Happily Ever After Archives - Dreaming of Deltas

Who else wishes they were looking at this ...

Who else wishes they were looking at this beautiful view right now? It can't just be me. 🏝⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This is exactly how it looked in real life at @intercontinentalhaymanisland - we felt like we were living in a postcard! 🌊

<img src="https://www.dreamingofdeltas.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png" alt="Who else wishes they were looking at this beautiful view right now? It can't just be me. 🏝⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is exactly how it looked in real life at @intercontinentalhaymanisland - we felt like we were living in a postcard! 🌊">

Love the photo of my hair all crazy and floofy way...

Love the photo of my hair all crazy and floofy way more than the second (semi more normal looking one.) 😂I have a number of photos and reels coming to you soon from our honeymoon to Australia in November of 2019, specifically our last 6 days at Hayman Island.Our trip started in Sydney, Australia...then went spent a few days in Ayers Rock (the outback)...and finally ended the last part of the trip on the beautiful Hayman Island in the Whitsundays.On the luxury launch transfer to get from the Great Barrier Reef airport, Hamilton Island, we were given complimentary sparkling wine from the lovely Rita. We had an absolute blast on the one hour transfer and met some cool peeps who moved from the states to Australia, @sutterkristin and @sroufelikeloaf, as well as their cousin, @katieboges5, who currently lives in Cincinnati...not far from Columbus! Talk about a small world!!Rita kept the wine flowing to give us a true welcome to Hayman Island. 😂🥂If you ever get a chance to go to the Whitsundays....DO IT. Queensland is gorgeous. We are definitely making a return trip someday!

<img src="https://www.dreamingofdeltas.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png" alt="Love the photo of my hair all crazy and floofy way more than the second (semi more normal looking one.) 😂I have a number of photos and reels coming to you soon from our honeymoon to Australia in November of 2019, specifically our last 6 days at Hayman Island.Our trip started in Sydney, Australia...then went spent a few days in Ayers Rock (the outback)...and finally ended the last part of the trip on the beautiful Hayman Island in the Whitsundays.On the luxury launch transfer to get from the Great Barrier Reef airport, Hamilton Island, we were given complimentary sparkling wine from the lovely Rita. We had an absolute blast on the one hour transfer and met some cool peeps who moved from the states to Australia, @sutterkristin and @sroufelikeloaf, as well as their cousin, @katieboges5, who currently lives in Cincinnati...not far from Columbus! Talk about a small world!!Rita kept the wine flowing to give us a true welcome to Hayman Island. 😂🥂If you ever get a chance to go to the Whitsundays....DO IT. Queensland is gorgeous. We are definitely making a return trip someday!">

Have you ever seen such blue water? ...

Have you ever seen such blue water? 💙🌊⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This photo was taken in Barbados during one of my cruises. I was so amazed at *just* how light blue and clear the water was!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What country or location has the prettiest waters you've ever seen?

<img src="https://www.dreamingofdeltas.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png" alt="Have you ever seen such blue water? 💙🌊⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This photo was taken in Barbados during one of my cruises. I was so amazed at *just* how light blue and clear the water was!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What country or location has the prettiest waters you've ever seen?">

Have you ever been snuba diving? Snuba is a mix of...

Have you ever been snuba diving? Snuba is a mix of snorkeling and scuba diving and a great way to get a bit deeper underwater than when snorkeling. 🤿The instructor will go over basics of using a regulator to breathe, strap a weight belt to you so that you aren't too buoyant, and will also cover important safety tips. After this debriefing, you will head to the water and the instructor will have a raft with air tanks on it. The tanks connect to your tube that connects to the regulator...so you will be able to dive up to 30 feet. The experience is about 20 minutes and available at a number of the islands that cruise ships dock at in the Caribbean. 🚢We went Snuba diving in St. Lucia and St. Maarten...and it made our intro to diving course in Australia (will be posting about that soon) much easier since we already felt comfortable breathing underwater.Definitely check it out as an option if you are nervous to try scuba diving! It is a great middle ground and you still can see all kinds of amazing sea creatures! 🐢🐟🦈🐠🐡--On this particular trip in St. Maarten, right after our snuba adventure, our boat broke down to take us back to the cruise ship! The instructors were a bit nervous since our @royalcaribbean cruise ship was about to leave the port in under 30 minutes. We booked the excursion through RC, so we knew that they guarantee not to leave without you if something like this happens...and we were just hoping that really held true at this point. 😂After they tried to restart the engine a few times, they called for backup and we ended up getting towed back to shore. Everyone (us included) from the excursion then started to book it when we heard the cruise ship starting to "honk" signaling it was getting ready to leave the port.
Thankfully, we all made it and now have a pretty funny story to share! Last few photos are from that part of the "adventure." 😅🚤🤿

I always love the wake. 🌊🚢
...

