Honeymoon & Scuba

First, here are some photos of where we stayed at the Majestic Elegance Resort in Punta Cana, DR. It was amazing. We ate ice cream after every meal. We took naps on the beach. We went to fun night shows. We were upgraded to an amazing honeymoon suite. We had a romantic dinner on the beach. We had no cell service. We LOVED it.

We also went on a couple really fun excursions. The first was on a catamaran to Catalina Island where Anaconda & Rambo were filmed. We enjoyed a nice ride on the catamaran, snorkeled for a good bit until someone saw a poisonous black snake in the coral & we all had to get out of the water (which didn’t make me feel any better about scuba diving later on in the week, just saying) and had lunch on Catalina Island. It was so great.

Our second excursion was driving dune buggies through Punta Cana, hanging at Macao Beach & exploring a cave on a cocoa plant. We had a blast driving the dune buggies & getting muddy. The only crappy part was that sometimes we didn’t know if the brown stuff splattered on us was mud or poop. Cute.

Okay, now about the scuba. So, I wouldn’t say I was terrified of the ocean, I mean, I’ve always enjoyed swimming near the shores, but it’s not like I was ever curious to go underwater exploring down where the real big fish & possible scary things live. Aaron has been scuba certified for like 10 years now & has always wanted a buddy to dive with. In theory, it sounds good: “Oh yeah, I totally wanna be my husband’s diving buddy so we can frolic around the colorful coral reefs & blissfully glide along the ocean floor surrounded by all the pretty fish & all of our love.” But in reality, scuba diving scared me. Who knows what’s down there? There are plenty of things to be afraid of. Sharks, scary animals that I don’t even know of, poisonous coral or something, the possibility of getting the bends from ascending too quickly…sharks!! I kept telling him that I would love to do it, but inside I secretly hoped it somehow wouldn’t work out.

But of course, Aaron had to catch the one man with a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) shirt walking out of the bathroom & ask him about getting me certified. So, we decide that it doesn’t make sense to pay for a half certification & I should just get the full open water scuba certification. I was on my way to being a wonderfully supportive wife in learning one of my husband’s favorite vacation activities. Awe so cute, right? Yeah, only thing is, I didn’t anticipate all I would have to do to complete the certification. It was great, but it was definitely more studying & test taking than I had planned to do on our honeymoon. Overall, once I determined to work past my fear of the unknown, it really was an amazing experience.

With the help of my handsome hubby & our great dive master, I conquered my nerves & we went on four really awesome dives! Once I became comfortable with the equipment & learned the exercises that I had to do during the training, it was really exciting to be in the ocean. Exploring all the life that happens below the surface is incredible – it makes you feel so small & reminds you how big & wondrous our world is.

It’s random, but I was totally inspired by a Princess Cruise commercial one day & it’s my favorite. Part of it says, “We are told to live large, that if we’re lucky we’ll make it big…but maybe our most extraordinary moments happen when we feel small…what if we dared to feel small?” Check it out here.

One of the things I love most about Aaron is that he challenges me to be better. Sometimes that means encouraging me to pursue my desires & other times it even means pushing me to do things I don’t want to or I’m afraid to do. I just have to let myself be challenged by my husband in the same way that I would want him to be open to growth. Check out my post Love, Marriage And All The Heart Eyes to read little snippets of our love story and see wedding pictures! We had an incredible first adventure as a married couple & I couldn’t be more grateful for the amazing man I was given.