A Death in the Family Takes Us to Seattle

My favorite photo of all of us!

With Christmas approaching, Keith and I had planned to spend a very low key holiday in Mexico with friends. WE didn't even decorate... Sadly, we were called on the 20th and notified of the passing of Keith's mother, Carole. She hadn't been doing very well for the last month but Keith had been checking in on her often and even flew up to see her in November. With this news, we decided to fly to Seattle for the holidays and take care of anything/everything needed. 

We flew to Seattle on the 22nd and didn't leave until the 29th. For the first two nights we had the pleasure of staying at the Cedarbrook Lodge, which was amazing and cozy. After that we moved to more affordable  accommodations since it was the holidays and we were just there to sleep... We packed up Carole's belongings and donated a lot of items to friends who needed them. Keith did really well but I know it was hard on him having to say goodbye to his mother. She will be greatly missed.

Friends in Seattle at Din Tai Fung

We were very thankful for friends who were able to make time to spend with us while we were there. So many reached out but sadly we were very limited on free time. It really helped seeing them to not lose our Christmas spirit - thank you Andrew and Shelby for feeding us on Christmas and opening your home to us.

It was a quick trip, but thankfully we were able to wrap up everything for Carole and we are hoping to have a little ceremony for her in Lake Havasu in April of 2020. Keith wants to make sure her ashes are scattered with her late husband, Ron (Keith's father). We know she wanted that.

Rest in Peace Carole, we love you and will miss you tremendously!

Finally Visiting Vallodolid & Casa de Los Venados

Keith & I have been wanting to go visit Vallodolid for awhile now but never seem to be able to successfully schedule a time to go. Our friends, Randi & Dave, have also been wanting to go so we finally were able to schedule an outing.

The drive from Akumal is only about 1.5 hours and you drive through a few small towns filled with local art stores (and lots of street dogs).

I had read about an American couple who bought a home in 2000 and remodeled it while filling it with Mexican folk art. They now own the largest collection of Mexican folk art, which I am a huge fan of, so I had to see it. They open their home up to the public at 10am for a few hours everyday and you can take a guided tour, for free.

When we arrived it wasn't quite 10am so we wandered around a bit looking at shops. Then at 10am we went back to Casa de Los Venados to join the tour. The tour was about 1.5 hours and we were walked through the house and given lots of information on the art, the owners and the home. They wouldn't tell me what the house was purchased for and I was kind of scolded for asking... at-least I felt like I was. The guide made a comment about how he had been told it was impolite to ask about how much people make, etc... Well yeah, that is. I'd never ask that question. Asking how much a home was purchased for, especially when it had been in rubble for about 80 years seems like a fair question. The house was fully restored and they put a ton of work into it to bring it back to it's glory. If only they had redfin or zillow here...

Cathedral in Vallodolid

Anyways, I loved the tour and all of the art. I was so inspired I had to find a few pieces for our own little collection we have here in Mexico and Lake Ozark. 

After the tour we had lunch at a local restaurant suggested by Linda, El Atrio. We had hoped to have some al pastor tacos but they didn't have any. I opted for melted cheese with mushrooms and chorizo and chicken panuchos. So good!

The rest of our day was filled with touring the cathedral, shopping and walking around the main square. It's a cute town and an overnight stay would be really fun. Maybe when we get back from our 15 month hiatus... 

Day of Relaxation at an All-Inclusive Resort

Photo courtesy of Linda

Every now and then it's nice to escape the ever day priorities and head to a local all-inclusive resort. With high season just now starting you can get good deals on hotels before it begins, so we did just that... Our friends, Paul & Linda, invited us to join them for a night at El Dorado Seaside Suites for a day of relaxing with great food and drinks.

After dropping Kevin & Jessica off at the ferry in Playa Del Carmen, we headed to the resort and checked in. The resort is BEAUTIFUL and they have some of the best food in the area. 

We were able to get a beach Bali bed as our room wasn't ready - all that means is laying in the warm sun while sipping cocktails to the relaxing beach sounds. Honestly, it's pure joy!

