Living 'la vida loca'

I know it has taken me a few days, but here is our report on our Mexican adventure!

We left Salt Lake on a red eye flight early Tuesday morning, and by early I mean 12:55 am. After a lengthy layover in Atlanta, we arrived at the Cancun airport shortly after noon. For the rest of that day we made sure our plans for the week were set and explored our resort, pool, and beach. Our resort, by the way, was incredible! There is a reason it is called all-inclusive. I'm pretty sure you could easily spend a whole week there without ever leaving and never get bored.

One thing we learned very quickly is that Iguanas are EVERYWHERE! They come in all sizes and seem to have little fear of people. They walk around right in the side walk and only shuffle over a little when people come close. This is a picture of the very first one we saw. See how close Hunter is?

I'm pretty sure that these pictures were taken a couple days in, but I'll give a blurb about the food now. We decided that at an all-inclusive resort they give you as little food as possible. The first day we ordered an appetizer, main dish and dessert each. We definitely did not leave full. Everyday after that we ordered WAY more food. haha. We always got at least 3 or 4 appetizers for the two of us as well as a main dish a piece (and sometimes another one to share) and a dessert.  Multiple times we ordered room service a few hours later. I decided that we eat A LOT of food or alcohol is a lot more filling than I expected - which decreases everyone else's need for food.

These were the desserts that we got at the Mexican restaurant. The first plate has 2 desserts on it. I think it is almost mockery to give only a taste and then it's gone before you can really enjoy it.

Everything was always plated beautifully, and these two desserts are no exception.

Day 2: This day was filled mostly with swimming with dolphins. We loved this activity soooo much that it deserves it's own post. Be excited for when I get time to do that. haha. 

Day 3: Our Tulum adventure and Xel-ha

This picture is of the little shops in front of the entrance to Tulum. This was my first real introduction to street vending and bartering - an experience that I found more stressful than anything else. They seriously chase you down and try to suck you in to purchase whatever they are selling despite the fact that you are purposefully ignoring them. Then the bartering? Why can't everything just be priced at what it should sell for instead of doubling the price so that maybe, just maybe they can rip some tourists off. haha. Luckily for me, Hunter is an expert and we never paid full price, getting at least 25% off every time. Sometimes closer to 50%.

This is the main temple in Tulum. I find ruins so fascinating! I am no history buff, but actually seeing they way people lived and built things is so interesting.

The Mayans were very short people. We were told that they would have no problem walking through this tunnel, but I was very bent over trying to get through.

Awe, the beach. Isn't it beautiful? Are you jealous a little? Because you probably should be.

Another iguana. I think Hunter took as many pictures of iguanas as he did us. haha. We never completely got over seeing them everywhere. We did, however, get to the point that we started looking for them and were slightly disappointed when they weren't there.

This picture is in Xel-ha. Xel-ha is basically a natural aquarium. It starts at a river and ends in the ocean. We snorkeled the whole way through and were able to see multiple eco-systems along the way. There were also places to cliff jump, rope climb, and zip line (all of which we participated in). While we were there, we also had the opportunity to bike a little through the jungle and hike around.

After snorkeling for 3 or 4 hours, biking, and hiking we were pretty exhausted. They were prepared for that and provided plenty of hammocks. 

Side note: they had people taking pictures there that you were able to buy afterwards (for more money we were willing to pay). We had pictures taken zip lining, holding an iguana, a parrot, and a toucan. When we were holding Toucan Sam he peed right on our hands! I didn't even realize that birds peed until that moment.

Later that night, we were walking through our resort and along the beach. 

This picture should probably be entered in a photo contest. Hunter did a great job with it.

Even though we were slightly disappointed that the camera couldn't capture exactly what we were seeing (which was very serene by the way) we were still able to get some good ones. 

Day 4: Chichen Itza and a cenote

Aptly named one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Chichen Itza definitely didn't disappoint. Again, my fascination with ruins was fed very well. We opted to have an LDS tour guide so we could get a Book of Mormon perspective. We thought that was appropriate for exploring Lamanite lands. Our tour guide was excellent and if anyone is going to the area soon and would like to take an LDS tour of the area, here is the link to his website.

This particular picture is of a burial site for a wealthy, higher class citizen. Their burial tradition for everyone else was to be buried under a tree so they would be able to go back to what created them. Our tour guide is also in this picture.