I always love the wake. 🌊🚢
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There is something so cathartic about standing at the back of the boat and just watching the waves as the boat passes through.Typically you can find this view on one of the lower decks and most cruise passengers do not hang around the back of the boat.Having a little nugget of bliss like this to enjoy yourself is *chef's kiss* (Did I do that right, gen z'ers?? 😂)-Are you a cruising fan? Some people are just not about that boat life because you are really floating in the middle of the water for an extended length of time. Nick and I prefer to look at it as a way to wake up on a new island...almost every day and @royalcaribbean has been our go to cruise line, as every experience has been amazing with them!

Crashing into a new photo series ...

Crashing into a new photo series like...🌊🌊🌊All of my travel lovers out there, I'm alongside you counting down the months until we can travel safely again. This is the longest we have gone without traveling and we miss it something fierce! Our last trip was our 2.5 week honeymoon in Australia at end of 2019!So, in the meantime, I am going to keep the blue vibes going by sharing some memories of my favorite pre-pandemic trips! I hope you enjoy them as much as I love reminiscing.
---This photo was taken in Barbados during a Royal Caribbean cruise. The waves were so fun to jump in and I was able to snag some pretty cool shots right before they crashed down. The moments leading up to the crashing were quite intriguing in that they felt pretty serene...but you knew that there would be a different feel in a mere moment's time.Do you go play in the ocean or are you cool simply dipping your toes in the water? I'm (clearly) team play in the water. 🤣

Well, we got our results and Avery is negative for...

Well, we got our results and Avery is negative for everything!Very thankful that he is okay - we could go the route of more tests at a specialist vet to rule out cancer or nasal polyps but our vet feels he is totally healthy otherwise (his labs are all good, as well) and this just may be his new normal.We don't want to put him through anything more at this point since other than the daily sneezes, he is happy as a lark. We just have to ensure it doesn't start to get bacterial in nature (in February, he had a good bit of congestion and conjunctivitis) - and if so, do a round of antibiotics here and there.Given when he was a little tyke, an old vet in PA said he had allergies...we are hoping maybe that could just be it after all.Nevertheless, we thank all of our fur-riends for the good vibes and positivity these past few months while we navigated this! 😸💙

One of my favorite stores to shop at is @kohls. ...

One of my favorite stores to shop at is @kohls. They have the cutest clothes, decor, and homegoods! 🥰I found both table signs and the @koolaburra waste basket there when I was looking at items to decorate our renovated room!Do you have a go to store where you can buy pretty much everything you need?💙 Find this same cover photo in my feed/reels to watch the before and after of this room renovation! 💙

