Only 3 more weeks?!

Sam and I just got back from a really fun camping trip with his Dad! We went to a beautiful place along the St. Joe River in Idaho, about 3 hours from home. PERFECT campsite! Couldn't have asked for anything better! We got to try out some of our new camping equipment that we received as gifts from the wedding, went hiking, ate good food, and just relaxed...wonderful 3 days!

Now that we find ourselves at home again, I looked at the calendar in the kitchen and realized that there are only 3 weeks until Sam goes back to school! That only leaves three weeks for a job to hopefully open up or I will be subbing this school year :/. Not my idea of fun, but a job, and extra income.

Over the next three weeks we have a lot going on! There are four weddings over 2 weekends (we can only go to two). Can't wait to see our sister and friends get married! We had such a joyous time at our own wedding, and cannot wait for these awesome people to experience the same!

In between the weddings, doctor appointments, getting ready for school, etc., we have started looking into buying a house! What?! Oh, yes. We are insane. BUT, with our lease at the condo almost up, it was time to start looking for somewhere to live in Washington and we just can't justify paying rent when we might be able to buy a house for the same amount! We are VERY anxiously awaiting reply for the mortgage guy to see what we qualify for and if we are really, truly insane. Sam and I are so excited about the prospect of being homeowners. It seems like (except for the job front for me) everything is falling into place for our lives together.

We hope everyone has a splendid next three weeks!

~Heather

We’re Home!

After a long and relaxing honeymoon on the streets and sand of Los Cabos, we are home! It was a fantastic trip and we cannot wait until our next adventure!

It is nice to be home in more comfortable weather. Heather and I have talked about how much we liked Cabo and both decided that it isn't really the place for us. We think we could have probably spent four or five days there and been satisfied with our stay. There just isn't a ton of things to do there without a lot of money at hand. This all being said, we did have a really fun time and it was probably a good thing that we didn't have a ton to do, as we really did need to relax for once. Our dream destination is Europe. However, if we did that we would never sleep and always be on the move because there is so much to see and learn! So, Cabo was and is a good honeymoon destination (just maybe not for 11 days).

Having had some time to adjust to this new life and reflect on our big day, we are very much enjoying this married thing. It is a wonderful thing to know that I will be spending the rest of my life with the love of my life and best friend! We get along (right now;)) famously, and love spending time with one another. I know, I know. This doesn't last. But, while we're still in our "honeymoon" mindset, we are living it up!

Our wedding was fantastic! We had such an enjoyable and memorable time; seeing everyone together was a real treat and a day we will never forget. We felt that everything went off without a hitch. A special shout out to everyone that helped in the long process. The "mom's" were priceless in the process, always wanting to help and helping things go smoother. Amanda Hansen at Dance Street Ballroom knocked our socks off. She had everything set and good to go and provided a fantastic venue for the reception. She even gave us dance lessons for free so that I wouldn't look dumb! Shannon at Puttin' on the Ritz put all of the food options together and provided a wonderful and competent staff. Reading some reviews online, they seemed mediocre at best and I was incredibly surprised. Don't be fooled! Shannon was FANTASTIC to work with and the food was delectable. Esther at Special Touch Florist created a beautiful bouquet for Heather and an arrangement that went around the unity candle. Like the former two, she was great to work with. We recommend these three people and their businesses without reservation and would be happy to give you their info if you are interested.

As for the last two days, Heather and I have been organizing all of the fantastic gifts that everyone gave us. We feel so blessed to have people that seem to be able to read our minds so well. That was the exact blender we wanted!!!! J Heather is working (hard) to make the name change with all of the vast businesses and government offices. Talk about a pain in the butt! But, she insistedJ

Again, thank you everyone for your kindness and support. We truly feel that we are surrounded by the most caring and kind people. God has touched us in so many ways, and we are reminded of this every day. (It's good to see the doggy's tooJ)

Sam

Mexico Blog 3...and final!