This is a picture of the Observatory. The door is off center because of true north and magnetic north. It is amazing how much the Mayan people knew. Another thing that was really interesting was that in this field if you clapped it created an echo that seemed to be circular so that all around could hear. 

And this is the classic Chichen Itza picture. We were sad that we didn't go a week later because on March and September 21st the sun lines up just right that it creates triangles of light that line up perfectly with the sides. I realize that doesn't make any sense, but I'm not sure how to explain it without a picture of it. Just know that March and September 21st are very important days. haha.

Another iguana - hanging out in the sides of a ruin. 

This picture is when we arrived at the cenote (a natural well filled with fresh water). Early Mexican cities were built around these cenotes so the people could have fresh water. I think our tour guide said there are about 11,000 cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula. 

Cliff jumping into the cenote. There were soooo many cat fish!

This picture was taken right before Hunter pushed me in. I tried so hard to pull him in with me, but it didn't work out. He felt bad though and jumped in shortly after. The lifeguard came running and everything, it was great. haha.

On the drive back to our resort, we drove through today's Mayan cities. It was so interesting to see how these people live. Most houses were built out of wood in such a way that you could see right into the house. They seemed to be mostly one room and there were only hammocks. The people don't have beds. It is such a different lifestyle than the one I have always lived. 

Day 5: Our last full day in Mexico

We spent all of Saturday relaxing. The morning was occupied with playing on the beach and swimming in the ocean. This was the only day there was anything that resembled surf. All the previous days the water was barely lapping at the beach. There must have been something brewing out to sea this day though because we had decently sized waves to play in and body surf on. 

Our afternoon was filled first by massages and then by a trip to Playa del Carmen which included shopping and eating at an authentic Mexican Restaurant.

Day 6: The flight home

There wasn't anything super exciting that happened this day as we left for the airport shortly after 9 am. One interesting thing though is that the biggest plane we were on was the one from Atlanta to Salt Lake. I thought that was strange seeing as how we took international flights. 

And that concludes our first anniversary trip! I can't believe that we have already been married for a year! It seems like only yesterday that we were getting home from our honeymoon. Spending a week in Mexico was the perfect way to celebrate :) I love you Hunter Paddock! Happy Anniversary to us!

For Melissa

Almost 2 weeks ago one of my very best friends lost her significant other in a tragic motorcycle accident. My heart continues to break for her. 

Yesterday I was able to see her for the first time. I haven't been sure what to do or say, but one thing I do know is how to bake. Baking is how I cope and in a small way how I hope to show others that I care. So I baked these Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and took them with me. Just days before the accident Melissa and I were talking about having these to indulge my baking habit and it gave us a good excuse to get together.

While these were not the circumstances we were hoping to experience these cookies in, I'm glad I was able to see her. Her incredible strength in the face of such a tragic situation gives me strength. 

Because Melissa was one of my bridesmaids, I was hoping that I would have a picture of her and Alan. I looked through all of our wedding pictures to see what I could find. While it isn't the best picture, I am glad that I was able to find it. 

They were such a cute, happy couple. Hunter and I loved every minute we were able to spend with them. We will miss Alan along with many, many others. 

Here is a link to the new article and his obituary.

My heart and prayers are with you, Melissa.

3 Restaurants I will likely never eat at again.....

I really don't know where the inspiration to write this post came from. But its been one of the random things on my mind pretty frequently for the past few weeks and I hope writing about it will maybe finally get it off my mind. With that said, here are 3 fast food places I will most likely never eat at again. I decided to also include their one saving grace that could possibly entice me to eat there again.

Sorry McDonalds. I'm not loving it. Honestly, its probably already been 2 or 3 years since I've eaten here. There are just so many better options available. If I am really dying for a burger or shake I'd much rather go to 5 Guys or In-N-Out.

Saving Grace: Chicken McNuggets

As far as I'm concerned, with fast food places, its 3 strikes a you're out. The last 3 times I've eaten here I was left feeling not so hot. The first time going all the way back to 2002 I had a Guacamole 6 Dollar Burger. Got food poisoning from it and missed a devotional from President Hinckley because of it. The second time was earlier this summer when I got chicken fingers that I could not even finish because they were so gross. And finally this past Saturday I got a Western 6 dollar burger that did some weird stuff in my stomach, I don't even know. Like I said, 3 strikes and you're out.

