Cruise Thoughts

We are back! It sure was a nice vacation. Here are a few more pictures and memories!!

We didn't spend too much on the cruise. Our biggest purchase was internet use. Niel and I sure don't like to be disconnected from the world. We were willing to pay big bucks to stay up to date with the world!!



This was my favorite waitress. She was super great! I told her once that I liked chocolate milk, but they didn't have chocolate milk in the dining area. So, she poured me a glass of milk and added chocolate syrup to it. She made it special for me every night. It completely made my day.

This was our dinner group we sat with each night. The couple on the left were from Germany, and the couple on the right were from Pennsylvania. They were the nicest people!!!


There were 12 levels on the ship. This is me, standing on the 8th floor taking a picture down to floor 4. Our room was on the 3rd floor. Niel I only road the elevator 1 time... just so we could see what it was like. That was our form of exercise throughout the day to burn off all the extra food we ate!

Cozamel

Saturday - Post by Niel

We stopped in Cozumel Mexico today. The boat didn't get there until10:00 or so, so after eating breakfast everybody was anxious to pile off the boat to get into Cozumel. We were looking forward to doing some shopping in the city because we had heard there was some very good deals to be had. Before shopping, however, we had a snorkeling excursion planned. This was one of the easy excursions to get on, the boat was tied right to the pier close to our cruise ship. It was a decent size boat and we probably had 30-40 of our shipmates along with us. It was a beautiful day and we were looking forward to a fun day in the ocean. This trip was much different from any of our other trips, they had free drinks on the boat. We were used to paying $3for a soda. So we enjoyed a Fanta on the boat ride.The boat ride to the snorkeling spot took about an hour, but the time went quickly because we were riding along the coast. Cozumel seems to be full of resorts and we got to admire many of them as we rode by.There looked like some very fun resorts to take the kids too, some of them with beautiful beaches. It is a beautiful place and we would like to come back some time. Amy knows some people who vacation there often and really enjoy it.We finally arrived at our spot and got a brief orientation on snorkeling. We then jumped in the ocean. Amy was such a good sport,the ocean is not her favorite thing and when the dive master started joking about sting rays and sharks it didn't help. But she gamely jumped in the water with everyone else. We were on a very pretty reef and got to swim around looking at the fish and coral. Amy got the chance to see a dolphin up close and I watched a sea turtle for a little while. The guide dove down to the bottom and grabbed on to the turtle and went for a little bit of a ride. It was a fun experience.We then swam out to where the reef drops off and they say the depth of the ocean goes to 3000 feet almost immediately. It was just one big dark hole and you couldn't see much, but it was fun to look down and think of just how deep the ocean is.After about 90 minutes in the water we hopped back in the boat and took off for the city. The beer and tequila were flowing freely now.We sat and enjoyed our free Fanta and watched as the boat got louder and louder and louder. It was very entertaining. By the end these people who started off so quiet were dancing and singing and carrying on.We were nice and sticky from swimming in the ocean, so we ran back to the ship quickly to shower and change and then headed out to the shops. It was a quick taxi ride. The city is very nice, it was clean and the people were friendly. Not nearly as pushy as the folks in Jamaica and much cleaner than what I had seen in Tijuana. The shopping was nothing to get excited about however. We weren't in the market for diamonds or jewelery, or prescription drugs, so that left us t-shirts and trinkets. We were able to find some cool necklaces for the kids and a noise maker for Zander. Other than that we mostly walked around and enjoyed the sites of the city and watched the people and saw some interesting things in the stores.We then caught a taxi ride back to the ship and got ready for dinner.We were the only ones at our dinner table, the day must have worn everyone out. But the menu for dinner was our favorite, I had two appetizers and we both had two desserts. Amy really liked her Strawberry shortcake and my key lime pie was great. After that we walked around for a little while, but after a long day in the sun we were both really tired so we watched the end of Evan Almighty and went to sleep. Cozumel was beautiful, I think my favorite place we stopped. I hope we make it back with the whole family some day.

