Sun, hedonism and celebrating a February birthday far from Portland, Oregon

Do you ever have those moments laying in the sun when a wave of warmth makes you catch your breath? I love that. I don't experience it much here in Portland. It's the intense change or warming, fueled by the suns rays, and it connects with your body (and your internal organs, I swear) and lifts it to a higher temperature. It causes me to double breathe. It comes even moreso when laying on a hot rock. Especially a hot rock on the Feather River in Northern California in July. That's really hot. But I digress...

I've found I do better with my birthday by being on vacation. Preferably somewhere warm with lots of sun where I can reintroduce my toes to that glowing orb in the sky. And this was a major birthday. Major. I'll leave it at that.

Having a birthday in late February in Portland, Oregon is most often a grey, wet, cold, rainy affair. Usually combined with a pity party and generally emotional moments of whining and crying. But not in Mexico. No sirree. And this birthday was spent on the coast of the Caribbean, an ocean I've never visited. Shades of turquoise, layers of blue, see?

All day long on my birthday was spent at the most amazing natural water park, snorkeling, swimming, sunning. This comes with all-you-can drink and eat. Pure hedonism. Yes, on my birthday I snorkeled through an ancient Mayan cave, followed by several pina coladas and some salsa verde pork. Now THAT'S the way to do it. Seriously, this place was amazing.

Last night I downloaded some of the photos, and found a little movie AdRi made on a walk she took on the beach in Tulum. I love it so much, and think you will too. Enjoy a little time at the Caribbean with AdRi here:

I'm back, and have some great clarity to focus on life, goals, hopes and dreams. Vacations do that to me. And here's a little something my mom wrote to me in my birthday card:

Let's see, 40 years ago today I put a roast in the oven, planted a loquat tree, called Dr. Loft after dinner, met him at the hospital and you were born at 9:30 pm.

Love this. I bet she had a task list for herself on that day. That reminds me, I have a list to get to today...