Costa Rica 3~28~11

On Monday morning, I woke up feeling so rested and was glad to see the sun starting to come in through the drapes. I was sure it was around 9 or so. Wrong! Try 5:30. Costa Rica does not observe daylight savings time so the sun rises about 5:30 every morning. By 6 AM,its looks like its in the middle of the day outside because its so bright. Oh well, we're morning people so no big deal. We ate breakfast and my love affair with sweet plantains began. It's like heaven in your mouth.

After breakfast, we decided to take a little walk on the beach. The beach was called Playa Conchal which means "shell beach". There were millions of tiny shells in the sand which surprisingly didn't hurt your feet to walk on. Unfortunately, my I blew out my flip flop. Neal's question of why I always pack several pairs of black flip flops was finally answered.

We visited with one of the local tour guides on the beach and booked an excursion for Wednesday. We jumped in the pool and began enjoying the swim up bar. Their speciality drink is called a "dirty monkey" and it was fabulous. This time was so much fun because we were constantly talking about the wedding. We ate lunch at the hotel and then got the car to go scope out some of the other beaches. Ended up at Playa Grande and walked on that beach for a while. When we returned, it was time for one of the many naps we took during the week. We had dinner at the Italian restaurant which had really good food. We mistakenly ordered a bottle of wine thinking it was included but were surprised when the waiter brought us a bill for $108! We learned the hard way that the glasses of wine are included but not the bottles. We chalked it up to having a fabulous meal with fabulous conversation and called it a day. We heard there was a casino in the next beach town over, so we drove to check it out. They called it a casino but it was more like a game room. One blackjack table, one poker table, a few slots and a video roulette table. We tried our hand at roulette. Neal lost his $20 pretty fast. Mine lasted a little bit longer and I eventually won back our $40. I kept betting the same numbers. 3-26-11 for our wedding date. Consistency paid off!

Costa Rica 3~27~11

So I think we made it back to the Omni around 3 on our wedding night or should I say morning of our honeymoon. We had to get up at 5 so we could run by our house to pick up suitcases and get to the airport for our early flight. My mom was a champ and was up when we got to the house and helped us get everything in the truck. I managed to take my makeup off before going to sleep at the Omni but the hair stayed. And stayed until we got to Costa Rica.

It appeared that our flight was going to be full as people kept boarding. Neal had the aisle and I had the middle seat. We kept waiting and waitng for our window friend to come. To our surprise no one ever came and we lucked out with an extra seat during the flight. Score for being able to sprawl out and sleep on the plane! I was prepared for a small airport when we arrived in Liberia and knew we would exit the plane on the actual runway. What I wasn't prepared for is that the Libera airport is literally a barn with big fans and all open air. Luckily it was quick to retrieve luggage and get through customs.

Then we took the shuttle to the rental car lot and got hooked up with our little Hyundai SUV. Perfect to tie the surf board on top!

Our first stop was a little Costa Rican restaurant that we had seen on the way.
All open air and so breezy on a beautiful day. I ordered this shrimp dish with fried yuca, which is a fruit that is to die for. I could have eaten it everyday but settled for plantains at the resort. The meal ended up costing us about $60 because we hadn't quite figured out the currency conversion but it was worth every penny, or rather colones. In the rush to leave Houston, we also both left without our sunglasses. So we stopped at a little gas station and bought crappy sunglasses. Neal's were blue and turned his face blue like a Smurf with about 30 minutes.

We drove to the Paradisus and it was just beautiful. The lobby was all open air and overlooking the mountains. They asked me to sign my name and it was weird to sign Rebecca Ferguson but I did! The resort is set on about 2400 acres. They have these little trucks everywhere to take you from place to place.

Our villa was called the Villa Elvira and it was in a rockstar location. Right next to the pool, restaurants, and the beach. There were champagne and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us.


We made reservations for the Italian restaurant but since we arrived so late the only seating left was 9:00. Around 7, we decided we were exhausted and decided to endulge in the included room service. Room service was available 24 hours a day and the food was delicious!

We're Married

Actually have been for a little over a week now. I woke up Saturday morning crying because I was happy it was wedding day. Neal said, "bye, next time I see you will be at the wedding!" Let the waterworks begin. I thought to myself, "oh crap, this is going to be a long day if I'm already crying." Thankfully, I made it through the whole ceremony without shedding a tear. My eyes started fluttering during the vows but I kept it together. I sure didn't want all our wedding pictures to have me with red puffy eyes and make up running down my face. The wedding was perfect. Even if there were buzzards circling around during the ceremony. I didn't see them. The only face I could see coming down the "aisle" was Neal's. I could see lots of people but coulnd't make out any of their faces. Guess my eye was on the prize! God sent us beautiful weather and we had a great time celebrating with family and friends. A group of troopers even made it to the after party at Watson's. I kept my wedding dress on all night and giggled everytime somebody asked me if I had just gotten married. I eventually started responding, "no, this is just my going out attire." Of course you idiot, we just got married! We closed the place down for the 2nd night in a row. Dear Watson's was also the site of the after-rehearsal gathering. Have to take advantage when everybody you know is in the same place at th same time. Our house was grand central station all weekend which is why we wanted to have the wedding close to home so people would have a place to hang out. Jamie had mimosas waiting for us at the salon Saturday morning which was a nice treat. Rachel was with us ALL DAY LONG and took just a few photos. Something like 1000. We made it to the airport on time early on Sunday morning, surfboards and all.

