Honeymoon Part 2

Honeymoon Part 2

 

 

I spent most of the last post on just 1 day of our honeymoon, because as you saw it was a FILLED day. That was Wednesday. Thursday was a MUCH more laid back day. I had made a reservation at the spa and got a deep tissue massage along with a reflexology massage. Which if you don’t know anything about massages, it concentrates on your feet. There are tons of pressure points and nerve endings in your feet that correlate with other parts of your body. It was my first ever reflexology massage and it was HEAVENLY. After a 50 minute deep tissue I was already almost sleeping, but within seconds of her doing the reflexology, I was OUT. Twenty-five minutes later she was waking me quietly, “Miss Megan, time to get up.” I was so relaxed I didn’t even want to move. But I got dressed and headed out to find Ben who had come to get me. I wasn’t all that keen about walking around the resort alone. (Its Mexico, you never know). Once we were back in the room, I quickly laid down and continued my nap…… for three hours. Yeah, I slept the whole afternoon away. While Ben was down in the pool getting drunk. Lol

But I was so relaxed and happy, that was the point, right? It was vacation after all. Besides, I made up for it on Friday.

Friday we went to Xcaret an ecological park in Mexico. It was kind of like an extreme zoo…. Maxed out to the extreme! They had animals and exhibits, aquariums and river snorkeling.

And they had DOLPHINS!

And you could SWIM WITH THEM!

She was really playful and 9 months pregnant! You couldn’t even tell! They’re pregnancy last 12 months!

She swam in circle around the group of us at 25 miles an hour! It was really cool!

 

This was definitely one of the coolest experiences of my life! I had always wanted to be a marine biologist as kid, and having done this, it really makes me think about changing my major!

After swimming with the dolphins alone, Ben and I went on a Snorkel Tour in the ocean thru the Xcaret Park. It was an interesting expeirance, but neither one of us really enjoyed it. We had gone on a different, much smaller, tour a few days before and were a little let down by the Xcaret experience. I’ll do Part 3 of the blog on snorkeling, when I get my under water pictures developed.

After snorkeling I had the insane chance to swim with SHARKS!

 

They were nurse sharks and one of the “friendliest sharks” there are. Yeah, I wasn’t buying that either.

I was actually really scared!

Then the trainer picked up this 7ft shark and put it in my LAP!

Yeah, its resting in my LAP!!

And guess what male sharks have?!

 
 2 PENIS’S!!! LOL You see them??

1’s to hold open the females “opening” and the other is to penetrate! You can imagine the jokes Ben made about that 1!

This was another action packed day that almost had us missing our bus! After we were done petting the sharks Ben and I had to RUN across the park to get to the parking lot in time for our 4:30 pick up. If we had missed it, we were stuck until 10pm. Which I was informed, “was not happening.” So we ran, made it, and sat on the bus for an hour dripping wet in air conditioning back to the hotel.

There was so much going on at the park, I could see why they had 2 day passes for sale. We missed the chance to snorkel in the underground river, but it was still an amazing day. I’d love to be able to go back some day!

 

Honeymoon Part 1

Honeymoon

 

 

Alright, I should probably start with the Wedding Post, but I had so much fun on my honeymoon, I wanted to get this out before I did the Wedding. Our honeymoon was beyond magical, and I’m not just saying that to be cliché. For our first time ever leaving the country, it really was an amazing experience. We (I) had specific ideas for what I wanted to do on my honeymoon. They included hiking in a rainforest/jungle/forest and being able to lay on the beach on the same day.  Not exactly two things that really go together. We were also very strict about our need for the resort to be “All Inclusive”. Trying to make all of that happened, I soon found out, was a lot harder than I thought it would be.

I was at a complete loss in the initial stages of planning our honeymoon. Luckily I knew of a travel agent and soon enlisted her help! After we explained to her what we were looking for in our honeymoon, she quickly recommended Riveria Maya Mexico; a coastal strip of land, just south of Cancun Mexico. It had everything I was looking for. Day hikes into the Mexican Jungle or crazy adventurous Zip-lining tours. Plus it had the best deals for all inclusive resorts.

