Aruba: part 1

After cleaning off my car for the third time yesterday and slipping on ice, bruising my leg and my ego, I wanted to be anywhere other than in the snow. Which gave me the perfect idea! I haven't shared with you guys my most prized vacation. The lovely coastal beaches of Aruba! So here she goes.. the most wonderful vacation of my life as of yet.

Mike: Do you want to go to Aruba for spring break? We can use my timeshare.
Me: Are you crazy? People go missing there.. No thank you!
Fast forward 5 minutes after looking at pictures..
Me: IM IN! Let's book tickets! (best decision of my life)

Fast forward 4 months and I am shaking while going through security at Logan Airport clutching my passport like its my lifeline. I am terrified of flying and I had never been outside the country apart from Canada and the Disney cruise, both of which were family vacations. I was now traveling without my parents and with three other college students. Needless to say.. I was freaking the heck out. I however, made time to take some sweet pictures from the plane.

Hello Bahama's, you are gorgeous from the sky!

We met up with our friends at the airport in Aruba and I was so happy to be on land and in a warm environment. Not to mention, Mike's parents and siblings ended up booking their timeshare the same week so they were waiting for us at the resort.

After grabbing some much needed alcohol at the duty free shop we headed to the resort! I think I had my jaw dropped the entire ride from the airport to the hotel. It was freaking beautiful, and did I mention warm? I don't know if you know this but Aruba is practically on the equator. I was dripping sweat from the moment we exited the plane. I wasn't complaining, the boyfriend might have been though.

My nerves completely calmed the moment I stepped out on our balcony. Holy palm trees. And that water! We wasted no time dropping our bags and changing into our suit.

Our bodies were so ghostly on the first day

We spent the entire afternoon on the beach, soaking up the sun and swimming.

One fun fact about Aruba: the food is SOOO delicious. I didn't have a bad meal the entire week.

Brenna and Vince; our partners in crime

We spent the first day adventuring around the resort side of the island.

In the evening we all got together for dinner and a night on the town.

The night was complete with a creepy horse we met on the sidewalk

My favorite day of the trip was when we went snorkeling aboard the Jolly Pirate. It was a jolly of a good time.

The boys weren't so jolly about waking up at 7am

This was our ship!

 I was really nervous about snorkeling. I had never been before and I have a fear of swimming in deep water. Luckily, the bar was open the second we boarded the ship. Nothing like vodka and juice to calm your nerves at 8:30am.

So the first place we dropped anchor to snorkel was about 300ft deep and above a ship wreck. Snorkeling for this girl was a major fail between my asthma, the rough waters, and my nerves. My poor boyfriend was trying to snorkel and make sure I wasn't drowning at the same time. I finally gave up and swam back to the boat to take pictures but not before looking at the ship wreck.. which I probably shouldn't have done because it resulted in a major panic attack. Fact: Courtney does not like deep water, especially over a ship wreck. We stopped at two other spots to snorkel. I remained on the boat both times. It was fine, I loved taking pictures! We then dropped anchor for lunch and rope swinging. That I did partake in. It was a ton of fun!

my favorite twins :)

Once we disembarked from the Jolly Pirate, we were all feeling pretty tipsy good. Back to the hotel we went to get ready for dinner. We went to a little place called A Taste Of Heaven. To which it did not let us down. It was delicious. The owner sold us by saying "it tastes like Wendy's but much better!"

That is all for the first half. Fear not, I will be back tomorrow with the second half of my miracle trip!