¡Nos Gusta Mexico!

Ah yes, the honeymoon! We left bright and early on Tuesday morning for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We stayed at a time share in downtown for a whole week and absolutely loved every single minute of it! It rained every single day but we could have cared less! We had such a blast and Adam LOVED being back in Mexico after his mission. It was fun to watch him relive some of those memories and let me tell you his Spanish came in quite handy. I could understand most of what was always being said but responding was a whole other story... no hablo bueno. Here is the breakdown of our greatest vacation ever:
DIA 1: We left early on Tuesday morning and arrived in the Mexico airport around 3pm. And as we did, ooooweeeee, we got swarmed as soon as we stepped out those security doors! It's funny how much someone can warn you but until you experience it yourself you don't really believe them. Puerto Vallarta thrives on tourism and they are GOOD at it. We took our 5 minute $20 taxi ride over to our resort and got ourselves all checked in. Our room was gorgeous! We were in a way-too-big-for-2-people condo complete with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a living room, dining room and kitchen. Needless to say we were quite comfortable! I felt like a little spoiled pampered palace brat with all the hand and foot treatment we received, but it was a nice change though I will admit. We did some exploring and went grocery shopping for week. Now, that was interesting. Did you know that they don't refrigerate eggs? WEIRD! And it's so crazy how different one food can be from country to country. After shopping our tummies got the best of us and you'll never guess what we ate for my first dinner in a foreign country? Pizza Hut! It was all that was open by the time we got to dinner but I will say that the cheese in Mexico does not beat good old American cheese...
DIA 2: Our first full day in Mexico! We went our first Vallarta Adventure- the Canopy Tour. It consisted of a jet boat ride to the other side of the coast, hoped into 2 giant yellow jeeps where we wound up through the mountains and through small Mexican villages to our redezvous with our canopy guides. We got instructions and geared up for our adventure by mounting a mule and riding up a windy path to some the highest mountains in the area. At the top we strapped onto a thin cord and zip-lined over the trees and repelled down waterfalls. It was soo beautiful and SOOO much fun! Our adventure lasted 8 hours and I was so proud of my little hubby. He did so well with his fear of heights- which at times I must admit was hilarious to watch and our guides were such a hoot! At the end of the day we were tired and hungry so we cleaned up and headed out to end the day with a romantic dinner in downtown at a little restaurant called Si Señor- yum!
DIA 3:This day full of fun at the pool. We tested out the beach and the ocean but it was super dirty due to all the tropical storms that time of year and for those of you who know, I hate fish. Adam had a good time watching me squirm while I swam thinking of all the nasty little creatures below me... eewww. The pool there is so much fun. It has a little island in the middle of it with a slide and everything. We splashed around for hours like two little 16 year olds without a care in the world. That night we had our second Vallarta Adventure called Rhythms of the Night. We hoped on a boat with a complimentary open bar all night! So we helped ourselves to endless amounts of fruit punch! We floated around for 45 minutes to Las Caletas. Once we arrived we were ushered through the jungle with drums and
torches to an outdoor amphitheatre and were entertained with a story of a prince and princess. Afterwards we wound our way through the jungle once more and found our dinner by candlelight waiting for us. The food was so delicious and it was so romantic to sit and talk and stare at each other. I am so amazed with the man I married and the moment could not have been more perfect. After dinner we had time to wander around the island and we walked along the beach and watched the stars. This was one of our favorite parts about the whole trip. The boat ride back was so much fun too. The crew who runs these adventures are such a blast to spend time with. The ride back we kissed under the stars and danced on the upper deck of the boat. We love Mexico!
DIA 4: Today was such a waste in the beginning. We did one of those dumb time share presentations- you know the ones if you don't have money to buy in you just do it for the free stuff? Well, our 45 minute tour turned into a 5 hour ordeal. Those buggers don't take no for an answer! So we blew off some steam at the pool and got ready for our next date night- sunset sailing! We met our crew members and fellow sailors at the marina and we were off to enjoy the most beautiful sunsets. Mexico is known for them you know... So we weave our way out of the


docking area and I am feeling good... 30 minutes later we hit the open water. Well, as in most of Jessica's great life stories something always has to ruin a good thing. I GOT SEASICK! :/ Can you believe it? We were sailing in Mexico and it was worst 3 hours of my life! I wanted to die; I even fed the fishies. Adam loved every second of sailing and the sky was absolutely amazing, but too bad my eyes were closed most of the time. I didn't even want to eat the shishcabobs or

