Summer and I both lived alone before we met each other.
I lived in a little one bedroom cottage in La Jolla and she lived in a 3 bedroom house in Carlsbad. She worked from home (except when she and Kuta would go to the post office with the daily shipment) and I commuted to downtown San Diego to my office. So, when we moved in together, we both had to get used to having a roommate again. Of course, living with you significant other is different than a run of the mill roommate, but once the honeymoon stage is over you need to get used to each others domestic shortcomings and step up to pick up each others slack (For example: I hate doing laundry and summer hates doing the dishes).
Domestic routines and chores have never been my strong point. I am either OCD clean, or a complete slob. When Summer left for California, my plan was to organize, scrub and set up a routine for both of us to follow so we won’t constantly feel like we are living in a construction zone (with dirty dishes and dirty laundry).
But now that I am here alone, I am finding myself unmotivated to complete this monumental task (3,000 sqft of house, tools and supplies), but not because I don’t feel like doing it, but because I miss my girl. Back to paragraph one, it was nice to have some alone time at the house, but that only lasted about a day, and now I am aching to have my chick back in Rincon at my side. We are such a team. It is rare to see either of us outside of the house unless we are together (not counting my ridiculously early dawn patrol surf session that usually start around 5:15am).
Last night, on my way to the poker home game we love to play (Summer taught me how to play Texas Hold ‘Em Poker), I caught a glimpse of the sunset. It was the nicest sunset I have seen down here in a long time and I really wanted to share the moment with Summer. I pulled the car over, walked down to the beach and fired off a photo to send to my girl (Hallmark doesn’t have anything on the sunsets Rincon is privy to on the nightly basis) telling her that I was thinking about her (no need to dwell on the I miss you part, it makes it harder on both of us). Then it hit me, how selfish am I being? Summer knows I love and miss her, but you guys deserve to see the Caribbean Sunset as much as she does!
So, if it were normal to ‘toast’ to a sunset with our blog instead of a drink, this would be normal;

I toast this beautiful Caribbean sunset to everyone reading our California 2 Puerto Rico blog. I hope you have/will find a love in your life like I have found mine and that you work actively every day to make your wants/desires/dreams a reality!
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Very sweet Stefan! You probably made Summer get teary eyed! I love the sunset, we definitely do not have many beautiful sunsets in NJ. some but not like that. Can’t wait to go back home to Rincon next month.
Rosa:
Summer and I are going to South Jersey the first week of June. From the island of Ocean City, you get sunsets over the marshes that are quite nice (minus the power plant) so I know NJ can kick down some beautiful sunsets too!
Hi Summer and Stefan,
Awesome sunset… We get decent ones from our deck in Sacramento on the American River. We LOVE your site and check it almost daily since we discovered it (last week). We will be retiring to my (Fran’s) native PR in 2 1/2 years. We have 12 beautiful cuerdas in Maunabo and a condo in Ceiba. Steve will buy a sailboat. We hope to build a house (as cost-efficient as possible) on our land, so we are learning a lot from your experiences. Fran wants space and comfort. Steve would be happy sleeping on a hammock between a couple of palmas. We have heard that building a home can wreak havoc on relationships, so it is heartening to see that you two are doing so well. (Ah, young love!) We have electricity and water near, so we will have to tap in; also need to put in a septic and a cistern. I have a love/hate relationship with my island. We’ve heard of people who move there and get fed up with the (enter complaint here), and they move back to the states. Then I read about the rinconadventure couple who came back! That is great to hear. The grass always seems greener somewhere else.
I would be careful about going into the quebrada barefoot and with the dogs, because of schistosomaisis (sp?). I know you are aware of dengue, so please use repellent often! There are also some mosquito repellent plants you can use around your property. Catnip? Oh no, Cheech would get lazy!
We thought about goats to keep the jungle growth down, but I don’t like the fact that they eat your saplings and have heard that their poop isn’t good for the land. Those miniature burros are very cute; I look forward to hearing more about them if (when) you get them.
