Ok...so I know I haven't blogged in over a year. Well, things kind of blew up and then went crazy in my life. Now that things are settling down, I'd really like to keep up on writing and sharing!
Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica...omg...you need to book your vacation, like yesterday. We stayed here a week, combining fun activities and total relaxation!! We left Atlanta on Monday morning for the 3 hour flight. We had to fill out a customs card on the flight. Neither of us had filled one out before and we were both a little anal and worried about every little thing on it. And then, I've discovered we are in a very odd time in our marriage. We are married, but I haven't officially changed my name. So, I'm not sure what to write on some documents (btw...crazier now because my name is changed on some things, but not others now!). When we landed, we had to go through customs (1st time for both of us!). I was a little nervous :-) Obviously I had no issues and got through fine. We enjoyed..ok, lived through the hour and a half bus ride to the resort. Omg...thought we were going to die before being married for 48 hours. Apparently there are not traffic laws, or at least none that people obey, in Jamaica. The driver was constantly honking and people in the towns were flipping us off! 
There are 5 restaurants on the resort. The Palms was more casual and had buffet breakfasts and a la carte dinners. In the evening, they had dancers and a band going. Very fun!!
The food was great...loved the pastry bar of course! The Patios is a little nicer. Omg..banana stuffed french toast was to die for! I had that a couple times. And every morning, they have a special smoothie of the day. Yum! (except for the nasty "brain booster" one on Saturday which didn't have enough fruit in it.) The most causal restaurant was the grille next to the pool. Jerk chicken was awesome there! Feathers was the fancy place...good times, but Shawn and I are definitely more comfortable in casual places!! Ha ha, I think we were one of the only couples there that ordered beer and a dacquiri instead of some fancy wine. Oh well! We like what we like! There were also 2 places we didn't go..the vegetarian bar (for obvious reasons...but I did enjoy the ice cream machine they had in front of it) and the thai restaurant. Friday night, the restaurants all shut down and they have a shipwreck beach party. I was really expecting some half assed meal on the beach sitting on towels. Ah contraire....tables with full china and chair covers, a stage, a huge buffet, lighting, music. Very fun!! Only time we sat with other people for a meal. Fun folks from Wisconsin. And I can't forget the
bars. Holy crap! Loved walking up and just ordering without worrying about tipping. They had a drink menu set out, but you could order anything. I went through all the frozen alcholic drinks and about half the cocktails (didn't touch the non alcoholic frozen crap of course). Omg...it's all about "Snake Eyes!!" But, I didn't even get drunk because I was
having 6-7 or 8-9 or something around that drinks per day, but they were spread out through the day. The best part...flags on the beach that you poked into the ground and they would come and take your drink order!
Tuesday night, they had a bonfire on the beach. All the beach chairs were set in a circle and we cuddled up with our partners with blankets and listened to romantic music! Good thing the fire was far enough from the blankets!!
A lot of things have changed in my life! The biggest thing?! I'm married!! Yes, Shawn and I finally tied the knot! We had a wonderful wedding and honeymoon!!
Couples Swept Away in Negril, Jamaica...omg...you need to book your vacation, like yesterday. We stayed here a week, combining fun activities and total relaxation!! We left Atlanta on Monday morning for the 3 hour flight. We had to fill out a customs card on the flight. Neither of us had filled one out before and we were both a little anal and worried about every little thing on it. And then, I've discovered we are in a very odd time in our marriage. We are married, but I haven't officially changed my name. So, I'm not sure what to write on some documents (btw...crazier now because my name is changed on some things, but not others now!). When we landed, we had to go through customs (1st time for both of us!). I was a little nervous :-) Obviously I had no issues and got through fine. We enjoyed..ok, lived through the hour and a half bus ride to the resort. Omg...thought we were going to die before being married for 48 hours. Apparently there are not traffic laws, or at least none that people obey, in Jamaica. The driver was constantly honking and people in the towns were flipping us off! 
