SURPRISE BLESSINGS!

Some things are just HUGE in your life and make such a difference, but others just couldn't begin to understand right?

I taught pre-k for 6 years and though it was at 2 different locations, had great rooms both times. I had bathrooms actually in my room, sinks and huge closets both times. When you teach, especially little kids, you tend to have ALOT of stuff. You save stuff, pack-rat stuff and use stuff! Pre-K also runs for 6.5 hours a day though, with 20 kids...you need alot of room. (and stuff~)

Two years ago I knew it was time to move on. My entire goal had been to teach 1/2 a day preschool, at a church eventually. (When I had kids was the plan) I knew the time had come though, all signs (and there were many) led me to where I am now. (McEachern Methodist Preschool) It's a huge ole miracle how I got the job. You know what...it's my dang blog....I can ramble and share if I want too....so here's a side story about how I got it.

-----Our center had been bought out by a man that I'd worked at before and I totally disagreed with his work policies in dealing with children. I knew that I had to leave. I prayed really hard for a sign (yep, I need those) and God sent me a huge one. Some things happened there that only led to one thing, I couldn't stand by and work at a place like this anymore. At the end of the school year, I packed my bags so to speak. (Actually it was TONS of boxes) I spent the summer keeping a few kids and putting in applications at neighboring churches. I had some serious connections at some of these preschools, but there's only so much you can do.. if there isn't an opening, there isn't an opening. The summer drug on and no one had openings...I prayed harder and got more nervous. What were we gonna do without me making any money. Andy paid the bills, but I supply serious fun/travel/shopping/eat out/have a life money! Yikes! I called to check with these preschools often, still nothing. I prayed and cried. Andy said, "It'll work out, don't worry". It's the end of July now, don't worry? So I finally do the right thing and pray that I'm giving it all totally to God. I can't fix this, please do what's right and I'm done worrying. Know what??? The next day, yep...the next....I got a call from where I work now. She said she hoped I was still free, there was an opening. I was thrilled! (It was where I wanted to teach the most) Later that day, another call...(my old church) Monica, we have ann opening perfect for you. Wait there's more.....because there was a 3rd place that called as well, come on girl, we have a place. I talked to all three places. I prayed again, thanking God for not only coming through for me, but in a BIG way. Now I got to pick where I wanted to be. God didn't just open up a job for me, but blessed me in letting me make my own decision. I just needed to give it up to him. So.... I picked McEachern and have been blessed and thrilled ever since!!**

I love where I teach!! The people are amazing, the environment is peaceful, fun loving, safe, positive, perfect! My boss is heaven sent for sure! The other teachers are fantastic and have become my friends. My assistant is my friend and I adore her. It's just all too good to be true. God is awesome! My room is fine, I love it..it's mine. I'm only there 3 hours a day, four days a week with kids. And...only 12 kids! But... it was smaller than I was use to.

I have been drooling over Kim's room for 2 years. I love Kim though, she's my best friend up there I guess. She's alot like me and I adore her. I talked to her a few days ago, she's leaving. Bigger fish to fry so to speak, she's been there forever and something else came up that works with her life, a blessing she's hoped for. But....her room is going to be used for music....I've begged for that room for 2 years, but....it has another purpose now. I'm sad, disappointed, but what can ya do? Fine, it wasn't meant to be....I've even thought myself of going back to pre-k. Man, I miss that money! I could just go back for a year and do so much...but leave McEachern? I would be miserable and I know I am where God wants me to be. I get a call this morning ... from my boss... (be patient and God will bless you)

... I get the room! The big honkin' room!! The room that's about 2-3 times bigger than mine. The room with a sink and a mini fridge. The room with extra bulletin boards. The room that all my stuff will fit into and then some. I get the BIG room!!!! I can spread out, bring more of my stuff and leave it there. (opposed to carrying it back and forth like a pack mule) I'm so excited. It's meant to be. I'm staying forever! I'll die and be buried beneath "the big room" there! Yay for me!! Yay for the kids who'll have room to do their thing, Yay for extra centers that I can spread out, Yay for personal space, Yay for making my life easier! Yay for me! Yay for me!!

~~~THIS IS HUGE!!~~~

Trading Cars:

Why is it that some decisions freak me out and send me into a tizzy? Some things that should not be so difficult, I make huge!

