Honeymoon Jamaican Style, Mon!

Joe and I just got back from our honeymoon! We stayed at the Sandals all-inclusive resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica for 7 nights of pure bliss. This was our first big trip together and a perfect chance to relax after a stressful last couple of months.

We landed in Montego Bay and took a 1.5 hour bus ride to Ocho Rios. We were exhausted from our 36 hour day and were very relieved when we made it safely. Neither of us had stayed at a resort before so we were kind of confused about what to do. We quickly became acclimated and absolutely enjoyed the “order whatever you want off the menu and don’t pay or tip” mentality. They had such good food, good service and good drinks!

We spent most of our days exploring the rather large resort. It was split into two sides—the Manor and Riviera. You had to take a shuttle to get from one side of the resort to the other, but it actually was nice to have so much property to explore. We stayed on the Manor side or the side not closest to the beach. We had a honeymoon villa with a private pool and really enjoyed all the lush greenery and interesting plants. We saw maybe one or two other couples in the area where the villas were, so it was very peaceful and quiet. On the Manor side, there were huge pools, delicious restaurants and grills, multiple bars and outdoor activities. On the Riviera side, there was obviously the beach with all the water sports, more restaurants, grills and bars.

Friends who had gone to Jamaica before us had advised to stay at the resort for safety reasons. The people in the cities who run shops and stores are ruthless and would do anything to get you to buy something. We were super protected at our resort, but at times it kind of felt like prison. Hah. Of course, we were free to leave, but even the staff highly discouraged it. We took one excursion to Dunns River Falls, a 1,000 foot waterfall that you literally climb. This was Joe’s favorite part of the trip and one hell of an experience. When we were leaving the falls, 30 or so shops were set up with very desperate and pushy Jamaicans demanding we buy. It was kind of scary! We took our friends’ advice and just pushed through the crowd to get to our bus. We had five minutes of that and were sick of off-resort life and Jamaicans.

My favorite activity was the romantic couple’s massage on a private dock, side by side, complete with champagne. It was so relaxing and the best massages we’ve ever had, though I think the atmosphere added to that.

This was our first of many honeymoons, as Joe said. But it’s good to be home.

Now, back to reality. :)




We could have stayed there all day!



Romantic dinner on the beach... The waves were about 5 feet from the edge of our table.



Honeymooners



We did all the watersports: kayaking, sailing and water trikes!

To view all of our honeymoon pictures, go to:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036137&l=df291&id=73000021
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036138&l=b30a2&id=73000021

Our Winter Wonderland Wedding

Phew! What a whirlwind of winter wonderland, friends and family. Our wedding was last night, and we sure had a marvelous time. The festivities started days before, and we felt so blessed to be surrounded by our closest families and friends.

It was forecasted to be about 50 degrees and sunny on the day of our wedding. I was a little bummed because our entire wedding’s theme was Winter Wonderland. When Joe and I decided to get married in Colorado in January, I figured we might as well go all out, so bring on the snowflakes, ice blue and silver! Though we wanted the outside scenery to match the inside, we wanted people to actually attend our wedding and do so safely. When I woke up yesterday, flurries had started to come down. I was starting to get excited!!

By the time our photographer arrived to the bridal suite, the snow was really coming down. Unfortunately, we had to postpone and eventually cancel most of the outdoor wedding pictures because it literally started to blizzard. We moved the posed pictures to inside the chapel and tried to do them all before the wedding started. We even postponed the start of the ceremony to allow our guests some extra time to get there.

During the ceremony alone, it snowed five inches!! I peeked outside just before my dad walked me down the aisle and it was a complete whiteout. It really was a winter wonderland!

Unfortunately, due to the snow, we had some people who couldn’t come at all and some who left pretty early. My Great Aunt Myrna actually fell on the ice coming into the reception hall, and it’s looking like her wrist is probably broken. Despite the hiccups, it was a beautiful night.

Everyone was in awe that I actually got my winter wonderland, afterall! And you know, today is about 55 degrees and sunny. It only snowed over USAFA, too. It’s funny how help from above can do amazing things!

Now, married and so in love, Joe and I are heading out for Ocho Rios, Jamaica for our honeymoon!! We’re staying at a Sandals resort and are SO excited to get some quality time together in paradise.

I’ll post more pictures later, but these are a few that some of my wonderful bridesmaids and friends took.