Cozumel - So Far

Cozumel, Mexico has made a terrific first impression on me. I adore this place. Its been quite the culture-shock, too, and made me realize how lucky I am to have a stable home, air conditioning and to live in an area that isn't soooo humid. I'm realizing I could really get used to staying here and I'm sad Craig and I only have a week left. Time, slow down! 

Thursday night my mom drove Craig and I up to the airport (after i had a teary-eyed farewell with Adi..still breaks my heart! that girl doesn't do well when i leave. sweet thing). for our flight that left to Atlanta, Georgia at 12:50am. Things went very smoothly and we sleepily boarded the plane. I have only flown on one other red-eye flight in my life..and I can see why they call them red-eyes. We, along with the rest of the passengers, were very sleepy and did our best to snooze on the plane, but you can only get so comfortable doing so on those little chairs with the arm rests stabbing your back. However, we did the best with what we could.

Around 5 or 6am (i think) we landed in Atlanta. Here, we had a four hour layover. We drowsily made our way to our gate and set up camp on a couple of chairs where we took a couple little naps. The one thing I will always remember about our Atlanta layover is how dang FREEZING the airport was! Especially where our boarding gate was located. We are talking so cold your insides are shivering, cold. Luckily for us, we brought a blanket and some jackets, but even those didn't get our body temperatures back to normal. Finally, we decided to go find some hot chocolate and while we were at it, we grabbed some McDonalds breakfast, too. After that, we were back to our gate for a nap or two more and got on the plane around 10. (some of these times could be wrong - i was really tired and didn't keep great track of time).

Finally, in the afternoon sometime, we landed in beautiful Cozumel where Ryan (Craig's brother) and Brandon (Ryan's friend) picked us up and drove us to our condo we'd call home for the next nine days. 

Once home, Craig and I said our "hello's" then crashed on the couches for a while. We eventually woke up then put on our swimming suits and geared up for our first beach adventure of the vacation! (i wish i could remember the names of all the beaches we have/will visit(ed) but i guarantee i won't, so 'the beach' will have to do). 

We picked up some pizza to eat on the beach since it was friday night pizza night. While Jeff (craig's brother-in-law) picked up the pizza, we wandered around a little shop/store - it was amazing! Shops are so different here, but I love it! It's a new experience for sure.

Here some of us are waiting for our pizza, outside the little shop..

  

Then, it was beach time! We weren't at this beach too long, because we got there semi-late and you can't stay after dark because there are sea turtle nests (is that what they're called?) around and night time is when the cute little babies make their way to the ocean. However, the time we did spend there was great!

This is the cutest little girl EVER! I adore Craig's nieces and nephews..especially this cutie!..She helped me eat my food.

 Craig and I have a few cute pictures on the beach..I had a hard time choosing one to show off, so here are two..

Aren't we adorable?

he's gorgeous

Ryan is on a soccer team, here, and later that night we were able to go watch and support him as he played! Another unique, new experience. This is where I learned that Cozumel has billions of mosquitos and my blood is very satisfying to their taste.

i get poofy hair in the humidity

Yesterday, saturday..we didn't waste much time in going to another beach. This one was a very nice, touristy beach. So far its my favorite (though we've only been to two..)! It was beautiful and the water is blue and so clean and clear. Oh, I loved it. We snorkeled three times and saw some cute little fish, eels, sting rays, etc. I also got a killer sunburn. We ate some delicious nachos, swam in a pool (yep, a pool at the beach), enjoyed the ocean, jumped off a pier several times and had an overall good time. I'll tell you what, though.. Salt water doesn't taste good or feel good on your lips. It also burns your eyes. Other than that, holy cow, I love it!! Love. It.

Look at that water!

Nachos:)

Another adorable niece! They're the cutest. Also, see that burn forming on my left leg? Its like 100x worse, now. I told you it was killer.

The wonderful beach day had to come to an end, unfortunately. We came home and showered (felt good to be clean, again) and then Craig, Ryan, Brandon and I went to the Plaza for a while to look around and experience the city a little more. Another wonderful, fun experience.

