
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Going Back to School
So this week has been pretty uneventful, other than the fact that both Bob and I have signed up for Spring semester at UVU. By signed up, I really mean that I was re-admitted and Bob turned in his transcripts and application. We still have to figure out financial aid and if that doesn't work, then we will be needing a way to pay for school. I declared a major too, Business Management. Unfortunately, that was before I looked at the class requirements which included my dreaded Math 1050. For those of you who don't already know, I hate math, more than I hate anything else in the entire world I hate math, and I'm bad at it too. Granted I have gotten 100% in all my math classes thru Math 1010, but then Math 1050 makes -10% sense to me. I tried once in highschool, failed out of the class. I tried again in college, and this time I mean I really tried. I did every assignment, plus the extra problems that weren't assigned, and double even sometimes triple checked the answers. I went to the Math Lab for free tutoring every day after class to rework the problems with a tutor to try and make it sink in better. Before the test I went and got an hour long private tutoring session to review every assignment I had done and the review in the back of the book. The day before the test I took the practise test from the back of the book. I turned my test in unsure of 1 or 2 questions but overall pretty sure I would at least get a B, and maybe have a chance at passing the entire class with at the very least a C. However when I got my test back, it was an F, I managed a grand total of 48% on the test. I dropped the class for Math 1040 which I managed to squeeze a C out of, thinking that was enough math for a degree. Apparently I was wrong. According to my research, the only degrees I can get without Math 1050 are: Communications (too many graduates, not enough jobs to go around, no other job wants those graduates), Art (not Art Education, just Art. Pretty useless), and Legal (Pre-Law, which means going to law school if I want it to be worth anything, and I don't want to be a lawyer). Bob and my dad both say I can pass the class, but I don't think they really understand the level of hate math has for me, and I for it. That was the first time that I truely poured everything I had into something and got nothing in return, worse than nothing! An F would pull down my GPA, and waste my tuition money not to mention the money I spent on the damn textbook. Now I'm right back where I started, spending a lot of money to go to school, with absolutely no career direction... Blah, hopefully Bob will do better than I did at getting a Major....Sorry about my math rant!
Monday, November 26, 2012
Our First Married Thanksgiving
This year was Bob and I's first Thanksgiving together as a married couple! Although, it wasn't our first Thanksgiving together... Just like we do every year, we spent the day trying to juggle family time with both sides of the family.
We started out the day at the Bell house to eat an early dinner with my parents, all of my sisters and my Uncle Leon who was in town visiting all the way from California. Dinner was delicious and my mom really out did herself this year with so much food that all 8 of us hardly put a dent into it! After an interesting talk with my uncle and some family bonding time, we were off for dessert at my sister-in-law Tessa's house. Although I was already stuffed from dinner at my parents, I still made room for some of Tessa's homemade spinach dip that I love so much, and of course some pumpkin pie.
Then it was off with my nieces Katie and Mimi in tow to meet all my sisters at Walmart for some black Friday shopping. Although we didn't get as many movies as we have gotten in the years past, we still didn't do half bad... I was able to get several movies that I wanted like Hunger Games, The Avengers, The Amazing Spiderman and many many more. We were also able to snag some good deals on a new TV, X Box with Kinect, a DVD player and some black boots that I really actually needed! Most of all it was fun to spend some bonding time with my new nieces! I have only been their aunt for a month and I already feel like they are growing up too quickly, Mimi was already talking about cute boys and wearing make up, and Katie is talking about High School next year and getting her learners permit!
I'm so thankful for my wonderful new husband, my amazing mom and dad, cute little sisters Rachel, Kelsey and Savannah, all my new in laws Marcie, Wayne, Tessa, Sam, Ryan, Lisa, Ana, Jonathon, Dani, Ricki, and Cassy and of course my adorable nieces and nephews who know how to put a smile on my face and I'm so lucky to watch grow up, Katie, Devani, Sammy, Robert, David, Mimi, Daniel, Jonathon, Russell, Corey, Lauren, Ryan and Braxton!
I'm also thankful for how lucky I am to live in a safe, warm house surrounded by loving people and of course our kitties Jasmin and Cleo, our bearded dragons and all our snakes to keep me from ever feeling lonely.
I'm also thankful for all the amazing friends I have who love me and support me no matter where I am in life, or how long we go without seeing each other. I truly feel like I have the best friends the world has to offer!
I'm thankful that I live in a country where I'm free to live the life I want for myself, and that I have the ability to continue my education in whatever field I choose.
I'm thankful that I have a job that I enjoy with people I like working with and that I make enough money to comfortable support myself without always wondering how I will make ends meet.
I'm thankful that I have my health and that my loved ones do as well. This year has really been a great year to show me just how much I really have to be grateful for!
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sorry
I just noticed that despite all my pictures being organized and looking neat and tidy when I wrote my last post, they published all over the place and in some unorganized mess. I apologize for my technical difficulties, and hope you still enjoy the pictures.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Our Honeymoon pictures!