chocolate covered strawberries. So sad huh? Adam was so good though he just laid there and held me while I was miserable. Oh well though, another great story right?
DIA 5: I woke up sick today so we opted out of our snorkeling excursion at Yelapa. We regretted it later but it seemed like a good idea at the time. After breakfast we spent nearly the entire day just lounging around the resort and pool. We made our way downtown for some more shopping and it was sooooo much fun. We didn't find anything really worth spending the money on so we just paroozed and wandered. And the best part about the day was Adam finally found his tacos al pastor!!!! About time too; he was beginning to drive me crazy with all the talk of these tacos. If the health inspectors saw this little place and what we were about to eat he would have shut the thing down in an instant. But it's Mexico and surprisingly enough I LOVED the tacos and Adam was as giddy as a kid at Christmas. He was so happy to get his tacos. So for those of you who don't know what they are... The meat cooks all night, but it's just on this stick thing under a flame, then you just slice it off the big old hunk and serve on a corn shell with lime juice, lettuce and salsa. Esta muy bueno.
That night there was this GIGANTIC concert downtown on the pier. It was an effort to burst the tourism back up after the whole swine flu scare down there. I have never seen so many teenagers in my life! It was such a zoo and so we decided to check out the commotion. So we hastled our way through the mob and got some ice cream and just as we sat down waiting for the concert it started to rain, again. So we called it quits and headed back to the resort for some rainshower hot tubbing where we had the whole place to ourselves :)
DIA 6: Sunday! Church in Mexico was interesting. First of all either you knew nothing about the Mormons or very little. Our taxi driver got us super lost and by the time we got there we had a little while to spare. And when church did start? Wheew, I thought I could understand more that I really could, so I spent most of my time watching all the little kids. :) Everyone was sooo kind and came right up and introduced themselves to us. There was another family there as well from Utah which was interesting to chat with them afterwards and we came to find out they were at our resort too. After church we decided to try the bus for the first time the whole trip. That was pretty crazy let me tell you! They just hall bum through the city weaving in and out of cars like they are race cars and then when you pull the cord to actually stop you have nearly all of 2 seconds to get off! We went and played around downtown again (after we got our free massages-which Adam absolutely loved by the way. and this was probably the most fun day of all. It was POURING rain and we were just running around in the warm rain and all the locals thought we were just 2 crazy Americans! We were soaked to the bone and still continued puddle jumping and splashing eachother with dirty water. And of course we were downtown so we just HAD to stop and get Adam his tacos again. The fun fact I forgot to mention is that they still serve Coke in the glass bottles there. I thought that was pretty neat.
DIA 7: We had to come back to reality today :( We spent the day enjoying Mexico on our little beach and enjoying the last of our freedom from the cares of the world. Adios Mexico.

Together Forever

Aaaahhhh! We are married??? Yes, Adam and I did make it through the engagement. Props to us right? We sealed it for time and all eternity in the Boise, Idaho Temple on June 13th, 2009. So it's official we are stuck together for ever and ever! I don't even think I could put into writing how amazing and special that day really was. If you are married then you know exactly what I am talking about. Adam and I met at the temple and our session was at 10:30am. The ceremony was beautiful, the feeling indescribable, and the emotions surreal. We were so absorbed in the moment and taking in what was truly taking place that Saturday morning that is was mind boggling. Adam looked so handsome and I couldn't have been more in love with him. I married above my head and I am so blessed to have him. As we walked out of that temple holding hands as husband and wife for the first time we were flooded with family and friends, and oh yeah tons of flashing cameras! Oh what a day! Of course there were soooo many pictures to take everyone cooperated quite nicely. -Thank you everyone! :] We had such a blast with those pictures, our photographers were amazing and it would not have been nearly as fun without Nate Thueson, Adam's best man, to spice up the mix. He was so proud of his best man pin that was labeled and I quote "BM," it just cracks me up. After pictures we had a delicious luncheon compliments of the Byers Family. And soon after Adam and I were off taking more pictures at the Boise Train Depot. Between rain showers and laughs we took hundreds of fun photos and finished with only a little time to spare before our reception.
The reception was beautiful! My mother did such an amazing job piecing it all together and it would have never turned out so well if we didn't have help from so many of you. What a party though! We had a DJ, music, dancing, complimentary-made-with-love-bunt-cake (Homemade by the greatest mom in the world. Yes, she made every single piece of chocolate cake at that wedding!), a toast, the whole works. It was so much fun and turned out even better than we could have pictured. But by the end of the night Adam and I were so tired, hungry and ready to get out of there! So on our way to the Anniversary Inn we made a pit stop at good old Taco Bell in our wedding dress and tuxedo. The drive through lady thought that was so great that we got free food! The rest of the night was history and you can let your imagination fill in the blank.
But the next morning now... I have to inform you that my corrupt gang I call my family showed their love by filling our car FULL of PACKING PEANUTS and decorating the outside! Good morning! :]
















Pictures soon to come...

