Roatan, Honduras

All images from Barefoot Cay facebook page 

That's where I will be for the next nine days!!!

If you missed my last post, I'll fill you in on something... I got married last weekend!!!

We decided to take a week in between our wedding and the honeymoon to recover, write thank you notes, and pack before heading off. Let me just say, this week has dragged on! I'm sooo excited our honeymoon is finally here!

We'll be jet setting bright and early, at 7am, and will be arriving in Honduras at noon. We'll be staying at a very secluded cay in the Southwestern side of the island called Barefoot Cay.

I'm looking forward to snorkeling, couples massage, renting scooters, zip-lining, and drinking frozen drinks.

*This resort is huge on diving, and it looks really fun and pretty! But some of you may remember this post, and how I learned that diving and I are not very compatible... Well I haven't completely given up on it. I might give it another shot when I get there. Wish me luck ;)


Follow me on instagram and twitter for updates throughout the trip!

95% Certified.

If you follow me on twitter then you may have seen me post about my scuba classes last week... Although I was apprehensive to give scuba a try, I did and it was fun! Until Saturday....

All last week, Scott and I took scuba classes in preparation for our honeymoon to Honduras in April. I was nervous, excited, and ready to learn. Heck, I've never had any real issues with water so I was like why not.

Let me recap my training.

Monday: Class. Going over chapter reviews.
Tuesday: Pool. Practicing tasks like flooding mask and clearing it, taking regulators out and putting them back in, sharing air with buddy, etc.
Wednesday: Pool. More of what we did Tuesday plus practicing emergency ascent without mask, pretending like we were out of air(in the deep end), sharing air, etc.
Thursday: Class. Took our final exam.

I did all of these things with ease. I scored a 96 on the exam and felt really comfortable with the underwater tasks.

Saturday rolled around and that meant it was time to test our skills in the open water.

What could go wrong, I thought to myself... Welp, a lot.

We arrived at Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, Texas. We were using the quarry at the ranch for our test. It's relatively more clear than the lake and we wouldn't have to hike a mile to get in the water. Lake Travis.

Oh and I almost forgot. The water was 54 degrees... That's 14 degrees colder than Barton Springs, for those of your familiar. Basically effing cold!

We wedged ourselves into wetsuits, hood, gloves and boots and jumped in. I'd say there was at least 40 extra pounds strapped to me. I was already feeling a bit claustrophobic with all the extra gear, but nonetheless, survived the first descent, less a nose bleed.

Next up, our second descent. This time we were to descend to the platform, and do some of the tasks preformed in the pool earlier that week. We were told to flood our masks half way, and all the way. These weren't difficult for me. Next we had to take our regulators out and put them back in(all while being underwater 25 ft!!!!). This is where I had a problem. I take the regulator out, go to put it back in, and my mouth doesn't completely seal over it.

I breath in gulps of water and my mask starts to flood. Cue freak out mode.

You can only imagine how I must be feeling. Of course I panic and immediately start to swim to the top, instructor by my side. He's feeding me air bubbles at this point as I'm fleeing upward, trying to breath out the whole way up (at least I remembered that part. You can cause your body a lot of harm when you hold your breath and ascend to the surface.) But of course on the way up I'm trying to get little snip-its of air but I just keep sucking in water. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. I'm tearing up as I write this because I was so frightened!!! :(

Talk about living out a worst nightmare...

I got out shortly after that and just felt like a complete failure. Everyone else had completed all the tasks, and stayed in while I had to get out and sit by myself and warm up.

I guess scuba isn't for everyone especially me! I was really sad afterwards because I felt like I let a lot of people down that were counting on me.(Scott, instructor, other classmates). But in the end, I needed to do what I needed to do, and that was whatever made me feel comfortable. I wasn't comfortable scuba diving. My ears hurt, I had a major scare, three bloody noses, uncomfortable attire, etc. Sadly, it's just not for me.

I think I'll stick to snorkeling...

And to end on a good note...

