The Reluctant Red Nose

Well folks….last day is here..:how that happened, I do not know!

We had room service again this morning…doesn’t cost more and before we fly we like to be cautious. This is the reason I booked this hotel…because of the safety concerns, and this hotel is very careful.

Today we went to get things to take back home…and it was a lovely time…

One of our favorite things we like to do is collect art. Since our daughter is an artist..we know how much work goes into these paintings.

Unwanted a nice painting of the arch….

Mark never let’s himself buy much…but this painting spoke to him….

Tomorrow we begin our journey back….then back to reality….but Guatemala has a special place in my heart…love you Antigua♥️♥️♥️😘

Today, we started off the day with Room Service…and it was lovely…

Then we headed to a coffee farm…which in the beginning, I admit…I thought we had been kidnapped…because that’s what my mind always jumps to…kidnapping and killings.

We took a short van ride with another family that was from Austria and their son had moved here to teach English…they were lovely people.

We were introduced and thankfully our interpreter came😬 yeah!!!!

It was an exceptional visit…and we enjoyed our lunch together. We were so happy to have wonderful coffee to bring home!

We got up very early on this morning to begin a hike. We were picked up in front of our hotel around 6:16.

The day started with a breakfast bar and a fabulous cup of coffee.

I had requested an English speaking tour…but for the first time on this trip …I did not get that. Thankfully there were two English speaking interpreter on this trip and they explained things to us….obviously I will have a conversation with the company…all of our other tours were in English as I had requested.

The hike up to Pacaya is not easy…but you can rent a horse if you like for about 250 Q for up and back down. The hardest part for us was back down. I am 48 and work out about twice a week…and an in decent shape…my husband is 10 years older and works out about four times a week…we were in the middle of our group and sos not slow anyone down…

The climb was moderate….but worth it! Our guide stopped several times along the way.

It is an hour drive up and an hour drive back and the entire van was snoring on our way home…the van dropped us off at our hotel.

We then showered and took a long nap…/‘s then we enjoyed a nice dinner at our hotel…we were wanting some vegetables and our hotel is very safe to have these things.

I also wanted to remind you that in Guatemala most of their sewers cannot take what ours do in the US. On our hike to Pacaya you cannot flush toilet paper…our hotel you can. It will be posted clearly what you can and can’t do.

As all beautiful days begin in Antigua….a beautiful nod to coffee….

There is a cafe next to our hotel where they have Spanish lessons and beautiful people and amazing coffee.

Today we had a tour guide named Moses who took us around the city….if I had to do it over I would have booked him for Tuesday…we would have gotten around better. Antigua is perfectly safe…armed police everywhere. I felt safer here than in my own home town.

We went to several different churches, learned the history of the city. Visited a jade market…looked a little bit at coffee trees…and went to a Mayan Market….

Moses, our guide. Then introduced us to Eric, who drove us up to the Hill of the Cross. He waited for us and then brought us back down. This used to be unsafe to go to without a guide. Lots of petty crime. Now there is a police presence there and lots of vendors if you fancy some snacks….or pretty much anything you can imagine.

It was a beautiful day!

Word of warning: do NOT drink the water…we have only drank the water at our hotel because it is purified. Do NOT eat the lettuce or any fruit or vegetable..that would be washed in their water. Avocados are fine. When you order a hamburger tell them no tomato or no onion, except when you beat at Wendy’s (which we did one day) also do NOT get ice in any drink. You can have hot tea, or lemonade… I have personally had lots of lattes and Cocoa-Cola. We also have bought a lot of bottled water.

Every vacation has a few bumps in the road…and we considered Day 3 our bump.

When we were in Cozumel we just cancelled all reservations we had made previously and made better tour trips with our hotel…we kind of thought this would be the same thing we could do here….We were Soooo wrong.

Lots of tourists places but no one could speak any English at all…hotel gave us a number and that was a disaster….so I got online myself..:and just took care of the reservations myself….

So Day 3 was frustrating but we learned how to use google translate…and figure out what we wanted to do the other three days….

That cinnamon coffee was sooo good!

And then some more….

And more doors….

Today was a day I will not forget….for three years O have dreamed of standing right here….

We wanted to jump right in and just see a few things…experience the city….

