Our Honeymoon (Part II)

I know I know, it's been forever since I wrote about the honeymoon and said I would finish... let's see how good my memory is.

For part one, visit this blog: Our Amazing Honeymoon

The third stop on our trip was Mahogany Bay, Isle Rotan in Honduras.  This part of the trip, we had scheduled a Snub adventure.

Snuba combines what is easy about snorkeling with the experience of breathing underwater like scuba.  Dave had done it before and that's all he had talked about and said he wanted to do it again, so we did... a bunch of us actually took the on the adventure together. 

Jeff, Mandy, Bobby, Dave, Chaunte, Mike, Ryan & Allison

It was so awesome.  You have an oxygen tank floating above the water with airlines that go about 50 feet deep. I had some trouble getting deep the water though cause my weigh belt wasn't heavy enough so one of the instructors had to help me halfway through to add more weight then I went straight to the bottom.  The place we went to has a photographer and took some awesome pictures for us....

After our Snuba adventure, we headed back to the main part of the island and checked out some of the bars before heading back to the ship.

Our fourth and final stop was Grand Cayman, a place we've been before. It's actually the place we told his mom we got engaged! 

One of my favorite pictures from our honeymoon

Here, once again, we didn't have any plans. We just decided to do some shopping, walking around, eating and of course, drinking.

Kelly, Susanne, Chaunte' & Debbie (My Moms!)

 No stop could be complete without going to Margaritaville -- This one has a pool and waterslide inside... pretty awesome.

During our stop at Margaritaville, Dave disappeared for a while and I admit, I got really upset because I was waiting on him to order food.  I was starving!! He was gone for about 30 minutes and then I saw him come back to a different table with some of the other group with us and he hung out there for a while.  I was so frustrated... at that point, I just decided to order.  Dave finally came to the table, and had a surprise for me.  Before going to the restaurant, we had stopped in the Pandora jewelry store for his mom.  I fell in love with their charm bracelets... and really wanted one but Dave had left his credit card on the ship and we had to tender to get to the island, so it was pretty much impossible to get back to the ship in time.  Dave and Kelly had actually snuck down to the store, and bough me a bracelet!

Our final day on the ship was much like our first full day... relaxing by the pool, buying last minute gifts, more putt putt and checking out the finale show, which one of our friends got to be apart of.  We had such a great time and hated to see it come to and end.  Now that's it's January 2012, we are already making plans for our next trip to sea! 

2011: The Year In Review

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of 2011.  This year has had it's ups and downs, people have come in and go in my life , but overall, 2011 has been a great year.

I figured my last blog of the year could be a reflection of big events that have taken place throughout the year.

As always the year started with my birthday along with so many other friends celebrating their birth.
We had people over for game night and had a lot of fun.

26th Birthday

Shortly after that day, my "nephew"  was born. My friends Melissa gave birth to Reid.  He's the cutest kids I've ever seen and I'm not saying that just because he's my nephew, he really is!

Reid Lewis

In February, my friend Josh G. received orders for deployment. Dave and I were lucky enough to be in Columbia they day he flew out and were able to see him off along with my mom, our friends Krystle & Joe and Josh's fiancé, Stee. 

Me with Josh & Stee

My friend & sorority sister Prissy got married as well that same weekend. I got to reconnect with a lot of girls I hadn't talked in since graduation, so it was opportunity to see some many faces! Congrats again to them, they are so cute and such a sweet couple!

Andy & Prissy (Photo Courtesy: J.Kay Bryan)

March & April were full of events related to the wedding. The ladies at the church in Columbia that I grew up at hosted a bridal shower for me.  It was such a fun time. I was really glad that one of my bridesmaids, Amanda and my future in-laws were able to make it since it was during the middle of the week. 

Church Bridal Shower

Christie, Melissa & Tracy also host another bridal shower/bachelorette party for me at the clubhouse at our apartment complex.  We had an awesome time, with lots of laughs. 

Bridal Shower/ Bachelorette Party

Melissa, Christie & Tracy

May of course was the best month of the entire year.. it's the month I married buy best friend and became a Turner. We also went on our 7 day honeymoon cruise. 

You can see more pictures from the wedding here and some other pictures from the honeymoon here.  ( I know, I never finished blogging about the cruise... one day....) 

In June, we took things slow, trying to get back to normal life and get our place in order after being invaded with wedding gifts.  I did host my first ever lia sophia jewelry part with my friend Heike. Us girls had a great time trying on jewelry and of course, spending money!

Heike with lia sophia

We celebrated the 4th of July with some friends and family out in Mount Pleasant and caught the fireworks show on the Isle of Palms.  

August and September were pretty busy.  I got a chance to finally see Hootie & The Blowfish in concert for the first time. It was great to see Darius and the band get back together and play in their hometown. 

