Honeymoon - Climbing Down Waterfalls

I promise that this will be my last post before the actual wedding recaps start...  Photo CD's arrived about a week and a half ago and I'm ready to get that party started.

But, for now, I'll share a bit about my favorite day in Costa Rica and sum up my feelings about 1. taking a more adventurous honeymoon and 2. travelling to Costa Rica in rainy/green season.

Before any vacation, I spend a lot (A LOT!) of time on TripAdvisor.  Restaurants, activities, hotels...  I want to know what to expect and make my plans well before I arrive somewhere.  Spontaneity be damned!

So, when people asked where we were going for our honeymoon, I told them where and immediately followed up with the activity that topped my "must do while in Costa Rica" list: Canyoning.  Costa Canyoning to be more specific.

Our last full day in Uvita, we headed down the road a bit and met the guys from Costa Canyoning, Scotty and Bob.  Then, the fun began.

We jumped into the back of the truck and headed towards the waterfalls...  We stopped for a little bit in a bamboo forest because the waterproof adventure camera had accidentally been left back at the office:
(all pics from the CD that Costa Canyoning gave us at the end of our day)

Bamboo Forest

Soon after that, we were doing this:

We have pictures from all of the waterfalls...  but, I won't bore with you too many.  Even though the climbs got tougher, they all look kind of similar looking back.  I'll jump to the last waterfall, which was the highest.

So cool!  I will admit that we were both in a lot of pain the next day...  It's a good thing we waited till the end of our trip for this activity.  Our hands were covered with rope burns, our leg muscles ached and we both had huge bruises (one of us from falling onto a ledge on the last waterfall and scaring the heck out of their spouse...  it wasn't me).

Anyway, it was amazing and I can't imagine a better end to our honeymoon.

So, what was it like taking a non-all-inclusive, non-beach centric, non-nap filled (ok, there were totally naps) kind of honeymoon?  It was great.  Sure, I love all-inclusives with the fruity frozen drinks and amazing food, but I'm so glad we chose a different kind of honeymoon.  It was full of things that we will never forget.  It wasn't the typical romantic picture I have always imagined for a honeymoon, but it was fun and exciting and allowed us to spend a ton of memorable time together.  Plus, we have plans for a lot of future Sandals-esque with our friends.  Overall, I haven't regretted it for a second.

So, what about travelling to Costa Rica during rainy season?  Well, maybe we were lucky...  Or, maybe we're just used to a lot of rain because we live in Pittsburgh.  It was beautiful and sunny every morning and through most of the early afternoons.  Around four or five each day, it would start to rain.  And, usually, it would keep raining for most of the night.  It would go from pouring to sprinkles to sometimes no rain at all.  Our evenings were full of rain sounds mixing in with the rain forest sounds and I really enjoyed it.  

I don't feel like we missed out on anything because of the rain.  We got all our trips in during the sunny mornings and took it easy at night.  And, on every single tour we took, we were the only two people there.  On almost every beach, we were either the only people there or very close to it.  The parks were easy to navigate and there were few people around to frighten away the animals.  So, while I know we might have gotten luckier with the weather than is typical, I'm glad we went when we did.  I would definitely visit during rainy season again.

Honeymoon - Flight of the Tucan

Wednesday, September 5th, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit Costa Rica.  We might have missed the whole thing if it hadn't been for our tour guide, who was leading us up through the rain forest to our first zip-line.  He had been stopping us every couple of minutes to point out vegetation, tell us about the history of Hacienda Baru or show us some animals or insects.  Suddenly, he pointed towards the trees and asked if we saw something...  No...  The trees were shaking.  And, then, we felt it.  So weird.  It lasted about a minute and we continued climbing.

Finally, we made it to the first platform and began our flights...
(all pics personal)

Me on a zipline

Anthony on a zipline

This was both of ours first time zip-lining.  I have wanted to try this forever.  And, I have to admit, it was kind of a let down.  I think I would have been a bit more disappointed if the rest of our tour experience hadn't been so great.  Our tour guides were spectacular.  They made the day amazing with their stories and personalities.

Anthony with our guides

After we had finished our tour, we decided to walk one of the trails to the beach.  There were tons of cool things to see on the way there.

Once we got to the beach, we were greeted by natural beauty.  And, it was 100% ours.  Not a soul to be seen anywhere.  It was amazing.

Anthony decided to take a quick dip

Then, we then headed back, with one more cool photo stop on the way.

Cutter Ants carrying their leaves

What a great day.  We followed it up with another day of relaxation and then...  the best day of the whole honeymoon.  