We stayed here: Now Jade Riveria Cancun

 

We were there for 6 nights and 7 days. We spent the majority of our time here in the pools, or on the beach just behind it:

We didn’t spend the ENTIRE time in the pool, it was our honeymoon after all. (Get your minds out of the gutter) We wanted to experience the adventure that Mexico had to offer. So we booked ourselves 2 excursions ahead of time. They were both all day events and we were glad after they were done, that we had only booked the two.

Wednesday was our 1^st excursion and oh man was it an adventure! Zip-lining! Swimming in underground river systems! Off road vehicles! Paddle rafting thru an underground river! It was an amazing and breath taking day.

Xplor Park in Mexico really is an humbling experience.

 It was REALLY HIGH! I was scared at 1^st! But then toward the end (3 hours and 14 lines later) I was having a blast!

The water landings and the end of the 2 circuits were AMAZING. Great way to cool off after being in the sun all morning.

Ben even eventually came around:

Zip-lining was not Ben’s idea of fun by any means. In fact, he really hated it and has a HUGE fear of heights. He only did because I absolutely begged and pleaded and groveled for months on end to… get my way. Lol. I had to put in a lot of hard work to get him to do it! But he did and I had an experience of a lifetime.

After Zip-lining we headed underground and back into the water to help calm Ben’s nerves and to cool off.

That Mexican humidity is no joke!

I love this shot because you can see in his face he’s telling me, “You don’t know.” Something he tells me too often. J

Have you ever swam in a cooler place than this?

After swimming we decided to head back into the daylight for some lunch (it was included in the park admission) and then onto the “Amphibious Vehicles” as they called them. It was like  a Gator or a all terrain golf cart. Lol

They were kind of cool actually. The roads went a 3 mile trek thru the jungle, over bridges like this into the underground river and thru the caves.

After the vehicles we decided to head back underground and into the river again for some paddle rafts.

This was our least favorite part of the day (Even for Ben) because for as cool as this SHOULD have been, the employees didn’t have a very good handle on this. They were cramming people into the river, without seeing how many came back out. There were WAY too many people who didn’t know what they were doing on a kayak essentially. It was more than frustrating the amount of “pile ups” and collisions there were because people didn’t know what they were doing. So instead of taking the long circuit like we’d been doing on everything else, and doing both circuits, we cut this one short and bee lined for the exit. It was horrible and left us both kind of cranky.

So we headed to the last thing of the day that we hadn’t done! More Zip-Lining! In Hammocks!

 

 

The day was definitely more adventurous than either one of us could have imagined, but it was so totally worth it! We had a blast!

That’s it for this entry. Lots of pictures. Will do Excursion Day 2 next! Stay tunned! A special Thanks to Xplor for having the bright idea of putting computer chips in their helmets that triggered cameras thru-out the park!

Wedding Hair

So I recently hit a true actual bridezilla moment, something that now that the dust has settled, I can laugh about, but in the heat of the moment was not funny in the slightest. 

For over six months now my grandmother has been telling me her hair stylist, Tom would come to my house the day of the Wedding and do my hair and my three bridesmaid’s hair. Grandma even said she would pay for all the girls to get their hair done that day! Wonderful! My grandma is simply a saint on most days. Thank you for the wonderful gift!

So all this time I’ve been under the impression that everything was all set and taken care of for that day; that all I would need to do is make an appointment with Tom closer to the Wedding to do some trial hair styles so see what works best with my hair.

Oh was I ever so wrong.

After calling his salon twice and leaving two messages on Tuesday (two weeks ago), I still did not hear anything back. Odd, I thought, but not under heard of. So I called a third time. FINALLY, on Thursday I got a hold of someone that WASN’T Tom, and had to make an appointment for the following Thursday after work. Fine. Okay. Still got a month until the Wedding. No big deal.

Oh Big Deal.

When I finally got to the shop, a whole 30 minutes down the highway from work, Tom stands up as soon as I walk in. We introduce ourselves and he asks, “When’s the Wedding?” Odd, I think again, but answer. “August 24^th.” He then proceeds to check his calendar and tell me he is booked and cannot do my hair that day.

This is where I start to tear up and getting overly confused. I told him what Grandma had said, that he was coming to the house that day and doing four girls hair. That’s when he shook his head and said no. He informed me that he and grandma had “Talked about it” but he had never officially told her “YES” and that Saturdays are impossible for him to leave the shop.

