What a wonderful husband...

I'm back from Colorado!  I drove back with my mom after her visit here in Texas.  Of course the drive was long, but we did it over two days.  We enjoyed getting to just talk and take in the beautiful scenery! (well that is when we got into New Mexico and Colorado - I do love living in Texas, but I must admit the scenery just doesn't compare!)  As I mentioned a couple of times already, I celebrated my birthday last week, and my husband surprised me with this:

I was so excited and shocked!!!  We knew we wanted a nice new camera, but we had decided to wait until Christmas.  However, my wonderful husband knows how much I love taking pictures (not that I'm good at it), but he didn't want me to have to wait any longer.  Isn't he great?!  We have some other small trips planned, and we'll get to use our new camera now!! I'm just thrilled. 

That also means I'll get to take better pictures to post on my blog, so you'll get to benefit from this too!  ;)

Tara



My Birthday

Today was my Birthday!! Or well, now I guess I should say yesterday was my birthday.  It's been a wonderful birthday week already.  Yes, I said week, not day as I like to celebrate my birthday for an extended period. haha I actually like to celebrate the entire month if possible!  I love receiving phone calls from friends and family that I might not get to talk to as often as I would like.  I love reading the sweet notes written on birthday cards.  And of course the presents and cake aren't too shabby either! But above all, it's wonderful to spend TIME with loved ones to celebrate!  I've been lucky to have my mom with me all of this week, and I'm actually leaving to go back to Colorado with her for a few days as she lives there now.  We've had such a great time just hanging out and chatting, and I'm already going to miss her like crazy when I come back home and she's no longer here, but I'll be grateful for the time we've spent together! I miss her so much!!  Unfortunately, I've been sick the last couple of days, so I feel like we didn't get to do as much out and about, but maybe it's a blessing that we've just been able to lounge around together - I feel like we rarely give ourselves the opportunity to do that. 

This past year was amazing! I'm married to a wonderful man, and my life is blessed in so many ways.  Hope the next year is even better!  Here's to the last year of my twenties...

 

Tara

Belize

We went to BELIZE at the begginging of June this summer, and I talked a bit about it (see the post for Summer Love), but I never did a full post detailing the trip, so I wanted to share a little more with you. 

Where we stayed:   Las Terrazas on Ambergris Caye, Belize.  We flew into Belize City, and then took a small hopper plane over to the island we were staying on (which I loved and got a front row seat as I got to sit next to the pilot!).  We then took a small boat ride to our resort.  Upon our arrival at the pier, we were greeted with small damp handtowels to wipe our hands/faces and also Rum Punch!  Perfect greeting in my book!  We were traveling with two other couples, so we stayed in a 3 bedroom/3 bath condo right on the beach.  The resort was small and calm, so I wouldn't say it was a place to take kids or go to if you are interested in lots of night life.  It was perfect for relaxation and serene days of lounging at the pool or beachside and soaking up sun!

View from the plane

 View of our resort from the boat

Our room

What we ate:  Conch Fritters, Ceviche, Goat Cheese and Shrimp Quesadillas, and Pupusas and with that, we drank a lot of fruity tropical drinks and of course ate a lot of other things!

Conch Fritters

Pupusas

At the bar drinking fruity drinks

This was our favorite bar that we went to almost daily as it was halfway to town and well, a good stopping point to break up the drive.  It was wonderful to sit out on the water just taking in the views with a cold drink. I think we could have spent hours just doing that....oh wait, I think we did!

What we did:  When we weren't eating, but still drinking of course, we did the following:

We spent many hours lounging at the pool.

Or laying on the beach taking in views like these.

Fed the tarpon!  And yes, it did jump up and try to swallow my whole hand!! YIKES!!  Four other people had fed them and they didn't do anything but take the sardine and go about their business.  So when I finally got the nerve to do it, of course it would decide it wanted more to eat than the little fish I gave it. haha  It did scare me, but I only had lots of scratches on my hand.  Luckily they don't have big teeth!  (this is my husband's favorite picture by the way!)

We had kayaks right at our resort that we could use to kayak out to the reef about 300 yards off of the beach and go snorkeling.  It's one of the biggest reefs only second to Australia and the sights were unbelievable.  So fun!

Jeff and some others in the group went fishing.  One of the girls and I went to the spa instead to get a massage and facial!  Didn't get pics but it was pretty fantastic.  Followed with lunch at the pool and more lounging in the sun!

We went into town most days to eat lunch or dinner and see other resorts and restaurants.  I love that the buildings are so bright and colorful.

And yes, this is what we drove around in to get into town on the dirt roads.  :)  We loved it! 

Jeff driving the golf cart...but I just really LOVE how the building is painted in the background, so had to include this picture.

Some nights we did just walk to dinner.  Strolling along the beach is always so peaceful to me - the sound of the waves and the soft sand on your toes! Complete bliss to me.  Wish we were there again! 

Till next time....

Tara