Keith taking a nap

We get laughed at when we post photos from resorts as people say we already live a vacation life, why do we need another vacation. Living in Mexico is nice but just like anyone we have errands to run, bills to pay, laundry to fold... So yeah. sometimes it's nice to get away from the norm and just do nothing.

Our little vacay consisted of eating, drinking, lounging, eating and then drinking more... It was delightful and not keto at all. Totally worth it!

Thanks Paul and Linda for the invite - as always, it was fabulous hanging out with you two! I am still dreaming about that dinner... #delish

Our 2nd Set of Seattle Visitors to Mexico

We were thrilled when our Seattle friends, Kevin & Jessica, reached out to come and visit for a few days. We hadn't seen them since we left Seattle over a year ago so it was exciting to welcome them to our new home.

After picking them up in Cancun we took them to one of our favorite local hangouts, Jungle Fish Beach Club, for dinner. We had our first (and only) "are you Keith and Tarah from House Hunters International?" moment. We all got a good laugh at that as it made us feel like celebs, for just a moment.

On Monday we went on a float through the Mayan canals, which was a first for Keith & I. We had no idea they were even there. We drove past Tulum about 15 minutes and met up with a guide who had us follow him on his scooter down the road a bit more and then down a dirt road heading towards the water. Once we parked we walked down the road another 10 minutes to a lagoon with some of the bluest water I have ever seen. We all hopped in a boat with Felix, our boat driver, and he drove us about 45 minutes into the lagoon to a dock. We all hopped out and were directed to check out the old Mayan trading post ruins. It was amazing to see how small the doorways were - we asked about that and Felix told us Mayans were very small and the doors show you just how small they typically were. Think 8 year old height... small.

The canal had a nice current so we all popped our life jackets on as diapers and jumped in. The water was a wee bit chilly but we adjusted quickly. I kept asking about snakes and alligators but was told they don't live there... OK, I'll go with that. I wasn't able to take any photos as I left my phone in the car to stay dry but these folks have a great write up about the float with amazing photos. 

The next day we all decided to go the Xcaret for a day of swimming and eating. We had never been there either and it was more fun than I had thought. Once we arrived we had a little wait to work on getting our local discount on our tickets but surprisingly we were able to get it and our tickets were 1/2 off the normal price.

The park contains a lot of birds and animals but the flamingos were my favorite as I had never seen them in real life. They are beautiful and weird birds. Xcaret was similar to our float but their canals don't have a current. You do wear a life jacket but if you just float on your back it's less effort of swimming through all the caves. The 4 of us had a great time. 

Kevin & Jessica were off to Cozumel the next day so we drove them to Playa Del Carmen to catch the ferry. Next up for us, El Dorado Seaside Suites for a night.

Our Big 2019-2020 Adventure

Soooo, it's official. Keith & I are the owners of a new travel trailer for our big 2019-2020 road trip. We realized some of our most enjoyable times together have been in a car traveling somewhere... So, we found a very light 21' travel trailer to tow up and down the East Coast. My Dad was a huge help in helping us figure out what to buy and making sure the process was very smooth!

We have been in Mexico for over a year now and decided we wanted to head to the US to explore more of the Old Country, all the while, renting out our condo in Mexico. Then we plan to spend the holidays in our new Lake Ozark condo. We will miss our friends but we are excited for a big year of travel and seeing several friends in the US.

If you're wondering about our US itinerary, here is the first draft:

Ocala, FL

Savannah, GA (3 nights)

Hilton Head, SC (3 nights)

Cape Hatteras, NC (1 nights)

Williamsburgh, Virginia (7 nights)

Washington, D.C. (3 nights)

Philadelphia, PA (3 nights)

The Hampton's, NY (1 night)

New Haven, CT (3 nights)

Rochester/Plymouth, RH (3 nights)

Martha's Vineyard, Mass. (day trip)

Boston, Mass. (3 nights)

Portland, ME (3 nights)

Boothbay Harbor, ME (2 nights)

Bar Harbor, ME (3 nights)

Woodstock, Vermont (3 nights)

Niagara Falls, NY (3 nights)

Charleston, WV (1 night)

Charlotte, NC (3 nights)

Jekyll Island, GA (3 nights)

St. Augustine, FL (1 week)

Ocala, FL

We do have two cruises on our agenda as well - it's going to be a jam packed year! Our Mexico adventures aren't over yet... We are just adding in more travel!