Up next: Canyoneering (a.k.a. canyoning in the rest of the world).

Honeymoon - We're on a Boat

So, when I left off, we had made it to the beautiful TikiVillas Resort.  After one day of visiting the beach and relaxing (a lot!), we decided to schedule our first tour: a boat tour of the Mangrove forest on the Sierpe River.

We drove down to the town of Sierpe first thing Tuesday morning and found our tour guide waiting outside of a small restaurant/souvenir shop.  We were soon on the boat, gliding through the river and seeing the sites...  (all pics personal)

View of the Sierpe River

Mangroves

A Mangrove Seed

There was a ton of natural beauty.  A huge variety of trees and flowers were all around us.  And, we stopped time and time again as the tour guide or boat driver spotted animals along the way.

There were birds...

and baby alligators...

and turtles...

and more birds.

And, while all that was cool, it didn't hold a flame to the MONKEYS!!!  This tour was the first time we saw any monkeys in Costa Rica.  And, we saw a ton.

First, the Howler monkeys appeared in the trees near the river...  They are probably easier to find because they make so. much. noise.  I can't describe the sounds they make; but, once you hear it and know what it is, you never forget.

Howler Monkey, just hanging out

Lots and lots of monkeys, just hanging out

Seriously, just hanging out

Looking Cool

or maybe re-enacting scenes from The Jungle Book

So, I know, that's a lot of monkey pics...  And, if that's not really your thing, you may want to skip this next section...  Because, after the Howlers, we saw White Faced Monkeys, a type of Capuchins.  These monkeys were 1. less noisy, 2. smaller (and, hence, cuter) and 3. friendlier.

Ok, this might be cheating because it's a baby... but, see how cute?!?

While you'll have to trust me on point one, I think that picture proves point two.  So, what about point three?  Well, our boat driver, Jose, showed us how "friendly" these monkeys can be...

They are very willing to come visit...

when there is free juice involved.

And, while I wasn't prepared to get that up close and personal with a wild monkey, Anthony was.

Giving up some juice...

can lead to even closer encounters.

That was definitely the highlight of the tour and one of Anthony's favorite moments of the whole trip.  I don't blame him... how many people have had a monkey climb on them?  Crazy.

There were tons of other animal sightings...  boa constrictors, parrots, etc. etc.  Seriously, this is what Costa Rica is about.  The biodiversity was astounding.

After a few hours, we landed back at the docks and settled in for a quick snack of ceviche.  While enjoying our food and cold beers, we took one last picture of our boat and driver.

Jose and our tour boat

It was a great tour and the perfect way to get started really seeing the country.  Plus, it was the least interactive (with an exception of the monkey of course) and least strenuous.

Next, we step it up a little and I experience my first earthquake!

Honeymoon - Getting there and the Resort

The wedding is over!

The planning, the spending (oh, the spending), the to-do list making, the DIY-ing, the phone calling, the worrying...  All done.

And, while I wait for the CD of pictures to arrive from the photographer so I can post some recaps, why not share a bit about our honeymoon?

Why not indeed?

So, right after the wedding, we packed up our cars and headed home.  We unloaded everything from DH's car and left mine in the garage.  Then, we drove to the airport to spend the night in a hotel there...

Why?  Because our flight to San Jose was at the butt crack of morning.  (Note: think twice before scheduling a super early flight the day after your wedding...  You will be exhausted.)

Two flights later, we arrived in San Jose, got a shuttle to the car rental place (none of them are in the actual airport) and waited for our car.  After driving off the lot, the real adventure started.  The drivers in San Jose, in one word, are CRAZY.  Its like there are no rules and there are definitely few street signs.  Thank goodness for GPS.

Finally, out of the city, we started to see the beauty of the country.  (All pics are personal.)

Green Season = Lush Mountains

First view of the Pacific

Palm Groves

About four hours later, starving and tired, we arrived at TikiVillas Rainforest Lodge.  We were warmly welcomed by Thomas and shown to our room.  It was awesome.  

The Main House - A great place for Breakfast or Drinks

One of the Bungalows

 

Our Super Comfortable Bed

Seats on the Balcony (spent a lot of time in these)

Coffee every morning, overlooking the rainforest

Sunset from our balcony

A Sloth, hanging out by the pool

It was one of the most amazing places I've ever stayed.  It was the perfect place to come back to every day after our excursions, while the rain poured down and we planned the next days adventures.

Next up: a boat tour of the Sierpe River and lots (and lots) of monkeys!

