Honeymoon #2 - MEXICO!

I think it is going to take me ages to catch up and I will never be in the present day... I will be blogging about February adventures in June and that is just not ok! So I am going to do my best to be better and more frequent in posting, so you aren't reading 6 months ago! haha.

However, before I can tell you all about my present life, I have to go back to the middle of December and tell you about my amazing honeymoon! This is the big one! Disneyland was just prelude to the tropical honeymoon everyone always dreams about!

I already blogged about how we came to the decision of choosing Mexico for our honeymoon (read here)... so I'll just get going on telling you how amazing it was!

Arrival into Cancun airport

Flights were good, transfer was good, arrival to the hotel was awesome!! We were dropped at the hotel in the evening and so we were quickly shone around the place in the dark and then we basically unpacked and settled into the place.

The next morning we woke up and went exploring! Check out our awesome view and roof top deck!

View from our rooftop

Our awesome private patio! Complete with grill, jacuzzi, lounge chairs, covered area with couches, and patio table.

I had full on plans to spend a lot of time up here! Our accommodations was actually a condo and so there were 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, living room, and rooftop balcony of course. There was full room service from neighboring hotels, cleaning service, and DVD rentals in the lobby.

After some exploring  around our accommodations we were down for breakfast. There was a wonderful restaurant called Imprevist just on the first floor of our condo building and they gave the guests free breakfast every day... yummy options from eggs benedict and french toast, to Mexican breakfast favorites like Molettes.

our table for breakfast

entrance to hotel

We then wandered over to the grocery store to grab some snacks for the room. We thought about possibly making our own lunches and dinner for the week... we never did. Ha! There were too many good restaurants to try!

If I remember correctly (see I get forgetful if I wait too long to blog about something), we just walked around the beach town and the 5th avenue shops all day. We walked along the beach for about 15 minutes, but didn't settle in too much. We had lunch at a delicious restaurant that served yummy tacos and this spectacular salad! Ok lets be honest... anytime I talk about food I am going to say it was delicious... it seems that when I go on vacation I get ravenously hungry and think everything is delicious even if its not. haha!

Magarita!!!

 That night we went out to eat at one of the towns restaurants and got a little dressed up. I wore my rehearsal dinner dress! It was so warm in Mexico!

 If you can see my shoes in the picture, please note this is when they died... the last known photo of one of the cutest pairs of shoes I have ever owned. It rained that night and I ended up stepping in a HUGE puddle and destroyed my cute floral flats... sad day... they died for a good cause though :)

Look at these pretty ladies!

The next day was beach day! We woke up, got out bathing suits on and plopped ourselves down at the condo's private beach club! They had such comfy chairs at it was right on the water. The sweet sunshine was heavenly!

A pina colada and the beach... what more could anyone ask for!

bathing suit picture!

That night was fancy night! We went to an italian restaurant that we had walk passed during the day and it was super swanky... so we got fancified!

The next day was Tuesday and we had a tour to Chichen Itza booked! It was the one thing we had set in stone all week and we were excited to go and see some history and culture! Chichen Itza is one of the wonders of the world and so it was not to be missed (alright, in all actuality after going to it, I was glad I went, but it was not super-duper-incredible-your-life-is-incomplete-without-visiting-the-site).

I think my opinion of the whole trip was probably tainted by the fact that it was a 3 hour coach ride away and while our coach was clean and had a bathroom on board, it was also freezing and the roads had a lot of potholes... I was not feeling so great by the time we got there. Luckily it was warm outside so once my body defrosted and my stomach stopped churning, I was good to go!

Excited to see a big pyramid!

There it is!!

 Ok Chichen Itza is actually pretty cool. I knew what it was as far as it was a big pyramid down in the Yucatan peninsula, but if you would have asked me before going I would have told you it was probably a tomb... no sir! It is actually a Calendar!

Fun facts:
- Every bit of the pyramid represents pieces of the Mayan calendar - number of days, months, seasons, etc.
- The main stair case (behind us in the picture above) is actually a snake. One day a year on the spring equinox, the sun hits the sides of the stair case to form a snake!
- If you stand on the north side and clap your hands, it will sound like a bird is calling from the top of the pyramid
- The bird noise actually sounds like it is screaming "ku-kul-kan",  which is the name of the snake deity that appears on the equinox!
- There is more than just the pyramid on the Chichen Itza site. There is also a sports arena, an observatory to the heavens, a tomb of Mayan soldiers, and even more than has yet to be excavated yet!