All these photos taken are mine….with just my simple IPhone. I do use Lightroom as well and that makes ordinary photos so much better…especially when you are in a city like this.

Fiesta we started off with a latte….if you are a coffee drinker….welcome to coffee heaven….

I decided to kind of work on this while we are actually still on the trip in bits and pieces…hoping this will help those of you interested in visiting Antigua Guatemala.

The first thing you need to make sure of is that you are flying into Guatemala City during the day. Do not fly in or out….at night.

Second thing you need to do is call your hotel where you will be staying and arrange transportation to your hotel ahead of time. We had a young man with a sign meet us n Guatemala City and drive us back to Antigua. This is well worth it given your safety is most important.

It is supposed to be an hour from the airport to Antigua….but things don’t work here like they do at home…and traffic signals are not followed….hardly at all.

Our first day consisted of getting up at 3 am…and every single flight we took (2 out of 2) took forever to take off..:second flight caused some running in the airport in Houston….me crying and running….I was sure we would not get to go…again.

Entry into Guatemala was relatively painless…we found Mexico to be harder…we had no issues at all entering into Guatemala.

My husband and I speak hardly any Spanish…but they know that…and for the most part with google translate being your bestie…you can make it…not ideal…but you can make it.

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I cannot say enough good things about our hotel. Extremely clean, bed is a dream and there is very tight security. On check in we were greeted with champagne glasses of green tea and jasmine…water is purified here but we still only drink bottled. We can still flush toilet paper as well.

The first night we are on the rooftop of a nearby restaurant. There are restaurants everywhere….amazing coffee. Our hotel coffee is to die for as well….

Also, most menus are in English….so it’s pretty easy!

Today I went to visit my parents….they live over an hour away…and today I dreaded it with all my being.

It gets very hard when your Dad does not remember your name…today he actually did which was nice…I noticed he called me her and my Mother said..”You mean Jamie?” And he said yes…”Jamie” so I guess that counts.

Today, he thought Christmas was the next holiday and asked my daughter Ellie no less than five times what she wanted for Christmas. He asked if he could get a shot for his disease. Wanted to know if he could get his drivers license back…told me that being able to see well was not important when driving 🤦🏼‍♀️. There were more stories…but I will just leave it at that.

We drove home exhausted…I had answered the same questions….repeated myself a million times and explained where my son was (who hasn’t lived with us in five years). And just for fun, today they had to ask about my dead dog about four times….so yep…I was exhausted mentally.

On the way home…I just listened to praise music and dreamed of the day when we will all be made new….when there will be no more pain and no more tears…..

Tomorrow is the first day of spring. I’m grateful for warmer weather….

I’m grateful for trips that have been put off for four years that finally get to be taken. I’m grateful for my two dogs…my amazing children. I’m grateful for my house, my business, new staff members, and my amazing husband. I’m grateful for customers, and our church and our church family and friends. I’m grateful for sunshine, fresh bread, homemade soap. I’m grateful for decorating for spring and gold bunnies and chocolate…

I’m grateful for all the amazing opportunities that life gives us…I’m grateful for coffee in the morning…umbrellas, warm blankets…hot showers and warm blow dryers. I’m grateful for music and being able to know how to play the piano…I’m grateful for all the amazing people I have met through clowning and so thankful I get to spend a week with these people this summer…..

But today…..today I’m sad….I’m scared this genetic disease will grab me to…and that I will also be a burden to my children…and I really don’t want that.

For today….I’m grateful he knew me…even though he needed a reminder…I’m grateful that he knew my daughter. I’m grateful he likes fried chicken and chocolate cake….and no matter what…he always wants to talk about fishing…for now….that will have to be enough…

Today I was supposed to get rest, and be rejuvenated but that didn’t happen…I had big plans for today…I could tell you that’s life…but it seems it’s been happening every three weeks for the course of two years…and it’s time for a change.

Owning a business is hard…but it can also be very rewarding it enables me to do things that most people don’t get to do.

It’s gotten my big clown foot in the door at many schools and retirement homes….

It has allowed me to continue my obsession with decor and also soap making. I enjoy baking bread and cooking….and I have been able to do all these things and more and for that I am grateful.