The Final Countdown

At the end of last week, my co-workers added something new to our team whiteboard:

(personal pic)

Today it reads "16"!  That's only a little more than two weeks...  How did that happen?

And, perhaps more importantly, how did I get to two weeks out with 37 to-do's still on my list?

Argh!

I think that some RSVP drama led to a bit of head in the sand behavior.  If I didn't work on wedding DIY projects, I wouldn't have to think about the wedding or the associated irritants...  Not that it really worked that way.

But, I'm back.  I'm crossing things off, slowly but surely.

The end is near...

When Your DIY's Go Up in Flames

... literally.

This morning, I woke up with a zeal for DIY projects.  It's time to get things off the list.  For real!

So, I started with what I hoped would be a pretty straight forward project: the boutonniere.

My inspiration came from online:

Boutonniere by Whichgoose via etsy

I had purchased a bunch of sola flowers from save-on-crafts.  I had feathers from amazon.  I found ribbon to match the FI's tie at Jo-Ann Fabrics.  Plus, some floral wire from earlier projects and my hot glue gun...  I was ready.

I attached the wire to the flower.  Applied some glue and put the feather where I thought it looked good.  Then, I wrapped (and wrapped and wrapped) the ribbon around.  Finally, I tied a knot near the top and cut the ribbon to a good length.  Then, I held the ribbon close to a candle flame to keep the edges from fraying.

Can you guess what happened next?

I'll give you a hint: Sola flowers (and, feathers, apparently) are EXTREMELY flammable.

Poof (personal pic)

Seriously?!?

Attempt two involved me trying the ribbon and flame step a little earlier...  

Voila! (personal pic)

This one went a bit faster since I already knew what I was doing.

I'm pretty happy with the results.  But, this made me wonder: how many DIY fails does the average bride have under her belt?  And, how would guests react if they could see some of the major comedies involved with wedding planning?

Up next: sewing the lace onto my veil.  At least there is no fire involved with that one.

Staying Organized

One of our very first purchases after getting engaged (second only to a bunch of bridal magazines I grabbed on my first trip to the grocery after the ring was on my finger) was the iDo Couple Edition by Elm Software.  At $35, this was probably the best investment I could have made.  Seriously.  Let me explain how this program is still making me say "wow".

First, it met my expectations for contact and invitation management:
- Database for contacts has all the fields I would expect and then some: name, address, nickname, email, phone numbers, A or B list, friend of (bride, groom, both), role, gender, child indicator, out of town indicator and a place for notes.  This is quite a list of ways that you can filter and analyze your guest list.
- Contacts are then dropped into groups under invitations.  This function has an auto-wording setting, ability to add guests for single invites, RSVP ID's and an invite sent indicator.
- RSVP's are soooo easy to track.  Find the RSVP # (which I put in the corner of each RSVP I sent) and click on received, then click on boxes by each guest not expected to attend.  Also, it's easy to click on a guests name to correct spelling or update someone's "guest" with the actual name of who's coming.
- It was also easy to import and export contact info and invitation lists using the software.  This was way better than typing in each contact sent by family or having to address each save the date/invitation envelope separately.

Next, it surprised me with additional ways to stay organized:
- Hotel lists for guests.  Where is everyone staying - Create a hotel and drag everyone who is staying there.  Plus, there is the ability to add a map picture of each.  This is going to be great for OOT bags.
- Flight information.  I'm not planning to use this one, but it would be great for weddings with lots of VIP's arriving on planes.
- Gift tracking.  Its easy to add a new gift, select the person/people who gave it (which automatically populates the address for a thank you card), indicate when it was received (and for which event: wedding, bridal shower, etc.) and mark when a thank you was sent.
- Table layout.  Add tables in several shapes and seating counts and then drag attendees to their table.  The tables can be named and arranged to show the floor plan with simple functionality.  And, a report can be created for printing and staying organized on the day of.

There is also a lot of planning help that I am probably not making 100% use of:
- Vendor List.  This contains all of the contact info for each vendor and a place for notes.
- Budget.  This is a place to keep track of money paid and still due with date functionality and groupings to see where your money is going.
- Checklist.  This one was auto-populated upon opening the software.  Its easy to edit, add or delete items as needed.

Finally, there are a bunch of other things I haven't even played around with yet like timelines, events, songlists, etc.

Seriously, the only thing I would change about this software is to make it online so that I could access my information at any computer (this is why most of my personal wedding checklists are in Google Docs).  Otherwise, this software does exactly what I bought it for, plus more.  I definitely recommend it.

Any questions about this?  Let me know.  Or, have you used a different wedding planning software that surprised you (either in a good way or bad)?