Wedding on the Brain

Seems like all I can think about. I've been waking up in the middle of the night trying to think of things that need to be done. Truth of it is, I can't think of anything and I'm 99.9% sure that everything is ready which is a good thing. Luckily, I haven't had any of the bad dreams (like the one where no one shows up to your wedding). A girl I work with got married at the WestLake Club a couple of years ago. She brought me her pictures to look at today. It gave me a little rush to see exactly how its going to look. They were having so much fun and I could just picture all my people's heads on her people's bodies dancing the night away. I realize that sounds weird and goes to show that I can't concentrate on my work at all today. I've also started making Neal's "to-do" list for Friday and Saturday. He's a smart man and asked for it to make sure everything gets done. It's hanging on the refrigerator and I keep adding little things to it.

It's Wedding Week!

So this it what it feels like to know we're getting married in a few days. Pure giddiness I tell you. There are still a few little things to do. Today I came home and Neal was cleaning his surfboard. I drove up and he had this huge smile on his face knowing that he'll be surfing next week. Or maybe he was smiling thinking about honeymooning. No, probably the surfing!

We both had our last single hurrahs this weekend. The boys bbq'ed and played poker here on Friday night then went to New Orleans on Saturday. The house didn't look too bad. I had cleaned it for them and now it needs to be cleaned again after having a bunch of boys here. I had the best bachelorette party in San Antonio this weekend. We arrived on Friday and checked into the Crockett Hotel which is a quaint hotel right behind the alamo. Saturday was so much fun. First, we laid around the hotel watching TV until about noon. Pure heaven! We finally decided to get dressed and head to the riverwalk. Cue the fun. We had some lunch. Went to a little wine tasting store that only served Texas wines. Llano Estacado Shiraz is still my favorite! Then we were killing time at another little bar that had Shiner on happy hour. Yes please! By that time, we walked back to the hotel to scoop up Mom, Steph, and Terry. I had a mini-lingerie shower. Pat O'Brien's was fun as usual. I think that is my favorite place on the river. Maybe its the hurricanes, but I'm pretty sure its the company I'm always with. We danced, laughed, sang, and ate cake. The weekend was perfect. I have said for years that I didn't want to prance around with a veil and bachelorette paraphanelia. Luckily, I didnt' have to wear any of that. Just not my thing. I don't have any pictures but hopefully some get sent to me. I was looking at them on Leslie's camera and they are Hi-lar-i-ous!

Here's to the rest of the week!

We're Licensed!

Neal took off the afternoon so we could finish up some wedding things. We're officially licensed in the great state of Texas to get married. The courthouse is an interesting place. Luckily, more people were in the "criminal business" line than the "marriage license" line. We got our license and the lady asked up to check the spelling of our names. I guess our eyes were playing tricks because we said "Yes, that's correct." Well, when we got back in the truck I was looking at the license (all giggly) and noticed that it said Fergurson instead of Ferguson. We went back in and she was able to fix it for us. We overheard several other couples talking in the office. When the clerk asked one couple when they were getting married, they said "as soon as possible." Then another Mexican lady was there and was trying to explain that her significant other wouldn't be able to attend the wedding but they still needed to get married. I think he might have been either in the country illegally or needed to get to the USA. I'm sure those people hear all kinds of stories!

I also picked up my wedding dress and its perfect. She ended up sewing "bones" into the top to hold it up so it doesn't droop.

After everything was completed this afternoon, I thought I might try to take a nap. Yea right. I am just so excited about all of this, there was no way I was falling asleep. The jeweler called and I'm going to pick my ring up today. I've hated being without it.

Spring has Sprung

So I've been admiring all the azaleas blooming around our neighborhood. In case you didn't know, I LOVE azaleas. Like really love them. Since all the houses in our neighborhood were built in the 50s and 60s, the azalea bushes are huge. I've been bugging Neal that we really need to plant a few this year so we can have pretty azaleas like everyone else. Low and behold, I noticed this in our front yard today. Turns out we do have an azalea bush! It's just now starting to bloom and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I think we still need to go get a few because our flower beds are pretty bare.



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The other big news it that we're 10 days from our wedding. I'm not sure how that happened but its here! Luckily, I've been on spring break this week so I've had some time to mark things off the perpetual "to do" list. Here are a few things I've checked off already. Dropped my ring off at the jeweler so it can be nice and pretty for the wedding (I hate not wearing it and hope its ready today), caught up on thank you cards, bought a few gifts, found a rehearsal dinner dress, called the WestLake Club many times, talked to Pastor, paid the DJ. Today, we're getting the marriage license, paying the cake lady, picking up my dress. I'm also finishing cleaning the house for part 1 of Neal's bachelor party. The girls are heading to San Antonio this weekend for my last hurrah. A little different from the boys' New Orleans trip, but I can't wait!

Since we're getting closer to the wedding, I'm able to start checking the forecast for wedding day. I hope I won't be checking it all the time, but I know I will. Right now, the weather channel only goes till Friday the 25th and it looks good. I know these things can change though. As much as I'd really like to have the wedding outside, if we have to have it inside, that's fine too. I'm sticking with my mantra of not stressing about things I can't control. At the end of the day, we're still getting married!