Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Midweek Randoms {July 3, 2013}

Happy Wednesday! I'm linking up with In This Wonderful Life for midweek randoms this week.



  • When I got a pedicure before our vacation, I picked the OPI color "Mod About You" and it could very well be my favorite nail polish color ever. It's so perfect for the beach and summer time in general. It's the perfect cotton candy pink.

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  • I bought a new lipstick a couple of weeks ago and just tried it last week. I'm picky about lipsticks because I don't want to have to keep reapplying all day. I also hate the long lasting ones that don't feel smooth and end up getting dry on my lips. Well, this L'Oreal Infallible Lipstick is perfect. It lasts all day, feels smooth, and doesn't get dry. Love it.
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  • Daniel and I have recently become addicted to Candy Crush. We started playing it the night before we left for vacation and stayed up really late playing because we were too excited to sleep. {Are we eight years old?!} Every time I see these special sprinkle candies, I wish I had one to eat. Is that crazy?! They look yummy to me!
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  • I discovered a few days ago that you can print Instagram photos using the Walgreens app! It's really quick and easy - just upload your photos straight to the app and they're ready in an hour. They only cost $.39 per print, too! I haven't printed any yet, but I definitely plan to so I can make some of those cute Pinterest crafts I've seen. 


I would love to do something like this!
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  • Daniel and I are planning a family cookout in a few weeks! This is on our summer to do list! I started stocking up this week on things we'll need. We're so excited! :)
  • These mini Kit Kats are extremely dangerous. A friend of mine told me about them a couple of weeks ago and we just tried them. Wow. Who would have thought little baby Kit Kats could be even better than the big ones? You must try them if you haven't already, but consider yourself warned.
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  • I've been hearing this song a lot lately and I love it so, so much. It's so good that if it comes on in the car when I get to wherever I was driving, I will sit in the car and wait until it's over before I get out. I just can't help but sing my heart out in the car and have my own worship service right there. The words are such a beautiful prayer. I love all the lyrics, but I especially love the part that says, "Lord, I come, I confess. Bowing here I find my rest. Without You I fall apart. You're the One that guides my heart."


I hope y'all have a great 4th of July!!! :)

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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Playa del Carmen Vacation 2013 {Part 2}


Good morning! So, we made it through the mountains of laundry yesterday and I'm planning to head to the grocery today to restock our fridge. We ended up not cooking yesterday and went out for pizza instead. While we were in Mexico, we watched a rerun of SNL one night and saw this pizza skit with Melissa McCarthy. {Love her! SO hilarious!} We may or may not have reenacted a little bit of it last night when we were at Marco's.



Speaking of food, we were definitely slapped with the reality that we were no longer at an all-inclusive resort yesterday when we woke up without being able to walk a few minutes to a breakfast buffet with any breakfast food you could imagine. When we were on our honeymoon, our resort had these chocolate croissants that I just loved. I would eat *several* every morning. As soon as we booked this trip, I started talking about how I hoped so much that this resort also had them. To my great disappointment, I did not find any that first day at breakfast. I settled for a plain croissant instead. {First world problem, I know!!!} A few days into our trip, I spotted a croissant that had a little sugar sprinkled on top. I took one thinking that a lightly sweetened croissant was better than nothing.


I bit off one of the ends and thought it was good...although it did not fulfill my chocolate croissant dreams. Then Daniel stared at me and said, "Ummm... Jackpot!" I didn't know what he meant until I looked inside the croissant and saw chocolate!! I was so happy! It's the little things...


We ate at the same place for breakfast and lunch every day. There were several options, but we always went with the one closest to the pool. I loved this path that led to the restaurant. It was also neat to be able to look out at the ocean and hear the waves while we were there.




One thing I did NOT enjoy while we were on vacation were these little guys.


We saw tons of them every single day. Most of the time they would stay off of the walkways, but there was this one time...well, let's just say I made several resort guests snicker when they saw my reaction to almost stepping on one!!!

Speaking of reptiles {amphibians? I have to reteach that stuff to myself every time I teach it to my students!}, we did get to see something really amazing while we were there. Most nights, we would go down to the beach to walk.



The first night we were walking along, and I heard the sound of sand being thrown. Of course I freaked out wondering what in the world it was. Turns out it was a sea turtle! The beach was a nesting zone for them and every night we walked down there, we saw two or three HUGE sea turtles making their way up the shore to lay eggs. The resort had people down at the beach that would dig up the eggs and put them in a shelter.

Most of our time at the resort was spent right here.



{Click the picture to enlarge}

{Click the picture to enlarge}
This was seriously the biggest and best pool I have ever experienced. It was so nice that it was so big because it didn't get too crowded. There were these great little shady spots we could swim to when when we were getting too hot, and when we were ready for a break, there were plenty of lounge chairs in the shade. Our favorite spot was under a little tiki hut. SO relaxing!!