Here are some of the pictures from our honeymoon (finally!). I did a short description of what we did each day followed by the pictures from that day. The captions should explain everything else, enjoy!
Day 1: After leaving our reception, my dad drove us to our honeymoon suite at the Airport Inn. We enjoyed a couple hours of shut eye before our 4 AM shuttle to the airport, but not nearly enough! I couldn't keep my eyes open on the plane even though I tried to stay up long enough to see the sun rise, but I couldn't do it. We had a 45 minute layover in Fort Worth/Dallas and then we were on our way to Cozumel! We landed around 1 PM, we had already arranged transportation so we were immediately picked up and dropped off at Melia Resort Cozumel. After checking in, unpacking and exploring a little while, we decided to take one of the sea kayaks out for a test run. We paddled along the shore line and over by the pier for an hour or so, and then decided that we were pretty tired even though it was only 4 PM, so we went back to our room to take a nap.
Day 2: To our surprise, our little nap lasted until 3AM! Needless to say when we woke up the resort was deserted with not a soul in sight! Regardless, we had just slept for 11 hours, so we weren't ready to go back to bed just yet. We decided to take a night stroll and explore the resort in the dark. We walked down to the beach and back. Unfortunately we weren't familiar with the resort yet, and we discovered "crab corner" in the dark all alone wearing nothing but flip flops on our feet! Crab corner is a dark, quiet corner that isn't used very often so it's a kind of safe haven for crabs...lots and lots of crabs!! After our adventure with crab corner, we decided we would be safer in our room, so we went back to our room to watch TV and sleep some more. The next morning we rose bright and early and hit the breakfast buffet (we ate breakfast on the beach every morning). We spent the rest of the day wading in the ocean, snorkeling by the pier, hunting seashells and playing by the pool while periodically going inside to eat or to apply more sunblock.
Day 3: Sunday was a lot like Saturday. I went to a one on one stretching/yoga class on the beach before breakfast, and then we spent the rest of the day swimming, snorkeling, eating, drinking and laying out in the sun. Bob and I played a little pool on the outdoor billiards table, and then started a game of ping pong before we got distracted and started chasing all the wild iguanas that were sunbathing on the grass. We also had time to socialize with most of the guests (there were probably only around 20 people in the resort, most of which were leaving the same day as us) There were 2 other honeymoon couples, Lauren and Austin, and Joy and Troy. Then there was another young couple Gus and Kristen. We also met an older couple from Idaho, Jack and Alice who were there with their brother Bruce, Ana and her husband (I don't remember his name) and an older couple from the NE somewhere named Robert and Virginia. We all become quick friends and would meet up each night for dinner and whatever event the resort was doing that night and then drinks in the bar while we recounted the days adventures!
Day 4: Monday we got up extra early and headed over to the pier to catch a ferry to Playa del Carmen. Once there we were picked up by a tour bus that took us to Tulum. Tulum is a city of Mayan ruins by the sea, it's not as big or as popular as Chitchen-itza, but I thought it was beautiful since the city is built right up the cliff's edge overlooking the sea. We explored for a little while but then the heat and the humidity started getting to us. We left the safe haven of Tulum, right outside the walls there are stores and stores trying to get you to buy their stuff. We bartered a present for my mom down to 10 dollars, and then paid the guy, he kept saying we owed him 5 more dollars for a "tip", we refused so he started calling us nasty names. Then we went to eat some tacos (they weren't very good), we gave the lady a $20 expecting $12 in change, she only gave us $8, when we asked her about it she said the peso exchange rate in her store was higher than it was across the street. Stupid street venders! After being ripped off and cursed at, we decided to wait in the tour bus. Our next stop was a little campsite in the middle of the rainforest. Here our guide took us to an underground river called a Cenote to snorkel. Before getting in the water the tour guide said he had to check the water for alligators, and proceeded to skim his flashlight over the top of the water as if looking for the reflexion of eyes, or bubbles. That combined with the darkness, and the tight quarters of being underground kinda freaked me out a little. Once we were in a more open area of the cave and I could see better I calmed down, but I was near a panic attack for a while there. The water was so cold, and getting out of the sun was nice though! After snorkeling we went to the zipline towers. There were 3 ziplines connected to each other. The first one was 50 ft high and 500 feet, the next one was 60 ft high and 700 feet, and the last one was 70 ft high and 1200 feet! After the zipline we went to the repelling tower and went repelling. After all the adventure and exploring we were starved so we made our way back to the mess hall for lunch. After lunch the tour bus took us back to the ferry. While we were waiting for the ferry we saw two men with monkeys. They told us we had to pay to take pictures with the monkeys, and we didn't have any more cash so we couldn't get pictures. They let us pet them though, I tickled the little spider monkey on the neck and it squeeled and chirped at me before grabbing my finger with it's tiny monkey hands and chewing on my fingers (gently). I now want a pet monkey LOL. Soon we were on our ferry back home to play some bingo, and dance at the disco!