July 9, 2011

Today we decided to stay out of the sun as long as possible since we were going into town in the afternoon. That proved to be fairly difficult, as we got fairly antsy by lunchtime! To occupy ourselves, we took our time getting ready for the day, bought some internet time, and read some more in the comfort of our nice cool room. Heather is a bit concerned because she only brought one book and is enjoying it and the relaxation so much that she is almost through and there are no bookstores to be found!

At 3 pm we headed to the lobby to catch the shuttle. On the way into Cabo San Lucas, there was a “guide” of sorts who told us what we were looking at, a little bit of history, and answered questions. It was crazy to look out the window and see the very tip of Baja and visualize it on the map. They call it “Land’s End” and it is easy to see why. On Monday we will sail around it and get to see the “Arch” up close. The guide told us that it was the symbol of Cabo, and indeed, it is everywhere on everything. As the guide spoke, first in Spanish, then in English, Heather started remembering more words. Spanish is VERY slowly coming back to her, but it is more of a slow understanding of what is being said, rather than being able to speak it herself. Both of us think that we would fare better in Germany.

The town was fun, but also not quite what we expected. Our expectations were for a huge outdoor market, taco carts everywhere, and old buildings. Instead, there were several small, very repetitive markets, a very large designer (think Fendi, Coach, etc.) mall, and NO taco carts. We did find a Starbucks, which was very exciting. Probably the first truly cold drink we have had since we have been down here…cold typically means slightly cooler than the air temperature, which is hot and humid. We walked a ways down a couple of smaller streets and the shopkeepers were like cheetahs pouncing on us at every doorway. The small markets were okay, but again, the merchants were ruthless. We did not buy anything today because we wanted to look around shops with prices on the things we want and then go back and bargain with the outdoor merchants. We think we can make a couple of good deals on a few items. On Monday when we go back into Cabo for our Sailboat Cruise we will stay a bit after before coming back to the hotel and do some shopping and eat lunch at a more authentic type restaurant. Oh, and Dr. Emery was right. There are pharmacies all over the place selling prescription drugs over the counter. We went in one just to see what all they actual sold and were almost shocked…anything from Tylenol to Ultram, Amoxicillin, Penicillin, and even…Viagra. There are no bounds.

Tomorrow we might try to take the city bus into San Jose del Cabo, as the guide said that it was more historic and had older buildings and churches. Maybe we might even get to attend a late Mass since it will be Sunday? We will have to see about that though…we are nervous since everything will be in Spanish and the Mexicans are known for be very strict Catholics. Sam might also try to go into the ocean again tomorrow. His ear is feeling better, but today the waves were definitely too big. Hoping for better water conditions tomorrow.

Tonight the hotel restaurant served “tex-mex” for dinner. That term makes us think of Chevys in California and we wonder why they wouldn’t just serve real Mexican food? We were guessing that it would probably be pretty similar, though…for some reason Mexicans making fake Mexican food just doesn’t sound possible or logical! Rather, Mexicans making anything other than Mexican isn’t possible or logical, as was proved by the Mexican tasting Italian food last night. Indeed, “tex-mex” was Mexican food with a side of baked potato, BBQ chicken, macaroni and cheese, and of course…American country music. Whatever the case, it was delicious.

After dinner, at 9 pm in the lounge, there was supposed to be live music, so we went to check it out. There was a Mexican band that actually was not too bad…although it was quite hilarious listening to them try to sing American songs. They didn’t fail too terribly, but we were shocked to hear Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock” in Spanish!

July 10, 2011

Today we went into San Jose del Cabo. This was the first time we rode the public bus sytem and it was quite interesting…something to get used to. We picked it up right outside our hotel along the highway that connects Cabo San Lucas to San Jose and got there without too much of a problem, except the bus driver convinced us to get off the bus in a part of town that was obviously not for tourists. So, with sandals on our feet, we started to walk towards what we thought was the Center of town. About a mile and a half later, walking through what we felt was the Mexico we had been expecting (dirty, etc.), we finally found where we had intended to go. It was Sunday so everything was closed, but it was a small historical part of town that was fun to see. The venders were just as vicious, if not more so, than in Cabo. We stumbled on an old church, a mission, but were unable to go in because Heather was not wearing a skirt or dress. We ambled around town and took in the sights. There was also a small arts district, but again, everything was closed, so it was a short trip. On the way back, trying to get a bus out of the Center seemed next to impossible, so we put on our “walking shoes” and walked the mile and a half back up a hill to try and get back to the main highway. There was a Walmart at the top of the hill, which the locals call the “Mega Store.”

Finally, we were able to catch a bus back to the hotel. We were not familiar with where we should get off so it was kind of a guessing game, but we picked our stop wisely. We were both beat by the sun, and our feet were killing us (in fact, Heather’s shoes had melted and her feet were stained black…no fun!). We went to the pool for a bit to cool off and just hung out for the rest of the evening.

July 11, 2011

Today we got up bright and early at 6:30 am…shocking to all of our readers we know! It was actually quite nice and made us feel like we were actually accomplishing something by being up, rather than lazy and lethargic as we have been the majority of the trip. The sun was just coming up as we ate breakfast and we got to watch it come up over the ocean and mountains. It was a beautiful sight…much more impressive than the sunsets.

After breakfast we exchanged some of our money at the front desk and then went to catch the public bus into Cabo San Lucas. We were fairly confident after our experience yesterday in San Jose del Cabo, but quickly realized that we had no idea about which stop we needed to get off the bus. We must have had the look of “lost tourist” to a gentleman who was getting off at “our stop” and he gently told us “aqui.” Or rather, he told Sam, who did not know what he was saying. I remembered that that means “here” and we got off the bus. We were very grateful, but also had a good laugh over people talking to Sam, not to Heather. It is a fairly common occurrence, although we just realized it this morning. The people are very nice, but they do have their traditions and customs in mind at all times.

We proceeded to Starbucks (since we found it on Saturday, we were very excited to get back, especially since we got up SO early) and then to the docks to try and figure out where we were going to catch our boat. Even at 8:30 in the morning the ruthless salesmen were out in full force on the docks, offering us water taxi services, boat rides (which were way cheaper than what we paid for ours…this bummed us out at first, but our experience was well worth what we paid in the end), and begging us to buy breakfast from their restaurants. We found our dock well ahead of when we needed to be there, so we continued around the marina, finding that we missed out on a lot of cool looking locations on Saturday. We plan on going back to explore and do more shopping tomorrow, with tennis shoes instead of flip flops!

As I said, we were a bit disappointed at the price we paid for our boat ride, but, come to find out, we were on a 42 foot sailboat with a 2 man crew and one other couple from Texas. That alone made up for it…we were not on a boat with 50 other people and could actually strike up conversation with the people we were with and not feel like cattle.

The first thing we did after pulling out of the marina was to stop at a rock, called Pelican Rock, to go snorkeling. Heather was not very excited about this as she is not the best swimmer, does not like not knowing what is under her, and certainly does not want fish anywhere near her. However, she agreed to snorkeling so that she did not have to go scuba diving. Heather was very pleased to find that the salt water helped make her more buoyant, but just to be safe, she took a water noodle with her out in the water. Sam went in first, then Heather cautiously followed. Both of us found it hard to breathe with the snorkel gear, which surprised us since we had both played with the same sort of gear in pools when we were kids without a problem. Heather had the worst time of it, and struggled to not panic. Needless to say, she only saw a couple of fish and was then content to just try to keep her body as flat as possible on top of the water so no fish would accidentally touch her feet or legs. Sam had a hard time, too, but not nearly as much. He saw a few more fish than Heather, but the water was very murky from the crazy big waves and extra high tide that we had yesterday. Sam also started feeling sick, so we went back to the boat a little bit sooner than we had to.

When we got back, one of the crewmen had delicious sandwiches and chips with salsa for us while we waited for the other couple to finish snorkeling. As it would turn out, we should have brought the sea sickness patches Mom offered us…Sam ended up sea sick, and once we were actually sailing, Heather didn’t feel so hot either. That was kind of a downer. Sailing was really great though…no engine, just the wind! It was a bit nerve-wracking when the boat was lying practically on its side, though. We sailed past the famous “Arch,” “Lover’s Beach,” “Divorce Beach,” and back and forth between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. Overall, it was truly a great experience.

