Aruba Fun in Pictures

One of the awesome things about going to a destination wedding, is that you are there with a group of people.  Most of my friends arrived by Thursday and left on Sunday.  We were lucky enough to have a full week, arriving on Wednesday and leaving on Tuesday.  Because of this, we spent a lot of our time with the group Thursday-Sunday, and spent Sunday evening and Monday with a smaller group that included the bride and groom and a few of the groom's friends.

Here is a summary of our week with friends in pictures!

 

 Taking the boat ferry from our hotel to the private Island

Having a few drinks during the "booze cruise" that turned into 

drinks and appetizers at the Argentinian restaurant "El Gaucho"

Eating steak at "El Gaucho"

 Eating 4 different half racks of ribs at "Smokey Joe's"

 Eating more steak at "Madame Janettes"

When most of my soccer teammates left and we hung out with "the guys" - all of whom practice mixed martial arts (MMA) - I found that we ended up eating a lot more meat. 

 Winning $8 from our $10 playing cards at the casino.

We aren't big gamblers, but some of our friends won big money!

 Enjoying "adult" balloon making with the clown at Senor Frogs!

My crown was rated "PG" and so was Colin's whatever-that-thing-is.

 

 

 Enjoying a water fountain show (to music) in a shopping plaza.

 

 

Late night swimming and "guess that tune" whistling at the hotel's pool

 

Watching the sunset from the pool/bar/lobby of the hotel.
 

Tell me about vacations you might be taking in the near future!

An Aruba Wedding

Do you notice that  holidays seem to fly by? Last thing I remember, we were celebrating Halloween and BAM! Thanksgiving is here.  I'll try to post my Thanksgiving holiday soon, but with all the driving, I haven't had a chance to finish up the posts on Aruba.  So without further ado, here it is.

The much anticipated wedding day brought with it some morning clouds and showers.  At 10am, the guests were situated in the "church," ready for the civil ceremony to begin.  Thirty minutes later, we were all still waiting for the ceremony to begin.  At first, we thought everything in Aruba just took a long time (which had been our experience the first two days of our stay).  Unfortunately, we learned the necessary paperwork had not been completed by the man in charge because he had a stroke the day before.  After an hour wait and a bit of complaining, the ceremony was ready to begin.

 The bride and groom sit through the civil ceremony with their parents (the witnesses)

The bride and groom pose for some of their first pictures as "husband and wife."

As the day passed, anticipation grew.  The bride, groom, and about 30 guests arrived a little behind schedule to witness the final preparations to the ceremony site.  While there was much excitement, many of us were also getting nervous about the approaching dark clouds.

A beautiful sight, except for the dark clouds.

  I am showing my concern over the weather

 My "model shot" is actually my attempt to keep my hair out of my face - it was a bit breezy on the beach.

 The groom is ready as the first bridesmaid begins her approach.

This is about 30 seconds before it starts raining.

 Most of us got wet, but we did manage to take cover in the restaurant 

across the street from the beach before this downpour happened.

The bridge and groom were so cute, each one hoping the other was okay with the weather situation.  The wedding planner, who claims to have been doing destination weddings in Aruba for 10 years, did not have a "Plan B" in the case of rain.  To help out, some of us "type A" guests set up the restaurant to accommodate all the guests for a covered wedding while enjoying a round of cocktails.  Before long, we were again ready to see the bride - and she did not disappoint!

The beautiful bride is escorted into the restaurant by her father - and I have a front row seat!

I think we did a pretty good job setting up the restaurant 

so everyone could enjoy the dinner and dancing.

The priest, who also got rained on, took it all in stride. 

 

One of my favorite pictures of the bride and groom!

Neither showed any signs of frustration or anger during all the stressful moments of the day.

 All the ladies enjoyed seeing our friend and teammate marry the man she loves.

I would have loved to experience a wedding on the beach at sunset, but alas, it was not to happen.  The first destination wedding we attended, in Cabo San Lucas, also experienced one of its 10 days of rain per year on my friend's wedding.  Maybe the third destination wedding will be a charm!  Or maybe we just keep bringing the rain for good luck!

To Mr. and Mrs. Aldo and Veronica Eguia, may you enjoy a lifetime of happiness in each other's company.

