Friday, July 11, 2014

Summer Escape

Honey, I'm home!

WARNING!: This will be a LONG post.

Let's face it, blogging dropped off the planet for me while I finished up the school year.  I have begun to realize that blogging truly is a full-time job.  It is not MY full-time job however...in fact, I don't get one cent for my blogging so until that changes I will prioritize my day-job.

Don't worry though, I've had my share of adventures in my months of absence and recently I've been living the sweet n' chic summer life!  Life was particularly sweet over the last week for a couple reasons.

1. Corey and I celebrated our first anniversary!
Top tier from our wedding cake.
Was actually still delicious!
Shopped at the same store for our cards.
He ended up getting me the other card I almost got him!
I swear we shopped separately.
Cheers to a beautiful first year! The best is yet to come!

2. We spent a week in beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! #honeymooniversary
Dear friends of ours presented us with an amazing opportunity to spend a week vacationing with them in Puerto Vallarta.  It was an offer we just couldn't refuse and the timing was perfection as it was the week we spent honeymooning last year so it was a great first anniversary trip for us!

While on vacay we stayed in the beautiful Grand Venetian...the apartment was bigger than our house!
The view from one of 4 pools!

We soaked up the sun pool-side, went snorkeling, hiked through the jungle to a waterfall, made friends with the locals, and drank/ate our way through town!  It was a week full of relaxation, good eats, good drinks, and great people!

Iguanas everywhere!
(They're like squirrels over there...)
Pelicans also EVERYWHERE!
Rather than booking excursions through companies which is so pricey, we paid a local to take us out on his boat for a day of snorkeling and adventure!  (This is the way to go! Much cheaper, and we got the whole day just the four of us to go snorkeling, hiking, and swimming!)
The little cove where we snorkeled! 
Our fishy friends.  So fun to swim with them.  We saw eels, and these weird jellyfish creatures that don't sting you (but they sure freaked me out bc they were EVERYWHERE). Our awesome guide also dove down and brought up seastars and sea urchins for us to see and hold.
After snorkeling we trekked through the jungle to a waterfall.
It was muddy, muggy, and I kept getting attacked by these "ninja-crabs" as I have named them.
They live in the mud walls, and as I walked through they would pop out and come flying down the wall at me!  There was lots of squealing!
But we made it!
We had several doggie friends guide us along the path.  
If only we could have brought them home...some were so intent on journeying with us even though they were too little to make it across some of the streams on their own, so we'd carry them.  Sometimes the bigger dogs would help them too!
This was our guide for the day.  He's awesome! 
Needless to say, that was a bit of a hike for me.
Coming back through the village this guy MADE US (yes forced us) to hold his iguana and take pictures with it and then proceeded to ask for a tip. (If you're white...in Mexico...they will do anything to get money out of you.)  
And yes, I held it!
And yes, we did tip him...a little bit.
Returning to the little fishing town of Boca de Tomatlan where our day began.
Did someone say $1 margaritas?
Sea Monkey's on the beach in El Centro.
We were just putting our feet in, but the ocean decided we needed a swim.
Pirate ship in the sunset.
#gooniesforever
The seahorse is the symbol of Puerto Vallarta.
This was our last full day there. (Notice the improved tan!)

"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer." - Unknown