Saving grace: Milkshakes

Ok, this one is more out of spite than anything. I don't really have anything against the food, and I really do love their Arby's sauce. But I HATE HATE HATE the stupid "good mood food" commercials they have been airing as of late. I don't know what it is about them but they make me want to stab my eyes out and cut off my ears. I obviously feel very strongly about this and if you don't believe me just as Tiff, she can bear witness. I think whoever developed this stupid advertising campaign should be fired, shot, then fired again. As you can plainly see even talking about the commercials has put me in the opposite of a "good mood". So I'm sorry Arby's, but your commercials make me want to jump off a cliff.

Saving Grace: curly fries, arby's sauce and milkshakes

Just made the cut....for now: Burger King, Sonic, Chilis, Applebees, Wingers

Guilty Pleasures

As soon as I was done posting my bake-aholic blog I noticed that Emily had posted a blog about her guilty pleasures. It seemed like a fun idea, but since I had already posted that day and for the sake of time I decided to postpone making my own guilty pleasures post.

Without further ado, here are my guilty pleasures:

Plants vs. Zombies. Yes, I take care of my zen garden almost daily. Yes, I have beat adventure mode twice. Yes, I am incredibly proficient at bowling for zombies. Yes, I have all the plants and zombies available. It took a little bit of convincing from my husband and the Maricans to get the app in the first place, but once I broke down and got it I was hooked. If you have the option of getting this app, don't waste any more time deliberating, just buy it. It will be worth the $2.99 you spend on it, I promise.

Oh, diet coke with lime how I love thee. Even though I feel like I need to drink a gallon of water after I have any type of soda I still feel the need to have one every once in a while. More often than not, I will opt for the diet coke with lime. You can't go wrong with this stuff.

Chocolate cake? Um, yes please! Really any sort of chocolate baked good will suffice though. While I am not a huge fan of straight chocolate (although I do quite enjoy dark chocolate) I absolutely LOVE anything that is baked with chocolate - cookies, brownies, cake, cupcakes. I think this goes hand in hand nicely with my previous post.

Anyone who knows me very well or has been a roommate of mine at some point knows of my love of Grey's Anatomy. I own all seasons on DVD and our DVR is set to record every new episode. I have seen all of the episodes so many times that if you were to describe a scene I could probably tell you what season and the episode's general place in the season. I can easily find an episode to match my mood whether I am sad, happy, or missing my dog. I will admit, though, that there have been some low points (ahem, almost all of season 3) and times when I have wanted to stop watching, but I always come back for more.



Confessions of a Bake-aholic

Hi, my name is Tiffany and I am addicted to baking.

Now, we know that I have always really enjoyed baking but over the course of the last month or so it has grown more into an obsession - in large part due to Annie's Eats. Believe it or not, I have even grown quite fond of cooking. I have always had a pretty fearless attitude in the kitchen, but up until now have stuck mostly with simple things. Now, however, I find myself trying all sorts of recipes. Hunter encourages this by choosing whatever looks the most difficult in the category I give him. Exhibit A: Banana Split Cupcakes. I even took the time to make Eggplant Parmesan a couple weeks ago - something I would never have dreamed of doing previously due to an irrational fear of doing something horribly wrong with the eggplant. Often, in my spare time, I find myself looking at recipe blogs and searching for more things to try. This all works out very well for Hunter because the quality, as well as variety, of our meals has greatly increased.

The only thing that hasn't really worked for me thus far is pizza and only because I don't currently (key word) have a pizza peel. The dough was delicious as was the tomato sauce and I'm sure my topping choices would have been delightful if they had ever made it onto the pizza. At great risk of mockery, here is the picture I took to send to Hunter (who was at work at the time) of my disastrous attempt:

Needless to say, there is no good way to transfer a pizza from the counter to the pizza stone without a pizza peel. Fear not, I will have one soon and this wrong will be righted.

I should probably take pictures of my successes. I promise there have been far more of those.

What I really want to make right now is a Neapolitan Layer Cake. My only previous attempt at a layer cake was on Valentine's Day when I made a Red Velvet Cake. It wasn't perfect, but I was pretty proud of my first attempt ever at layering cake. Unfortunately, this desire will have to be postponed until after we move. I will be sure to take pictures, as long as it is successful.

For the sake of posting a picture of something that looks somewhat appetizing, here is a picture of a Chocolate Raspberry Torte I made earlier in the year. My pictures don't look nearly as appetizing as Annie's do, but I can work on that too. Haha.

My husband is in full support of my addiction and I don't see any sort of rehab for it anytime in the near or distant future.

