Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes!

A lot has happened since my last post...Where to start...Well Nick has fully recovered from dengue, praise God! That sure was an experience I hope neither of us (nor anyone else) ever has to endure again! Holly, my sister has been here since the 7th. She has been a big help around here with cleaning, planting, digging, painting, you name it! 
Here is a sign we made for the Cabinas...we actually added more things since this picture.

Holly wrapped these in rope and I made the driftwood pieces.

We have also made a little time to have some fun. First we went on a bike ride to the Turtle Farm. We didn't see any turtles, but the journey was fun! A few days later, Nick and I took her and two guests to Tres Picinas Waterfall where she overcame her fear of heights and jumped from the top. Another day Holly and I went on a zipline canopy tour. That was awesome! We didn't see much wildlife (they do not feed the animals, to ensure the animals stay safe, so it is completely up to the animals when they want to be seen or not), however, we did see a few poison dart frogs! The views were amazing, and not to mention it was like riding a roller coaster over the rain forest! Again...I am proud of Holly for doing this! She was a little nervous at first, but in the end she had fun.  Yesterday we went on a Jungle Spa Horseback Tour, and we have been able to make it out to the beach quite a few times. 

Holly and I at the Turtle Farm

Poison Dart Frog

View of Playa Hermosa from the treetops!
Horseback Tour

Spa Treatment on the Jungle  Spa Horseback Tour

Unfortunately, all has not been fun and games. Three days ago, Rob told us that he was leaving. I guess it was not what he had expected, and he was not happy here. This has put us in somewhat of an awkward situation for multiple reasons. We now have to figure out how we are going to run this place with just 2 people, or hire someone else. The problem is that someone has to be here 24/7, or we could potentially loose business...which means that we can not even go to the grocery store together, and for now, until we get this figured out...forget getting to see the rest of the country, surf trips, day trips, even going back to the states. We will get it figured out I'm sure, but it has been an emotional, stressful past 2 days. Prayers are greatly appreciated to guide us and help us get through this. 

Before Rob left, we finished our room upstairs. Now that he has gone, we have re-arranged some more. The living room is now upstairs along with a guest bed. We have moved into what was Rob's room downstairs and the living room is now our office.
Driftwood Stairs

New upstairs Living Room

Guest bed...That is Holly's pink blanket (and Tiger)

Kitchen

Our bedroom

Our bedroom

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Monday, August 6, 2012

A little bump in the road

Well, for those of you who do not know already, we have had a little bump in the road. Nick somehow contracted dengue fever! He has been out of commission the past week. Not only does he have dengue, but also a severe ear infection. My love has been very sick:( It has been a long road for us all.

If you know Nick at all, you know that he does not like to sit around and do nothing. Well, that is all he has been able to do the past week or so. He had a fever of 103.5 for 2-3 days. We thought it was just his ear (he gets chronic ear infections from a perforated ear drum), however when his fever would not go down and he was achy all over...I called our friend Lance, who has lived in Costa Rica for about 20 years. Lance immediately called his doctor, Dr. Hector and got us an appointment. They did blood work, and it came back positive for dengue. Dengue fever is basically like a really bad flu, but it is not contagious. You get it from mosquitoes. They call it 'bone breaker' because it makes your bones and joints hurt so bad. There is no cure except time and fluids.

Dr. Hector gave Nick a shot for pain and the fever, and it helped a lot! Once he got his fever down he felt a lot better, but he has still been very weak. He has been sad that he has not been able to surf (we have had a big swell), and that he has not been able to help around here. We have not been able to work on our room any since he has been sick...and that has upset him. I keep telling him not to worry...it will get done when it gets done.

He is feeling much better today, thank God! I have reminded him to take it easy and not push it, but as I am writing this blog, he is upstairs sanding the sheetrock! Not even dengue can hold him down long! I am so thankful that he is feeling better! I was thanking God for it this morning on my walk! I hate seeing him feel so bad...and I felt so helpless because there was really nothing I could do but try to make him as comfortable as possible and keep him hydrated.

On another note...we have been slammed busy! Today is the first 'down' day we have had. We have pretty much been completely full since I last wrote. We were full this weekend and had to turn several people away...which is good and bad. There was a bachelor party Saturday night and boy were they wild! We had to ask them several times to keep it down, because there were other guests. Sadly, one guest decided they were too loud and left in the middle of the night :(

Rob and I had to clean almost all of the rooms yesterday. It was a busy day, but we got it done! My sister is coming tomorrow for 3 weeks! I'm excited to show her around! It is her first time in Costa Rica, so hopefully I will have a lot of pictures to share soon!

Welp, we have to go back to Jaco to get Nick's blood checked again now.

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