Grand Cayman

Friday

Today was Grand Cayman day. We had to take a boat ride to the pier to get on the island. The ocean was just to shallow to dock. We had a day planned of jet skiing! Our guide was a British man with a strong accent. He was very laid back….and still hung over from the Thanksgiving festivities the night before. He was entertaining and funny. The jet skiing venture wasn't quite what we expected, but it was really fun. The jet ski's were ones you laid down on, with your stomach against the seat and your backside up to the sun. The reason for this was because you could see through a clear glass at the bottom of the ski, so you could see what was in the ocean. This was a perfect way for me to see the bottom. It meant that I didn't have to physically get in the ocean, plus I got to be next to my strong husband who could protect me from the ocean animals I fear so much.It was a very nice, warm day. We got to feed the fish bread and watch them jump all over the place. We even saw a sea turtle….it was far down on the bottom, but very cool to see. Niel jumped in the water to cool down. It was very clear ocean and extremely beautiful.We headed towards town to see what the Grand Cayman's had to offer us. The American dollar was lower then Cayman Island dollar, so everything was very expensive for us. We went to the Del Sol shop and got a color changing Frisbee and then headed to Margarita Ville for some good old American food. Our hamburgers were delicious, and the music was great. The cruise ship has been playing a lot of latin or big band music, but nothing too modern, so it was nice to hear some stuff we liked. They also had a water slide at the restaurant. Niel went down the slide and we just sat around, watched the kids play and keep tabs on the sports games that were on TV….almost like being at home. I just missed the kids and knew they would have had a great time if they were there with us. We walked the streets for a while.They have a lot of Banks in the Caymans. It seemed more of a rich town, every different from Jamaica.We got back on the ship and ready for dinner. It was another dress up night. Niel looked dashing in his suite! It is fun to get all dressed up for a night. We talked with our German friends at dinner about the economy. Niel was in heaven speaking with Jorgen. He is an economist in Germany. Niel loves that kind of stuff. We went to an extremely entertaining show. It was a comedian cowboy. He was pretty funny. Then they had the love and marriage show. That was pretty funny too. It was time for the chocolate night. It was very fancy.More chocolate then I had ever seen. They even had a gigantic dragon,carved out of chocolate. I was in heaven…more sweets then my stomach could hold ( I never thought I would hear myself say that). We had a nice time though. It was a good day!!

Jamaica Man! - Thanksgiving

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! This Thanksgiving sure wasn't the hometown traditional Thanksgiving. We were in Jamaica Man! Mostly, we were looking forward to getting off the boat. The port was a crazy mess. People were all over the place. We walked through the mess and headed over to the main entrance. The minutes we step out of the port we were summoned over by a Jamaican taxi man. He grabbed us and started walking us down the street. Niel and I weren't sure what we were doing anyway, but our plan was to just take in a few shops right near the port, and then head back to get on our horseback riding excursion. This taxi driver had other plans in store for us. He wanted to take us into town. After much begging on his part, and much unsure confusion on our part, we finally convinced him a drive wasn't in our agenda. I turned to walk back to close shops. He then grabbed Niel by the arm and said "You like you party man?" This was for Niel's ears only. We quickly moved away from him and headed for the shops. We were just about the only cruise people in there….actually the onlyAmericans. The Jamaicans are high pressure sales people. Without fail, at each entrance of a store we would be greeted by one Jamaican who would beg us to come into their store. "T-shirts are 7 for 20 dollar." This is what each Jamaican said. Once in the stores, we were followed around endlessly. They told us everything was on discount. Needless, to say, it was not the greatest experience. We cut our shopping venture short and headed back to the boat to wait for our excursion to begin. We found our sign that read, "Horseback!" A Jamaican man took our tickets and started to walk off. Great! Again, we were unsure as to what was going on. We were both very confused, so we just followed the guy. He walked back and forth for a while, then he glanced over his shoulder and realized we were still there. He then found us a driver and told him to get us on the bus. This older Jamaican bus driver man starting walking with us heading toward the buses. We didn't get to far when he stopped and got in an argument with another bus lady Jamaican bus driver. They were yelling at each other for along time, while Niel and I just stood there trying to figure out what was going on. We did finally make it on the right bus to the horseback riding adventure. The Jamaican people are very poor people. We drove through their town. There was a lot of unfinished, old buildings. The area was very green, but very dirty. We saw many Jamaican children heading to school. They all wore uniforms, but their schools were in very poor condition as well. They went to school in broken down buildings or trailers. There were tiny kids, maybe about 3 years old all dressed up in uniforms too. Our driver told us they start school when they are really young. It was very interesting.The horseback riding trip was very nice. We rode through a tiny little village. Again, the people were super poor. I am not sure what to call the places they lived. They were every worse then shacks. It was crazy to think that is really how other people lived. There were kids playing in the village, and people just hanging around. They all looked really happy. They seemed to like their simple lives. After trotting through the village, we got to ride the horse through the ocean. The horses all followed in a line and we went deep in the water, so the horses heads were barely above water. It was a very neat experience. We headed right back to the port and right to the ship. Jamaica was fun, but not exactly what we were expecting.Once on the ship we decided to try out some of the things we hadn't tried out yet. We both climbed the rock wall and then we went to the bungee trampoline event. Niel and I sat to wait with a bunch of 13 year old girls…haha! I had a blast jumping so high up, doing backwards and front wards flips, I even got two flips in at a time. Niel did it as well. It was probably my most favorite part of the cruise thus far.It was time for Thanksgiving dinner. We headed to the dining room to feast with our great dinner group. The turkey was delicious. It was probably a little more fancy then I was used to, but it was nice. We went the evening show, which was very entertaining. I am not sure if it was the turkey in our stomachs, or the extremely active day, but we were both exhausted. We went back to our rooms and quickly fell asleep.

