Mexico!

Our friends Kenny and Nicole got married on July 24. They decided to wait until it was very very cold to take a very very tropical honeymoon to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico.

They also decided to invite us!

We were so very thankful and excited to go with them. We left here January 1 (drove through a (near)BLIZZARD to get to Chicago, seriously) and returned on January 9.

We flew Mexicana, which was an incredible airline. They actually gave us food and drinks AND refills! It very much exceeded my expectations for any flight.

We did lots of fun things like:

sleep

read

snorkel

play dice

swim

go for walks

dance

eat

Consumed two jars of Nutella

drew closer to each other

and (infinitely more importantly) closer to Jesus.

we rested

rested

rested

rested

I learned some things that I seem to have forgotten to notice about myself. One thing being that I have a silly snap atleast once a day. I get really quite funny and giggly and rather witty once a day.

There's no telling when the extreme silly snap will occur.

But it does occur.

(When I'm rested and my heart is at ease and I'm looking for it, I guess)

I will try harder to rest more here so that I can be that silly person

God clearly created me to be.

oh, and I turned 24! Yikes!

It was my first warm birthday ever.

and my first birthday ever being away from my twin brother.

Joshua made it special.

(Me on my 24th birthday!)

It was so fun to be on a trip with Kenny and Nicole.

With friends who laugh and know exactly what we mean when we tell them that we put a sock on the door of the hotel room which is actually an effective and humorous means of communication. fyi.

Here are a few photos of our adventures:

This is Nicole putting a sock on the neighbors door. Our neighbors had very small children and they were in two rooms that were across the hall from each other. Each morning both rooms would open their doors and let the children run, screaming, through the halls. We did not like them (especially because Josh asked them nicely to not let their children run wild in the cavernous, echo-y halls) Thus, they became the scapegoat of our trip. Anything that went remotely wrong was their fault (in jest, of course) and we put a sock on their door. It was the perfect prank. Of course the sock receivers would think it was the other room, who would of course deny it thinking the sock receivers were themselves playing a joke. Oh the humor of it all! (surely thought of in a communal silly snap!)

The resort had flamingoes.

and crocodiles.

This is me smiling at one.

Mostly because I'm so daring.

("Never smile at a croc-o-dile" pish!)

Kenny and Nicole

The love of my life and myself

Great view, eh? :-)

Ah.. la mer!

It was SO much fun and SO completely wonderful for my heart. It was also SO nice to come back to family and friends and a community of believers who we love.