A funny looking picture of Scott!

I'm very proud that he powered through all of the training and was able to get certified!

Maybe this isn't the end of my scuba experience, but for now, I'll say it is.

That's a fake smile.

One year of Engagement

Happy New Year everyone! While most of you will be celebrating the new year, I will be celebrating one year of engagement!

Last year we went skiing and were here for New Years. We were cooking dinner(chili) and getting ready for our drive home the next morning. Before we sat down to eat, Scott popped the question! We drank at least two bottles of champagne and ate our chili dinner. We told ourselves that we should make it a tradition to eat chili and drink champagne on New Years day from now on. SO we are sticking to our word, and cooking chili tonight and drinking champagne. I love this tradition, as weird as it sounds!

We are still in Angel Fire, skiing our little butts off. Yesterday it was 19 degrees and it snowed all day long. This Texas girl can't really hang in those conditions. I made 3 runs and called it a day.

Today I'm taking it easy, while Scott hits the slopes. We got to sleep in a little bit, ate cinnamon rolls, and now I'm just catching up with the online world. Later, we might go tubing, and sneak into the resort for some hot tub action!

2012 has been such a wonderful year, I wanted to recap some fun things that have happened.

• Most importantly, Jan 1st we got engaged!
• I started blogging!
• I got a new job in July.
• We went on three great getaways: New Mexico in June. East coast in August. Angel fire in December/January.
• We planned the majority of our wedding.
• Saw Aaron Freeman of ween in concert.
• Went to a TCU game.
• Grew our family with our new addition Melvin!!!
• Jammed out that the ACL music festival
• Our first wedding shower was thrown for us. It was a tea party theme which was adorable!
• We saw the F1 races!
• Made new friends.
• Grew in my faith.

2013 came faster than we could have imagined but I couldn't be more excited to become a wife this year. Also, I'm not one to make new years resolutions, but I do plan on continuing to live simply and try to live in the moment more. This is going to be a great year!

Happy New Year!

Our Trip in Pictures

After a week of recovery, I finally found time to share how my east coast trip went. We have been going nonstop since we got back last Monday and just now found time to update blog world. 

I had such a great time visiting Scott's family and meeting more of his relatives. Our first stop was Greenwich, CT. I knew right away that I'd fit in with the Hamiltons. His Aunts and Uncle were so welcoming, I felt right at home. I got to meet his cousins and new nieces too! I think my pictures will give you a better representation of how my trip went...

Aunt Emily's house where we stayed during our time in CT.

hydrangeas are grown everywhere there. so pretty!

 

Milo, Scott's dad, and his two sisters Helen and Emily

We ferried over to a little island off the coast of Connecticut. I attempted to swim, it was freezing!

Scott and my future FIL

Delicious dinner with the whole family!

rode the train into NYC! First timer!

My first time at Grand Central!

I met up with my friend Sam, who recently moved to NYC! So fun!

                 

Yes, this happened and it was delicious!

Brunch at the Boat House in central park! AMAZING!

My friend over at NY State of mind recommended we tour Chelsea Market. Really neat place!

...just like a kid in a candy shop... Economy Candy. Place was insane! Candy stacked to the very top of the ceiling. If you know me and candy, then you know I was in heaven haha

Sorry for the photo overload, I just couldn't help myself!

We had a great vacation. I had a lot of first timers. Like riding the subway, visiting local bars, seeing central park, riding the train, seeing grand central station and more! I have bittersweet feelings towards NYC. I don't like how it's so dirty, and can be really touristy, but there are so many other things that make it worth it. I love how diverse it is, and the energy the city gives off. I just like it in small doses :) 

I'm ready for my vacation from my vacation!

East Coast!

Scott and I conversing via emoji. We're weird, I know.

I posted this on instagram yesterday to see if anyone could figure out where we are off too...if you guessed NYC, ding ding ding! You are correct!

