Puerto Rico!

Well, after a week of total laziness, I'm here to tell the tale of my trip to Puerto Rico with my sister, mom, step-dad, and grandma. As expected, it was glorious. We flew into San Juan and then drove to Rincon, a small beach town on the west end of Puerto Rico. Several blissful days were simply spent lounging on the beach. Rincon is somewhat famous as a town for a good sunset, and heaven knows I love a good sunset.
This is a taste of what greeted us every night around 6 p.m. On several nights, we dined at beachside restaurants at sunset. There are few things in life that I like more than eating dinner at sunset on the beach. It's just about the most relaxing meal I can imagine.

My sister got a little testy on occasion at dinner. Don't ever deprive her of seconds on sweet tea. Otherwise, you may have to deal with her dark side. Nobody likes the dark side of a 16 year-old girl.
While at the beach, we did a fair amount of snorkeling. The entirety of Christmas day was spent snorkeling, laying out, and swimming at the beach. Once we had our fill of the beach, we took a few day trips to other places in Puerto Rico. One day we visited several small towns and ended the day with a boat trip to a bioflorescent bay. It wasn't nearly as amazing as it had been portrayed, yet still quite fascinating to see people glowing as they swam in the water. The day after the glowing, we took a guided tour of some underground caverns. Finally, the last day, before heading to the airport, we visited Old San Juan. It may be a tourist trap deluxe, but it is one beautiful city.
Imagine cute little shops, restaurants, houses, and plazas interspersed among old gates and churches and surround all of this by an old city wall and several Spanish forts. That's a glimpse of what Old San Juan was like. I'm no great photographer, but it was the kind of place where you'd be hard-pressed to take a bad picture.
We left the old folks to occupy themselves while my sister and I went galavanting. We only had a couple of hours, so I agreed to spending the second hour shopping if Crissy would spend the first hour in touring the city.

Much like the rest of Puerto Rico, Old San Juan was not meant built for tall people.
Notice several things about this picture. First, I am wearing shorts on December 29. Second, there is a small puddle of liquid ahead of me. Apparently some dumb (I will assume American) tourist decided this old Spanish sentry box would serve better as their personal outhouse. Thus instead of being greeted by the faint smell of the blue ocean below, I was overwhelmed by the putrid odor of the makeshift outhouse. Yet, I was so enthralled by the rest of Old San Juan and the beautiful day that this did little to curb my enthusiasm. My hour ended, and I willingly followed my sister into every little shop that tickled her fancy. A few hours later and we were on the plane headed back to Atlanta.

Since returning, Christmas break has felt quite disjointed. Not the Puerto Rico was a poor substitute, but it took away a certain amount of order. I have two days left until school starts, and I feel as though I haven't accomplished anything I set out to over the break. Blast.

And thus I ring in a new year. A year to feel old. A year to become bold. This is the first year in some time that I didn't have a list of resolutions of some sort. I do have one: post on my xanga (or new blog if I end up switching) at least three times every month. I would say once a week, but I'm too honest to think that could truly happen. I'll shoot for three times, and if I post more often I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Time for jean shopping and family brunch. Good morning to all.