Rivera Maya, Mexico!

Okay, so finally got some time to edit and post our vacay pics. We stayed at the Valentin Imperial Maya Resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico...about 30-45 miles S of Cancun on the Yucatan Peninsula and oh my goodness it is beautiful there. I've never been out of the US and I've flown once in my life so needless to say I was a nervous wreck leaving; it was well worth it though and I would definitely go back. In fact, we wanna plan for another trip to a resort just down the road from that one...the Eldorado Casitas Resort. During our first trip we kind of tested the waters and now that we know what's out there we're definitely going back to experience it all! The trip was absolutely amazing. It was romantic. It was relaxing. The food was delicious. The beach was breathtaking. The entertainment was so much fun. The staff and people were so friendly. It was everything that we needed.

Okay, so I'll start out with the main part of the resort. Everything was so open and airy and I really just felt like I was in Mexico, not some fancy resort. Well, I was in Mexico, but you know what I mean - the resort definitely represented their culture and I loved that:
The next pics are of our room, our back patio, & the lazy river/private pool behind our building:Next set of pics are by the main pool where I was introduced to a blast in a glass called a "Miami Vice." 5 of those and I was dancing in my bikini and peeing on myself on the way back to our room. There's some pics of some of the restaurants we ate at. There's also some random pics of the outside showers, pretty flowers, & some friends we made:And saving the best for last...all the pictures from the beach:

It's October...

and you know what that means...time to get into the Halloween spirit! We are! :)

Virginia Evelyn Godwin: 1925 - 2011

My dear sweet Great Grandmother passed away the weekend before last and I was absolutely beside myself b/c I was in Mexico and missed her funeral. Her funeral was on my 30th bday. :( Her death wasn't sudden, she died of old age. In fact, she lived a very long joyous life. I have so many fond memories of her including visiting her and my Great Grandfather in Colorado every summer. Her introducing me to coffee. Her little yippie dogs that she would keep inside her shirt. Every room in her house had a theme...there was a "blue" room, a "doll" room, etc. In the blue room everything was literally blue; it was my favorite room. In fact when she passed I collected some blue medicine bottles and a blue Asian tea set and some other things from the room. In her doll room she had a doll collection that consisted of dolls that she thought looked like every single female in our family. She did oil paintings that looked similar to those of Bob Ross... lots of landscapes; got some of those too. I also took a really big sea shell that she had on an end table in her sitting room and she would always tell me if I put it up to my ear I could hear the ocean. Oh and we found tons of diaries and Bibles that had millions of notes of her daily prayers about all of our family members; really neat stuff. I'll def say she was a little quirky (Okay, so a lot quirky...we noticed she painted mascara on herself in a portrait of her and my Great Grandfather and we found a lot money hidden in their dog food), but so sweet and loved everything and everyone. She was a devout Christian and I know she's in a better place now.