Cruise 2009

Cruise 2009 - photo slideshow

Cruise

We returned from our cruise late last night, and are still feeling as though we are moving—swaying—in constant motion. YUCK! I wish I could write a positive posting about our trip, but it was not the greatest. There were a lot of things going on that didn't make it the most enjoyable vacation. We had a red eye on Thursday morning, which I never do good on. My stomach was acting up, per usual, and I was exhausted. We got into Florida early Thursday and had to wait at the airport for three hours before we took the shuttle to the boat. The boat was pretty cool to see, it being our first experience. The weather was also really nice. After getting checked in we ate lunch on the boat and then checked into our room, which we were surprised about (it was really nice). That night we had a good dinner—ribs (our favorite)—and then we went to a super cheesy welcoming show. We were so exhausted we turned in early and slept in late the following morning. That was seriously the best part of the vacation for me—sleeping in— it was nice to catch up on some much needed rest. Friday we got into Freeport around noon and we ventured onto the island, walked around the shops, ate lunch, and laid out at the beach. Freeport was pretty lame, not much to see and do, but we did enjoy swimming in the warm, beautiful water. Friday was hard due to a "couples miscommunication breakdown," and us loosing our camera with all of our first pictures on it. I was really upset about the day. For some reason this month has been the hardest month of our marriage to date; things keep adding up time and again, it feels as though it is never ending. We tried making the best of things and after getting past the the communication breakdown we got dressed for our elegant night and had a yummy lobster dinner. We went to Karoke that night which was a blast, and then we stayed for half of a comedy show (till it got crude). Saturday was probably our best day on the cruise. We got into our final port—Naussau—and were able to rent scooters and tour around the island. Mike and I enjoyed going into the parts of town that weren't consumed by the tourists, and seeing how people actually lived on the island. We also enjoyed the Atlantis Hotel, the beach, and of course the water was gorgeous. After spending all afternoon riding around on scooters (at one point it dumped on us which was so fun riding around in the rain, what an adventure), shopping, and swimming in the ocean, we returned to the boat to get ready for dinner. It was such a fun night, we got dressed up with everyone in our halloween costumes. Mike and I were Reno 911 (Sergeant Dangles at your service). Mike was seriously a celebrity on the ship. So many people kept coming up asking if they could take their picture with us because their spouse loved the show. It was so hilarious; I honestly didn't think that many people would recognize who we were, but I guess there are a lot of Reno 911 fans out there. I have to give props to my babe— Mike was such a good sport wearing his short shorts :). Some how we managed to get into the halloween contest and we actually won :). I was surprised because there were so many good costumes, but Mike and I put on a good show and everyone cheered for Reno 911! :) We won a 10lb bag of candy and a cheesy gold carnival award. We danced the night away and participated in some fun games before turning in for the night. Oh, and I forgot to mention, we had a show by the waiting staff, at dinner, and one of the guys invited me up to dance balliwood, it was hilarious; it was so much fun. What can I say, I'm a freak when it comes to dancing :). Again, probably the funniest thing we did on the cruise.

Sunday was a lazy day, mainly spent relaxing and soaking up some last rays before heading back to Florida. Mike and I had a really interesting experience our last night, one where we were able to learn to stand up for our morals and decide to make better decisions in the future. We attended a really bad comedy show, one I knew we shouldn't have stayed for, but we did, and it started to get really bad and uncomfortable and Mike, the wonderful priesthood holder he is, stood up, and led the way out of the show. The comedian got kind of offended by us doing this and started saying some things about us and got people in the audience riled up about us leaving, but we held our heads high and took a stand. Lesson learned: it wasn't good etiquette to leave in the middle of his show, and it was our fault for staying when we knew we shouldn't have, but we also learned that even when it is uncomfortable or awkward you take a stand for things you believe in, not caring what other people around you think, say, or feel.

So, all in all, with being sick prior to going, getting sick while on the ship, and getting even more sick getting off the ship, I would probably never choose to go on a cruise; it really wasn't for me. I think if things were going better for Mike and I, had it not been such a crazy month to begin with, had I been more emotionally stable, and not so physically ill, we might have had a better time. BUT the positives won't be forgotten: we got to get out of the cold Utah weather, we got to get out of Utah in general (yeah for Amanda :), we got to see a few cool places, and we got to meet some really cool people on the cruise.

OUR WEEKEND

After getting ahead on all my homework, Mike and I were actually able to spend some time together this past weekend. Saturday morning we decided to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather and go for a hike up to Timpanogus Cave (literally in our back yard). It was so much fun! We love being in each others company; seriously Mike is my best friend—I love doing anything and everything with him. The fall leaves were gorgeous, the weather was sunny, nice and cool—it was perfect. The only accident, up the long treacherous climb, was our camera dropped and got pretty banged up. Other than that, no heart attacks, no shortness of breath (well maybe a little), and no sprained ankles :). It was such a beautiful hike; one we will definitely be going on more in the future.

Something very important we discovered: people are extremely nice in nature. That is all I am going to say because we might do a video on this subject, so watch for it :).

Saturday night we were able to go to Mike's year end work banquet. It was kind of boring, at parts, but the food was delicious, getting dressed up was fun, and seeing Mike get presented with $500 and a naked man award (similar to the Oscar's) was totally worth every moment of boredom. We are so proud of Mike and all his hard work and dedication this summer! I am married to the best man in the world (total personal opinion)!!!

Sunday we were able to go to Mikes cousins farewell. It was fun to meet Bob's side of the family (Mike's dad); such wonderful people. We are truly so fortunate to have such amazing families!

We are soooooo excited for our first cruise coming up—two days!! We leave to the Bahamas on Thursday morning, red-eye—12am. Not looking forward to that, but definitely looking forward to 90 degree weather and sandy beaches AND lobster dinners, AND 24-hour ice cream service, AND getting fat, and a halloween costume party, and MOST IMPORTANT—spending tons of quality, relaxing time with my favorite person in the entire world: MIKE!!!

Weekend

Weekend - photo slideshow

Conference Weekend

AHAHA! I can't tell you how amazing it is to have Mike home! It is so nice to be living as a married couple again :)!

We were able to have a NORMAL weekend together, because I got my school work done in advance, which was much needed! Conference has been awesome! We are so thankful to be able to hear the leaders of our church speak, and be edified. We are rejuvenated in our personal goals, and look forward to incorporating prophetic counsel in our life.

Between sessions, on Saturday, we took advantage of the nice weather and went rollerblading up to the falls in Provo canyon. Although it was nice to get out and enjoy some fresh air, the trip wasn't without trial :). I fell TWICE and bruised my buttocks pretty bad, and scratched up my elbow and hands; so needless to say I was in a lot of pain over the course of the weekend :), but all in good fun!!

We were also able to go see a movie and enjoy an at-home spa day—a nice romantic bath, facials, massages, and foot scrubs. AHAHA it is so nice to have Mike home—life with him is the best life I could have ever hoped for or been blessed to have.