Well, it sure has taken me an awful long time to blog about our trip to Costa Rica!
I certainly didn't mean to drag it out like this! Haha...
But you know how life can get...
Between homeschool lessons, meals, childcare, laundry, etc... I struggle to find time to sit down and write.
But! As I tell my kids... "No excuses!!!" Haha!
So, here I am again, wanting to share a little more about our trip...
I know this is supposed to be a blog on home living.
I truly hope you haven't minded that I veered off a little and have been blogging about travel.
My goal for today's post is to bring it full circle, and write about home life once more.
When I leave my home for an outing, I like to pay attention to the things that can give me a fresh perspective on my own home.
Does that make sense?
In other words, I like to make observations and get ideas that I can bring home with me, to make my home better!
I notice gardens and flowers and think, How can I make my garden better this year?
I notice small, intentional details and think, This would be a good thing for me to do the next time I host guests...
I notice decor items that evoke a feeling of home and think, How cute! Feels like home. See? Using lovely things everyday is always the right thing to do...
I notice meals that are beautiful and think, I wonder if Walmart sells small paper dollies. What an adorable way to make supper even more appealing...
Get what I mean?
I told you in my previous posts that we rented a car while we were there and were out and about a lot, so we really got to see the country.
One observation that I made was that all the homes there were extremely colorful!
They just didn't look like the homes that are here in the U.S.
It didn't matter if we were in a city or in the countryside... Driving through an upscale neighborhood or a run-down one...
The homes in Costa Rica are lime green, bright blue, and hot pink!
I had Micah pull over when I spotted this cheery yellow home...
It just looked like such a happy place to live!
It was well-kept and there were beautiful flowers of all different kinds in the front yard.
When I stepped out of the car to snap a picture, a couple of little kids ran out to see what I was doing.
And that just made the whole thing even better!
Do you see them looking at me? Haha...
Adorable!!!
I thought to myself, What a beautiful place for them to grow up. Their mother sure made it colorful and cheery!
And then that led me to my next thought which was this- It really is cool that there are women everywhere in the world that are making the most out of where they are and what they have! You can travel to a far-away land and find women anywhere making their homelife beautiful!
That thought encouraged me!
Of course, I don't know these people and didn't step inside. But, it was a great reminder for me about the importance of first impressions!
This also convicted me and challenged me!
Would a complete stranger drive past MY home and be able to draw the conclusion that it must be a happy place to live?
Hmmmm......
Yes, I feel convicted.
Well, all this thinking about being back home made me miss my kids. So, when Micah and I were bumming around Montezuma one hot afternoon, we slipped into a few shops to purchase gifts for them...
The loneliness I felt for my kids was not helped when I realized that the children of the shop owners hang out with their parents at their shops. So, I saw a lot of children! And that just made me miss mine all the more!
This little guy looked to be about Roman's age.
He was just quietly entertaining himself while his mama ran her shop...
I stood here and watched him for a few minutes.
He never noticed me.
I asked Micah, "So, do you think he'd let me hug him?"
Micah just rolled his eyes and said, "C'mon, let's pick out souvenirs."
Well, eventually the time came where we had to bid farewell to this wonderful place...
It was bittersweet.
I don't know when I'll return or even if I ever will...
But, there's no place like home, and that's where I belong... So, off we went to board our plane...
Once home, we set up our kitchen island with all of the Costa Rican treats and gifts...
We bought each child a little wooden box to house the tiny sea shells we hand picked for them...
They made sure they all got divvied up equally...
If you're really observant, you'll notice in the background my ivory poinsettia.
It's from the holidays!!!
I can't believe I kept it alive and well for this long!
But once we got settled back into the swing of things at home, I pitched it and re-decorated this corner for Spring. I used lavender and a little green piece of pottery that I brought home from Costa Rica.
See it up on the shelf here?...
I found it in a pottery shop, thought it was cute, and figured I needed something to bring home that would remind me of the happy times we had on this trip.
I will forever hold dear the memories we made, but it sure is good to be home!
We're back to enjoying our trails and our trees...
Taking trips into town for ballet class...
And hand-washing dishes from having friends over to dinner...
Life just goes on as if the trip never happened.
But that's ok.
~ Home was never sweeter than now ~
xo,
~ Courtney ~
