Dear AutoMercado

Why do I miss you so? Let me count the ways...

• because I know all the faces of your employees and they know me, because sometimes I give them rides to work when they are hitch hiking.
• because although your things are twice the price, your small selection, cleanliness, and simpleness make shopping effortless.
• because when I have to put $20 of groceries back at the end because I ran out of cash, I'm not embarrassed because you live the 'pura vida.'
• because you have no 'holiday' or 'seasonal' isle. Those are just code for, "we always have something you think you HAVE to have, even though you don't, and you'll buy it anyway, because that was commercialism is all about, convincing the consumer that their life will be better if they make the purchase and add the item to their ever growing pile of other holiday and seasonal items....

I love you Auto! You make living in Costa great!

The Past is Part of the Present and the Future (even if the pictures aren't there to prove it.)

Do you ever keep replaying a moment in your head, over and over, in hopes that somehow, insodoing, you will be able to change the events of the past? Well, I do. I have been doing it for the past week, trying to change the fact that on our trip from San Jose, Costa Rica, to SLC, UT, we lost over a thousand precious pics. Somehow between our hotel and the check in desk at the airport, our laptop was 'misplaced' - meaning somebody nabbed it- and years of photos were lost. I am grateful for my blog, which has preserved many of my favorite moments over the last year, and I feel like it's not just a hobby, but a real blessing in my life! Thanks to all our loved ones who have snapped shots over the last few years, and are letting us rumage through the computers and photo albums to scan, copy, and attempt to retreive these little moments in time. In the end, searching for pictures, has been a fun experience, and we have found many pictures we didn't even know existed. I am grateful for my beautiful family, and realize that while pictures are fun, they are only reminders of our past, but our past will always live within us, even if the pictures aren't there to prove it ;)