We got to the resort around 1:30. When we checked in and they served us champagne, 
I was like, hell yeah, this is going to be a great vacation. They escorted us to our room. Hell no! Not on my honeymoon! First floor with a patio next to a path. One of the hightlights I had read about was sleeping with the patio/balcony door open....ugh, not possible on the first floor! Needless to say, I threw a fit and we got a new room. Great 3rd floor room with a partial ocean view and tons of privacy. Even Shawn says he was happy I spoke up :-)
I was like, hell yeah, this is going to be a great vacation. They escorted us to our room. Hell no! Not on my honeymoon! First floor with a patio next to a path. One of the hightlights I had read about was sleeping with the patio/balcony door open....ugh, not possible on the first floor! Needless to say, I threw a fit and we got a new room. Great 3rd floor room with a partial ocean view and tons of privacy. Even Shawn says he was happy I spoke up :-) 
There are 5 restaurants on the resort. The Palms was more casual and had buffet breakfasts and a la carte dinners. In the evening, they had dancers and a band going. Very fun!!
The food was great...loved the pastry bar of course! The Patios is a little nicer. Omg..banana stuffed french toast was to die for! I had that a couple times. And every morning, they have a special smoothie of the day. Yum! (except for the nasty "brain booster" one on Saturday which didn't have enough fruit in it.) The most causal restaurant was the grille next to the pool. Jerk chicken was awesome there! Feathers was the fancy place...good times, but Shawn and I are definitely more comfortable in casual places!! Ha ha, I think we were one of the only couples there that ordered beer and a dacquiri instead of some fancy wine. Oh well! We like what we like! There were also 2 places we didn't go..the vegetarian bar (for obvious reasons...but I did enjoy the ice cream machine they had in front of it) and the thai restaurant. Friday night, the restaurants all shut down and they have a shipwreck beach party. I was really expecting some half assed meal on the beach sitting on towels. Ah contraire....tables with full china and chair covers, a stage, a huge buffet, lighting, music. Very fun!! Only time we sat with other people for a meal. Fun folks from Wisconsin. And I can't forget the
bars. Holy crap! Loved walking up and just ordering without worrying about tipping. They had a drink menu set out, but you could order anything. I went through all the frozen alcholic drinks and about half the cocktails (didn't touch the non alcoholic frozen crap of course). Omg...it's all about "Snake Eyes!!" But, I didn't even get drunk because I was
having 6-7 or 8-9 or something around that drinks per day, but they were spread out through the day. The best part...flags on the beach that you poked into the ground and they would come and take your drink order! So many fun things to do! The beach is incredible. 
When you're in the water, you can see all the way down to your toes and the temperature is wonderful. Soooo much better than the west coast water! 
Shawn and I floated around in the water for quite awhile on a floaty mat. Now...it's a actually a topless beach..but tell me, why the hell do only the old women take off the
ir tops. I'm sorry...but we didn't want to see that!! I did swim one day without my top...very liberating :-) We went on a glass bottom boat and snorkeling trip to the reefs. Not all that impressed with the reefs though. I've seen prettier reefs on Catalina Island. Shawn had never snorkeled and I'm pretty sure he will never do it again! He can hide his emotions well, but even he couldn't hide how miserable he was. A little too much salt up the nose!! Plus, it's the snorkeling that did him in and made his sinus infection blow up! We rented a small sail boat. He was all nervous about it, but I told him, hello, you can drive anything...with wheels or without. Totally fun sailing around and he did really well. LOL...much better than the European trust fund baby boys who were next to us, trying to impress the two equally spoiled girls with them. I thought I might have to swim to shore for a bit...there wasn't much wind, so it took us a while to manuever to the shore :-) I was so proud of my sexy sailor :-)
When you're in the water, you can see all the way down to your toes and the temperature is wonderful. Soooo much better than the west coast water! 
Shawn and I floated around in the water for quite awhile on a floaty mat. Now...it's a actually a topless beach..but tell me, why the hell do only the old women take off the
ir tops. I'm sorry...but we didn't want to see that!! I did swim one day without my top...very liberating :-) We went on a glass bottom boat and snorkeling trip to the reefs. Not all that impressed with the reefs though. I've seen prettier reefs on Catalina Island. Shawn had never snorkeled and I'm pretty sure he will never do it again! He can hide his emotions well, but even he couldn't hide how miserable he was. A little too much salt up the nose!! Plus, it's the snorkeling that did him in and made his sinus infection blow up! We rented a small sail boat. He was all nervous about it, but I told him, hello, you can drive anything...with wheels or without. Totally fun sailing around and he did really well. LOL...much better than the European trust fund baby boys who were next to us, trying to impress the two equally spoiled girls with them. I thought I might have to swim to shore for a bit...there wasn't much wind, so it took us a while to manuever to the shore :-) I was so proud of my sexy sailor :-) We also went on a sunset cruise. 
