too many tacos

so my blog has been a bit too quiet lately, mostly because i've been on the run. i just got back from almost three weeks of being away from home. first it was a week in louisiana to meet my beautiful new niece. first time i've been home for mardi gras in years, but we didn't even make it to the parades since my little niece was only three weeks old. then i was off for a little over a week in mexico, a bit of a last minute trip to use up an about to expire plane ticket. i hadn't really spent any time in mexico before and i must admit that it made a very good first impression. maybe i was just happy to have an opportunity to speak some spanish, since i have done very little of that since moving back from spain. i was staying in puerto vallarta but was lucky enough to be able to get out to some of the amazing surrounding towns and villages, including las penitas, mayto, tehuamixtle, and sayulita. there's a lot of treasure to be found in this area of mexico and i feel like i discovered much of it. i've had an incredible past few weeks, although i always find travel to be good for my soul and bad for my waistline...these trips were no exception. i was progressing very nicely pre-travels but after a healthy dose of my brother-in-law's red beans and rice and a few too many tacos in mexico, i've slipped in said progress a bit. but it's great to be home and i'm not letting the slippage get me down. amazing trips and amazing memories, and now i'm getting right back on track...