"Hootz La Juaca"

That, my friends, is how I phonetically spell the place we are traveling to in the state of Oaxaca. It is a small mountain village with the potential for large spiders. Apparently, I will need to knock my shoes out PRIOR to putting them on in the event of a "friend" making a new habitat. I tend to do pretty well but spiders completely terrify me, especially large, hairy ones! We are hopefully going to visit Monte Albon which are some Mayan ruins. So much of the architecture within the town dates back to the 1500s.

Today we did a lot of prep for our trip and got all of our gear packed, ready to go. I would be remiss if I didn't say I was experiencing a bit of homesickness when I haven't even left yet. It didn't help matters when Will cried about my upcoming travel. That got me pretty bad! Lots to do in order to ready myself. I have to mentally prepare, how in the heck am I going to make it with no Facebook or blogs for 2 weeks? OK, I'm joking (sort of.) I am excited to meet new friends and see new faces. It was exciting as we packed shoes, clothes, supplies and think of which individual would be blessed by it. I enjoyed saying a prayer over the things we packed, that it would bring joy and meet a very specific need in their lives.

Today I finally took down our Christmas tree and had to admit the holiday season had concluded. Will deemed it to be the worst day of his life and we both mourned the fact the tree couldn't stay with us forever!
However, wouldn't it be nice if we could just recycle the entire tree, ornaments and all? It sure would make for an easier clean-up. Hmmm, good thoughts for next year! Maybe I will decorate with newspaper and composted decorations. I just might start a new trend!