Oh Mexico! Part 2

Come Monday (so Day 3) it was nice that Sam and I had no major plans for the day.We filled our day with some more time on the beach, a nice sit down lunch with just the two of us, and an adventure off the resort to a get Sam some new sunglasses. Sam has no luck when it comes to vacations and his sunglasses; but more about that later.

 

For some odd reason, Sam and I had a room in a completely different building than everyone else. Everyone else had an ocean view room which gave them a sunrise view, while we had a view over the lagoon which gave us a sunset view. Personally, I think I would take a sunset view compared to a sunrise, because that means I don't have to either stay up all night or get up really early- neither of those two things are for me.

 

Throughout the week our hotel's lobby became a stage/ theater for these different performances they put on.

 

The shows are kind of like Cirque Du Soleil meets the history of Mexico.

After the show, we were off to a "Brazilian style" restaurant which is pretty much a meat buffet that comes to you. MMM...meat...

 

By the end of dinner everyone was a little "meat" drunk which lead to us to calling it a early night. Plus, I wanted to be well rested because we were going off the resort the next morning to go on a catamaran cruise.

The catamaran was at an extra cost. However, it was nice to get off the resort for one day. Additionally, this catamaran trip was an all day (7 hour) event which included:

Snorkeling. However, the water was really rough so it wasn't as much fun as it could have been. But the important thing is that everyone survived.

A trip to an island (I have no clue which one) for some shopping. We didn't buy any souvenirs but that is very typical of me.

There was some on board entertainment!

Many free drinks! See picture below- enough said!



A trip to a private island for lunch. The food was ok, nothing special but I'm not complaining being that it was included.

And there was "parasailing". It looked a little sketchy, so I was kind of surprised how many people did it including Sam- who by the way doesn't like heights. Go figure.

 

 
While I keep my butt on the boat, I became the designated sunglasses holder. So I had mine on my face, Casey's on my head, and Sam's hanging off my top...

Needless to say, this is probably the last picture of Sam's sunglasses before they met the bottom of the ocean. Opps- my bad... they slipped right off my top and right into the water. It was one of those slow motion moments because Sam had just brought them less than 24 hours before they met their vacation demise.

After the we got off the boat, we headed back to the resort. We were only 1000 yards from my bed that was calling my name-  when for some reason we made a pit stop at a little dive restaurant/ bar that was across the street from our resort. Why? Because Joel said so, and that he was paying... Ok, why not?!? This ended up being a poor choice. Whatever- we eat, we drank, we made it back to the resort, but by the time we were suppose to meet everyone else for dinner... I cashed in my "fun chips" and took a much needed nap through dinner.

Even though I missed dinner, I'm proud to say I "napped and rallied" so I could "rage" with Casey, and get our dance on. Too bad it we were the only ones dancing, but we made the most out it. I mean it's Tuesday night... so it's best night to "rage" right ?!? 

Oh Mexico! Part 1

If I was to sum up our trip with one picture, it would be this one...

 

There were many (many) tasty drinks to be had which is the biggest perk of going to an "all inclusive". However, by the time we got home I decided it would be a good idea to give up booze for lent (we will just ignore the fact this didn't go into effect until Friday) because even looking at a bottle of booze pretty much made my stomach turn. I would say that means our trip was a success!

(From our balcony right after we checked in!)

On the first night we arrived, we started a great tradition of the whole group meeting up for dinner. This allowed for everyone to do what they wanted during the day but it brought everyone back together at night.

 

And being that this was the first night everyone was there (Saturday), we were going to do it up right.

 

We did some roaming of the resort and end up at a "chill bar" listening to some live music.

 

 

The next morning (ok, maybe it was more like early afternoon- like I said we were doing it up right) we made it down to beach to work on our "Mexican glow".

 

Once I was officially cooked, it was time to cool off with frosty blended drink. Miami Vice's are just so tasty. 

After some R&R back at the room, we were ready to head out for our first "formal" dinner.

Being that we were such a large group, we only got a limited menu to pick from, but the food didn't disappoint and our server Miguel made us a special flaming dessert.