What was the best wedding you've ever been to and what made it the best?

Vacationing in Aruba

Aruba is a beautiful island.  The sand is silky and soft and the water is crystal clear.  It's too bad that a few bad things have happened to give the island as less-than-ideal reputation.  Each time I would tell friends that I was going to Aruba for a wedding, their first response was "be careful."

Colin and I enjoyed 6 full days of the best Aruba has to offer - the beach!!  We spent as much time as we could on the Renaissance hotel's private island.

A boat was available every 30 minutes to pick you up inside the Marina hotel.  It would then drive the 2 minutes to the Renaissance Ocean Suites to pick up a second group of passengers.  From there, it was just a 5-10 minute ride to the private island.

View of the Renaissance Marina from the boat as we head to the private island.

The private beach was sheltered from the waves by a rock barrier.  It also had a wide beach area and several smaller beach areas like the one you see above.

The private island boasted a "family" beach and an "adults-only" beach.  We spent time in both areas, but the beach was better on the "family" side.  Thankfully, we didn't hear or see too many bratty kids, and we tried setting up our chairs away from the main beach.  The other awesome thing about the private island was having free wifi!! So we could catch up on e-mails, post facebook photos, and keep in touch with the rest of the world (when we weren't napping, swimming, eating, walking around, reading books, or listening to podcasts).  

 Half of the days were picture perfect, with blue skies and calm waters for most of the day.  

A disturbance in the Carribean (Tropical Storm Rina I think!) gave us a few days of rough waters, which led to the canceling of the wedding's booze cruise (more about that in the next post).

 This picture shows us looking back on the main beach area from one of the small areas.  Yes, the water is this bluish-green and you can see all the way to your feet while standing in 5 feet of water!

 

The private island had a series of paths between each of the beach areas.  Along the path, you could see lots of fish in the water and lizards of all sizes sunbathing on the wood!

 

We also got to see some flamingos on the beach and some dolphins out enjoying themselves in the water (I couldn't get my camera in time to catch them!).

 

During the six days, I fully recovered from appendix surgery, read two books, and got a nice tan!  Lounging on calm waters or in a hammock isn't a bad way to forget about life's problems!

It was also wonderful to catch up with my friends and former teammates.  

Look at all those soccer legs!! I have to give Annie (4th from the right) the title for best abs!!

When we weren't at the beach, we were hanging out with our friends at the pool, or participating in the wedding festivities (more about those in the next post).  

 The hotel pool was right near the lobby/bar and had a great view!  

The only bummer is that you could see and hear the cars on the road below.

To explore the island, we decided to walk from our hotel (downtown) to the high-rise hotels (called the high-rise area).  On the map, it looked really close, but it ended up being ~4 miles.  That doesn't sound so bad, but when the weather is beautiful and you are walking on the sidewalk looking at this...

instead of walking on the beach, it seems like forever.  

(Note - we took this photo because they have a shoe store called DCW, instead of DSW).

By the time we got to Eagle Beach, which is supposed to be one of the nicest on the island, it was already late in the day.  While the beach was nice, it didn't allow you to wade slowly into the water like our private island did.

It was nice to enjoy some solitude though.

I definitely want to go back to Aruba.  The beaches are as beautiful as they were in 2000.  

Both times these beautiful beaches have keep me from exploring other parts of the island 

- not that I am complaining. 

Stay tuned for the wedding celebration details, a story that's sure to entertain!

What's your favorite beach destination?

First impressions of Aruba's changes

Colin and I have been looking forward to a vacation all year.  The last vacation we took together was for a wedding in Cabo San Lucas and we had a blast!  But that was already a year and a half ago.  It seems like a very long time because so much has happened in that year and a half.  When we found out our friends were getting married in Aruba, we were ecstatic. 

Back in 2000, I went to Aruba with some girl friends.  Given Aruba’s recent notoriety with the deaths of young females, I feel fortunate that nothing happened to any of us while we were there over 10 years ago.  I do remember the clarity of the water and softness of the white sand and looked forward to sharing that with Colin.  I also expected to find things much the same as when I last visited.  Boy was I surprised to see the changes.