Sometimes though in life…we need to change our focus…we need to make hard decisions…and that’s what my husband and I have done lately…make some really hard decisions that don’t feel good…but will be good.

For the good of our family and our mental health these changes will be put into place in the next four weeks….our hope is that these changes will bring a more predictable schedule for everyone involved, and we hope that plans for extracurricular activities can now be planned for.

With these changes, my husband and I hope to be able to concentrate on our activities that drive us to be creative individuals that are able to focus on the important planning aspects of what makes our business unique. Our business continues to grow…and we must make some hard changes to make it continue.

Over the last two weeks I was asked point blank what makes me happy? And I had to sit and ponder it for a long time….

What brings me great joy is to play keyboard in front of my congregation. The singing of my church family almost brings me to my knees every time.

The second thing that brings me joy is homeschooling my daughter. Doing science projects and writing assignments and all the things…violin and art classes….

The third thing that brings me joy is work in my community…clowning, other committees all of those things….

The fourth thing that brings me joy is our business and learning all those things that make our business unique….

What can rob your joy is the mundane parts of business…getting caught up in the grind of your business that shouldn’t even be something you are left with worrying about. Finding dependable and reliable people that show up and do their job without you having to babysit them is what can make or break you…and finding people like that can be hard to find….

We are lucky to have a good team of people…and I’m grateful for each and everyone of them. We are grateful to have a consultant who can look at our business from the outside and let us know what is no longer working and what must change…someone who sees a bigger vision.

So for now as my anxiety is through the roof…and my creativity is plummeting…and my fitness routine is completely gone…house is becoming shambles and house projects are once again put off….I am resting in the fact that change can be good…and growing pains can turn into beautiful things….

Today, we returned to normalcy. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed my own bed..my shower.

Today, my dogs were dropped back off and my Ozzie ran so hard to the door that the leash came out of the person who watch him hand….same Ozzie same.

As I picked up my order from Sam’s…had my delivery from Walmart. Took my daughter to the orthodontist, and now her two writing classes….I was so thankful…..but again….so torn.

I feel that on a business trip I work soo hard…and when I return the tasks at home seem so much more overwhelming….and I wonder which lane I should be in.

As my husband was discussing business things my mind had a hard time staying on track….

I feel constantly pushed between homeschooling and clowning….and keyboard playing. Then, there are the chores from home, soapmaking….all the things that all of us dabble in.

I’ve decided that this too shall pass. I’ve decided that all my ducks will never be in a row…that time will always evaporate….that I will never be great at everything.

So right now I haven’t made soap since November….we are behind in school since we’ve been away on business…my puppy still likes to pee inside. I have a ton of inventory to put in for Valentine’s Day. I’m clowning at schools and retirement homes and having a hard time focusing on work since my mind keeps moving away to clowning and new ideas for a new program I just started in our community. I have band practice tonight…but have been away so this practice will definitely be scary….

I’m behind in working out….my house is not clean….but my fridge is…because while we were gone I had loads of science experiments going on…I have groceries and half clean laundry!

These are NOT big deals….not in the least….but they can weigh us down if we let them. The perfectionist side of me wants everything to be perfection. The perfectionist side of me wants to do great in all the things…but three years until my homeschool chapter is closed….

And she walks off into this big bad world. After that….bits and pieces of time and phone calls…

I want to relieve my husband from business pressures…I keep making changes….we will get there.

I want to be a funny light in my community….where laughter happens and smiles come out. Where you forget about your troubles…for just a little while.

I want to create beautiful things and see amazing places….experience new things…

I don’t want to sit around…perfect ….and control all the things….life is messy…funny…dirty…terrifying….heartbreaking…stressful…and surprising. Don’t get caught up with what you did wrong…what you failed at…what you are behind on….

Today my lane was orthodontist, food, clean laundry, clean the fridge, get my dogs settled, unpack the suitcases, go to writing classes. Band practice and make dinner….

Tomorrow it will be work, cleaning the house, homeschool lessons. Next week more of the same…the point is…don’t grow weary in the journey. Make sure to put things in there that give you joy…that make you happy…creative. That feed your soul….and remember all of us have a different lane…so keep your eyes on your road…full speed ahead!