A (Fake) Snow Day

This past weekend, Justen and I went all out and headed up to Perfect North Slopes to try out snowboarding before it got too warm. First of all the weather is crazy here, so I figured we better go now, because it would be my luck that every weekend after this one it would be 65 degrees. No kidding, it is sunshine and shorts one day, and parkas and blizzards the next here in Kentucky. 

Also, I have never been snowboarding or skiing in my twenty year or so long life, so Justen was pressuring me to try it out. My parents were always the type to take us to the beach, or on a boat. They are definitely not cold winter sports people. This is not at all like surfing in Mexico, or tubing down the Kentucky river. I was not prepared for the pain hangover.

The easy part was tubing. The lines were fairly long, however we were there on a Saturday, so I would not suggest that unless you have a lot of talking to do..hah. It was actually really fun, but we could just as easily go sledding in Morehead with enough snow (which we happened to do last weekend). Very fun, and super fast, but next time we will bring like 10 other people to go down the hill with, cause it really is for little kids mostly, or large groups. 

As you can tell this is how I felt about tubing only 3 times in 2 hours (long wait time)....

...And this is how Justen felt... Poor guy, he really likes a little bit more adventure, so lets talk about the snowboarding.

Let me just tell you that if you have never been before, then the easy hill is not so easy. I think that fake snow is 18 times more slippery than real snow. Seriously, I was sitting down at some points and going just as fast as a sled ride. Ridiculous. 

I have to admit, I fell a lot A LOT.... And it hurt even more. During one voyage down the hill, I fell a total of 11 times. However, the next time I only fell 8 times. HAH. Yes, I was keeping track to see if I was improving. I know Justen was having a blast laughing his butt off at me busting mine. Snowboarding is a lot of hard work, and no amount of watching the winter olympics prepared me for this. People who are as tall as me are not meant to balance on a popsicle stick and go down hill at a super fast speed.

Not to mention....

Did you know they don't strap you in on those lift things? What?!! What if I was a baby child eight year old and decided to slip and slide off that thing? It was like 40 feet down...right? These are my teacher thoughts. Good thing I had somebody to hold me down.

Even though I was in pain a lot of the time, and for a whole day afterwards, it was a lot of fun, and I would consider going again. Maybe to a different place, and maybe with a pillow stuffed booty. Everyone who I have talked to since told me skiing is easier, so I have a feeling my sister Abby tricked me...hmmm..

-Sara Jacqueline

A Crisco Disaster.

Welp this week was quite entertaining......
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Justen( f.y.i...my supa sweet huband) holding his favorite friend Kayden; it is very true that she likes him more than she likes me. Maybe it is because he offers the best snuggles?

It really did snow like 6 or so inches, and we had a blast! Although my car got a little stuck in the driveway, we enjoyed sledding, baby tubing, and rough housing in the snow. Did I mention it was beautiful??

UGH! Warning: DO NOT buy the Crisco butter flavored and expect it to work the same as Crisco. It will make your cookies flat, ugly, nasty and seem like Paula Deen tore up your kitchen. I was so disappointed with the outcome, so I am never buying that kind again.

About 3 days after the crazy snow storm, we have 60 degree weather, blue skies, sunshine.... Check out that landscape. Cool huh? There are a few perks to living in the middle of noooowhere.

That face. She is so cute, and lovable, and I cannot come up with an excuse to not stop by and see her every time I have a free 15 minutes. We play, we throw stuff, we scream a little, and her Mommy makes fun of me. Its a pretty good time all in all. haha..

Woah..... I think there is something going on in the Walmart. Too many bears, not enough shelf, too many chocolates, not enough bear....I think the Valentine Hurricane has hit us.

-Sara Jacqueline

How To: Making Flour Tortillas

For our culture class this week, our cute little teacher Irma, took us to see how flour tortillas were made, since those are our favorite kind--they are much better than corn. We just waltzed up into this tortilleria (tortilla factory) and they thought we were pretty entertaining just to look and laugh at. We watched these four tortilla makers work hard to prepare their dough for the day. 

