the honeymoon

The time has come that you all have been waiting for: honeymoon details.

Val and I left the reception, via Sherman the chauffeur, and stayed downtown.  We enjoyed our short but swanky stay at the Westin on Main Street.  We were up at 330am and at the airport by 4am.  We enjoyed a nice taxi ride to GSP airport and flew from GSP to Charlotte.  Our flight from Charlotte took us straight to Montego Bay, Jamaica!

A little culture shock hit us as soon as we entered real world Jamaica and began to see the people and hear the dialect and accents.  We had a small bus (courtesy of JTL Tours) take us to our resort, Secrets.

YA, MON!

We were not able to check in until 3, but once we got in our room both of us crashed and we slept from about 5pm Sunday to 8am Monday morning.  Yes, we were exhausted.

Monday morning we were treated to a champagne breakfast.  We both highly recommend the jerk sausage. so good.

Secrets is an all inclusive resort, so we were able to participate in a lot of what the resort offered.  They had pools (two with swim-up bars), beaches with lounging chairs and thatch huts, canoeing, glass-bottom boat ride, seven restaurants, nightly entertainment (including steel drums performance, jamaican circus, house band, 'secrets got talent' show, piano bar, and a beach party), ping-pong, coffee bar, shops, and I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting.  

JAMAICAN ME CRAZY!

NO WORRIES MON!

 

One of the days we took an excursion into Montego Bay.  We decided on a shopping excursion, which took us to three locations.  We went to two novelty/tourist shops, a small market shop, and of the large outside markets.  This was quite an experience.  Karen (shown below) was our guide.  She was great to have with us!

The honeymoon was an all around success.

We had a delay in Charlotte, but we got back home around midnight on Friday.
We were welcomed home as soon as we got off the plane by the Millers, and we arrived home to a house full gifts, streamers, and balloons.

Greek festival

Greek Festival Greenville SC 2011

another busy weekend and good times

We visited Statesboro, GA this weekend to celebrate Don and Ariun's recent degrees from Georgia Southern University. Don got his Masters in English and Ariun received her Bachelors in Business Admin (Accounting). We had a nice time honoring their big accomplishments.

(and a few others from the weekend)

(sunday morning we spent some time in cleveland park. it was a nice time away from the busy life we've been living the past few months.)

(then in the afternoon we gave dakota a bath. he had decided to go swimming and then run around in the mud. this is dakota post-bath and towel drying. he hates baths.)

Strawberry Milkshakes.

Last month, Jon had these coupons for BOGO free milkshakes from McDonald's. We used them both, so I (we) thought we were done feeding ourselves awful fattening, but oh so yummy goodness. Well, he found another coupon book. Yes, folks. That means we have 2 more BOGO coupons to use. We used one tonight.. and got LARGE! Holy cow {emphasis on the cow part}. Good thing we have a dog to walk or we would be cows probably.

Speaking of dogs. We purchased a new bag of dog food for Dakota tonight. Oh my gosh... that dog loved it. We kind of splurged and got him a more natural food. It's made with salmon, so it's good for his sensitive stomach. We also got him a new toy. It's a frog with a squeaky body and stretchy legs. I think he played with it for about 2 minutes, and I realized the frog was already missing a leg! I took it from him, so it would last for more than one night. I don't think I've ever seen him love a toy that much. Although, he does have this Tigger stuffed animal that he adores. I think Tigger has a hole in his rear though now, so I'll have to stitch him back up. Is it worth stitching up a dog toy? Since they cost around $4 and only last, in Mr. Frog's case, 2 minutes.. yes, I'd say it's worth stitching.

I hope to post pictures soon - wedding, honeymoon, townhouse, etc. I also hope to get better at e-mail.

What are good brain power foods? And good foods to keep your eyes healthy? I feel like my brain and my eyes are leaving. I bet strawberry milkshakes from McDonald's do not help either one of those things. It's okay... only one coupon left. ;)

Grace & Peace,

Val (& Jon)