Beauty all around

Costa Rica is a gorgeous country.  The rest of the world considers it to be a tropical and rain forest paradise, and I have been fortunate to be able to experience much of it's beauty in the almost 2 1/2 years that I have been living here.  I would like to say that I appreciate the "naturaleza" that I'm surrounded with on a daily basis and it doesn't get old seeing fantastically green coffee mountains on my drive to work, but that just isn't true.  Whatever our "normal" is, we seem to get used to and don't always see the beauty in it.  But there are those days where I'm driving into Los Guido to the Tutoring Center and am just in awe at how gorgeous the mountains are that surround this impoverished community that has grown so dear to my heart.  And on those days I'm thankful for the reminder that God is the creator of the Earth and is so creative in how He has expressed His glory in physical and visible ways. 
These are pics recently taken quite close to home:

A particularly gorgeous sunset, taken as I was getting gas in downtown Desamparados

A view from my bosses property, which is 10 minutes from my home

These past few months I have had the opportunity to be outdoors and experience some of the magnificent creation more than I normally do.  Some friends from Visalia were here studying Spanish and we had two unique adventures that I was so blessed to be able to see some new parts of the country.  As much as I feel like I have adapted to being more of a "city girl," there is something about being outdoors and experiencing God there that has no comparison.  May I never cease to be amazed and reminded of the magnificent God of creation!
 Below are a few pics from my time in the Arenal Volcano area and also on the Pacuare River.

Stephanie, Melanie, and I SO excited because Arenal was perfectly clear and visible!

Rio Pacuare