In the Arena

The sporting Arena on site at Chichen Itza is where the Mayans would play a game much like soccer and basketball combined. Fun fact: the captain of the winning team would be rewarded by being BEHEADED!!! There was not greater honor to the Mayan gods than for their strongest warriors to give their lives and their blood.

After 3 hours of wandering in the now scorching sun, we boarded the bus to head to lunch. We stopped at a restaurant and market with a full Mexican food buffet! I had delicious tortilla soup, chicken with Mayan spices, and salad. During the meal, traditional dancers entertained us by dancing and spinning around the room while balancing bottles on their heads! remarkable!

 
Surrounding the eating area were little ponds and hammocks! After filling ourselves to the brim with food and ice cream, we lounged for a bit in the hammocks.

Then we wandered through the handmade markets. After a bit we all left and headed to our next place, which was a Cenote!!!

A Cenote is an underground water hole. You walk down into a cave of sorts and come upon a little nature made swimming pool!

This cenote had been updated and made safe for tourists, so the stair case down, the deck where we waited our turn to jump into the water was all man made.

Aaron jumping into the water!

It was so much fun to jump into the water... terrifying, but awesome! The water is actually 150 feet deep... SUPER DEEP! Which creeps me out, but I couldn't not dive in! Sadly my jumping picture is super blurry.

Quick note... and this will be important later... when hitting the water both Aaron and I confessed that we inhaled a lot of water... Mexico water... see where this is going? Just wait... it'll all make sense soon.

After the a dip in the Cenote, we loaded and up and headed home. Aaron and I decided after our long day and long drive that we would not be leaving our condo and beach for the rest of the week. It was an exhausting trip and a long drive back... but like I said, I am glad I can say I saw Chichen Itza, one of the wonders of the world.


The next day we woke up, went for breakfast and decided to walk around the town to wait for the sun to come out. Half way through the walk I started to not feel well, but I told myself it would pass. When we got back to the Condo, I told Aaron I needed a nap to hopefully get rid of a churny stomach and he confessed too that he wasn't feeling so great. We slept for over 2 hours and when we woke up we were worse... low at behold like clock work - almost exactly 24 hours after diving into the cenote Aaron and I both threw up every bit of food in our entire body... (does the cenote water make sense now? It is our best guess for the thing that gave us food poisoning). It was like a scene out of Sex & The City... you know the one where Charlotte and her husband Harry get food poisoning at the same time and take turns running to the bathroom... yeah that was us. I have never been so thankful for a a two bathroom condo! We each had out own territory. I think Aaron got it worse than I did... but thankfully by midnight that night we were both asleep. We spent the entire evening taking turns being sick and drinking purified water and watching TV... a marathon of Keeping up with the Kardasians was on... note: that was Aaron's choice, not mine ;)

I have never had food poisoning before, but I am SO thankful it only lasts 24 hours... by morning we were able to get out of bed and take down some crackers and water. We were both super bummed we lost a day, but it was actually rainy the whole time we were sick, so its not like we would have done much anyway!

Our morning after was spent here... yes that is a bucket of popcorn... it was the only thing that sounded appetizing. We read and laid around in the cloudy rainy morning. Aaron was reading Pride & Prejudice again and I was reading Harry Potter 6 for the 3rd time. It was much needed and afforded us a chance to build up energy to make our way down to the beach.


The rest of the week was pretty much laying on the beach and sleeping... man I am jealous of myself right now as I sit at my computer... wish I could go back right about now.

On our second to the last day, Aaron and I finally tried some Mayan hot chocolate! My favorite movie is Chocolat! In it, Juliette Binoch plays a woman to moves to a tiny tightly wound village in the French countryside and shakes things up with her Mayan chocolat. Every since seeing the film I have dreamed of trying some! and after getting sick and then being afraid to eat anything unsual for my tummy's sake, I kept putting it off. It was really yummy! It has a spicy bite from the chili pepper they put in it, but it is definitely a fun treat!

My Mayan hot chocolate in front and Aaron's regular hot chocolate in the back.

Some more beach pictures!

Ok before you judge me for post two pictures of me in a bikini, let me make a point that I will not look like that forever... heck, I don't even look like that now... so forgive me for wanting public documentation of my hot husband and I!

The picture above is of our last night! It was so warm out that night and so we ate at a patio restaurant! I had... wait for it... a DELICIOUS pesto shrimp ravioli dish and Aaron had yummy grilled prawns... but seriously I have had dreams about that ravioli since then... I miss it.

