Monthly Archives: November 2013

Bartering… the coolest form of currency.


Posted by Jen

Bartering – seems like something from the “olden days”, as my Grandmother would say.  Before I moved here, I had read a snippet about it somewhere…  and I thought, man – that would be so cool to barter one of my “talents” for something I wanted in return.

Well, I’m happy to report bartering is alive and well, here in Costa Rica!   I love bartering – especially because we are on a pretty tight budget now.  It is so cool, y’all!  You just exchange something that you can provide that another person wants, for something that you want that the other person can provide.  Sounds easy, right? Here’s an example:

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7 things I didn’t think I could do – thank you Eleanor Roosevelt.


Posted by Jen

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

I saw this quote the other day, and it really got to me the more I thought about it.  Turns out, I’ve already been doing a lot of the “things I thought I could not do” – just this year.

1.  I never thought I could retire in my early-40’s.

But yet – here I am.

2.  I never thought I could make my own pesto sauce. 

This may sound odd to you, because I now know that making pesto from scratch is quite easy. While living in Dallas, I had looked up recipes for pesto several time, but I think the food processor business just scared me.  Whenever we dined at Italian restaurants, I’d ALWAYS order a dish with pesto sauce.  And now, I make my own – and it tastes so gourmet to me, it’s crazy.   BTW – swirled with tomato sauce on my homemade pizza?  – THE BEST!

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Costa Rica’s unusual bonus deals!


Posted by Jen

So, in the US, you know how stores sometimes have “special bonus” deals with certain products?…  like:

–Buy a can of shaving cream and get a FREE RAZOR to go with it!

–Buy a bottle of Shampoo, and get a bottle of Conditioner for FREE (savings of $6!!)!

–Buy bottle of Sunscreen and get a FREE lipgloss tube (with SPF 15) to go with it!

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