We are only 3 days away from Valentine's Day and 10 days away from our 1 year wedding anniversary! Love is in the air and because it's rainy and gray here in Seattle (and because it's Throwback Thursday), I am reminiscing on our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. I've been dreaming of having another tropical getaway lately - hint, hint Andrew ;)! But before we get into that, I have to share the story about why we almost never made it to our honeymoon in the first place.

We planned on leaving for the Dominican on the Monday after our wedding, giving us a day of rest before we took off to another country. I knew we would probably be exhausted after the wedding, and we definitely were. I also planned on packing on Sunday - due to the wedding activities and snow/ice chaos, I had neglected to do that during the week. Sunday morning started with my HUSBAND and breakfast! I don't know if I can explain that feeling of waking up for the first time married - nothing short of amazing! The day was pretty normal (as normal as the day after your wedding can be!), but later that afternoon I had to be rushed to the hospital. I was in so much pain that I could hardly move. Several hours and tests later, they told us that it was just a 24 hour virus and sent us on our way. It was 11 pm and we had to be at the airport in 4 short hours, so we hurried back to the condo to finish packing our bags.

We didn't end up getting any sleep that night, and I still felt pretty yucky. By the time we made it to our layover, the exhaustion and sickness were really setting in. If I had a choice in that moment, I would've gotten on the first plane back to Knoxville and back to our bed! But thankfully, I have a patient, caring, and rational husband. After a serious pep talk (and some serious meds), onward we went! We arrived to a hot and sunny Punta Cana. It was a beautiful site to see after all the snow we had dealt with the week before! Even though we got to the resort around noon and it was beautiful outside, we headed straight to the room and straight to bed. After a day/night of much needed rest, I woke up feeling 99.9% better!

We were excited to finally make it to our room after a long day of traveling

We spent the rest of the week relaxing by the pool or ocean, soaking in the sunshine, throwing back some tropical drinks, and getting an amazing 80 minute couple's massage. The week ended up being everything we wanted and was exactly what we needed to recharge and to start our forever together.

We felt like we were in The Great Gatsby

Feeling the Just Married bliss — Feeling the *Just Married* bliss

xoxo, L

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