on our trip to MX

The couches were dirty in the lobby.  That was my first impression, despite the kind servants bringing me a glass of champaign and a cool towel that smelled of lavender, or something delightful after traveling since 6:30 that morning.  Oh no... did we choose the wrong resort?  I thought it was going to be clean and modern and white - that's how the pictures portrayed it online.  It turned out that those couches were not in fact a true representation of the rest of the resort, which was very clean, well kept, and our room had a very modern & updated feel to it.  But, first impressions are a big deal.  Even if it is something as minor as dirty couches.  Because of them there was something I wasn't convinced of about this place.  Did I really like it?  Was it worth the $?  Why is there a musty smell in our room?  With those thoughts setting the tone for our trip (plus it was gray & rainy when we arrived and the first day), it took me a couple days to embrace it.  All of it and just enjoy myself.

Really it took both of us a couple days to find our place.  It was our first all-inclusive resort and we weren't quite sure where we fit in and how to just make it the trip we wanted.  Kind of like the new kid in school.  We weren't part of the noisy/cool group who were in the "big pool" all day.  We weren't honeymooners.  We didn't stay up late and woke up before 6 am every day.  We always felt ahead of the crowd and not a part of it, which sometimes feels lonely.  But on about day 3 we talked about it and reminded ourselves of why we came on our trip and enjoyed it for what it was and what we wanted it to be.  For us.

Our room was freezing.  16 degrees C to be exact (which we discovered is 60.8 degrees F.  Yea.  Glad I packed a sweatshirt).  And no matter how much I turned up the thermostat, it stayed the same temperature.

The maids had way too much energy and would clean our room multiple times a day.  We caught on to this quickly and put our "do not disturb" sign out after the first cleaning, as it seemed a little excessive to have our soap rearranged and the blanket on our bed in a new design every time we entered our room.  Really, all the staff was incredible with their service and would say "it's a pleasure" when you thanked them for their service.  I really started to believe them.

We wanted (or thought we would get) massages but ended up being too cheap.  We're accountants.  I got a manicure instead... a fun shade of blue.  Thelma was the most detailed manicurist I know and my 24 minute manicure took an hour.  The spa had mint flavored chlorophyll water that was amazing.  It said it restored & repaired everything in my body, or something very close to that.  I wanted to drink about a gallon of it on the spot, but wasn't sure if my body could handle such a cleansing.

We, of course, didn't take as many couple pictures as we wanted, because who wants 10 million "selfies" and who wants to ask strangers for pictures?  I've already confessed this battle.

The forecast said it was supposed to rain everyday.  Like an 80% chance.  It rained the day we got there and the next and that's about it.  Thankful for that.

I hated my hair.  Sounds shallow, but short bangs & short hair that barely goes into a ponytail = not fun.  The minute I went outside my hair was instantly frizz, frizz, frizz.  I tried not to be grumpy about it.  On about day 4 I bought a head band thing that saved my burned part and made me happy.

I decided I wanted to be a hat person.  It seemed like the best solution to my hair and the fact that my face only wanted about 5 minutes of sun before it felt like it was burning.  I wore Chad's baseball cap and bought a fun hat on the way home in the airport.  Good timing.  I'll use it next beach trip.

I read my first Shauna Niequist book, Cold Tangerines.  It reminded me that I like to write & really need to get back to regular journaling.  2014 goal.  Add it to the list.

We laid on one of those beds on the beach.  I always wanted to do that.. it seems like a very vacationy thing to do.

Remember those days when you could stay outside soaking up the sun all day?  I'm getting farther & farther from those days.  I really prefer shade more than full blast sun & like lots of clouds to break up the sun.  I wear more sunscreen too and care less about a tan.  I think this means I'm growing up.  Or that I'm a mom.  Probably both.

I thought we would eat more and constantly feel full.  I stereotyped all-inclusives to be that you just ate food all day or something.  But really we just ate meals and no snacks and I was actually usually hungry for each meal.  The courses were pretty small, which was a good thing since I ordered about 5 every meal.  The buffet was the only place that really really filled me up.

I ate the same thing for breakfast everyday.  Literally.  The exact same omelet with green juice.  But it was delicious and that's why I ate it.

The other most delicious thing we ate was ceviche & aguachile (which were very similar).  I want to make it.  It was so fresh.  So lime.  Sooo delicious.  We found out about it with only 2 days left.  Only 2 days to eat it.  That was the saddest thing about our trip.

I don't think I'm a natural at vacationing.  I'm one of those people who likes structure, things planned, small activities to keep me busy so then I enjoy the downtime more.  A day full of down time can tend to make me feel a little stressed out about what I'm going to do all day & how I'm going to make it feel productive.  Exercise and reading were about the most productive things I found to do, and in the end, the days went by fast and I definitely enjoyed them.  Note to self:  vacation isn't supposed to be productive.

We loved early mornings on the beach.  A couple runs.  A sunrise.  Reading before the crowd arrived.  Peacefulness.  We spent most of our days on the beach too.  All day.  Listening to the waves and soaking it up.  

The beach was different than I thought it would be.  Narrow.  Lots of seaweed lining the edge (I believe partly due to lots of rain).  But they worked hard to maintain it and kept it as clean as possible.  But it was a beach so it was still beautiful.

I was reminded that it's hard to keep perspective on vacation.  Life is suddenly easy and you get to be selfish with your time and my biggest decision of the day was how many lattes to drink.  I found myself getting annoyed by things like my towel blowing in my face - oh no!  And such it is with life... if it were always easy and never hard we would lose perspective and wouldn't appreciate it, so we should welcome challenges.

And  now we've had time to hash our trip and talk about our favorite parts and what we learned.  It's always good to learn things.

  1.  We loved our time together and our days were great, but by the evening we were ready to socialize (with people we know).  It would be a fun trip to do with friends.

  2.  Eat the things you like over and over again.  The other things are probably disappointing.  Be ok with a little indulgence.

  3.  Be opposite of the crowd - early to the beach, find a quiet spot and claim it for the day.  We liked the little huts.  A little privacy and shade.

  4.  People wear all kinds of things they shouldn't and fail to wear what they should.  Enough about that.

  5.  If you want your Mojito (my drink of choice) with fresh lime, you have to order it that way.  No fake syrup please.

And there you have it.  It was a good trip.  It was our trip and it was good.

my breakfast omelette and green juice

the beloved ceviche 

and aguachile

the spa outcome

a couple pics of our room

a pic of one of the many pools at the resort

the little hut we snagged for a couple days

every morning they raked the sand volleyball court to say "welcome" in english and spanish

before our departure home.. a slight bit more tan than when we arrived