I also worked with a non-profit for a while and met a great person that I have now become good friends with.  Even though we no longer are apart of that organization, we are hoping that in 2012 we can create a new one to give back to our military. Susan is such an inspiration and I'm so glad to have met her!

With Susan on 9/11

My grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.  They were on a read trip to Texas over their anniversary, so they decided to have a vow renewal ceremony in October at our home church.  About 40 people showed up to show their love and support.

In November, Dave & I got the chance to go to the Florida vs. USC football in Columbia.  Our friend Josh got to come home early from deployment and got tickets.  We sat in the end zone -- great seats -- and it was the perfect game to go to! It was homecoming so I got a chance to see a bunch of friends who were in town for the game.

Josh & Dave

Thanksgiving we spent in Columbia with family.  My mom & stepdad came down from Kentucky and Dave's family came up from Augusta.  

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Dave had to leave for El Paso, Texas for a month of training for work, leaving me back in Charleston by myself.  Boy, that was the longest month of my life.

During December, my best friend married her best friend in a small ceremony! Suzanne & Matt got married on the 17th in Athens, Georgia.  They are the sweetest couple and are perfect for each other! I'm so happy they found one another. 

Suzanne & Matt

Dave happend to return the same day I was in Athens for Suzanne's wedding, meaning he got to come home a week early and we'd be able to spend more time with his mom for Christmas.  We spent 4 nights in Augusta. On Christmas day, my grandparents and uncle came down to exchange gifts and have dinner.  We had a great time. 

The Baxter-Brown-Dasher-Turner Family!

Our First Christmas

Those are just some of the highlights of the year. I'm really looking forward to what's in store for 2012! 

From our family to yours, Happy New Year!

Our Amazing Honeymoon

I've been meaning to write about our awesome honeymoon for weeks or even months... now but things have been crazy. But I am taking time now to do so.

After a long day with the wedding, there was no time for rest and relaxation. It was time to pack up and load up and hit the road.  We invited a lot of people to join us on the cruise because so many people have traveled or done so much to help with the wedding, we just wanted to be able to spend more time them.  In total, there was around 30 of us who went. We rented a bus to transport everyone to Tampa so we wouldn't have to worry about driving. After a stop in Orlando for breakfast, we arrived in Tampa to see the beautiful Carnival Legend.

 The agenda - to rest and relax for 7 days while in the western Caribbean.

Once on board, we hit the Lido deck (where the pools at) to grab some cold drinks and watch the boat sail off.  I have to say I was really looking forward to dinner that night just for dessert. Carnival's Warm Chocolate Molten Cake it the best!!

Dessert!

The first night we checked out all the areas of the ship.. the casino, the night club, the karaoke bar, sports bar, adult only deck, 
and of course a bunch of the bars.  We also just took some time to enjoy the balcony room we had.  It was crazy to even think..WE'RE MARRIED!

Our first day at sea was just a day of enjoying the boat. From hitting the pool, to playing putt putt, we had a good time. That night was our first formal dinner. So it was great to see everyone dressed up. The night, our waiters also brought us out a special dessert since we were celebrating our honeymoon. Our friends, Kim and Mike, had also celebrated 10 years of marriage! That night we checked out the comedy club which was pretty fun. Carnival always has a wide variety of entertainment on board.

Margaritaville In Mexico

Our first stop one we'd been to before and were super excited about: COZUMEL, MEXICO!  We didn't really have any plans for this port but to drink, have fun and enjoy the weather! We decided to head to the downtown area where we spent part of the time shopping, Señor Frogs and lunch at Margaritaville on the water. We ended up getting split up with our group for a good part of the day but we able to meet up finally an hour before we headed back to the boat. I have to say that's what sucked most -- not having a cell phone to call people to communicate when on land. Oh well.  We also spent some time at Fat Tuesdays and a few other locals places before heading back and boarding the ship.

The Wet Lizard

Our second stop - Belize City , Belize. To be honest-- not a lot of great things to say about this place. I was actually really depressed and felt sad for the people who lived there.  Th port area was decent, not the greatest, but as soon as you went out into the "town" you were in a different country. We took a tour of the city and went to a "rum factory". We got back to port and found a great bar though.. The Wet Lizard.  It's actually owned by a lady who's originally from Atlanta.  It's on the second floor so you can see out into the ocean. We got to leave our mark there as they let you write of the wood.

Honeymoon Steakhouse Dinner

The afternoon on the ship, I had an appointment at the salon to cut off my hair. I'd let it grow out for the wedding but I couldn't deal with the length anymore, especially with the hot weather.
That night Dave and I had reservations for the steakhouse on the ship. It was a great time for us to enjoy dinner alone and to get away from everyone. It was perfect and delicious!

For more on the cruise, I'll finish later. There's still two more stops to talk about and our Snuba experience! Stay tuned!!