Day 5: Tuesday morning I ditched my husband with a book by the pool to go scuba diving. (I'm certified, and he's not). I did two dives. The first one at 60 feet and the second one at 45. I saw every color and every pattern ever imaginable on the fish down there. There were angel fish the size of my head, and pufferfish with cute little polka dots, parrot fish with green, blue, purple, pink, and yellow all on one fish. There were king crabs, and lobsters about as long/wide as my forearm, and sea slugs hiding in conk shells in every color and size. The best thing I saw though was a large sea turtle! It was pretty far away and it was swimming away from us so I didn't get to watch it for long, but it was amazing to see one in real life, in the wild, with no glass or mesh between us! The scariest fish I saw was a 3 foot long barracuda. It came out of now where, and let me just say, that is the meanest looking fish I have EVER seen in pictures or in person. I think I almost would have preferred to see a shark (at least a little one, maybe not a man eating one...) After my morning of scuba I met back up with my husband and we went snorkeling again. While we were snorkeling, Bob pointed behind me and I turned around to see HUNDREDS of little fish following me, I was their leader, they followed me all over and when I stopped they did too. People in the resort would often feed the fish bread, so they weren't even scared of us! That evening while we were sitting poolside with some of our new friends, Joy came running up to the pool yelling about a crocadile in the water. We followed her down to the beach, and sure enough, only 15 maybe 20 feet away from us was a 5-6 foot long crocadile. He swam parrallel to the beach for sometime, popping up to eye us before retreating under water again. Bob and the boys thought it was fun to splash in the water and try to provoke it to come closer, not wanting to be eaten or see anyone eaten Joy and I made it our mission to warn the snorkellers down the beach a little ways to get out of the water. They were pretty grateful!
Day 6: Wednesday was definately my favorite day! We shared a cab with Lauren and Austin to Chakanooba Bay (or something like that) where we saw a sea lion show and wandered the gardens before swimming with the dolphins! We were in the water with America the dolphin for about an hour. We spent the time swimming with her, being pushed by her on a boogie board of holding her fins and being pulled, we pet her, danced with her and got dolphin kisses. I have wanted to do this for so long, it was literally like a dream come true! I was shaking with excitement! Even Bob (who didn't originally want to swim with dolphins at all, even for free) loved it! He had a grin plastered on his face and he couldn't get enough of the feel of her skin. After swimming with dolphins, we went to swim with the manatees. They weren't as energetic, instead one just rolled on his back and calmly laid there while we scratched his belly and the handler fed him lettuce. After the dolphins we hit the souvineer shop and headed back to our resort. While we weren't gone for long, it's still one of my favorite memmories of the whole trip! Later that night, Bob and some of our new resort friends convinced me to go for a night swim in the adult pool. When I jumped from the deck everything was calm but when I resurfaced I felt like I was in an entirely different place, one experiencing a hurricane! The wind was howling, and the rain was coming in sideways in huge sheets that felt like a million daggers, lightening was filling the sky and thunder 100X louder than anything I'd ever heard before! Bob and I grabbed our things from the lawn chair and began racing across the deck to our room. Already the ground was covered in enough water that it was up to our ankles and staircases were like waterfalls. Several crabs floated by clicking their pinchers in every direction trying to find something to hold onto. That was the first tropical storm I'd ever experienced and it really was nothing like any thunderstorm I've ever seen before. Lucky for me there would be one every night for the rest of our stay (the days were sunny and warm though!)
Day 7: Bob and I headed back to the ferry pier, but this time we got on a Catamoran for a sailing and snorkeling tour. When we boarded we were told that during tourist season, tours would be 100 to 150 people. However since it was off season, it was just us and one other couple (who had actually lived in Utah for several years and new our area pretty well!) The tour took us to 2 different reefs, one of which is Palancar reef, the second largest reef in the world! While snorkeling we saw thousand of fish in every color and pattern imaginable again, and 4 different sting rays. The first one was pretty small, and close and swam with us for a bit, the last one we saw was HUGE! It didn't even react to us swimming by it, it kind of had an attitude of "touch me and see what happens", Bob says we saw a nurse shark too, but I didn't see it. After snorkeling we went to Fury Beach (a private beach owned by the sailing company, so we had it all to ourselves!) They had water trampolines, and water slides, we played on paddle boards, but I never got my balance enough to try and stand. Then we were fed the best hamburgers outside of the states before boarding the catamoran again. On our way back to the pier, Bob and I noticed a lot of shiny things jumping from the sea and flying over the water a good 50 to 60 feet, but they looked like fish so we asked our captain. Sure enough, they are known as flying fish, the catamoran looks like a giant barracuda cutting through the water and spooks the fish so they "fly" as far as they can to avoid being eaten. We spent the rest of the ride watching the fish fly. That night the resort had a group of Mexican folk dancers come over and perform after dinner.