California Adventures

A week and a half ago we had the opportunity to spend the weekend in California! We started out in San Diego where Hunter had an Ultimate Frisbee tournament (I'll let him post pictures and go more in depth - hint hint Husband ;) ).

Before the games began though, we were able to go to the San Diego temple. Rest assured, it is even more beautiful in person. I'm not sure why I didn't realize how truly beautiful it was before this trip.

Despite the fact that our bodies were used to 95 degree weather, not 70 degree weather, we did play in the ocean! It took me until Sunday to be able to not freeze in my swimsuit. Haha.

Ah, how I love the ocean! Isn't it majestic?

I truly experienced crab for the first time in my life. Hunter convinced me to try it and I am glad that I let him. I definitely was not disappointed. Not only did it taste great, I also enjoyed the texture - which, if you know me, is a big deal especially when it comes to sea food.

Next stop: Disneyland!

When we were on the Buzz Lightyear ride, fighting Zurg's army, we got stopped. I figured it was a good picture opportunity, astro blasters and all.

There was a petting zoo in Adventureland. This goat was particularly friendly. It couldn't get enough of Hunter's arm...

...and tried to eat my hair. haha. 

This picture feels very honeymoon-ish, but it is close enough to our first anniversary to count for that, right?

Even though I have been to Disneyland a couple times (this was Hunter's first time), I have never before seen the parade. We did this time around and I am glad we opted to stay. It was fun, exciting, and very Disney. Here are a few pictures:

The curls in the princess's hair were CRAZY! I don't even know how much hairspray they had to use to make it stay as stiff as it was.

We made it a point to hit up all the classic Disneyland rides. We went to Splash Mountain pretty early because we wanted to be sure we wouldn't be waiting in line all day. Little did we know we would get a whole cart to ourselves!

We also hit up Space Mountain which was easily the biggest hit of the day. Whoever had the idea to create an indoor roller coaster was a genius! Both of us LOVED this ride. My only memories of this ride stemmed from a trip to Disneyland when I was about 8 I think. I remembered it as dark, weird and maybe a little scary. There was a child behind us about that age who came off crying and I think that was probably my reaction first go around. This time however, I could appreciate the true amazingness that is Space Mountain.

As you can tell from the two pictures above, apparently I make ridiculous faces when riding on roller coasters.

All in all, the weekend was a huge success. It was very relaxing and nice to be able to spend so much time with just Hunter. It was exactly what the Doctor ordered. I'm sure that our Riviera Maya vacation coming up in September will be just as amazing! 

While we were vacationing, this little dog stayed with my family. 

Despite the PTSD post Jimmer that Hunter and I, as well as my family, were experiencing, it went really well! Ameya had the time of her life running all around the big back yard and living life country style and my family (particularly my mom) loved having her constant companionship. It was a good practice run for when we are gone for a full week. 

The Tale of my iPhone

My iPhone has had a rough life. We got them in the end of November 2010 and we aren't able to renew our contract in order to get discounted phones until July 2012.

The following 3 incidents have made me come very close to having to fork over a large amount of money in order to replace/fix it.

1. In March of this year while I was giving Jimmer a bath it fell out of my hoodie pocket into the bath water. I swear to you it was only in the water for 2 seconds tops. However, it got water in the speaker and had to spend the night and following day in a bowl of rice. Luckily, I was able to hear people when they called me again after the rehab.

2. Sometime in the beginning of the summer it again was immersed in water. This time however, it was for much longer. I had it sitting on the counter while I was doing the dishes (which up until this point was not an uncommon occurrence). When I was done I went to pick it up and realized that it was in a pool of water. Awesome. The damage was more extensive this time and after a couple of nerve racking days that included horrible water marks on the screen and very shoddy battery life, left me with a slightly starry background. I hardly even notice it anymore.

3. When we bought our iPhones the lady helping us strongly urged us - to the point of nearly forcing us - to buy covers for our phones. At that time we opted not to because they were more money and it changes the whole look of the phone. I should have taken her advice. This is close to what my phone now looks like. The cracks on mine are more focused on the top right corner and not quite as extensive. This can be fixed, however, it does cost $125 dollars. I am having a hard time convincing myself to fork out the money when my phone functions perfectly. So until it stops working or July of next year, my phone will have lovely cracks in it. I do now have a case though. Hopefully that will prevent any further cracking of my screen.

Moral of the story: treat your iPhone with love.