More Cruising

Wednesday

We were sound asleep, resting up for our big Haiti trip, which included zip lining down the country side, when the captain awoke us with an announcement. The weather was too bad to port…what? I was half awake when he gave the sad news. The weather had been horrible, the boat rocking all night and such. I just couldn't believe we weren't going to port. A day at the beach, in the hot sun was just too much fun to miss out on, not to mention the zip line excursion.That was the one excursion I had begged Niel to sign us up for. I was super disappointed! However, sleeping in again did sound good, so we went back to bed.Another day on the boat wasn't sounding too appealing, but there wasn't really anything we could do about it. The wind was blowing pretty hard, but it was possible to be on deck. When mid-afternoon rolled around, there was an announcement that someone was very ill and they were flying in the coast guard helicopter for some aid and to get the sick passenger off. Everyone was excited about this! Everyone lined the decks to see the big show. Yes, even I was on the deck watching it all…. After all, there wasn't really much else to do. We were later told that one of the kitchen staff members had a mild heart attach. He was only 32 years old! I guess they work their people pretty hard..ha! It sounds like the man is doing well and was able to get the medical attention he needed. I headed up on deck to watch the kids splash in the pool, do a little people watching, and read my book. Niel spent the afternoon playing poker, and searching for me.We did find each other just in time to get dressed for dinner. Our dinner friends are so extremely nice. It really is fun to listen to each other's stories and share our own. It makes me miss home….Especially the kids. They are so nice to just listen us.The evening was much like our others evenings. A show, karaoke, and walking the upper deck under the stars. Tonight, we played a fun game. We had to team up in groups and do wild and crazy things. Niel was wild crazy…. He took off his pants, touched ladies bra's….I even got some pictures! I was of the wholesome group…I did the splits forpoints..haha! It was a great evening!

