Post Vacation Syndrome

My house is a mess. There is a mile long list of things to catch up on, laundry to do, floors to mop, toilets to clean, and alas my will power died on vacation. It has been so hard coming back home and getting back into the swing of things. Mark and I knew we were headed to Mexico on an all-expense paid trip of spoils last September, and I have been anxiously awaiting its arrival. I worked out, I shopped, I stressed about what to wear to fancy dinners and cocktail hours, knowing I would stick out for not drinking and hoping to at least look like I belonged there somehow. And just like that.....it was all over in the blink of an eye. Even though I missed Paige terribly, this was the best vacation I had ever been on, EVER! It was such a blast. I met some amazing people, made new friends, and enjoyed a few days of heavenly bliss without a stress in the world. When someone else pays for your trip, it is just a million times more enjoyable. Mark golfed, I snorkeled, we canoed, zip-lined, para sailed, swam, explored ruins and underwater caves, ate, slept, pampered at the spa, walked in flour-like sand, and soaked up some rays. Fabulous. It was just fabulous. Mark has more pictures on his phone I have yet to transfer, so I hope to post those later on.

View from our hammock on our own private balcony

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3---getting the hint? I literally laid on these huge comfy beds on the beach for hours with my new gal pal Kasey. We sat there for hours while people brought  food and drink, fluffed my pillow, and then cleaned everything up. Mark would come home from the golfing and ask what I did. I responded with, "A whole lot of nothing." It was amazing.

Perfection

There was some sort of activity once a day, and since our hubby's wanted to golf most of the time, Kasey and I enjoyed jet skiing and snorkeling together. We had never jet skied before, and I am sure we were pretty awesome out there. I wish we would have seen more on the snorkel trip, but we did see a huge barracuda, some fish, and an octopus which I am still wondering if I actually managed to see. It was pretty camouflaged and even getting right up next to it I merely nodded my head to our guide that  I did in fact see it. 

When we got tired of beach side service, we would head over to the outside restaurant for some yummy fixings. My favorite food down there was at the resort. Breakfast was AMAZING. I don't even like breakfast, but it certainly hit the spot each day. We also loved the guacamole and shrimp tacos. Delicious.

Headed out for our first jet ski ride.

Waiting to para sail. We did this our last beach day, and I think Kasey grabbed some good action shots, I was too afraid to take my phone, and after taking the jet ski ride of death out to the boat, I was glad I left it on the beach. Tide was rolling in and we headed pretty far out to get to the boat. There were some pretty big swells that our little jet ski flew over. Being slightly afraid of the ocean, I feared for my life and got pretty up close and personal with our jet ski driver. Mark almost bounced off the back multiple times. I felt fortunate to be in the middle. It was way scarier than the actual para sailing portion of the trip. I needed to sign the waiver way before I got on the boat!

One of 5 fountains at the spa

The spa, where I spent 3 glorious hours. My contacts pretty much dried up on my eye balls and by the time I was done and taken out of my dark, music filled room into the bright sunshine, I hardly remembered my name. I could barely open my eyes, couldn't understand what my Spanish masseuse was saying, and had no idea what he handed me to drink. I am pretty sure he thought I was "special"  at that point as my face contorted to keep my lenses from falling out.

Entrance to our hotel. The grounds were unbelievable. It was set in a pretty dense jungle and the grounds were impeccable. The resort only has 60 total rooms and they were set apart from each other. It felt so quaint, quiet, and private. Each night they would light the paths connecting the rooms, pools and common areas with candles. I felt like a rich person for the week. It was other worldly for sure. Thanks Navex for the awesome trip and thanks Mark for working so hard and earning it. I am trying not to get excited about next year, but the Amalfi coast sounds amazing. C'mon Mark! You can do it!!!

The only downfall was leaving this little bug. She did great and split time at both grandparents'. I couldn't believe how much more she talked when I got home. She managed to learn sentences in the time I was gone. We were off the grid, and only had the capabilities to Facetime and only managed to hook up twice while we were gone. It felt strange to feel so disconnected! Paige gave me the world's greatest hug when I got home, which made up for the 50 degree temperature drop, at least temporarily:)

Paige was super excited about "Hop" this year. She calls all bunnies "Hop" and after meeting the Easter Bunny at the grocery store, she was elated he was going to come to her house. She only left the grocery store after reassuring her he would come visit that night. When Mark woke her up for the church the next morning and asked her who came, she emphatically declared "Hop!!" I was surprised she connected it all and remembered it. She wasn't as excited about picture taking, and has a mouth full of treats in this shot, but I had to document her adorable Easter outfit.

Paige loved finding candy filled eggs. It's fun to see her grow up and be able to participate in things. Maybe next year we will try the whole egg dye thing, and be as excited about Jesus as we are about "Hop."

Paige loves to be outside and loves to go for walks. This is basically in our backyard and these two gals couldn't be any happier about it. I have concluded that warm weather is a special gift for moms! I am looking forward to a summer of outdoor adventures.

Paige is growing up so fast and makes us laugh everyday. Here are a few things she has said lately:

While on a walk, "Hey, do you hear that? Listen......it's a plane!" Very serious

After our trip and spending one night in my company, she took a break from breakfast to say, "Hey, you know what? We should go to Mammas (grandma's)" Ya I know, Grandma is way cooler.

While at Mamma and Boppa's....She told Boppa to "follow me" and proceeded to put him in "time out, where he had to "stay and be nice"

Paige takes good care of her baby and had changed its diaper, read it a story, and put it to bed. In the morning while eating breakfast at Boppa's, she stood up with a start and said, "Oh no! My baby is still sleeping!"

We took Paige with us to watch Scout be shod and then  to a horse sale. Paige was pretty upset both times that she couldn't ride. When I asked her if she had fun at the horse sale, she said "no, it was boring, I wanna ride"

In the car seeing a sign that had blown down, Paige with disgust said, "Oh man!"

Was upset about needing to say goodbye to Mamma and Boppa and going to bed. Mamma told her it was time for them to go home because Boppa needed to go to bed. Paige marched upstairs to retrieve Boppa and told him, "you need to go to bed Boppa"

Paige is the most animated little thing and cracks me up with her facial expressions and attitude. She is growing up too fast.

In other news, we have completed our home study and we are now waiting for it to be submitted to the state for approval. It should be about two weeks. Now it really is a waiting game, which honestly is the hardest part. I need to start getting our profile and scrapbook stuff done, but once that is done, I feel like it is largely out of our hands and will be relinquishing our control a bit and putting faith in charge. I am still trying to decide how active I want to be in marketing and networking ourselves. That part of the adoption process makes me squirm. So many mixed emotions on that one! I know it really is the only way to get the word out and advertising is a big deal, but it is so against my personality. Not to mention it scares me a bit in multiple ways. Sigh. We shall see I guess.