Honeymoon - Day 1

It is never easy to spring out of bed when the alarm goes off at 3:30am... unless you know you're about to hop a flight to Belize for eleven days. That's how our day started. The car service came at 4am to bring us to LaGuardia and we were on our way!

The trips from LaGuardia to Miami and Miami to Belize City were fairly uneventful. But the trip got monumentally more interesting when we saw that the trip from Belize City to San Pedro Island would be made by a little 8-seat puddle jumper! Andy, who is not so fond of small planes, was most surprised when the one extra passenger they didn't have a seat for was allowed to climb into the co-pilot seat. Andy prayed he wouldn't get curious and push any buttons.

We arrived at the Phoenix Resort (http://www.thephoenixbelize.com/) and were amazed that the resort looks EXACTLY like the photos on the website. We were greeted with a tropical drink, tour of the grounds, and the exciting news that we had been upgraded to a 2-bedroom condo. The place was huge. Two massive bedrooms, including two huge bathrooms , a large balcony with lounge chairs, and a table with seating for 6 (in case we made friends), and a comfy livng room, also with balcony access. The condo came equipped with flat-screen tvs, purified water, full kitchen (stove, oven, microwave, fridge, freezer, garbage disposal, pots, pans, plates, etc.). A dishwasher, washing machine and dryer, and sweeeeeeet hot tub were also handy additions to the room. Immediately, we headed down to the pool. Belize was pretty warm, so even I went into the pool to cool down. Frozen mojitos in the pool? Don't mind if we do.

We took a walk along the beach later for some food ad stumbled into Caliente's, where we enjoyed chicken quesadillas, tacquitos with four different types of hot sauces and salsas, and "Dirty Bananas", a banana daquiri with a little kick and some tasty chocolate accents. YUM.

Grocery shopping in the afternoon was interesting, as we figured out what kinds of food Belize does or doesn't have, as well as tried to figure out what everything actually cost. ($1 US = $2 Belize, so we had to remember not to be sticker shocked when we saw that juice was $15). This would make for some easy (and cheaper) breakfast and lunch options throughout our stay.

Dinner was at Fido's, a nice walk down the beach. We had an amazing popcorn shrimp for an appetizer. I got a lime glazed chicken with potatoes and vegetables with a strawberry banana daquiri while Andy enjoyed English fish n' chips and a banana daquiri. This was definitely going to be a good week for eating and drinking. Especially when we popped open our first Belikin Beer (from Belize) that night. Amazing.

We were asleep by 9:00, Belize time.

Wedding = Great success!

We did it! Andy and I got married! I'm someone's WIFE! (whoa.)

The day was shocklingly perfect. I had myself prepped for a disaster of some sort throughout the day, and was almost surprised at how much I was able to enjoy my own wedding. The day was perfect for us. I had told a few of my friends during the planning process that the wedding was turning out to be more formal that I had thought - the venue (which we looooooooved) was more formal than we thought we'd go for. The dress that I found was more princessy than I thought I would want (but I loved that too). So we tried to add some fun aspects as well. Turns out, we had some surprise fun thrown in. Some highlights:

Starting with the ceremony...

• Our very talented friend played us down the aisle on the piano.... but when everyone stood, he could no longer see us, so he kept on playing, not knowing whether or not I'd made it to the front of the room yet. When no one tipped him off that he could stop playing, Andy made the decision to yell to the back of the room that he could cut it. Excellent tension breaker to an already emotional ceremony (between me and dad, a few tears were shed.)
• The rings made a distinct :clink: as the hit the floor during the ceremony. Our precious ringbearer, Lucas, was trying to be the best ring bearer he could be by making the ribbons on the pillow even, not realizing that those ribbons were the only thing securing the rings. It was kind of adorable.
• After all that, the exchange of rings portion of the ceremony was somehow missed, and we had to stop the pronouncement of husband and wife so that we could swap rings. We will have to play back the video when it comes in to find out if we were ever actually pronounced husband and wife.

Seriously, I loved all that. It was so appropriate for us, since we hardly ever act seriously for an extended amount of time... especially with an audience.

Though we didn't get as much time to mingle during cocktail hour as we would have liked to, (man, those pictures take a long time, huh?) we loved that we did have a chance to get out and say hello to some of our friends and family. I even managed to score myself a mini grilled cheese with tomato soup shooter or two. SCORE.

Then, the reception. We wanted to start things off with fun entrances, and I think we accomplished just that. Even the DJ remarked that he got a kick out of our request to enter to House of Pain's "Jump Around". We wanted to get people in the mood to party and get on the dance floor.

As it turns out, that wasn't much of a problem. People were on the dance floor ALL NIGHT LONG. We actually ended up having to extend the party with the head waiters, bar tenders, and DJ because it was clear no one was leaving before midnight... or MUCH later. Between the power slides, air guitaring with crutches, dance off's, chair lifts, Call On Me dance routines, and sing-alongs, I think I can put our wedding in the "win" column.

To Do Lists

I live by my to-do lists. It is the only way I can keep all my tasks straight at work. It is the only way I remember what I need to pack or finish doing before a big trip. It is how I am (attempting) to keep myself from freaking out about what needs to be done for the wedding. (Check in with me in about a week to see if I managed successfully).

I came across this adorable little number today, and instantly became jealous of the kid who wrote it. Oh, to have this life again...

Gearing up!

There is a lot going on right now.

The baby graduated from college last weekend. I don't remember allowing him to get that old.

My mama's birthday is today - and it's a big one! There has been a lot going on with her lately... just a little reminder to let her know how much I love her - birthday or not. Looking forward to seeing her again soon to celebrate her birthday (since last weekend was overshadowed by graduation fun).

My bachelorette party is in a week and a half. I really cannot wait to spend some time with some of my favorite girls for fun in the sun!

Which means that as of tomorrow, I am a month a way from being Mrs. Neufeld. Maybe I should be practicing my new signature or something.

And in the midst of all of it, there are changes going on at work too! My to-do list is becoming massive, but with everything else going on, how can I possibly be expected to work??

It is an exciting time, and my head is reeling, but I'm ready. I just have to get myself settled into some sort of schedule to make sure everything is taken care of with the attention it deserves. It is a little exhausting, and hard not to push little things to the side with a dismissive "I'll take care of this later". Later always comes too soon. And those little things start to manifest themselves into a big long list. Organize yourself, Maureen! Come on, you can do it!

Dancing Towels

Growing up, there were a few things I could always count on for family gatherings around any holiday at my grandmother's house.

#1 - There would either be some kind of "Sing Along with Mitch" album playing on repeat, or something like the Boston Pops that would inspire a well choreographed dance party or foxtrot, jitterbug, and polka moves. Mostly just involving the girls. And, involuntarily, any unlucky man that was careless enough the try to walk through the red-carpeted living room.

#2 - The dish full of broccoli would begin cooking at the same time as the turkey.

#3 - At some point just before every meal, usually while the dining room was full of the hustle and bustle of setting the table and propping up the card table for food, the smoke detector would go off. Without fail - breakfast, dinner, didn't matter. And because of this, everyone seemed to know where the nearest dish towel was at all times.

I had this dream last night that was all about those dish towels, watching as they performed a spirited dance as they were waved in the air near the ever-present smoke detector outside the kitchen door in my Grandmother's house. Flashes of color appearing and disappearing in mismatched rhythms.

Sort of an odd thing to dream about. And I'm not sure what it meant. But it made me happy.