Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Honeymoon - Riviera Maya

Hello! Sorry I haven't posted yet about our honeymoon. Just when I thought things would settle down for us after the wedding, they seem to have sped up instead! I am just getting around to posting pics for our honeymoon. I will post a couple here directly and then include a public link to my Facebook photo album too.

Bobby and I had a blast on the trip...the flights to Cancun were great, so we were definitely grateful for that! Our resort was 30 mins south of Cancun along the Mayan Riviera. We stayed at The Grand Mayan, a gift from my parents - thanks Dad and Mom! =) The pools were INCREDIBLE there...I can't say that enough. We spent the first day at the pool and met a couple from New York that were fun to hang out with and it was a great day at the pool. The next day, Bobby and I found our way down to Tulum (Mayan Ruins about an hour south of our resort) by taking a bus from Playa Del Carmen (about 15 minutes south of our resort). Luckily, my man speaks fluent Spanish, so it was an easy and cheap trip! Tulum is a great site in terms of Mayan Ruins because one side of them is the coast/beach/ocean. You will see that in some of the posted pictures....it just makes it gorgeous! Plus, since the site isn't enormous and they are fairly compact, it's a great spot just to spend 1-2 hours looking around. After Tulum, we took the bus back north into Playa. It started raining right when we got to Playa...so we actually were complete dorky tourists (laughing at ourselves the entire time) and bough rain ponchos and walked up and down 5th Avenue (the popular street in Playa with tons of shopping and eating) with them on. I think there is a picture of us with them on too in the bunch...we had to capture how dorky we looked! Luckily, the rain let up some and we could walk without them on...we found a great restaurant called La Parilla where we experienced some amazing food! The best tacos I have ever had there....and the guacamole was awesome too! Yes mom, I kind of like quacamole now, believe it or not! We just spent the day walking and looking around, buying the girls some souvenirs and then headed back to the resort.

The next day was going to be a pool day....except it was cloudy and rainy. =( So...we ordered room services, waited for the sun to shine, and read as we waited. If we kept waiting in the room for the sun to shine...or even a little blue sky to show, we would've been waiting until that Friday afternoon (it was Tuesday at this point). Yep...that's right, it rained about 70% of our trip...the first and last days were the only ones that were truly not raining and sunny. We got over it after the first day and decided we would just make the best of it and still go to the beach, pool, etc. like it was sunny. So we did...wasn't QUITE as enjoyable...but we really did have a great time regardless of the cloudy, rainy weather. I even had to wear a sweatshirt at the beach during the day when we were reading and spending time there...but it was still nice to have the ocean waves, wind, sand in your toes, etc. We were going to go to Xel-Ha mid-week (an eco-water park with snorkling, cliff diving, dolphins, swimming, etc.), but we just felt it would be a waste of money, so we nixed that from our "to do's." By Friday, it was rumored to get a little sunny, so we were set we were set to get out to the pool. It was nice to just (finally) have a day at the pool and just relax and enjoy a nice(r) day. It was still cloudy and really windy...but it was 100% improvement on our last 3-4 days, so we were loving it! It was our last full day there, so it was a perfect ending. We did get a little more sun the next morning, since our flight didn't leave until 4pm.
All in all, we had such an amazing time. We went to relax and do nothing and mission was accomplished! The resort, The Grand Mayan/Mayan Palace, was absolutely incredible. I have never been to a nicer place. Our room was amazing and HUGE. We had about 1400 sq. ft. of space! We felt almost guilty since we ended up not using one side of it altogether. But...oh well...it was our honeymoon! Oh...and another thing...we have never seen so many different creatures - birds, crocodiles, many, many iguanas - it was like we were at a zoo some of the time! Also, the restaurants at the resort were amazing as well...so many to choose from and just the best food all around - I will miss their steak tacos and real, fried chips and salsa! Bobby also had the most incredible prime rib ever too at one of their nicer restaurants. I can't say enough about the food there....it was wonderful.

I think that's about all to share for now. Bobby and I will be back in IL for this weekend...Bobby stays until Monday and then I am staying through until next Friday, Feb. 6th. Let me know if you have some time to catch up when I am back!





Just a small piece of the gorgeous pools at the resort

An everyday area that we walked by

Our room - living room

Our bedroom and yes, that's our own private pool out on our patio!


Our pool friends Lenny and Cheryl - they were a bunch of fun!



Bobby and I at a resort restaurant that had the best chips and salsa!


Tulum - Mayan Ruins


Tulum - Mayan Ruins - the perfect picture spot


Looks like a postcard, doesn't it?


At the top of the ruins


And the rain begins - the dorky poncho'd tourists on the streets of Playa del Carmen!

