On the 2nd Day of the Mexico Vacation for My True Love and Me

The second day of our vacation (Friday November 6th), we woke up to see the sun! We were both so excited! We went downstairs for breakfast, and then immediately changed into our swimsuits and went straight to the beach. 

I can't even begin to express how glorious it was to just sit on the beach enjoying the sun, and the peaceful surroundings. By the way, I took a lot of pictures of our feet while on vacation--I couldn't help it: it was part of my view!!

Josh usually read his book whenever we sat on the lounge chairs, but I just mostly sat and took in the views. I liked watching people on the beach and around the pool--trying to figure out what countries people were from based on their language and clothes (it was a true international destination--there were hardly any Americans, lots of people were there from European countries, South American countries, and Canada). I loved looking out into the ocean because there was always something going on (and none of it happens in Salmon): cruise ships crossing, freight ships, jet skiing, parasailing, paddle-boarding, kite-surfing. I also liked to look for shells. I found that the shells would collect on the beach right by the north dock, so I searched that spot every morning looking through all the small/broken shells to find ones I wanted to take home.

Kite Surfing

I spy a battleship in the distance--well, it looks like one from the board game!

My favorite spot to look for seashells

I bought a ridiculous hat in a weak moment the previous day while looking through the hotel's gift shop. I thought it would be nice to have a shield from the sun, but every time there was a slight breeze, it would blow off. It sort of became a hindrance, and I didn't even think about having to carry it all the way home on the flights because it didn't fit into my bag, which was annoying. It was a dumb purchase. I talked myself into getting it because I had purchased a similar brown one last year when I was in Seattle and it has lost its shape, so I thought it would be nice to have a newer one to replace it. I just didn't think of all the reasons why it wouldn't be a good buy. Anyways, I was trying to see how it looked on me, so I took a few selfies with my first purchase in Mexico.  

After a couple hours at the beach, we decided to go sit by the pool under an umbrella so we could have some shade on our faces. Also, it was closer to the bar (remember, free drinks?!!) so that was a bonus! Those virgin mango daiquiries were SOOO good--and so refreshing with all the crushed ice in them. It was a whole new scene for me to people-watch, and I just loved it all.

This photo, for me, captures the essence of our trip:
Hot Sun, Cool Drinks, Sexy Man, Relaxed Mind, Happy Heart

Our hotel room was the one on the 2nd floor in the center of the photo.
There's a visible light from the open door--the cleaning lady was in the
room, and we weren't allowed to go in during that time and it was a
mandatory daily cleaning that we couldn't refuse, either.  

This is a view of the main section of the hotel. The ramp leads up to the
buffet restaurant, indoor bar, check-in desk, souvenir shop, and tour guide info.

This is a view of the pool area from the ramp in the above photo. Beyond the
pool and huts (the outside bar and snack restaurant), there's a view of the ocean.
It was nice to have the ocean so close, and to have a secluded, private pool.

These bushes lined the pool decks and were so beautiful!
One of the employees was pruning them while we were there.

I was in love with the bright hibiscus flowers!

After a few hours of lounging on the beach and pool, we got dressed to go eat lunch (you're not allowed to eat in the buffet restaurant in just swimsuits). Then we decided to walk down the Quinta Avenida (5th Avenue)--the main stretch for street-shopping in Playa Del Carmen. It was only a few blocks from our hotel, and once we started walking down the street, we kept going until we got to the end right by the ferry that goes to Cozumel. The street was a mile and a half long, and we stopped at a lot shops along the way to do some shopping. But we discovered that every two blocks, the type of stores would repeat. There were a ton of silver shops, cigar shops, massage shops, hammocks, hand-made painted ceramics, masks (we were there a week after Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead)), hats, and clothes. And because we were wearing our wrist band saying our hotel name (for security purposes, so the security guards on the beach and at the hotel front would know we were allowed to come in), the salesmen spotted them and acted like they knew us from the hotel and were our friends and wanted us to buy something from them. No joke--we got stopped SIX times from people saying they knew us from the hotel, and since I'm good with names and faces, I didn't believe them, but we did get fooled the first time it happened. The salesmen were in strong force, and would give you a guilt trip if you didn't stop or wouldn't buy. I've never experienced such severe treatment from street vendors before! It took us about 3 hours to walk from one end of the street to the other.

A view of Quinta Avenida from where we started walking at the north end.
No cars were allowed on this street; it was for pedestrians only.