Day 8: Bob and I were both feeling a little sick to our stomachs, so we decided to take it easy. We painted a bowl together, and did some snorkeling, looked for more seashells, and walked the beach looking for more crocadiles, we played some more ping pong and pool and swam a little. That night Bob and I joined the other honeymooners on a trip downtown to an authentic little Mexican restraunt. The street view was a little bit alarming, but once we walked thru the gates everything changed. There were gardens with fountains, and big wrought iron doors leading into a restraunt with 20 foot ceilings and old timey lanterns hung like chandeliers. When we saw the prices were listed in US dollars instead of pesos, we all sighed a little in relief, knowing this restraunt was catered to us tourists (and too pricey for most of the locals would be my guess). The food was delicious, and very very filling and to cap off the night, everyone indulged in some "sexy coffee" where they lit alcohol on fire and poured it from cup to cup as you watch it all burn and carmelize before your eyes then they pour it in coffee and add ice cream. I couldn't drink it mind you, it was too strong, but it was so fun to watch the fire show! It was a great way to end our week!
Day 9: We packed up, said our goodbyes, and checked out of our resort after one last breakfast on the beach, and one last walk to the pier to feed the fish. The air was warm and the sun was shining, it was like Cozumel was begging us to stay, and while we loved every minute of our vacation, we knew it was time to head home to our family, our friends and of course our pets. We were able to hang out with Jack, Alice, Joy and Troy while at the airport, but then we all headed our seperate ways. Bob and I made it to Dallas/Fort Worth and flew thru customs which meant we had a long 4 hour wait to board our plane home. We called our family and let them know we were on our way before flying back to Salt Lake. It was so nice to cuddle our kitties and sleep in our own bed again. We will always remember the memmories created, the friends we made and the moments we shared together. I couldn't have imagined a more amazing way to start our lives together as husband and wife!
Day 1: After leaving our reception, my dad drove us to our honeymoon suite at the Airport Inn. We enjoyed a couple hours of shut eye before our 4 AM shuttle to the airport, but not nearly enough! I couldn't keep my eyes open on the plane even though I tried to stay up long enough to see the sun rise, but I couldn't do it. We had a 45 minute layover in Fort Worth/Dallas and then we were on our way to Cozumel! We landed around 1 PM, we had already arranged transportation so we were immediately picked up and dropped off at Melia Resort Cozumel. After checking in, unpacking and exploring a little while, we decided to take one of the sea kayaks out for a test run. We paddled along the shore line and over by the pier for an hour or so, and then decided that we were pretty tired even though it was only 4 PM, so we went back to our room to take a nap.
Getting on the 5th plane I've ever been on and only the 3rd that I'm going to land in (I jumped out of 2) |
On the plane to paradise right before our naps LOL |
Us cute little newlyweds heading for paradise |
Our plane that brought us to paradise |
Just off the plane in Cozumel |
The adults only pool with a swim up bar (there were only 2 kids in the whole resort anyway, but they had to use the other pool..) |
I'm standing on the pool deck at our resort and that's how close we are to the beach! |
This is the 2nd pool (this one allowed kids) |
This is the view from our balcony. We didn't even pay for ocean view but we could see it just fine! |
Our favorite dinner spot |
The adult pool with the ocean as a background |
This is the outside of our building. We were on the top floor (away from most of the bugs, crabs and other critters!) |
One of the restaurants at our resort. It wasn't open while we were there though, since it was off season and there were maybe 20 people in the whole resort and 2 other restaurants to choose from. |
Our bed in our cute little suite |
Our honeymoon suite |
Some of the garden area at our resort |
More of our honeymoon suite |
Day 2: To our surprise, our little nap lasted until 3AM! Needless to say when we woke up the resort was deserted with not a soul in sight! Regardless, we had just slept for 11 hours, so we weren't ready to go back to bed just yet. We decided to take a night stroll and explore the resort in the dark. We walked down to the beach and back. Unfortunately we weren't familiar with the resort yet, and we discovered "crab corner" in the dark all alone wearing nothing but flip flops on our feet! Crab corner is a dark, quiet corner that isn't used very often so it's a kind of safe haven for crabs...lots and lots of crabs!! After our adventure with crab corner, we decided we would be safer in our room, so we went back to our room to watch TV and sleep some more. The next morning we rose bright and early and hit the breakfast buffet (we ate breakfast on the beach every morning). We spent the rest of the day wading in the ocean, snorkeling by the pier, hunting seashells and playing by the pool while periodically going inside to eat or to apply more sunblock.
