Honeymoon!

For our Honeymoon Chris and I had the wonderful opportunity to experience a 5 day Western Caribbean Cruise! The day after we got married, Chris and I traveled to Kennewick, Washington for another wedding reception. (More on the receptions later). The next morning we got in the moving truck and started our long journey to San Antonio, Texas. Our first stop was Rexburg because we still had a lot of our stuff from college in a storage unit there. The next night we stopped in Monticello, Utah. Then the night after that was the weird town of Roswell, New Mexico. FINALLY we made it to San Antonio, TX to our new apartment. The first night we slept on air mattress that deflated after an hour or so. The next day with help from some nice people, we moved all of our stuff into the apartment, literally only having time to pile everything in the living room. Then we packed our bags and early the next morning we were off to Lafayette, Louisiana and then the next morning we traveled to New Orleans were our Cruise ship was waiting for us. I have to say Chris and I were very sick of driving at that point. It was nice to be heading to another destination without actually having to drive there.
Chris and I got on the boat at around 1 that afternoon. The name of the ship was the Carnival Elation. It was huge and really nice. The lunch buffet was packed because everyone was just getting on the ship and no one had their luggage yet. Having been on a cruise before, I was thrilled to enjoy the fine dining and AMAZING food selections that cruises have to offer. This was Chris' first cruise and he was deeply impressed with the food selection and quality. He was especially impressed when it came dinner time and we ate at a super fancy restaurant were you could order as many appetizers, entrees and desserts as your heart desired.
The ship had many fun activities including miniature golfing, big chess, several pools, hot tubs and water slides, cool shows and so many fun activities.

Why is my hair in my face you ask? Because the wind was blowing like crazy and I didn't feel like going back to the room and getting a hair tie, that's why. But on a serious note, mini golfing was really fun (I beat Chris) :)

Aren't we just adorable? I think we should use this picture for our Christmas cards. 

Chris taught me to play chess. I am really bad at it but its pretty fun. One day I will beat him and that day will be glorious :)

 

                  Fancy night!


                   The Romeo and Juliet lounge.

On the second morning of our cruise we stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. Chris and I had bought a Mayan ruin excursion but it got cancelled so we just walked around and then went to the beach. Cozumel was a really beautiful place. It was super hot though and everywhere you went people were trying to sell you something. But overall, it was a really fun day :)

We went to a beautiful beach in Cozumel and chilled on the sand. To get to the beach we rode a taxi with no seat belts that was going top speed and I was so scared I had to close my eyes the whole time.

The guy taking our picture kept wanting me to look at the camera with different facial expressions. WHY CAN'T I JUST SMILE!

Actually I think this would be a great Christmas card. 

In Cozumel Chris and I bought a chess set and conch shell, I got a bracelet and we bought a few other little souvenirs. It was a fun, adventurous day, but we were glad to get back on the ship. The next morning we were in Progresso, Mexico. We woke up early and waited in line to disembark the ship. We bought an exercision and it left at 9 am. The excursion we bought was a tour the Mayan ruin, Chichen Itza. The Mayan culture really interests Chris and I and we were excited to go take a tour. Chichen Itza is also apart of the seven wonders of the world, which is pretty cool. When we got off the ship, we hopped on a bus and traveled for two hours to Chichen Itza. The bus ride was much nicer than the taxi ride the day before.

This is the Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen Itza. I was amazed at how big it was. 75 feet tall! The Mayans could tell what day of the year it was, according to their calendar,  and the time of the day it was using this. Recently, Chichen Itza was claimed one of the 7 wonders of the world so because of this, people aren't allowed to climb the pyramid's steps to the very top anymore. All of the other ruins were carefully gated so you couldn't touch anything. Which is too bad because I REALLY wanted to at least touch that pyramid!

                                      

So... I touched this instead. The outskirts of the grand game stadium where it was believed Mayan's played a sort of game involving balls and high up sideways hoops that looked a lot like quidditch goals. Apparently there was team captains and the team captain whose team won the game was honored afterwards by having his head chopped off. If I lived in the Mayan world I would never practice that game. 

                                   Some more ruins. This was the market place where they sold and traded goods. 

Chichen Itza was huge! Two hours was not enough time to explore everything. Although I was glad to get back on an air conditioned bus. 

Chris and I had a really great time in Chichen Itza.  I learned so much more about the Mayan culture and it was so such a neat experience. Also, it was so cool to actually be at one of their capitals and to see the ruins of their once great city. When I was walking through there I could almost imagine the Mayan people strolling by, playing games at the stadium, selling goods at the market place and just doing whatever they did. I had a great time :)

After that it was one more full day on the cruise and then we would be in New Orleans once again. Chris and I enjoyed the dance, comedy, and morning shows, the art auctions, trivia games,and of course the amazing food! Not to mention just relaxing out on a lawn chair in the sun and reading a good book. 

This was our favorite comedian on the cruise, Mutzie. I am not a huge fan of most comedians but he was hilarious. We went to almost all of his shows and bought his CD. 

Of course a cruise would not be complete without the lovely towel animals and chocolates left on your bed every evening. This one was my favorite :) 

Our Honeymoon was a blast and we made memories that are sure to last a lifetime. And the best part about everything is that our adventures are just beginning <3