#nowearentcrazy #welovetotravel #yesthedogswillbewithus

Our House Hunters International Viewing Party

Many of our friends who came but sadly not all are pictured.

When we found out the air date of our HHI episode, we just planned to watch it alone at home. But after much nudging and many requests, we decided to have our friends over to watch it together on our upper deck. 

Luis made us promise not to watch it before the party, which was very difficult as we managed to get our hand on the episode about a week before it aired. We lived up to our promise and didn't watch it until it aired on the 4th. (That was REALLY hard to do!)

I'm actually glad we didn't watch it as it made it all the more humorous to watch and laugh together with everyone. 

"Dream Killer" is now Keith's nickname and I can't tell you how many times people have said to me "does it come with the bar?". This might be in our top 10 of things we've done together.

Thank you to all who have been supportive of this adventure and didn't laugh at us too much for the show. ;)

Spoiler alert.... For those who don't know us and are wondering why we picked TAO, it was the community. Just look at all those smiling faces - who wouldn't want to live here?!

If You Missed House Hunters International...

House Hunters International - Adios to the Daily Grind

House Hunters International filmed us at La Buena Vida

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY - our episode of House Hunters International, "Adios to the Daily Grind", airs at 10:30pm EST on HGTV. 
We have 20+ friends coming over to watch it with us tomorrow night. Check back for pictures, our commentary/thoughts and I'll share the video a few days after it airs.

They wouldn't let me wear my t-shirts so I hope I get a few shout outs to my business, The Sweetest Tee. Fingers crossed!

Let us know what you think of the show :)

What Do We Have Planned for 2019?

Here's a sneak peek of our the start of our 2019 plans... Stay tuned...

Our First Trip to the Movies

Keith and I used to go to the movies a lot more but since moving to Mexico over a year ago, we haven't gone at all. We have been trying to do more things that we don't normally do. 

So, on a Sunday afternoon we jumped in the car, drove to Playa Del Carmen and headed to Cinépolis Las Américas. They show movies in English with Spanish subtitles or movies dubbed in Spanish. We weren't really sure how to read the board to see which was which so I had to message a friend for help. Sadly we missed the movie we wanted to see due to the very long lines. So, we opted for the Fantastic Beast movie.

One thing we didn't take into account was the fact that Sunday's tend to be the day all the Mexican families are out and about - the beaches are packed, stores are full and apparently so are the movie theaters. The odd thing was there was another line but it was empty. I didn't pay much attention to it until it was too late. It appears you can join their movie club for $46 pesos ($2.25 USD for the year). I kid you not, we stood in line for 1 hour to get tickets and then 45 for popcorn... Not sure why we opted to do that but I think we figured we are here, might as well. I did try and but the movie pass while in line but was having issues with my signal. Anyways, next time I will be prepared with the membership as those lines only had a few people in them...

As for food, we tried a new place to us - Celia Taco's. We both enjoyed al pastor tacos, a cheese and chorizo appetizers and plenty of sauces to choose from. The food was really good and the restaurant had a really cool hip vibe to it. On the way out they had a Bart Simpson as El Chappo (El Barto) and a Make Playa Great Again sign - it gave me a chuckle. My kinda place!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Mexico

We have now celebrated Thanksgiving #2 in Mexico with friends. This Thanksgiving we enjoyed dinner at our friends, Randi and Dave's. 

Our local restaurant/beach club, Jungle Fish, made our turkey and we all brought our own sides. We actually had the opportunity to go a week before and try the turkey. They were kind enough to make two for us to try. We went with the traditional with white wine gravy but both were great! Tony is an amazing chef and comes up with great recipes.

