Mexico - Arrival

We have safely landed. Thank goodness that is over. What a turbulent flight. Now we must go through customs which I found to be very entertaining. Some ladies were taking pictures in the customs line and they got yelled at. They do not mess around at customs. Patrick is always making jokes so I was fully prepared for the customs worker to not let us into the country. Thankfully when it was our turn to approach the desk he kept quiet. We were cleared to go to baggage and pick up our luggage, then we had to get cleared with our luggage which thankfully again was a breeze. When boarding the plane at O'hare I was the lucky lady who got to be randomly searched. I guess my smiling face looked suspicious. Now we were off to pick up our rental car. The car rental attendant who walked us out of the airport and waited with us for the car rental shuttle was adorable. He was local, had a big smile and was maybe 4ft tall. I loved him. I spoke my very best Spanish with him, which was very entertaining. I took French in high school.  Sadly my new best friend and I had to part as the shuttle picked us up to go to the rental car lot which was a 1 min. ride. I would have preferred to walk if I knew where we were going. The shuttle driver was not as friendly. Renting a car always seems to be a long process and I learned that renting a car in Mexico is an even longer process. Finally, paper work is over and we are given a car. Not the car we were hoping for, but it will do. We flew into Cancun, so now we have about an 1hr and 1/2 drive to Papa's house in Akumal. Just as I began to relax and close my eyes for a sec., I opened up my eyes to about 20 men with machine guns at a check point. This is not a sight that I am used to seeing and it terrified me. They had a bunch of cars pulled over that the were raiding, and their guns were gigantic. Thankfully we were waved right through, and I was happy to have that behind us. Once we were out of Cancun we only passed another small check point in Playa Del Carmen. It is nice to know that they are looking out for our safety, but machine guns are always unsettling to me. The drive was one main road and it was very simple. We even found my dads hidden jungle road with ease. I called my dad and he opened up the gates for us to enter. Heidi, my dads doberman, and my dad where their to great us at the gate. Ahhh vacation has begun.

Papa's Mexico Jeep & Villa

Mexico - Departure Part 2

Surprisingly, getting through Ohare airport on an early Monday morning was a breeze. We drove ourselves, so we had to park the car in an overly crowded, gigantic parking lot and then take a long walk to the tram. Last time we took the tram, I had a mild panic attack due to claustrophobia. I don't think that I will every by riding the New York Subway.We were the first people on and Patrick immediately made me sit in the handicap seat, the only seats on the tram. I debated him and told him that I could not do that because the sign said they are reserved for the elderly and handicap. I'm a rule follower. Well there were not any elderly or handicap around. Just a few business men. Patrick put me in the seat and cleared the space around me. I sat and looked out the window and I was perfectly fine. We checked in, checked our bag and made it through security in no time. Once we made it to our terminal, which always seems to be the farthest one in the airport, we sat down and enjoyed a lovely breakfast. We chatted with some interesting folks and we were ready to board. We were very spoiled with amazing seats on our flight to Hawaii, this time we were not as fortunate. Patrick is 6'6 so the splurge for extra leg room is a necessity. We booked late and flying to Cancun during Spring break gives you a full plane. He survived, but I'm sure that is the last time he sits in a seat without extra leg room. I have flown a lot , and I conceder my self a really good and calm flyer. I have to say, this was the most turbinate flight that I have ever been on. I started to discuss with Patrick the possibility that I was going to throw up as I clenched his leg and made my I'm going to be sick face. Just as I started to feel really nauseated, the teenager next to me grabbed his barf bag. Pat looked at him and said " don't do it man. If you do than we are all going to". This was not a sight that I wanted to see. Fortunately none of us lost our breakfast. The landing was really rough, but look at this amazing view that I got to focus on:

Mexico - Departure

We spent the entire last week in Mexico. You know what that means, many blog posts about our trip. This trip was a bit shorter than our Hawaii honeymoon so I'm sure that there won't be as many posts. We were so very excited to have a week away to travel, but leaving Ellie-Mae is always the hardest part. This time Ellie-Mae had her own special week planned. She stayed at the Pawsatively Heaven Pet Resort. Sounds fancy doesn't it. It was fancy and very expensive. Ellie-Mae had her own private suite, with an elevated human like bed, T.V with animal planet, doggy door with outside patio and web cams so we can check in on her from Mexico. Yes I know, she is super spoiled. We had a bad experience with the trainer who we left her with while we were on our honeymoon, so this time around we were very cautious and wanted to make sure that she was very well taken care of, and having a good time. We packed her bags, she had more luggage than we did, and I organized all of her meals for the week. At 5am we were on our way to the Pet Resort. Ellie slept the whole way there, it was too early for her, and Patrick and I were silent. This was the calm before the storm of my tears. We checked her in at the front desk and then we were taken to her suite to get her and her things settled in. I was very impressed with the cleanliness of the resort. It was immaculate. We gave our hugs and kisses and then I was out the door without looking back. I made it to the car without a tear and then I saw Ellie peaking her head out her doggy door. Her ears were hanging on the ground and I saw her sweet face and I lost it. I'm talking full on hysterics. I love this puppy so much it's ridiculous. She spends everyday and night by my side. It was so painful to leave her. I felt like I just handed over our baby to a stranger. We had an hour ride to the airport and thankfully by the time we got there I had pulled myself together. 