Today was Sunday. Going to church here was..an experience. (yep, i've said that a thousand times). Its weird when you go to church and don't understand a single word. Its neat though, even in a different language, the spirit is the same. It was a very hot building. Oh, the people in this ward, here are the nicest people I've met! Everyone gives kisses here and I love it. Everyone I came in contact with put a smile on my face. A highlight of my day was that several people in the ward told me (actually told Jen and Jen translated for me..) that I look like Barbie! Thats a compliment I'll take:) In our Sunday School, Singles meeting, I even read the scriptures in Spanish. I'm sure I butchered every word, but hey, at least I gave it a shot. Its pretty neat, Craig and Ryan both spoke Spanish on their missions and its really impressive to hear them communicate with people, here. Its crazy to me that they can actually understand what people are saying here! Maybe on day I'll be that cool, too.

After church there were more naps. Then we went to a big dinner down by our pool at our condo. Yummy food and lovely people. After dinner, we swam in the pool a while and then came back up to our room, showered, and have been relaxing in our condo since.

I can't wait to see what the rest of this Cozumel adventure will bring! I'm so blessed to have this opportunity and to be able to spend it with my wonderful boyfriend and his family.

Until next time, my friends..
xoxo

Traveling the World

Tonight my mom is driving Craig and I to the airport..
Why?

CRAIG AND I ARE GOING TO COZUMEL, MEXICO!!
(to visit his sister, her family, his mom and youngest brother who are there for the summer)

Guess how excited I am?
SO, SO, SO excited!!

Cozumel or bust!!

Wheelbarrows on a Wednesday Night

Craig and I are a really cool couple.

See?!

Wheelbarrows with my love bird. What could be better?:)

(this is us exercising because we like to be fit and active.)

Ps. You guys better be excited for my next blog post.

Tomorrow, Craig and I are taking off for a fun weekend getaway..

I'm sure it'll be a blast.

So, naturally, I'll have to post about it.

Maybe the post will be a blast, too.

(maybe..)

kloveyoubye.

Sunday Love Birds {warning: sappy}

Are you guys sick of my I-Love-Craig posts, yet?

Well, too bad, heres another. {& kind of a I-Love-Lifferth's post..}

Every day with my Love Bird is a good one, but there is something about sundays with Craig that make me exceptionally happy. It has probably got to be due the fact that I get to spend the whole day with my handsome boyfriend, since we go to the same church then always spend the rest of the day together. Also, I love sundays because we spend a lot of time with not only my family, but also the wonderful Lifferth family who I absolutely love and adore. I'm one heck of a lucky little lady, I tell you.

Today (sunday) was great for so many reasons. Obviously, the largest was because I was with Craig. But there were other reasons, too..

• I got to have a real good conversation with Craig's two sisters-in-law, Karalee and Katie.
• We were able to Skype with Craig's lovely mother, brother, sister, nieces and nephew who are currently living the life in Mexico all summer (sooo can't wait to join them in a few weeks!)
• I went on a motorcycle ride with my love
• I got to learn some new things about Mexico and things I will be able to do while vacationing there, soon
• The Lifferth family and I had a yummy Mexican style dinner -- yum

(okay i'm now realizing my list of why my sunday was awesome could go on for ages, so i'll stop there so you're not bored of me, already)

Really, though.. The Lifferth family is a phenomenal bunch of people who I am so thankful for and grateful to be close to. Each member of their family is someone I consider to be a good friend - how lucky can a girl get?

Now, back to Craig.

{cheesy, sappy time}

Girls, you know when you're younger and you find yourself picturing your future man? In my case, I always pictured a tall, dark and handsome man who was respectful and made me laugh. I probably wouldn't have believed it then, (because in my mind, nobody could beat that dream man of mine) but I found someone even better than the guy I used to fantasize about. 

Craig has met the criteria I held for my Prince Charming when I was younger, i.e. he is tall, dark (he tans quite nicely) and SUPER handsome. He is the most respectful man I've ever met (his parents raised him right), and he makes me laugh harder than anyone else ever could. I really know I hit the jackpot with Craig, though, because he does more for me than just treat me right, look amazing 24/7 and make me laugh. 

Craig helps me see and value the worth of my life - he is always, somehow, reminding me how important and worth it I am. 

Craig gets me out of my comfort zone - I've tried more new things in the past 8 months with Craig in my life than I have in my past 21 years of living.

Craig is good with kids - This is ultra important to me and Craig is incredible at it. Craig has several nieces and nephews and I've really enjoyed watching him interact with them in all their different ages and with all their different interests. I can tell he really loves them and loves being with them and being someone they can look up to. He takes care of them, protects them and has a love, care and real interest in them. Because I've seen this, I know Craig is going to be a terrific daddy, someday.