Hmm… that’s funny, because I checked their website before I drove WAY OUT OF MY WAY, and it said the shop was closed Saturday and Sundays. Interesting. 

So now I’m trying my damnedest not to snap at this old man. Or worse! CRY! Yes he was in his sixties. And in my rage, that made him an old ass geyser who I did NOT want to even talk to.

But I stayed polite because after all, he is ‘friend’ of my grandmother and both of my grandma’s taught me better than that. So I said something about, “maybe grandma was confused,” and left; after being there five minutes, I was gone! And so were my emotions!

I swear this Wedding is going to make me start smoking again.

Once I was on the highway, I texted my Aunt (shhhh), to see if she could talk, since she was on vacation. She quickly called me back and I laid it all out. And guess what!! She was just as confused as I was. She had heard grandma every time we talked about Tom, say everything was taken care of and to make an appointment for a trial. So no, I wasn’t just imagining it.

After I cooled down, I hung up with her and made it home safely. I then called in my reinforcements. I called the BFF who started calling everyone she knew that might do hair. I called my other grandma to see if she knew anyone. And at a last resort, I emailed my make-up artist who is coming to the house for the Wedding to see if she knew of anyone.

I really wanted someone to come to the house vs. every one go to the salon. I figured it would be much more laid back with my girls, hanging at home, drinking mimosa’s and hanging out while we got pampered. But to be safe, I drove into town and booked all four of us girls appointments at the hair salon for that day. 

Thankfully they had them. I figured it would be safer than nothing, and I could cancel later if I found someone to come to the house.

And thank you Lauren! LG Makeup Design really has great customer service. I truly recommend them! Lauren quickly email the three girls she worked with in the past to see if anyone was available A MONTH from now. Many tense and stressful hours went by before Lauren got back to me before bed time. 

And low and behold! One of her friend’s was available for that day! I spoke with Chiara today and everything is ALL SET! She is booked to come to my house at 7 am that morning to start doing all us girl’s hair. I even booked my trial with her for two weeks from now (earliest she could get me in).

So after all is said and done, I can breathe easily. Unfortunately the ole saying is true: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Which I probably should have done in the beginning, being the control freak that I am.

I’m over that hurdle now. And we’ve got 28 Days Until The Wedding.

I’m shaking in my boots man. ;)

Wedding/Bridal Shower

I should probably start off by saying that I’m very behind in Wedding Blogging. I had every intention to blog about every step along the way from the flowers to the menu to ups and downs along the way. My own stress and busy schedule didn’t seem to want to follow along though. So here I am. Two months and 1 day till the Big Day. 

Wow.

Today I’m feeling better about it. Yesterday? Oh man. Yesterday morning and all last week I was a boiling pot of stress and nerves simmering under the surface, just waiting to boil over. Any question regarding the Wedding or Shower got your head cut off quicker than a guillotine. “I don’t know” and “I’ll figure it out later” were my standard go to. 

Saturday started off bright and early. Months ago I made an appointment with a local make-up artist to do my trial run for the Wedding on the day of my Shower. It really was a great idea. I got to see how well and long the make-up lasted ALL day with all the pictures and hugging and kisses. I even got my Princess on with fake eye lashes on the top lids. 

The make-up was beautiful and the girl who did it was amazing; even if she did show up at my house at 7:00, for a 7:30 appointment. Yes, she was early. I hadn’t even had my coffee yet when I saw a car pull in the driveway. I was in the middle of trying to clean up my kitchen from its usual Friday night shit storm. (I live with 3 grown men and do the dishes every night. Friday’s I let sit till chores on Sat morning). So I was slightly embarrassed that my kitchen wasn’t clean when she showed up and that I didn’t even have time to put on a bra! 

She was so down to earth and very easy to talk to that I soon forgot (sort of) of the mess and my lack of bra. (Cause I probably won’t have on for the Wedding day morning). 

After she left around 8:30, I still had five hundred million things to do before I left for the shower at 11:15. My make up was done, but my house was still a wreck and I had the Aunts coming over after the shower to help me address the Wedding Invitations. So I cleaned the kitchen and both bathrooms completely. Yes, I was scrubbing toilets on the day of the Shower. Ben was sleeping soundly while Dad and lil bro were gone at work. I left Ben to sleep, knowing it was his only day this weekend. He had to work Sunday. 