I was in charge of bringing two desserts (brownies and a keto pumpkin cheesecake), but sadly, one (cheesecake) just didn't turn out as I had expected so Keith ran to the store and bought a cake. He's a life saver!

The night was a lot of fun! We ate and drank so much we left feeling happy yet overly full. It was a great day with friends and I am thankful to have been a part of fun a fun celebration! Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving too!

The Sunsets Here are Spectacular

Our First PGA Tour - The Mayakoba Classic

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to the Mayakoba Classic to watch Matt Kutchar win the PGA tournament.

Keith is an avid golfer, and after seeing what they win, I wish he was a professional golfer. Matt walked away with $1,296,000.00! 

Anyways, Keith was in hog heaven watching all the golfers and seeing many golf idols! I thought it would be boring but I had a lot of fun, more than I thought. Our friend, Dave, gave us passes to get in as he volunteered for the tournament and had a few extra. Our other friends, Kathy and Dan, came too. I think it's safe to say we all enjoyed the day.

We decided to go to the 18th hole to just watch everyone roll in. I am glad we did as we had the best seats in the house. Plus, if you go to PGA Tour on Instagram or their website, you will see our faces right behind Kutchar as he celebrates his win. Our faces ended up making several papers, Golf Digest and the PGA website.

House Hunters International

We FINALLY have an air date for our House Hunters International episode and we are very excited (and nervous) to see it.

We spent 5 days in May filming it here in Akumal. We also weighed 20lbs more than we do now and we couldn't change clothes for pretty much that whole time... Seriously though, this show is what made us realize how over weight we had gotten. We kept seeing ourselves and saying "OMG, we are going to be on TV looking like this". Then the following week we went to a friends wedding and saw pictures of us and were sure we needed to make a change.

Anyways, back on topic... On December 4th and 5th our episode will air on HGTV. They have called it 'Adios to the Daily Grind' - will you be watching?

I just hope we don't look like total jerks....

Buying a Home in Lake Ozark, Missouri

Keith and I have been looking to find a home in the US ever since we left. We loved Seattle but it was too expensive for us to keep a home there and retire. We have been watch the Netflix show Ozark and they mentioned Lake Ozark has more coastline than California. That intrigued me.

I have been doing a ton of research on rentals in the area and how they perform and it seems, even though seasonal, they have a high % of rentals that perform rather well. We went to visit the area and REALLY liked it. The people are seriously some of the nicest I have ever met... and I'm originally from the South! Plus, we could afford a nice condo right on the lake, which is what we were hoping for.

So, after much searching, we found a condo we liked, made an offer and we closed on November 2nd.

We flew up for the closing and started on the place before the ink was dry. Keith had to fly back to Seattle to help his mother with a few things so I was left, with my father, to paint, decorate and get the place in order. We pretty much got everything done, except for a few things we plan to do in January.

Our plan for this place to to do the reverse snowbird so we can enjoy both locations. Plus we will be renting our Mexico place and the Lake Ozark home on Airbnb. Are you looking for a vacation?

Right now only our Mexico penthouse is listed on Airbnb as we are still working on the Lake Ozark condo. We do have a facebook page for both as well with lots of pictures and information. Check out La Casa Morada (Mexico) and the Blue Cat Condo (Lake Ozark).

If you watch the show Ozark you should understand the name and the decor... 

Check out our listings, share them with your friends/family, rent a few nights... We'd love to have you!

Keith Getting His 2nd Tattoo in Mexico

Keith has been wanting a new tattoo to cover up an old one he's had for many years. We have some friends who's cousin is a tattoo artist in Merida. He was in town so we met up so Keith could get his new ink. Just so happened it was on the upstairs area of Jungle Fish, which has an amazing view of the ocean. Not a bad place to get a tattoo!!

The tattoo took several hours and will have to be finished in a few months, but for now, it looks great!

Our New Barn Doors Finally Installed

When we first moved here we had a ton of work done on our new place to get it all ready for us. We had our patio covered and screened in, new cabinets added in the kitchen, book shelves, lock boxes installed, a bar built and a barn door for the laundry room. To say it was a quick and easy process would be a huge lie. It has caused us more stress than we'd care to admit.