- Happily Ever After
- Lifestyle
Repurposing A Wedding Dress By Dyeing It
December 28, 2020
Maybe you are thinking about dyeing it for the big day to show off your personal style…or perhaps you’re like me: You can’t fathom the thought that you won’t get to wear your uber-expensive dress again and don’t want to put it in a box to “maybe” put on some day just for funsies or…
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Kate Spade wedding shoes & Nina block heel
April 5, 2020
Kate Spade bridal shoes are a must for any bride who doesn’t want to prioritize style over comfort. Get the best of both worlds with Kate Spade’s glitter shoes and Nina’s Elenora Block heels.
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- Happily Ever After
- Lifestyle
A Wedding Ceremony For My Grandma
December 9, 2019
Grandmas are definitely special. This post is about making one of my gram’s dreams a reality. When I was a little girl, I would spend every weekend with my grandma. We would go on walks up to town, to the convenience store, and to the local festivals. We would play games, and of course…she always…
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Cheers Chalet – A Phenomenal Venue in Columbus, OH
November 6, 2019
When we went searching for venues here in Columbus last year, we were looking for the perfect spot to get married. I wanted to be near a lake or pond and Nick had one main ask: The venue had to have air conditioning, just in case it was a ridiculously hot day. We both knew…
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The Flowerman Review: DIY Wedding Flowers in Columbus, OH
October 24, 2019
When Nick and I started our wedding planning, we decided we were going to do centerpieces without flowers. So that meant all we just needed bouquets for me and the gals, boutonnieres for the guys, and a few corsages. As we were paying for our wedding ourselves, affordability was a high priority. There are so…
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Looking for a Columbus Wedding Makeup Artist? Look no further.
September 29, 2019
I first found Nikki after doing extensive searches on Google, WeddingWire, and TheKnot. I found quite a few makeup artists that I thought I would be safe going with but some of the prices were OUTRAGEOUS. I’m talking $200+ for wedding day makeup. And many charged an extra price to travel.
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The Wedding Experience: A Columbus Wedding Show
April 2, 2019
Throughout this whole wedding planning process, I have been a bit skeptical about wedding shows. I didn’t really think going to one would be very helpful. However, we figured we would give one a go and I am so glad we did!
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Save The Dates: For The Budget Conscious Bride
February 24, 2019
Look no further for quality Save The Dates that are cost effective! This post will show you where to find Save The Dates that fit your style and budget!
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Proposal in the Swiss Alps
January 28, 2019
During our 2 week trip to France and Switzerland, we had certain stops planned out while others we decided on the fly. One of the planned stops was in Murren. I wrote about Murren a little bit in The Beauty of Switzerland but I was feeling sick on our first attempt up the mountain so…
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Updating the caption with the appointment results ...

Updating the caption with the appointment results for Avery's specialist visit due to his chronic sneezing. He had been sneezing since January despite many different treatments and tests. Medvet were able to get him in a month early due to a cancellation, thankfully!The specialist got everything from our vet and the allergy panel had actually came back already actually. He was all negative for allergies.He answered my many, many different questions (those of you who know me know that "thorough" should be my middle name! 😹) And at the end of the day, after examining him and looking through his history, he thinks it may be an immune mediated disease, chronic inflammatory rhinitis.He is not convinced that it isn't the herpes virus...and that even though the PCR showed negative for herpes, if the virus was in an "inactive" state it will show negative even if the kitty has it, as it is a self limiting disease.He said an easy thing to try would be an anti-inflammatory or steroid to see if that helps.Diagnostically, it is tough as the nose is hard to work up. He said from here, not much that they can do without anesthesia...and we would be looking at a CT scan, an oral exam under anesthesia to look in back in throat for polyps, strictures, etc, and/or a rhinoscopy to take biopsies.For now, we are going to opt to try the steroid Prednisolone (similar to Prednisone) to start. Fingers crossed for our little buddy! So good vibes are still appreciated! ❤❤❤

These poolside rooms looked absolutely amazing! ...

These poolside rooms looked absolutely amazing! Can you imagine just being able to open your doors and immediately be poolside? 😍⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Our room wasn't quite this fancy but we still had an amazing balcony with a pretty sweet view! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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[There are still some more amazing shots coming from my Queensland photo series, don't you worry. 😉]

While in the @queensland, Nick and I went scuba ...

While in the @queensland, Nick and I went scuba diving for the first time ever! What better way to introduce ourselves than to do so in the Great Barrier Reef?!I was actually super nervous but with previous Snuba experience, I felt confident at least that I could breathe with the regulator under water. (Yes, snuba with an "n") - see the underwater shot post about to learn more about Snuba!So we went on a half day excursion, ironically with our new friends we met on the luxury launch, and scuba diving, we went!The photos after the first were taken while we snorkeled since we were the second group that went diving (they limited the number of introductory divers to roughly 3 per group, for safety reasons.) We were not allowed to take our camera during the diving portion - and I really wouldn't have wanted to either since I was focused on...well, not dying. 😂When it was time to dive our instructor Taylor, was so kind and helpful for us newbies. Especially as I started to panic a little bit when I couldn't quite get the air button correct...so was going deeper then I wanted to then I'd press the button too much and shoot back up. She was so patient even though she was a pro.Overall, we saw some pretty cool fish and sea creatures, as well as the beautiful barrier reef! Diving is something we will definitely do again someday!Have you ever been scuba diving? If so, where is your favorite place to dive??