Our Courtship

Where to even start? In my opinion we have the greatest story ever. It is full of twists and turns and unexpected decisions yet so fully of excitement. Time passed since our first encounter and Adam came over to visit Danielle a few times. I usually was in my room enveloped in my studies and too busy to chat... okay that's a lie. But I was usually pretending to get my homework done. But Adam usually found a minute or two to come in and at least say hello. So our conversations began there. And you can imagine my enthusiasm when he started coming to my institute class with our friend Mike Nielsen. I was none the less dissatisfied. But Adam somehow managed to slip in little conversations with me everyday after class and our friendship was off and on the rise before I knew what was happening. I grew warmer to the idea of him and was too nice to ever tell him to get lost, and eventually our conversations became longer. Our first defining conversation was an interesting one and the water levels were falling and we found ourselves letting the other into our lives.
When Adam finally got gutsy enough to ask me out he did it through a facebook message because he "didn't have my number." But let's be honest here, with as much asking around as he did about me and knowing my roommate, he easily could have gotten a hold of my number. The first 3 times he asked me out I said no and then when I ran out of excuses I gave in.
Our first date was a triple date that fell through to more of a double date with a tag-a-long. The boys planned out and cooked a delicious chicken dinner complete with vegetables (shocking I know) followed by games and a movie. That was the night I learned what being "butt cold" meant... ask Adam about that one. That first date turned into 3 first dates in one week and I found myself asking Adam if "I needed to be worried." His only reply was, "Only if you are worried about having fun!"
These dates were followed up by a Christmas trip to California to watch BSU play in the Poinsettia Bowl and visit Disneyland. After all, it IS the most magical place on Earth!. We went with a big group of friends and had such a good time. Adam tried so hard to get past my tough defenses and with patient persistence he did. Eventually I yielded and let Adam into my life. My parents saw it the second I walked in the door with Adam after that 16 hour drive through snow storm after snow storm. Those couple of days marked the beginning of what I had believed to be doomed from the start and I came home denying what was taking place... I was falling in love.
We came home from that trip unsure of the future and what if would hold for us. However, we continued to spend time together and were inseparable.
Our first kiss happened in while playing in the snow at a park near Adam's house in downtown Boise. And yes I kissed him... more like attacked him right of the snow bank but those are minor details :] We officially starting dating the beginning of January and were engaged by the end of February. It was short but when you know it's right; it's right.

The Beginning

Our start was not like most other starts... There were no sparks, no fireworks and no googling into each other's eyes... The truth is I DESPISED Adam. We met one fine day in September at my apartment. Adam and my roommate Danielle Soderquist were friends and if you ask him, he was "doing service" by bringing over an old couch of his to make an addition to our apartment. This was our first encounter and one that left lasting impressions let me tell you. I came home from school at Boise State to find this overly confident boy with his hat on backwards and my two teeny roommates struggling to fit this GINORMOUS couch into our small, humble apartment. I parked my trusty old Bronco II and proceeded to carry my books and things in. Well, for those of you who don't know, let me inform you how the layout of my apartment works. We were located on the 2nd floor and as you enter the apartment there are 3 perpendicular hallways before you enter any sort of a room able to hold such a fine piece of furniture. As I approach the struggling group I make a comment about how there is no way that couch is going to make it up the spiral staircase or let alone past those hallways. Adam (and mind you I didn't even know his name yet) looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Well aren't you just a little pessimist." Um, excuuuuse me! STRIKE ONE. So I jump in and help in this pathetic endeavor and we get the couch up the stairs and past the first hallway. Adam and our neighbor at the time were doing everything (including breaking 2 door jams and leaving their greasy paw prints on everything. STRIKE TWO.) from taking doors off the hinges, to rotating the couch, to trying every angle possible to get it in there. Then STRIKE THREE came when they took the doors off our laundry room and my bras were hanging out to dry. As a boy Adam had a few comments up his sleeve. Well, needless to say I was the one with a smirk on my face because the couch did indeed NOT fit into the apartment and they had to spend another 30 minutes or so taking the couch back down and load it again into his truck to take home :] So Adam left without even a sliver of a chance of getting to know me. I thought he was cocky, arrogant and needed a few lessons on how to treat a lady. Little did I know he had other motives... and I unknowingly entered what was about to be the rest of forever with my best friend.