The barn door has been the last thing we are trying to get updated as the first one was very poorly made and started to warp very quickly. It wasn't cheap either and took us many months just to get the guy to come back and look at it. He offered to fix it but then ghosted us for months. Finally at the end of our rope we told him no thanks and we wanted our money back... He refused and said he'd fix it but tried to just bring back the same door. No thanks. Plus the bar he installed was warped due to the weight of the original door. It's now trash. Sadly, we knew we'd never get our money back as you really don't have a place for recourse here... it is what it is... So, we hired the guys who built our bar to build us new ones. They do amazing work. We should have hired them from the start but we were trying to save some money. This barn door has officially become the most expensive item we've had made for our condo. 

It only took them a month to make the doors and when they came to install them they did it all in a few hours. They look amazing and we are super pleased. Plus we know if anything happens they will fix it - they are good like that!! So, if you are in the Riviera Maya and you need some carpentry work done, call Ferro & Legno. They know their stuff!!

Sweet Sweat Waist Trimmer - Yay or Nay?

I follow a lot of women on Instagram that are major influences in the workout world. I recently noticed many of them use waist trainers to help with their tummies. I did a bit of research and found one I wanted to give a try. You basically just wrap it around you when you workout and it makes your mid section sweat way more than the rest of you. The theory is it helps you lose inches... So, I wanted to try it for myself.

It a bit hard for me to give an exact update on progress as I am eating a Keto diet, drinking Pruvit AND working out. So many factors could be associated with my inches lost around my mid section.

I bought the Sweet Sweat trimmer on October 16th and my mother brought it to Mexico for me on the 19th. I started wearing it on the 20th. It's been almost a week and I have lost 2" on my waist - which is awesome!! I have one more week for this test to see what happens. 

My stomach has been my trouble area for years now. I even tried Coolsculpting a few years back and I think it actually screwed up how my fat stores in my mid section. They didn't believe me when I told them this and of course there are no refunds so I always tell people to steer clear as I personally don't feel it's something that works, at least it didn't in my case.

Check back in a week and I'll update you on my results.

Voting from Mexico

We may not live in the US right now but we still want to vote and be apart of our home country and her politics. Now more than ever! Our plan all along has been to fly back to the US during election time so we could vote. 

Right now the General Elections are being voted on and I was told by a fellow expat that we can vote via absentee ballot from Mexico. I guess I kind of knew this but hadn't put it together on just how easy it really is to get yourself signed up for absentee ballot outside of the US. FVAP makes it super easy!!

To make sure I did everything right I called my county in FL and confirmed everything was setup correctly. She was able to actually switch me to absentee right over the phone. She then emailed us our ballots. Over the weekend we printed them out, filled them out, scanned them back into our computer and then I emailed them to FVAP with the information they requested (your county office and their contact info). 

This morning I got an email from FVAP saying they received my documents and would be faxing them to my county. They couldn't guarantee me they would receive them. I emailed my county and she said the system would generate an email when received and if anything was missing she's email me directly. EASY!! 

Maybe I was just lucky, but the process for me was super easy. 

Scuba Diving with Mom in Akumal

My mother came to visit for a week and all she requested to do was to go scuba diving. I was certified when I was 17 all because of her. It was very much a part of her life 15 or so years ago and she hasn't really been doing it at all anymore. Now that she is nearing 70, and with us living in Mexico, she really wanted to get back into it. 

We took her to Akumal Dive Shop and they took the 3 of us out to do a 45 min shallow dive. After she jumped in the water she had a mini freak out, which I can relate to as I did the exact same thing a few months ago when I first got back into the water with gear on. The guide calmed her down and helped her descend.

Once we were all on the bottom he held onto her until she was comfortable. We swam around for quite awhile and we were lucky enough to see two very large sea turtles, a lion fish, several parrot fish, trigger fish, angel fish and an old motorcycle. Apparently, where we went, they call it Motorcycle Alley.

