Puerto Vallarta AGAIN?

How cliche...

Year four Puerto Vallarta is over with! We stayed five nights this year. Because of spring breaks, half of our group went the week prior, but next year, we've figured it out to where we can overlap our vacations!

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and only had a bit of time on the beach before dinner.

Smile Daryl!

I didn't get to eat most of my favorite foods because they all had bread in them. There was no parmesan chicken or tres leche cake.

I'd only thought I'd moved to the adult table.

 Some of our dinners were really late, so at 10, before the adults had even had the main course, Daryl decided she was tired. This is the fancy Italian restaurant.

Nap time at dinner?

On our second to last day, AKA my 20th birthday, we decided to venture out to Sayulita. We'd wanter to go the year prior to surf, but it didn't happen. This year we did though! We took a bus that held us all perfectly and it took about 45 minutes to drive there.

We went from Puerto Vallarta, in the middle of the bay, up to Sayulita, then left to Punta de Mita before heading bace to the resort.

Group picture in our matching shirts!

Selfie on the way to Sayulita!

We made it!

Sayulita is one of the top surfing destinations in the world. It's a town full of Americans too.

Four of our group took surfing lessons

They all did great!

The main street

After eating lunch and heading back to the bus, we drove to Punta de Mita. There's a sister resort to ours that we wanted to check out. If we wanted to, we could stay there. On the way, we passed a forest fire. It wasn't bad, but it looked like it had been before we passed it. There were firemen all around.

When we got to the sister resort, we kind of wandered the grounds until our tour started. All of a sudden, we started hearing the kids giggling and shrieking. We walked down the steps and one of them yells "We found a water slide!" All their shirts were in a pile and they were lining up to go down. This resort had one child staying at it. This was more activity than this hotel had seen since it opened.

Beautiful view from the sister hotel 

After seeing the rooms, we headed back to our hotel. We didn't have time to go to the beach that day, but we did go to the Mexican fiesta!

On our last beach day, we sat in our chairs and had food and drink brought to us from morning tip night. I went out boogie boarding with the other kids for a spell, but someone claimed to see a water snake so I got back on land fast. The whole trip there had been marine life in the ocean. One whole day was lost because of stingrays. 

This is the life.

We got dressed for dinner early that night to meet up for pictures at the beach.

Don't be mistaken. The picture above was taken before this picture.  I don't know why it looks so bright.

Leaving was sad, as always, but we've already booked for next year! It'll be the best one yet, especially because we'll end up going to Pipi's as a group. For the first time, we didn't go this year. We took the road trip instead. 

Passion Conference 2014 HOU

I've been waiting for this day for months. At 8:30 am, my parents, my friend Cici, and I loaded up the car to head to Houston. In Houston was Passion Conference. It's a big Christian college conference put on by Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin. It's usually in Atlanta, but this year there was one in Houston too.

Love this place 

This is inside the store. I've never noticed it before.

We stopped at Buc-cees on the way there and back, because it's a great place.

We then drove the rest of the way to Houston. When we got there, we decided to go ahead and quickly head out to the Toyota Center. We walked to look for food on the way.

Our hotel used to be a bank. I didn't get a picture of the vault door.

I liked the sink.

It had a cool vintage-y-retro-y feel to it.

It was about a mile walk to the center.

I found the Houston newspaper office! 

The center was downtown in the business district, so it was hard to find food. Everything closed mid afternoon. This place was open though! 

Potato soup <3

We ended up stopping at some Mexican place. It was pretty much like a Mexican Parkway Grill. It was good. I had potato soup. 

Then, we continued the walk to the center. We got there and saw a huge clump of people.

#enditmovement

We joined the clump for a bit, but then decided we had an hour to wait. We walked around the building. On the other side, there was an organized system with two forming lines. 

We waited in line for a while, and then they finally let us inside. We rushed inside and tried to figure out the best seats. Did we want to sit on the floor? Did we want to sit in the center? We pretty much had first pick, so we settled for some seats about five rows from the ground, diagonal to the stage. We could see everything!

Our view for every session

There was a group that was starting the youth group classics: the wave and the roller coaster. The wave was going good for a few minutes, but the roller coaster never really caught on. 

We wore our badges the entire time we were there.

Then it was time. We had speculated all day about who would be the first speaker and singer. It ended up being a huge group that included Crowder, Chris Tomlin, and Kristian Stanfill on worship and Louie Giglio on the message.

Over 17,000 students were here. They sold out.

You have to kick off with confetti, right?

Chris Tomlin

Louie faced away from us during the message, so I didn't get a picture of him. 

His main message was "How do I know if I've seen Jesus?"

• It's not the cross, but your cross.
• You know God was not a passive bystander at the cross; he was the instigator of the wrath.
• You know God's wrath poured out on Christ obliterated our curse.
• You know your past is gone.
• We see we are crushed by God's grace.

