Granada, Nicaragua photos

Katy and I trying to choose pottery after just learning how it's made by a local potter.

Sunset at the Cathedral

Katy, Bo, Sam, Tiff on top of a Spanish Fort in Lake Nicaragua.

Learning how to make cigars, turns out it's not easy...ours looked awful!

The local kids loved watching videos of themselves on my Flip.

Locals still use horses to get around, it's not all for tourists.

Gorgeous Cathedral in the Parque Central.

Dirty 30 Trip to Nicaragua

(Finally have a pic to post, sam is working on the others)
We're back from Nicaragua!!! And I'm in a new decade of my life and VERY excited about what is still to come in this short time we are all blessed with on this earth. We have 700 pictures to sort through before I can even begin to upload them to this website or anywhere else. We spent a few amazing days in Granada, pretty much the oldest city in the western hemisphere. Then we flew a tiny (scary) plane to Big Corn Island off the Atlantic Coast. After 1 night there we realized it just wasn't what we wanted so we caught the first (SCARY) boat ride to Little Corn Island, 1.5 square miles, no roads or cars, hardly any electricity, lots of backpackers, and gorgeous white sandy beaches. What an amazing trip! Lots of hilarious stories of no electricity, no toilet seats, mice, lots of pepto bismol, and never knowing what the next day would bring us. But also soo many great stories of private lagoons, dollar beers, 6 dollar lobster dinners, me being the dog whisperer to the strays, monkeys on strings, oh and i have a tan!!! What an amazing 30th birthday, couldn't have asked for a better birthday really...and getting to spend it with Sam and 2 of my best friends Katy & Bo, she turned 30 too! So much fun...I have a hankering for a rum and coke right now.

Pictures to come soon, stay tuned!!

Vacay Here We Come!

We leave in 3 days!! YAY!! I can't wait to go somewhere new, be with great friends, have lots of time with my hubby, get some sun, drink some beers, have some laughs, and see my family during our Houston layovers. I've got all my tank tops, shorts, and skirts ready to go. Lots of travel size bottles, we're up to date on our shots, and have taken our first malaria pills. They're suppose to be good for your face but of course I'm breaking out, ha. Sad to take Marley to the kennel on Monday though, that's the only part that I hate about leaving town. I'm sure I'll have lots of great photos to post when we get back...oh and I'll be 30 the next time I write, EEK!! xo to you all!

Nicaragua!

So, I kept saying that this was going to be the year that Sam and I finally take a trip. We've really only been on our honeymoon together and that's about it as far as "just us 2" vacations. I also turn 30 this year so was hoping to do something special for my big day. Well it turns out some of my bestfriends from college, Katy and her husband Bo were thinking the same thing. Long story short, tickets are booked & we're all 4 going to Nicaragua for both of our 30th birthdays in March, yay!!! Above is a picture of Big Corn Island, it's off the coast of Nicaragua, in the caribbean waters. First we'll go to Granada for a couple of days in the "city", and then we'll spend the rest of our time in huts, in the white sands, in the sun, driving golf carts, drinking $1 beers, and eating lobster every day for lunch!! They live in Minnesota and I know are getting sick of the cold gray days like we are - so it'll be a much needed trip with plenty of natural vitamin d haha, good times with friends, and a big adventure! We go to the travel clinic in a week or so and I'm hoping we don't need a bunch of shots...I at least need my tetanus, while I'm there we'll probably get malaria pills, hepatitis a shots, and maybe the h1n1...who knows. I'm terrified of needles but I figure let's just get it all over with and totally protect ourselves!

I can't wait, March 16th could not come soon enough! For now though, this beautiful city of Vancouver that we live in will be hosting the winter olympics soon and we're all praying it doesn't suck on us residents as bad as we're preparing for! I hope they show you all some great shots of this city I've grown to love and you'll all want to come visit. Let the games begin!!

Grandma Franks

To go along with what I said below about my Grandma in the previous post, here is her obituary and a couple photos.


Grandma LOVED dancing while Sam played the piano, that was our most recent favorite thing to watch in the last few years (since Sam started spending Thanksgiving with us).

Me with my 2 Grandmas, Stringfellow & Franks - at Thanksgiving a few years back.

Christmas in England, 2009

We had a great week in Witney, UK for Christmas. It was a really relaxing trip since we really didn't have anything planned but to just hang out and spend time with Sam's family and friends. We helped Sam's dad build a greenhouse in the backyard, went to the pub with Sam's friends, did a murder mystery night, opened gifts of course, ate lots of yummy food, had lots of hot tub time and Sam went on a big Blenheim Palace walk with his friends (I stayed in bed that icy morning). It was great having the entire Fisher family together for the holidays!

Unfortunately, most of the "jolliness" of Christmas was taken from me when I got news of my dad's mom dying, Grandma Franks. I was told before we left for England that she was going downhill fast. I even had the chance to try to talk to her on the phone so I'm glad I had that opportunity to talk to her one last time. She died on Christmas Eve, we all think she was just in a hurry to spend Christmas day with her beloved husband (my Grandpa died a few years back and she just hasn't been the same since). The worst part of it all is that I was unable to make the funeral in Houston. It was just scheduled too quickly and I wasn't able to change my flight. I have so many great memories with my Grandma - she gave me my first wine cooler, taught me to fish, let me eat snicker bars at midnight and taught me how to play pool! What an amazing woman, she'll be truly missed but I know she is in a happier place now! Love you Grandma and I hope you ALL had a Great Christmas!!!

The whole fam doing a silly pose, I guess I thought drinking my champagne was silly, haha. I have a "help me" look on my face.

I'm wearing about 6 of my gifts here :)

Sam shows off his new wellie boots

Snuggies for the Millers living in cold Scotland

Building a greenhouse is hard work, you need lots of hands!

The Witney Clan take on Blenheim Palace

Thanksgiving Week in Houston, 2009

Sam & I just got back from 9 great days in Houston for Thanksgiving (and Christmas)! We had such a good time, it felt like we were there for weeks...but not in a bad way, ha. I got to spend so much time with my family and we hung out with our friends plenty too. Somehow in 9 days we managed to have a wild night at our friend's playing Rock Band drinking lots of wine and having lots of laughs, went to my nephew's baptism, did all of my family's Christmas shopping, went to the houston zoo, hung out for monday night football, celebrated Thanksgiving day at my Aunt's house, Sam & I checked on our Houston house (it looks great by the way, real weird seeing all the baby stuff our tenants have everywhere!), went to Ren Fest and camped out, and finally celebrated Christmas with my side of the family since we'll be in England for the real Christmas. We got to give Harrison his first Christmas presents - including his first Elmo of course! I probably gained 5 pounds eating amazing food all week but it was worth it. I am feeling kinda homesick now, but at least Vancouver has given us beautiful blue skies so far this week - though it doesn't get above 35 degrees! Hope everyone else had an awesome Thanksgiving. xoxo!