JAMAICA 2012

Well as most of you know, Jeff and I finally took out honeymoon/5 year anniversary trip to Negril, Jamaica. It was absolutely amazing! First of all I would like to say thanks to our wonderful parents for watching our pride and joy and taking great care of them for us! We truly appreciate it and I know the boys had a nice vacation with Papa and Mema and Aunt "Eain" and Aunt "Chica."
We decided to do a Sandals all inclusive trip, which we will probably do again in the future. I can't go into enough detail and explanation of how great the trip really was, so doing a top 10 list and some pictures might help sum it up.

Top 10 Highlights of the trip not in any particular order!

10. The service. The service we received on this trip was perfect, and I mean perfect. I really have nothing bad to say about how we were treated on the resort. Once we arrived to the resort everything went pretty fast as far as the checking in process goes. We were immediately welcomed by the staff with cool towels for our faces and a nice "rum drink" special they had. After we were checked in, we got a nice tour of the resort and all the special perks we were going to receive while vacationing.

9. The beach. The white sand of the beach was gorgeous. Everyday we would lay out on our chairs with the sun right above us and the sand below us. Life couldn't get any better than that!

8. Our room. We had a great room with a great view. Our walkout oceanfront room consisted of restocking of the refrigerator everyday with wine, beer, liquor, pop, juice and water. We also had unlimited room service, which I took full advantage of. I would pick up the phone, press a button, tell the concierge desk what I needed and they were knocking at my door. The view was amazing too. We had a nice patio which we were able to enjoy drinks on a nightly basis and also two steps away was the beach!!

7. The massage. We decided to get a couples massage while we were there. Why not, right?!? It was amazing. The spa itself was amazing with your own robe and flip flops along with a relaxing room with sauna and steam room. It was Jeff's first massage and he says it will not be his last. It was very nice and a little romantic I must say :)

6. The food. The food was very, very good. They had anything from pizza, burgers and fries, nachos and cheese to lobster and shrimp with steak and of course Jamaica's famous jerk chicken. It was so good and so filling. The nice thing was we had so many options of restaurants so we could just decide last minute what we felt like eating. Also, I am a huge cheese lover, and the bread and cheese were phenomenal. It was a bit disappointing for me finding out around day 3 that the cheese there did not love me the same way I did it :( I had to give up my favorite thing to eat...unless I wanted to spend the day in the bathroom!!!

5. The drinks. Endless drinks, need I say more!!! And every drink was amazing. Jeff and I would have to admit that the Red Stripe did get to us after a few days of drinking it but have no fear, there is always the Jamaican Rum drinks!

4. The sunset. I can't say enough about the sunset. It was so beautiful and truly breathtaking. I didn't know how much I would love watching the sun rise and set. It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

3. Snorkeling. I hate getting in the ocean. For some reason I have a fear that something is going to jump out and get me, but Jeff really wanted to go snorkeling so I decided I would too. I am so glad I did it too. It was fun to go out on the boat pretty much in the middle of the ocean and get to see what is beneath the water!

2. Rick's Cafe'. This was a highlight of the trip for me simply because it was a mix of every possible person from a local Jamaican to some fellow Iowans to some college spring breakers to larger families with their children having a nice getaway. This was named one of the top 10 bars in the world so I guess you can say it is a must see place when you visit Jamaica. We paid $20 per person to take a bus ride that the resort will set up for you. It was only about a 15 minute ride from our resort and the scenery you will see on the way was pretty shocking! Just seeing the lifestyles of the Jamaican people is enough to sit back and really think about how fortunate we are. Anyway, Rick's Cafe' is known for the cliff diving which neither Jeff nor I took part in! I was not about to jump off a cliff into the ocean! Nope! But a lot of people did and good for them! It was quite entertaining!

1. Reconnecting with my husband! I would have to say the best part of the trip was being able to reconnect with Jeff without the trials and stresses of everyday life! I was actually able to have a conversation with him without speaking over a fussy baby and a 3 year old! I know we didn't take a real honeymoon so I guess this would be considered that, but I am so glad we were able to take the opportunity to go a trip like this 5 years after we were married. It was like we were younger and in the honeymoon phase again! Thank you Jeff for making this trip so special and amazing for the both of us. It is one I will never forget!

I guess you can say there were some down falls to the trip too, but not many, and they all pretty much come with any trips or traveling!

5. The getting there. Ugh waking up at 3:00 in the morning to catch a plane out or Kansas City was not a highlight of the trip, but I was in good spirits since I knew we would be seeing paradise that afternoon.

4. The getting home. Traveling from anywhere is such a pain. Especially when the trip is over. Not only were we ready to step foot in our front door the second we left the resort but we still had an hour bus ride to the Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, fly to Atlanta, have a 4 hour and 40 minute lay over in Atlanta, fly to Kansas City, arrive to Kansas City at 9:22 P.M. and THEN still drive 4 hours back home so Jeff can work at 8:00 in the morning! Seriously who does that?!?!?

3. The cheese. As I said before. The cheese did not like me at all and it took me a good 3 days to figure that out. And even then, I ate pizza the day before we left so I still didn't learn my lesson.

2. My peeling face. Yes, Jeff and I did get some sun, and maybe a little too much but we couldn't help it! Now we are back home and dealing with our peeling heads. It is always so nice to see flaky skin falling from my head!

1. Missing my boys. I would have to say the worst part of the trip was missing my boys. It was nice to get away and I know it did Jeff and I some good, but I really did miss them. We were able to call back home and talk to them some but I feel like I was away from them for months! So in all, it was great to get back to home see them.


It's good to be home!


Mountain Dew in Hand!