Chips & Salsa in Puerto Vallarta

When my mom was pregnant with me, she wildly craved chips and salsa. Perhaps that explains my own obsession with the salty savoryness of my staple snack. This week I scarfed more than my fair share of authentic chips and salsa...in Mexico!

Yesterday Ryan and I returned from a Puerto Vallarta luxury adventure with my family. My dad and stepmom Sue were so generous to take all 6 of us kids (and two spouses now...we're growin!) for an action-packed, yet soothingly-relaxing vacation. Ryan and I had to come back early so he wouldn't miss finals review, but the 4 days we were there were memorable indeed.

We hit the skies on a parasail, soaring 300 feet over the bay, and I looked DOWN at a flying gull. Then we got friendly with Dory the dolphin who gave us kisses














I karaoke sang/danced my once-17-year-old heart out to "Dancing Queen."
We all made excellent tree monkeys on the canopy zip line, and loved the ocean scene. Ryan can't get enough of playing in water, and he spent many gleeful hours bodysurfing.

Thanks again Dad and Sue! We love you!

p.s. To my bro-in-law Matt: congrats on your new job!

Grin and Bear (Lake) It

Last weekend we went to one of Ryan's favorite places in the world.

Bear Lake has been an annual (and semi-annual) tradition for the Becks and the Curtis cousins for years. In Ryan's mind, there's nothing better than having a bunch of people to play with, and wide open spaces. In his own words; "All I need is water, big fields of grass, and good food. That's all I really want out of a summer vacation."

That's most definitely what we had there - hours of boating time, volleyball, kickball, swimming pool visits, and superb culinary creations by Trisha and Aunt Sue. The Curtis family was generous to bring up their boat, and we had a blast on the water. Ryan got some air on the wakeboard, and I was happy to pop right up on the board and hold my own for awhile. (It was worth being wicked sore for three days...)

Since Bear Lake, we've both been cramming in school and work. Ryan's a trooper with his brutal summer class schedule (Mon-Wed are utterly swamped, poor guy) He's been saying the past week or so that he's excited the semester is almost over...the light is getting brighter at the end of the tunnel! I've been flying like crazy: 3 days,10 flights, 20.5 hours in the air, 630 passengers. Yeah, it's time for 1 good night's sleep!

Never Too Old To Slip 'N' Slide

Ryan and his friend Travis have been co-hosting their own birthday party for the past 6 years.

This year, the Slip 'N' Slide Party lived on. Saturday was another success: 200 feet of slip 'n' slide, 150 of their closest friends, 4 hours of sunny skies (and a random summer storm), good food, and soap. Lots and lots of soap....all the better for slippery-ness.

We had our some little Primary friends come...


Baby niece Kensi made her grand appearance as well. Quite adventurous for a 3 month old.


Happy Birthday, Ryan my love




....you too, Travis!

As You Wish

Who doesn't love The Princess Bride?

Ryan and I have both loved this movie since we were kids, and I introduced him to the
book while we were dating. He even used it in a collage of words when he proposed. We just love it. Not only do we quote it regularly..."My name is Inigo Montoya. you killed my father, prepare to die!"...but we also have some uncanny coincidences with the story, as you will soon see.

Today I finished The Princess Bride, by the genius author William Goldman, for the fourth time. Twice I've read the 300+ pages in a day - it's that dang good! It's one of those books that never fails to make me laugh out loud. Reading it this time, as a 25-year-old wife brought out new details that I never would have noticed in high school.

Get this...the author's birthday is August 12...our anniversary. I almost couldn't believe it when I read Westley's explanation to Buttercup about the Dread Pirate Roberts on page 184:

" 'What I am about to tell you I have never said before and you must guard it closely.' I of course said I would. ' I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts,' he said, 'my name is Ryan. I inherited this ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts just as you will inherit it from me.' "

No way! No wonder this is what we chose to be for our first Halloween (2010) as the Becks: