Jamaican Honeymoon Part 1

Saying "it's been a while ya'll" would be an understatement. The past 1 year, 1 month and 7 days was filled with SO much. I was in my dietetic internship which I posted about briefly. So far that time in my life has been the most beneficial and life changing time I have ever experienced. I had some very extreme lows and very extreme highs. During my internship I was tested and there were times I was not at my best but I can honestly say I gave it my all. One of my best friends got married during that time and was planning for another best friends wedding. When a dietetic graduate is done with their internship they have to take a registration exam. I had never experienced anxiety like I did when that "exam" would come up in conversation. I had a job waiting on me to pass my exam so I was feeling a lot of pressure to get to work quickly but also needed a break so bad. I took my exam 3 weeks after finishing and did not pass. I thought I could do it myself but realized God is the only way I can and want to do anything. Life is so much better when you put your full trust in Him. And THAT is the lesson I learned during my time away from writing here.
I am going to get caught up in more detail on everything that happened but for now I want to share E and I's honeymoon photos and talk about the time we had in Jamaica. We will never forget our time at Moon Palace. This is day 1-3...I think :)

When we got off of the airplane we had to load onto a bus and go for a 1 hour and 45 minute bus ride to our resort. It was SO fun because we got to see A LOT of the island and so many other resorts on the way including Half Moon resort where apparently all the celebrities stay. It was really cool to see all the mountains, houses and goats grazing on the side of the road.
One thing we never saw which a lot of people say they do are officers with guns. We never saw one police officer besides the security on the resort. I recommend Moon Palace because it is right in downtown Ocho Rios and a lot of the attractions are right there like Dunns River Falls, Mystic Mountain, and they have their own dolphins!





This was our first meal on the resort and also one of my all time favorites! Pesto salmon with sweet slaw (and a bunch of other goodness). Restaurant: Pier 8.




If you ever see me make this face just know..it is fake! This is what happens when a guy says "hey, want me to take your picture?" You reply, "yea that would be great thank you." Then he takes your phone and runs out the door and disappears for 10 very long seconds before he comes back in and says "just kidding" and starts taking your picture. This was the first night and the reason I did not trust anyone we met the whole rest of the trip..







AND....then we ordered room service at like midnight that night and it was amazing! I got chicken lettuce wraps with avocado on top, side of fries and Eric got chicken tenders. Did we need room service at midnight? Probably not but it was so much fun!



The next morning we went to the breakfast buffet (one of the only places open for breakfast) and had the most amazing taste test of SO many different fruits and foods. The sausage there was different than the sausage in the U.S. It had very little grease, no gristle at all and I don't want to know what it was made from :)
The coffee was from Blue Mountain on the island and it was strong but very good. The different juices they had to try everyday were amazing. They had rows of little glasses like these in all different colors and mixtures to choose from. Anything with ginger was my favorite.

The Naseberry tasted like sugar and water mixed together and just disintegrated in your mouth.
The Soursop was SOUR! It was very gooey and slimy but was just sour goop. Our waiter said he did not like it very well.
The Jamaican apple was really good but VERY different from the apples we are used to. There is a better picture of the jamaican apple as you scroll. It is very tart and bitter but also sweet-very good.
Look at the whole oats in the oatmeal pancakes!! YUMMY!






When we got off of the bus from the airport they gave us cold towels, pineapple ginger juice and the girls got a red flower. I wanted to keep it but had to leave it there.











Eric and his Jamaican Jerk Chicken! They had a small stand by the beach where they would come everyday and grill fresh chicken and corn. They would also slice coconuts and put straws right down in them! It was a dream.
For lunch we ate at pier 8 again and tried a smoked salmon salad. Smoked salmon was something we had a lot that we had never eaten before. Then, Eric ordered the hamburger and I got the jerk sausage hot dog (Pier 8 hot dog) which was amazing! It was too bad that I could only eat a few bites because it was SO spicy! Even thought it was painful to eat it was one of my favorite things I got-the flavors were so good.





One of my favorite parts of the resort we were at was you could take a kayak, paddle board, ocean bike, go on a sail or swim at any time of the day (as long as the wind wasn't too strong). We got in a double person kayak and went all over the ocean! It was so cool to kayak on the ocean and see down in the water, but also very scary. Unfortunately, we saw quite a bit of trash. Everyday they have divers that go down and pick up trash.
The coolest part was all you had to do was go sign up on a sheet of paper and you could do any activity you wanted to!












Just to be real, a lot of these pictures are un-edited because I thought I am going to leave them the way they are because that is real! You can tell by this point in the day that my face is pretty sunburnt!!! That BB cream did not hold up....lol.



They gave us 3 chocolate truffles everyday and boy were they amazing! No clue what they were made of but reminded me or Oreo cookie but soft and powdery!
For dinner late that evening we went to La Gandola and this was both of our favorite restaurant HANDS DOWN!
Here is what we got pictured below: caprese salad, assorted bruschetta (one was smoked meat with blue cheese and pecan pieces with sweet), creamy tomato soup with parmesan cream, cheese and spinach ravioli and pasta with different meats, cheesecake for dessert.











After the meal at La Gandola they give you a shot of something strong to "help you with digestion" the waiter kept saying! I couldn't event get the whole thing down! LOL We cannot wait to make this tomato soup with parmesan cream this fall! My mouth is watering thinking about it right now.

We were so tired after having our first full day on the resort but we were so excited just to be together alone and allowed to be alone! LOL It felt so exciting to be on an airplane together, hanging out in the airport and catching flights! That was before we even got there. It took me a while to get used to "all inclusive" because you wear a bracelet and get ANYTHING you could dream of any minute of the day. Just sitting on the beach feeling the breeze after going through all the business and stress of getting ready and leaving work. I had not had hardly any days off since I started work in October so I was living it up. The first day, Monday morning I was up at 6:15 wanting to get up and go out on the resort. Of course Eric was still sound asleep. I looked out from our balcony down to the resort and NOBODY was out. I mean not one human. So I thought well I better lay back down....I could not sleep so I waited for Eric and we finally got up and ready.
Putting sunscreen on was an everyday EVENT in itself. We tried to do it on our balcony before we left the room just to be really sure we were covered.....You will here more about this in the next post.
For now all I have left to say is that thinking back (to 3 weeks ago) I want to remember what this was like forever. It smelled like coconuts and sunscreen and fresh clean laundry!

Working on getting my log in back to linking products with their pictures! :) It will be back soon!

White Scallop Swimsuit - Aerie - top, bottoms  - on SALE and so flattering!
White Stripe Coverup - Asos
Red floral hair-tie - Forever 21 (out of stock online, similar one here)
White Tassel Earrings - Asos  (out of stock, Forever 21 has some very similar)
Teal Romper Dress - Asos  (this is sold out, similar here from Nordstrom)
Nude mules - Target
Wedge flip flops - Aldo
Palm Print Suit - Asos -River Island
White hat - Target
Blue spaghetti strap dress - Asos