About 2 hours long. The way there to a little too long..I liked it more when they sped the damn boat up on the way back. We stopped and were able to explore some caves, but our fumbled snorkeling trip had been earlier that day and Shawn refused to go in the water :-) We didn't see the caves, but I go down the slide from the boat into the water. Super fun!
About 2 hours long. The way there to a little too long..I liked it more when they sped the damn boat up on the way back. We stopped and were able to explore some caves, but our fumbled snorkeling trip had been earlier that day and Shawn refused to go in the water :-) We didn't see the caves, but I go down the slide from the boat into the water. Super fun!Got my first massage! I have spa certificates and I keep meaning to go and get a massage, but never seem to have the time. 30 minutes..pretty nice. Shawn was so cute. I was nervous saying it was my first time, so he lied and told them it was his first massage too to make me feel better. Ahhhhhh.... But note to self...next time wear swimsuit for the pre-massage fun. We couldn't get in the mineral bath because we didn't have swim suits. Oops!
We played the honeymoon game with a some couples at a honeymoon meet-up on Wednesday. I'm so ashamed...we got last place!! But I guarentee that Shawn will never forget that I wear a size 7 1/2 shoe and I won't forget that his fave drink is Rockstar :-)
They also had a pool with a swim up bar. 
Hell yeah...except for the fact that the old middle agers would plunk themselves down there and stay. btw---I hope we are never as freakin' lame and annoying as many of the middle aged adults we saw!!
Hell yeah...except for the fact that the old middle agers would plunk themselves down there and stay. btw---I hope we are never as freakin' lame and annoying as many of the middle aged adults we saw!!
Tuesday night, they had a bonfire on the beach. All the beach chairs were set in a circle and we cuddled up with our partners with blankets and listened to romantic music! Good thing the fire was far enough from the blankets!! Ok, my feeling on all inclusive. Awesome awesome awesome...kinda a lie. True that you don't have to pay for anything extra you don't want. But...some of the "extras" were too cool to pass up! Especially the private dinner on the beach with your private waiter. Good food, romantic atmosphere, but $180?? I don't know if we'd do it again. BTW---they must make major bank on these. The waiter told us there are approx. 7-8 private dinners a night!! And of course the photographer comes along and takes adorable pics of you...that you will have to pay for :-) Dinner on the beach was a little expensive, but definitely worth it for our honeymoon!
There were tons and tons of things we didn't have time to try when we there as well. Basket weaving sounded totally dorky, but wow, they made some cool baskets. Next time, I'm so there!! We didn't even touch the nightclub or the gym. They had tennis lessons, etc, but hell, we were on our honeymoon. To me...that means a break from exercising!! We signed up for scuba, but weren't feeling well enough to do it! (Which definitely was the right choice...if snorkeling did do well, good lord, scuba would have been a nightmare!) We didn't rent the kayaks or go on the excursions to Margarittaville and shopping and there were a ton of cute classes avaliable, like marguerita mixology. But...I feel like we did what we wanted to do and that was to relax! It was Heaven sitting on the balcony and reading a book. (yes, that is the first book I've seen Shawn finish in 10 years!!) Falling to sleep and waking up with a gentle ocean breeze and waves on the beach sounds...fabulous!!
We had an awesome time. But after 5 days in Vegas and 8 days in Jamaica, we were ready to come home to our doggies. (and no more freakin' wedding planning!!!) Hope everyone can make it to Jamaica someday! Cheers!! xoxo, Jill
The kids and I are having a blast. Everyday they put on their colonial hats and turn into colonists. They each get an assigned part for the day, like colonist, British Soldier, or King George, etc. I'
brown icing. They were actually supposed to have little orange feet and beaks and little feathers...but I very much ran out of steam at 2am! The cake made it to dinner pretty 