The beach at night. This was before I discovered just how many crabs and other critters were at our resort. Good thing nothing got us while we weren't looking. We watched our step after this. |
A little blurry, but this is our beach at night |
The moon shining thru the palm trees |
Dawn breaking with a view of the ocean thru the palm trees |
My attempt at capturing a sunrise, unfortunately I'm on the wrong side of the island for that |
Our little lizard friend! |
A little hermit crab on the pool deck |
Sneaky crab hiding in a drain waiting to pinch your feet as you walk over him |
Another crab hiding in the corner, these buggers were EVERYWHERE! I'm not going to lie, they freaked me out |
One of the pretty flowers at our resort |
Ready for some swimming |
Day 3: Sunday was a lot like Saturday. I went to a one on one stretching/yoga class on the beach before breakfast, and then we spent the rest of the day swimming, snorkeling, eating, drinking and laying out in the sun. Bob and I played a little pool on the outdoor billiards table, and then started a game of ping pong before we got distracted and started chasing all the wild iguanas that were sunbathing on the grass. We also had time to socialize with most of the guests (there were probably only around 20 people in the resort, most of which were leaving the same day as us) There were 2 other honeymoon couples, Lauren and Austin, and Joy and Troy. Then there was another young couple Gus and Kristen. We also met an older couple from Idaho, Jack and Alice who were there with their brother Bruce, Ana and her husband (I don't remember his name) and an older couple from the NE somewhere named Robert and Virginia. We all become quick friends and would meet up each night for dinner and whatever event the resort was doing that night and then drinks in the bar while we recounted the days adventures!
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Just chillin' at our resort |
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A good ol' fashioned sunset walk on the beach Just watch out for Crocs! |
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Being a girl is hard! Good thing I have this strong hubby to carry me! |
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Laying on the softest sand in the world |
Just me and my instructor getting ready for some yoga and stretching |
My private yoga/stretching class on the beach |
One of several iguanas that we found roaming our resort. Definately not the biggest one we saw! |
My baby palm tree |
Another iguana |
Another iguana |
Enjoying my Pina Colada after another day of fun in the sun! |
I ate more steak in Mexico than Mexican food |
Bob and his drink. |
Some of the other people at the resort with us. Lauren, Austin, Gus and Kristen |
Day 4: Monday we got up extra early and headed over to the pier to catch a ferry to Playa del Carmen. Once there we were picked up by a tour bus that took us to Tulum. Tulum is a city of Mayan ruins by the sea, it's not as big or as popular as Chitchen-itza, but I thought it was beautiful since the city is built right up the cliff's edge overlooking the sea. We explored for a little while but then the heat and the humidity started getting to us. We left the safe haven of Tulum, right outside the walls there are stores and stores trying to get you to buy their stuff. We bartered a present for my mom down to 10 dollars, and then paid the guy, he kept saying we owed him 5 more dollars for a "tip", we refused so he started calling us nasty names. Then we went to eat some tacos (they weren't very good), we gave the lady a $20 expecting $12 in change, she only gave us $8, when we asked her about it she said the peso exchange rate in her store was higher than it was across the street. Stupid street venders! After being ripped off and cursed at, we decided to wait in the tour bus. Our next stop was a little campsite in the middle of the rainforest. Here our guide took us to an underground river called a Cenote to snorkel. Before getting in the water the tour guide said he had to check the water for alligators, and proceeded to skim his flashlight over the top of the water as if looking for the reflexion of eyes, or bubbles. That combined with the darkness, and the tight quarters of being underground kinda freaked me out a little. Once we were in a more open area of the cave and I could see better I calmed down, but I was near a panic attack for a while there. The water was so cold, and getting out of the sun was nice though! After snorkeling we went to the zipline towers. There were 3 ziplines connected to each other. The first one was 50 ft high and 500 feet, the next one was 60 ft high and 700 feet, and the last one was 70 ft high and 1200 feet! After the zipline we went to the repelling tower and went repelling. After all the adventure and exploring we were starved so we made our way back to the mess hall for lunch. After lunch the tour bus took us back to the ferry. While we were waiting for the ferry we saw two men with monkeys. They told us we had to pay to take pictures with the monkeys, and we didn't have any more cash so we couldn't get pictures. They let us pet them though, I tickled the little spider monkey on the neck and it squeeled and chirped at me before grabbing my finger with it's tiny monkey hands and chewing on my fingers (gently). I now want a pet monkey LOL. Soon we were on our ferry back home to play some bingo, and dance at the disco!