Keith, Mom and Me with the motorcycle

Working Out is Not Glamorous - We SWEAT!

Working Out Is Now a Daily Routine

When we started our Keto Journey on May 31, 2017, we were just eating Keto and drinking Pruvit. No gym. 

The other day Keith asked me give him 2 full weeks to get our bodies heading in the right direction with a gym routine. So, we have been doing just that. I decided to snap some before and better photos. We have only been doing Keto/Pruvit for 4.5 months but I wanted to show some of our most recent results. What do you think?

More About Our Lake Ozark Side Trip

Keith and I have been talking for awhile about buying a place in the States since we no longer have a home in our home country. My parents have been very kind in letting us stay with them every time we come visit. We wanted to find a place on a lake, ideally.

Fast forward a few months and we have been watching the Netflix show, Ozark. It's a great show if you haven't seen it. Jason Bateman and cast do an amazing job. Oddly enough it's about a guy who moves to the Ozarks to clean money for the Mexican Cartel. Being that we live in Mexico you'll see the connection shortly...

When we were in the US recently, we made a side trip to Lake Ozark to look at some properties as we were intrigued by the area. According to Google, "The lake runs 92 miles end to end. At roughly 1,150 miles, the total shoreline of the Lake of the Ozarks is longer than the coastline of California." It wasn't a lie, the lake is HUGE and there are tons of lake front opportunities, most of which are still somewhat affordable. The housing market appears to be on the rise, which is good.

Our realtor showed us 10 places - I think she got a kick out of the fact we live in Mexico as she mentioned the show. We NOT work for the cartel and we aren't cleaning money.

We had originally wanted a house but ended up finding a condo we really liked. All of the homes we looked at needed work that we didn't have the budget for... :( Being that we retired early and live on a budget, it had to be something we could make work. We are hoping to rent it on Airbnb when we aren't using it and have it paid off in less than 6 years. We see this place as being a lovely retreat for us and our family.

As it stands right now everything is pending until all the loan information clears and all documents are signed. We have a closing date of early November and plan to fly back to be there for the closing. The condo comes furnished so we only need to buy a few items to get it ready.

In honor of the show, we will be calling the condo the Blue Cat condo. We'd like to honor the show since we'll be in the area!

Tarah's Ketosis Experiment - Fat Burning Machine

Keith and I started following a Keto diet on May 31, 2018. To date we have both lost over 20lbs and are still moving forward with our weight loss. We are not strict Keto as we do have some days where we eat carbohydrates, but honestly it's not often. We try and keep our carbs to around 20 grams a day. 

On a daily basis we drink Pruvit, which is a drink mix that has pure therapeutic ketones it and helps put our body into a state of Ketosis so we are burning fat as energy instead of carbohydrates. "Ketosis is a normal metabolic process. When the body does not have enough glucose for energy, it burns stored fats..."

Today I did an experiment to see if my body was in Ketosis. At 9:45am I tool my blood glucose levels and it was at 0.6. I then drank my Pruvit at 9:50am. At 10:50am I check again and I was at 1.8, I'm officially in ketosis! 5 minutes later I did it again and I was at 1.9. So as you can see, I was still climbing. I am literally a fat burning machine!!

Woohoo!!! Burn fat, burn! If you are interested in ordering a 10 day sample pack to see if it's a product that will work for you, shoot us an email!

We Made a Video

Our YouTube Channel

If you weren't aware, we have a YouTube channel where we upload all of our videos of our travels, family, our Keto journey and more... 

Check it out - maybe you'll find something of interest. Please subscribe!

Pruvin it in Riviera Maya

I've said it before and I will say it again, THIS PRODUCT WORKS! 

I am NOT a "drink the koolaid" type of person. I have to try things to form my own opinion. Hell, I don't even pay attention to movie reviews as I figure, let me decide for myself, Siskal and Ebert! 🙄

Keith and I just returned from 20 days in the US and we got home and weighed ourselves, neither one of us gained a single pound. NOT ONE! 

