{"id":6769,"date":"2010-11-23T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-23T17:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jenamato.com\/blog\/?p=6769"},"modified":"2026-10-03T20:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T00:32:13","slug":"bahamas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jenamato.com\/blog\/bahamas\/","title":{"rendered":"Bahamas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our 5 days in the Bahamas was a vacation that will always hold a special place in my heart. Tim and Dana\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Wedding was one to remember that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for sure! There were so many emotions I felt while being there it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to get it all out in words. We are blessed to have such a big group of friends that have all remained so close. Besides Randy and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Wedding, this was the first couple out of our group to get married. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s next. I met Dana back when we were freshman at Dominican and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been close ever since. I met Tim when I was somewhere around 12 years old when he played JPRD baseball with my cousin. Dana and Tim started dating forever ago, just like we did. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great to see how far all of us have come.<\/p>\n

The majority of our trip was spent surrounded by 30+ of our closest friends sipping cocktails, eating, laughing, losing\/winning money in the resort casino, celebrating, reminiscing about old times, soaking up some sun, hearing the sounds of the waves crash, and starring at the beautiful blue waters and swaying palm trees. Paradise is right.<\/p>\n

Our second day, we took van taxi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s over to Atlantis were we rode waterslides, walked the beach, and floated in the lazy river. Which honestly was one of my favorite parts of the trip. There is something about swirling through the bends and curves of the lazy river where you and all your friends link tubes and scream and laugh at every bumpy edge. As we floated we asked each other\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t here doing this, where and what would you be doing right now?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It was a Thursday afternoon; so needless to say, every answer included something work related. My answer was if I weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t here, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be sitting at my desk editing or out on a photo shoot. We all agreed that at that moment in time, there wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anywhere else we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d rather be.<\/p>\n

Whenever I go on vacation, it gives me the time to think about life back at home, how I spend my days, and what is most important. There is nothing like being surrounded by the family, friends and the people you love to make you realize what actually is. There is so much life to be lived and honestly I have days where I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a spinning top and the hours fly by faster than the blink of an eye. Over the past few months, work has seemed to take priority. I love my job and I am so thankful to do what I do, however there are days when I need to re-evaluate some things. Randy always tells me I need a closing time.<\/p>\n

One moment sticks in my mind as I reflect on our vacation. I never wanted to take photos so badly before then I did at this particular time… Right when the ceremony ended, Dana and Tim went off with their photographer so he could get some shots of them. They had just said their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Do\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, the sun was glistening in the background and he was taking their pictures on the beach. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but keep looking over there to see what was going on. Mind you, Randy and I were in the wedding, so I was limited to what shots I could get. (My best friends, perfect setting, awesome lighting, just married\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6) I was like a kid in a candy store that couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eat anything! :-\/ This was the first time I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve experienced this photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s envy or whatever you want to call it. I would never have stepped on the other guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s toes because I surely wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want someone to get in the way when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m doing my job. So I quietly stood back from a distance, sipped my cocktail, listened to the live band play and watched my beautiful friends during such a special moment. I took the time to soak it in and observe. I guess you could say, I mentally took the picture. Which honestly sometimes is just as good.<\/p>\n

Our vacation was too short. Yep it was just too short. We had a great time with our friends making memories. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thankful I was able to capture what I did and write this post to remember a few of the details. I left wondering when the next time we would all be together again for something like this. I hope its soon because we really enjoyed ourselves. I love each one of my friends just a little more now after spending this vacation in the Bahamas. Congratulations to our friends, Dana and Tim! Oh yea, I almost forgot. I turned 26 this past Saturday. It sure was a great way to spend a birthday :)<\/p>\n

Here are some special moments from our trip to The Bahamas\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. (a good bit of these were taken with my point and shoot purse camera so quality isn’t perfect…\u00c2\u00a0 but it really doesn’t matter anyway, now does it?)<\/p>\n