Cruising part two

Tuesday - Posted by Niel

We had our exciting day at sea today. Sleeping in was a peace of cake,as Amy mentioned, not only was the room dark but with the time zone change it didn't even feel like we had slept too long. Neither of us were very hungry after all the eating the day before, so we decided to go for a morning run. There is a ¼ mile track around the top deck of the boat. Our run turned into an adventure, the boat was heading into a very strong head wind, so combined with the movement of the boat the wind was really whipping. We would turn the corner and head into the wind and feel like we were barely moving, then gusts would come up and we'd feel like we were going to get tossed into the railing. But then we would turn and go the other way and we'd just get blown down the track. Combined with dodging the people walking around it was an exciting run. We then went into the gym for a little while. By that time we were both so hot we decided we would get in the pool and cool off. It felt great to cool down and we had BBQ by the pool and watched people (an endless source of entertainment on a cruise).The afternoon was just a calm relaxing day. I took a bit of a nap and Amy got ice cream and learned more about how to work her camera. As the afternoon wore on the seas got rougher and boat started moving around a lot.. I have a tendency to get sea sick, but it didn't get me too much…Amy had a little bit of an upset stomach, but we seemed to get through it ok. Our table mate at dinner from Germany wasn't so lucky, he said he had not been feeling good all day and didn't have much of an appetite. We had a great conversation with them during dinner though, and they invited us to come to Germany and stay at their place and explore the German countryside. We'll have to see if that trip happens, but it sounds fun.It was formal night so we got all decked out and had a great time walking around in our fancy clothes. We got our picture taken several times, enjoyed dinner (I had two deserts because I couldn't decide).We went to a Broadway revue show and had to sit in different spots because it was so full. I wasn't sure I wanted to let Amy sit next to anyone else looking as fantastic as she did. The show wasn't bad,after that we enjoyed some more karaoke (many of the same singers) and romantic dancing at the Viking lounge. The dancing was the highlight of the day, we enjoyed the chance to dance close and smile about our fun vacation. We then went to bed a little earlier than we would have to prepare for our exciting day in Haiti.

Post from Amy
Niel also won a good amount playing poker today. Enough to get him into the poker tournament, and enough for me to shop with!!! I got to spend the afternoon climb the rock wall!!! Super fun times!!

The start of our cruise...don't get jealous!!!

Sunday
Niel and I set the air sails this morning. We spent the day in the blue sky and in the St. Louis airport. The whole day went really smoothly and quickly, which is surprising. I had been dreading the long traveling day. The day started off just perfectly when Niel was able to get in touch with our kind neighbor, Sister Greenburg. She was willing to take our primary class full of nine, 5 year old boys. Niel had been calling with desperate attempts to find someonefor the next two Sundays. She volunteered to substitute the next two weeks. What a lifesaver!! Brooke, Rick and Brynlee met us at our door. Rick and Bryn were leaving on a jet plane about the same time we were to visit Grandma Jolene in California. Brooke drove all ofus. They entertained us on the drive up. Brynlee sang "Kiss" fromPrince, with help from her dad. It was a nice way to start the day! I had the silly song stuck in my head the next 8 hours of traveling....ha! The airport was pretty empty considering the fact itwas the weekend right before Thanksgiving. All of our flights were full though. Niel got sandwiched on our first flight. He sat in the middle of me and an extremely wide older man. He spent the entire 3 and a half hour flight squashed. How could I complain though, it meant he was squashing next to me!! We stepped off the plane into Ft Lauderdale with much enthusiasm. The air smelled muggy and musty, we could feel the humidity, yeah! We had made it! Our tummies were rumbling for some good, non-peanut, non-cracker airport food. Once we got checked into the hotel, we hit the road on foot to find some place opened late on a Sunday night. We walked around for quite a while, but most things were closed. Finally, we found a nice little family owned Italian spot, Angelino's.They served us with a smile, and went overboard in making sure we left happy customers, which we did. Yum! It hit the spot. We slept well! The bed was very hard, but we were so tired, I don't think it really mattered. Sitting all day traveling somehow makes us so tired...go figure. The boat didn't leave until afternoon time, so we have plenty of time to walk around. I think we were both anxious to get on the ship, so the few hours of wandering seemed like a very long time. We hit Denny's, a little disappointed with the service after such a wonderful eating experience the night prior. Finally, it was time to enter the ship. We were both extremely nervous and anxious when we arrived at the port. After our last experience in Port Los Angeles, we were both barely breathing for fear we wouldn't get on the ship for some reason or another. With passports and papers in hand, we held our breath. Things went very smoothly! Within minutes we were on the lovely ship, 'Enchantment of the Seas!' The ship is very elegant, a little older, but full of beauty, fun, and lots of kids, couples, and older people. We wereboth surprised at the diversity. Thus far, it's been a great trip! On the ship they have a little of everything. Plenty of places to eat! A nice little track around onthe top of the ship! A few swimming pools and hot tubs! A casino to throw our money away at!! A good size gym to work our overeating off! A karaoke stage!! Our little room has a nice sized bed. Our eating table has good people. A 4 year married couple from Pennsylvania and a 40 year married couple from Germany. They seem like very nice people. I am sure dinner will be entertaining. We sang the night away at karaoke. We haven't sang yet, but hopefully we get the courage up before the end of the cruise. We danced a little to some latin music. We aren't the best latin dancers, but that was the only music playing and we wanted to dance, so we made the best ofit! Most everyone was in bed early, so we took the opportunity to have our own hot tub on the top of the ship. The night sky was very romantic. We would have enjoyed it longer, but we got booted out after only about 5 minutes...dang it! We got dressed in our sweats and headed up for a midnight snack. The boat is quiet at night. It was nice though, to feel like we might be the only people on the big boat! We watched a bunch of young people play in upper desk swimming area,will we munched on some hot dogs, pizza and French fries. We are eating so healthy on this trip...haha!!!Sleeping in until 10:30 was easy since our room is pitch dark with no windows. It is easy to lose track of time. We are just sailing today, and relaxing. Niel is excited to relax, relaxing isn't something I am sure I know how to do, but I am sure I will figure itout!!! We are enjoying ourselves!!! Niel hasn't gotten sick yet!!