When he was done speaking, Hillsong United came out and did a worship set. I love Hillsong. After that, we got a taxi and headed back to the hotel at around 1 am.

The next morning came sooner than I wanted. We were back at the center by 8 to get seats for the 9:30 session. It started with Crowder and he was amazing. Then Shelley Giglio came out and introduced some special guests.

Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, the creators of "The Bible" series.

Jesus was there too.

After they spoke to us and encouraged us to see their new movie Son of God, it was Francis Chan's turn.

I love Francis Chan.

Chan is one of my favorite speakers. I heard him at a DNOW I went to several years back. We went to a conference and he and Kristian Stanfill were both there.

He spoke on the fact that no one is more godly than anyone else. Everyone is at the exact same level.

Beth Moore

Beth Moore talked about time. She spoke on living the dash between birth and death. She spoke on how time is getting anxious for the coming of Christ.

The curator of the American Bible Society

I don't know how to spell her name, but it sounds like Dr. Leona Lupus. She's a little, old western European lady. She brought the first Bible printed in America. It's in an extinct Native American language. They wouldn't tell us how she got it to Houston.

Genesis in the Native American language

I bought every book except for Beth Moore's. It was hardback and I didn't want to carry it. So far, I've read the blue one and am working on the colorful one.

I'm definitely going back next year. 

Bucket List

Lately, I've been seeing a lot about bucket lists on Facebook, more specifically in a few groups I'm in. I've never really had a bucket list. I've always said things were on it, but I'd never made one. Well, I made one. I followed Ryan Eller's format, bucket list by threes, but slightly modified it by putting literally everything I want to do in the categories instead of just three things. I think I have around 120 items as of today (2/6/14,) but will add to it as I think of more things. Of course the travel and adventure categories are the longest!

Travel

1. Set Foot on North America (X), South America, Asia, Europe (X), Australia, Antartica and Africa
2. Visit Harry Potter World
3. Visit every Hillsong church
4. Fly first class on an overnight flight
5. See a Broadway show
6. See a West End show
7. Walk along the Hollywood Walk of Fame (December 2013)
8. Travel alone (June 2013 London)
9. Visit the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff (July 2013)
10. Visit a castle (July 18, 2013 Highclere Castle, London)
11. Visit Italy and see where my family is from
12. Spend New Year’s Eve in Times Square
13. Have a meal at an outdoor Parisian cafe
14. Ride the London Eye (July 2013)
15. Ride a Double Decker Bus in London (July 2013)
16. Visit a concentration camp
17. Take an Alaska cruise
18. See a live mariachi band (March 2013 Puerto Vallarta)
19. Ride a cable car in San Francisco
20. Walk a length of the Great Wall of China 
21. See Mt. Rushmore
22. Stay at a 5-star hotel
23. See Stonehenge 
24. Stand next to a pyramid
25. Ride a Gondola in Venice
26. See the Northern Lights
27. Kiss on top the Eiffel Tower 
28. Visit the Hoover Dam 
29. Climb Chichen Itza
30. Stand beside the Christ the Redeemer statue
31. Walk around the Colosseum in Rome 
32. Visit Machu Picchu
33. Visit Petra
34. Take a picture in front of the Taj Mahal
35. Travel to Jerusalem
36. Watch the sunset on a beach 
37. Go to all 50 U.S. States
38. Go on a cruise 
39. Drive through a Redwood Tree
40. Go to the Olympic Games

Adventure

1. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon 
2. Swim with a Dolphin (2012 Cozumel)
3. Watch a Space Shuttle Launch
4. Scuba Dive
5. Take a long train ride (July 2013 London) 
6. Go to Space
7. Visit the rainforest (2010 Costa Rica)
8. Shower in a Waterfall
9. Spend the night in a haunted place  (Wichita Theatre)
10. See a Lunar Eclipse 
11. Drive Across America Coast-to-Coast
12. Go Snow Skiing (Angel Fire)
13. Ride an elephant
14. Sleep under the stars 
15. Go white-water rafting 
16. Go Deep Sea Fishing
17. Eat strange meat (July 2013 Kangaroo in London)
18. Swim with sharks
19. Experience weightlessness
20. Go to a bull fight
21. Go to an active volcano
22. Travel on a safari
23. Ride a Segway
24. Go hunting
25. Go treasure hunting
26. Surf the waves in Hawaii
27. Go to a NASCAR race
28. Go to the racecourse
29. Drive Route 66
30. Pan for gold

Educational 

1. Write an Autobiography
2. Learn to Ballroom Dance
3. Learn to Legitimately Play a Song on any Musical Instrument
4. Get a book published
5. Take a photography class 
6. Learn to Juggle
7. Visit the White House
8. Take a historical tour of Jamestown

