Cancun!!!

As I've said before, we had an awesome week in Cancun. It is so beautiful down there and since it was the week before Christmas, it wasn't crowded which is always nice. We spent most of our days on the beach enjoying the warm sun, drank lots of fruity drinks, ate lots of good food, and did some souvenir shopping where Jared proved to have some amazing bargaining skills courtesy of his 2 year mission in Venezuela. The big highlight of our trip was our visit to the Mayan ruins at Chichen-Itza. Me being the history nut that I am, I have been dreaming of visiting this place for years. It was about a 2 hour bus ride from our hotel which wasn't too bad.

And now for the massive amount of pictures:view from our hotel room balcony.

first day on the beach. Thanks again from the swimsuit Kelli, i loved it! :)

Chichen-Itza Pyramid. Because it's one of the new seven wonders of the world, they didn't let us climb it...we were kind of bummed about that.

our hotel lobby.

one of our dinner nights.

The restaurant was called Sea & Stones. They would heat up these stones and then you would cook your food on it. It was kinda cool. Those bibs were annoying though.

our balcony.

Jared with our hotel in the background.

We stayed at the Westin Resort & Spa. However, since Westin has built a new hotel called the LagunaMar, they sent us there for a day to check it out and to try to get us to buy a timeshare. We passed on the timeshare, (at least for now ;P) but enjoyed a great day at their pool which was by far the awesomest i've ever seen.

Jared trying on random stuff while we were doing some shopping. :D

We went on a walk and found these rocks and tide pools where you can look for shells.

Oh how we love the beach.

Anyways, we had a wonderful trip and hope it isn't too long before we can go back. As for now, we are enjoying being home and getting back into the Christmas season. It's kind of hard to remember it's Christmas when you're in a tropical place. :)

Home Sweet Home

We are back! We had an amazing trip, but i'll admit, we were glad to come home. Seriously, no matter how beautiful the destination, there is something awesome about being back in the states. Anyways, we're exhausted so i will be posting pictures later, as well as catching up on all your blogs. Stay tuned. :)

We're here!

We made it to Cancun and are loving it! We are so grateful to be here especially considering that temperatures in Chicago today were to supposed to be in single digits with sub-zero wind chill temps. We are excited for the week ahead. Pictures will be forthcoming once we get home. :) Viva Mexico!!!

It begins.....

It wasn't a lot. In fact, I'm sure a lot of us in the windy city would call this a "dusting" when you compare the usual snow we get around here. But it was there this morning when we woke up, it was sticking, and there was enough on the road to annoy me and cause my car to slide around....and according to the forecast, there is plenty more where that came from. Yes, the winter season is officially here in Chicago. Oh how we've missed you...????

3 MORE DAYS TILL CANCUN!!!

5 down, infinity to go...

Happy Anniversary to us!!!!! That's my favorite ornament, it was a gift from Jared's mom for our first Christmas. We had a great day. I'll admit, when we chose our wedding date it was out of pure convenience. Originally we were going to do a December wedding. However, when we realized how difficult it would be to try to do a reception in California and Chicago all within a couple of weeks, we figured why not get married around Thanksgiving time to ease with scheduling. Looking back, I am so glad we got married when we did. Having an anniversary so close to Thanksgiving has always given me something extra special to be thankful for; and that is to share in the blessing of an eternal marriage with the greatest guy I have ever known. He is my best friend and my everything.
Today, as is custom in our home the day after Thanksgiving, we put up our Christmas decorations while watching Elf. We got about halfway done, but it still looks great and has already started making a difference in the spirit of our home. Here's a picture of our tree...it's mostly done, but i am still looking for some more ornaments before I'm completely satisfied. We went with a red, black, and silver color scheme...our wedding colors. ;)After we finished decorating for the day, we got ready for a new tradition that we are starting. We decided that every year, we are going to do everything that we can to get to the Temple on our anniversary. And so, off we went and we had a great time. I can't think of a better place to be than in the Lord's house where our eternal family began. Afterwards, we had a great dinner at Wildfire and then came home. It was a great day!We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the start of the Christmas season. This weekend I will be working on our Christmas cards, so stay tuned to your mailboxes for those. Merry Christmas!!!

I will never live this down

I know this is a long post, but if you want a good laugh it's worth it.