The biggest surprise was that our party spot, Carlos and Charlies, was no longer in Aruba.  I recall spending just about every night dancing there, and then heading to other downtown hot spots. 

Our hotel, the Renaissance Marina, was located downtown and I was excited about checking out “the old stomping ground.” 

  

The Renaissance Marina Hotel

Our first night in Aruba was my girlfriend’s bachelorette party.  We got in around 9pm and I immediately got dressed up to go out.  After participating in a few hotel room games, we went out with our sights set on the club “Confessions.”  I inquired to the cab driver about the downtown clubs and was told everything had moved to the “high-rise hotels.”  That would have been convenient when we stayed at the Holiday Inn back in 2000, but was not convenient now that I was staying downtown.  Upon getting into “Confessions,” I realized it might be best to not be near the clubs since I am (1) not 19 anymore, (2) married, (3) married to a guy who doesn’t like to dance, and (4) visiting the island for a wedding and not to party with the girls.  The bachelorette party was fun because all of us “old ladies” were there supporting the bride and had a good time dancing. 

The bachelorette with Senor Frog near the end of the night!

The rest of the week was also fun seeing old friends, making new friends, celebrating with the bride and groom, and relaxing on the beach and at the pool.

I had planned to see the island on this trip because I never did on my previous trip, but as it turned out, we enjoyed the beach so much, we didn’t make our way to the lighthouse, the natural bridge, or any other sights besides the beach.

Have you ever been to Aruba?
What's your favorite thing about the island?

Stay tuned for the highlights of our trip!!

The State Fair

October brings the North Carolina State Fair to Raleigh, NC.  Last year I had the pleasure of judging the bakery products and my efforts were rewarded with an unlimited pass to the fair.  I didn’t have plans to judge food this year, and it’s a good thing too.  My appendicitis hit on the day I would have had to judge bakery products.  Boy, would that have been terrible!

Because we’d be in Aruba for the last five days of the fair, and I wanted Colin to experience it, we went for a few hours just four days after my surgery.  The day was beautiful, and I would have enjoyed it a lot more it wasn’t for my appendix issue.  Colin and I enjoyed sampling Italian sausage, Polish kielbasa, a fried Snickers, and kettle corn.  We didn’t make it to the Wisconsin cheese booth, nor did we get to try any of the other fried candy bars.  Sampling foods is best when you go with a large group – that way you can take a “bite” out of each item.  Not wanting to hurt my intestines (or abdomen in general), we took it easy on the food.

This year I really enjoyed seeing the talent exhibitions – mainly the cake decorating and paintings and photographs.  With the recent E. Coli outbreak that might be linked to the petting zoo, I'm glad we didn't go there!!  We did see some livestock and lots of agricultural products though.

The highlight of this year's fair for both Colin and I was the Polish kielbasa.  The fried snickers were pretty disappointing.  And the fair in general was okay.  Hopefully we can go back next year with a group of people to try a more varied sampling of food and I won't be recovering from surgery!!

Experiencing Acute Appendicitis

I’ve had quite a few stomach bugs in my life, but none of them compare to the experience of having appendicitis and getting my appendix removed.  Since getting Salmonella in the Dominican Republic back in 2001, my stomach has been weak.  It seemed like every time I had a chemistry exam in college, I would come down with a stomach bug after taking the test.  A few times I landed in the ER first thing in the morning because I couldn’t keep anything down all night.  Each time, I was given medication to calm my stomach and an IV to rehydrate my system.  Sometime after my junior year of college, a friend offered me some ginger tea to calm my stomach and I became a believer!  Ginger tea is now a staple in my house.  At the first sign of any stomach upset, I make myself a cup and feel better almost instantly.  I do sometimes still get “sick” (ie throw up).  Once I start sipping on the ginger tea, my stomach seems to calm and I am able to get over the event much more quickly.

Two weeks ago it seemed my stomach stopped responding to the benefits it has always reaped from ginger tea.  At the first sign of pain in my stomach, I brewed a cup of tea.  This time however, the sharp pain in my stomach lingered.  I didn’t know what to do when my savior remedy did not work.  I figured I just needed to lie down and maybe some gas would work its way through my abdomen.  Unfortunately lying down was not much help either.  The sharp pain remained through a second cup of ginger tea and a few hours of lying down. 