Each one of these dough blobs is weighed and will make about a half tray of rolled tortilla dough balls...a.k.a....a LOT of tortillas.

The dough blobs are placed in this pan, and then stuck into that 'cutting machine' where the dough is flattened into the pan and cut into even little proportions of dough ready to roll into balls.

Here are the trays of the dough balls that they both roll by hand after the prepared dough blob is cut into even proportions. Remember, one dough blob can make half a tray of tortillas balls, and there were a lot of dough blobs. Also, if you notice behind her, there are racks and racks of trays full of dough balls ready to make into flat cooked tortillas.

Rolling the dough balls is a skill, you must roll them the right way, or else air bubbles can get inside or the dough will stick to your hands and slow you down. The best way to roll them is to form your hand like a claw, and roll them on the table very fast.

We left the tortilleria, and headed back to Irma's house to make some flour tortillas of our own. Here we are all ready to go!

Our ingredients consisted of 1Kilo of flour (about 1/2 of a pound), 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 cup of canola oil, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 2 cups of warm water.

First step is to sift the flour and baking soda together.

Next step is to pour the oil in and mix well with the flour and baking powder.

Add the salt and then say cheese.

Mix some more, and add the water until the dough comes to a good dough like consistency, not too sticky, but not too dry either. You may not need all of the water, and be careful not to burn your hands with the hot water.

Once the mixing is complete, put the dough in a warm area for 30 minutes to settle and rise and do all that stuff that tortilla dough is supposed to do.

Get out your dough and roll into tablespoon sized balls.

Don't forge the proper way to roll the dough!

If you have a tortilla press, go ahead and use it..if not, just squish the dough flat like you would a pizza crust, then peel off the table or plastic wrap and take it to the hot griddle.

Once your tortillas are on the griddle, they act a bit like pancakes, when they seem solid on top or crispy around the edges, go ahead and flip them, and then repeat until they feel and look like tortillas.

I look happy in this picture, but really the tortilla is burning my little hands, Ouch!!!!

Once the flour tortillas were cool enough to hold, we just topped them with jelly instead of going all out and making tacos. Tortillas con mermelada is actually a sweet treat that little kids here enjoy as a snack. Yummmy!! I cannot wait to make flour tortillas at home, and maybe even some whole wheat flour tortillas! 

Only 5 Mexican Days left!

-Sara Jacqueline

Puebla vs. América: Fútbol Fun!

We took a short trip to Puebla (the city) on Sunday to go to a soccer game an do a little shopping as one last hoorah. This game was apparently a BIG deal, and the fans got WILD! There was a crazy marching band walking through the street, and fans were decked out in jerseys, crazy hats, and face paint. This was just as exciting as the Ohio State vs. Michigan game...

Here we are decked out in our favorite team gear all ready to win!

We are #1!! Go Puebla!!!

Wait...who are you guys cheering for anyhow?..haha. But its pretty cute that they are matching.

Bonnie is a little dramatic...and sad to leave the stadium. Stupid Picture of Bonnie #171

It was pretty sad that Puebla lost...but not by much. The Final Score was Puebla 2 and América 3.

Overall, it was a really fun day acting like a bunch of sport fools romping around in our Puebla gear. 




The funny part is that we couldn't get tickets because the game had been sold out for weeks..but we did stand outside the stadium and tailgated with a bunch of other crazies, and tried to get tickets. The bad part was that there were only two choices, pay 500 pesos, or $50 ( A LOT of money) for a ticket to get in, or pay $40 to be snuck in by some Mexican men. You will be happy to know that we passed on both options, and headed over to a yummy restaurant to watch the game instead.


I still had a ton of fun experiencing my first Mexi-soccer game. Only 6 days left in Mexico!!!






-Sara Jacqueline

Wacky Wednesday

A few highlights from this week and last week's vacation...


Juan Jose just joined my class last week, and is super adorable. He will only sit next to me and repeats everything I say like a parrot..pretty cute for only being three years old.