A beautiful tree along the street right in front of a restaurant. 

When we got to the end of the street, we decided to take the ferry across the ocean to Cozumel. The ride lasted about 45 minutes. Everyone told us not to go in the evening (various salesmen along the way), but we figured we had free time then, so we might as well. We thought we'd go across, have dinner, and then come back on another ferry. We got on the ferry at 6:00.

See that orange bag under his arm? We got it for free because of all the stuff we
bought at one store. It was nice to have a large bag to put all our purchases in!

A view from the ferry of the public beach right by the ferry dock.

A view of the beach by the large hotel resorts on the other side of the ferry dock. 

The ferry ride was not very good for Josh--he gets sea-sick, and the ferry rocked a lot. We decided it wouldn't be smart to get food once we arrived on the island, for fear that he would just throw it up on the return ride. By the time we arrived at Cozumel, it was getting dark. A lot of the street vendors close at 7:00, so we didn't have very much time to shop. We got drinks at Fat Tuesday, and then walked down the street and I got lucky at one little shop and found a new white dress (that I'd been shopping for ALL day, and hadn't found one and I was getting sad that I wouldn't find one in time for our couple's photo session that I'd booked for Sunday). It made the whole ferry ride worth it for me that I found one!!! We walked around for a bit, and it started to rain. Josh wanted to find a Mountain Dew drink, but all he could find at every food vendor was Coke. We headed back to the ferry station, where I had an awkward toilet moment (um, no seat on the toilet at a public location?! EW!! i was so NOT prepared for that!). We took the ferry back at 7:30, and this time, the ride was even worse than before. We both got sick on the return ride, and people were throwing up. It was a miserable ride, and we couldn't wait to get our feet back on solid ground again! We took a taxi back to the hotel, and were happy to have a familiar view again from our hotel room's deck that night. After seeing those other hotels along the beach, we appreciated our own little resort so much more! We just loved this place!!!

On the first day of the Mexico Vacation for my true love and me

Josh and I have wanted to go to Mexico for about 10 years. When our friends Travis and Kayleen lived in Salmon, we talked about the 4 of us going to Mexico together. But then they moved away, and we didn't do anything to make that desire materialize. The thought of vacationing in Mexico has been in the back of my mind for years, though, and during the summer last year (July 2014), I suddenly had an idea: if I could lose 40 pounds in 6 months, I wanted Josh to take me to Mexico in February. I needed some motivation, and I knew that having a huge reward incentive would help me. He isn't easily persuaded to go on international vacations (he likes the idea of vacations, but hates spending the money on them)--so I wasn't sure if he would agree to the terms I would propose. I woke him up after midnight the night I had that great idea, and he surprisingly agreed to it. I was suddenly super excited to get healthy and extremely motivated to lose weight. Within 3 months, I'd lost 20 pounds, but I knew that I would never make it to the 40-pound mark with the holidays approaching, so a year ago November, I cancelled my diet--and my plans for going to Mexico. Instead, I made plans to take Ammon with me to visit my sister and her family in Virginia in February. I'd wanted to do that for years, too, and I'm glad I went. But, I still felt disappointed in myself for not making my goal weight and getting my huge reward. Thankfully, all the talk about Mexico for so many months convinced Josh that he really wanted to go and that spending the money on the vacation would be worth it. So this spring, we decided that we would still go to Mexico, even if I didn't lose the weight that I'd originally intended. Instead of having it be a reward for me, we planned on going this November for Josh's birthday celebration. He would be turning 39 on November 7, and we decided it would be fun to end his 30's with a bang!!! 

I started researching and making official plans throughout the summer. I knew I wanted to go see multiple Mayan Ruins, but Josh just wanted to hang out on the beach. My original plans were go to visit a different Ruins site every day, but since it was Josh's birthday vacation, I wanted to comply with what he wanted. So I compromised: if he would just do one day of Ruins with me, I would not make official plans the remainder of our vacation time so we could just relax and spend time on the beach like he wanted.  It was SO hard for me to not have concrete plans! It was even harder for me to pick just one site to go to. I researched and read a lot of travel blogs, magazine articles, and online reviews, and finally decided on one. And once I decided on what ruins I wanted to go to on this trip, it helped me decide where we would stay during the remainder of our time as well. Originally, I couldn't decide if we should stay in Tulum, Playa Del Carmen, or Cancun: I wanted to be somewhere with things to do within walking distance of our hotel, somewhere that had beach access, and somewhere that would be within a reasonable distance of the airport and the ruins due to shuttling costs. We didn't want to deal with the hassle of renting a car, and we didn't want to be at a secluded resort that was miles away from the nearest town. I finally decided that Playa Del Carmen would be the best fit for us. And once I decided on the city, I spent days agonizing over which hotel to stay at. I finally narrowed it down to two, and made Josh pick. He picked The Reef Coco Beach Resort. Once I had the hotel picked, I discovered it was cheaper to book the airline tickets along with the hotel. I wanted to go to Mexico for 5 days, but Josh wanted to do 3. We met in the middle and did 4. I found a great deal on a red-eye flight, which would give us 4 full days in Mexico, and I booked our trip. I was giddy with excitement!