And there you have it! Our time in Mexico. I applaud those of you who made it to the end of this post! It was a doozy... looking back I should have divided it into two posts... ah well. If you have made it to the end, feel free to leave a comment :)

Honeymoon

As much as I love planning my wedding, after the rush of the first few weeks - booking a venue, minister, photographer, getting a dress, organizing our wedding party, and spending hours and hours pouring over google docs (the best invention man has ever seen) filled with budgets, wedding timelines, check lists, and guest lists... I was kind of spent.
Now don't get me wrong, I still thought all about my wedding and added ideas to pinterest and dreamed of bridesmaids dresses, wedding shoes, paper straws, mason jars, and table linens, but Aaron and I quickly turned our attention to THE HONEYMOON!!!

Seriously, a wedding is one day and it will be captured by tons of pictures and talked about for years and hopefully one day my daughter will sit on the floor in front of my TV and ask to watch the video where I am a princess and marry her daddy, but don't underestimate the power of a well planned honeymoon!
The honeymoon is where my husband and I, for the first time EVER, will spend a full 24 hours entirely together - just the two of us!!  As someone who loves travel (I mean I became a Travel Agent for a reason), I am super excited about our first travel adventure!!

Aaron and I had a few parameters to follow for our honeymoon planning (in no particular order)

1. We did not want to go on our honeymoon right away...
We have heard many stories of couples sleeping through their first several days having full on exhaustion from the marathon of wedding events right before their trip away. We wanted to give ourselves time to relax and enjoy the vacation and feel like we were able to take full advantage of our trip! Because our wedding is the beginning of November and soon after that we will have Thanksgiving, my birthday, my dad's annual Christmas concert, we decided to make our honeymoon from December 8th - 15th... a full month after our wedding.

2. We did not want to be jet lagged...
 I love traveling to far off places and new cultures and discover new things, but for my honeymoon, there was one thing I didn't want to experience - jet lag. This goes along with not wanting to sleep through our honeymoon. The other thing is Aaron has never been out of the country where we needs a passport, so we decided to start with something doable for both of us. We decided on the Maya Riveria! We will be staying at a beautiful condo in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico!! The beaches are beautiful, the water is clear Caribbean blue, the food is yummy :) Aaron found an INSANE deal on Trip Advisor for flights and a condo penthouse on the beach... seriously it was a steal!

The Maya Riviera Coast

view from our balcony - yes, that is a hot tub and private loungers... and what you don't see if a grill too!

3. We wanted the perfect combo of relaxation and the must see sites and activities...
Aaron and I both enjoy the idea of sitting on the beach or on our private condo balcony overlooking the ocean for hours and hours on end. We would interrupt this relaxation for the occasional nap, movie watching, and maybe napping while watching a movie. However, I refuse to miss out of the once in a lifetime experiences that the Maya Riviera has to offer! Just two hours away is the world famous wonder of the world Chichen Itza! Just 1 hour down the coast is the city of Tulum and their ocean side Mayan ruins! Just a short drive away is a perfect spot to snorkel with sea turtles! Also across the water, just a short ferry ride away is Cozumel.

One of the 7 ancient wonders of the world - Chichen Itza

The ocean ruins of Tulum

The Playa Del Carmen sea turtles! They're RED!

We actually planned our trip to Chichen Itza just 10 days before the Mayans predicted the end of the world! We'll be in the center of all the action :)

4. We wanted to go to Disneyland!!!
Ok I know what you're thinking... there is no Disneyland in Playa Del Carmen... and you would be right, BUT we have a whole month before our big get away and in that time Aaron and I were keen to make it out to Disneyland!!! We planned it for the weekend after our wedding :) We will get married, go back to work the next week and then for the the Friday - Monday the next weekend, we will be in the happiest place on earth!!! I don't actually know which trip I am more excited about right now! Aaron and I both love Disneyland and are so excited to see the new Carsland, eat at the Blue Bayou for the first time, see the Christmas decorations that will be up at that time, and just be the two of us. Aaron particularly wants to go on the littler less popular rides we missed while we were there in February. We also are going to spring for annual passes so for our first year of marriage, we can take as many trips as we want!

Disneyland at Christmas is my favorite Disneyland

I even have my Bride Minnie ears ready! They were a gift from my sweet friend Katie!

So throughout all the stress, excitement, and overwhelming moments of wedding planning, I have two, count them TWO honeymoons to look forward to by the end of the year :)