The best restaurant in Playa - La Parilla

This was a picture of Playa before we left for Tulum - hence, the sun!


Streets of Playa - at dusk

Yes, there was a fence he was behind! His mouth was open everyday though when we walked by the crocodiles!

The pier on the beach

A shot of the beach at the resort


One of the many pools at night...the pic doesn't do it justice!

One piece of the main pool - the biggest pool I have ever seen!

Click on the link for the full set of photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56939&l=34a6f&id=511058149

Friday, January 9, 2009

We are officially honeymooners!



Adios! Bobby and I are just hitting the hay before we wake up bright and early to fly to Cancun tomorrow (I think the alarm is set for 4:30am...yikes!). Just wanted to say goodbye...we'll have plenty of pics to share when we are back! In the meantime...here's the aerial picture of our resort, The Grand Mayan...and a shot of the pool. We can't wait! We'll be thinking of you all as we lounge on the beach and at our PRIVATE pool on our balcony...that's right...we have our own little pool! We're outta here! =)




Thursday, January 8, 2009

The Full Set of Wedding Pics Are Here!!!!

Bobby and I received our wedding pics yesterday....and we have been doing our best to sort through them and figure out which ones we like the best. There are so many! Three CD's full! So, we've done a little organizing and even did some Photoshop work on a few of them already. I have them all out on Facebook and realized that since it is soooo much quicker and easier to get them out there, I will just include a link to the pictures there. You can see these pictures even if you aren't a member of facebook, so everyone should be able to click the links below to view all the best pics we've chosen out so far. In total, I think I have around 90 pictures out there and had to split them between two photo albums, thus, the two links below to each album. Hope you enjoy!

***Once you click on the links below, there are several pages of pictures for each link - you will have to click on the '1', '2', or '3' links at the top (right above the pictures) to navigate to the next page of pictures. Also, you can click on each thumbnail/smaller picture and view it in a bigger format. Once you are viewing the pictures in the bigger format, you can just click on the "Next" at the top right of the picture to go through the entire album.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51488&l=23554&id=511058149

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=52901&l=ed76f&id=511058149

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Wedding Pics

I am attaching the pictures that I have so far starting a couple days before the wedding...they aren't the photographers pictures...those we should have in a day or two and hopefully I can post some before we leave for Mexico on Saturday. Out of a special request from my Dad...here's what I have so far! =)


My mom and me a couple days before the wedding...after we ate at Mimi's Cafe...very appropriate! =)
Bobby and me at the Rehearsal at Ashley Manor
One table at Abuelo's for the Rehearsal Dinner - mostly Bobby's family

The other table at the Rehearsal Dinner - Bobby's mom is next to him...the rest is my family, except the guy by me whose head is cut off (sorry Corey!). Andrea (good friend) is his girlfriend and is taking the picture.



Megan and I - before the ceremony

Kyndall and I - before the ceremony

Stiking a pose


Mom and me before the ceremony

Bobby's mom, me, and my mom before the ceremony

My mom and my Aunt Sandy - primping before the ceremony

My mom - a.k.a my Matron of Honor

Dad walking me down the aisle!

Dum dum dum dum....

You may kiss the bride!

Wiping off my lip gloss on Bobby from the kiss!

"Escaping" from Ashley Manor after the ceremony

The wedding-mobile decorated for us by neighbors and family

We didn't get too many honks (if any) on the way back from the ceremony...but we did the next day before we washed it off.

Post-ceremony pics...we will have many more of these to share once we get them from our photographer this week.

At OUR house later at night - Karaoke Begins!

Stefan and Keely singing their hearts out...awesome singers!

My cousin Allisa and my Aunt Sandy belting it out!

Our neighbor, Mike, and Bobby's brother, Ray singing a duet

Nephew Zach - son of Bobby's brother Kenny - he piled in with Bobby's sister Nora and family, even though the rest of the family couldn't make it...and we loved having him!

Andrea (friend from Illinois., worked with her at Cat) and me - NYE Party (she was the wonderful hairstylist for my wedding hair - loved it!)

Two cute couples - Bobby, me, Andrea and Corey (her boyfriend)

All the girls' cousins - Bobby and I's nieces and nephews - New Year's Day. We all went to the park near Bobby's bro's house and Bobby and I somehow got reeled into playing touch football with all the boys! Okay, okay...we really liked it...but we were SORE the next day!

New Year's Day at the Cheesecake Factory - the girls and Bobby and I ate with Dad, Mom, and Aunt Sandy before they left AZ the next day.

The New Marin Family! (doesn't Kyndall look like she's my little koala???) =)