Our Honeymoon, Part I

Yep, there is a part one. For our honeymoon we decided to go to the Turks and Caicos Islands. Everyone always asks how we decided on Turks and Caicos. Easy. I've been to a lot of Caribbean islands and we wanted this to be something new for both of us. We also liked that only 300,000 people visit it each year...that means it's pretty uncharted as far as tourism goes. I'll be posting pictures once we get the professional ones. Photos are always slow!


Day One
We had a super early flight to Miami and woke up around 4 a.m. Luckily we only had an hour layover in MIA before we headed to TCI. We flew through a lot of rain and experienced a lot of turbulence...not the best for me because it is a control freaks nightmare. The rain was from the cold front that had come through Texas a day or two earlier and that had given us the 13 degree weather. The nice thing about the flight was that is was nearly empty...it was an off week for tourism down there and we were glad for that!


The airport in TCI is the tiniest I've ever been to. It took forever to get through customs and the luggage claim was a large open room where they threw the luggage haphazardly all over the floor. Adventure? Yes, please.


There are no stoplights on the island. It's that small! We arrived at our hotel at Grace Bay and it was beautiful. Everything was manicured and every plant and flower I've ever dreamed of growing in my garden was growing there.


When we walked into the open air lobby, they immediately handed us a cold towel that smelled like lavender and a fruit punch. Then, one of the front desk girls took us on a tour of the property and of our suite. It's a large property with a small number of guest rooms. Very intimate.

Or suite was 100 sq. ft. smaller than our house. It doesn't look it in the pictures but it really was! There was an amazing full size kitchen with viking appliances - and we definitely weren't cooking. One of my favorite things was the daybed on the porch. I could spend hours on that thing reading.


We were exhausted by the time we finished our tour and decided to take a quick walk on the beach, order room service and go to bed early. Plus, it was chilly (70 degrees) and overcast...not really beach weather.


Day Two
Since the weather still wasn't ideal we decided to have a relaxing day. We had breakfast al fresco and went to the spa for an amazing massage. This spa was the best I've ever been to. Just the way it was designed, with treatment rooms outside, was so peaceful.


After totally relaxing, we went to Lemon for lunch. TCI might be small and not very touristy but they do have great food. No fast food...gourmet food that would make mouths from NYC water. Robert had a lamb burger and I had chickpea fritters with raita. We both had hummus and you could tell it was homemade.


After that we took a taxi over to the conch farm. It's the only one in the world and Robert is obsessed with finding conch shells on vacation so it was a must. It had been damaged by hurricane Ike in 2008 and a lot of it was not repaired but it was worth it. It was a pretty quick tour but we learned how they grow and how to tell a male from a female. We also got to meet Sally and Jerry, their resident celebrity conch.


Our taxi driver waited for us and took us on a tour of Nikki Beach, which used to be a celebrity hot spot before they stopped paying taxes. TCI is so secluded, we were pretty sure Jay Z could walk on any beach and not be noticed.


After that we went back to the hotel and grabbed a pod on the beach and just relaxed until dinner.


For dinner we had to try another recommended restaurant - Grace's Cottage. It's interesting to note that none of the restaurants we ate at were on the beach. Those restaurants are for tourists who like all-inclusive fare. This is where we learned that people eat around 8 or 9 p.m. We arrived at 7 and were the first there...but we got the best table. We played table topics, tried a bunch of wines and had a great time.


When we got back to our hotel we found a letter under our door telling us about the earthquake in Haiti and informing us that we were under a tsunami warning. The TCI is completely flat so if there ever were a tsunami, there wouldn't be much chance for anyone. It was also weird because TCI is only 200 miles from Haiti and we didn't feel a thing. Luckily we had satellite so we were able to tune into CNN to see what was going on. That's when we turned on our phones and listened to voicemails of panicked family. This is a part of our honeymoon we will always remember - we saved the letter. A day later big military aircraft were being diverted to TCI and rescue workers were flooding the empty rooms in our hotel. We had no problem sharing our hotel with there heroes and we felt bad that we couldn't do more. Our hotel was very generous to accommodate them.



Stay tuned for more...

Wedded bliss...

