Finally a vacation!

Jesse and I have been talking about taking a vacation for the past...well, forever! We have not gone anywhere in over two years, and even then we were with his family. We have not had a vacation by ourselves since our 1st anniversary, and before that, our honeymoon. Needless to say, we are both craving time away to relax and enjoy being together again.

We started looking a couple of months ago really seriously trying to plan a cool vacation. Last week we finally made a decision and a commitment (the bill is paid!) for a week in Solimen Bay, Mexico!

I found this little place literally right on the beach. It is located in a bay, surrounded by corral reefs. My main desire is to snorkel and Jesse really wanted to kayak. This location is perfect for both. It is a two story building, and we chose the top level. It is small, but has a full kitchen so we can cook if we choose.

This view is from our balcony- you can see how close we are to the beach! Literally the "front yard!" The kayaks down there are owned by the property owners, and so we have free access to them all week, which is perfect since Jesse wanted to kayak anyway- now we dont have to spend money on renting.
This is the kitchen. Not huge, but big enough for us have access to what we need and keep bottled water, etc in the fridge.
This is the front of the villa. Again, we have the top unit.
This is our balcony. As you can see, there is a nice table out there (I can see us eating many-a-meal out there), two hammocks, and a built-in grill that is not shown. Ah- heaven!
Like I said, the place is small. This is about it (with the kitchen opposite the futon). But it is nice, it is air conditioned, and we are going to either be on the beach or in the hammocks anyway!
I am so excited- it is going to be hard to wait until the end of September!! I'm sure it will be worth it to go for an entire week. :)

Rest assured that there will be more pictures come our return!

Dont play catch with a 12 lb. ball!

It is raining today. As a matter of fact, it is supposed to rain all week. Rain for Jesse means a day off work. Yes, he still has to wake up early, go in to work, and try to wait it out, but most of the time soggy soil equals afternoon nap for Jesse.

Today, he decided he wanted to go work out, and I said I would go with him over my lunch break. So, we headed up to the gym and began our respective workouts. He started out on the bike, and I began on the elliptical machine. Then we did some weights together, and finally began our ab finale.

Sidenote:
Luckily, the way the gym is set up, there is a mini hall that dead-ends, and they keep a lot of the ab equipment over in that corner (which I appreciate, because it is kind of hidden, so no one can laugh as you are dying trying to complete crunch #3 of a 25 set!) I was very thankful we were hidden in the corner of this small hallway, as you will hear later!

We headed over to the ab hall, grabbed a mat and a medicine ball, (12 lb. medicine ball to be exact), and began exercise number one. This exercise consists of one partner lying on the pat, while the other partner stands on their feet. The two toss the medicine ball back and forth, and the one on the mat does a sit up with each toss of the ball. Pretty simple, right? The only thing you have to be able to do is stay coordinated and focused...oh yeah, and know how to count! On my second set of 20, I tossed the 12 lb. ball to Jesse who was supposed to hold it, as I had completed the set. He had lost track of the count, and tossed it back to me, and since I was not paying attention, or looking to catch it and toss it back, it hit my square in the face. Yes people, I had a 12 lb. medicine ball hit me in the face, right on my nose.

I immediately fell over, all dramatic like you would expect in a movie, and instinctively started to cry. Jesse of course panicked, crawling on his knees to see my face and make sure my nose was not broken or bleeding. The throbbing set in at once, and has not really subsided since. Needless to say, I have been holding a bag of frozen corn on my face all afternoon. :)

12 lb. medicine ball + Melody's face = NOT PRETTY

The really ironic and funny part of the story is the fact that just Sunday morning I woke up with a giant fever blister forming on my bottom lip. It continued to swell all Sunday, until Sunday night Jesse finally got me some Abreva and forced me to put it on three times before bed, to try and stop the swelling sore. So, tomorrow when I go into work for a few meetings, I will have a puffy lip, swollen eyes, and a bruised nose. LOL. People are going to think I was severly beat over the weekend! I told Jesse he better hide...

**Note to self:
Do not throw a 12 lb. ball at the face of another human being, unless certain they will catch it!

Tory's wedding

This weekend I went up to Tyler so that I could attend Tory's wedding. I know she and Chris have waited a long time for their marriage day, and I was so thankful to be able to share in the special moments.

Isn't her wedding cake beautiful? I did not eat any of this cake, but I was all over the chocolate groom's cake. It was chocolate cake, with a chocolate fudge center, with chocolate (white and milk chocolate) covered strawberries, served on a warm plate. Man, that makes me excited just remembering...
Here is the picture of all four of us ex-Systek girls. Tory caught our eye as she was preparing to cut the cake (naturally I was one of the first in line), and so we were able to chat for a few minutes afterwards and get this picture with the bride.
The wedding ceremony was one of the sweetest ceremonies I have ever been to. Don't get me wrong, I love weddings, and I tend to cry no matter what. But these two were so sweet and loving towards one another, it made me cry. Chris looked so tenderly and so lovingly at Tory that everyone witnessing could see his love for his bride. It was an amazing moment, not only for them, but for all of us who could see the love.
I think Tory was one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. The entire wedding was simple, elegant, and super classy. Every single detail was fixed to the nines, without being over the top. You can tell that a lot of time, effort, and thought went into making this the happiest day of their lives.
I had a great time at the wedding. I was so thankful to get to spend time with my girl friends, Shelley and Sarah again. I truly miss our daily interaction (even if it was at the horrible place), and I look forward to getting to see them and "catch up" as often as we can. Now that the weddings are over, we will have to come up with new reasons to get together! Babies, anyone?? (JUST KIDDING) I guess we will have to hold out until Danielle gets married...

Thanks for being my dates and my friends! I'm so lucky to have both of you in my life.
CONGRATULATIONS CHRIS AND TORY VEY!