Those of you who know me well, know about my trading cars. My Dad owned a car lot for almost 30 years for crying out loud. I grew up and even worked in the business. I had a new car every 6 months until I got married. Where I then..... kept up the tradition with both of us trading at least every 2 years! So, what's the big deal, right?

WRONG- I spent hours (way too many) crying (yes, lots of real tears) over getting rid of my bug. (Whom I had come to call Herbie) Maybe that's the problem, you name something and then it becomes a bigger part of your life?! I don't know, I acted nuts though... this I know! I had Andy worried to death. Why was I crying over something that should be fun? It should be a good day, right? Geesh-

There's a blog topic somewhere that I pretty much dedicated to him, with pictures. But...to refresh your memory. I'd wanted a bug since they started talking YEARS AGO about making beetles again. I waited a long time to own one of those suckers! It was alot of fun!!! It went really (too) fast, windows down, sunroof opened and music up loud...it was great! I went on a few road trips in it by myself. (to Kentucky & Jekyll Island to visit Andy ) It was adorable, I got tons of comments on it, I loved it! It was far from perfect though....it had a few issues that had to be taken care of over the years, it got a ding in the door in a parking lot a few months back, it wasn't as good on gas as a tiny car should be and talk about going shopping in that little booger- Well, it was time to let it go.....

We'd found this fantastic deal.... 2003 Dodge Durango with LOW miles (31,000), soft tan leather seats (both power & heated), all sorts of garage door opening & gas mileage calculating gadgets, 3rd row seat, perfect inside & out, running boards and a big ole honkin' towing package. (that tows more than Andy's last truck did) *We haven't camped in a year and a half. Andy traveled last year and this year he traded the truck. We've had the camper, with nothing to haul it with!* The price and trade was too good to pass up!! I knew this and wanted to trade!

Yet, I spent yesterday crying.....all day..... I kid you not.....

I am now however; the proud owner of a 2003 Durango. It's super nice, loaded! It drives great, I like being "the big one" again. (I drove SUV's for about 8 years before trading for the bug) I like it alot and know that very soon down the road when ........

-We have room to pack for trips again!
-I can go buy more than one bag of groceries at a time-
-The wee one has room to spread out when we're out on adventures-
-Our family & friends are all piled in because we have more than enough room
-Someday (Lord willing) we have a baby Tanner and actual room for him or her
-We're headed to the campground for a week of fun on the lake or in the mountains
-The big girls (2 labs) are in the back licking the windows...

.....that I will be able to smile and say that I love my new vehicle!

Vera Bradley:

Purses, I'm obsessed. I have about a zillion of the things! Cheap, expensive, huge, small, tiny, old, never used, bright, dark, fall, spring, summer, themed (golf, roosters, Disney, etc..), holidays, department store, specialty shop, straw market, you name it... I can't pass up a purse! My current obsession are Vera Bradley purses, they're so darn cute...and so dang expensive! My Mom bought me my first one! It's a tiny little thing, which part of the profits go to breast cancer reasearch. She also got the little wallet to match, I got it for Christmas year before last.

I think that I must have a new purse for every vacation that I take as well. So....In February, I treated myself to this one. I like the little pockets on the outside for my cell phone, I always look for the little pockets somewhere: front, sides, back, whatever. I also like that the things can be tossed in the washer and come out spic and span! Again, checkbook cover & wallet to match!

Then, my Mother, wonderful woman that she is. Decided we both needed new ones (she has several too) for our most recent cruise. Her treat...Yep, I'm an only spoiled 31 year old child!! So, she bought me this one the day before our trip! Always, checkbook cover & wallet to match!

Then, my fantastic loving husband bought me yet another one...that very same night....for an anniversary present. (That we were NOT getting each other because we were taking this trip!) He knew I'd been drooling over "one with buckles", but refused to pay that much for one. I also had stated that red was my next purchase. (It's my favorite color!) I had chosen green with Mom though, since it's summer-ish still. Anyway... Andy came home, the night before our trip, with this one! Pefect!! They are retiring this style (MY BUCKLES) and the red fabric, he got it just in time! Now....I need to make a little side trip...I need the wallet & checkbook cover before they're gone for good!

What can I say? I am blessed and spoiled rotten, even as an adult. I love these things though and spend hours drooling over them. There's house items, luggage and stationary too.... I love it all....but purses...oh man! I'm such a sucker for a purse---

Things I have learned, from cruising!

15) The Disney ships are by far the most beautiful cruise ships out there, they are just gorgeous to look at. Inside & Out- They are classic and not filled with "Disney" stuff, but do have disney touches!