Family

1. Own a home with a veranda
2. Grow a garden and eat the produce
3. Create a Family Tree

Volunteer

1. Plant a Tree (March 2010 Costa Rica) 
2. Visit an orphanage in a foreign country
3. Do a mission trip in a third world country

Physical

1. Be coached by a professional
2. Have a six-pack
3. Successfully complete a double under
4. Pierce my ears
5. Run a straight mile
6. Do a strict pull-up
7. Run a mile, 5k, half-marathon
8. Take a yoga class 
9. Complete a bodyweight clean and jerk

Lucky

1. Know a famous person personally
2. Be an Extra in a Film
3. Be a Member of a Studio Audience
4. Hit a hole-in-one
5. Walk the red carpet at a huge event
6. Meet someone famous randomly
7. Shake hands with a President
8. Set a World Record
9. Be on a game show 
10. Be on a Reality TV show

Random

1. Sit on a Jury
2. Own a record player
3. Write my will
4. Enjoy a real cup of tea 
5. Give a great present 
6. Go to a drive-in movie theater 
7. Get a standing ovation
8. Own a pet monkey 
9. Get something patented

I'm addicted to eBay

For Christmas, I got a record player. Along with it, I got about 50 records from my grandpa and one from my sisters. Since then, I have doubled my collection. I now have 117 records, though have aren't  my style.

I only have a few that I listen too all the time, but I do try to play a new one every few days.

I started with just browsing eBay, to see what they had. Then I bought a lot of 19. And then a lot of 15. And then 5. And then I started checking the auctions. I have nine somewhere along the postal system right now.

One of my favorites from my Numa is Jimmy Dorsey's Greatest Hits.

One of the smaller lots I bought.

With the five albums above, I got to choose what I wanted. There was a list of about 50 and I picked five and got them. They're all great.

My dad insisted on me having the three Mike Williams albums. He was a singer from Austin who could come play at MSU in the 70s. He actually stayed at my grandparents' house once. His records are always on repeat at my house.

This is actually the first record I bought, before I even knew if I was getting a record player.

When I was a kid, Michael Martin Murphey played at the Wichita Theatre every Christmas and we went. Wildfire and Geronimo's Cadillac and Fiddlin' Man are the best songs ever and this record has them all. We have a Christmas ornament that he signed years back.

This I got from my sisters. It was $50 and I told them it was the only thing I wanted from them. They split the cost.

I actually had forgotten about all of the not so subtle hints I had dropped about the Doctor Who record that I wanted. When I opened it, I had no clue what it was. It's great.

I used to watch Shirley Temple movies on VHS with my Nan all the time.

I love this.

A small selection of the musicals I have

I couldn't take a picture of every musical I own on vinyl, so here are the ones I keep on my special
shelf. You can see that Carousel is out of order.

Another 50 records are in one of my dresser cabinets.

The records in here are ones that I listen to on occasion, but not as much as the shelf records. I also have a box under my bed with 50 of the records from the 50s that I probably won't listen to.

The nine I have in the mail now are mostly 45s. I have a Beatles album too, but most are Lou Monte children's 45s. Because I bought those, I obviously had to get a rack for them...I bid on one that came with a Beatles 45, but I was severely outbid, so I found another and bought it.

Stop 3- Puerto Vallarta

Part 5

I love Puerto Vallarta. That is no question. I spring break there every year with a big group of people. There were only five this time, though, so it was a bit different.

We started by taking a taxi to the Malecon, where all the action happens. It's the ocean view street in town. We only had about 200 people try to sell us things, so it was all good!

We also find wifi all over the road, so yay for that!

We see this pole every year, but we've never seen it in action. WOW

Two people climbed up the pole and and began winding a rope around the top. When they were done, two others climbed up too. They played some music as they sat on the square at the top and then tied themselves up and fell over. The winded rope made them spin as they descended so they soon reached the ground.

I had to stop for gelato

The whole street was decorated for Christmas!

We made a stop by the cathedral that we always pass because it's so beautiful. There was a mass going on so we didn't go inside.

Then we walked to Pipi's. It's a favorite for us. The servings are massive and we all have the WIFI code. We took the back route because we never know which street to turn on. If you just walk left from the cathedral, you'll eventually hit it. We made a note of which Malecon road takes us there though, so we'll be good next time.

When we got back on the boat, I noticed something. Our first time in Puerto Vallarta, we wanted to go to the bull fights, but it had been shut down (Thanks PETA.) The bull ring was right outside our boat! It looks like it's still running, but it isn't. It's just built well I guess. I always hope it'll come back so I can see it.

The bull fighting ring

Now only 60 days until I'm back there!