Craig listens to me - I'll be honest, I'm sure half of the stuff I say is probably boring and pointless, but Craig has always taken the time to listen to me, regardless. This is one of my favorite things about my Love Bird.

Craig is happy - I love that Craig is a genuinely happy, optimistic person. He has a way of finding the bright side to things and helping me see it, too. When we make eye contact, he always has a sweet smile for me. When I am sad, disappointed or stressed out about something, Craig can always rub his happiness off on me and cheer me up. I adore being around such a happy, fun guy.

Craig is affectionate - Craig is always there to give me a hug, tickle me, kiss me, hold my hand and cuddle or hold me while I fall asleep. He isn't afraid to do any of this, either, which means a lot to me. Honestly, I crave these moments with him. They give me goosebumps and a big ol' grin on my face. Mmm :)

Craig is selfless - One of the first things I really noticed about Craig is that he would do anything for someone he is close to before he'd do something for himself. I remember one of the first times I ate dinner at his house, his mom began to do the dishes and he ran over to her and did them for her so she didn't have to, then, later in the evening, she was vacuuming and he did that for her, too. He is always putting others happiness and peace of mind before his own. He is such a good example to me, in this.

Craig values my opinion - He has asked me many times for my vote or thoughts on certain things and I love knowing that he actually takes what I say into account and doesn't overlook it.

Craig is hilarious - I can't think of a day thats gone by that I haven't laughed with Craig. His sense of humor is to die for and I love when he is in this certain, incredibly funny, mood that always leaves me with a sore tummy because I've been laughing so hard.

Craig is helpful - Craig is always there to lend a helping hand and do what he can to make something easier or a burden lighter. If there is any kind of mess, Craig will clean it up. If there is any kind of problem, Craig will fix it. If there is any sort of issue, Craig will work through it until its resolved. 

Craig makes me happy in a way no one else can - I like to think I have always been a happy camper, but I also like to think my happiness levels have shot up, tremendously, since the night of November 4th when I went on my first date with Craigy. Sure, there have been bad days in these 8 months, but I can honestly say, I have been HAPPY every single day that he has been a part of my life! I can't think of anything better.

So, again, here I go with these lists that could end up boring you if I make them too long, so I'll go ahead and stop there. But I think you all got the gist that I LOVE CRAIG LIFFERTH with all my heart and am surely the most blessed, luckiest girl in the world because I'm fortunate enough to be his girlfriend, and sometimes sundays are the days that I feel that luck the most as I spend the whole, lovely day in his presence.

I love you, Love Bird!! xoxoxo

Gus Gus

You may not believe this (especially if you know my parents) but you should believe it. Because its true.

Guess what, guys?

The Walker family has made a major purchase.

And its name is Gus.

Mhmm, we got ourselves another adorable puppy.

A teacup shih tzu - the same breed as Angus.

(Walter, too, but Walter isn't a teacup).

He is six weeks old and a little bundle of happiness, fluff, squeaks and cuteness.

We're in love.

See, we got him because we thought we wouldn't have Angus, anymore..

But, guess what?

We still have Angus.

That equals three doggies.

Three shih tzu's.

Three brothers.

I'm pretty sure we all thought having three doggies would be madness..

I guess it may, still..

But we love it. 

I wouldn't trade any of them!

Love 'em all.

Lots.

Walter and Angus have really been sweet to Gus.

I think Gus gets a little freaked out, sometimes, but I don't blame him, the boys can be a bit rough with him. 

Its funny, actually, Gus has kind of beat up on Angus.

As my dad put it, "Its rude to beat up the handicapped guy."

But at the end of the day, they're buds.

Really, though, is he not the sweetest little face?

Gah. I adore him and his little squeaks.

I adore his puppy smell and puppy breathe and his rolly little belly. 

The Sweetest Thing

I am a hopeless romantic through and through - I have been since I can remember. The thoughts and ideas of true love and happily ever after and being in head over heels love forever and ever has always been something that brings a big smile across my face.

Something romantic I've always adored seeing is married couples still so in love, not afraid to show that the sparks still there. I guess in my opinion, the dating scene is so mushy, hand-holdy, giddy, etc I've worried before that once you're married that goes away, so seeing people who have been married for years and years still so in love fills me with hope, joy and gives me even more reason to look forward to my future. 