Our ferry tickets to Playa del Carmen |
On the bus to Tulum (Mayan ruins) |
I have a big strong hubby to protect me from sharks! |
I saw more fake sharks in Mexico than real ones, not that I'm complaining! |
Some weird creature that was like a mix of raccoon, anteater and monkey that was begging for food at Tulum |
The entrance to Tulum, it was only wide enough for one person at a time. |
Tulum's walls were built pretty thick too. They weren't very tall though, I could have climbed right over the wall in some parts.. |
Another half fallen Mayan ruin |
One of the more demolished Mayan ruins, back before the government made an effort to protect Tulum as a national treasure, tourists would actually take peices of the buildings as souvineers. |
All that was left of this house was the foundations markers |
Tulum Mayan ruins |
Bob acting surprised at how clear and blue the water is at Tulum |
Tulum temple overlooking the beach and the beautiful crystal clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico |
One of the palm trees growing sideways over the beach in Tulum |
Tulum |
The entrance to Tulum's Cenote, It's all dried up now though |
Bob posing by the Tulum temple |
Me posing by the Tulum temple |
The two of us on the otherside of the Tulum temple |
Tulum Temple |
Doing my best Vanna White impression |
Believe it or not, that was a house, now it's no more than a pile of rocks |
More of the houses and buildings |
This used to be some Mayan's house granted- a wealthy Mayan |
Tulum's beach. We didn't go in, but we admired the clear turquise blue waters from the dock |
Bob thought the Mayans were super 'gangsta' |
At Tulum, you can see the ruins and the ocean in this pic! |
Leave it to me to jump into a postcard perfect picture, and make it just scrapbook worthy LOL |
Some crazy weird tree trunk in Tulum |
Awe! Perfection! |
Enjoying the view, but not the heat |
Pretty red leaves on a plant in Tulum |
Some weird lizard we found at Tulum. He was sharing our shade |
Some crazy leaves on a plant in Tulum |
Bob getting excited to leave the heat for AC |
Posing with the Mayans |
Posing with the Mayans |
Posing with the Mayans |
Cool painted sinks in the bathrooms |
Our little pathway to the cenote |
There is a hole leading to the cenote in there somewhere, but you can't see it from this angle |
Aha! There's the entrance! |
The entrance to the underground river we snorkeled in. |
More from inside the cenote |
My flash completely washes out all the color, but there are some amazing shades of reds, oranges and greens down here |
This is blurrier since there isn't a flash, but it's a better example of the colors in the Cenote. The reflection is from the top of the water which we snorkelled in |
Bob getting ready to climb the first zip line tower |
Decked out in my zipline gear ready to zip thru the rain forest! |
This was the "small" tower that we went on first |
Decked out in my zipline and reppelling gear! |
Me on the zipline |
Bob ready for his turn! |
Bob was daring enough to take pictures while ziplining! I wasn't sure I could hold my camera without dropping it... |
Nice view of the top of the rainforest |
Bob taking in the sites from the zipline |
Bob on the zipline |
Me coming in for landing after the 3rd and biggest zipline |
Me coming into the end of the zipline |
Me being unfastened from the zipline |
Reppelling from the tower |
That is the top of the reppelling tower It was pretty high! |
Bob enjoying his lunch after a long eventful day! |
Some of the graffiti in Playa del Carmen |
Back at the ferry, trying to get our tickets back to Cozumel |
On our way back to the ferry! |
Our ferry to Cozumel |
This is the "mexican" way of "shooting tequila" haha JK but it's still pretty awesome, right? |
The little tiny white line sitting on top of the ocean is actually what you can see from Playa del Carmen of the Cozumel skyline |
Bob ready to go back to our resort with a nice cool pool, and our room with AC |
Bob and I on the ferry back to our resort |
Mexican flag hanging off the back of our ferry to Cozumel |
One of my bingo cards. I was always winning and would get every number until the very last number I needed, then I wouldn't get it. |
Bingo Night at the resort! |
Day 5: Tuesday morning I ditched my husband with a book by the pool to go scuba diving. (I'm certified, and he's not). I did two dives. The first one at 60 feet and the second one at 45. I saw every color and every pattern ever imaginable on the fish down there. There were angel fish the size of my head, and pufferfish with cute little polka dots, parrot fish with green, blue, purple, pink, and yellow all on one fish. There were king crabs, and lobsters about as long/wide as my forearm, and sea slugs hiding in conk shells in every color and size. The best thing I saw though was a large sea turtle! It was pretty far away and it was swimming away from us so I didn't get to watch it for long, but it was amazing to see one in real life, in the wild, with no glass or mesh between us! The scariest fish I saw was a 3 foot long barracuda. It came out of now where, and let me just say, that is the meanest looking fish I have EVER seen in pictures or in person. I think I almost would have preferred to see a shark (at least a little one, maybe not a man eating one...) After my morning of scuba I met back up with my husband and we went snorkeling again. While we were snorkeling, Bob pointed behind me and I turned around to see HUNDREDS of little fish following me, I was their leader, they followed me all over and when I stopped they did too. People in the resort would often feed the fish bread, so they weren't even scared of us! That evening while we were sitting poolside with some of our new friends, Joy came running up to the pool yelling about a crocadile in the water. We followed her down to the beach, and sure enough, only 15 maybe 20 feet away from us was a 5-6 foot long crocadile. He swam parrallel to the beach for sometime, popping up to eye us before retreating under water again. Bob and the boys thought it was fun to splash in the water and try to provoke it to come closer, not wanting to be eaten or see anyone eaten Joy and I made it our mission to warn the snorkellers down the beach a little ways to get out of the water. They were pretty grateful!