Fernanda joined my class two weeks ago, and the one thing she does know how to say all on her own is "Con I peas go to duh bafroom?" She is four years old, a diva, and frequently steals my food.

One of my super smart kiddos Elisa made me oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, which is a big deal because you cannot buy chocolate chips in the grocery stores, you have to go far far away to find them...YUM. She is so sweet. Also, Christian brought me a candy bar..Are these kids trying to make me fat?

Bonnie posted some magnificent photos of me..Thanks Bon Bon. I guess I deserve this. But on the plus side, look how tan I am!!

So Mexico has kind of taken a toll on my little shoes and I have officially broken two pairs of sandals. On this day of our vacation, The strap came completely off, making them unwalkable, so I ditched them in the trash and looked like a hobo for the rest of the day. I was barefoot at dinner....in the taxi....walking through the bus station,..... through the streets....and all the way back to our hotel. Awkward.

Happy Hump Day!!!






-Sara Jacqueline

It's the End of the Beginning of the End

Tonight was our last night of semana santa, or our spring break vacation and it is all so bittersweet. On one hand we are excited to get back to Tehuacán so that time will fly and we can go home to America, but on the other hand we really LOVE the beach and all the fun we have been having together. I only have three more weeks with these girls and I will be so sad to leave them. We are all waiting to get on an overnight bus in a few hours, to make our 10 hour trek back to our Mexican home.

Today we took an all day snorkel trip, and beach hopped all over Huatulco. We got to see over 7 beaches, and visited two by boat. We were grateful it only cost us each twenty bucks. What a deal! I loved snorkeling, however the fish and coral cannot compare to the many other places I have been, but still it was worth the experience. Mostly it was funny to hear Jen scream about the fish, and watch Bonnie try to swim without touching the coral with her flippers. I have to admit, we are very entertaining to strangers....and sometimes eachother.

It wouldn't be a day without Bonnie doing something ridiculous. Today she showed us her hidden talent and unscrewed two bottle caps with her eyes at the same time. What a trip.

Last night on the beach, so we decided to take a celebration photo and then have some gelato. Sad day, but the sooner we go back to teach, the sooner we get to go to America. *Disclaimer* I really wish I was home for Easter, even though I love Mexico.

This has been the best spring break I have had yet, we had an awesome adventure together and met a ton of people and have a zillion stories to tell. Happy Semana Santa!! Vamos a regresar!

-Sara Jacqueline

If Bicycle=Bicicleta then Tricycle=Tricicleta ....?

After Puerto Escondido, we started heading back in the direction of home and stopped in Puerto Angel for an afternoon and a night. We decided it was WAY too tiny for us, spent a little time on the beach and then had rooftop dinner at our hotel.

It was a cute little town, but there was absolutely nothing to do there, so we decided we didn't want to spend that last days of our vacation just being bored. We are spoiled and we know it.

The next morning we got on an early bus to Huatulco, which is the next major city over, where a lot of cruise ships port for a day. It's more of a touristy town, and we found plenty to do here. Plus, the water was super blue!!!

Bonnie and I decided we wanted to take a tractor ride on the beach!

Well actually it is more like a tricycle, or in Spanish I guess that would be a tricicleta?

Either way, it was a lot of fun, and totally hilarious!!!

Little Bonnie was so tuckered out from pedaling that she fell fast asleep. GOTCHA BON BON!!!!!

After a long long day at the beach, we walked over to dinner in town at this cute little place. I had Sopa Azteca, which is usually VERY different and not like this at all, so do not be fooled. It was pretty good...but certainly not as good as other things that I have had, so I was a bit disappointed.

But for the first time in Mexico, we got to eat salsa and chips brought to us by our waiter. This does not happen in Mexico like you think it should, because that is American...do not be fooled.

I am so so glad we decided to come to Huatulco for a few days before heading home, it really is a nice little city, and there is tons to do and tons of people which we love. It is so touristy in fact that the people here look at us shocked when we speak in Spanish to them..kind of fun. We are headed out for an all day 7 beach snorkel trip!

-Sara Jacqueline