Snorkeling Adventure - Additional Honeymoon Pics

Here are some of the pictures from our snorkeling adventure in Mexico. There will be even more snorkeling pictures posted later from a waterproof camera that I have not yet developed. These pictures were taken for us by the tour company that took us snorkeling.

We went on the Mayan Adventure Snorkeling Tour provided by Olympus Tours (who work with Travelocity). The Mayan Adventure group also takes groups into the jungle for a tour of ruins and zip lining in the jungle. But we did not do that tour.

Our first stop was a fresh water lagoon. We did not get any pictures of the fresh water lagoon, but it was in the middle of the jungle. A rocky area was filled with cold water and plants. There were MANY little fish and a few big fish.

Our tour guide drove us to all three locations. She also snorkeled with us, took pictures, and gave us information on Mexico, fish, snorkeling, etc. She was raised in Germany with her parents and came to college in Mexico. She used to work in hotel administration, but a few years ago she switched to giving tours. Her name was Tanya.

Our next location was a salt water lagoon that connects to the ocean. The following 3 pictures are of the salt water area. Unfortunately, we could only stay in the lagoon, and we could not venture out into the ocean because of the rough waters (from hurricane Alex).

In Mexico, Iguanas are everywhere!!!! We saw them on roads, in trees, in caves, at our resort!!! Tony almost stepped on one once!

Our last stop was the caves. The caves are filled with fresh water, and ancient peoples believed that the cave water could refresh your spirit. The water was cold! As we swam, the stalactites were very close to our head and we could look below and see stalagmites and other rock formations.

Here are pictures of us in the cave water!

Married Life

Tony and I had our first home cooked meal in our first home as a married couple. He cooked meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. For dessert, Tony made brownies which we ate with ice cream. Very traditional meal. However, I'm lucky that we can take on non-traditional roles allowing Tony to cook!!! Yum!!!

Luna de Miel en Mexico (Honeymoon in Mexico)

Here we are at the Lubbock airport before getting on the plane to go to our honeymoon. We ate a snack and had drinks to relax. Tony has a sweet, romantic face while I look crazy!!

My favorite honeymoon picture is of Tony on our balcony hammock at our resort in Mexico. We both love hammocks!! If the summer was more bearable in Louisiana, we might have one in our backyard. He looks so happy!

I look less happy on our balcony hammock. It is only because I was SOOOO tired. Here you can see the tiredness in my eyes, exacerbated by the pina colada I was drinking.

Here is the view of the private pool available to us for the first night in Mexico. Our first night in Mexico, we upgraded to a huge suite. The following pictures are of the upgraded suite. This pool was a private pool for those with ritzy suites. I took this picture looking out of our balcony.

Bedroom.

After we told our concierge that we were on our honeymoon, the next time we walked in our room, the housekeepers had laid out rose petals in the shape of a heart with towels folded in the shape of kissing swans. Cute. Messy though.....when we turned on the ceiling fan the petals flew everywhere!

Our honeymoon gift from the hotel was a little white chocolate cake with a bottle of champagne. This arrived on our second afternoon in Mexico.

Here is a picture of our upgraded balcony.

Here is the living room and dining room in our upgraded suite.

Here is the kitchen in our upgraded suite.

Here is another picture of the bedroom, including our private hot tub!

Here is a picture of Tony and I after dinner one night. Most nights, if we didn't order room service, we dressed for dinner and went to a restaurant. The dress for dinner was no swim suits and pants for men. This picture is after we went to the restaurant named Asiana. The lobby is behind us.

Asiana served Chinese, Japanese, and Thai cuisine, and it was my favorite!!! At Asiana we shared fried seafood dumplings and a California Roll (type of sushi roll stuffed with crab, avocado, and cucumber). I ordered Thai beef (beef fillet with spicy thai sauce) and Tony ordered Beef Tepanyake (ribeye steak). We ate the entire meal with chopsticks. It felt very exotic.

Tony's favorite restaurant was Maria's. He got a ribeye there that he really enjoyed. At Maria's, I ate big cold shrimp (like shrimp cocktail). Maria's also had really great Creme Brulee.

Another night we ate at Pelicano's (seafood) and for lunch we ate at Tapas (Spanish appetizers liker tacos, shrimp, fried things, etc.) and at Spice (the buffet). For breakfast, we ate at Mediterrano's. Mediterrano's was suppose to be Mediterranean food, but for breakfast, they just had a traditional breakfast buffet. I didn't really want to eat there for dinner because I didn't think that I would like Mediterranean food. I don't like olives, and I think Mediterranean food has lots of olives.

On the last day of our honeymoon, we woke up sad because we didn't want to leave our magical vacation. I am so thankful that Tony took me on such a beautiful trip!!!

The Wedding!!!