I'll be completely transparent with you, yes we ate Keto-ish most days BUT I know I can count at least 2 Wendy's Frosties, 3 McDonald's BigMacs and one In-N-Out Double Double Animal Style burger each for us and that included the buns AND fries. (sorry not sorry!)

We did workout as best we could with several long walks and one trip to an actual gym, but I expected a pound or 5... We consistently everyday drank our Pruvit. We put our body into ketosis to burn the fat and as you can see, it worked! I can't even express how thrilled this makes me.

Join us in burning fat - we know you'll be glad you did! All you have to do is ask, we'd love to help!! 😍

Twenty Day USA Trip Wrapped Up

Keith and I left on September 21st to fly to Ohio to see my family and to go see John Mayer in concert at the Bourbon & Beyond festival.

My wonderful father let us use his car to drive to Louisville on Saturday to see the festival. It had rained the whole day and just kept on raining. Check out this video to see what I mean... Lenny Kravitz and John Mayer were amazing!! The festival ended up being cancelled for day 2 due to the park being destroyed from all the rain. It really was a nightmare in regards to the water and mud - music wise, it was awesome!

My worst nightmare came true at the festival... I dropped my cell phone ON THE FLOOR of a muddy port-o-potty!!! Muddy floor. Toilet. At a festival of 1000’s of people. (My brain was screaming bloody murder) 😱 I know what you’re thinking, “are you sure it’s mud, Tarah ?” It’s mud, shut up!!! Besides this horror, we did get back to Ohio and realized the next day someone had hit my fathers car... Our affordable trip just became much more expensive for us as we plan to pay to get it fixed for him. I can't believe someone hit us and drove us... Jerks!

During the trip we decided to make a side trip to Lake Ozark in Missouri. We have been wanting to buy a 2nd property for awhile and with Lake Ozark offering more lake front property than California we decided to check it out. We spent two days there exploring the area and with a realtor. 

We are happy to report we found a place and hope to close in early November! If you haven't been, you should. It's a beautiful area that revolves around lake living. My dream!! I blame my grandparents as they had lake front homes and boats and it was a life I dreamed to have as it was always so enjoyable!

Our adorable grandkids

On the 30th we flew to Nevada to rent a car and drive to Arizona. We were so excited as the grandkids, Alexis and Zavier, as they are in Nevada. We were thrilled to see them and their mother, Miranda, for breakfast. It was so much fun seeing them and catching up. They are getting so big. Alexis has started school and Zavier is so much more chatty than when we last saw him. We miss them so much so seeing them was a highlight of our trip!

After seeing them we drove to Lake Havasu City where Keith grew up. He showed me his high school and the house he grew up in. We also were able to see several of his high school friends for dinner, which was really nice. While there we also saw our Pruvit team members, Chris and Dani Webb. They are so inspirational and they really do live a life of health and wellness, one we'd like to emulate. 

While there, it was our 2 year wedding anniversary (October 1st). We decided to go to dinner at Shugrue's. We've had the most amazing time together in these 2 years of marriage - I can't wait to see what the next 40+ years bring!

We wrapped up or Lake Havasu trip with breakfast with Lester, Keith's HS buddy. We then drove to the Grand Canyon to stay with another HS friend, Sara, for 2 nights. She and her husband live and work in the park. First night there we met Sara for sunset over the Grand Canyon - I had never been there before so it was quite the sight. I knew it was big but it is BIG!!! So glad I was able to experience it!

Our last stop on this 20 day tour was Phoenix. We had found out the Foo Fighters would be performing there and Keith has always wanted to see them. We were lucky enough to see one more HS friend, Tiffany and her husband, for dinner. the next night we met with another Pruvit team member, Shelley, she also was an inspiration. After this trip we feel so empowered by this company and are looking forward to building our business. That night was the Foo Fighters concert and it was GREAT! 

I fell in love with Arizona and can't wait to go back!

We flew home on October 10th during hurricane Michael so our flight was a bit delayed - thankfully we were able to get home safe and sound. The dogs were happy to see us after being gone so long - we really did miss them!

Can't wait till our next big trip!! :)