One Year...and Many More

As a little present to Mark in honor of our one-year wedding anniversary, I made this video* comprised of some pictures of our special day. I get a lump in my throat just watching it, recalling how happy and blessed I was on that fateful day. I'm honored to have been able to marry my best friend, my perfect-for-me person, and it gives me such peace in knowing that no matter what life throws at us, we will always have our love.

Happy 1st-of-many anniversaries, baby! Thank you for being my biggest and best reason to smile...

xoxo A~

Amy & Mark's 1st Wedding Anniversary Montage from Amy Burton on Vimeo.

*Song: "Question" by The Old '97's

Yeah, yeah...

Not like anyone is actually FOLLOWING this little corner of the Internet or anything, but I realize it's wholly neglected and needs to be updated soon with entries from our honeymoon diary! In the meantime, enjoy this too-cute-for-words photo our cute pups, Molly and Lucy (clearly, I'm shameless):

DAY TWO - Amy

Today I slept in late.  All the travel from the day before had taken its toll on me!  I'm very lucky to have a sweet husband who refuses to wake me even when I ask him to...  :o)  When I woke up, Mark was swimming in the pool, so I decided to join him.  Being in such lush surroundings with no one else around, I jumped in (uh...waded in slowly - COLD!) buck-nekked.  What an amazing feeling to swim that way in broad daylight!  Now I can check that off my things to do before I die.  Hee! 

 

After our brisk swim, we made a wonderful breakfast complimented by a Malibu Rum and orange juice.  Yum-my! 

 

All the eating and swimming, along with a long stroll with camera through the yard, really did me in...because I retired to the hammock with book in hand and didn't end up reading a single word before I was zonked out AGAIN! *blush* 

Upon waking up, feeling refreshed, we decided to hop in the "jeep" (RAV-4) and explore the southwest side of the island.

(Gratuitous photo of a cow - MOO!  There are sheep, goats, chickens, roosters and cows roaming all over the island.  Super fun for a city girl!)

We stopped at a small park/beach for a bit, then ventured closer to the condemned parts of the island.  The volcano was easily visible, as well as well as many signs of the leftover devastation of the 1995 eruption.  

Dead trees, covered-over houses showing only the roofs...it was awe-inspiring to witness the destruction to what was once a clearly beautiful and happening part of the island.  

A fun/bumpy/scary drive home later, we made dinner and drank wine while listening to Ben Folds.  Such a nice feeling to be able to do nothing with my amazing, loving husband! No expectations or obligations...just time to enjoy each other and relax.  We ended the night with a shower literally under palm trees and stars (so cool).  

I feel asleep with a smile on my lips and a very full heart.  

DAY TWO - Mark

I awoke Sunday early (go figure), to the sound of waves crashing and some birds singing and roosters crowing.  While the sun still rises in the East, it does not rise on the bedroom-side of the villa.  About 5:30am, though, everything starts to slowly illuminate.  Beautiful... 

Trying not to wake my beautiful wife,  I slowly crawled out of bed, grabbed some basic lounge clothes, and quietly shut the door.  I fixed a Malibu Rum and orange juice, which is actually very good: part refreshing, part "I'm a bad-ass on a beach vacation." 

I decided to grab the camera and stroll the yard for the first time (we arrived Saturday in the dark).  I snapped pictures of some gorgeous flowers, trees, landscaping, oh, and of a brown frog we shall call "Grumpy."  He was big, blended into the soil, and wasn't very happy to get attention.

After the yard, I decided to swim.  As I jumped in (okay, waded-in) the pool, I reached for the thermometer I saw hiding and it read 80 degrees.  Not bad for a pool in a tropical paradise!  I swam a lap or two and thought better of my shorts - so off they went.  FREEDOM!!!

After a refreshing swim, I washed and dried our dishes from the night before, had another drink, and decided to explore the yard, etc. more.  

Amy awoke a bit later, as I had jumped in the pool again, and we both swam a bit before before making a great breakfast at about noon.  We both did dishes afterwards, walked around the yard, and Amy took a nap on the hammock (jealous!).