How do you even begin to write a blog about a wedding? I don’t think it’s fair because my perspective is probably very different from other perspectives. I’ve decided to try to write down a few memories and post pictures later. The memories come back sporadically because it truly was a whirlwind. Please post comments of anything fun you remember that I might have missed.

It was a wonderful event. I started out the day before the wedding running errands and welcoming a few family members into town. Then I met the bridesmaids for a little manicure/pedicure therapy. I scurried over the hotel after that to check in and resisted the urge to take a nap. I ordered room service and had a burger – yes, a burger! – for a late lunch. Then I got dressed for the rehearsal and it was a blur after that!

One of the most memorable parts of the rehearsal was when Courtney was pulled out of the audience and turned into the impromptu wedding coordinator. Bless her for doing the timing because we had gone back and forth for a while with our minister trying to decide if we needed a coordinator. Being an event savvy person, I think we would’ve been OK without but I was fine with making everyone comfortable.

The rehearsal dinner went well and there were fabulous speeches. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.

After that, us girls went back to the hotel and enjoyed champagne (Caitlin had a Pepsi) and my sweet bridesmaids had a whole stress relief package for me. They were totally amazing. I have to admit, through the whole thing, I wasn’t ever really stressed. I think if you’re organized you totally avoid that side of a wedding.

The day of we got to sleep in a little, order a fabulous room service breakfast and got ready for hair and makeup. We spent the day chilling out in our suite. I was definitely nervous – a wedding is totally different from getting up in front of people and giving a speech. Little Jason paid us a visit – he was the only boy allowed.

Then, around 3 p.m. it went from leisurely to a blur. I threw on my dress and ran out the door. Ashleigh was a wonderful maid of honor and secured a real mink coat for me to wear. I had not anticipated 13 degree weather on the day of my wedding. It just doesn’t ever happen in Texas…in fact, it hadn’t happened since I was born.

We got to the church and did pictures outside. All of the girls froze but I bet the pictures are amazing. The frostbite was so worth it.

The ceremony went by in a blur and don’t remember a lot of it. I do remember our minister saying Robert’s last name wrong. In fact, I was cracking up and trying so hard not to show it. He was able to get the last name right every time we met but on the big day, totally wrong. Robert corrected him in such a smooth way that no one noticed. Just think Pacman…Pac-lib….Pacleb.

The other very memorable part was walking back down the aisle and getting to the end and stopping. We looked at each other and said, “where do we go now?! What do we do?! We didn’t rehearse this part!” So we jumped in the elevator and went downstairs. We were totally frantic down there because no one joined us. Finally Robert ran up the stairs to make sure no one was waiting on us. We laughed so hard about that.

Then the reception. So much fun. We arrived and I almost forgot to bustle my dress. Then Robert accidentally stepped on one of the 12 bustles and broke it. So for most of the night, I had people stepping on my dress, pulling it down further and further. We barely ate a bite of food and tried to talk to everyone. My friend Jen, also a newlywed, gave me great advice at one point in the night. She said, “stop trying to talk to everyone and go dance with your new husband!”

It was so great to see my Baylor girls, my TCU girls and my childhood friends. My family was all there…having a ball. Homecoming will be a must this year as will several trips around the state. We’re so excited for Monica and Clint’s wedding…Nicki and Steve’s wedding. So many happy times are ahead.

One of my favorite moments from the reception was the garter toss. I thought I would hate that part. All of the guys were jumping up and down and my poor 6’5” brother was messing around with the intent of stealing it from someone. Well, the poor guy caught it and was momentarily excited…until he realized that he had caught his SISTER’S garter. That’s when his face turned to sheer panic. I loved that moment. The next day he asked me what he should do with it.

The very end of the night was also a great moment. We walked through sparklers and hopped into a horse and carriage. I’m not a horse and carriage type of person. I’m not a fairy tale type of person. Since our hotel was only a few blocks away, we decided this was the best option. Everyone was worried that it was so cold but it felt GOOD. After dancing and talking all night, we released our stress and enjoyed the 10 minutes it took to get to the hotel just taking everything in.

And that was it…we’re married!

wedded bliss...

Happily married and off to Turks and Caicos for a week!

A full blog about the wedding coming soon...

One week.