After cleaning up (didn’t vacuum) the best I could without sweating my ass and make-up off, I had to deal with technology malfunctions. I was trying to print a list of guests for my BFF and Maid of Honor, to make things easy for her to write who brought what gift. This is where my frustration and stress really start to elevate. 

My printer has been out of ink for two weeks (yes, I should have got on that). I had ordered refurbished ink the week before, but had to send it back because it didn’t fit my machine. (I should have gone to the store after that). So I tried to use Dad’s computer… and wow. The technology Gods were not on my side. His brand new computer and printer are not user friendly. After calling Dad to get in password to get into the computer, I had a couple issues before I could even pull up my excel spreadsheet. 

Finally I get everything set the way I want it and hit print… only to be told that his printer cannot be found even though I’m looking at it TWO feet away. It’s going on 10:00 at this point and I’m beyond frustrated. I finally say “fuck it” and leave it alone. I need to do my hair before we leave in an hour. 

My hair was relatively easy. I showered the night before and put it up in a tight braid while it was wet. So that morning all I had to do was let it out, throw in 2lbs of mouse and pull some of it back out of my face with fancy twists and bobby pins. Put on a VERY cute white dress and I looked every inch like a bride to be. 

I had a few minutes to cool off under my fan and then it was out the door with the BFF to the shower… or to where I THOUGHT the shower was being held… yeah..

And there’s where my stress level tipped and toppled over. We went to the wrong hotel. 

At this point I’ve stopped caring about much of anything but my stress level and how freaking nervous I was. I started smoking. Yes smoking. The BFF still smoke cigarettes, though I quit four years ago. At that point in time, I didn’t care. I needed something to take the edge off both my nerves and screaming starving stomach. It did help both of those.

Soon we made it to the correct hotel and arrived 15 minutes late. I had every intention of being there 15 minutes early to greet people as they came in. So I could talk to people and slowly get acclimated with everyone’s attention on me for the next three hours. But that didn’t happen and as soon I walked into this gorgeous atrium full of plants and people I was accosted by friends and family and I turned around and walked out.

Yes. I had to leave. I was still so jittery from the car ride and getting lost that I need alcohol ASAP. My girlfriends/bridesmaids were amazing though. They went to the bar and got me a Vodka Lemonade while I stood outside the room talking to the Aunt who has helped me plan everything. Between her and my two girls and the alcohol, I finally calmed down enough to head back in and start greeting my guests. 

Soon we were sitting down to salad and lunch. My two girls and my and cousin surrounding me while everyone else were at other tables were helped me relax and start to have a good time. 

Before I knew it, it was time for presents. My girls got me another drink before this and soon I was the center of attention again. Half way thru presents Ben showed up to loud cheers and clapping. With him by my side for the second half, I was golden. 

Before I knew it, I was saying ‘good bye’ to everyone and my girls were loading up Ben’s pick-up truck with my haul. 

Now that’s it’s all over and done with, I’m calmer. My BFF and cousin have decided that I need a Xanax for the Wedding Day. At this point, I’m whole heartedly agreeing. I’ve got 2 months to try and relax before I’m at the Stress Tower again.

Warrior Dash

Warrior Dash

Audrey, Mary, Me After the Race

Last Saturday I participated in my first ever 5k of any kind. It just so happened to be a grueling, tougher than hell 5k that is Warrior Dash. Now I didn’t go into this event lightly. A year ago a friend of mine had been talking about doing Warrior for months. She was trying to talk anyone and everyone around her into doing this insanity with her. At first she had informed me that this event would take place in Indiana, a grand total of 5hrs away from our home just outside Chicago. 

I told her HELL NO. LOL I wasn’t going to drive 5 hours just to kill myself I told her. That was September.

By October Audrey and I had started walking 3 miles 3 days a week to slowly work ourselves into working out again. She was convinced she’d be able to get me to go to Indiana for this race, while I was just happy to be off the couch and moving again. 

In November I was talking to some of my Twitter friends, I found out another friend was also going to participate, but she was going to the Illinois location. o_O I didn’t even know there was one in IL, none the less 30 minutes from my house! So I debated in telling Audrey or not, because once she found out, I knew it would be over from there. LOL

Long story short, I confessed the info and we signed up for June. 