  

When she awoke, she swam again, and then decided we should take the "jeep" for a ride.  We only had a couple of daylight hours left, so we casually drove south, taking a random right, then a left, "watch out for the goat," and then another right.  

It turns out that we had made our way down to a part of the island devastated by the volcano, and we actually drove across Belham's Valley where a beautiful golf course used to be.  Now, it's simply a grey abyss, with only tree-tops and roofs to prove something ever used to lay under the ash that now blankets the valley.  And by "blanket," I mean probably 15-20 feet of ash.  

It also holds a great view of the volcano, still smoldering, and a variety of different pieces of evidence of what history remembers. 

When we found home again, we made another nice dinner, took a nice shower - el-fresco, and retired to bed. 

So happy to be here with my Amy Sue! 

DAY ONE - Amy

After a very long and weary day of travel (the 1st of 3 flights began at 6 am), our first full day in beautiful Montserrat was a welcoming and appreciated reprieve.

When we landed at Montserrat's Gerald Airport following an awesome short fight on a 7-seater plane - one of our fellow flyers was "the Guv-nah" of Montserrat! - we were in awe of what we saw.

Green hills, blue skies, and a smoky volcano along the skyline. Our taxi driver, George "the everyday" Christian as dubbed by the locals, drove us up and down, 'round and 'round, pointing out the sights and points of interest. I was almost too tired to enjoy it, but upon arrival to our private villa 'Tan Ry Doon," I couldn't hide my excitement! It was dark by the time we arrived, but the gorgeous plants, trees, and scenery were very much evident. The villa itself was cozy, quaint, and lovely.

We cracked a bottle of red, plugged in the iPod, and made dinner. Afterward, we sat on the balcony with our wine and talked while admiring the stars and listening to the waves crash upon the coast down below. As long as it took us to get there, it was completely worth it.

Before hitting the hay (with cute mosquito netting surrounding us), we danced in the bedroom to Colin Hay's 'Beautiful World.' My, my, my, it’s a beautiful world...

Boy, is it ever... :o)

DAY ONE - Mark

Amy and I are lucky - so lucky! Who really knows what to expect when starting a honeymoon? I knew that we'd be on an exotic island, in the middle of the Caribbean, at a beautiful "villa," and really nothing more. For example, I didn't know what flight schedules were, how we'd get from airport to villa, or what kind of currency we needed to function (Amy Edit: Eastern Caribbean Currency at a $2.7 to $1 U.S. rate exchange).

We arrived at Montserrat via a 7-seat plane that never got above 2,000 feet over the 31-mile flight from Antigua.

Antigua, by the way, was hot and muggy, compared to Montserrat's warm temp but reasonable humidity. We landed at a very short one-runway airport where every worker had more than one job. Our immigration officer also issued my driver's license at opposite ends of the building!

George Christian was waiting with his minivan to give us a ride to the villa. The roads were narrow, usually one-lane wide paved with asphalt that winded up and down the steep hillsides with no hint of modern traffic standards.

Beautiful country, with beautiful villas and very small, almost shack-like businesses, etc. We got some groceries at Ram's (pronounced "Rum's" by the locals) and made it to the villa just after dark. Upon finding the gate, brick walkway and luscious plants/trees/flowers, we finally found the right key to get in. Just an adorable place, with all the "essentials."

Amy and I put groceries away and I unpacked. I'm writing this 24 hours after arriving and Amy still hasn't unpacked the beast of a (Amy Edit: CARRY-ON, thankyouverymuch) suitcase she made me (Another Amy Edit - HA! Made him, my arse!) lug around North America. Funny how that works, huh guys?!

We made a quick dinner and listened to some music, had some wine, and just settled in to the fact that we have no phones, no emails, and no real responsibility. It's an uneasy feeling at first, but definitely one worth waiting for!

We went to sleep under a mosquito net to the wide open windows letting in Mother Nature's orchestra. We can't wait to look around a bit come daylight!