14) Eating at the main seating, 6:00, STINKS! It cuts into your day before your ready and we will NOT do it again!!

13) My father needs a walkie talkie to hang onto while cruising, he is hard to keep up with. He wonders off, does his own thing for hours and blames everyone else for not being where they were suppose to. (hours and hours before)

12) When Andy's missing, look for him napping...somewhere, anywhere! Air conditioned rooms or hammocks in the shade are his favorite spots!

11) Carnival ships have the best beds of any cruise line, you can even buy them. The entire she-bang: mattress, box springs, sheets, pillows, etc... We've looked into it, they are sooooo comfortable. Royal Caribbean's on the other hand, STINK! They are horrid and I hated them! (The rumor that R.C. rooms are smaller, is TRUE, very very very true. You don't spend alot of time in there, but they are MUCH smaller than any cruise we've taken. Even that little old ship, Fantasy!)

10) Royal Caribbean doesn't serve lobster on their 4 night cruises and that's a major rip off! (Have I said that enough?)

9) Disney has good food on their cruises (even lobster) but in general, it's not as good as Carnival or R.C.~ The rotational dinning (where you visit 3 different dinning rooms) is awesome though!

8) Ships that don't offer late night comedy for adults are missing a little something. (Disney) We sure enjoy those nights! We don't visit the casino, but my Dad would have sorely missed that on Disney too.

7) Disney shows are the best! They are broadway worthy and they rock. They made me laugh & cry! Carnivals were awesome too and R.C.'s weren't bad.

6) Pools on all ships other than the smallest & oldest ones are so much better. Most of them now have that shallow little area to sit in around the pool and it's great!! (Those small old ships with dipping holes are kinda rough. Though, after refurbishment, that may have changed)

5) You should arrive to the port terminal about an hour to an hour and a half earlier than they tell you. If you get there earlier, you'll board early. It's much calmer, not near as many people, you'll already be on board eating lunch and watching other people fight in line....it's nice!

4) Be sure you label your luggage with some insane and creative way. I've previously mentioned the fiesty woman trying to steal my luggage. This time we tied huge black ribbon with white polka dots all the way around it, like a big present. It was super easy to recognize and no one else would want it!

3) Be sure to use the drop off luggage areas out front and the throw it outside your room deal on the last night. We've tried that "ah, we'll just carry it and it'll be faster" crap. NOT GOOD. No reason to walk around carrying the stupid, heavy bulky crap with ya. Forget it!

2) If you are a caffeine addict, like me, buy the fountain drink card! Disney is the only ship that serves coke (it's a southern thing you yankees call soda) at a fountain for free. The other lines make you pay an arm and a leg. Might as well fork over the extra bucks at the beginning (like$6 per day or something) and you can drink it anytime you want. Nothing like a diet coke in the morning!

1) There is no better deal than cruising. We are looking right now for something to do in August for a long weekend. It would cost us much more to go to the beach for 3 nights (even staying at the cheapest place ya can find), more to go to the mountains for 3 nights or anywhere else pretty much...than it'll cost to go on a 3 night cruise with our food included. (and entertainment unless we want to do excursions) That's nuts, why not cruise? We're addicted, bad!!

Sum it up you say: That stuff you hear about Carnival being the "party ship" with a wild crowd, not true. We've never seen it be rowdy, not anymore than other ships for sure! We want to do Disney again for sure, 7 nights...it's so expensive though. Worth it by all means, but you have to plan big for those. Carnival rocks, we're Carnival cruisers at heart. Royal Caribbean, it was fun...but unless things just happen to work out where we can't do anything else...we wont be visiting them again.



So, throw in Bobby Darin singing "Somewhere, beyond the Sea" and start booking your next cruise!!! (we are!)

CoCo Cay!
Royal Caribbean's private island: Day #4

We arrived at CoCo Cay about 8 on our last morning. We had been told to catch an early tender if possible, the crowds really get going about 10:00. The only private island that you get to "drop the plank" on is Disney's, where you pull right up to the beach! Here, you must get on a tender (2 level boat that holds a great many of your closest friends) and take a 7-8 minute ride to the island. We were one of the first groups there, arriving about 9:30ish. The boats run ever 10-15 minutes, three of them running at a time.

