The past 6 weeks have been fantastic - and have proven that you don't have to be abroad to feel like you're on a crazy adventure.
The chaos of the holidays greeted us in full force as we arrived back in sunny LA just before Thanksgiving. We spent a couple weeks staying in beautiful Santa Monica three blocks from the beach, which served as a nice buffer to the shock of no longer being Manhattanites.
The holiday rush was typical, and made extra special as it was our nephew Jack's first Thanksgiving and Christmas. Santa was great to us all, and the sunny days were a complete 180 degrees from last year's winter storms in NYC. The holidays also brought along a special treat for the Herrera family - 13 amazing Costa Rican relatives to make our usual gatherings of 22 people seem like a joke. Who needs to be abroad when you feel like you can populate a small country with blood relatives alone?
We greeted the New Year with 32 people packed into a 'spacious' cabin in Lake Arrowhead (picture the opening scene of Home Alone), where most people (barring those that lived in snow for years, ahem) were thrilled to have some snowfall. Despite the good fortune and fun of 2014, we welcomed 2015 (in pajamas) with open arms - new year, new adventures!
We couldn't stay put for too long, and at the start of January headed out to Puerto Rico to celebrate the wedding of some wonderful friends, Chris and Ellen, and then were quickly back in LA for another gorgeous wedding of other fellow Bruins and long-time friends, Jordan and Emily.
And if this isn't seeming busy enough, Errol's pursuit for lifelong student status and need for constant chaos found him enrolled in an intensive EMT course at our good old UCLA. At least we had a week to rest!
Next up: a long-time dream - heading to India for a month to put our own chaos in perspective, visit lots of World Heritage sites, meditate, eat every (cooked) thing in sight, and try to avoid that whole eat pray love cliche. Wish us luck!
...and as usual, if you know anyone in India who would like to meet some hopefully 'not-too-smelly' travelers for a drink/meal/whatever, please let us know!
Pictured below: Christmas morning, NYE pajama party, 'enjoying' the snow, sun and sand in Puerto Rico, and Steph and Kyle gracefully throwing their first 1-yr-old birthday party.
