New Friends

 

I had another great week overall.  I went to a 3 hr in home French cooking class, set up bbq’s with new friends, arranged play dates for Alana and even went fishing again!!  

I also planned a nice date night at a roof top bar and restaurant in Playa for Stacy and I.  It was a wonderful time to reflect on our new life, talk, and just be with each other.  I am making much more of an effort to “have my own life.”  I’ve always relied so heavily on Stacy for my social life, and granted we do have a lot of the same friends, it has always been her that fuels it.  She helps to get me out of my comfort zone and understands that sometimes it takes me more of an effort to be social, but I  really need to continue to form my own self identity.  It also gives us more to talk about and reflect on when we are together.  We’ve been together so much, especially over the past year, that sometimes it seems like we’ve talked about everything we want to talk about.  I’m sure a lot of people can relate.  With both of use making extra efforts to go out and do things on our own we are already noticing the impact it has had on our relationship, and it’s been refreshing!!  A lot of that has to do with me actually pursuing things on my own and it feels good to see the direct and indirect benefits of doing that!

The cooking class I went to was very fun!  Although it wasn’t really hands on, I had a great time talking and connecting with the people that were there, which to be honest, was why I went.  I’m happy that I found it and signed myself up!!

I also set up a great BBQ with some of the friends we met from last week at our condo.  The kids got to play and I got to talk!!  It was a great feeling to connect and make a plan without Stacy having to create it!!  Alana and I rode our bikes to the park several days to meet people to play.  She has been able to hang out with some of the same kids for a few weeks in a row and its great to see her make new friends and develop socially!

The fishing trip this time was only 3 hrs out of Akumal Bay.  We left at 730 on a small little boat. There were 5 of us plus the captain and first mate, so it was pretty packed.  The water was a lot rougher than the previous weeks fishing trip and on such a small boat, I was feeling every little wave!!!  However, within 2 hrs we had already caught 5 fish!!  One of them was the biggest fish I have personally every seen on a fishing boat, a 3ft plus Mahi!  The last 45 min were a bit rough for me and I was definitely holding it in for the last stretch.  Overall, it was a great trip and we took home a lot of fish!!  I’m probably going to wait awhile for my next deep sea fishing excursion but would like to try to fish from the shore more often!!

This week I am most proud that I made more connections with other families that live here.  Last Sunday we met a family also from CA with 2 kids around Alana’s age.  We got a long very well!  On Tuesday, at the cooking class I met a very nice girl who lives here with her husband and 5 kids!  Once again, it was very easy to get along and she ended up connecting me with her husband who plays basketball several nights a week here!  On Friday, we went to our new friends house and wouldn’t you believe it, pretty much all the families I had connected with over the past week were there!  It was just the adults and Stacy and I had a great time talking and getting to know our new friends.  It is such a small community here and everyone who is living here like us has their own unique story of what brought them here.  It’s so easy to get a long and talk and I have really enjoyed the feeling that meeting new people has brought me this week.  I’ve also been making more of an effort to be more vulnerable in my conversations with people; letting them really get to know who I am.  It’s refreshing and therapeutic to talk so openly and honestly with people, and what I’ve learned is that everyone is going through or has been through similar what the fuck am I doing with my life scenarios.  It creates a deeper connection and is easier to continue conversations and maintain friendships. 

There was a point mid week where I felt anxious, restless and unsure of what I was doing (that week, and in life).   However, I was able to write my thoughts down, think rationally, and focus those misplaced feelings into an overall rewarding week.  Not every day is going to be sunshine and roses, but as long as I keep tending to the garden and observe what I need, I will continue to flourish.  Totally lame cliché, but it works.