I started exercising and eating healthy again starting in August, wanting to be in better shape for my time in a swimsuit while on a beach. This time around, the weight didn't come off as easily as last year, although I did the exact same thing (no pop, no sugary treats, no eating after 9 at night). I did water aerobics, and yoga, walked daily on my treadmill, and did crunches every morning. I felt better about myself, but hated that the scale never reflected my hard work. After 2 months of hard effort, I'd only lost a measly 2 pounds. In October, I started tanning and I went on a 2-week south beach diet. The diet really helped, and I lost 10 pounds right before the trip. Josh did a spray-tan right before we went, and we both felt good about wearing swimsuits on the beach without our farmers tans showing! 

Our flight was scheduled to leave SLC 8:30 on the night of Wednesday, November 4. We left work at noon that afternoon to drive to Salt Lake. As we drove over Gilmore, it was snowy, and I couldn't help but think how happy I was to leave this bleak weather for somewhere that would be "sunny and 75"!

We met up with my sister Tabbi for a quick meal near her work in downtown SLC before heading to her house to leave our car. She drove us to the airport and dropped us off about 6:00. We flew with Frontier--but we will NEVER do that again!!!  We had a great deal with them--the total was about $300 less than any other flight company's offer, but on the day of our flight (when we could check in), they charged us for each seat, and they charged us for our carry-on bags. When we got to the airport, the Frontier scanners wouldn't accept our passports, so we had a flight attendant help us. Then when we were going through security, the officer had to do an additional step because our Frontier tickets weren't finalized. It was such a pain! I was SOOO mad about the additional charges. Because we were on two flights to Mexico, and two flights returning, all the extra charges totaled almost $300, which is what we thought we were saving. When we got on the aircraft, we realized that our seats didn't recline, there were no overhead TV's, and no food was free during the flight. It was terrible. The seats were uncomfortable and there was no leg room, and we hated it! We will definitely not be flying with them again, no matter how much better the deal seems to be!!

Waiting at the airport for our first flight--
Josh fit right in with the people nearby,
as they were all engrossed in their books, too.

Waiting at the airport for our first flight--
there wasn't any extra outlets or charging stations, so I sat
right by the check-in desk in order to charge my phone. 

The flight to Denver was uneventful. We had about a two-hour layover before departing Denver at midnight for Cancun. We hardly slept on the aircraft (which we anticipated), and we couldn't believe the amount of people traveling with babies. It was a noisy flight for being a red-eye. We arrived in Cancun at 5:30am, and had to go through customs. It took about an hour before we were out of the airport. It was pouring rain when we walked out of the airport. We had arranged for a shuttle to drive us to Playa, which is about 45 minutes south of Cancun. We found the area where our shuttle company was located at outside, and it took about another half hour to get our vehicle sorted out, because multiple people from our flight had booked the same shuttle company, and they were organizing the passengers into vans based on their destinations. As we were driving down the highway towards Playa with 3 other couples (we were the first ones to be dropped off in our vehicle), the sky looked bleak and it was not the sight we'd originally hoped for when planning our Mexico vacation! We arrived at our hotel about 7:00am. Our check-in time at the hotel wasn't until 3:00pm, but we figured we would just have them hold our bags, and we'd hang out on one of their couches or beach chairs until then. Thankfully, after we checked into the hotel, the guy at the front desk said we could go to our room immediately since it was already available. We were super happy. The room that was available had two double beds instead of a king bed like I'd reserved, but since it was available right away, and we were exhausted, we took it. We immediately laid on the beds and took a long nap.