The island is beautiful. (It's not Castaway Cay, Disney's paradise... sorry I'm spoiled...) It is very very nice though! There are tons and tons of chairs, enough for everyone. That's always a concern when you know that all 2,000 passengers are headed for a chair. The snorkeling area is huge, as big as Disney's. There is a water park area with slides, climbing structures in the water etc...for a small fee. There are water sports to participate in for a fee as well. (jet skis, para-sailing, that kind of thing) There is a grille there where lunch is served, a bar, a first aide station, plenty of restrooms and a straw market.

Andy took alot of snorkeling pictures and said there were more fish in these areas than he'd ever seen in all the other snorkeling experiences. (I'll take seeing the tiny ones from the safety of my nice float on top of the water!) There was a sunken boat and airplane out there too- He also saw a lady get bit by a fish, yowie! They'd been told that the fish were aggressive at feeding time and ONLY the lifeguards were to feed the fish. A lady asked for food and tried to feed them herself. The fish drew blood, YIKES!

We lost Andy at one point, only to find him napping in a shady hammock. Not to complain too much though, because I soon joined him! Lunch was great! The cooks from the ship come to the island to fix BBQ ribs, chicken, hamburgers and hotdogs along with tons of sides...and of course dessert! They also serve these, to die for, drinks on the island. They are called "Coco Loco's" and you can get them with or without "booze" as they say. I had two without, YUMMY! They are a combination of pina colada, orange juice, mango juice and something else I can't remember. More like a fruity smoothie and good stuff!! (Mom said just today, she sure wish she had one!)

We checked out the straw market too. They had super cute stuff and it was much nicer than shopping at the straw market in Nassau. There was a nice little area set up for it and it had great deals. I found a purse that I drooled over, but passed up. (a miracle in itself, only b/c I had gotten TWO the day before we left!) I got the cutest tank top with palm trees and swim suits hung out on a line.

After about 6 hours of fun and ALOT OF SUN...we were beat! It was time to return to the ship for rest, clean up and sadly...packing! You know the drill if you've cruised, have your luggage outside your room by midnight! Ick-

Nassau:
Part 2, Meanwhile Mom & Dad were----

While we were enjoying our morning trip, Mom & Dad were hanging out at the ship. As we returned, we ran into them leaving. They had an afternoon tour of the resort & casino "The Atlantis". Dad has been talking about this place for years! He was ready!!! They had a boat ride over and then a LONG walk to the casino, a little longer than the expected. They said it was gorgeous! They raved about the beauty of the entire place. They toured the huge aquarium where they said the fish were too big to describe. The biggest sting ray ever, that grow so big they have to be taken to the ocean in a crane. They said the casino was huge, of course. They were disappointed that they didn't just grab a cab over there themselves and spend the entire day. They are for sure ready to go back and tackle that place on their own!!

Meanwhile we returned to find lunch on the ship and head to the pool. There were NO PEOPLE at the pool, which was kind of wild. They were still on the island I am sure. (As people came back we heard wild tales of excursions people had enjoyed and shopping, shopping, shopping. We'd checked out the stores on our previous 3 visits and were sitting this time out!) We had the place to ourselves and got chairs next to the water. We spent the afternoon there, good stuff!!

Next thing we knew it was time for getting ready for dinner, it was formal night. Ugh- I like to get dressed up .. every tiny once in awile... it's just not my thing normally. I could do without the dress up nights on every cruise truthfully. We have talked about Norwegian's "free-style" dinning and may try one of those some time. No dressy clothes at all ever and you can eat when you want too, different times on different days. Anyhow.... we got ready and headed to dinner. We'd already asked and knew that lobster wasn't on the menu. This was another complaint of this cruise. It wasn't the end of the world, but just strange. Every other cruise offers a "lobster night" that Andy, Dad & I were soooooo looking forward too!! It didn't happen this time, sad! After dinner we rushed back to change into comfortable clothes! he he he---We were greeted back in our room by a bat, we'd never had one of those creatures before...cute!

We changed clothes and headed down for show time! This evenings show was called "Flash Back" and it was singing, dancing & video clips of the decades. It was fantastic!!
After the show Mom & Dad were off to the casino (again) and we retired after some walking around the ship (again). Man, we're getting OLD!! Though... it was about midnight...our first cruises we were all about staying up until the wee hours...now we just can't take it. I'm telling ya: old, old, old!!

Nassau:
Day #3 was spent in Nassau. Here is the first part of our day!

