The Honeymoon

The honeymoon was amazing as well. John and I had a delicious brunch the morning after the wedding. The whole wedding party came over and enjoyed delcious food and great company. John and I socialized, ate, and opened our presents from the wedding. That was also when we signed our marriage license. And then high-fived.




We then had to rush home because our flight left in a few hours and we still hadn't packed anything. So we hurried home and got our things together. Luckily, we didn't really plan on needing much more than a swimsuit and maybe one or two nice outfits for going out. I had promised both my father and father-in-law that I was going to make sure to stay in the resort and not venure outside. But hey, I was in Cabo.

This was my first time out of the country so I was pretty excited. But also pretty nervous about traveling there. Our flight left on Sunday night and we had a layover in Denver. Our flight out of Denver left at 6am on Monday morning so my mother-in-law was nice enough to hook us up with a hotel near the airport in Denver. We got to our room around midnight, ate the picnic we had packed in the Eddie Bauer bag that Erin's parents had gotten us and got a few hours of rest. We had to get up at 4:30 to catch the shuttle back to the airport.



We got on our flight and headed to Pheonix for another layover, then finally landed in Cabo. John booked our trip through a travel agency and they had warned us that, when we get off the plane, go STRAIGHT outside, don't stop and talk to anybody because there would be people that would say they were with the company we booked with but were actually travel agencies. They weren't kidding. There were TONS of people. They were saying anything they could to try and get us to stop, even claiming that they needed to see our passports. We made it outside and borded our shuttle. Our driver didn't speak much english but one of the passengers asked him if he liked 'cervesa' (beer). I guess the driver was confused because he stopped at a convenience store and picked up beer for everyone to sip on while we drove to the hotel. Thankfully, he didn't have one.

We got to the resort and it was GORGEOUS. It was a palace. We walked in and they automatically hand you a marghareta. Our room wasn't quite ready so John and I walked around a bit, and hung out the on the balcony, and took the first tequilla shot of the trip.

When our room was ready, John immediately walked over to the thermostat and turned it down to 60. We were very thankful for this later in the week when the temperature was over 100 for most of the day. We suited up and headed to the pool. That ended up being where we spent a great deal of our time during the trip. It was also the place that I got a wicked sunburn on the second day. It was just so gorgeous, the water was heated just enough from the sun and there was a swim-up bar and awesome people.

I think that was one of my favorite parts of the trip was how many people we met. We met couples from all over the united States, all there on their honeymoons.

The resort had a few theme restaurants that we went to the first few nights, but decided to go into Cabo for some food toward the end of the week. The food we had was amazing in the city. We went to Mi Casa and to El Squid Roe. Squid Roe was kind of a tacky theme restaurant that I would compare to TGI Fridays only with MUCH better food.




One of the last nights we were there, we watched some performances at the resort with one of the couples that we had met and then hit up the 'bibliotecha' (dance club). It was actually really neat.

While we were there, we decided to go adventuring a little bit so we signed up for an excursion called 'beach hoppers'. We met at a marina and boarded these crazy little speed boats with seats that you actually had to mount. They took us on a tour around the bay and showed us some of the tourist attractions. We went scuba diving in two different spots and it was amazing. It was weird though, I really didn't think I would be scared of scuba diving. But when I put my face into that water and saw how many fish there were, I panicked a little and startled flayling around widly for a few minutes. I think I was a site. We had some lunch at a local bar and headed back.

The whole trip was amazing. It was great to wake up when I wanted, stay in the pool as long as I wanted, eat whatever and whenever I wanted...it was so relaxing. The last day we were there, we went into the city again so I could buy some gifts and so we could get some lunch.

We headed home on Saturday night so that we could have Sunday to rest. Amazingly we actually went out that night, only so we could give Jim the Bears Poncho that we bought from a street vendor in the city.

The Reception

At the last minute, I had to pick entrance music for the wedding party. Immediately I knew which one I wanted. So the wedding party entered the reception to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now". Each of the bridesmaids and groomsman walked down the stairs, along with the ushers. Our flower girl, Chaselynn and ring Bearer, Cameron walked down hand in hand. Chaselynn's cousin, Gage was up on the balcony at the time and how are you going to tell a 3-year-old that he can't walk down the stairs and be the center of attention? So Chaselynn and Cameron were announced by the DJ and then a proud grandma yelled "and Gage!" It was adorable. I managed not to fall down the stairs again so I was pretty proud at this point.