Today at the chiropractor I was able to witness one of these sparks-still-there moments with the sweetest, tiny little old couple. The moment stole my heart and gives me butterflies when I think of it. This is a story of true love, I tell you.

Like I said, this little couple was quite old, they were these sweet little tiny, smiley people and I liked them from the second I saw them. The woman went first to get her back adjusted then was moved back into these private-type rooms where you get your back iced, heated or whatever else.. These rooms have two beds in them, so when the man was finished with his adjustment he was taken back into the same room as his cute little wife. 

As he walked into the room, I heard him say, "Now, I must have done something right if I got lucky enough to be in the same room as the prettiest girl, here!!" 

My heart melted when I heard this. After their many years together, she is still the prettiest girl in the room to him. If that isn't true love, I don't know what is. I love that. I can't wait to have that, someday!!

Magic: Day Four - The Final Day

Day Four - the last day of Disneyland

Aren't you sad it has to come to an end?

Me too.

Remember how I said we like ride pictures? You'll find several more of those on Day Four's post. 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a ride that never fails to deliver great action shots while on the ride. I think this trip we did an exceptional job at capturing some great moments. 

See?

have you ever seen a happier guy on a ride?? i'm in love with this picture.

Let me explain the fists in the picture, below. Craig introduced a more fun way to ride Big Thunder. If you keep your hands up..like in fists..you slide around more and your bum will raise of the seat a few times, even. It really does add excitement to the already soooo fun ride.

Handsome Craig's birthday is coming up, this month, so we decided to celebrate his birthday on our last day in the Happiest Place on Earth! It was cute and I think he enjoyed it. At Disney, if you are wearing a birthday pin, just about every Disney cast member and sometimes even characters and visitors will wish you a happy birthday - so cute!

Now, some more visual happiness via photographs for y'all.

Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue

Because Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti does exist..

Innoventions 

i'd say we're a cute couple, yeah?

A little Toontown fun. Craig and I couldn't quite fit in the back seat.

At one point during the day, my mom and dad happened to be by themselves and happened to snap a photograph of Kobe Bryant and his family. 

Kinda cool, I guess, yeah? 

California Adventure has a new water show called, World of Color.
To be able to view this show, you have to either get a Fast Pass (type thing) for it or do World of Color Dining, which is what we did.
We ate at, Ariel's Grotto.
YUM.
This particular restaurant was strict on reservation times..and we almost missed it.
Story time? Okay.
My mommy and daddy decided to go to Downtown Disney to do some shopping while Craig, the girls and I went to ride on Screamin' California. The plan was to meet later in time for our dinner at Ariels Grotto.
Well, as our luck would work out, Screamin' was closed down so the four of us had to change our plans. The only other ride nearby Screamin' is Toy Story Mania which had a 45 minute long wait. Really, that isn't a terribly long line - but it was 5:40 (or so) and our reservations were at 6:20. Luckily, Ariels Grotto is fairly close to Toy Story, but we still had a feeling we'd be cutting it close. And boy, did we ever.
When we finally got to the front of the line, it was nearly 6:20. Craig called Ariels Grotto and asked them about how late you could be for reservations and they informed him they hold spots for about 10 minutes. The panic sort of set in, then. We'd be cutting it very close. We decided to split our group of four into two groups of two so we could ride, sooner. It worked, too. Adi and I got on first and Craig and Savannah did a few minutes later. When Adi and I finally got off the ride, we ran, more like sprinted (no joke) to Ariels Grotto. We burst through the doors at 6:29. Barely made it. But of course, there was a line at the desk to check in. We got to the front of the line at 6:32. We were worried we'd be too late, but the lady at the desk noticed we came in before 6:30 and gave us the good news that our reservation wasn't given up.
A minute or so later, Craig dropped Savannah off at the restaurant and went to give my parents their tickets to get into the park (we had them because we'd got fast passes for Tower of Terror for everyone before we tried to go on screamin').
Finally, the six of us were back together at our table eating delicious food.
It was worth all the rushing and worrying.

at dinner - holding some of our cute dessert (this particular treat, however, was nasty)

When dinner was done, we were directed to our spot to view World of Color.The location was awesome and the show was even better!! If you haven't seen it, I'm giving you another demand: Go. See. It!!

Adi-Lu waiting for the show to start

My handsome guy and I waiting..