One of the first thoughts that always enters my mind when I feel sick to my stomach is “I hope it’s not appendicitis.”  I frequently check WebMD and conduct other Google searches on appendicitis to compare my symptoms to the references.  In this case, I consulted the web again and thought it could not be appendicitis because my pain was not concentrating on the right side.  One thing that did worry me is that the right side did hurt when I lifted my right leg upon changing clothes and walking.  After 11 hours of pain we decided it was time to go to the emergency room.  I had only gotten “sick” once, but the pain was starting to be unbearable because I could not find a comfortable position.

Since we are new to the Cary, NC area, we had to look up where the closest ER was located.  At 9pm, we made our way to WakeMed in Apex.  The ER staff was extremely hospitable and got me in a bed within 30 minutes.  I would consider that a record!  Unfortunately, I still had pain and found I could lie a little more comfortably on my right side.  After a urine test and an exam by the physician assistant, I was hooked up to an IV and was told I would be in the ER for awhile.  The few horrible experiences in the ER included (1) having to drink a liter of liquid with contrast for my CT-scan, (2) having to get in and out of bed to be transported to WakeMed Cary after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis, (3) feeling the effects of the pain medicine and anti-nausea wear off while my information got transferred between hospital staff.

By 5am, I was at WakeMed Cary, highly sedated and pain free.  I was in and out of consciousness, only waking when the doctor, nurse and several anesthesiologists asked me to tell them what I was having done (a laproscopic appendectomy), when I last ate/drank (food at 7pm, IV contrast at 1:40am), and who my doctor was (Dr. Yerby – I only got that one right once or twice).  When they wheeled me into surgery at 10am, I was still semi-conscious, and only vaguely remember a mask being put over my face. 

Two and a half hours later, I woke up to the nurses getting my discharge papers in order.  I was still semi-conscious, wanting to go back to sleep, but they were ready to get me out of there.  I remember about half of the discharge orders and was glad they gave me written instructions.  By 1pm, I was resting comfortably in my bed at home, still feeling the sedatives from surgery with a prescription for 30 Percocets and a few days worth of antibiotics.

I was later told what was done in each of my incision sites.  The lowest one is the smallest site and the device that held the appendix during surgery went in that site.  The largest site, on the side of abdomen was cut on the left side because I am a “small” person and the doctor needed room to maneuver the probe that cut and pulled the pieces of the appendix out.  This site is stitched on the inside and is the one that experienced the most pain (apparently the procedure affected some muscle tissue).  The incision on the belly button was used for the camera to guide the surgeon’s work.  This scar is also small, but the area around the site is bruised.  Because I have a hernia on my belly button, the itchiness that I feel from healing is bothersome, but in an uncomfortable, and not painful, way.  All of the scars were covered in a glue-like tape substance that will come off on its own.  Since I had covers over the wounds, I was able to bathe and shower at my leisure.

The one good thing about having my appendix removed is that I never have to worry about appendicitis again!

Ending the Summer in Myrtle Beach with Family

After a very busy work week last week and expecting another busy one, I'm reminiscing of our last beach trip...

Labor Day marks the end of the summer for most, but I think we have quite a few weeks of beach weather left here in North Carolina.  To celebrate the "official" end of summer, we decided to join our brother and sister-in-law, nephew and niece in Myrtle Beach.

The weather and location could not be beat!

 

The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the sand and water.  Our nephew acted as I used to at the beach - drop whatever you are carrying the minute a spot is selected and run for the ocean!  There were many times I got myself into some trouble taking off like that.  Thankfully there were enough of us adults and we were close enough to the water to keep a watchful eye on the kiddos.  The water temperature was perfect and we spent our fair share of time enjoying the surf.

At low tide shallow pools of water form, making it perfect for little ones - like our 9 month old niece.  We had a great time "walking" among the pools of water.

Too bad we only got to enjoy the beach for one night.  But we made the most of it, checking out the arcades and ice cream shop down the street!  It was awesome to be so close to the ocean, hearing the waves from the living room!

 

How did you celebrate the end of the beach season?
Are you ready for this fall weather?