The Best Trip Ever

My sweetie and I celebrated our 5th anniversary the last week of October in Playa Mujeres, Mexico at the incredible La Amada Hotel and Spa. We were there a whole week!

Before I go and show all the wonderful pictures of the place (you don't need to see us, burnt and tired from so many poolside siestas) and tell you about the hotel itself and why all of you should hurry and go visit/get married/celebrate an anniversary/honeymoon there yourselves, I can't help but think about the five years of marriage that brought us there.

Five years.

It feels like just yesterday Mr. Foxy and I were at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church performing the rite of marriage in front of our friends, family, my horse, and a hawk that flew in last minute as my mom and I entered the church. (This turned out to be a good thing since the priest was afraid to use incense in case the hawk fell and someone got hurt.)

I vividly remember waking down the aisle and can almost smell the St. George's scent of candles burning, incense, and meshe. I can see Mr. Foxy smiling at me at me as my mom walked me down to meet him, and I remember the feeling of circling the altar 3 times, my Nena as Koumbara switching our Stephana (crowns).

Our marriage has been incredible. Not only because of how dreamy it has been, or how sweet, honorable, and loving my husband is (and he is), but because of the more difficult times. Our marriage has survived and even thrived during some of the most trying times of my life, which were no easier on him. In the last six years, I have opened and closed a business, we moved to the west coast and back, I lost my grandfather, and had truly devastating news ripple through my family. Through it all, my husband has remained a constant and enduring friend, cheerleader, and lifeboat.

In the Greek Orthodox ceremony, the familiar wedding vows are not exchanged, but we have stood by each other in good times and in bad, honoring each other and the commitment we have made. While our marriage has been filled with so many good times it is hard to count (they outnumber the bad by far), it's the wretched times that have really taught me to savor and cherish every wonderful moment, and I feel grateful that I have someone like my husband as my unfaltering partner through it all.

All images by me at the La Amada!