After our ride, we cooled off in the mall a bit before getting back on the public bus and heading back to our hotel. The afternoon was spent mainly in the hotel room, as Heather is burnt and also had some heat sickness. We even ordered room service instead of going to dinner.

July 12, 2011

Today we made our last trip into Cabo san Lucas to do some shopping and finish seeing the marina. By now, we were quite familiar with the public bus system and had no problem figuring out what to do and when. When we got to the marina, we were again hustled by the venders. There was a cruise ship in port (they are so big!!!) and that made things a little bit more busy.

Around lunch time we found a small local restaurant to eat at, and enjoyed the local fare very much. Heather has been on the search for tortillas to buy and bring home, and failing in her quest after several tries, she was content ordering quesadillas in order to at least EAT the tortillas. Just outside the restaurant were painted men, like the ones in San Francisco, only these were gold not silver, and were dressed like pirates instead of robots. We found this to be quite amusing.

After lunch we meandered back down the marina to go to the market to try and bargain with the venders. We were told it was possible to talk them way down in their prices and we thought it might be fun. The venders that were hustling us earlier remembered us and had more fun with us than anything on the way back. Instead of water taxi rides, they offered us trips to the moon and seeing that we were American, ketchup from McDonalds.

Once at the market, we located the items we wanted to buy and tried to haggle with the venders. We already knew the prices at the gift shops in the mall, so we were pretty confident that we could talk them down at least by 50%. Little did we know. They are not to be haggled with and once they tell you their price, they will not even give a counter offer. Even after Sam had explained to one of them that the mall prices were a third of their price for their smaller item (the mall had a bigger version for less), they would not hear it. This was very disappointing, especially since we have both been to Hawaii where haggling is fun and very effective, but we still got what we wanted at the mall. “Cabo” is the Spanish word for expensive. We wish we would have known that before booking our honeymoon here! There are some deals to be had, but we have not become familiar enough with the area to successfully seek them out. Apparently tourism is fairly new here, and growing very fast. Five years ago, over half of the hotels that are currently here, were not. We are thinking that the vender expertise that we saw in Hawaii (ex: $2 shaved ice on every corner), has not yet reached here. That being said, it was very fun to be in the town again today

This will be our last blog for the trip. Tomorrow we plan on just staying at the resort and spending one last day relaxing in the sun and water. We plan to soak it all in before we get back to our frigid 85 degree temperatures at home.

We have had a blast here in Cabo and have spent some very wonderful quality time together. We are looking forward to coming home, though, and seeing our families! Thursday will be our travel day and then we will spend Friday catching up on sleep and getting Heather’s name officially changed. Saturday its off to Seattle to visit with Heather’s middle school band director and her husband, who could not be at the wedding! Never a dull moment for the Newlywed Schlaich’s!

We hope you all have enjoyed following along on our adventure to Mexico and we can’t wait to see you all when we get home!

Keep tuning in as the summer continues! We plan on making this blog a fairly regular means of communication! J

Mexico Blog 2

July 6, 2011

Another beautiful day in paradise!

This morning we slept in again…still trying to catch up on sleep. We can’t believe how tired we are still! Once we woke up and had breakfast, we decided that a couple days of lying around the pool and beach were enough and it was time to set up some excursions.

First of all, we recommend Gray Line for all of your traveling needs. They are very friendly, accommodating, and work hard to find an activity to suit your needs and what you can afford. Tomorrow, we are going horseback riding on the beach at sunset. We get picked up from the hotel and will be taken to a kind of wildlife preserve (sounds kind of like an estuary type of place) where we meet our horses. We will drive through San Jose del Cabo, so we can decide then if we want to book a shuttle later in the trip to explore that city more. We also booked a shuttle into Cabo San Lucas for Saturday. We will only be there for 2 and a half hours or so, but we figure that will be enough time to decide if we want to come back and explore more and for a longer period of time.