30 Random Things about Me!

I am a copy cat! I have learned a lot from reading those who took the challenge, so I thought I would make my attempts at this..... enjoy!

1~ I do not like lettuce. The texture doesn't feel right on my tongue - plus, it just tastes like water.

2~ I love to dress up. I am a girly girl and find it exciting to wear lovely dresses, high-heel shoes, pretty earings, make-up and have my hair all done up nice.

3~ I went a whole year without eating a candy bar when I was 17, as a bet. Since then, I don't find much satisfaction in eating them... only on occasion.

4~ I have never cooked Thanksgiving dinner. I don't know how to cook at turkey. I am a little apprehensive about having to do it my first time.

5~ I don't own a pair of flip-flops. I just threw away the only pair I ever owned and I used those ones to go fishing.

6~ My natural hair color is red.

7~ I used to laugh at my mom because she would listen to FM 100 (a calm music station). Now, I find myself listening to that same station on a regular basis!

8~ I like to play blackjack. I get too stressed when I play poker. And, I would like to learn how to play craps better.

9~ Karaoke is one of my favorite things to do, however I am not a good singer.... but I don't care if people like it or not. It is fun! Especially if my dad is around.

10~ I love my job! I work at a software company doing sales.

11~ I have the most amazing husband! I used to think that "soul mate" was just silly.... until he came into my life.

12~ I used to play the oboe and flute.

13~ I can snowboard and ski.

14~ I am preparing to run a 1/2 marathon... wish me luck!

15~ My sisters are my best friends. I have 2 of them!

16~ I thought being a mom was pretty easy until Zander came along! He is our greatest joy and greatest frustration.

17~ I am afraid of sharks. So afraid that even putting my toe in the oceans brings me anxiety.

18~ I can't stand to watch golf on TV!!! Really... it is the slowest, most un-entertaining things to watch someone hit a tiny little ball in a tiny little hole.

19~ I do think Tiger Woods is a very handsome man!!! :)

20~ Drinking two cans of soda pop seems to make me sick.

21~ I have 4 boys!!! They are my entire life! I get to go to football games, basketball games, baseball games, scouts. And every once and a while they will go shopping with me.

22~ I get chills when I see rats, mice, snakes, and gerbils. My boys don't like it that I won't let them have any of these creatures as a pet.

23~ I believe you are never too old to go trick- or -treating. I went this year and plan to go as long as I can walk.

24~ I like to write poetry. But I don't like people to read it.

25~ I have an awesome step daughter who will do girl things with me, not because she wants to, but because she knows I really like it.

