Memphis Holidays

After our cruise, we flew directly into Memphis just in time for a yummy Christmas dinner at the Carnell's!  It was wonderful being able to spend Christmas with Ryan's family and see what their family traditions are in comparison to mine.  I especially loved getting to spend more time with his family members because I've only been around them a limited number of times because they are so far away, so I love the opportunities to get to know everyone a little more.

Dinner was absolutely delish!  And Jane's fudge definitely didn't disappoint, it was divine as always!

Ryan's family does a gift exchange between all the adults/married couples.  We received exactly what we asked for, the board games Pandemic and Dominion.  Thank you Jane and Skip!  We LOVE them!!

I don't know why but we didn't take any pictures while we were out there, I know, it's pathetic, but in all reality, I was photoed-out after all the pictures we took while cruising.

While we were there Skip and Sherry took us out to many yummy places for food.  We of course had a divine meal at Bozo's, our favorite place to get pulled pork.  Ryan and Skip spent the afternoon hunting up at the farm and had zero luck, any by zero luck I mean, probably the worst luck a person can have in a day...

First, Ryan and Skip were drove more than halfway to the farm before they forgot the ATV and had to turn around and come back to get it.  Once they finally got to the farm, the axil of said ATV broke in the middle of the woods in the evening dusk.  Skip's good friend luckily came to the rescue and fished them out of the woods, however Skip lost the keys to the truck and they spent about 30+ minutes looking for the keys in the dark to find out that somehow they ended up in his boot!  Finally, we thought everything was good and right in the world after eating at Bozo's and coming back to the Carnell's house.  Once we arrived we realized that Ryan's phone vanished into thin air.  He made a call in the truck after we left Bozo's, and then it was gone...so someplace between the truck and the house, it disappeared.  Sherry, Ryan, Skip and I spent the entire next day searching EVERYWHERE for the dang phone with no luck with a collect 21+ hours of scouring the house, truck, garbage, and garage. Oh well.

We also went to the famous Memphis Rendezvous.  It was alright, but in reality, I think the Germantown Commissary is way better for ribs {Ryan disagrees with this}.  Afterwards we stopped by the Kooky Canuck's for mouth watering pazoockie {undercooked chocolate chip cookie with vanilla bean ice cream on top}.  It was good in my mouth good.

Kevin and Jessica took us out for a night on the town and got us Gus's Fried Chicken--another Memphis must eat.  Definitely don't think I've ever had such good fried chicken in my entire life.

I was introduced to some more Southern cuisine items while I was there.  Sherry made me some southern grits.  At first I was very hesitant to try them because I have never had good ones before, however these were light and fluffy {basically they were BOMB.com} and I gobbled them up as quickly as she made them.  Another southern specialty I feel in love with is called Boiled Custard.  They best way to describe it is premium melted vanilla ice cream that you drink cold.  Love it more than egg nog, which I thought would be impossible.  Still, my very favorite southern food is Lemon Icebox Pie {from the Germantown Commissary of course}.  One day, I will find that recipe....

I love my in-laws and I love Memphis.  If I had my way, we'd move out to Memphis forever...maybe one day Ryan will get a job there!

Our Christmas break was absolutely incredible!!!

It's Official, I'm a college Graduate!

I looked at my grades today and I've actually graduated!  I know it's taken 3 semesters longer than it should have, but I continued onward and finally succeeded.

Even better news, I got an A in the most important and hardest class I've taken {senior thesis} AND I got an A in German...and for those who know me,  you know that I loathe German with every inch of my body and that I couldn't pronounce a word of it until this class!  Yay for hard work and determination.

So, now begins my new chapter in life...and I have NO idea what I'm doing

Tulum Mayan Ruins

Our last and final trip on the cruise was to Cozumel, Mexico.  Again, not that impressed with Mexico.  There was only about a mile or two of nice area until you were in run down dirty areas again.  We honestly don't understand what the big deal is about going to Mexico?  {We would definitely rather go to Belize or Hawaii than waste money going to Mexico again.}

The large Mayan Ruins of Tulum are located about 1.5 hours from the Cozumel port so we took an excursion there.  This is one of the temples and some close ups.  The inside is covered in really neat frescos and the corners of the ruin have side profiles of men.  

The ruins were huge and dated to about 900 AD.  I've never walked around in a city that old before so it was a very neat experience.  We also learned about the Mayan 2012 hoopla.  It turns out that they DON'T believe that the "world is going to end," rather, December 21, 2012 is the day that all of the astronomical clocks reset and have made one full revolution.

There are no words for this picture

{Sidenote} In no way is this actually proven, but many LDS scholars believe that  Book of Mormon ancestry has associations with the Mayan culture.  {We actually met a group on our cruise from BYU studying the Mayan culture in relation to the Book of Mormon.}  After wandering around Tulum and learning about the architecture, language/writing, and practices, you could definitely see some connections...but again, it's just neat speculation.  Another place I have on my 'To-Visit List' is Guatemala to visit our friend Andre, and he know of some other pretty cool Mayan places there that are said to be the 'Waters of Mormon' which would be awesome to visit too!

