St. Lucia - part 2

We have been back from our week long vacation for 2 weeks now and Blogger is not cooperating and letting me properly upload photos. My apologies in advance for these not being in any sort of order but I wanted to share some photos from our trip. It was truly the most relaxing vacation we have ever been on and was truly a time together we will never forget! Here's a few (ok alot) of photos from our trip.

Us being silly

One of the many beautiful waterfalls at the Botanical Gardens

How low can you go? Let's say I didn't last that long during this contest.

Our favorite bartender! He would bring me my favorite drink even before I asked for it. I think it was making my "passion" drink on this sunny afternoon.

David relaxing at the pool on our last day.

Me relaxing at the pool. The blue tile at this pool was truly beautiful.

My last drink before heading home the next morning.

Zip lining!

Us on our 8th anniversary after zip lining through the rain forest in the pouring rain.

This little bird would sit on my chair on our veranda everyday. They are so friendly and I loved feeding them and watching them. They were beautiful.

Another one my friends that would come and visit.

They had a "lazy river" that was hidden away on the property. There were lots of cool places to relax and this was our favorite place to hide-away. It was surrounded by water and was directly in front of a waterfall. I couldn't resist taking this picture of David reading and totally relaxed. He doesn't read that often so it was a memory I had to catch.

This was a Salmon Tree at our resort that looked like it was straight from the movie Avatar. This picture doesn't do it justice - it was breathtaking!!!

This crab loved playing hide and seek while I tried capturing a picture. I got one at least!

This was one of the very friendly locals that we met while going for a walk on the beach. He made a grasshopper for us out of 2 banana leaves. It was something his grandmother taught him to do. He could make all sorts of animals and I loved seeing them use resources that are easily available thanks to nature and use it to make a living. I also bought a birdhouse from him carved out of a coconut.

US - loving life.

David posing on a beautiful piece of driftwood. It was a rainy day but we tried to make the most of it.

Paradise in St. Lucia - part 1

We went to St. Lucia for a week to celebrate our 8th anniversary recently. We had been looking forward to this trip for months and when we finally arrived it was everything we were hoping for and more. The morning after we arrived we ate breakfast and headed straight to the beach....this was the first photo taken from my lounger.

P.S. blogger is not cooperating and won't let me post more than 1 photo, more to come soon. 

Vacation Destination

I just realized I was a bit of a slacker on getting back to everyone regarding our upcoming keep my sanity vacation. Remember this post here where I asked for you to help us select our vacation destination? Well I even challenged you to name 2 of the 3 countries that we are considering and I had a few guesses and each picked 1 of the 3 countries but no one picked 2 out of 3. I won't keep you in suspense any longer. We were deciding between Costa Rica, St. Lucia, and Grenada. A special thanks to my blogging buddies for playing along with my little contest- 1 guessed Costa Rica and the other guessed St. Lucia. Well we are heading to.............................

St. Lucia to see the Piton's and enjoy the wonderfully beautiful beaches.

We are staying at an adults only (aka no kids splashing me and my drink while lounging in the pool) all inclusive resort that has all of the amenities but is smaller than some of the larger Sandals resorts. We I did a ton of research before deciding where to go and I got a tremendous deal through Luxury Link's website. If you haven't visited this website I highly recommend it! You get to bid on your vacation package and I saved 60% off of the regular price and searched the Internet like crazy and no one could touch the price I got by bidding for our package and winning through this site. It's also unique in that it offers really unique places to stay that are a bit off of the beaten path and often smaller in nature with the best of class service. I also read a ton of reviews on Trip Advisor before pulling the trigger on our resort. Super excited and I'll tell you all about it once we get back. Until then I am getting swimsuit ready by eating all of the veggies from my garden! I have cucumbers and tomatoes growing out of my ears! I've resorted to giving most of them away because I can't eat them that fast!

Lots of Change & Time for Vacation

You probably have been wondering - where in the world is Melissa these days? Life has been a little crazy and all of this change has me in a bit of a rut. Unfortunately the company that I work for had to lay off 1600 people which was a huge and utter shock especially since it's a successful and profitable company. I understand the reasons behind the decision and I agree it's the right thing for the future, but boy has it been tough. I'm happy to say that I have been retained and actually moved into a new position. When was it effective I asked? "Well immediately".....hugh?!?! I am one that LOVES change but I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me and I have zero control - there lies the issue. I lost many of my co-workers who I had very close working relationships, lost 1/2 of the sales force that I once supported, and I started a new role immediately. I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining because I'm ecstatic about my new role and overjoyed to continue to be employed during these tough times but gosh - this girl needs to catch her breath. Survivor's guilt is a real thing and watching people walk out the doors carrying boxes everyday has been a bit much. Did I mention that I had to cancel my vacation in the midst of all of this? OK, deep breath Melissa....regroup and move forward. As a result of all of this change, my hubby and I are planning on taking a "real" vacation - far, far, away. Here's some of the locations we are thinking about. Can you guess where they are? The pictures include 3 different countries. The first person to guess 2 of the 3 countries will win a $20 Starbucks gift certificate - who doesn't love caffeine? Bonus: help us pick from these 3 locations and we'll bring back a souvenir for you! (Hint: they aren't the first place that may come to mind so dig deeper.)

Gosh - there are so many places I want to go and so little time.....please help us!

On the Shores of Southern California

I spent the week in Southern California for work and had a little spare time on Wednesday to hit the shore before the sun set. Being only 5 minutes away it was an easy drive to a local State Park for some breathtaking views of the beautiful coastline.

First I hit a local outdoor mall called "Fashion Island" and that it was. There were just as many little dogs as their were people at this mall and they were all allowed to go in and out stores like it was no big deal. Many of the stores even had dog bowls of cold water for the dogs to get a refreshing drink. I was in heaven when I saw that but I really missed Tanner when I ventured into a pet store to see all of the little puppies. I started snapping pictures and sending them to Dave because I seriously pondered bringing one of them back home with me. We've been thinking about getting another puppy but I don't think getting one from a pet store (aka puppy mill) is the right thing to do.

The photo above was taken from Fashion Island - steps away from the water

Crystal Cove State Park

Seriously - cactus next to the beach?

I absolutely LOVE Southern California and would move there in a second - I only need to convince David that living in a 1 bedroom apartment isn't that bad is it? After being in SoCal once again and loving every minute, I think it inspired our next vacation. I think I convinced the hubby that we should fly to the West Coast and rent a car and drive down the coast and end up in San Diego - I LOVE that place too! What do you think, does that sound like fun or what? If I can't get him to move there, I'll settle for a vacation there.