Our hotel was an all-inclusive resort which means they have food and drinks and entertainment all included in the price of the stay. When we woke up from our naps, the breakfast time had ended, but in between meal times, there's a bar by the pool that makes snacks, so we headed down there in the rain to grab something to eat because we were both starving! We ordered a few different drinks, just to see what was good. We tried the virgin Miami Vice and the virgin Mango Daiquiri, and we both fell in love with the Mango Daiquiri. I think we had over 25 of them during our stay! And we just loved that they were free!!!  After our breakfast snack, we walked around a bit. The sun came out and the rain stopped, so we went back to our hotel room to change into our swimsuits for a stroll along the beach.

The view from our hotel balcony. The large hut is where the pool bar is located.
The hotel surrounded the pool in a giant U-shape,
and at the open end of the U-shape was the access to the beach. 

There was a dock located at both ends of the hotel's beach access. This is the
dock to the south. Our beach wasn't too far from a reef, so the waves here are smaller,
which is why the boats are anchored in the ocean water near our beach. The reef also
produces lots of sea grass that washes up on the beach, and is raked up daily by the staff.

Our first stroll along the beach in between
storms. Although it looks cold, it wasn't at all. 

This is the dock on the north side of our beach access, and a view of more
boats parked in the ocean waters near our hotel. 

Beach Selfie.
The humidity made my hair go crazy!

I had my toenails painted by Kerry before we left for Mexico.
I loved the contrast between the bright nails and the tan sand. 

Our first day really consisted of sleeping, eating, discovering our new surroundings, and sleeping and eating some more. We loved the buffet meals in the dining hall; there was such a huge assortment of food and every evening there was entertainment during the dinner meal which we enjoyed too. The rain continued off and on the entire first day, which we were bummed out about at first. We went outside a few more times whenever it let up, but it was actually a blessing to have it be bad weather when we first arrived, because then we didn't feel so guilty for sleeping so much and napping off and on that whole first day. We were able to get rid of the jet lag, and by the second day, when the sun came out to stay, we were ready to enjoy it!

Fall 2015 Top Ten

December is here! It's crazy that 2015 is almost over. I remember when it started, and it didn't seem that long ago! Anyhoo...now that there's snow on the ground, I feel like winter has already arrived. I made this list of what we looked forward to accomplishing at the beginning of fall, sorted very anally (true Kala-style) in chronological order:


1. Start the new school year
[completed 9/1. Ammon is a sophomore, Jonah and Micah are in 6th grade at Salmon Senior/Junior High School, and Kanyon is in 3rd grade]

2. Celebrate Jonah and Micah's birthday
[completed 9/20 & 10/3. They opened presents and had their birthday dinner a little early this year, and then we celebrated their family party a little late this year when we took them to iJump.]

3. Watch Jonah's football games
[season ended 10/10. This was his 2nd year playing football, and he and his team had a much better season this year than last. He was a great defensive player!]

4. See Ammon and Micah run at XC meets
[season ended 10/22. This was Micah's first year running, and Ammon's 4th. They both had some good races, and are strong runners, but Ammon missed 4 meets due to an injury. ]

5. Go camping at Challis Hot Springs
This did not get completed due to our hectic fall schedule. We planned on going on two different occasions, but neither time ended up working out. Bummer :(


6. Go hunting
[completed 10/11. Josh and Ammon both tagged their deer on the morning of opening day, Jonah got his deer that evening, and Micah shot his deer late in the afternoon the following day. It was a very exciting and successful hunting season for our family! Sorry for the graphic picture below, but I thought it was hysterical that the deer looked like it was licking up its blood as it was hanging in the shop to be skinned and cut up.]

7. Kanyon sell pumpkins at the Fall Festival
[completed 10/10. Our one-day sale at the Sacajawea Center was fun and successful. Kanyon is a great little worker and salesman!]

8. Celebrate Halloween
[completed 10/29 & 10/31. Halloween is one of my most favorite holidays! The younger 3 boys and I went to parties, carnivals, trick-or-treating, the movies, and had a blast doing so!]

9. Josh and Kala go to Mexico for Josh's birthday
[completed 11/9. This trip was nothing short of amazing. We were there for 4 days, and it was bliss. I've missed this place tremendously ever since we got home.]

10. Spend Thanksgiving with family
[completed 11/26. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Salmon with the Tolman family. We enjoyed our relaxing break, ate some delicious food, and had a good time time with cousins and uncles.]