Obviously we have accessed the internet. It is so expensive! $12 USD per hour! It is hard to justify paying that amount, but job searching must be done and we are enjoying updating everyone on our adventures!

Before lunch today, Sam went swimming off of the beach in the Sea of Cortez. The waves were massive, and it was crazy watching everyone ride them in and out. A young girl got pummeled by a wave and got scraped up pretty bad by the sand. Sam came out unscathed and had a blast. Due to her limited swimming experience, Heather decided to stay on land and take pictures and video! Her only injury was a sunburn. It appears that 50 spf sunscreen and a cover-up will do her no good on this trip! Shade umbrellas it will be! That being said, we are both very happy that the sun finally came out today…the water was such a beautiful, rich, deep blue, as was the sky. After months of rain, we were slightly disappointed yesterday by the cloudy sky, but today made up for it!

The rest of the afternoon was spent pool-side again, will intervals of reading, napping, and swimming. At about 4 pm we went back to our wonderfully cool room and took a nap for a couple of hours. When we woke up, we took showers, got all dolled up, and went to the reservation only restaurant here on the hotel property. The food was good, but we decided that the buffet where we eat regularly is more delectable! The atmosphere, though, was quite delightful. The couple behind us had a spectacular evening as well…the man proposed to his soon-to-be-wife…and since we have recently experienced getting married, we couldn’t be happier for them and ourselves! We had a beautiful walk after dinner and enjoyed looking at the stars and watching the satellites.

Now we are off to bed…hopefully after tonight we will be all caught up on sleep! Buenos noches!

July 7, 2011

Continuing our everlasting quest to catch up on sleep, we again slept in a little. We are starting to think that the incredible heat and humidity just wears us down through the day. We have not been very active, so we don’t have a ton of energy. It was another day at the resort. This place really has it all. If we weren’t bent on seeing the sights, this place would satisfy us for the entire trip. The ocean is just a short walk away and there is a fantastic beach. The food is fantastic and the drinks are free! Everything we could ever want.

Again, we spent some time around the pool. It is so nice just to sit around and have nothing to do. We read quite a bit, relax, and sleep whenever we feel the urge to do so.

Around 5PM, we sun-screened our bodies and got on a bus to get over to a small ranch-like area just past San Jose Del Cabo, to the East. Going through the town (or what we supposed to be the outskirts of it), we saw a wide variety of things. One block might be a bunch of run-down shacks, and then a nice little town with fun little shops or eateries. This made us look forward to getting into Cabo San Lucas later in the week. We wound through these towns and ended up on a dirt road that seemed like was headed toward a pretty seedy place. Heather and I are always pretty observant as to what is going on, as we don’t want to be the next ransom for the U.S. and the drug trade. Anyway, we ended up at a little shack that had a couple horses tied to it. It was here that we jumped on the horses and hit the trail. It was just Heather and I with a guide that seemed nice, although tired of riding with an endless line of dumb Americans, who seem to not ride very well; he looked bored. I noticed every time I turned around, he was talking on his phone. He was very nice though and took our camera so that he could take pictures for us while we rode. We started our trail ride a couple hours before sunset, so we were treated to some very romantic evening sights right on the beautiful beach. Heather’s horse seemed to have to poop a lot: every time I turned around, her horse was either peeing or pooping. After the horse finished his business, he always caught her back up to the group. Always looking for a new house, we couldn’t help but notice the amazing mansions we were riding by. One was on sale, but after discussing our financial situation and our small desire to stake a claim outside of the U.S., we decided the 3.2 million dollar home was not quite to our liking and that we would have to pass. Our horses seemed to have a business oriented attitude, albeit, from a business man who had been around for years and couldn’t wait to retire. They lacked any spark. For us, who are not the best riders, this was probably good. However, I couldn’t get my horse to go any faster than a slow trot. We rode about a mile and a half down the beach and turned back about 45 minutes before the sun set. Overall, it was a fantastic experience. We both agreed that this was worth having on our bucket list.