Cool castle by the marina where I was getting ready to go scuba diving! |
The marina |
The marina lighthouse |
My little scuba boat |
On the boat about to go scuba diving |
One of the cruise ships in Cozumel that day |
Weird crab that looks like a spider |
Day 6: Wednesday was definately my favorite day! We shared a cab with Lauren and Austin to Chakanooba Bay (or something like that) where we saw a sea lion show and wandered the gardens before swimming with the dolphins! We were in the water with America the dolphin for about an hour. We spent the time swimming with her, being pushed by her on a boogie board of holding her fins and being pulled, we pet her, danced with her and got dolphin kisses. I have wanted to do this for so long, it was literally like a dream come true! I was shaking with excitement! Even Bob (who didn't originally want to swim with dolphins at all, even for free) loved it! He had a grin plastered on his face and he couldn't get enough of the feel of her skin. After swimming with dolphins, we went to swim with the manatees. They weren't as energetic, instead one just rolled on his back and calmly laid there while we scratched his belly and the handler fed him lettuce. After the dolphins we hit the souvineer shop and headed back to our resort. While we weren't gone for long, it's still one of my favorite memmories of the whole trip! Later that night, Bob and some of our new resort friends convinced me to go for a night swim in the adult pool. When I jumped from the deck everything was calm but when I resurfaced I felt like I was in an entirely different place, one experiencing a hurricane! The wind was howling, and the rain was coming in sideways in huge sheets that felt like a million daggers, lightening was filling the sky and thunder 100X louder than anything I'd ever heard before! Bob and I grabbed our things from the lawn chair and began racing across the deck to our room. Already the ground was covered in enough water that it was up to our ankles and staircases were like waterfalls. Several crabs floated by clicking their pinchers in every direction trying to find something to hold onto. That was the first tropical storm I'd ever experienced and it really was nothing like any thunderstorm I've ever seen before. Lucky for me there would be one every night for the rest of our stay (the days were sunny and warm though!)
Bob and I waiting for the sea lion show to start |
Our friends and fellow honeymooners Lauren and Austin |
One of the sea lions |
Watching the sea lion show |
More sea lion tricks |
The sea lion dancing |
At the sea lion show. It was hard to enjoy the moment knowing that I would soon be in the water with dolphins fulfilling one of my life long dreams! |
One of the sea lions getting ready to do one of his tricks |
Shy sea lion |
Sea lion singing |
Our friends meeting the sea lion |
Bob and I meeting the sea lion |
More jumping dolphin picures |
Jumping dolphins |
I finally caught the dolphin all the way out of the water! |
Bob holding America the dolphin. It was amazing! He didn't want to swim with dolphins at all, but I finally convinced him and he had a blast! Said it was worth every penny! |
Me holding America the dolphin |
Bob riding on the dolphins belly |
Doing my belly ride with America the dolphin |
The dolphin is pushing me by my feet on a boogie board. She was really fast! |
Bob about to be pushed by America on a boogie board. This picture always makes me want to yell "look out!" cause the dolphin looks like a shark! |
Bob being pushed on a boogie board by America the dolphin |
Spending some quality one on one time with a dolphin. No biggie! LOL |
Holding hands/flippers with America |
Dancing with America |
Awe! She loves me! |
A little girl on girl action |
She loves Bob too! |
She was so sweet, I wanted to take her with us I guess we need a HUGE indoor saltwater fish tank? |
Day 7: Bob and I headed back to the ferry pier, but this time we got on a Catamoran for a sailing and snorkeling tour. When we boarded we were told that during tourist season, tours would be 100 to 150 people. However since it was off season, it was just us and one other couple (who had actually lived in Utah for several years and new our area pretty well!) The tour took us to 2 different reefs, one of which is Palancar reef, the second largest reef in the world! While snorkeling we saw thousand of fish in every color and pattern imaginable again, and 4 different sting rays. The first one was pretty small, and close and swam with us for a bit, the last one we saw was HUGE! It didn't even react to us swimming by it, it kind of had an attitude of "touch me and see what happens", Bob says we saw a nurse shark too, but I didn't see it. After snorkeling we went to Fury Beach (a private beach owned by the sailing company, so we had it all to ourselves!) They had water trampolines, and water slides, we played on paddle boards, but I never got my balance enough to try and stand. Then we were fed the best hamburgers outside of the states before boarding the catamoran again. On our way back to the pier, Bob and I noticed a lot of shiny things jumping from the sea and flying over the water a good 50 to 60 feet, but they looked like fish so we asked our captain. Sure enough, they are known as flying fish, the catamoran looks like a giant barracuda cutting through the water and spooks the fish so they "fly" as far as they can to avoid being eaten. We spent the rest of the ride watching the fish fly. That night the resort had a group of Mexican folk dancers come over and perform after dinner.
