? Why?

Gosh, I have SOO many that I am in love with and stalk, but my go to blogs would have to be: The Red Kitchen and The Brown Eyed Baker

You've Been Tagged!!

• Courtney
• Ashley
• Sheilani
• Elizabeth
• Betsy
• Mary
• Megan
• Danielle
• Britni
• Sierra
• Landri
• Annie

Please complete these 12 questions and Post them to Your Blog!

1. What place would you most like to visit?

2. If you could plan a month long vacation, without flying anywhere, what would you do?

3. What is the best meal/dessert/etc. you ever made on accident? What was in it?

4. Would you rather have Birthday cake or pie?

5. What is your favorite childhood activity?

6. What makes you miss home the most?

7. If you could speak any other language, what would it be? What would you do with it?

8. If money was no problem, how many children would you want?

9. What is something you think you can never do, but want to so bad?

10. How are you feeling about February so far?

11. Where do you see yourself when you are 65 years old?

12. What is the best advice you could give a 20 year old?

-Sara Jacqueline

Photo Day: 3

I'm kind of slackin on the photos today people, but its cold here in Tehuacán and I have also been a bit ill. But no worries. These two shall hold you over for a tid bit.!

Me and Jen

The Market: Dead Stuff hanging everywhere!!

This weekend we are headed to Cuetzalan, which is in Puebla, the same state I live in. Its six hours by bus because it is far up in the mountains, but we have heard it is worth it. Everyone we talk to tells us that Cuetzalan is a magical place, and the people there are living about 150 years ago. We are very excited!! Check out this link about Cuetzalan: CLICK HERE

-Sara Jacqueline