We eventually made it back to the hotel, where we ate dinner and kicked back. Each night, the hotel has some little party going on in the lounge that they personally invite us to. Yesterday was karaoke, tonight was a “lounge party.” We dropped by and had a drink. The “party” was very kid oriented, interestingly enough. We paid attention because they were playing some great games with the kids that we could easily transfer to our classrooms. Yes, at a bar, we picked up some great school-oriented games. Having had enough “excitement,” we retreated to our room. The bed is horribly firm so we have a hard time sleeping. But, after these hot days, we do alright. When we came back to our room, the covers were turned down and the hotel staff had left mints and bookmarks on our pillows, as well as soft music playing on the television. Yay for being on our honeymoon!

Till next time!

July 8, 2011

Today has been another day of relaxation! We have finally determined that our tiredness during the day is due in part to the bed. We have “baby bear” syndrome…our bed at home is a bit too soft, this bed at the hotel is a bit too firm…maybe one day we will find the perfect mattress!

The morning was spent down at the pool again, but until after we watched the final space shuttle launch. We were very glad that we did not miss it! Both of us are enjoying our books a great deal, along with the occasional nap. Sam wants to swim in the ocean some more, but is currently banned because he seems to have a bad case of swimmers ear. With no rubbing alcohol in sight, the ocean shall have to wait!

After a few days of wonderful relaxation, we are ready for some activity. Tomorrow we will take a short jaunt into Cabo San Lucas to determine what the city holds for our entertainment. We are using the hotel shuttle so as to become a little bit more familiar with the city before braving the public bus system.

This afternoon we braved the pool again, only to find that we think we might be getting too much sun! As much as we craved the vitamin D, Heather is now burnt (it appears that no amount of sunscreen or hat, or cover up will help her down here), both of us are drained, and we generally feel lethargic when we go outside of our air conditioned room. After we ate dinner we went back to our room, and watched Fox News and read for awhile before crashing pretty early. The staff had turned down the bed sheets and left a chocolate again! We already feel better and will try to stay indoors more tomorrow before heading into the city!

July 4th and 5th in Mexico

July 4^th, 2011

Greetings from the Melia Cabo Real in Cabo San Lucas Mexico! W

e have arrived and are doing most splendidly!

Yester

day (the 4^th) started our adventure…with a mix up at the airport! The computer system would not let us check in! As it would turn out, Cheap Tickets did not inform us of some flight changes, and we had missed our flight leaving Spokane. After making SURE to tell the ticket counter guy that we were leaving for our honeymoon, he found us a different flight path, got us booked for exit rows (2^nd best to first class – more leg room!), Mom and Dad fixed our shuttle to the hotel, and we were on our way.

The first flight was from Spokane to Portland, and it was very empty. The pilot told us about all the places we were flying over, including Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams, and the Cascade range. Then, the pilot announced that he requested a special, up close flyby of Mt. Hood and that it would be on the left side of the plane. Then he did a wing tip to the left and there it was! We could have touched the mountain…it was so beautiful and definitely a treat!

On our way from Portland to San Francisco, we flew over the Sierra Nevada mountains and saw Mt. Shasta. Both of us were on the lookout for Eagle lake, but none of the lakes we saw looked to be the right shape or big enough.

When we arrived in Mexico and stepped off of the plane, we were hit in the face with massive amounts of humidity and heat. Everything was automatically sticky! Papers do not stay crisp…they are always damp! We made it through customs without incident, pushed our way through the most obnoxious time share people in the world, and our shuttle driver greeted us by name without prompting. More like rescued us…those time share people are everywhere in the airport and it is so easy to become confused. Anyhow, we got on the shuttle and after 20 minutes of INSANE driving, made it to our hotel.

At the hotel, after announcing that we were on our honeymoon, we were upgraded to an ocean view room, our bags were carried everywhere for us, and we had champagne and air conditioning waiting in our ro

om. AC never felt so good! Both of us were so exhausted from being up for some 28 hours, so we just hung around for a bit, unpacked, and…hung up four American Flags so that we could privately celebrate the 4^th of July!