One of the little ally ways in Cozumel full of shops close to the pier |
Our Catamoran |
This pose seemed only fitting, believe it or not, I think I would have been better off with just goggles, the mouth piece always leaked nasty salt water into my mouth |
Decked out in snorkeling gear |
The biggest cruise ship I've ever seen! |
More water toys |
Some of the water toys we had all to ourselves |
I conquered the paddle board! |
This is as high as I dared get on the paddle board, I was even losing my balance in this pic a little bit |
Paddle boarding |
I climbed to the top in record time! It's all those arm muscles from trapeze still working! |
Getting down was almost harder than getting up, now it was all wet and slippery |
I made it! |
Some of the cool parrot paintings on the tables, walls and everywhere else they could paint! |
More parrot paintings by the bar |
Another parrot painting |
The private restraunt and bar on the beach |
Our private beach |
Our catamoran waiting for us while we play on our private beach! |
Watching the 'flying' fish |
Native Mexican folk dancing performance |
Mexican folk dancing |
Mexican folk dancers doing some sort of tap dance with tequila bottles on their head |
Day 8: Bob and I were both feeling a little sick to our stomachs, so we decided to take it easy. We painted a bowl together, and did some snorkeling, looked for more seashells, and walked the beach looking for more crocadiles, we played some more ping pong and pool and swam a little. That night Bob and I joined the other honeymooners on a trip downtown to an authentic little Mexican restraunt. The street view was a little bit alarming, but once we walked thru the gates everything changed. There were gardens with fountains, and big wrought iron doors leading into a restraunt with 20 foot ceilings and old timey lanterns hung like chandeliers. When we saw the prices were listed in US dollars instead of pesos, we all sighed a little in relief, knowing this restraunt was catered to us tourists (and too pricey for most of the locals would be my guess). The food was delicious, and very very filling and to cap off the night, everyone indulged in some "sexy coffee" where they lit alcohol on fire and poured it from cup to cup as you watch it all burn and carmelize before your eyes then they pour it in coffee and add ice cream. I couldn't drink it mind you, it was too strong, but it was so fun to watch the fire show! It was a great way to end our week!
A cruise ship coming in to port at Cozumel |
The fish we fed each morning |
More of our fishy friends |
A baby fish I found in one of the tide pools, about the size of my thumbnail |
Me enjoying a relaxing day walking the beach, feeding fishies, searching for shells and swimming |
Our baby fishies, there are at least 2 can you find them? |
Waves crashing into the tide pools filled with baby fish |
The tide pools |
More waves crashing into the tide pools |
Bob searching for sea shells |
My sexy hubby searching for sea shells for the nieces |
Pretty palm tree growing sideways |
Pretty pink flowers we found by our room |
This palm tree had the most coconuts of all the palm trees I saw in Cozumel |
These flowers would open during the day, and close each night |
Lets play can you find the lizards there are at least 2 in this picture |
Another find the lizard game, they are all over but they blend in so well you never really know how many are there |
Another lizard, watching us collect sea shells |
Bob painting our bowl |
Our teeny tiny frog buddy! He was super cute but we were scared to touch him since we didn't know what kind of frog he was, or if he was poisenous... |
Joy and Troy painting |
Lauren and Alice painting |
Our own band playing for us at our farewell dinner |
Joy and Troy at the farewell dinner |
Bob and I at the farewell dinner |
Lauren and Austin at the farewell dinner |
Our server making us "sexy coffee" basically a 20 minute long fire show, they even turned all the lights in the whole restraunt way down, so everyone could see |
More sexy coffee pics |
More sexy coffee pics |
More sexy coffee pics |
Parrot that we kept talking to after dinner |
Day 9: We packed up, said our goodbyes, and checked out of our resort after one last breakfast on the beach, and one last walk to the pier to feed the fish. The air was warm and the sun was shining, it was like Cozumel was begging us to stay, and while we loved every minute of our vacation, we knew it was time to head home to our family, our friends and of course our pets. We were able to hang out with Jack, Alice, Joy and Troy while at the airport, but then we all headed our seperate ways. Bob and I made it to Dallas/Fort Worth and flew thru customs which meant we had a long 4 hour wait to board our plane home. We called our family and let them know we were on our way before flying back to Salt Lake. It was so nice to cuddle our kitties and sleep in our own bed again. We will always remember the memmories created, the friends we made and the moments we shared together. I couldn't have imagined a more amazing way to start our lives together as husband and wife!
Airplanes by the airport |
I took this pic in the cab on the way to the airport |
Cozumel airport |
All of their signs show people running there's never anything saying to walk either |
Bob with Jack and Alice |
Me with Jack and Alice |
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