We were in Puerta Vallarta for 10 days. Each day brought so many memories, some with laughter, some with thoughts of past experience between the 6 of us. These couples who we are here with, have become like family to us. We have traveled to Doyle Sprigs together, San Diego and now Mexico. The evenings of going out to eat at different restaurants and discovering new places has been a joy. Relaxing in Dee and Jeff’s room to snack on guacamole and curried dip and our new favorite snack; jicama with Tejin seasoning sprinkled over it, before going out at night was something each of us looked forward. Each evening after dinner, we sat around a table in their room to play cards. Eagerly, each evening we would stand outside waiting to see what size cab would arrive to pick the 6 of us. Jeff, who is 6’7″,280 lbs and my hubbie, at 6’1 and 260 would draw straws to see who would get to sit up front, all the while getting “kneed in the back” by the one who had to sit behind him, since the front seat would have to be pushed all the way back, allowing for their knees to even just be in the car. We all laughed at the thought of their legs having to just stick out the windows of the small taxi cabs since sometimes the taxi door would not even shut completely because of their size. We actually got pretty good at trying to figure out 20% tip in pesos.
The adventures we had just trying to guess what the bus route was which was written on the bus window made us all make a goal of learning a little spanish before returning the next year. After getting on the wrong bus and having to ride in certain areas of town that, should I say, was a little “sketchy” made us decide that learning Spanish might be to our benefit. But, sitting around the pool, talking about our kids, our season of life, how the Lord was growing us and sometimes allowing us to go through certain trials, these are the days we remember the most. The times when we open up to each other. The stories which we hear from each of us just draw us closer as we know that we will be praying for one another.
Each day we found ourselves not only laughing at the new aches and pains which seem to accompanied us down to Mexico, but realizing that we were still all so blessed to be able to do what we were doing. Yes, we were still able to waddle out to the poolside and enjoy the sunshine. We had eyes that allowed us to watch whales out in the ocean (and some poolside, but I won’t go there) and read. We had ears to still hear the songs being played by the Mariachi Band that had such a strange version of “I Did It My Way”. We were still able to walk and spend our husbands money on new blouses and silver earrings. Dinner might be followed by lots of Rolaids, but the heartburn was so worth it as beautiful lobster or shrimp was set in front of us alongside a huge plate of guacamole and chips. It was wonderful to still be able to jump and run when a large iguana came close to our pool side chairs.
Knowing that we love to come home to our own beds, it was still so hard to leave these precious friends. It is amazing to think about how friendships seem to thrive when new memories are made together. The laughter, the praying together, the sharing of meals, all tasting each other’s food; exploring new places,these are just some of the things that make new memories so special. It is also what gives us more reason to do these things more often. We came home thankful for this special time we had together. The rooms are already reserved for 2019, when we will, Lord willing, once again descend upon Puerto Vallarta. Our list of restaurants which we never made it to this year is written down for next visit. We are going to venture out to a new little town about a hour away from PV. Zip lining is on my list for next year.
Friendships are so special. Wishing each of you a year of new memories with endearing friendships….it is what brings us lives of joy and blessing.
Tag: Adventures
Penzey’s Seasonings
Even though this is so hard for me to admit, I had never heard of Penzey’s Seasonings. In the last couple of months, we have gained a new friendship with a couple from church and Marilyn loves to cook as much as I do. We have begun to meet her and her husband for lunch during the week and on one of our adventures to Cheesecake Factory, where Randy discovered a Chicken Parmesan Pizza, she began to tell me about Penzey’s and how great their seasonings were. So we planned our next adventure to go eat a Chicago dog at Portillos in Tempe and then head to Penzky’s so she could show me all of the seasonings that she loves. So last Thursday, that is exactly what we did. I discovered that I can spend $50 faster in Penzey’s than Steinhart! As we walked along the aisle, she would point out a spice that “oh this is what I add to my meatloaf, or hamburgers that people always ask me what I did to make it taste so great”, so of course I had to have that one. Then we came to a spice that she adds to any bread pudding, or apple dish, well, you know I had to have that one. Then there was the one that I just had to have to add to veggies or salads and don’t get me started on the dried fresh dill and jalapeño flakes. Randy and her husband, Bob, just stood over by the door, shaking their heads. Upon checking out, Randy learned over and whispered in my ear, “does this mean that you are going to actually start cooking other things besides cakes and pies?” After glaring at him, I told the lady to hold on, I wasn’t through and went and grabbed a few more spices that I didn’t think any home should be without. Randy didn’t have any more wise cracks before leaving the store. When I posted my new found treasures on Facebook, several of my friends told me that they couldn’t believe that I had never heard of Penzey’s. I informed them that unless they were on the shelf at Walmart, my spice world is pretty limited with garlic powder, salt, pepper, onion powder, you know, the stuff kitchens are known for, but… Now, I have the catalog and my new spice lingo includes words like:
Herbes de Provence, Bouquet Garni, Chicago Steak Seasoning, Beef Roast Seasoning and Sunny Paris. I hope that by the time we have company and I use the new seasonings, I will have learned how to pronounce the ones with the fancy little names. I have Chicago and Beef and Sunny down, but am working on Herbes, Provence and Bouquet Garni. If I have too much trouble, I guess I’ll stick with just garlic powder. Well, on fancy meals, I’m pretty sure I am good saying “celery salt”! So, watch out Phoenix, this country girl is practicing her french and is ready to start cooking with her new Bucket Garnie and my new Hurbees dee Pro Vince! Hope it tastes better than it sounds!
A Southern Sunday Afternoon in Wylie, TX
This morning after church we decided to go on an adventure. A friend of ours has just bought a house in Wylie and had told us that we needed to go explore the historic downtown area and eat at one of their restaurants. So that is exactly what we did. We came home, changed clothes, put on flip flops and headed to Wylie, Texas. What a charming little town it is. We decided to stop in at the Ballard Street Café. Oh my goodness, what a place. I have to tell you that, the chicken fried gravy with mashed potatoes, green beans, vegetable beef soup was well, hum…how do I say this, “it put Babe’s Restaurant to shame.” Seriously, it was just awesome. Their biscuits are Angel biscuits, made with yeast and as light as a biscuit could be. They even had peach jam and sweet tea to die for.
The minute we walked in the door, everyone began to stare at us, as we were about the only ones in there that didn’t know everyone, but the waitress called us honey and we immediately felt at home. She brought us sweet tea and checked on us as if we had been at a 5 star restaurant. Peter Pumpkin ordered eggs, gravy and chicken fried steak with biscuits. He was in heaven. We have found out place. As we sat outside on the bench waiting to hear our name called to be seated, the wind was gently blowing and the shade made us feel that we were in Mayberry! There are two other restaurants there that we are now excited about going back and trying, an Italian one and one with a huge porch with a swing to wait until you can get a table. That one is called, A Taste of Home! What a great little community. It was so great to see people sitting around tables, just coming in from church. We could tell, because they had their ironed blue jeans and fancy boots on. No one was texting or on their phones. Since I wanted to fit in, I only pulled my phone out once to check us in on Facebook! Didn’t have the nerve to take a picture of my chicken fried steak, would have made me look like an outsider. So we decided to just take the memory with us and plan on our next visit out when we won’t eat so much that we can’t order a piece of their homemade (made fresh daily) pies! Was a lovely afternoon and have a great new place to take friends or family coming in for a Texas visit. We have both decided that when we go back, we will go in boots, not flip flops, allowing us to look a little more like “town folk”!
A great little Sunday afternoon adventure!
Chocolate Castles 