Eventually we went to dinner, where they were serving BBQ. We are wondering if it was the hotel’s tribute to the Americans that are staying here. Whatever the case, the food was delicious! We were not at all disappointed. After dinner we explored the resort a bit more and when it got dark (much earlier than in Washington), we walked on the beach a little bit. We were all alone…the hotel is surprisingly not crowded, nor is the beach. Must be the crazy humidity! Out of nowhere, the Hilton, which is right next door, put on a beautiful fireworks display for the Americans staying there…right over our heads! It was absolutely magical! So, even though we are in Mexico, we celebrated our country as much as possible! As we are writing this…we have FOX News playing on our television…which is also very American and quite exciting for us. We will be watching the shuttle launch on Friday for sure!

So far, we are lovi

ng our honeymoon. The people here are very friendly, and we are trying to pick up on some of the more simple Spanish. The service is amazing and the place is beautiful. Our only disappointment has been the clouds! There are some storms off shore somewhere that are causing it to be very cloudy here. Hopefully it will clear up soon and we will see the sun!

Right now, we are getting ready to head downstairs to the activities director to see what our options are while we are here. We saw a horseback ride on the beach yesterday and are pretty sold on finding a stable and we want to go for a sailboat ride around the peninsula.

We hope everyone had an amazing 4^th of July and we would like to wish Joshua, Heather’s brother, a very Happy 20^th Birthday today! We will update again when we can. For now…adios!

July 5, 2011

In an effort to become acclimated to Cabo, we have made it a point to sleep in everyday. Today was no exception, as we rolled out of bed around 8AM. We had a crazy night last night, and went to bed around 930PM. I know, some of you are thinking that we should take it easy, but our ability to party cannot be matched, so we must take advantage of this skill! In all seriousness though, we are pooped. We’ve still not really caught up on our sleep so we are trying to do that in these first few days.

The food here continues to be amazing. We haven’t had a bad meal yet, and are always looking forward to the next one. They serve real eggs! That by itself is awesome. The rest of the food is divine and is just “frosting on the cake.”

This morning, we ventured out of the confines of the hotel and walked down the beach about a half mile.

The waves are huge and it is no wonder to us why swimming is not advised. You would be pulled out in j

ust a couple

of waves. On our way, we saw a dead crab, and a dead pelican. Heather did not appreciate the former. As we walk on the beach, you can see all these pin holes where crabs dig in overnight. Once in a while we come across a big one, so I am continually on the lookout for the biggest one.

After we got back, we relaxed by the pool for a couple hours and read (Margaritas are generally in hand while pool time is happening). We both enjoy all of the down time. We are planning on heading out to Cabo San Lucas in the next couple days and do some activities like snorkeling, sailing, and horseback riding on the beach, although there are no solid plans to do these at the present.

We ate a delicious dinner at a hotel restaurant where they had Mexican cuisine; it is apparent that they know how to make this food! While there, they had a family playing a marimba that looked to be home-made. The resonators were a little rough, but other than that, it sounded excellent. The dad generally played the melody, which was usually pretty fast, and the 5-7 year old daughter and son were using double mallet technique to accompany him, with little effort but amazing results! For a few songs, the kids just played, which was a blast to watch. After dinner, we watched some piñata activity, and then called it a night. Great day!

Welcome and Thank you!

Hello to all who are new to this blog! We hope you enjoy reading our updates, especially in the coming days!

Yesterday, we celebrated one of the most sacred sacraments in the Catholic Church: Marriage. And we couldn't be happier!!! What a wonderful day we had! Thank you to everyone who traveled both near and far to join us on our special day! Especially thank you to our parents, who filled in the gaps and helped us make the day happen!

Tomorrow (or rather in just a couple of hours!), we leave for our honeymoon! We are going to Cabo San Lucas on the Baja Peninsula of Mexico and are so excited! Check back often for updates on our adventure! We hope to post pictures here and there, too!

Thank you all again and we look forward to sharing many more memories with all of you!!!

~Mr. and Mrs. Schlaich ;)