Caribbean blue waters - making me crave another ...

Caribbean blue waters - making me crave another cruise! I took this shot in Aruba while heading to a snorkeling location. I got burnt so badly that day...but that's okay because the water was absolutely gorgeous and the sand was so white and soft between my toes at Eagle Beach. 🏖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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We only were there for a day during our Southern Caribbean cruise but we definitely want to head back to Aruba someday - as this island is so stunning! 🏝

Take me back to the infinity pool overlooking the ...

Take me back to the infinity pool overlooking the ocean! 🌊🏝It is 74° in Ohio today but I'm still wishing I could be poolside in the hot hot heat. ☀️

When you have the whole infinity pool to yourself....

When you have the whole infinity pool to yourself. 😍⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Australia was the only place we ever visited where the time zone was PERFECT for my sleep phase disorder, as they are roughly 16 hours ahead of our time zone! We joked that we may just have to move there (we actually looked up how difficult it is to move there and found out it is insanely tough to move to Australia as a US citizen without work sponsorship - sad pac man noise.) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Nevertheless, we were able to get up really early each morning to snag a cabana right at the edge of the infinity pool and have some max relaxation all day long! It was the perfect honeymoon. 🥰🏝

Who else wishes they were looking at this ...

Who else wishes they were looking at this beautiful view right now? It can't just be me. 🏝⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This is exactly how it looked in real life at @intercontinentalhaymanisland - we felt like we were living in a postcard! 🌊

<img src="https://www.dreamingofdeltas.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png" alt="Who else wishes they were looking at this beautiful view right now? It can't just be me. 🏝⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is exactly how it looked in real life at @intercontinentalhaymanisland - we felt like we were living in a postcard! 🌊">

Love the photo of my hair all crazy and floofy way...

Love the photo of my hair all crazy and floofy way more than the second (semi more normal looking one.) 😂I have a number of photos and reels coming to you soon from our honeymoon to Australia in November of 2019, specifically our last 6 days at Hayman Island.Our trip started in Sydney, Australia...then went spent a few days in Ayers Rock (the outback)...and finally ended the last part of the trip on the beautiful Hayman Island in the Whitsundays.On the luxury launch transfer to get from the Great Barrier Reef airport, Hamilton Island, we were given complimentary sparkling wine from the lovely Rita. We had an absolute blast on the one hour transfer and met some cool peeps who moved from the states to Australia, @sutterkristin and @sroufelikeloaf, as well as their cousin, @katieboges5, who currently lives in Cincinnati...not far from Columbus! Talk about a small world!!Rita kept the wine flowing to give us a true welcome to Hayman Island. 😂🥂If you ever get a chance to go to the Whitsundays....DO IT. Queensland is gorgeous. We are definitely making a return trip someday!

<img src="https://www.dreamingofdeltas.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png" alt="Love the photo of my hair all crazy and floofy way more than the second (semi more normal looking one.) 😂I have a number of photos and reels coming to you soon from our honeymoon to Australia in November of 2019, specifically our last 6 days at Hayman Island.Our trip started in Sydney, Australia...then went spent a few days in Ayers Rock (the outback)...and finally ended the last part of the trip on the beautiful Hayman Island in the Whitsundays.On the luxury launch transfer to get from the Great Barrier Reef airport, Hamilton Island, we were given complimentary sparkling wine from the lovely Rita. We had an absolute blast on the one hour transfer and met some cool peeps who moved from the states to Australia, @sutterkristin and @sroufelikeloaf, as well as their cousin, @katieboges5, who currently lives in Cincinnati...not far from Columbus! Talk about a small world!!Rita kept the wine flowing to give us a true welcome to Hayman Island. 😂🥂If you ever get a chance to go to the Whitsundays....DO IT. Queensland is gorgeous. We are definitely making a return trip someday!">

Have you ever seen such blue water? ...

Have you ever seen such blue water? 💙🌊⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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This photo was taken in Barbados during one of my cruises. I was so amazed at *just* how light blue and clear the water was!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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What country or location has the prettiest waters you've ever seen?

<img src="https://www.dreamingofdeltas.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png" alt="Have you ever seen such blue water? 💙🌊⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This photo was taken in Barbados during one of my cruises. I was so amazed at *just* how light blue and clear the water was!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ What country or location has the prettiest waters you've ever seen?">

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