I’ll only admit this to you. I’m spoiled.

I’ve fought this term my whole life. Although I have siblings gifted to me from my dad and stepdad, I am my mother’s only child. I’ll tell you I was privileged, blessed, gifted for being an amazing child, but I would NEVER admit to being spoiled.

My mother and I are very close. We spoil each other (her more so than me). I took her on a cruise for Mother’s Day and she took me to a resort in Punta Cana for my 30th birthday.

It was amazing.

And I don’t mean amazing like everything was perfect. It was an experience that I never had that I can now keep in my memory book.

My review of the resort is live on Trip Advisor, so I won’t rehash that. I have three highlights that I’ll share with you all.

Hoya Azul

My friend, Jazze, mentioned this landmark the moment we decided on a location last year. As soon as I looked up the pictures, I knew it was some place we had to go.

We booked this excursion on the resort. it came with a small tour. They called it a zoo, but it was only a few monkey cages and bird cages in the front of the park. The tour itself was nice, but I wasn’t all the way prepared to walk through trees and other plants. I am deathly scared of spiders, so between trying not to fall and looking out for them, I didn’t have too much time to enjoy the view.

But it was beautiful. There’s this really high bridge we have to cross, and this was the first day the sun was really out. (pictured below). It was beyond beautiful. Looking at things like this just make me so grateful for God. His masterpieces are all around us and being able to explore one in another country was amazing.

When we got to the actual blue hole, we were able to swim and chill there for about an hour. I knew I wanted to go in, but my intentions were to stay in the shallow part and hold on to the stairs. The more comfortable I got in the water (and with the floating device), I actually ventured out into the middle of the blue hole. It was a small fear that I overcame, but it meant a lot to me. It’s a funny thing how the fear of regret can make you overcome the fear of actually doing something.

There was no way I was going home without really experiencing Hoya Azul….I did pass on holding the snake though!

Last morning on the beach

Astrologists didn’t lie when they put Aquarius and water together. I had intended to catch a sunrise on the beach the whole trip, but I didn’t make it. The last day we were there, I was determined to at least get some me time. I grabbed my notebook and Unqualified by Steven Furtick (my review is up), and headed to the beach.

Although I missed sunrise, it was still pretty early so there weren’t many people there. I read a chapter of the book, wrote a prayer/love letter to God and prayed. Relaxing there with the waves crashing was very calming. It was one of the highlights of my trip. I can’t really explain it, but I hope that makes sense.

My DR crew

I went to DR with my mom, my bestie, Brandi; my close friend Jazze, and her best friend Cecil. This is probably one of the only times I’ve been out of town with a group of people without any arguments, disagreements or uncomfortable moments. We had a good time together, even when we were disappointed by things on the resort, we made jokes about it and kept it moving. This definitely helps on a trip to an unfamiliar place. These four made my birthday trip amazing and I am grateful for that.

PS. Dominican men love some thick women…that was fun.

Here are some photos from the trip.

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Where was the last place you’ve taken a group trip to? Can’t remember, plan one! Where do you want to go? My next one is going to be a girls’ trip. I’m excited!