After dinner we where off to continue the fun which included some shots, salsa dancing, and it ended with EJ and I getting a whole bucket of water dumped on us... a server was trying to fill a machine, he slipped off the ladder he was standing on and the bucket of water he was holding came down on us. At least it was just water and no one was hurt- I call that a win!

 

Oh- lets not forget about our 10 person selfie from that night! Great work Casey! It was a great start to an awesome trip. 

Back to the Real World!

Now that I have been home for a few days, it's been harder to get back into the swing of things then I thought. Partly because I came home with a bit of a cold, and partly because we hadn't eaten health or excised at all for the last week. However, I was happy to see that the scale hadn't changed too much from before I left.

I'll take that compared to the 5 pound gain from last year. But let me tell you, I will have to work my way back up to the type workouts I was doing before vacation. Just after 30 minutes on the elliptical on Monday and I was done for.

Today we where lucky enough to get for another big dumping of snow... ugh. But I should complain too much being that I had a delayed start to work. However, I plan on warming myself up with a full recap of our trip to Mexico!

The trip was a great time with some old and new friends! I only wish I could be soaking up more of that Mexican sun right now... stupid snow- how I hate you so!  Oh I miss Mexico!

The Day I Found Out I was Pregnant

This post was written on the day I found out I was pregnant and how that day unfolded. Enjoy!

Written on March 9th:

Now I'm not super "regular" so I wasn't too concerned that I was just two days late. However, over the last few months, it has been coming early so for it to be late was a little odd. With that being the case, last night before I went to bed I figured I would read the directions on the pregnancy test to see when I should test. It said it best to take the test in the morning for the best results so I just headed to bed, but I still wasn't very concerned.

While sleeping, I had a dream that I took the pregnancy test and it came out positive. It was just so vivid it was scary. The remember looking at the little blue plus sign and even though it wasn't very dark, it was there. Now this is about where in the dream I got woken up by the husbands snoring. It was about 4:00am so I tried to go back to sleep, but it took a bit of time to shake the dream before I dozed back off.

I woke up around 9:00am (I hate daylight savings time) and knew Sam would be sleeping for a while longer. So the first thing I did was get up and take that test... I was just so much like the dream. I put down the test and tried to wait out the two minutes, and slowly a second light blue line showed up.

If I said I was surprised, that would be a lie because I pretty sure my dream told me what was up many hours before. My biggest concern was how to tell Sam. I love my husband but he's a huge gossip, and we were planning on having dinner at his parent's for his brother Joe's birthday so I figure it would be best if I told him after dinner.

 

("Kids" picture for Joe's Birthday- I'm the only one who know at this point!)

Also, I want to make sure I told him in the best way I could think of...

Back in May, Sam told me when we were getting Ashley's cookie cake after she gave birth (just in case you don't remember)-

 

he said that he would like to find out that I'm pregnant via cookie cake.  Only my husband would think getting this wife pregnant means he deserves a cookie for it! (Just kidding- kind of.)

I knew I was in no state to be creative so I googled "How to tell your husband your pregnant?" and I found this funny saying online. "Congrats, your swimmers won the race! Prize to be claimed in 9 months."

On a side note- when I went to the store to get the cookie cake, I wrote down the quote and handed to the lady in the bakery. At first she just looked at me very confused and walked away with the cookie. However, when she came back she said "I get it now! That's really a cute idea!". So I guess the very first person to know other than me was the lady at Jewel's bakery department.

Anyway- when it was finally time to have the big reveal, I called Sam into the kitchen with the cookie on the counter and the test in hand.  His face was priceless and his reaction was- "Really?!? That's awesome!". Then the very next next question out of his mouth, "So when should we tell people?". Oh do I know my man or what?!?

The Difference One Year Can Make

I'm so excited for our vacation that is coming up in two weeks! I'm so ready that I'm even starting to get my stuff around that will need to be packed. One of these items is my digital camera. I don't know about you, but any time I pull my camera out I can't help but go through all my old photos. 

