Last week I left for a trip I never thought I would ever take. Like never-ever. If you know me, then you know I am NOT a traveler. Like, not even a little bit. I was NOT born a ramblin' (wo)man.
In spite of my aversion to travel, I packed a suitcase, got on a plane (actually two) and flew to Aruba(thank you Xanax for all your help).
See, Hubby had been working very hard to qualify for this incentive trip his employer gives to the top 40 service reps. He had been telling me for months how he and his coworker were working to earn it so we could all go together. His hard work paid off and he(along with his coworker) was awarded an all expense paid trip for two to Aruba for 5 days. So it was official. We were going to Aruba. I was excited to go (kind of), but my nerves were frayed to mere threads slightly agitated as I thought about all the things that needed to get done before I left. AND I was extremely slightly nervous about the traveling part. I hadn't been on a plane in over 20 years. We had never been away from our kids. We were able to get all the necessary arrangements made and the way it all worked out was such a blessing. I am forever grateful to have gone on such a fantastic trip.
NOW, not being a world traveler-or any traveler for that matter- I learned a few things on this trip. Here are some things I learned in Aruba.
NOW, not being a world traveler-or any traveler for that matter- I learned a few things on this trip. Here are some things I learned in Aruba.
1. If you get sick on the plane and need to use the barf bag, you can't put it back in the seat pocket. REALLY?!! What person made it necessary for the airline company to actually have to put that in writing. Just WOW!
2. The bathroom in the airplane is perhaps the tiniest place to pee ever! Mental note: limit fluid intake before flying. AWKWARD!
3. There is a Starbucks in Aruba! Who knew?! Hello beautiful. HOORAY!!
4. When choosing a sunscreen for use on a tropical island, it's probably best to stick with the lotion and NOT the spray. OR, at least reapply spray inside. See, when you spray yourself outside where there is constant breezy wind, the spray kind of misses spots. You burn in splotches. So it hurts AND it looks weird. OUCHIE!
5. Do not, I repeat, do NOT forget to pack the Advil. I packed every other pharmaceutical we had, but forgot the Advil. After the plane ride I had a horrific headache. We paid $8.50 for this bottle of 20 pills. CHA-CHING!
6. Sunset pics on the beach look neat. BUT if you are wearing tennis shoes, you may want to ask the picture-taker to hurry along. See those waves in the back there? Well, they tend to wash up and soak your shoes. SQUISHY!
7. Nighttime beach walking is the best time to collect shells and coral. The waves bring all sorts of cool stuff onto the beach. We even invited our friends to join us on our nightly beach walk so they too could experience the fun. It's also the worst time. In order to collect the stuff you have to endure the waves, with all the stuff in them, crashing in on your legs at varying heights. But if you don't mind shards of broken shells and chunks of coral hitting your legs over and over then it's not so bad. It's really fun to wait till the wave rolls out, run and grab handfuls of stuff, and run back before the wave hits you again. Unless you're too slow. Then your bootie gets wet. RUN
FOREST RUN. 
8. You can't take it with you. Having endured a night of painful seashell and coral collecting, you now have a neat little collection of sand and stuff to take home to your children. Except then you find out it's illegal to take this "protected natural resource" out of Aruba. Unless you want an astronomical fine, you must leave Aruba in Aruba. So you just take a picture of it. That's almost as good as taking it home. BUMMER!
9. T.O.P does not spell HOT. The resort has these neat little outside "shower the ocean and sand off of you" showers all around the place. When your friend is rinsing his feet (after you've convinced him and his wife to join you on your nightly
10. The banana boat ride is a little rough. So Hubby and I went to scout out the banana boat ride we'd been hearing about. We looked, and we saw this floating thing. It looked sturdy, safe, fun even. So we reported back to our friends and all climbed aboard this safe, sturdy vessel of fun. Turns out you don't sit in the middle and hold on to the sides. No. You straddle the tubes on one side with your feet behind you. You hope the weight distribution on each side is somewhat even so you don't immediately topple over. You hold on for dear life while the driver is pulling you behind the boat, laughing at your misfortune. See, it's a very windy place, and as you ride over those white caps, the wind blows fiercely and the salt water pelts you in the face. It hurts. Like a lot. And you can't open your eyes or you get pelted in the eyes with windy, salty sea water-at least if you're in the front, which I was. Also, it's very hard to climb back onto the floating boat of death when the driver decides to dump you all off into the middle of the sea. While you're floating there like shark bait as the boat comes back around, you wonder if you have the upper body strength to pull yourself out of the water back onto the float. It's more difficult than it looks. It was fun. Kind of. Not really. SCARY!
11. Remember where you are sitting when you go up to the buffet. SO, the resort had this cool buffet dinner and carnival show one evening. We were one of the first groups to arrive. The host gave us a great table close to where the show would be happening. I went up to get a plate of food. I went to the salad bar first and decided to put that plate on the table and go back for the main dish. No one was back yet, so I just left my plate on the table. When I came back with my second plate, my first plate was gone. "HUH! someone took my plate" I said. So, I went back up and got another salad bar plate. When I came back the second time, hubby looked at my plate, looked at me, pointed to the table behind us, and said,"Does that plate look like yours?" There was one plate on an otherwise empty table behind us, and it had the same food on it as the one I had in my hand. Turns out it was my first plate. I just put it on the wrong table. I know I have issues with directions and I get lost a LOT, but this was an all new level of being misplaced. DUH!
12. According to hubby and his friend, There is a difference between male and female palm trees. I'm not even going to explain. I like my blog to be somewhat "family friendly" Not going there. I'm sure you can figure it out. However, I'm not so sure they really know what they're talking about. KEEP IT CLASSY!
13. You need to be fast when writing in the sand. I was the designated "name in the sand" writer. Why our friends trusted me to do this task after my previous blunders was beyond me. Maybe they figured it would be fun to watch me scramble. I did my best, but the results were less than ideal. Oh well, we snapped a picture. You can sorta kinda tell what it says. HURRY HURRY!
14. Beautiful places are more fun with friends. It was such an unexpected blessing to be able to go on this trip. To have friends experience this beautiful place with us was an added blessing. I am so thankful these two hung out with us, even after my not-so-great ideas. FRIENDS ARE BLESSINGS
15. Hubby and I still like each other, even after 20 years together. Hubby and I began dating 20 years ago this past February and our 20 year wedding anniversary is in September. Our lives are busy with work, homeschooling our kids, running our kids to gymnastics, and just. life. Life is busy. We just don't get a chance to spend much time together. It was such an incredible blessing to have some time together to just be together. No pressure, no money stress, no running here and there, just enjoying time together exploring a beautiful island. We made a commitment to love one another always when we were married. And we've honored that commitment through some pretty trying times. But come to find out, we still LIKE hanging out together too. What a blessing to still enjoy each other's company without life's distractions. FRIENDS FOREVER
So I learned some things on this unexpected trip. I also thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the island, the sound and feel of the sea, the breeze, the sun, and the sand between my toes. I enjoyed meeting new friends and spending time with friends we knew already. It was a wonderful experience.
I am so incredibly grateful to my hubby for working so hard to earn this trip. I'm so incredibly grateful to God for giving Hubby the strength and energy to do the job he does every day. I'm grateful to God for creating such beauty in nature. I'm so incredibly grateful to my friends who prayed for a safe, happy trip for us.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17
And I am just.simply.grateful. so. SO. grateful.
Thanks for reading.
