Omigosh, JAMAICA!

Hello there... from JAMAICA!

Yeeeup! I can't believe it either, but Rob and I are finally here, in Negril. There's already so much to share; I'm not sure where to start, but I suppose waking up at 3am for Kalyn to drive us to the airport is as good as any ;) .. [thank you again, Kalyn!!!]

early morning salutes from cvg

It's been a while since my last real vacation. What's even better is that this is Rob's first trip out of the country! With passports and itinerary in hand, we processed through the airport check-in and security, eventually boarded our flight, and off....we were on our way!

vaca, here we come!!

Fun fact about flying to Jamaica: It takes less time to fly directly from Cincinnati, OH to Montego Bay, Jamaica than it does to drive from Cincinnati to St. Louis. Yeah. Just under 3.5 hours passed by from take-off to landing, and we had made it to Jamaica!

Our first order of business was converting some of our American money into Jamaican dollars. This was highly recommended to us by the travel reps and of course the airport staff; really, I think next time it won't be necessary to convert as much... but I'm sure this is one of the many lessons we'll learn this week. Anyway, after a brief pass through the cambio and customs, we stepped outside and boarded what we called the bug busses:

bug busses ;)

our first picture in Jamaica!

Off we went, on a beeline route from Montego Bay into the heart of Negril. The countryside started opening up as we pulled away from the airport, giving us a fresh view of what this place really is. Oh, and they drive on the left side of the road in vehicles with right-side steering wheels. Move over, America! ;)

We stopped off at a little beer shack [we later realized these are very common!] to take a quick breather, grab a cold drink and breathe in some of the salt air coming in off the water. Oh, and if you had to pee, there was a shack. I'm all about doing business in the wild, so this is right up my alley. I love this place already! Haha..

hello, Jamaica.

Jamaican roadside convenience store

"rest room"

After we all stretched our legs for a bit, we climbed back on the bus for the remainder of our trip into Negril. After we dropped people off at a few of the other resorts along the route, we reached ours. Legends Beach Resort is our home for the next several days. Hello, home.

legends!

We've already been insanely lucky on this trip, that everything for which we paid and expected has so far been delivered; we have an ocean front room directly above the bar/restaurant, and literally just steps to the white sand of the beach. It's safe to say I'm in love.

It took an hour or so after we arrived at the resort for our rooms to be ready, so the lot of us took to the beach and the bar, making ourselves at home and getting to know the staff as best we could.


Once we'd finally settled into our room, we changed and headed back down to grab a shuttle up to Samsara, Legends' sister resort. Our stay here this week is all-inclusive, which means we can trade our included meals at either of the resorts. So shuttle it was, up to Samsara, which sits atop some small oceanfront cliffs.

samsara

view from the upstairs restaurant

looking down on the outdoor seating

Tonight we got a chance to meet Tara & Jordan, fellow Ohioans who are here on their honeymoon! [Congratulations, again!] I think everyone in Cincinnati remembered seeing Tara there this morning, still in her wedding dress. They're an adorable couple, and as we sat cliff-side with them for a bit after dinner, we agreed that we'll hopefully see more of each other throughout the week.

the newlyweds! jordan & tara

There was some live entertainment to sing us out of Samsara as we headed back onboard the shuttle to Legends. This also seems to be a standard practice around here!

live reggae :)

We're back here at Legends now, and just wrapped up an introductory chat with Cassie & Shayne, another couple from Ohio, about 45 minutes away from us back home. Wcmfe invited them to join us tomorrow for a day at Samsara, and it sounds like they're in, too!

shayne & cassie

 Now we're cozied up in our room, ready to get some rest for whatever adventures lie ahead of us this week.

good night, from legends!!

Here's to a week in paradise!

xo | cmd

Happy Birthday, Trisha!

Seriously? It's JULY already?! WHERE.. is this year going? Hahh..

I always know it's July when I hop on Facebook and am quickly reminded by the newsfeed that July 1 is the birthday of my former roomie Trisha and of course her twin, Laura.

former roomies @ the doebler wedding!

happy birthday, girls!

July is HERE! Let's make it a great one!

 

xo | cmd

Happy 30, ROE Girls!

I always wondered what it would've been like to be a twin. Sometimes that thought scares me, because that would've meant the world would have two of me to handle. Haha. Other times, I think it would be hilarious and fun, since the majority of the twins I know prove twindom to be just that. Or, it could be just that the twins I know are all beautiful people, inside and out, so they make the whole shebang look that much better. Either way....

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

- to my former roommate Trisha, and her twin sister, Laura. Today they are the big 3-0, and I wish them both the best of the best for their birthday! (:

adorable, right??
l: i think it's laura, then trisha?... and on the r: trisha & laura (:

birthday memoirs!
b: trisha & catie
f: jacinda. laura. cori

I remember when Catie and I joined the Roe family for a birthday celebration for these two ladies a few years back; we decided we'd tell everyone we were also twins and see if they believed us. [I'm kidding; we didn't, and it wouldn't take more than a snail to recognize that clearly we aren't.] Anyway, happy birthday to these two beautiful girlies and wishes for many, many more!

The only thing about which I'm not sure I'm crazy when it comes to the Roe birthdays is the fact that it marks the first day of JULY, which means it's time for me to do my annual peek back at the first half of the year, and consequently wonder where in the heck it all went. I know I'm not alone. Haha. This year certainly has made its way without lag and while it seemed like it would be a daunting one at the beginning, there was a certain shine to it that I saw early on... I'm convinced the last half will be amazing.

Something else I found for the day that I thought was fitting for both a Monday, the first day of July, monumental birthdays, whatever.... [borrowed this from searchquotes...]


happy ________ ! [july! birthday! life!]

This is going to be a great week for a multitude of reasons... including [but most certainly not limited to:] Sydni being with me all week, Ali & Co. visiting this weekend, a holiday [=shortened work week!], possible camping trip with Becky, maaaaybe having a visit from Rob, fireworks, gosh.. list could go on. I am blessed, and you are too, whether you can see it now or not.

"Wait for the Lord; Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." -Ps 27:14

Here's the the second half of the year.. Happy JULY!

xo | cmd