November 2015 on FB

November 5: My view yesterday in Idaho versus my view today in Mexico:

November 5 [posted by Josh]: Well not quite as sunny as I had hoped for, but still 85°!

November 7 [posted by Josh]: Muchos gracias to all, for the many gracious birthday greetings! Kala made this a day to remember. My 30's are going out in style with zip lining through the jungle, rappelling into a cenote, Mayan ruin tour, etc... I am thinking I have found my retirement home here.

November 8: Yesterday was phenomenal: we went into the Mayan jungle, zip lined, rappelled into a cenote, snorkeled in an underground river, swam in a cave, toured Mayan ruins, and laid on the white Sandy beach looking at the blue ocean. Today Josh and i are relaxing poolside and I caught a glimpse of what I want to do on our next trip to mexico: go parasailing!

November 14: This was one week ago and I still can't stop dreaming about it. ‪#‎vivamexico‬

November 14: I don't like being the parent of a teenager; I am much better at parenting youngsters. Experiencing this teenager phase as a mother is HARD!!

November 15: This was the only horchata I had in mexico. I loved it! But I had to leave the resort and go to a restaurant to get it. And the giardia that I now have is most likely a result from eating at this restaurant on my last night in mexico (a week ago today).

November 15: Today was the primary program at church. Kanyon was our only child in it this year, and he did great. He memorized his part about the Holy Ghost, and said it nicely in the microphone. He sang all the songs, too. I am so glad I have at least one child who loves performing and singing music!

November 19: Tomorrow, my plans for the day including making a run to the Amish store in Baker. I have run out of Chai tea, and their mix is THE BEST I've ever had!! Also, their flavored cheeses are the bomb, and I can't seem to stop my cravings for them!

November 20: "Mom, look what I made!" To some it looks like a white volcano, to some it appears to be a howling coyote, and yet to others it could just be a heaping pile of packing snow. ‪#‎youdecide‬

November 20: The boys made their first snowman of the year today--and it's a golfer!

November 20: I took the 4 boys to go see the "MockingJay Part 2" at the movie theater tonight. I didn't like how the book ended, so I wasn't exactly excited to go watch the movie, but the boys were. And surprisingly, it was much better than I anticipated, and I'm glad I went! Kanyon sat by me, and during the part when they are in the storm drains, right before the monsters come, I said "I don't like this part", and Kanyon (not knowing what was coming) instantly responded by sitting in an upright fetal position and covering his face with his jacket! He was prepared to hide from whatever was coming after them!

November 21: Josh had to get some equipment in Pocatello today, so I went with him so I could get some shopping done in Idaho Falls on the way home. Except, the unexpected happened: the truck had mechanical problems with the transmission, Josh was very stressed, and I didn't get to go shopping. It all worked out, though, because I was asked this morning to be the entertainment at a Christmas party in a few weeks and I used the time on the drive down and back to figure out a creative Christmas program so that I didn't have to bother Josh in his state of mind and it saved me from finding the time later to come up with the ideas for it. Also, we made it home without the transmission completely blowing apart. Tender mercies abound!

November 24: Took Micah on his monthly date tonight to the newly opened Wally's Cafe. We were all disappointed in both the service and the food. When Micah was eating his steak he said "Dad's steak is much better than this" and I said "that's because Dad makes the BEST steak!". I don't like steak except for when Josh makes it--it's really THAT good!

November 26 [posted by Josh]: Thanksgiving Sunset #idahome

November 27: Josh's post yesterday inspired me to take a similar photo today, this time by our driveway (yesterday it was by Edward & Kathy's driveway) after the sunrise with a similar, but different, view:

November 27: I just LOVE playing the game "Things". During tonight's game with members of Josh's family, one of the cards read "Things you don't want to experiment with". My answer to that was "Play leapfrog with a unicorn". Then later on during the game, the card was "Things you shouldn't yell out", and one of the answers was "I didn't make it over the unicorn!". We laughed SO hard at that response!!!

November 29: I got the sweetest cards from a group of young girls at church today. It totally made my day!

November 29: Tonight, I accidentally melted my favorite mixing bowl, and burned some rolls inside it. I totally forgot to turn off the stove burner when I was done keeping some gravy warm (it was on the lowest setting). About a half hour after dinner was done, I took the the bowl off the table and set it on the stove since the surrounding counters were full. It was about 20 minutes later when Josh and I could smell the melting plastic, and found the source! Whoops!