Honeymoon #2 - Mexico

We had such an amazing time in Mexico! It really was the perfect honeymoon- beautiful beaches, wonderful resort, and plenty of time to relax and enjoy being newlyweds. We stayed in the Sandos Playacar Riviera resort, which is the new addition (just completed this spring) of a larger resort. It's an all-inclusive resort, which was so perfect for a honeymoon, because we didn't have to worrry about a thing the whole time we were there. The beaches in Playa del Carmen are AMAZING, and our resort was the last one down the beach in a whole row of resorts, so if we walked down the beach south from our resort it was totally isolated with nothing but the beach and the jungle. One day Steve and I walked pretty far away from the resort down the beach and it started pouring rain. We had left our towels and bags and everything back in front of the resort, and there were no buildings anywhere near us, so there was nothing we could do but just enjoy walking in the rain. The first two days we were there it was sunny in the mornings, but rained all afternoon. After those first couple of days though, we enjoyed nice weather for the rest of the trip. The ocean was too rough to do any snorkeling or anything like that, but we still played in the water some almost every day, and spent A LOT of time just hanging out on the beach (my now peeling sunburn is evidence of this). Steve taught me how to play chess on the giant poolside chess set, which was fun, even though I could never beat him. The resort also had shows at night, which were kind of entertaining, and a dance club. One crazy thing about being in the middle of the jungle were the strange animals we saw wandering around the resort grounds. There were lots of really big iguanas, but then some other animals that we had no idea what they were -- one looked like a gigantic rat with a long nose and short stumpy tail, and another looked sort of like a ring tailed lemur, with a super long tail that pointed straight up. It was a little spooky to be walking down to dinner at night and see one of these mystery creatures just a few yards away, but it added to the Mexican experience. Speaking of the Mexican experience, I was SOOOOO happy to have my spanish speaking husband there! I thought that the resort would probably be mainly English speaking since its catering to tourists, but that was not the case. Steve spoke in Spanish to everyone there, plus he was able to figure out things like bus schedules. The food was great; there were a bunch of buffets for all meals, plus four reservations-only restaurants for dinner. We tried out a different one every night- Brazilian, Asian, French, and Steakhouse. Our room was really nice- it was a large suite with a plasma TV and big jetted tub in the room, which was nice to relax in on the rainy days. On our last day there we went to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. They were really cool to see, totally unlike anything I'd ever seen before. They also made for great photo opportunities, so if you want to see more of our pics, click HERE. Then that night we went to Casino night at the club where we played blackjack and craps and won a hat and a fanny pack (such great prizes...lol). It really was one of my best vacations ever - everything I could imagine a honeymon being - and I am so appreciative of my wonderful husband for taking me on such a great trip!

Newlyweds

Since I haven't written anything for a while, I thought I should catch up on everything we've been up to for the past couple months before writing about our latest vacation. Being married is so much fun! Steve and I both keep saying that it's even better than we thought it would be. It's been really nice settling into our home together and adjusting to being roommates ;) We went on a Labor Day trip to Colorado to hang out with my family and celebrate my mom's birthday, which was very fun. The picture on the right is Steve and I in front of the John Elway statue at the Denver ESPN Zone where we went to watch the Utah game. We also visited the CU campus in Boulder since Steve is thinking about applying to law school there. I would love to live by my family for a few years, but it would be hard to move away from our home and Steve's family. There are so many things to consider, but I think wherever we end up it will be a fun adventure for us to share together and grow from. Steve has been very busy with school and studying for the LSAT. He takes it the first weekend in December, and even though I know he's nervous, he has been doing a lot of preparing so I know he'll do well. It hasn't been all work and studying though, we've been up to a lot of fun things as newlyweds also. We've gone on a couple of fun double dates, to Biaggi's with our friends Mark and Torrey, and to the Melting Pot with my cousin Vicki and her husband Mike ("Where's Ben Wade?"). Steve's birthday was especially fun! First we celebrated with the fam with a delicious dinner at the Evans house the Sunday before. Then on his birthday, I took the afternoon off work and we went to the Sanctuary Day Spa to use our gift certificate for a couple's massage that my boss gave us as a wedding gift. It was sooooo nice and relaxing! Any couples living around Salt Lake should definitely check it out for a special occasion, it is a really nice package- after the massages you get to relax in a big tub with refreshments....it was very fun. Then that night we went to dinner at Flemings, which is where this picture was taken. Neither of us had been there before, but we would highly recommend it now- delicious! Then we went home to open presents and other birthday surprises. I gave Steve half-season Jazz tickets, which is kind of a present to me too because we have so much fun at the games. We went to the first one last night (preseason) and are excited to be there the rest of the season.... Go Jazz!