still here, but taking a break

In the states, as the first cold fronts blow through and your wardrobe transitions to warmer clothing, you can subconsciously sense the holidays coming .  Not only do you see the passage of time when looking at the calendar, but you can also feel the passage of time with the change in seasons.  That’s not the case here in the tropics.  Thanksgiving completely snuck up on us as we were (and still are) in full summer mode!  The dress code is still shorts and flip-flops here in Puerto Rico, and the ocean is a comfortable 80 degrees; even now, in the waning hours of the year.

2016 was our first full year living here and it definitely feels less foreign and a lot more like home to us now.  We do still have a long way to go, mind you.  I can order food and buy gas, but beyond that, my Spanish is woefully inadequate.  The fact that most people are bilingual here is both a blessing and a curse.  Because I’m not forced to fumble through uncomfortable exchanges in Spanish more frequently, it will take me that much longer to learn.

Holly and I accomplished a lot this year, but one of the highlights for us has to be this blog.  I set a New Year’s resolution to write a post once every other week for the whole year.  Holly helps me come up with ideas, proofreads all of my posts, and produces most of the pictures.  Although we seriously considered throwing in the towel a few times along the way, I’m glad we pushed through.  Not surprisingly, the posts actually came a little easier in the last part of the year than in the middle.

Next year, we’re taking a break.  In lieu of a fixed writing schedule, we will now only produce a post when we get inspired to share something that we believe to be valuable and/or interesting.  That said, we will continue to update the site and add new content to existing posts.  Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere!

If you have any questions or topics you’d like to see covered, please feel free to leave a comment here on this post or contact us directly.  Some of the best posts of the year were inspired by our wonderful readers.

2016 was good.  Now, let’s make 2017 our best year yet! 🙂

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!