Are you considering solar or wind energy? We’ve been reading up, but don’t know how feasible they would be.
What an exciting journey for two beautiful, fun-loving young people! We wish you the best and will continue to follow your adventures.
Fran and Steve
steve where
in oc will you be at. Would like to meet you guts before we move to pr in july. We own a home in
Mameyes, thats near Florida, pr. Here in the States
I live in Mays Landing.
I was JUST (as in, today) telling Forrest about the hardest part of our relationship: compromising. Both Stefan and myself are very independent. When we met (and for nearly two years after) we each lived on our own. We both throughly enjoy having our own space. As a matter of fact, we did not decide to live together until AFTER we bought a house together. Not that this means that we don’t love each other or don’t want to be around each other, because we do, we are just both “A” personalities which mean we are both trying to take the lead on things, or we just are use to doing things our own ways. Luckly, we do see eye to eye on most things and the things we don’t are not really important.
Rosa - Do you know when your next trip to Rincon will be? If so, let us know and we’ll have a dinner party. It was great running into you two at Shipwrecks (and the ARF fundraiser)!
Fran and Steve - We have considered solar/wind energy, but from the minimal research we have done, it was quite complicated (welcome to PR) and quite expensive initially. Eventually we would love to go solar/wind/hydro, but we have many projects ($$$) that are at the top of our list.
As for the mini donkeys, YES, we are definately getting a pair. Probably towards the end of this year, when things start slowing down for us and we have the time to nurture new pets (and build them a pen).
Mosquito repellent plants? I never even thought of that!! Although, Stefan said that Cheech is not old enough for catnip…Are there any others?
It’s funny that you mention the rinconadventures couple…We bought the Bronco (or “The Donkey” as Marcus calls it) from their family. We didn’t actually realize that until we played poker with Marcus and we all connected the dots…(small town!)
Good luck on your own PR adventure! As I’m sure you know, Puerto Rico is what you make of it. It can be the ultimate paradise or your biggest nightmare, depending on how you use it ;)…
Stefan,
Try planting a few cintronella plants around the outside of your house to keep the mosquitos away, also make sure there is no standing water anywhere! I’ll check with Jean and see if we can start some of them for you guy’s from her plant.
Summer,
I did some searches today and here are a few fact-and-anecdotal sites:
Article: http://www.gomestic.com/Gardening/Five-Plants-That-Repel-Mosquitoes.34525
Here’s a forum discussing mosquito repellent plants: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/secoast/msg0709204424068.html
This is also interesting: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/90412_lovejoy10.shtml
Do whatever you can to keep from getting bitten. Dengue is with you for life. Macho Steve uses DEET. I use and love Off Botanicals.
Fran
Joan:
That would be awesome! I am so influenced by marketing, I didn’t even know Citronella was a plant!
long time reader, third time commenter. Next time you post something like this can you put out a warning or cute little pink kitty logo telling us that we should grab a bottle of cab, put on the slippers and call the girls over.
Haha…Ricky. You are hilarious ;). I’ve been meaning to call you and the wifey. I’m in CA and in the midst of moving my office to PB.
We can’t wait to see you, Give us call. How long are you in town for? Where in PB are you moving the office? We just opened a store http://www.factoryvintage.com at 4120 Napier Rd in Bay Park. We’ll be neighbors, or at least close.
Stefan,
You could also plant Marigolds around the house outside by your office windows as they also help keep the Mosquitos away. When we lived in Absecon my Mother always planted them close to the house and in her vegetable garden to keep mosquitoes and other pesky insects away. They also helped with the Greenheads! Anyone from South Jersey knows what Greenheads are!!! ouch…they have a vicious bite!
Ricky - That’s awesome! I will call you before the weekend to see what you’re schedule is like. I totally want to check out your new digs. The new Vicious office is on Garnet Ave at Noyes. You’ll see the big pink Vicious sign…ha.
Summer is so damn lucky!!!
Greetings from Minnesota.