Ahhhh!

ohhh baby, baby...baby, baby....

He's here! Jason Wade was born yesterday. Stacey was a rockstar and went through a 23 hour labor. I'm not going to lie, birth sounds painful and terrible. But when you see that cute guy's little face you can't help but be amazed.

Ashleigh and I went up last night to visit the new parents and their little guy. Here are a few pictures:

Precious little guy

Family pic!

The three of us plus one!

Christmas "wrap" up

This Christmas turned out to be a little unexpected. The forecasters predicted a little rain Christmas Eve...a cold front...a chance of snow to the North...but they did not predict our little Christmas Eve "blizzard." I only say blizzard because that's what they're calling it due to our 50 mph winds. Measured in my back yard after all was said and done was about 3 inches of snow.

We thought it would be a quick snowfall, turning to sleet, so Caitlin and I ran outside to play a little. Robert was pretty unexcited since he grew up around snow. By Christmas Eve evening, everything was iced and the roads were pretty dangerous. Robert's brother ended up at our house, unable to get to his mom's. Justin couldn't make it down 377 to his parent's house in Granbury and ended up at our house too. There was no room in our Inn on Christmas Eve. We made the best of it and watched a movie.



Christmas morning was a little different this year. A white Christmas! But as per usual, everything was paralyzed so we got off to a late start. It was handy having Calvin and Justin there to set up my new TV. I'm very excited to have two great flat screens so I can watch movies in my room when the guys are over. Robert is now officially up with technology with his new iPhone.

My step-brother is visiting from culinary school in New York and cooked us a gourmet Christmas meal. So delicious. Then I had Christmas at the Paclebs that evening. It's always a lot of fun visiting with all of Robert's aunts. We were definitely blessed with gifts this year. I'm very disappointed that I didn't take my camera out at all after our little blizzard or during our Christmas. I feel like everything was pretty rushed this year.

On Saturday my mom and I went to Target and Babies'R'Us and loaded up on clothing and other items for the new addition to our family. Candice and Ken not only had a baby girl in September, but they also adopted their nephew who was born two weeks before their baby was. They officially got him Christmas Eve...what an awesome Christmas present. Mom and I went over to see baby Evan and give him an impromptu baby shower. He is adorable and has a little 'fro going. He is definitely a happy boy because he smiled all afternoon. Except when we were snapping pictures! It was really precious to see his new sister Victoria reaching out for him so soon.

And today was Christmas at my Grandma's. She is the most amazing cook and I always enjoy her creations. I also love seeing my cousins...they're hilarious and so much fun to be around.

Robert has come down with whatever crud I had and Ashleigh and Justin have. Poor guy is asleep on the floor right now. Tonight we started putting together the wedding favors. I can't wait to finish them this week. I need a little craft to keep my sanity in check.

In less than two weeks we'll be Mr. & Mrs.!

The Kindle Christmas...

Every year I help my little sister buy a gift for our mom because she can't drive and doesn't have any money. It's always fun helping her come up with the perfect gift - and sometimes a little stressful. Our mom is not easy to shop for.

So this year, we came up with the Kindle, Amazon's wireless reading device. It's perfect because my mom loves to read and loves to travel. She hates the bulkiness of books in luggage and loves technology. So I went ahead and ordered it for Caitlin to give to mom on Christmas.

Fast forward to yesterday when we were all in the car waiting for the final meeting with the florist. "Guess what I got myself from Tom?" mom asked. "What?" Caitlin and I reply. "A Kindle! And I've already taken it out and downloaded some books!"

Caitlin and I had to pick our jaws up from the floor. I was totally furious that she had bought herself a gift this close to Christmas. I know she felt really bad. What makes it worse is that her birthday is January 4 and we had tied her birthday gifts into the Kindle gift from Caitlin...a nice leather cover and a gift card for books. Guess what? She has already ordered herself the leather cover. Nice. Now we have two additional gifts to find in very little time.

And now, a mere two days before Christmas, it's too late to take the Kindle back and get something else. I've found a replacement present for Caitlin to give her but it's not nearly as sweet as the Kindle.

And now I have a Kindle for my honeymoon. Definitely not something I anticipated but I'll take the windfall. My mom will be on embargo next year in the month of December!