Team '76 : The Honeymoon

If you are just seeing this, don’t forget to go back and read the first five parts of the Team ’76 series:

The Intro | The Meeting | The Dating | The Question | The Engagement | The Day 

The festivities were over. The months and months of planning had culminated into a celebration and party that was exactly what Paul and I had hoped and dreamed it would be. We woke up the day after our wedding in a beautiful room at The Edgewater hotel, ate our (delicious) complimentary breakfast and just soaked it all in. 

Our flight to Jamaica wasn't leaving until around 10pm that night so we lazily got ourselves packed up and checked out of the hotel. We drove back to the house that Paul had been living in and I would soon be moving into and finished packing four our weeklong trip out of the country. 

My parents took us to dinner and to the airport and the excitement was palpable. We were taking the red eye flight to Charlotte, NC and then on to Jamaica from there. We did manage to sleep a bit on the plane and then a little more in the Charlotte airport before our final flight. My favorite memory from that day is seeing all the other freshly married couples, complete with perfect hair and makeup and giant diamond rings on their perfectly manicured hands at the airport. I couldn't help but think that most of these people probably shared our same wedding date and had all just been through exactly what we had gone through. It was funny and surreal all at the same time. 

Paul and I had booked a week long trip at an all inclusive resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. I did extensive research on all-inclusives since neither Paul nor I had ever stayed at one before. I am so happy this was the place we landed on. It was adults only (which we determined later was a GREAT choice for a honeymoon) and it was so nice to not have to worry about every single thing you eat or drink. You just get what you want, whenever you want and you can just enjoy your time there rather than worrying about whether or not you are spending too much money. 

We also booked a few excursions during our time there as well. We went to Negril and also went zip lining and climbing the Dunns River Falls near Ocho Rios. Other days we literally sat around or in the pool or beach for almost the entire day. It was so relaxing and so nice to just be there in a beautiful place with amazing scenery and to just enjoy each other and our first week as husband as wife. No more stress from wedding planning. No more worrying about this or that detail...just sun, sand and smiles. 

These two photos below are two of my favorite photos from our whole trip. They are so "us". They may not be perfectly styled or exposed properly or in any way shape or form "technically" correct...but they capture our trip so perfectly and I will cherish them forever. I have the BOTH printed and in my house because I need to see them around me and NOT stashed away inside my computer! 

I am so thankful and blessed that Paul and I were able to go on this trip to Jamaica right after our wedding. I know that not every couple gets to experience something like that although I wish everyone could! To be able to just be together in such an amazing place for the first time as husband and wife was an experience we honestly will NEVER forget and we hope to recreate as future anniversaries arrive. We love traveling and adventuring together and we want to make that a priority in our lives going forward. 

Those drinks were our favorites...Bob Marleys!! Once we discovered them, I don't think we had anything else the whole trip. Ha! They were all 'rite Mon! Everyting copacetic! =)

And with that, we have come to the end of the beginning of our story. I hope you have enjoyed these posts and getting to know Paul and I and the start of our covenant a little bit better. My marriage is the exact reason why I am so passionate about others marriages. This union is meant for such a higher purpose and that deserves celebrating! 

Did you go on a honeymoon? Where did you go?! Tell me about it!! 

Italy // Ercolano and impromptu family photos!

The day has finally arrived. Our last and final day on our whirlwind adventure to Italy. We decided to make the day a little more low key. We had spent the previous day in Rome and our legs and feet were tired and we had a very early flight the next morning. 

Originally we were going to go to Pompeii but instead we decided to go and check out Herculaneum which is in Ercolano which has a similar history to Pompeii. It is situated on the opposite side of Mt. Vesuvius (closer to the water) and was completely covered in mud from the volcanos explosion in 79AD. In the 1980's it was discovered and has been essentially dug out of the mud ever since. Because the city was essentially "filled up" with mud from the bottom up it actually served to preserve the historic buildings and dwellings better than the ruins at Pompeii. Only a small portion of the city has been uncovered with plans to excavate even more. 

This first photo is from the walkway going down from the visitors center to the entrance of the site. Hopefully you can see how what is there is sitting well below where I am standing. All of that was under ground until the 1980's! How crazy is that!?! 

We went on a hour long guided tour which was very helpful. Our guide showed us some of the houses and helped us to image how they must have looked originally. She explained how the people in the city had 11 hours from the time the volcano erupted until the flow hit the city so many many people were able to escape to Naples or get in boats and escape out to the sea. There are many bodies that they have uncovered as well mostly down by what used to be the docks. They also found one in the temple or worship center they had at the time. The parishioner stayed in the room and guarded the church until the very end. 

It is striking to see how well some of the structures held up considering the age of everything here. The paintings and frescos on the walls were quite beautiful and signified that this was a city of great wealth. It was right on the edge of the sea and many people came there to holiday or just build extravagant homes in a luxurious location. 

Since Ercolano was only about 40 minutes away from where we were staying we headed back to the house when we were done and had the afternoon to rest up and get ready for our long flight home. That night we had plans for a traditional Italian dinner with our hosts and friends of theirs who also are stationed in Italy. 

We headed up a very long and windy hill to this amazing restaurant that overlooks Naples. Since the location was so scenic we decided to do a little impromptu photo session before dinner began. There was also a super tiny and cute little car that we parked next too so of course we had to take pictures of that!  

How cute is SHE!! Those eyes!! 

After our amazing dinner we headed back home to get some sleep and prepare to adjust back to "normal" life. Everything about our time in Italy was so awe inspiring and breathtaking and we are so incredibly blessed to have been able to have this opportunity. Thank you so much to Darby and Garrick for hosting us, being our travel guides and making sure we didn't die on the roads of Italy! Thank you to my grandma for helping make this dream a reality. And thank you to all of you who have followed along with our adventure! My dream and prayer is that everyone I know gets to experience travel to Europe at least once in their life! 

Other posts from my trip to Italy:
The Best Travel Buddy | The food! | Naples | Amalfi Coast | Venice | Capri | Rome | 5 tips for traveling with your DSLR

All images (with the exception of random iPhone images) taken with:
Canon 6D | 24-105mm f/4.0 lens