{Cancun}

Steven's grandma has a beautiful timeshare in Cancun and was so sweet to invite his whole family and me to enjoy the week in paradise! When we got to Cancun, we slowed wayyy down. There were days when we didn't even leave the pool, and we were oh so happy with that! We lounged around, swam in the ocean and pool, sipped fruity drinks, it was perfect. 

The spectacular view! We were so lucky!

One evening, we took a fun trip to a place called Mercado 28, which is a huge outdoor market. They sell a huge variety of things and we had a blast wandering around and looking at all of the pretty things! It's a tradition in my family to buy a Christmas ornament wherever we travel to to hang on our tree the next year. So, Steven and I bought a beautiful ornament to bring home! We also bought my mom a hand painted spoon rest that she loved! We had so much fun bargaining the prices too. Steven was cracking me up with his strategy to make them lower their price. After dinner we went to an awesome authentic Mexican restaurant called La Parrilla. It was delicious and had a super fun atmosphere! 

We were in Cancun for the 4th of July but that definitely did not stop us from celebrating! That night after dinner, Steven and I took a walk on the beach over to the Ritz Carlton to take a look around. It was a beautiful hotel. We were walking down on the beach in front of the hotel, and all of a sudden huge fireworks started going off right in front of us! They were lighting them about 100 feet away from us and it was so awesome to be so close (a little scary too!). We laid down on the sand and watched as the fireworks went off above our heads. It was a perfect evening! 

Please take note of Steven's shorts...very patriotic ha! 

To make that night a little more memorable, while we were walking home from the Ritz Carlton, we literally almost ran into a giant sea turtle!! It was frightening at first, but then it was the most amazing thing. We continued our walk down the beach and ran into about 6 or 7 more along the shore, digging holes to lay their eggs in. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures in fear of disrupting the turtles, but it was an experience that I'm sure we will never forget! 

Our trip to Cancun was a blast, and I had so much fun spending time with my man and his awesome family!

{Ohio}

Steven had 3 weeks of leave this summer, so his family planned a super fun vacation that let us visit with all of his family! Our first stop was a week in Ohio with his dad's side of the family!

I had never been to Ohio, or the Midwest for that matter (except Chicago but that probably doesn't count all that much) before this so I was really excited. We had a little bit of a travel mishap when we arrived at 1am and found out that the airline left our checked baggage where we caught our connecting flight. That was a bit of a bummer, but we luckily had enough essentials with us to get us through the night! 

Steven's roommate from last semester, Joe, lives really close to his grandma's house. So, the next day we all went wake boarding and water skiing on Joe's boat. It was really fun to meet up with him! After we had our fun on the water, we all went out to eat. We escaped the looming thunderstorm perfectly because it was beautiful all morning and the torrential downpour only started the last few minutes of lunch! We got really lucky that day. Later that day, we played mini golf with Steven's family which was a blast. That night, Steven and I met up with Joe again and he brought his girlfriend, Emily, with him. We all had a great time! Those boys are so cute. 

Steven, Joe, Emily and I were talking about the differences between Ohio and California and we were all cracking up. Here are the main things that we noticed! 

• Let's just start off with talking about how green Ohio is...like really, really green. Seriously, everywhere you look there are huge, gorgeous trees. It's not like that here in California. It's a beautiful place, don't get me wrong, but it's definitely not as green as Ohio! 
• Another thing that we noticed was that there were barely any sidewalks where Joe and Emily live. Where Bubs and I are from, it's rare not to see a sidewalk unless you're on the freeway of course. 
• This one isn't only about Ohio, but I always get a kick out of the fact that major super markets are different in different states, I'm weird..I know. In Oahu, it's Foodland, in Southern California Pavilions, Vons, and Albertsons are big. In Ohio...Giant Eagle. 
• And there's the most obvious linguistic difference as well. California- soda. Ohio- pop.

And those were our first two days in the Buckeye State! Check back soon for the next two and then our amazing trip to Cancun! 

xox

Vacation!

Hi friends! Happy Friday to y'all! 

I'm currently in Cabo with my grandparents, mom, aunt and cute cousin having the best time! We got here on Wednesday and we'll be heading home tomorrow. 

Here's a little taste of paradise that we're loving right now: 

All of these pictures are from their website 

These next three weeks are packed with fun! Steven comes home for a three week leave tomorrow and then we leave on vacation for another two weeks! I can't wait to spend time with him, it's been too long! 

Be forewarned, there will be lots of updates and pictures coming your way soon!