                                                XOXO

What is in your Laundry Detergent?

I have always been an advocate of Natural cleaning products. My husband however is a clean freak and has been using the standard popular brands that he has known all of his life to be trusted to get the job done. I think that it is wonderful that he likes things nice and clean, I do not however enjoy walking into our house during one of his cleaning sprees and being poisoned from the abundance of chemicals he has used. Lets start this topic off with laundry detergents.

I love fresh laundry. I even love doing the laundry and having the smell of laundry in the air. Many people are unaware that the popular brands of laundry detergents that you find at your local grocery store are full of toxic chemicals. These soaps are harmful to our health and harmful to the environment. Laundry detergent contains up to eight poisonous chemicals. Many of these chemicals have been scientifically proven to cause cancer.  

• Phosphates
• Chlorine Bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite)
• Lye (Sodium Hydroxide)
• Ammonia
• Phenois
• Fillers
• Nitrilotriacetic Acid (NTA) & other NTA's

Our skin is our largest organ. Anything that touches our skin gets absorbed into our system. We are giving our clothes a chemical bath and then putting them on our bodies all day when our pores are opening and soaking in these chemicals. Gross!!!! We are also toweling off after a shower while our pores are freshly opened and drinking in all the chemicals from our towels. Then we get into our beds and sleep all night on sheets full of toxic chemicals. I'm not sure who ever came up with the idea of putting all of these chemicals together to get our clothes clean, but I strongly believe that this is a huge problem and not to mention totally unnecessary. 

The good news, there are so many Natural cleaning products available that work just as good if not better. My current favorite laundry detergent is made by Earth Friendly Products. Their laundry detergent is called ECOS. They have amazing scents that are perfume free and 100% Natural Essential Oils. Magnolia & Lily is out of this world. Oh and in case you are wondering what the ingredients in this detergent are: 100% Natural Coconut Kernel Oil, essential oils and purified water. 

TIme for a Vacation

We have booked a much needed vacation and I am super excited. I started dreaming about our next vacation while we were still vacationing in Hawaii. I love to travel and go new places. I am ready to say Goodbye to winter and Hello to spring. Patrick would still like to have one more big snow storm. Apparently the blizzard wasn't enough for him. I have always loved the winter, but this one took a lot out of me. 

My dad has spent the entire winter enjoying the ocean and sun near Tulum Mexico. Due to a childhood fear of the water in Mexico, I have never been to Mexico or had any desire to go to Mexico. When my brother was in traveling All-Stars for baseball, they had a tournament in Mexico. My brother had a cut on his leg from sliding into the bases and he went swimming in the hotel pool and got blood poisoning from the water that was pumped into the pool. When he arrived at the hospital, the doctors said that if he had gotten there just a few minuets later, he would have been dead. Yep that was enough for me to never want to go there. Well, apparently times have change in Mexico, and we are going to be in a totally different area then they were. I am still uneasy about the water and not sure that I will be eating anything, but maybe there will be something positive in the water for us in Mexico. 

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

I love a good smoothie. With the smell of spring in the air, I have been on a serious smoothie kick. One of my all time favorites is my peanut butter banana smoothie. 

1st ingredient: Banana

Slice 1 ripe banana in slices similar to the picture below. Then freeze them. I like to slice and freeze my bananas the night before, if not give them at least an hour to freeze. 

2nd ingredient: Almond Milk

8 OZ of Almond Milk. I make my smoothies with Almond milk because it is so good, and so good for you. I use either the Chocolate, for a Chocolate Banana smoothie, or the Vanilla for a hint of extra flavor. 

3rd ingredient: Peanut Butter

My recommendation is 1 TBSP of creamy peanut butter. I prefer to stay away from hydrogenated oils so I use organic peanut butter from Trader Joe's or Whole foods. 

Putting it all together:

1st add your frozen banana slices in your blender. Next add your peanut butter, and lastly pour in your almond milk. Adding in this order makes for perfect blending. This is a delicious and nutritious treat. Enjoy!

Fertility

I was inspired to write this blog post by the wonderful women who have shared their very personal and painful stories with me. Infertility and miscarriage seem to be four letter words. When it has happened to you understandably it is extremely painful to talk about. When you are the one going through it, it seems most people just avoid the issue and find it difficult to be supportive. I have chosen to be very open during this journey in hopes that our story may help another couple who is struggling. Those of you who know us best are very much aware that we have been struggling to have a baby. We have recently gone through two cycles of fertility treatments that were unsuccessful. Due to the horrific side effects I had to end the treatments. Now it is back to all of my natural methods of making this happen, which I prefer. I am happy to be coming down from the roller coaster ride of emotions that the hormones took me on. As a much needed comic relief, my dad sent us these fertility dolls pictured above from Mexico. He is spending the winter there and apparently the whole town swears by them. They are very entertaining. I have created a sacred space for them in our home, and I rub their bellies everyday for good luck as if they are Buddha. Each day when I am feeling stresses over all of this, I go look at these dolls and get a good laugh. 
Thanks Papa!