I had been debating for a while whether or not I should go to Puerto Rico with Garrett and the BYU Men’s Soccer team. I HATE beingalone. Let alone, be alone while I know my husband is in a tropical climate. Then I realized that he’d be there over our 2 year anniversary. So, with that, I booked my flight.We left early, early Thursday morning for the airport. I traveled with Lyndsey Cosgrave and Cory’s parents. I was so happy that I didn’t have to travel by myself. It was a LONG day, but we got into PR about 6:00pm. I decided to rent a car since I absolutely hate being dependent on people and being stuck places. It’s a Maughan thing.

The team came in on a different airline and got in about an hour after us. By the time we got the rental car and ended up at the hotel, we were there about the same time. The hotel was… not bad. Lynds and I got to be in the same room as Cory and Garrett.

We quickly realized that boys aren’t the best planners. You have to be VERY flexible. Plans constantly changed. Meals were never on time… if they were even there. Next time, they need to put some girls in charge.

Friday morning the boys had early morning practice. It was great when the

team picked them up on the “bus” which turned up to be a bright blue trolley car. It’s a good thing we got the rental car because there wasn’t room on the bus for family.

We got to spend some time at the beach that day. We had fun playing in the waves and playing football on the beach. That night we went for a luxurious dinner at Denny’s. It took some over 2 hours to get some food.

Saturday the boys had a quick morning practice and then we followed them on the bus across the island to Mayaguez. We stayed in hotel out there, which may have been the shiestiest hotel I’ve ever stayed in. I can’t even explain how it was. We spent forever looking for our room, but didn’t see it when it was literally right next to the front desk. Garrett and I got to go upstairs and have our own room for our anniversary. We both dressed up in our sweats and tried not to touch anything. I took the blanket from the plane and used that. One of the players broke out in a bad rash from that place. Who knows what was creeping around those beds.

The game in Mayaguez was great. They were the biggest of all 3 teams. We won 3-1. I think all 3 goals were from Garrett Losse. The stands were full of members from around the area cheering for BYU. I don’t think the other team had fans there at all. But the stadium was awesome, right next to the beach.

Sunday we went to a local ward with some of the players. Probably half of the team speaks Spanish from their mission. It was fun to see the guys come alive there and pull into missionary mode and talking with the members.

For lunch, we went to the Stake Center and the members prepared lunch for everyone. It was really fun to be there and just relax. That night was probably my favorite. They held a fireside for the members where 6 of them gave short talks. I was actually super excited that my Spanish wasn’t bad. I probably understood 70% of what they said… the players that is. I can’t understand the locals. But it wasn’t bad. When I tried to speak it, usually some mix of Spanish/Russian/English came out. It was fun to see them in a different setting. That night, we drove the 2 hours back to Bayamon.

Monday we took off in the morning with the Cosgraves to Old San Juan. We checked out the old fortresses. Very cool. Nothing I’d want to see again, but it was really interesting. The team met up with us afterwards and Garrett and I were able to have a lunch together on the water… until Lance and Ethan came to join, but it cool to have them join.

Garrett gets really goofy on vacation. He is usually such a hard worker and a really focused back home, but on vacation he lets everything lose. He can’t really focus on anything. He is super spacey.

That night there was a game in Bayamon. They played a local team. They won 8-1. Garrett played the whole second half. But it was POURING rain. But lots of members still showed up to support.

Tuesday was the day off. We went to the beach all day. It was a blast! The team swam out to a sand bar/coral reef. Garrett freaked out when we had to walk through a bunch of seaweed. It was fun, but creepy to have lots of creepy crawlies beneath us. We took a long walk on the beach around the corner to the best waves ever. The weather was perfect. The waves were huge, but not too big that I was scared and beach was perfectly sandy. I loved it. We went home that evening and went to a semi professional soccer game in Bayamon. They gave us great seats. We stopped for some ice cream on the way home.

Wednesday morning the boys had practice, so we took off and went to the rainforest. The rainforest was beautiful. We took about a 20 minute walk into the rainforest to some huge waterfalls. It had just rained, so we weren’t able to get in the water like we had planned. I was surprised how there were no bugs or creepy crawlies. But VERY beautiful, lots of green and it smelled so fresh. I started feeling sick during the day. I came back to the hotel and took a long nap. That night, they had their last game. It was postponed until later that night. There was a little bit of rain. This team was supposed to be the best team they would play, but I’m not sure where the confusion was, but we killed them. 10-0. Garrett had some great playing time and had 4 AMAZING assists. It was a great end to the trip.

That night, after the game we had a late-night talent show. It was SO funny. We along with Cory and Lyndsey did our little stunt where our husbands throw us over their shoulder and we crawl through the legs and up to the front without touching the floor. Sounds complicated. It’s “what married people do in their free time.”

Thursday morning the team took off early. We didn’t leave until 2pm. I was still feeling really sick. We just hung around the hotel until our flight. It was crappy traveling while I was really sick. Especially knowing that I have to go to work the next day.

All in all, great trip. Got a tan. I’m still oddly allergic to the sun. I get a bad rash on the back of my arms. Not sure what’s going on. It happened in Tahiti too. I need to get that fixed.