Andy & I left @ 9:00AM that morning for a visit to a small beach island called Black Beard's Cay. We had taken hours choosing an excursion that would be fun, but not cost alot. This trip was just $27 a person. It started with a 20 minute boat ride over to the little island. We arrived and were very pleased with how adorable the little place was!

We realized right off the bat that we were missing something awesome though. You could have added a "snorkel with the sting rays" to bring the price up to about $58 a person. I'm not a big snorkel person, so figured it wasn't worth it. As soon as we stepped off the boat though, I realized I was wrong. The sting ray side was roped off to one edge and from the dock you could see 100's of the swimming creatures. They were all sizes from tiny to HUGE! They were goregous. You didn't have to actually "snorkel" with them either, you could stand or sit right there in the edge of the shallow water and they were all around you. I watched them interact with the people for a long time, wishing I would have been brave enough to try it. We'll FOR SURE go back and do that one again!!! I also found out that the "Thriller" speed boat that we'd thought of riding, was another deal you could add. We'd thought of just taking the speed boat ride around the island. Who knew that for $68 a person we could have done the sting ray thing and rode the speed boat, arriving at the island in just 6 minutes! Man..... there's just one more reason to go back!

There were oodles of chairs along the beach, no worries of not getting one of those! There was a little bar where you got a free rum punch or free fruit punch just for coming, they had bar drinks as well as soft drinks to buy. There was a grille if you wanted to buy lunch there, a gift shop, fresh water showers, plenty of rest rooms, hammocks in the shade, a playground for the kiddies and water sports that you could do for an added cost. It was a great deal and we really enjoyed it. We spent about 3 hours there before it was time for our experience there to end.

At Sea~

Day #2 Was spent out on the deep blue sea. There was a storm coming into Florida and the surrounding areas, so we wanted to get as far away as possible. The captain said that he was going to switch our days around and keep us in sunshine! We were all for that! (Have I mentioned this all already? I forget-) After breakfast, we looked for a place to bake ourselves in the sun. It was swamped around the pool decks. My Dad decided to go off exploring on his own, not to be seen againf or half a day! Andy, Mom & I found some nice comfy chairs, in the shade with huge cushions in them. So.... we relaxed for a few hours.

Mom went to take a nap and look for Dad, so Andy & I found some chairs on the very very very tip top sun deck. It was soooooooo windy up there, I can't even describe it. But.... we baked ourselves and read. We detected a fabulous smell coming from around the pool and went to check it out. We found a big ole BBQ buffet, right beside the pool. So after stuffing ourselves and finding the lunch dessert buffet..... we were back in our chairs for a nap. Of course we took a dip in the pools a few times. They were huge pools and they had this entire shallow area (a little over ankle deep) all the way around that you could sit in and lay there. Very nice!!! Late that afternoon Andy & I went to the theater to watch "8 Below", good movie. Before we knew it, time for dinner was close by!

We got ready and went up to the top decks to watch as we pulled into Nassau. We would be there for the next 32 hours!! When you can see the "Atlantis" resort & Casino, you know you're in Nassau. It's actually on Paradise Island, a short boat ride or taxi drive (across the bridge) away. Time for dinner!! Hey, it's pirate night @ dinner, aye- no one told us that!!

After dinner we decided to skip the show & explore down-town. Now, we have been to Nassau 3 times before...we knew that the town SHUTS DOWN in the evening, unless you're there to PARTY and we weren't. Mom & Dad still wanted to look around, so off we went. After being followed by local scammers asking us if we wanted our hair braided, them to sing a song for $1 or trying to sell us shells & wooden flutes.... we decided we'd had enough and went back to the ship! After all, it was late night adult only comedy night and......the chocolate buffet. Here's the sad part....by the time the comedy show was over about 12:45 and we made it to the buffet....there was nothing left. In 45 minutes the other 2000 friends aboard had almost wiped it out!! We got one thing each and I cried! (Ok, not really..... but I thought about it!!) Time for lights out- Here's our towel friends for the night. Joe, our cabin steward, said we were special because of our anniversary....he didn't just make these swans for anyone! True enough, we'd never gotten them before~

~Bon Voyage~
Cruise Day #1!! We arrived in Port Canaveral early, they were just starting to board as we got up to the building. The entire boarding process went by very smoothly and we were stepping on the ship in no time! Being early down there is a good thing, we figured that out last trip!!

