Last full day in St. Lucia

Brian and I didn't do anything exciting today...we just vegged in our room today. It was nice and relaxing, especially laying there listening to the rain. We can officially say it rained every day while we were on our honeymoon. We played a little Egyptian Rat Screw and watched tv and took a nap...that was our day.

We have officially become blog/website stalkers. I think we have checked our photographer's blog and website about 20 times today to see if there was anything new up. It's actually extremely funny. We've checked it so many times, yet we're disappointed each time there's nothing new...even though we know there won't be anything new there since she is probably taking pictures at another wedding today. Oh well...we're just REALLY excited to see our pictures!!

Beach

We went to a beach today. The easiest way to get to the beach was by water taxi. We had a picnic lunch and the beach mostly to ourselves. There were a few locals there fishing, but for the most part they left us alone. We did have one offer us coconuts and mangos for a small price and another offered to let us eat our lunch in his shelter because it was raining. We turned both down. It rained a little while we were at the beach, but it was nothing like home. Here if it rains...it only rains for a few minutes and even then it's only rain...no thunder storms, no raining ALL day long. Just a few scattered showers every now and then. After the beach we came back to our room and just relaxed. The best thing about this week is that it's been relaxing...very relaxing. I'm going to be sad to leave Sunday, but then again I'll be happy to be going home. I'm ready to get back to a fairly normal schedule...and food that isn't strange to me. I have eaten things I wouldn't normally eat, but I'm ready to have my "normal" food.

Oh yeah...our photographer has put up one picture on her website and under the photo it says Coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The picture is awesome!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see more!!!!!!!!!

Castries

Castries was fun. We got there by boat...and the trip was beautiful. I would have been okay with just staying on the boat and riding all day. Castries had a couple of neat markets that we went to, but the people there kept trying to get us to buy something from their booth. They just don't leave you alone...at least we didn't have a guy follow us around for 20 minutes like another couple that went on the trip did. We got some neat souvenirs and a few gifts for our parents and friends back home. All in all...it was a good day.

We have decided that we are electricity junkies...we decided that yesterday when the power was out for a few hours. We didn't know what to do. We laid out on our deck, got in the plunge pool, and then decided to go back into our room and take a nap in the hope that time would go by a little quicker. It didn't though. We jumped for joy when the electricity came back on. Obviously we're internet junkies...because we've been online every day since we've been here. We are still very much enjoying our honeymoon, but it's nice to have a lifeline to home. Our cell phones don't work here...which kind of stinks, but it's also been kind of nice. Well back to spending time with my hubby...:)

Honeymoon

So far our honeymoon has been great!! Once getting over the jet lag...Brian and I went on an evening sail/snorkel last night. We discovered that sailing is NOT for Brian. Poor thing spent most of the sail hanging over the back end of the boat throwing up. Today we went on a whale/dolphin watch. We saw a bunch of dolphins, but no whales...I was excited. It was paradise...I got to see dolphins and was with my husband!!!! We were planning on going deep sea fishing tomorrow, but unfortunately not enough people signed up for it...so the new plan is for us to go to Castries tomorrow instead. We are planning on going to find something that serves American food...don't get me wrong, the food here is good...but I want a freaking hamburger!! We have already planned our dinner for when we fly back in to the states. We're going to order pizza once we get to the hotel in Atlanta. Well that's all for now.

Finally

I'm a married woman!! It felt like our day would never arrive, but it did...and it was perfect. Not even a jerk of a groomsman could dampen our day. When you have a large wedding party there is bound to be somebody who is a pain in the butt...we had our one. The sad thing is that he has been Brian's friend for years...since their freshmen year of high school. He didn't spend much time at all with us over the weekend...really he was only there when he had to be. Since he didn't want to be there, I guess it was better that he didn't spend that much time with us.

Anyway...our day was perfect. It rained just a little when we first saw each other...which was actually perfect. Brian had just turned around to see me for the first time that day and the rain started coming down, not hard though. My comment to him was that it was perfect timing as we were standing in a gazebo. It was perfect timing in the since that we knew his Granny Mac and my Oma were watching and were happy for us. It brought to mind the song "Holes in the Floor of Heaven." If you haven't heard it you won't understand what I'm talking about, but if you have heard it, it makes sense. The rain stopped and we were off to take more pictures with our wedding party before we went to the Butterfly House. The photographer and videographers were amazing...I can't say enough about them! Sabrina and Michelle, our coordinators, were amazing as well. They made sure everything went smoothly...and it did.

The ceremony was perfect. Brother Larry did an amazing job!! The reception was perfect as well! Great food, awesome cake, great music, and great company. There were so many people there that we hadn't seen for a while. Everyone was amazed at how beautiful the Butterfly House was...and everybody seemed to have a great time. I know Brian and I did. We could not have asked for our day to have been any better than it was!!

Now we're on our honeymoon in St. Lucia. The first day was a little rough, but I blame that on getting about 2 hours of sleep the night before. We were a little disappointed at first at the location of the resort. The website is a little misleading because it says the resort is a 10-15 minute walk from a beach. I took that as a beach you can go and relax at and swim...well it's not. There are a couple of public beaches close, but they are about a 10-20 minute DRIVE from where we are staying. We are no longer disappointed, though. We went on a tour of the city of Soufriere yesterday...and tonight we are going on an evening cruise. The evening cruise will take us to a beach where we can snorkel and swim and then bring us back around sunset while we drink champagne and eat hors' douerves (I have no idea if I spelled that right.) Tomorrow we are going whale and dolphin watching, Thursday we are going to try and go deep sea fishing, Friday we are going to go on a glass bottom boat to see some of the coral reefs, and then on Saturday we are going to go by boat to Castries to shop and see what it's like (to see if we want to come back to St. Lucia and stay there instead of where we are). Don't get me wrong...wher we are now is beautiful, but it wasn't exactly what we were wanting. Well that's all for now. I have to get ready to go on the evening cruise.

Sleepless...

I was laying in bed trying to go to sleep...and that just wasn't working out very well. I started to think about the wedding and how some very special and important people in our lives won't be there.

My Oma was a very special woman in my life, as a Grandmother should be. Whenever I pictured my wedding day, I pictured all four of my Grandparens there watching me as I walk toward the love of my life. I will still have 3 there, but there's still a void...a hole. She has been gone 2 and a half years and there are still days where it doesn't seem real. It seems like I should call Opa and hear Oma in the background saying, "Jerry, who is it?" I miss her smiling face. She would always light up when she would see Brian and me. I miss her so much...as do so many other people. Opa has been very emotional lately, as the wedding approaches the more he thinks about how Oma would have loved to have been here. We all know Oma will be there at the wedding in a front row seat, and a HUGE smile on her face.

Grandma Mac won't be there either...she passed away May 18...the day after Brian graduated from STLCOP. It's still hard to believe she's gone. I went with his parents to help clean her apartment out, and it was weird to think that she would never step foot in there again. I can still see her face light up when she would open that door to see Brian and me standing there. She was so excited for the wedding too...she wrote in her Blessings Book that she had to get strong so she could walk at the wedding in a month, that was written a few days before she passed away. I miss her too...but again, I know she will be there at the wedding in a front row seat right next to my Oma...and they will both have HUGE smiles on their faces.

I know they won't be at the wedding physically, but they will be there in so many other ways. In our thoughts, in pictures, and in spirit. They are both missed a lot.