Mooning the Honeys

We're back people...at least for the evening.  First up on the agenda?  A recap of the one decision that was made this weekend.  The honeymoon.  The all important after-the-wedding vacation destination.  We had some options.  First option?  To go absolutely nowhere.  As much as we like our house, it's not really all that exciting.  I mean, if you could spend a week after getting hitched, would you really want it to be here:

Yeah, probably not.  So, then there's the expensive option.  I mean, the expensive option could be just about anything, really.  But, we had decided if we were doing expensive we wanted to go here:

These lovely pictures are from Oxygen, what appears to be a spectacular resort in Costa Rica.  Seriously, there is not a hotel with a hallway full of rooms.  It has jungle villas.  And, only 12 of them.  The resort never has more than 24 guests at a time.  A-ma-zing.  You absolutely must check out the website.  But, you've been warned.  Because you will certainly want to go if you take a look.  And, honestly - it's not that crazy expensive really.  Room rates for September through November are cheaper than what I've paid for hotel rooms in Chicago before. 

And, while there are ways Oxygen could be an option for us, we're not sure we want to bank on those options.  I mean, we could establish a fund for our gift registry, allowing people to help pay for a honeymoon rather than buying us a tangible gift.  Or, we could hope that I get my first potential clinical incentive bonus August 1.  Or, who knows what else.  But, we're not really sure we want to get our hopes up in thinking we'd be able to go somewhere like Costa Rica and then be disappointed when I don't get a bonus or something (because I wouldn't have had enough clients for long enough to make that bonus happen).

So, instead we're going with the middle-of-the-road option.  Well, not really middle-of-the-road.  Because from what we've heard, it's a pretty darn nice place.  And, right on a beach.  So, I think those things make it far closer to our expensive option....just not somewhere that sounds exotic like Costa Rica.  Or Belize.  Or Bora Bora, Fiji, Tahiti, or anywhere else like that.  Because Florida.....well, it sounds so....American.  haha.  But, seriously - we're super excited about this option.  You see, Linda's sister, Jean, has what is rumored to be a delightful beachfront condo on Pompano Beach in Florida (near Ft. Lauderdale).  I've heard it has a wall of windows and is steps from the beach.  That's my kind of place to veg in for a week.  Best of all?  Jean is AWESOME and to our knowledge, is only asking that we pay the fee for it to be cleaned after we leave.  I mean, okay.  So, it's looking like our honeymoon will cost us airfare, food, fun stuff, a cleaning fee and a thank-you gift to Linda's sister, Jean.  We're all for that.  We have no real pictures of the place, but here's what I envision:

And, these are legitimate pics of Pompano Beach....just not from Jean.  And, I have no idea how they compare to exactly where her condo is:

So, hooray for a decision being made!!!  And, hooray for what will undoubtedly be an amazing time in a beautiful spot!!!  (as long as there are none of those pesky hurricanes around....but I already know that Mother Nature will appreciate my prayers to the universe for weeks of beautiful weather for the wedding and our honeymoon).  Hooray for sticking to budgets!!!

Oh....and hooray for us already knowing where we want to spend our first anniversary....because we're going to save our pennies for Costa Rica.  :)