Of course Andy was waiting for that all familiar "lunch is being served on the lido deck".... It wasn't the lido deck on that ship, but a lunch buffet was waiting on us!! Let the fun begin!


We found our rooms and Andy was surprised to find our cabin all decked out in anniversary junk! There were blue & white bell streamers hanging from the ceiling along with big ole white wedding bells and congratuation hearts. There was a glittery sign on the door and yep, even a cake! Yay for 7 years of wedding bliss~




Of course after a few hours of wondering around and checking things out, we had that all familiar safety drill. What fun.....ugh! The weather was drizzly and yuck out there, so we were sent back to our rooms after checking in with our boat drill team captain. We were to watch the rest of the information on our TV....um....sure- We were told right off the bat that the Captain was working on changing our itinerary to keep out of rain and find sunshine! He did a great job with that! We ended up going super south and staying out of the mess on our first day, we spent it at sea. We could see clouds and rain in the distance, but he kept us in the sun!!! We flip flopped our days and still had the same cruise!


Our first night at dinner we met our waiter, Oliver. The food was fantastic the entire trip, BUT there was NO lobster night. Dad, Andy (who'd been talking about it for months) and I were all very disappointed about that! What's up with that?? We were also sadly surprised to find out that the wait staff didn't entertain us with a song and dance each night. We were cheated! The lunch buffets were good food too, but they were the same thing every day. There was enough to choose different things each day, but we still thought that was very odd. There is a pizza place on board for free, good stuff too!! There is also a Johnny Rocket's, you have to pay to eat there. It was $3.95 for anything and everything you wanted. Pay one time and stuff yourself: burgers, rings, fries, milkshakes, ice cream, whatever. We didn't get to eat there though, we just ran out of time.


The first night we went to the "Welcome Aboard" show where we saw singing & dancing by the show staff and laughed our hineys off with the comedian. (Who was to later return for an adult only comedy show later in the week) Mom & Dad went off to throw some money to the slot machines while Andy & I retired early!

EPCOT

We left on Saturday, the 10th. We arrived at Shades of Green to find our room was thanfully, once again, on the golf course with beautiful views. Just a few rooms down from last time! We could sit on the balcony and watch people tee off to one side, or watch their entire play on one par 3 hole. (With the green right below) Pretty awesome! We had dinner at the buffet there at the resort and went to bed rather early, preparing for a new day!

Sunday, the 11th was spent @ EPCOT. We arrived about 9:45 that morning, ready for fun. EPCOT is my Dad's favorite park, so he chose this time. It was THE VERY last day of the Flower & Garden Festival and we were happy about that. I thought Bambi & Thumper were pretty cute. We headed towards our left in future world and rode Test Track first thing. The stand by line was about 15 minutes, can't beat that! As we wondered on the rest of the day, we found that 15 minutes was our longest line. We rode everything, saw every show & every movie there. We had everything done by about 6ish that evening. The crowds were super low. The only thing we didn't do was Soarin' and I was ok with that. The stand by line was super long and they were out of fast passes. No biggie though, I'm still half way afraid it'll make me sick. I'll do it~ eventually. The weather was great. We'd expected high 90s and it was nice to find that the clouds kept it in the low 80's. We didn't melt and can't complain a bit. There were a few sprinkles, but we didn't get wet. I found some $68 perfume in "France" that I wish I would have bought. I spent the entire next week of the vacation (and even today) sniffin' the little paper that I put it on. Of course I have no idea what the name of it was and will have to go back to find it someday. Man, I shoulda just bought it while I was there. The smell is fabulous!!

In honor of cruises: Past, Present & Future!

Here is just one of our past trips!



(We went on a cruise last May, September & this February so far) The September trip was the Disney Cruise! WOW...by FAR the MOST beautiful ship I've ever layed eyes on: inside & out. I love the classic look, it's like the ocean liners of the past and takes your breath away. The others beauty does not compare! The characters were so much fun to have around all the time, the pools and adult areas were fantastic and their island...there aren't words. I hear that the other ship lines private islands wont begin to compare, I can imagine. I took this picture and to me...it looks like any postcard I could have bought. Amazing that I can get my own perfect shot. What a place!!! It's worth the entire trip, just to experience Castaway Cay!! Someday we'll go into debt and do the Disney 7 nighter! The food wasn't our favorite part of this ship, the dinning room rotation was pretty neat though. We loved our first ship on the Carnival Fantasy to the Bahamas for 4 nights too, it was soooo much fun! The food was great and the activities were fabulous! Then there was the trip on Carnival's Glory to the Virgin Islands, 7 nights! Wow!! That trip was perfect, all the way around!! The ship was HUGE and had so much to do, the Islands were the MOST GORGEOUS place I've ever been (and can't wait to return), 7 nights was so relaxing, the food was ...wowie zowie!! The chocolate buffet, man...what more can a girl ask for?? All 3 trips so far have been awesome, each with their own favorite points!