It was time for the first dance. John and I had our first dance to a song that we picked months ago. It was "I Can't Help (Falling In Love with You)", the Ingrid Michaelson version. I loved it because the lyrics were so perfect for our relationship and it was a song I heard growing up being sung by UB40. It couldn't have been more perfect. Well, let me clarify: the song could not have been more perfect. The dance could have gone a little better. I was having major dress issues. You see, I absolutely LOVED my dress. But I made a little error when I took it in to get it hemmed. I failed to mention to the seamstress that I would be wearing sneakers during my reception. So she hemmed the dress to my 3 inch heels, not my sneakers. So when I danced with my husband and my dad, my dress was everywhere. I got stepped on a number of times. But that's ok, I don't see myself wearing it anytime in the near future.

My dad picked the daddy-daughter dance song, we danced to Kenny Chesney's "There Goes My Life". I never hear my dad sing, except occasionally I would catch him singing the Lime in the Coconut in the car years ago. But when I was dancing with him, he was singing the song and it made me cry. Again. Like I said, there was a LOT of crying to be had at this wedding.

John and I had designed our own cake and I think it came out adorable. Originally our wedding colors were just blue and lighter blue but when we realized how cute our cake would be with some brown accents. So a few brown table linens and we had ourselves a new color to add to our wedding palette. Unfortunately, the only bit of cake I ended up having was the small bite that John fed to me at the cake cutting. Though, I think John got less than that because I smashed his in his face. But don't worry, that was prearranged. I'm not a complete jerk.

After that, we did the garter toss and the bouquet toss. We kept it PG when John got the garter and tossed it to the group of guys. I'm pretty sure it was Jim that caught it. But like I said, the night was a blur. So I'm just going to tell myself that he caught it. It makes me happy. I do remember my bouquet toss though. I remember counting it out from the middle of the stairs and tossing it over my head quite vividly. And I remember that Laurie caught it. I remember this because I know that Laurie has a strategy for catching bouquets. Throw elbows. Hard. So needless to say, the scrappy little brunet caught the bouquet (you know I love you, Laurie) but we didn't know what was more entertaining..the look of excitement on her face or the look on her boyfriend Mike's face. Guess you had to be there.

The rest of the night was amazing. I danced and drank and mingled. My flower girl was the cutest damn thing you've ever seen and by far my favorite dance partner. With the help of my brother as co-DJ and entertainer extraorinaire, we did all the cheesy wedding dance songs and it was the most fun I have ever had at a wedding. I loved how many people came out to dance! Of course I had my girls with me on the dance floor for the big songs. I think one of the biggest songs of the night was Journey's "Don't Stop Believing". That seems to have become my theme song this year. Though, I apparently missed the performance of the year when my brother danced to Michael Jackson. Moonwalking, stair dancing, pelvis thrusting at the grandparents and all. But that's ok, we got it on video. In Blueray. John and I didn't really get to dance to too many songs because he was busy going around thanking everyone on behalf of the both of us. I just wanted to dance. So I did. I did Crank Dat Soulja Boy with my brother (terribly, I might add). I danced to Abba with my mom. I started a conga line with my step-mom and skanked around like a mad woman with Erin and Anna.

skank (skāngk)
n.
A rhythmic dance performed to reggae or ska music, characterized by bending forward, raising the knees, and extending the hands.


The night went by so fast. Everyone that had given me wedding advice had all said the same thing: "Slow down. The night goes by faster than you think it will." They were right. In a blur of electric slide, the chicken dance and Soulja Boy, the night was over and it was time to go. I went upstairs and tried, unsuccessfully I might add, to get out of my wedding dress. Again, thank God for Traci, who helped me get out of my dress so I could get in my send off outfit and get ready to leave. John and I got one last dance together. We chose a song that meant a lot to us. One of the first movies we ever saw together was a Sundance Film called "Once." It's an amazing movie about two musicians. One of the main songs in the movie is performed by the two actors who actually have a band called The Swell Season. The song is called "Falling Slowly" and it is beautiful. We had originally planned on dancing to this song as our first dance but changed our mind at the last minute. But we were happy to have that moment at the end of an amazing night to share with each other and with all our friends that were familiar with the song.

Jeff was kind enough to decorate John's car before we left. Which, I have recently learned, was apparently payback for John 'decorating' Jeff's car at his wedding. John and I made our way through the bubbles, which, by the way, I am gonna have to agree with Kyle on this one that the bubbles are a little tough. At least they weren't scented. We crawled into the car and my brother hopped into the driver's seat. We had to stop at Dan's briefly because Cheri's car keys had somehow made their way into my brother's car, which was currently on it's way to the other side of the valley. After a brief meeting, we were on our way downtown. My brother dropped us off at The Inn on the Hill, which my sister and my mom had arranged for us. It was perfect. Candles everywhere, and the most BEAUTIFUL view of the city I have ever seen from the patio. And that is where I leave you.

Honeymoon post to come soon.