 

It is photos like these that make me so ready to leave the cold and snow behind for some fun in the sun with these lovely people.

 

 

(Minus Mike but plus EJ)

However, over this last year I've been on a mission to become more comfortable in my own skin. In addition to the fun pictures of our friends on vacation, I came across this photo which was actually taken one year ago today...

 

I think it is a little funny that I happen to go to the gym today and took another picture of the scale...

 

When I originally stepped on the scale this morning, the thought that ran through my head was "I really feel like I'm going to have a fat day" (those days that the scale is just higher for no real reason). I was surprised by the number I was looking at because this is the lowest weight I've seen the scale in probably about a decade, so I needed to take a picture. I was happy to see that 154.6, but I've been pretty hard on myself lately because I really wanted to see under 150 by the time I go on vacation in two weeks. I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen because over these last few months, it's getting harder and harder for that scale to keep going down because I'm gaining more muscle and have less fat to lose.

However, I think I was meant to see that 192.1 picture today. I was meant to see it because I really have come a pretty long way in just one year (a total on 37.5 pounds). I need to be nicer to myself and realize that I have done something I really didn't think was possible just one year ago. With some hard work and dedication anything is possible; you just have to be willing to really try and put your mind to it.  

 

So in two weeks I'm going to hit the beach, show off all my hard work, and just enjoy this time in our lives. Also, I plan on getting a new picture on the beach with me in my new bikini! I worked hard for it so may as well show off a bit.

Why I hate January! And why I'm happy to see it go!

So being that I haven't blogged pretty much this whole month, I'm here to let you know- I'm alive, and I'm so happy January is almost over (with only a few hours left to go)!

January is normally my 2nd least favorite month (August is my 1st), being that it's the start of the Spring semester at school which means it's pretty stressful at work, and because the weather is crappy in January. However, this January may have taken over the #1 spot this year. Here is why this January has just SUCKED...

1. The weather has been really crappy this January. We've had a ton of snow with wind chills in the -20 to -40. Its been way too cold and I'm not a happy camper about it. Here is a picture of my view from my office yesterday-

Gross- Right? I would say so.

2. It's the start of a new semester, so that means my wok phone and email is being blown up by students who have waited to the last minute to get admitted to school and/or get registered for classes.

3. Being that weather has been so crappy- we had 4 days of school/ work cancelled this month,which would normally be pretty awesome; however, it just added additional stress on to work because there were less days to deal with student issues before the semester started.

4. It's after the holidays, so there isn't anything is fun or exciting going. I really do like being social, but January is a hard month to make plans with people because of the weather, and because everyone is a little light on money being after the holidays.

5. And most importantly- this January has come with many loses of love ones. I know many of my friends have had family members pass away this month. That is always hard on your soul when people leave your life. This month alone I have went to 2 wakes and 1 funeral. Now, I'm lucky because most of these were for people I wasn't personally very close to, but it's still hard to see your friends and family going through these loses.

So now you understand why I've been MIA this month. With all these things stacking on top of each other, I'm ready for a fresh start of a new month. Even though they are calling for more snow tomorrow (5 to 9 inches), at least I have no plans and I can just stay home and cuddle on the couch with the hubby and kitty; which sounds like a great way to start off the new month to me!

Have a great weekend everyone! Keep safe and stay warm!

Furry Friends Friday

I have been reading other blogs for a long time, and I love when people have a "theme" on different days of the week, so I thought I would start my own- Furry Friends Friday. I mean who doesn't love a cute fluffy ball of fur to start your weekend off right.

This week (of course) I'm using my fur baby to express my current feelings.

(Mom- Why are you taking a picture of me?)

 

Yeah, that's right- I'm feeling fat (got to love all the holiday food), lazy (because it's 10 degrees outside and all I want to do is be on that couch with my blanket), and not really assumed (because I had to go back to work).  I'm hoping that I can fully recharge over the weekend and be ready for the craziness that January come Monday.

 

Have a great weekend (and keep warm- for those of us in the Chicago & Michigan)!