But first we're heading to Greenwich, CT to meet some of Scott's extended family. This is my first time vacationing to Connecticut, so I'm super pumped about seeing the houses and their neighborhood. Supposedly Elisabeth Hasselbeck just moved down the street from his aunt so I'm looking forward to stalking seeing her house! I'll be sure to take pictures!

Our trip goes like this:

-plane leaves at 6:15a.m.(what were we thinking), ____, ____.

-____, ____celebrate Aunt Helen's Birthday Friday

-take train in to NYC early Saturday morning. Central park, shop, dinner, drinks with a friend, _____, _____ etc.

-head back to CT Sunday afternoon, ____, ____.

-come back to ATX Monday

Short and sweet!

Anyone have an suggestions on places to dine, things to see/do to fill in the blanks? We've done the touristy thing, so we're looking to go to venture out to cool local places.

I'm back!

After about two hours of catching up on blogs, I'm finally able to write one of my own. I actually have been missing this world while I was on vacation, but I'm back and ready for action. OH, and a very unfortunate event happened, my computer screen won't turn on. Anyone else have that problem?? For the time being, Scott is lending me his MacBook, which is taking a lot of getting used to.

I want to tell you all about my trip! If you didn't know, Scott and I went out for a mini vacation over the weekend to New Mexico. We stayed in between Albuquerque and Santa Fe... I think. We really were in the middle of no where, which is the best part about it! 

The view out there was incredible!

We spent a lot of our time out by the pool reading and getting too much sun. I brought home a sunburn and a burnt scalp, ouch! My darn permipart! There were three pools there, one for relaxing, a family pool that included a slide that we definitely went down 10 times, and a baby pool. If you can guess, we didn't spend anytime at the baby pool.

While we were in New Mexico, we ate sooo much food! But, we were on vacation. That's a valid excuse, right?! Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the delicious food, but we ate REALLY good. From breakfast buffets, to steak dinners. I was pretty much done with eating towards the end of the trip and stuck with salads. 

We were also were able to take a hike up Sandia Mountain. Boy, was I in for a surprise. OK, my definition of hiking is walking on a flat trail through some trees. Scott's idea of hiking is much different then mine which I soon found out.  

We were just starting, and I could feel the sun starting to warm up. It was around 9:30 and I was feeling good. Fortunately, weather in NM is better than in Texas. You can actually sweat there and it evaporates because there is like zero humidity. It's GREAT! The temperature was still hot, and you become out of breath quickly especially when you're hiking at an elevation your not used to...

But the view was worth it!!! 

Here are some videos we shot on the way up. Sorry, they are shot with my iPhone and I always seem to cover up the microphone when I'm shooting a video, so the sound may be muffled a little bit.

This is Scott's video that he wanted to share...

So, I was not prepared for this, but I'm so glad we went. It was such a beautiful view and such an accomplishment to see how far we went. I was not expecting the trail to be as steep as it was. We ran into a lot of people on the trail that morning, it was a popular spot. Oh and btw, we hiked about 5.5 miles, not 10 ;)

And for the results....

...snack time :)

The hike down took half the time and we were basically running down. There were a few cuss words said, and some slip scares, but we managed to make it down with out hurting ourselves or falling down.

I was sore for three days after the hike, it really worked me. My soreness made me feel less guilty about eating my body weight in breakfast that morning ;)

Look at Scott's cute parents. We got to spend a lot of time with them, they are a HOOT!!! So much fun! I'm very blessed to be a part of their family. That night we wandered around the resort, ventured off to hopefully crash a wedding,(the guys didn't let us), then headed home to pass out. (that was the same day we hiked, I was pooped!)

Our last night we spent with Milo's business partner and his family and traveled to Santa Fe for dinner. Wow, that city was amazing. It has so much character and scenery. I really enjoyed myself there, especially the company!! We eventually made it back to the resort to prepare for our departure the next morning.

 This vacation was just what I needed! So much love, good times and relaxation! 

Peace friends!!

*Brooke*

p.s. Sorry for such a long post, I've been out of the loop for a while!!!