Here is the present ship.


We leave Monday actually (though we'll be @ Disney from Saturday night-Monday) for our 4 night cruise to the Bahamas. We'll have a day @ CoCo Cay, their private island; Nassau and a day at sea. The ship is called Sovereign (sp?) of the Sea and it's a Royal Caribbean ship. This will be our first RC, it just worked out to fit our needs this time. We leave on the 12th, which is our 7th anniversary. Neat huh? We've only spent one other one together in those 7 years, Andy's usually out of town. (Without me!) We're taking my parents as most of you know; on their first cruise. They are so excited, but nervous. It's so fun to watch them get excited!! The next blog you see from me, will be the update!!



And looking to the future~


Of course, we're planning our next already. We've been looking all week at where we want to go next. Our first plan is the week of & after Thanksgiving. We want to go to Mexico: Cancun &/or Cozumel. I've been to each place once, Andy's never been. We also want to see the Grand Cayman Islands while we're there. We're working out the details. I think we may actually skip Disney (*Gasp*) and leave from Tampa. We could go to Busch Gardens for a day down there, Andy's never been. I don't remember my trip from when I was little. We'll go with Carnival I'm guessing, we get a military discount with them. We've had fantastic experiences on their ships as well. (Not the "party ship line" that people have heard about, nothing like that!) If November doesn't pan out, February will. We're going somewhere in February no matter what, if we get to go in November or not. We LOVED having a trip that month. It's nice to leave the cold behind and go somewhere warm & beautiful. It breaks up the boring, dreary winter months and was perfect!!



And there you have it- our past, present and future cruising! If you haven't gone on one, you must!! You'll become addicted too! Best wishes & God bless until we return! Talk to yall next weekend!!

Top 5 Products of the Day:

Yes, I'm down to 5 for today.
It's late, I'm tired and I need a life!

5. This book, I finished the other one. Now I'm onto this one, it's the last one in this series until the next one comes out later this month.

4.Watermelon. I always pick terrible ones, I hate that. Today though, I hit the mother load...so to speak. I picked a great one! The "wee one" I keep & I ate it for lunch. (Ok, not all of it...but we ate alot!) YUMMY!!

3. My new mouse. Ok, I've had it a few weeks now. This isn't it actually either. I was sick of the little one on the lap top and I bought a new wireless one. It's awesome! It changes colors all the time. It has lights inside and it changes from red, blue, purple, green, orange, pink and yellow all the time...lit up! It's pretty darn neat!! And it makes life easier~

2. Our treadmill. I am back to walking 2 miles every day, I had quit there at the end of school when things got nutty. I feel pretty good about it too, it's not super far..but it's moving! Andy runs 7 almost every day, grrrr... BUT... I'm moving. Let me continue to confess... I've gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks, since school ended. I'm so upset about it....before the cruise too, GEESH! (Remember I lost 30 last summer & fall) I still have 30 more to loose and that gained really makes me sad. So... I must start moving more during the day, sitting in front of this thing on my rump isn't working out to well. Ok...vent over- It's my blog .... I can whine if I wanta!


1. Yep, red luggage! (Did I spell that right? It looks odd!) Anyhow... We got it last May, for our first cruise (the 2 week adventure to Disney & cruising) We have the whole set and boy has it come in handy! I am thankful that it's sitting...packed...waiting to be zipped and ready to go. It reminds me that we're headed OUTTA here and I'm so excited!! I bought black ribbon with white polka dots to tie around it. WHY? B/C a very fiesty woman tried to steal our luggage at the claim area last trip. I had to show her TWICE that our names were on the tags. Then I had to argue with the porter who thought I was being a bully. Geesh! So.... I bought this ribbon (so it'll all be UGA colors mind you!) to tie around it. I'm gonna wrap it around twice; horizontal and vertical and tie a big ole bow. Yep, silly...but it'll be ours obviously. Now that, you'll have wait to see!!