26~ I was pretty shy as a kid. It wasn't until I was out in the singles world, after my divorce, I became a lot more outgoing.

27~ I have a very hard time admitting I am wrong.

28~ If I find the right pair of jeans.... no amount of money is too much!

29~ I used to teach piano lessons. I started when I was 16 and taught all the way until I was 23. I didn't play for many years after that and have lost a lot of my talent. However, we just got a new piano so practicing the piano is a new item I have on my "things to do list"

30~ I get to go on my very first cruise with my very sexy husband. We leave this Sunday!!

Happy Birthday Jayden

It is crazy to think today we would be celebrating Jayden's 9th birthday. My, how life has changed during these 9 years. I actually had a dream about her a few nights ago, which hasn't happened for a very long time. I dreamt I was holding her out in front of me bouncing her up and down and then throwing her in the air. She would hold her breath when I would toss her up, and then giggle when I caught her in my arms. She was still a baby... just like she was the last time I saw her. It was a good dream. Nice to see her again! I have missed her so much.

It is strange how time eases the hurt of her loss. Something I am grateful for, but sometimes I feel guilty that I can't remember her much anymore. She has been on my mind a lot lately. My dad is in the process of gathering information for a new book he is writing. The book will have many events of the day she died. In the process of gathering up this information, he has asked several people for information about her who were in our lives at that time. Many people have expressed their feelings of that week. I have found this quiet interesting and comforting. Many people were feeling a lot of the same feelings I was feeling. My family has been blessed by having such amazing people in our lives. Thank you all for being a great support through my life, and the life of my family!



Today, I want to celebrate her life, and the impact she made on me the short time I was able to be with her. Conner was only 15 months old when she was born. Jayden loved her big brother. Conner loved to blow on her tummy.... and she would kick her little legs and wiggle her arms with excitement when he would do that to her. She thought it was so funny. Jayden liked to be held with her back against your stomach so she could be facing outward. She loved to see what the world was like. I often wonder if she knew her time on earth would be short, so she wanted to take in as much as she could. She didn't have much hair, but the little she had was red, with a little puggy nose. She was so beautiful. I used to call her, my Jaydee baby. She had a cute little giggle. She blessed our lives in the short time she was with us. She taught me patience and to remember how short life can be. To cherish those little moments, for it is those little moments that mean the most.

Some Fall Fun!

What's for dinner?

...nothing! It was getting late and time to make dinner. I am the kind of person who usually doesn't plan out our family meals. I just kind of go with whatever is available. I opened the pantry for some quick dinner ideas. There was plenty of food, or should I say junk food. We had spaghetti noodles, but no sauce. We had rice, or so I thought, but nothing to put on top of it. We had Hamburger Helper, but no Hamburger. We had Potatoes, but no un-thawed meat. I guess this was a moment I wished I had thought ahead. What makes this even more pathetic was the fact I had been to the store 2 times earlier that day. Once to pick up bread, and a second time to buy a fan. Man, I sure waste my time by not planning ahead.

I decided to call Niel and see if he could go to the store yet another time and pick up some Beef Stew to smoother over rice. That seemed like the easiest and quickest meal for the night. He gladly ran to the store on his way home from work and dropped it off at the house before heading down to the school to vote. I was going to cook dinner and have it all ready for us all to eat when he got back. We had the perfect meal... rice with stew. I put some water on the stove to boil and grabbed another pan to start cooking the Nalley's Beef stew. But, when I went to the cupboard for the rice, wouldn't you know it .... the box was empty.

I think we should have just gone out to dinner!

Plan to be Surprised!

It was date night last night! I love going out on the town with my amazing sexy husband. It is a rarity these days that we go to a dinner and movie, but last night we faced the movie and dinner crowds and really enjoyed ourselves. We went to for mexican (which made Niel sick), and then saw Dan in Real Life. I am not sure if I am an inexperienced movie movie critic, but I REALLY loved watching Steve Carell in film. It was funny, romantic, dramatic and a little bit of real life. Even though Niel had an upset stomach, he laughed the entire movie. We would highly recommend it!