Honeymoonin' Part 1

We have this quote in our home that says, "Travel, the only thing you buy that makes you richer." It is so true. We started out our life as husband and wife going on a two week honeymoon. To say, I am spoiled by my husband is an understatement. We spent our first week in Florida and our second week on a cruise. How we got to Florida is a story in and of itself. Let's start there...

    We had a wonderful wedding filled with joy, laughter, and lots of love. We can't believe how many people came from all different places to celebrate with us. We had so much fun dancing and enjoying one another's company. My wonderful husband was able to get us a hotel on the strip, which was pretty lucky considering hotel rooms were very expensive the weekend we got married. We stayed at Treasure Island. We had a room suite with two bathrooms and a view that overlooked the city. We had a late night and we were going to have an even earlier morning. Our flight from Las Vegas to Miami Airport was at 6:00 in the morning, so we were planning on getting up at 4 a.m. Brandon set an alarm for 3:45, so we could pack and get ready to leave. Per usual, our plans never go according to plan. 

    WE SLEPT IN! I don't think I have ever gotten out of bed so fast in my entire life. We woke up at 5:45 and just knew we weren't going to make it to our flight on time. Brandon was frustrated and I just do what I normally do and find a solution to the problem. I looked online for tickets to see what was available and we decided to head to the airport to see what the agents could do for us. Before we left, we said a prayer to our Heavenly Father to not only help us know what to do but to also find the means necessary to get to Florida. 

    We arrived at the airport, bags in hand, and we got to the Southwest ticket counter and explain the situation that occurred. Our ticket agent tells us that they will rebook us on a new flight free of charge because we got to the airport within two hours of our flight leaving. Can I just tell you what a sigh of relief? Our prayers were answered. We got our boarding passes, checked our bags, and finally we set off towards Florida. Only I wish that was the end to our fiasco. 

    We had a stop in Houston and from Houston, we headed to Miami. Neither Brandon nor I have been to the Miami airport before and our flight crew didn't say what baggage claim our luggage would be at. We finally got off the plane and walked toward the baggage area. There were no signs anywhere of our flight or the baggage claim number it would be at. We walked the Miami airport twice looking for our luggage only to find that it was already taken off the conveyor belt by the agents and put in a storeroom. We got our luggage and met our Uber. I thought that would be the end and it would be smooth-sailing from here. Boy, was I wrong! 

    After our Uber got us to our destination to pick up a rental car through the app Turo. We called our car rental owner and he said he wasn't going to be there for another 30 minutes. So there we were in an unfamiliar city at night and all we could do was sit and wait. We couldn't just keep our Uber, so we unloaded our stuff and went to a pizza place the car renter recommended. When we got there, we ordered but we had to order in Spanish because none of the hostesses spoke a lick of English. I have never been so thankful for the opportunity I had to speak and learn Spanish, it has truly blessed me and helped me in situations like this. Our car renter finally showed up and got us the car and off to our resort, we went. As we drove to the resort, we passed by the Fort Lauderdale Temple, It made me think that no matter what we go through in life. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ need to be a priority in our lives because without them, I don't think we would have been as blessed as we were on that crazy start to our honeymoon. 

FLORIDA

We spent a week in Florida and it was amazing. We went to both Miami and Fort Lauderdale beaches. It was so much fun and I got my fill of fish and chips. We shopped our hearts out and had so much fun going on the ferris wheel that overlooks the pier in Miami. One day, we went to the Everglades and it was so fun to see alligators. It is definitely a drive to get there but it is so rewarding to just get to spend time together. It is crazy to think that people live in the Everglades and travel by boat to the nearest grocery store. It made me wonder how they live out in swampland. 

One of the days, we scheduled a food tour. If you know Brandon and I, you know that we 1) love to eat good food and 2) are absolute foodies. Our first stop was a Bolivian restaurant, we ate an empanada, ceviche, and soda. The ceviche was different from typical ceviche because it was made of a white fish. As we traveled, we learned about the art deco in Miami. It is based very heavy on the nautical themes. We stopped at a Cuban restaurant and ate a dish called Ropa Vieja or translated Old Clothes. This is basically any meat leftovers. It would compare to a pot roast for us. It had a big plantain chip served with it. We traveled and learned about Gianni Versace who was shot on the steps of his Miami mansion. Today, the mansion was transformed to a restaurant where locals or tourists can dine. We went to a local bar called the Naked Taco. I would recommend going to this joint. On the napkins, it said #getnaked. The taco was delicious and one of the best tacos, I have ever tasted. Our last stop was a gelato place and I wish I could eat gelato all day. Brandon loves his ice cream but I think we both were converted to gelato on this trip. 

We tried to schedule a session at the Fort Lauderdale temple but it was closed due to renovations that were occurring. We decided to still go on the grounds and see the temple in person. It is such a pretty temple and very tropical looking. We took pictures on the grounds and met a wonderful brother who was working on the sprinkler system. They had some construction going on inside but the inside of the temple was closed to visitors at the time. The temple was so pretty and I hope that one day we can make it back there to go do a session. It is amazing to just feel the peace and spirit on the grounds. It was a week ago when Brandon and I slept foot into the Las Vegas Temple and promised to love one another for this life and for eternity. I couldn't imagine anyone else I would want to go through this life with. 

We had a few mishaps along the way. Brandon's throat had been bothering him but nothing out of the ordinary. I don't know what happened but on Friday night, I got out of bed and couldn't stand and felt dizzy. The only other time I felt like this was right after my sister, Sydnie's wedding. I crawled back to bed and scared Brandon out of his wits. I went from being hot to cold and vice versa. Brandon said that I had slurred speech and thought I was having a mini-stroke. The only thing I really remember from this experience is going from hot to cold, taking copious amounts of Tylenol because that seemed to help the most, and being dizzy. We don't promise in sickness and in health, but Brandon really showed me that no matter what, he is willing to do what it takes to take care of me. I'm so grateful for a worthy husband who holds the priesthood and was able to give me a blessing of healing for the sick and afflicted. He truly magnified his priesthood and showed love towards me by taking care of me even though on the inside he was terrified. We went to an urgent care and they basically said they couldn't do anything for us. The doctor was quite rude and I just told Brandon, this will pass. We will just keep me medicated, hydrated, and if it doesn't go away then we can go to the hospital. That is what we did. We stayed at our hotel for about two days to make sure I was fully healed. I slept, watched Hallmark movies, and took a math test. On Saturday, we went to go get our PCR test for the cruise and we were both hoping that we didn't have COVID-19. We took our test and went home. The next day, we packed up and set out to board our cruise ship.