Standing is so tiresome

And here it is!! Two shots of the show!!

They do not even do it justice - but its a sneak peek of the amazingness!! 

After a couple more rides, the night had to come to an end, meaning the vacation did, as well.

Bummer! :( 

We snapped a few more photographs and said our goodbyes to the park and took the short walk back to the hotel where we talked, laughed, and relaxed, reminiscing on our wonderful trip!

But don't worry, I believe the plan is to return to the best, happiest place on earth in the fall!!

This was without a doubt my favorite trip to a Disney location, yet. It was truly magical and wonderful to spend quality time with my family and my love bird of a boyfriend. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing, incredible, wonderful people!! 

And, for the last time..

"MAY THE MAGIC BE WITH YOU!"

-Craig Lifferth-

Magic: Day Three - Its Magical, Its Wonderful

Day Three.

(sorry i kept you waiting a few days)

Geez, I love Disneyland.

You know, I could sit here and tell you about all the rides we rode, but I realize that would make for an incredibly boring post.. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so allow these next few photographs to do the speaking for me with a few brief commentaries from myself :)

in line for Pinocchio

By some miracle, Fantasyland wasn't busy, at all. For example, Dumbo had a SIX minute long wait. That is unheard of. Really. Dumbo always has a looooong line. We even rode it twice throughout the day.

Here is Craig and I holding our wooden feather, about to board our flying elephant..

We laugh at this picture because we look so happy about this feather and also look completely exhausted.

savannah and momma on Alice in Wonderland

adi, chels & craig on Alice

teacups!

Disneyland is a pricey place, unfortunately. These cute little Mickey and Minnie Mouse hats are super cute but also super expensive. So rather than buying them, we took our pictures with them on - saved us lots of money.

mom on Mr. Toads Wild Ride

Another iconic photograph spot..

King Arthurs Sword in the Stone.

This is me and Craig's second take on this picture.. Our first one turned out..not so cute.

See? I told you we rode Dumbo twice.

We rode the canoes on the Rivers of America..

It was cool. We got to "help" paddle the canoe.

I say, "help," because in reality, the cast member at the front of the canoe and the one at the back did most the work..Or all the work. Either way, it was fun.

Perhaps it would have been a little more enjoyable if the girls that were in front of Craig and I could row in any sort of rhythm. Thanks to them, I kept hitting Savannah's oar. Ah, good times.

But, again..Still fun.

my love bird and i in line for Splash Mountain

Apparently, it is the in thing to hold your phone out while going down the fall on Splash Mountain. 

Yes, my daddy and Craig and holding their phones in the air.

I believe they're either videoing our drop or taking pictures of it?..

The girls on Grizzly River Rapids..the ride Miss Adi couldn't wait to go on!

In California Adventure there is a place called, Art of Animation.

Inside, there are several different activities for you to do.. You can learn how to draw Disney characters, turtle talk with Crush the sea turtle (from Finding Nemo), animate your own drawings, put your voice into a Disney movie, and much more.

 This is a Walker family favorite. 

drawing minnie mouse

savannah finding out what Disney character she is..

dad finding out his Disney character..

adi doing the same..

Just in case you were curious, here were our Disney character results.

Savannah - Lady (from Lady and the Tramp)

Adeline - Ariel (from The Little Mermaid)

Momma - Mulan 

Daddy - Cogsworth (from Beauty and the Beast)

Craig - Aladdin

Chelsea - Dot (from Bugs Life)

Grizzly River Rapids.. Craig spotted mom and dads camera from a ways away :)

On this particular day, poor Savannah's feet were killing her. Us Walker's have what we like to call, Toilet Paper Feet.. We have very fragile feet that shoes easily upset. 

Luckily for her (i guess), our dad had to go back to the hotel for a work call, so she went back with him leaving the four of us at the park.

Craig had talked about Disneyland's churros since before we even knew we were going on this trip.

Adi..she just loves churros.

Naturally, we had to get the two their tasty treat.

Here is Craig trying on a VERY cool shirt we found in one of Disney's many stores.

I quite love it.

Sorry girls, Craig's taken :)

Finally, we ended the night by using our last amazing gift from my moms high school friend..

Our preferred seating at the firework show, Magical!

We got to sit up by the train station on benches with nothing and no one blocking our view. 

Magical :)

Don't forget..

"MAY THE MAGIC BE WITH YOU!"

-Craig Lifferth