Look what Kevin's been smokin'! Pork loin with a special, secret dry rub. He smoked it nice and slow (all day). It came out so tender and absolutely delicious. If your mouth is watering just looking at the picture, just imagine the flavourful taste. Heavenly.

We let it sit for several minutes, then pulled the meat apart with a fork. Then we made sandwiches. It's a winner! Kevin's getting pretty good at the smoking gig. Lucky me!

Kevin and I have been together nine years and celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary yesterday. Our wedding day was a great day. We still talk about it and look at our pictures with great fondness. We decided to have a 'secret destination' wedding. We had all our guests meet at the church across the street from where we lived at the time. When the guests arrived, Kevin and Jude welcomed everyone where a white school bus was waiting. They were asked to hop aboard and join the mystery ride. Meanwhile, Phoenix and I had slept over at the Elora Inn, where the wedding was going to take place. We had all morning to get ready. It was a small, intimate wedding. I wasn't the type of woman who had fantasized about her wedding day as a little girl, about the long, white dress (I even surprised myself when I went for the traditional look), about all the details some girls seem to hold onto. For me, the actual day was never as important as the life we would build afterwards. We picked a location where we loved it as is; it didn't need a lot of extra decorations to make it feel special. It was a restored old mill with lots of stone and wood—elegantly rustic. The day was overcast with drizzly rain at some points, but if you ask me, even now, what the day was like, I would tell you it was a gorgeous, sunny day. That just shows you how much our frame of mind plays a part in our perception.

Although we got married in Elora, Ontario, Canada, Kevin's parents and our dearest friends from England, my sister and brother-in-law who were living in Saudi Arabia, my sister and brother-in-law from Edmonton, Alberta, friends from Ottawa and Florida travelled all those miles to celebrate with us. Not to mention our good friends who lived close by. And to make it even more fun, our minister was a Robin Williams look-alike and just about as funny. Even during the ceremony, we had a good time!

Even back then, we had grand plans to go on an adventure. We went to France for our honeymoon to scope out the country as a possible relocation point. We loved France, but we realized there were too many obstacles to make it happen at that time. Perhaps, it's because we had to find our way to Costa Rica first? Who knows, but whatever has led us here, the journey has been an exciting one so far. And we continue to be open to where it leads us in the future. We're still laughing. And we find joy in supporting and watching us grow as a couple as well as individuals.

Last Sunday we received a phone call from our last guest who stayed with us, Sheila. She and her husband live in San Jose. She was very concerned for us because she had read in the Tico Times that a bridge in Rio Blanco had been destroyed. She was checking up on us (so sweet!). We hadn't heard of any bridges falling down. Then a few days ago, we were told that the foundation under the bridge less than 1/2 kilometre away was crumbling and could not be driven over (not exactly destroyed, but still dangerous). This is a bridge we use often on our way to La Trinidad. In fact, we're going to San Jose tomorrow, but we'll have to go around through La Cima, which is a slight nuisance, but oh well. Costa Rica, baby. Today, the men in the community were fixing the bridge. The reconstruction should be completed in a few days. Yay!

So here's what Kevin accomplished today. He filled in the false window with barn board, stained and varnished it and added black studs. Next, the garage doors. I think it'll look awesome!

A few weeks ago, Kevin and I were talking about the renovations we had accomplished on our house back in Burlington. It took three years to completely gut and rebuild our home. As we were reminiscing, we started to think about implementing some of the things we learned from that experience into this home.

Our house has a garage and a faux window beside it. The garage doors are steel framed with wood panels—not exactly the most attractive. And the window looks similar. One of the features we added to our Burlington house was a old wooden barn sliding door (well, it wasn't really old, Kevin made it from rough milled wood then stained it to look worn). This is it, below:

So, we thought it might be nice to do something similar to our garage doors and window. Kevin worked all day today on cutting and staining some boards. As soon as he's done, I'll post some pictures. I think it will add some rustic charm to what is currently a utilitarian looking frontage. I can't wait for Kevin to be done.

Kevin bought a metal grate and placed it over the permanent grill to capture all the loose leaves that flush through the aqueduct gate. When the leaves fall into the canal, they reach the sediment pond and mix in with the sand to create thick, heavy muck. It's incredibly difficult to clean out of the ponds. Last year, Martin, Nacho and Kevin spent a whole week cleaning out the sediment pond. Kevin is desperately looking for ways to avoid having to work that hard again, if he can help it. If there's a problem, Kevin will find a solution. He figured out that a metal grate would catch the leaves on the way in from the aqueduct, keeping the canal and ponds leaf-free.

Then, Kevin bought some mesh to create a filter system in the sediment pond. He added some scrap metal tubing to the bottom to help weigh it down. He made two.

The water comes in through the aqueduct and flows into the sediment pond. The two green meshes slow the water right down (as well as the sand). The sand sinks to the bottom before it reaches the half-way point. There's a gate on the right-hand side at the half-way point. When Kevin opens it, the water empties out straight into the river...along with all the sand that has accumulated there. So great, right?

We found out a few weeks ago that Seidy's (the woman who founded the Copey Learning Center and my good friend) husband's family use to own our property many years ago. Danilo used to come up here regularly, so he's very familiar with the land and he was great friends with the man, Bernardo, who built the ponds and created the first trout business in the area. In fact, Bernardo, we're told, was instrumental in educating the community on how to raise and sell trout. Danilo would come up and help Bernardo (Bernardo was like a second father to Danilo). Bernardo got sick and died about five years after starting his business (about 18 years ago). Danilo hadn't been back to the property since. When we found this out, we thought it might be nice for him to revisit; not only because he holds fond memories working with Bernardo, but also because of all his childhood memories.

We invited Seidy and Danilo to come for lunch and tour the property. When they arrived, it was just starting to cloud over, but still no rain. Just as we were finishing our walkabout, it started to rain. Kevin made a fire and we sat down for lunch. I made Curried Squash soup with homemade bread with locally churned butter, Arugula salad and Balsamic cream cheese and red pepper stuffed mushrooms. For dessert, I served an Upside Down Pineapple cake. There were no leftovers, so I think everyone enjoyed the meal.

A few weeks ago, Kevin and I were in San Marcos running errands. We were walking out of the post office when I woman heard us speak English. She came up to us and introduced herself as Gloria. She told us that she was a teacher in San Pablo and INA (the national institute for learning). She was so excited to hear native English speakers and asked if we would be interested to come see her class someday. We agreed, exchanged emails and said goodbye. We didn't think anything would come of it, but last week, I received an email from Gloria inviting us to come see an English presentation. We weren't sure what to expect, but decided to make an appearance. We arrived at 10 am. The students (all teenagers) presented information on several English-speaking countries. There were about ten different exhibits: England, New Zealand, U.S., Ireland, Scotland, Jamaica, Australia, India a few more. It was obvious everyone worked very hard to put everything together. They were dressed in traditional costumes and shared facts about each country. They even performed a traditional dance. These students go to school every day for 4 to 6 hours a day for six months. The amount of English they learn in that period of time is amazing. Many had really mastered it. Others, not so much. Everyone learns at a different pace. The overall effort is worth noting. We're glad we went.

It was overcast first this morning, which is very unusual. It rained a little, too. Kevin scratched his pupil somehow a few days ago and it was really red and sore this morning, so we decided to go to the pharmacy and get some drops since there wasn't much he could do in this weather. We ran all our errands, including getting eye drops, and by the time we got home it was 1 pm. It was hot and sunny like a beautiful January day (here in Costa Rica, that is). It was lovely! Climate change is affecting all parts of the world, even ours.