Another aspect of the Tulum I was not expecting was the awesome beach underneath the city cliffs!  It was spectacular {but crowded}.  There is a huge cliff behind the Temple that drops down to a rocky beach with huge waves and turquoise water.  We spent a few minutes relaxing in the sand and splashing around in the water before we had to head back to the boat!

Our cruise was perfect and was a great way to enjoy each other's company, celebrate our marriage, and relax after a very rigorous semester!!!

The Beaches of Costa Maya

Our third port city was Costa Maya, Mexico.  Let's just say we are grateful we had the opportunity to visit another foreign city, but we will never go there again voluntarily.

The city was pretty dirty and run down and there were a lot of vendors trying to sell us crap everywhere.  However, I did get rather good at haggling...

I thought this red building was the only clean and 'cute' building in the entire city.  Seriously, don't go here unless you like to drink.

Since we don't drink, there wasn't anything eventful to do, so we payed a guy 3 bucks to take us to a beach.  The beach wasn't that nice, but it was wonderful being able to relax and soak up the sun with sand between your toes for a day!

You Better Belize It!

So, I retract my previous statement of wanting to reside in Roatán, Honduras after spending the day in Belize.  Both Ryan and I are in complete agreement that we will most certainly be traveling to Belize again in the near future and that one day when we are stinking rich, we'll buy a small beach house on one of the cayes overlooking the gorgeous emerald water.

After researching Belize before we left for the cruise, we decided to spend our time snorkeling here because supposedly Belize is the 2nd best area for snorkeling in the world...

Ryan and I have decided that along with taking up recreational kayaking, we're also going to take more vacations centered around snorkeling/scuba diving because we found something that we actually both like doing and more importantly are both good at too!


At first, I was a little apprehensive about jumping into the ocean without a life jacket because our guide scared the group about going into the ocean and not being a strong swimmer.  Ryan however bolstered my confidence and told me I'd do great without a floatee and that he'd help me if I got too tired.  I'm SO grateful I decided to go without one because I realized I'm a pretty good swimmer and I would have missed out on some pretty neat experiences if I would have been stuck just bobbing on the surface.

Can you tell it was our honeymoon by the snorkeling hand-holding?

This is just SOME of the many wonders we saw:

Paige and Eric decided to bring Asher along on the snorkeling adventure.  Must I say, he truly is a water loving baby!  He didn't cry once the entire time and loved holding on to Eric and kicking his feet around in the ocean!  What a little cutie!

After exploring the reef, our guide took us to a nearby sandbar where nurse sharks and stingrays hung out.  It was absolutely thrilling swimming around with those magnificent creatures.  We even got to pet them.  The stingrays were pretty soft and slippery, but the nurse sharks had this nylon-meshlike skin.  They were SO cool!

Afterwards, we stopped about 20 miles off the mainland coast in a small fishing village called Caye Caulker.  It was a pristine beach utopia {for the budget minded}.  We ate lunch here and fell in love with the quaint village.

Hasta que nos volvamos a encontrar!!!

"Barbie Island Dream House" Roatan, Honduras

Our first island destination was Roatán, Honduras.  I've never been to an exotic tropical island before so I was in love with every single aspect of Roatán, immediately wanting to move there ASAP.

To me, Roatán was going to be my own personal "Barbie Island Dream" filled with darling colorful homes, tropical jungles, monkeys, dogs, and exotic beautiful beaches.  Ryan was quick to ruin my day dream by pointing out that Roatán was also like a, "Barbie {3rd world country} Island" which contained "Barbie Island rabid dogs," "Barbie Island Run Down Shacks," and "Barbie Island Crazy Driving Toothless Men."  {He may have ruined my wanting to move to Roatán after these revelations.}

Despite the fact that Roatán is probably not a dream island to claim residence on, we definitely had the time our our lives here.

First, we rented a tiny Fiat and drove around the island until we found a remote tourist spot called, "Gumbalimba Park."  We decided this was probably a decent place to spend the day since it looked clean and well kept for a relatively low admission price.

Next, we went on a tour of a few little museums of wildlife/pirates from the island:

This was an awesome and rather scary old wood and rope bridge we had to walk across

Then we hiked a guided trail of the jungles and saw many, many lizards:

Lizards were EVERYWHERE....this is the Jesus Christ lizard.
He got his name because he runs across the top of water

One of my favorite parts was when we ran across some playful monkeys and macaws.

The monkeys were just hanging out and would randomly jump on person to person and pick through your hair.  I'll have to admit, it was a little strange {and unhygienic}, and definitely called for a nice long shower afterwards, but it was still pretty neat.

We also learned a random fact that macaws are monogamous like humans, so when their mate dies, they get really sad and lonely and usually die shortly afterwards.  {That will happen to Ryan and I for sure in 65 years too...}

Overall, we felt like Tarzan since we were surrounded by monkeys, vines, large insects and thick jungle.  This was so fun and very memorable!

At first, only one was on Ryan, and then the other monkey randomly jumped on my head and totally shocked us!

And we finally ended the adventure with an unforgettable hour of sea kayaking on the park's private beach:

Sea kayaking was the best, and we were actually a great team out there.
The bottom of our kayak was glass so we could look down at all the coral
and fish swimming beneath us!!

Oh Roatán, I will always remember you forever!  And, would come back in a heartbeat...{even though Ryan doesn't think you're 'Dream Home' quality.}