Our first morning there, we were relaxing under that tiki hut and one of the people from the resort activities staff came by and asked if we had any activities planned for that day. We had already talked about how we were NOT leaving the resort this time. On our honeymoon, we went on an excursion and after a bumpy, long, crowded van ride complete with Mexican techno music and a big snoring man, we said never again! So, it turns out that this resort offers "adventures" right there on their very own beach. I've always wanted to ride a jet ski, so we scheduled it. So, we're on this jet ski in the ocean {read: waves}, and I was just loving it. I did have moment of fear, though, and asked Daniel, "Can this thing flip over?" He assured me that no, the way that they're made makes it very difficult for them to flip over. I guess I should have been more clear because what I meant was, "Can I fall off of this thing?" Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, we're in the middle of a turn, a wave hits us perfectly, and we fall off. I immediately start yelling, "Oh my gosh, sharks!!" {Yes. Seriously.} No, I didn't see one, but the fact that I was in the middle of the ocean with all kinds of creepy, unknown swimming things that could eat hurt me seriously freaked me out. Oh, and did you know that when you're terrified, your muscles stop working? At least mine do, because I would not have made it back up on that thing if Daniel wouldn't have pulled me back on. Once we got back on, I hung on for dear life and said, "So, I changed my mind. I don't want to drive this thing." Daniel maintains that jet skis are a lot more fun in the lake and that I must try it again. We'll see.

{Click the picture to enlarge}


As I mentioned before, when we weren't at the pool or beach, we were eating. We may have even gone for a *second dinner* one night at 10:30. :) We went to a different restaurant every night for dinner and overall, the food was really good. {Although, the dessert selection was seriously lacking! :( Bummer!} This baked Alaska was not very yummy, but really cool to watch!


Here are pictures of us at some of the different restaurants.

L'Alsace ~ French

La Hacienda - Mexican

Hotel Entry ~ Caribbean Night

Mar & Tierra ~ Surf & Turf
Every night, they had great entertainment! We saw a Las Vegas show, a Michael Jackson show, a Mayan show, and a fire show. They also had a great band that played music in the plaza each night.





We had SUCH a wonderful time and are so thankful that we got to spend all this time together!



I hope y'all have a fabulous day!! :)

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Monday, July 1, 2013

Playa del Carmen Vacation 2013 {Part 1}

Happy Monday! We got back last night from our vacation in Playa del Carmen, and while it's wonderful to be home, I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that I actually have to cook now. I'll probably make something quick and easy like this baked ravioli. It's a good "transition back into cooking" meal. :)

Our vacation started early last Monday morning as we headed for the Atlanta airport. We had to stop and get some morning fuel first, though. Cinnamon crunch bagels at Panera {my favorite!} and a Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino. Oh my goodness, that frap was SO good! It was like a chocolate cookies and cream smoothie with a hint of coffee. Not very "breakfasty," I know.


Once we got to the airport, everything was smooth sailing. I kept saying that I couldn't believe how perfectly everything was going. Of course, when our last vacation included running through the airport and making it to the gate just as they were about to stop boarding, almost anything would be better. We even had time for a leisurely lunch at Qdoba and some airport shopping. Had to get a king size Kit Kat for the flight! I'm telling you, when we're on vacation, pretty much anything goes. :) Even the flight was great considering the in flight movie was "Safe Haven." Love!

Here we are waiting for our ride to the resort once we arrived in Cancun. I just love palm trees!


We stayed at the Valentin Imperial Maya in Playa del Carmen and absolutely loved it. Once we got there, we took a few minutes to explore the lobby and take a few pictures.


No, we did not intend to match!
After we were all checked in, we headed to our room to find these these fun swans! The resort offered a class on how to fold towels like this, and I thought about going...for about three seconds. The pool was a lot more enticing, though. I'm sure there's a YouTube video for towel folding!


Another night, we came back to our room to find this cute little elephant friend. I had to realign his eye stickers before I took a picture, though. Daniel laughed at me, but they were crooked!! They still look a little crooked in the picture, but I promise, they weren't!


About two minutes after we arrived in our room, someone delivered cake for our anniversary. Listen, anyone who delivers cake is a friend of mine {especially considering I was on sugar withdrawal}.


Since we didn't get to the resort until late afternoon the first day, we spent some time exploring and enjoying the scenery. It was a HUGE resort which meant there was a lot of walking {probably not a bad thing considering all of the eating we did}, but it was absolutely beautiful. This is part of the lobby. I loved all the fountains.


This was the view we had from our balcony. There were two weddings at the resort while we were there, and we could see them from our balcony. {Don't worry, we were well hidden by all the palm trees and there was no way we could photo bomb any pictures!} We could tell when there was a wedding because they would park a cute little golf cart that had flowers on it by the beach path next to our building.


{Click picture to enlarge}
This was the main path to the beach. They even had several hammocks hanging between palm trees. We went to swing in the hammocks one night and while we were walking there, Daniel said he wanted to video me getting in the hammock. Mean! {He did help me get in, though...and no video.} I'm proud to say that I successfully situated myself in the hammock without mishap {however, not gracefully}. They were definitely the most uncomfortable hammocks ever, though! All that for nothing!


We liked these swings that looked out on the beach much better!


Well, that's all for today. We have mountains of laundry to get to! Stay tuned to read about our jet ski adventure nightmare, hundreds of iguanas, sea turtles, and LOTS of food!

Hope you have a great Monday!!

Vacation Recap: Part Two

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