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St Thomas was a refreshing little break from reality. Mike LOVED the water, which makes me really happy because I'm basically a fish. We've never had the chance to swim together and he hasn't been in water in probably over a decade, and I was a bit worried about this trip being so hydro-centric... but no, he took to the ocean just fine! The first day, Katy and I taught him the basics of snorkeling in the pool plus some diving tricks, like how to clear your mask without taking it off. The next morning we were off on a sail to St John, where we spent the day snorkeling in Caneel Bay. We were all a bit apprehensive about Mike jumping off the boat and not being able to reach an edge or touch the bottom, but in the end I could hardly keep up with him! We saw lots of rays, a turtle, a 3' barracuda, and the usual array of fan and brain corals, sponges, parrot and angel fish, yellow-tailed jacks, etc.

The rest of the trip, Mike was in the pool every chance he got and kept up with us as we snorkeled for hours around the coastline. We didn't do any diving, but I think Mike is motivated to get certified so we'll have to go back to do our open-water. It's very hard to complain about after being there again, even if rentals are stressful and repairs constant and consistently over-priced. Gram is always happy to visit with all her friends on the island, and it's been five years since I last went so it was nice to catch up with with the people who made my childhood so special!

We also got a chance to work on invitation wording and write some of the ceremony, plus we bought Mike's wedding band and decided to skip a second band for me and instead bought a lovely tennis bracelet. Would it have been better to use the money we saved but didn't use for ring purchases to pay off some loans? Yes. Do I regret buying something else useless with that money? Maybe, but only a little :-)