I want to go back.

Don't get me wrong. 80% ok maybe...75% of the time I do love the SLC life.

Its been over a year, I should enjoy it right?

But its cold, there snow and no beach, no dodgers and so many Mormons.

That there are so many times I want to go back to my LA life.

And there are moments like this that make me miss it oh so much.

 

I have probably blogged about the NR Crew 1,000 times. But when you have found friends like this, you tend to miss them.

The boys I have grown up with and the girls that are like your other half.

I miss filling up the entire row at church.

I miss the Sunday game nights.

Friday night YSA dances.

I miss the Christmas party and gift exchange.

I miss the drama and getting annoyed with the boys.

I miss our fun outings.

I do love that when I get the chance to come back and visit that it feels like no time has passed. It seems like just yesterday we were all hanging out. I like to pretend that while I am gone, time freezes and my friends have no fun without me. But I do love coming back and the excitement that comes with getting the gang back together as much as possible.

I know that things change, people move, nothing can stay the same forever (as much as I hopelessly wish it could) and I just have to be grateful for my two short years with my crew--although it feels so much long than just that.

Today will be our 4th year celebrating New Years together and camping out at the Rose Parade.

I could not be more pumped. Some of my best memories are during those wee hours of the night. 

Home for the Holidays

There are few things in life that I really really love.

Ok, I take that back. I do love quite a lot of things.

And easily get excited over things I love.

However, towards the top of the list is California and my nieces and nephews.

Combine those things, and you've got one happy Leigh.

I also love working for a school. Giving me the opportunity to be home with my little California kiddies for a long time.

Upon arrival to Los Angeles, the first thing I ditched were my Uggs.

 No need for those when temps are in the 70s and I need to soak up as much warm weather as much as possible.

The Christmas days were spent at Laura's new home in the OC. Its a little weird that she lives there now. But since I have still seen her everyday since I've been here, it hasn't completely affected me.

 

I love spending Christmas Eve with the kids. I love that as soon as they go to bed so excited, we turn into Santa's Workshop. I really don't do much except watch the real adults put together the toys. But I do love to be Santa and eat his cookies and carrots.

 

I got the privilege of sleeping with Chase on Christmas Eve. He woke up three times in the night in excitement. After the fact, it was really cute and I loved how sweet and excited he was. During the night it wasn't so fun.

 

Christmas morning is always so exciting with the kids. I loved seeing how happy they were. And was perfectly content to hold Lyla throughout most of the morning.

I was able to spend the next few days at Laura's house enjoying time with the kids.

We stayed in our jammies till noon, watched movies and cuddled.

 

Rode bikes and scooters to the park,

swam in the pool

 and even went to the beach.

It was so perfect.

I am still trying to get in as much cuddles, short-wearing and sun soaking in as much as possible.



el finale.

We have reached the end of my Mexico trip.
But just cause it was winding down, it did not disappoint.

We spend our final morning in Taxco, and just when I thought I couldn't love it more, I did.
We had breakfast in the courtyard of our hotel and loved that.

It was decorated so pretty and quaint. The food was pretty good (stinky cheese again!) but we loved our hot chocolate.

At the very top of Taxco was a statue of Christ and we really wanted to see it.
The hotel informed us that the only real way to get up there was by taxi.
This was because of the crazy streets of Taxco.
We piled into a taxi for a really great adventure.

I have never experienced such crazy and intricate driving. They were winding around these little narrow streets so fast. If another taxi was coming down the road, our taxi would need to back down the road to make room.
The crazy drive was so worth it. The view from the top of the mountain was so amazing.
The Christ statue was spectacular.

We then made our way back to Mexico City and all of the traffic.
We met Brian's family at Xochimilico, a very Venice-esque place for a little river cruise.

It was a lot better than I was expecting. We took off on our boat and the river was packed with other boats that provided legit entertainment

food

and good sights

 

and then just crazy drunk people on boats that felt very "great & spacious building"-esque.
Afterwards, we headed out for Korean karaoke for entertainment and then out to a really fancy five-star restaurant for a really late dinner.

