Jeremy and Amanda: Playa Del Carmen

Life gets busy and I get behind on the blog... but I had to share our most recent (it's only taken me 3 months to post these;)) adventure from over the Spring Break and Easter holiday. It all started on Valentines Day when Jer surprised me with a red file filled with pictures of a resort and a plane reservations. We were headed to The Banyan Tree Mayakoba in Playa delCarmen. So the countdown began and then finally the time came to pack the swim suits and board the plane. We arrived in Cancun to 90 degree weather and found a shuttle to get us to our hotel. Our resort was amazing and everyone was friendly right off the bat. We were immediately taken to our villa complete with our own private yard and swimming pool. We spent the rest of our first day exploring the resort and ate diner at Tamarind a restaurant in the hotel. We then headed over to the spa and went through their "rain forest experience". It was very fun. We started in a steam room infused with eucalyptus. Then we went into a shower room that changed temperatures and intensity. We went through several different steam stations and shower rooms and ended in a long pool. The pool had "bubble" beds and various hot tubs. It was pretty cool because you have the whole area to yourself. It was really unique. On our second day our friends the Billingsleys came over from Cozemel and spent the day with us. We went to Tulum and saw some amazing ruins. We had a great guide... was the stake president of the area and his name was Leumuel. He has a brother Helaman, a sister Alma, and a nephew Nephi. He told us all about the ruins and how it ties into the Book of Mormon. He also took us swimming in a cenote or sink hole under a cave. It was so neat to snorkel through clear, fresh water. We spent the evening in town. The Billingsleys took the ferry back toCozemel but we hung out walking through Playa Del Carmen and taking in the sites. Our 3rd day we went over to Cozemel and spent the morning at the Billingsleys resort. The ferry ride over was wet and fun. You are on this gigantic boat going across some pretty choppy water so we got a little wet! The morning was spent swimming and snorkeling the bay in front of the resort. Then the Billingsleys headed to the airport to go home and Jer went off to scuba dive. I stayed at their resort and sunbathed while Jeremy was gone. He had a blast and saw Eagle rays, turtles, and barracuda. We then rode the ferry back to Playa and headed to our resort for dinner and relaxing. Day 4 was spent at our resort... finally. We rented bikes and headed down to the beach for the morning. We then rode back up and spent the afternoon at the spa for some much needed pampering. Unfortunately both of us were sunburned so there was a bit of pain but still oh so relaxing! We had our treatments done in our own little bungalow over the water. We had Thai massages which were amazing! Everything was perfect. Our 5th day was our final day... we spent the morning on our bikes and at the beach. Sadly we then had to pack up and head to the airport. We had so much fun being together and enjoying a new place. I just have to let everyone know how lucky I am! This vacation came at the perfect time. I needed time with Jeremy and a place to get away from it all. Jeremy is an amazing husband and has been so patient, kind, and loving through all of our little challenges. He is so considerate of my needs and takes such good care of me. I appreciate his thoughtfulness in planning and surprising me with this wonderful trip! I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a man like him!