So I had a migraine at church yesterday....a really really bad one. It hit me at the end of sacrament when i noticed i couldn't see straight....never a good sign. Anyways, it was my turn in the library so we headed over there after the meeting and i told Jared he would need to cover for me while i sat in the back and covered my eyes. Once the rush was over, i left the door open (in case anyone needed to use the library) and we just headed home since i knew i didn't have much time before the huge amount of pain set in; plus i knew the next ward's librarian would be able to close stuff up. Anyways, I decided to send a quick text to my library partner to give her a heads up that i had gone home in case anyone asked her where i was so that she could just tell them the doors were open. She didn't respond right away which was fine, so i got home, and immediately lay down. The pain was horrible by this point...probably the worst i have had in a long time. Anyways, about an hour later, my friend texted me back apologizing she hadn't responded right away and what have you. This was when i texted back with this:

Thanks Erin. I havent
hadnt not have not have
one this not have one this
bad this one in a lots in a
long bad, if youre they
figured they figured
something something out.

Ok, so I am not kidding...i actually sent that, and seriously, it was really hard to just type that out. In my mind i thought i was saying, "thanks erin. i haven't had one this bad in a long time, but don't worry about it. I'm sure they figured something out." For those of you who don't believe me when i tell you that when i get migraines i can't think straight and have trouble with my speech, there it is. So that's my embarassing story of the week. My friend Erin called me today to tell me how good of a laugh i gave her and her husband. Afterwards Jared was like "i didn't know you sent a drunk text, let me see." I showed him and he then proceeded to laugh really, really, really hard too. Sigh. Thanks babe, i love you too! I'm glad my pain was able to bring some laughter to some of my favorite peoples' lives. See, there is always something to be thankful for...even in times of immense pain and embarassment. :)

It's the end of an era

This weekend we bid farewell to a member of our family. It was hard but it was definitely time. Yes, we said goodbye to Lexi, Jared's '92 Lexus. We had so many good memories in this car. It was Jared's first car after he got home from his mission. I don't know how many times he made the trek from Chicago to Provo in this thing when he was in college. It was such a good car and it has served our family well. The last few years though, Lexi has been showing signs of her age. Her blinkers weren't working right, the AC stopped working, the engine and brakes started showing signs of needing a lot of repairs, plus she was a total gas guzzler. Since Jared commutes downtown on the train, he almost NEVER drove it, so it was just sitting in the garage. The few times we did need it, the battery would be dead so we would have to jump it. We really didn't want to spend all the money on a car we never use and didn't want her just sitting in the garage, and so, we decided it was time to let her go. We're hoping she goes on to a better place. She still has some miles left on her if someone is willing to put money into her, she still really is a GREAT car! We will miss you Lexi!!!

So we are officially a one car family now! Eeek!!! Really, we only need one car, but i have to say, it is a bit scary and weird to know we really only have one car now. It used to be we knew that if we had an emergency we could jump Lexi and she would be usable even with all her issues. Oh well, it's all good. We're going to see how it goes...if it gets difficult for whatever reason, we may be in the market for new one, but hopefully that is further down the road. For now, I'm still getting used to pulling into my garage and seeing the empty space next to my car. It still makes me a bit weepy.

A Good Day

I had a really great birthday on Friday and i owe it all to my awesome hubby. Jared was able to take the day off of work, and decided to get up early to put up some birthday decorations. It was really cute. In the morning we went shopping, afterwhich we came home and relaxed for a bit. In the evening, we headed out to the Melting Pot for dinner and dessert. It was very good, though i think we are done with that place for a long long time. Don't get me wrong, it's fun and the dessert is to die for, but it is soooooo dang expensive. I think we both would have much rather spent that money at Wildfire...i don't mind paying them lots of money, their food is that good. Anyways, after dinner we came home and watched Up which is one of the things Jared got me for my birthday. It was soo good! Definitely worth seeing, i love Pixar. :) All that, plus all the awesome birthday emails, cards, and phone calls made it the perfect day.

My ongoing campaign

We had a gorgeous weekend....probably the nicest weekend we've had in a long time. On Saturday we were out and Jared said "*sigh*, if only every day could be like today." I replied with "it could." Of course i have to jump on any opportunity to remind him that life would be a lot more awesome in Southern California! ;) And so the campaign continues. In the meantime, I am grateful for beautiful California-like days in the Midwest. :)

Best month ever :D

I may be a bit biased considering it's my birthday month, my anniversary month, and the month where we get to give thanks and stuff our stomachs with delicious food, but that's okay. Happy November! And happy birthday month to all of my fellow awesome November-born friends! No one is as cool as we are. :P