2.5 days left in Canada!!!

[Lindsey]

Hola Mexico!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself :) Lately we've been having windchills of about -40 degrees, so when I started packing this weekend I was so happy I wanted to squeal! I dug out all my shorts, skirts, and pretty summer dresses. I went shopping for sunscreen, and I got a new bikini just after Christmas.
I'm taking Thursday off work to do some last minute shopping and go to the bank to get some American money (I should have done this a few months ago when our dollar was so high... oh well..) Then I'm finishing packing my stuff, and packing up Layla's stuff, and my brother, grandma, great-uncle, and I are heading out Thursday evening. We're stopping a couple hours from here and meeting my parents who will be taking care of Layla while I'm gone, and then we're continuing to Edmonton! We have to be at the airport at 3 am!!! Flight leaves at 6 am... and I'll be on my way to my first real vacation, my first palm tree, my first time IN an ocean (I've been ON one, but it was alaska and there were glaciers!)
Oh my gosh I'm so excited it's almost overwhelming! I just needed to pour out my excitement somewhere!

[Tink]

Lindsey, it's great to see you so excited.
I hope you have the trip of a lifetime!

Who's going with you?

[Lindsey]

I think there's about 14 people going... My great-aunt is actually getting married. Her husband passed away about 6 or 7 years ago, and she has been seeing this Mexican guy for 4 years now. They've decided to get married, and as far as she knows it's just her son and daughter going down, so she'll have a big surprise when we all get off the plane :D Besides her son and daughter, there's her son's family (with two small boys), another second cousin of mine and her family (2 small boys and one small girl), then my grandma, great-uncle, and my brother and I.
My grandma and I will be sharing a room just because neither of us felt comfortable alone. I'm a little worried about that though! I'm sure my cousins and I, and for sure my brother and I, will go out a couple nights for some drinks. We're even touring a tequila factory with free tequila samples! But I lived with my grandma a couple years ago while I was on a work term for school. One night I was going out with friends and she asked if I would be drinking and driving and I was like "Oh no! I'd never do that!" but she took that to mean I don't drink alcohol at all. She's made countless comments since then about it, like "If I ever saw Lindsey pick up a beer I'd probably fall out of my chair and have a heart attack!" So I'm going to feel like either I can't have a drink at all, or I have to try to hide it. She also doesn't know I have my tongue peirced, which I have to take out for the airport metal detectors! I think after this trip, my grandma might have a lesser opinion of me..

[Marilyn]

Lindsey, so happy for you!!! Where are you going in Mexico? It's a very diverse country!! Your grandmother will be fine with you, I'm sure. She will just be happy to get to spend time with you and her family.

Hope you have a fabulous time!!!!!!!

[Lindsey]

We're going to Mazatlan :)

[Janet]

Congratulations Lindsey on your trip. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Take lots of pictures to share with us okay? Would really love to see the landscape, buildings and well, just everything.

[Lindsey]

I will definitely be taking a ton of pictures :D

[DianaB]

Lindsey, that sounds like a wonderful vacation, especially to get away from the frigid weather you're having up there. You won't want to go back home when it's over!!! It will be a wonderful surprise for your aunt. She'll be so excited that you could make it to her wedding. Have a good time, stay safe, and take lots of pictures for us!!!

[judy]

Lindsey, what a treat! I'm so ecite3d for you. Your travel dreams are beginning to be realized. You're going to love the ocean and the heat. I think your aunt will be so pleased. What a wonderful family.

As a grandmother, there id very little that can lower your Grandmother's opinion of you. Certainly not a beer or two or a tongue ring! Grandmas love you just because you're you.

Have a ball, and take lots of pix.

Safe trip,

Judy

[Mandy]

Lindsey, you are going to have a blast, how exciting! Go, and relax, dont think of work or anything, just do all the things you want to do!
Come back with loads of pics, and look after yourself!!

Have a good one :thumbup: ;)

[Lindsey]

ahhhh I'm so excited and nervous!!! I'm leaving here in less than 2 hours. I did my banking and last minute shopping earlier, but I feel like I'm forgetting something... but I'm pretty sure I can't fit anything else in my suitcase. I still have to pack up Layla's stuff so maybe that's where the feeling is coming from. I haven't even had time to eat today!
My grandma decided she wants to leave here early, at 6:00. It's about a 4-hour drive to Edmonton, and our plane doesn't leave until 7:00 am, so we need to be there by 4:00 am. So anyways, we'd be there 6 hours before we HAD to be there, and 9 hours before the plane leaves!!!! I don't want to sit in an airport for that long, so we've convinced her that we'll take a half-hour detour halfway there and stop at my parents' house so they don't need to go meet us to pick up Layla. Hopefully when we're there, my parents can convince her that we should just rest for a few hours :)

[DianaB]

I know that you're already on your way but have a great time!!!! It sounds like a wonderful get-away from all the cold weather! (Sigh) Wish that I could come too!!!!

[Mandy]

Been thinking about Lindsey a lot today, i'm sure she is having a wonderful time!!
Gosh i envy her, sun, sea & margaritas.... could do with some of that :D

[Marilyn]

Lindsey, hope you are having a wonderful time!!!! Guess you flew over all of us on your way to old Mexico!! We are thinking about you and wishing you well.

[Lindsey]

Hey everyone, I'm back :) I still haven't gotten all my pictures on the computer, but I'll do that soon and let you all see! It was a really good trip, and a very eye-opening experience when I visited the poor families living in the dump... we gave clothing and toys to the little kids and it broke my heart. I have some pictures of them too, and the housing and conditions they live in. I wish I could do more for them from here.
I got a ton of souveniers and went to a fiesta and drank too much beer and pina coladas on the beach! In the middle of the week I got an email from my dad, saying I picked a great time to go on holidays because right after we left there was a giant blizzard and the average temperature all week was -50 degrees! But now the dream is over and I'm back here shivering in the snow and cold!

[judy]

Welcome home! It sounds like you had a wonderful and exciting trip.

I can't wait to see the pictures and hear more stories. Your dreams are beginning to come true.

Sorry about the snow.

[DianaB]

I can't wait to see the pictures! I bet you had a really good time!!! Any place warm where you can lay out on the beach sounds wonderful right now!

I've seen some pictures of some of the places that people live in in Mexico and they'll make you cry. My daughter went there on a missions trip years ago and she fell in love with the children there and she said that their living conditions were so, so sad.

[Janet]

Oh Lindsey, it's sounds like you had a great experience. I'm anxious for you to put the pictures on so we can see them. My only way of traveling is via others pictures.

[Marilyn]

Lindsey, so glad you are home safe, and had such a wonderful time. The Mexican people for the most part are very nice folks. How wonderful that you were able to have this experience and share it with your family!!!