Mexico

To celebrate my 30th Birthday, T decided to take me on a surprise vacation to the Mexican Riviera, which I've never been to before. White sands, crystal blue warm water, and balmy weather makes for a happy birthday boy!

Unfortunately, we had quite the dramatic week leading up to the festivities. On Thursday, I started noticing a bit of discomfort in my front tooth while at work. By the time Friday night rolled around, the excruciating pain made it clear the tooth was abscessed. I hadn't slept for days and was miserable by the time I went in for my root canal the following week, 2 days before I was scheduled to take off on the plane, mind you. Then, the morning before said flight, T calls me in a panic, as he had just discovered his passport was expired. Really? Cut to a nail biting day of frantically jumping through hoops, and you'll understand why by the end of the week, we *needed* the vacation. But, all's well that ends well, and by the time we arrived at the airport, T had a a newly minted passport and I was finally on the mend.

We landed in Cancun, and made our way south to our final destination, a beautiful little beach town called Playa Del Carmen. The next week was filled with adventures visiting ancient Mayan ruins in Chichen Itza, Coba, and Tulum, snorkeling on the beaches of Cozumel, and conquering my fear of heights via death defying zip lines 30 stories above the Mexican jungle. We sprinkled in lazy and blissful beach days in between all the adventures, and the combination made for a perfect vacation. Of course, I had my cameras in tow, and thanks to my brother and Gracie's gift (a waterproof case), I was even able to capture the underwater adventures as well!

Click Here for the full set of pictures (turn on the comments for the full story)

Thank you so much for such a sweet and memorable vacation, T! What a fantastic way to kick off a new decade.