the wedding, honeymoon, and aftermath

it's been a while since i've written. i'm sure my plethora of readers is quite disappointed. right. so, since i've last written, lots of changes have happened. most importantly, i got married!! yep, july 9 was the big date. it was so great to see friends from all my circles come together. drama ensued, as it does at any wedding event, but it was beautiful and i got to marry my best friend. i was so nervous right before we got married and had to hold on to jack tightly while we were up there to make sure that i didn't fall over from sheer excitement and nervousness. i really did almost fall over a couple of times! but i was so happy to be getting married, it was all worth it. and my groom was so handsome, i'm sure that's another contributing factor to my weak knees!

after the wedding, we went on a honeymoon to the mayan riviera, south of cancun. we stayed in a little casita at an all-inclusive resort that had an outdoor shower, pool at the outside patio, hammock, jacuzzi, and all you can eat and drink. the deserts were fantastic, the food was great, and the drinks were strong. we did mostly nothing. after months of planning and stress (not just from the wedding but other stuff), it feels so amazing to just sit. we laid on the beach, went swimming, laid in the sun, went snorkling, etc. ;-) but really, we did a whole lot of nothing and i loved it.

we did take two days out of our nothingness to go to this waterpark called xel-ha, and to go to the mayan ruins: chichen itza. at xel-ha, I SWAM WITH DOLPHINS!!! yep, it was so fun. i got to pet them and swim with them and love them. oh man, that was so fun. at one point, i was laying flat like superwoman and two dolphins came up behind me and each put their nose on one of my feet and pushed me up so that i was standing up and flying throught the water. so great!!! they jumped over me and one kissed my head (there's a picture of that- i'll post it if i learn how). that was way cool. we also did a lot of snorkelling while we were there (xel-ha).

at chichen-itza, we climbed to the top of the huge pyramid, which was slightly scary. we learned a lot about mayan history and walked around the ruins all afternoon. it was out of a movie, with lush forest around us, then ruins. definately a must see if you go.

so about the hurricane, that was interesting for sure. we heard it was a possibility on friday when we got back from chichen itza. then heard it was for sure on saturday. the preparations at the hotel created an air of excitement and a little fear for all of the guests. they built barricades, taped and boarded windows, removed anything that would fly, shut down the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and held a resort-wide meeting. we weren't sure at first if we would be able to leave, but due to its decreased speed as it crossed jamaica, our flight out (scheduled for 1:00 pm on sunday) was not cancelled. while we were waiting for our ride out of there, we listened in on the instructions to the other guests at the resort- pack up your stuff and put it in the bathroom of your room, take one carry-on per couple with all valuables with you, and one pillow and blanket per person and return to the lobby if evacuation is needed. i'm so glad we got out. the airport was a madhouse, but thanks to god's grace, our wedding and honeymoon were perfectly timed!

now i've moved into our house, and we have boxes everywhere. we are married. weird. but it's great. it's hard getting back to work and the routine, especially since sleep was so familiar to us last week. but it's also really nice to learn to live life together. i'm writing on my third draft of the thesis, which is difficult. jack is back to dell world. real life. but real life together is really much better. so, there's my update. for those of you who were at my wedding and those who helped, thank you sooooooo much. seriously, i feel so amazingly blessed by you. i wish i could tell you just how much, but you'll just have to trust me. thank you.