Through the looonnnggg coooolllddd (it was actually pretty mild for Chicago) winter we continued our walks until we started “running” toward the end of February. I’ve never been a runner in my life so there was lots of fighting and whining on my part. But Audrey kept my ass moving and told me to quit my bitching. Which is exactly what I had needed! 

After a long spring of hard training and endless workouts… June came. And with it, The Warrior Dash.

Was I ready? I didn’t think so. Was I scared? Fucking terrified!

But Audrey kept me positive and kept me moving. And then race day came.

After a very confusing morning of finding the location, having to go find an ATM for parking money ($20 for parking on farm?!!?) and then finally parking and getting our packet, I was already stressed out.

The race was to start in 5 minutes and I had to pee! So Audrey and I were running toward the “potties” when all of a sudden I hear someone yelling my name! 

I turn and almost run right into Mary! My friend from Twitter! There was quick hug and hello and then I ran toward the bathroom! Yeah, I was awkward, as usual. LOL (I’m bad at meeting new people!)

And then it was race time. 

Warrior is described as 3.19 Hellish Miles on their website. Yeah. And they were right. From the get go, the terrain was tough and hard going. Knee high grass that had yet to be packed down, uneven footing and hundreds of people running around you. 

I took it slow, kept my breathing even, and concentrated on my footing and stride. The last thing I wanted was to fall and twist my ankle or something. I’m a concrete runner; there wasn’t much practice in a field.

After the first mile I was breathing pretty hard, but we had reached the first obstacle. So I able to catch my breath and concentrate on not falling off the tight rope as that hung over this gully. After not falling and reaching the other side, it was back to running again.

The race went on this way going through all 14 obstacles. I finished just over an hour later, dead on my feet, soaking wet, and had mud in places I never want mud in again! But I had a blast!! So much fun!

After the race I met up with Mary again and we took pictures and quickly posted them on Twitter to show the girls! Audrey and I headed out to get water and change our clothes. 

You ever try changing wet undies in the backseat of Ford Taurus with people walking by both sides of the car? You can imagine my struggle after the grueling race! 

Once changed we headed back into the festival to search for more water and shade. Once securely under a shady tent with water in hand, I called Mary and told her our location. 

This is where the day went from FUCKING AWESOME to horrible in a blink of an eye. Mary showed up with the Suspects and everyone was joking and laughing and having a great time. Meanwhile, this headache slowly creeps in behind my right eye. 

I think nothing of it. Keep chatting with Mary and friends while drinking water and eating granola to ward off dehydration. Audrey’s mom get’s me a couple aspirin while her dad keeps buying us water.  I try not to think of my headache as it quickly turns into a full blown migraine.

And then it happened. Migraine was in full force. The nausea set in and I was done for. I apologized to Mary for not being too talkative, and tried to just concentrate on my breathing to help the nausea pass. 

It didn’t work. A quick look to Audrey and I was running for the forest some 100 feet behind where we were sitting. After losing granola, a nutrigrain bar, and 3 bottles of water, I was a hot shaking mess. Medical had found us (Audrey followed) near the woods and though I denied their many attempts, finally brought me over to the medical tent via a golf cart thingy. 

Yeah, I was kinda embarrassed. But honestly felt better after losing everything in my stomach. Medical set me up on a bench in front of a fan that was blowing cold mist at me. That helped me cool down QUICK. After a few minutes I was shivering wanting back into the heat. 

Audrey grabbed more water for me and we headed back toward the group under the shade tent. I felt better and wanted to hang out with Mary for a little while longer, and was under STRICT orders from Audrey that I was not allowed to go home until I peed. Classic dehydration sign. Not peeing. 

So we hung out for an hour or so? I don’t even remember too much of it anymore, before I apologized to Mary and told her I had to take off. It was just too damn hot out there! 

Overall the RACE was the coolest frickin thing I’ve done in a long time! Dehydration and the migraine that came with it were my downfall though. Would I do Warrior Dash next year? HELL FUCKING YES! And I got to meet a Tweep!!

I’d just do a couple things different next time! Like Hydrate the second I wake up and not drink coffee no matter how much I “think” I need it! And make sure to really read the website for parking fee’s and carry cash!!

Great time! Can’t wait for next year!!