On June 26, 2010 I married Tony at 2 PM at First Christian Church!!! The best day ever!!!

My favorite part of the wedding was walking out with Tony after the ceremony. We were all alone and so excited to be married!!!

Tony's favorite part was seeing me for the first time walk into the chapel.

For friends getting married in the future, I suggest getting a lighter bouquet. Mine got too heavy during the ceremony to hold with one hand. Tony suggests placing large fans at the front of the church because he got very hot.

Bridal Brunch Photos

Beautiful mom!


Me and Grandma Ethel.

Me and Amy, Maid of Honor.

Me and Clare, Bridesmaid.

Me and Tara, Bridesmaid.

Me and Haley, House Party & Scripture Reader.

Me and Rayla, House Party.

The girls at the table with beautiful flowers!

All the bridal party! So lucky to have such beautiful, kind, and loving friends!!!

Bachelorette Party Photos!!!

My bachelorette party was held the Thursday before my wedding on June 24th at my maid of honor's house!!!


Here is the amazing HOMEADE lingerie cake made by Janelle!!! It was red velvet on the inside, delicious!!!



Table 1, full of food: vegetable pizza, pigs in blankets, veggie tray, heart shaped cookies with icing that said "L & T"

Tabe 2 full of food: amazing cake, chocolate fountain with marshmallows, pretzels, graham crackers, and fruit, chips & quacamole with queso.

Me and Amy!!

Me and Tara.

Me and Rayla.

Me and Janelle.

Me opening the gift basket provided by all the guests.

First Week of Work at Coca Cola

My first week of work (not counting training at Atlanta) for Coca Cola was June 7th - June 11th.


This is what I wore for the first day of work on Monday! Tony got up early with me and took my picture! My first day of work I left around 6:45 AM and arrived at work around 7:30 AM. Since I had taken a tour, I knew where to go and who to ask for. When I arrived I met with Ron and the new summer intern at Coke, Justin. We looked through our manuals to go over the structure of the program. Next, Justin and I did a lot of orientation paperwork.

After orientation videos and paperwork, Tricia (my coach) took Justin and I out to eat at Cafe Rani, located on Magazine Street in Uptown. Uptown, and Magazine Street specificially, is a hip area in New Orleans. It has been gentrified and many young people live there. People who live there ride bikes, drink Chai tea, and are environmentally conscious. We all ate sandwiches at the cafe. Eddie (Justin's coach) met us there to talk with Justin and go over the program. While Tricia is an Account Manager (takes care of Coke customers), Eddie is a Business Development Manager (gets new Coke customers). So eventually, I hope to work with him too so that I can learn his work.


At the end of the work day on Monday, Tricia took me to a part of the Coca Cola plant to get my car. The Coca Cola plant has its own mechanic shop to work on all the cars and trucks used by Coca Cola employees. Here is my company car! It is a Ford Fusion, not sure what year. But it has everything I need! I'm very thankful for it. I've turned in my application for a gas card, and I hope to receive it soon.

On Tuesday, Tricia and I spent time in the office. She did some paperwork while I watched training videos and worked in my manual. In the afternoon, I attended the annual Summer Kick-Off Sales Rally. All Sales employees headed across Lake Pontchatrain to the Northshore into Covington (the town north of Mandeville). The sales rally was held in an indoor soccer facility that was decorated with Coca Cola signs and banners. Awkward middle school cheerleaders opened the rally with "Coke cheers!" If you will notice the man in the black polo, his name is Charlie, and he is the boss of the entire Southern Louisiana region (New Orleans, Mandeville, Metairie, Kenner, Thibadeax, Iberville, etc). He ran most of the meeting.

During the meeting, receptionists and other administrative employees danced with flags and threw stuffed soccer balls into the crowd.

Here is me, sitting at the back of the sales rally. I was a little late because I got lost.

After the sales rally, we were served a fish fry buffet outside the soccer arena. We ate at big tables under tents. Here is a picture of Tricia and I. Best friends already!!! In the background on the left is Ron. He is my rotational manager (my manager for this year while I am working in restaurants). He is a DSM, the position I will earn after my program.

At Coke, for sales employees, Mondays and Fridays are usually office days. The other work days are spent visiting clients. Our plant recently absorbed another plant in Louisiana, and we gained MANY new employees. So there are no cubicles available for me. However, next to Tricia's desk is a small counter with cabinets used to hold office supplies. So I took it over and made it my workspace. Here is a picture:

Here is a picture of me at my makeshift cubicle. I am wearing my first Coca Cola polo. On Friday, I arrived early at 7 AM to work in my manual and finish up some training before everyone else got there.

Overall, it was a beautiful first week of work!! The most important thing that I learned was: I have so much to learn!!!! This will definitely be a challenging and fascinating program!!!