So late that it was giving me anxiety about our 4:30 am wake up call for our flight the next morning.
Annie and I got about 2.5 hours of sleep our final night and were up and out for the airport.
Our flight was leaving at 7 and left the house about 5:25, but with it being so dark out we had some trouble getting to the airport. Then we couldn't find the right terminal and missed it about 3 times.
We got dropped off at about 6:20. And in true Leigh fashion, my anxiety started setting in.
We were running real tight for our departure.
We went to the wrong kiosk and then was informed we were even at the wrong airline. We were on a Delta flight out of the other terminal. The terminal we had past about 3 times  in the morning.
We rushed to the bus to switch to the other station and at this point my anxiety left and reality set in that we were missing our flight. We rushed through the terminal anyway. And alas, the airline was all closed up.
Brian came and met us (since he wasn't flying with us) and we sat and waited to figure out how we were gonna get up.
Annie and I sat and played games and resisted the urge to scratch our bug bits, which had gotten increasingly worse.

Bites as of the Sunday after.
 (which yes, I still have and then tend to itch every once in awhile)
Brian was nice enough to purchase us new tickets.
Redirecting our flight to Atlanta then to SLC.
I had a great trip. So much fun and saw so many great sights.
I am so thankful for Lourie and Brian for being so kind and generous on our trip together.
I felt like another daughter on a special family trip.
And although I loved Mexico,
it was the best going through customs and hearing "Welcome home"

the bug bites.

Today was our day to go to the Grutas de Cacahuamilpa. 

AKA some really cool caves. 

Before heading out we took the morning to walk around Taxco some more. 

Ate breakfast overlooking the town square,

came across the skeleton in the road to commemorate the men who died working on the church next door,

and went back to the church and explored the town. 

Then we hit the road for the caves and Annie and I took a nap. 

The caves were really, really fascinating and HUGE!

It was a slightly difficult tour since our guide only spoke in Spanish and Brian was unsure with a lot of the translations. I did understand the words calcium and minerals. 

The best part of the tour was that we would walk down and he would turn on the lights for up ahead and the caves became so illuminated and they were so beautiful. 

The caves were located in a much more jungle type atmosphere, so many trees and really warm weather. 

So, Annie and I decided to go change into shorts, which later would be the biggest mistake of the whole trip. 

We had lunch and had a gorgeous view of our surroundings. We played games while we waited for our food and it was really fun. 

We then went on to do some deportes extremos. 

Our first was a zip line across the extreme Mexican jungle.

It was actually a really far distance but really pretty. 

Now going back to the mistake of the shorts…by the time Annie and I got across she noticed bug bites on her calves and even the bus still there sucking blood. I looked down at my legs and realized I had a ton of bites too! And even a few drops of blood trickling down my leg as some after effect too. 

It was crazy that within like 30 minutes we were eaten alive! 

We then went to on to our next extreme sport, rappelling. 

Now this I was actually really terrified off. I had never done it before, and it was a short distance but I didn't like that fact that I couldn't really see where I was going. Or that it was such a drop off from the cliff. 

I had to go second just to get it over with. 

I realized afterwards that the worst part was just that I wasn't strong enough. My hands hurt from clutching the gear. 

By the time we got back to our hotel my legs were on fire they itched so bad. It was really bad pain. 

Annie and I showered and hoped the soap would give some relief but it didn't. These Mexican bugs were something different. And it was painful. 

We got ready for the evening and went out to dinner. 

Another nice night out with a view of the church. 

We were all a little disappointed in our meals because of the stinky cheese we kept encountering. 

And for once, I was getting pretty sick of Mexican food and didn't trust any other food on the menu. 

But our dessert was spectacular with a fire show and all. 

We came back to our hotel for a early evening in. 

My bug bites were killing. 

I got 25 bits on my right calf alone.

(This doesn't even do it justice, just wait for what it looked like on Sunday)

I settled in for the night to witness the Dodgers lose to the Cardinals in extra innings on Spanish ESPN. 

Really sad but grateful I could still watch thousands of miles away.