{Guest Post} When belated is better

It’s easy to find new blogs, but it can be extremely difficult to find new blogs that are written by someone you can fall in bloggy love with and that you’ll look forward to reading every day. Lauren from Texas has one of those blogs. Add her to your reader, follow her on twitter, or send her an e-mail at laurenfromtexas (at) gmail (dot) com. Oh, and get ready for the cute. She has it in spades.

I’ve only been a guest blogger once before, so I’m a little nervous. Is it OK to say I’m nervous? Too late.

When Kyla asked me to guest blog while she was on her belated honeymoon, here are the thoughts that went through my head:

Wow. What an honor!
Kyla is so fabulous. Her blog is so fabulous.
I hope I don’t mess up!
What am I going to write about?
What if her readers throw tomatoes at me?
I guess that would be kind of impossible.
I wish I were going on a Disney Cruise!
When was the last time I saw a Disney movie?
“MICHAEL! We need to start buying Disney movies for when we have kids!”
I’m kind of craving some tomatoes.

Hi, my name is Lauren and I’m a little bit crazy.

Now that introductions have been made, let’s get down to business. Kyla has left us. I know, I know. I miss her too. I also think it’s totally rude for her to go on a vacay without inviting us. Oh well, I guess since it’s her honeymoon, we’ll let this one slide. But next time, Kyla, next time!

I think it’s fantastic that Kyla and her husband are taking a belated honeymoon – because, well, that’s what my husband and I did too.

Michael and I met in late February 2007. We began dating 2 weeks later. On July 9th, 2007, he asked me to be his wife. November 18th of the same year, I wore white, and we vowed to love each other forever. Now, while all of that was QUITE magical and lovely and more than I could ever ask for, it was FAST. Barely 9 months from start to finish. Hardly enough time to plan for a wedding, let alone anything else. To top it all off, I was scheduled to graduate from college the next month. Between finals, Michael’s job, and the holidays, a long honeymoon was out of the question. So we took a couple of days after the wedding to go to a nice hotel and enjoy those first 48 hours of marriage. Then we came home and got back to real life. I graduated college, began a new job, and married life was in full swing. We had begun saving for a honeymoon in Mexico and were able to take it in June of 2008. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait.

I think that taking your honeymoon a few months (or even a year in Kyla & Mister’s case!) can be every bit as wonderful as taking it immediately after your wedding. Here are my reasons why:

• You’re not rushing off immediately after your wedding. Honestly, all I wanted to do for the first few days after my wedding (besides the obvious) was SLEEP. I was so worn out from all the planning, and it was kind of nice to know that I could do that without feeling guilty that we weren’t out “doing vacationy stuff.”
• It gives you time to adjust to being married before running off on vacation together. Like I said before, Michael and I were fast movers. We didn’t live together before we got married, so we had A LOT of adjusting to do after we tied the knot. It was nice to spend that first week or so alone in our apartment, getting used to the whole “married” thing. By the time we left for our honeymoon, we were ready for a vacation and totally ready for an adventure.
• It gives you something to look forward to and plan for after you get married. As opposed to having everything in one fell swoop, you get half (the wedding) now and then the other half (the honeymoon) later. Fun!

I’m not saying that waiting is for everyone, but if circumstances are so that you must wait (or just think it would be better), don’t be afraid! I can successfully say that it turns out just fine. I’m sure Kyla will attest when she returns from her luxurious cruise (still jealous!).

And of course, here are some pictures from our honeymoon.

Tip #1 for honeymooners: No matter when you take your honeymoon, make T-shirts. Everyone is SUPER nice to you, and hey, you get free drinks on the plane!

Here we are at our amazing villa, hanging out by the infinity view pool. Yes, it was incredible.

Then we went on a day cruise and went snorkeling, and for some reason my husband decided to let them put an octopus on him. I was basically standing 6 feet away and shrieking as I took this picture.

Also, on the day cruise, this guy served us beer. True (and scary) story.

Here’s me in my fabulous sunhat that was a pain in the butt to pack – but totally worth it, don’t you think?

And here we are on the beach, soaking up the sun. I love this man.

Thanks for reading! Kyla is one of my favorite bloggers, and it’s been a huge honor to write for her blog, not to mention really fun.