11 Years Ago Today....

I was in the hospital. It was probably about this time that I was getting to see and touch my baby boy for the first time. I went into the hospital on Monday, 9/17/01 and they started to induce me at 4:30 PM. I thought for sure I was going to have my baby boy on Jodi’s birthday! I remember being so excited and scared and nervous and excited and just having so many emotions going through me! They started the pitocin drip to start my labor…and it started very, very slowly. So, they decided to break my water. Boy, that wasn’t pleasant. Then my labor got harder….but every time I had a contraction, Isaac’s heartbeat would go down substantially. I remember getting the epidural and finally having some relief from the contractions and eventually sleeping! Isn’t that funny! So…after a long night of this….and no baby on Jodi’s birthday…..they came in and woke me up (again, funny because I was in labor!) to tell me that they were going to take the baby via c-section. I remember my mother-in-law crying and I was just thinking – do whatever you have to do – just get this kid out of me! I was actually very calm because my mom had two c-sections, so I was pretty prepared for that route for some reason. In fact, I never thought I would actually push a baby out of me….but maybe that was because I had watched Janice do that and I wanted no part of it. HA! So, they prepped me and Scott (lol) for my c-section and took me into the operating room. It was no time at all and they had our baby boy out! Our baby boy. I can’t even describe the emotions that overwhelmed me at that moment. They showed him to me… well, us because Scott did not watch much of the c-section! I remember them taking him over to the “baby area” and not hearing a lot of noise like I thought I would hear. Isaac wasn’t really crying, but more like grunting. We didn’t know what to expect, but we could tell that something wasn’t right. Soon after, they took Isaac out of the room and I was having these waves of nausea and convulsions. I remember them taking me out of the OR and to the recovery area and just laying there wondering what was going on. I was shaking uncontrollably and scared to death. Scott went to see what was going on with Isaac and I remember Mom and Dad and Scott’s parents coming to see me and tell me how pretty he was. They had whisked him off to the nursery to take care of him. There wasn’t anything really ‘wrong’ with him, but the grunting was concerning to him. They wanted to hear some good old big cries! He finally did! My first glimpses of Isaac were on video and cameras because I was still in recovery and he was in the nursery. They finally moved me to a room and got me all settled in. I will never forget the longing that I had to hold my baby! In all the tv shows and movies you see the mom hold the baby right away and all that jazz…I was dying not being able to hold him! I wanted to try to nurse him (kinda) and I wanted to hold him and look at his 10 fingers and 10 toes and just swallow him up! FINALLY a very nice nurse brought him into the room. They had to feed him already (so I didn’t get to feed him first) and they had him all cleaned up. This nurse was so nice….and older. My husband can talk to the wall….he struck up a conversation with her because we were pretty sure she was a nurse there when he was born (um…who cares…give me my kid) and so she proceeds to talk about that and all that stuff while swaddling Isaac to get him out of the bassinet to give him to me. I am aching to see/hold/touch my baby. About the time she prepares to hand him to me for the first time….he pooped or something. So, she went through this painful process of unwrapping him…changing him….cleaning him…talking…taking forever! Then she started the whole swaddling thing all over again. I know that at least 3 hours has passed (okay, 5 minutes) when my mom finally spoke up….”She hasn’t even been able to touch him once yet. Can you just let her hold him?” The nurse was like, oh of course! And FINALLY handed me my baby boy. My Isaac Wayne. My bundle of joy. Ahhh….awesome! God is so good. Isaac. That name is so appropriate for the little man that we have in our lives. It means “he who brings laughter” and boy, oh boy, does he ever bring joy and laughter to all who know him. I love that kid so much. He has blessed our lives beyond measure. I thank God every day for the joy that is Isaac and for allowing me the opportunity to raise this young man. I pray that he will continue to bring joy to those he touches and also show Christ’s love in all that He does. I know that he makes mistakes and I know that he will make lots and lots more mistakes…but he is a child of God and God has big plans for this little man of mine! Early on…my dad started the nickname of Angelman for Isaac. And he is just that. He is my Angel! So, Happy Birthday Angelman! I love you more today than I did yesterday and I will love you more tomorrow than I do today. You have brought me so much joy and so much happiness. I cannot imagine our lives without you in it!

Money

Ha! Money. Funny how the more you make, the more you spend! Just when I think, phew...we have some breathing room...something happens. Yep. This summer we had to buy a new furnace and a/c unit for our house. A month later we put in a new driveway. God blessed us and we were able to pay for all of that without having to finance anything. That is great! So, we had one normal month of income and "outcome"...and then low and behold....Scott's car broke down in a driveway of a customer in Cincinnati yesterday. Seriously? I just have to laugh. God is still good and something like that ain't gonna get me down! That is just a little blip in this big old crazy life we live! Fun date night with Scott last night. He won tickets to the Red's Game in what is called the Diamond Club. We were 6 rows from home plate and all the food and drink was included and brought to your seat! PLUS they had this gorgeous buffet of food and desserts inside before the game started! It was a fun evening with his boss and his wife - friends of ours from church - and we just had a blast. It was nice to be Missy and Scott and not Mommy and Daddy for an evening! We don't do that enough... In Matthew 17:20 it says, "He replied, 'Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard see, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to tehre,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." So, I know that we have all read and heard that scripture before. But I am telling you....I am 36 years old and for the.first.time.ever....that scripture came to life for me. I was driving and listening to kLove and Jason Castro (yeah, American Idol) was talking about his new song that talks about that scripture and how there are things in our life (financial troubles - hello) or temptations or whatever they might be. Those are mountains. God can move them. Umm...hello. 36 years old and for the first time ever I realized that this scripture wasn't just about a physical Mountain like Mount Everest. But about those "mountains" in our life. Wow. Just wow. I want to share that with people, but I am sure they will laugh at me and think I am crazy for not realizing that sooner in life! God is speaking to us...we just have to listen!!!!

I survived...

Well, I survived the first week of the Bible Study that I am leading at church! I was well-prepared and I think it went well! We had 10 women there and there were 3 more that I know will be there next week. So, that is great! And...I didn't cry! I came very close once or twice, but I didn't cry!!! This week at church...one of the lessons that I heard loud and clear is that God is in control in every circumstance. So, one day when we look back at our lives and see even the tough moments....we can see His hand in them. He doesn't CAUSE bad things to happen...He ALLOWS them to. That is a big difference. And then He uses even those bad circumstances to teach us life lessons and show us His sovereignty. I also saw something the other day that I have been thinking about...."We are so vain. We are so focused on ourselves, that we think the whole eternal plan of redemption is about us. But is isn't. It concerns us, it transforms us, but it is all about God." Another powerful lesson that came out of our study last night....True surrender happens at the point when we stop negotiating with God. Powerful things. God is working. Will I let Him?

Inadequate...

So...in June, I was at a graduation party for a sweet girl from our church. I was talking to a group of my "Monkeys" (that is a different post) and we were all talking about our woes of needing to lose weight. I shared how I had done the study, "Lose It For Life" in a group at my old church. One thing led to another.... and I am leading this study at our church starting this Sunday. Inadequate doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. This is such an emotional topic for me....which is why I think they asked me to lead it. I am praying that God speaks through me in this study. I was already anxious about it....then I looked at my class-list today and a very dear friend of mine, who is the wife of our Sunday School teacher, is going to be in my class. That makes me even more nervous....adding even more feelings of inadequacy. Will you pray for me?

Just another crazy day....

Ever feel like you need more hours in the day? I am joking...because I know we all feel that way! But yesterday was one of those days where I needed a few more hours in my day! For fun..let me recap my day: 5:00 AM...Get up and get ready 6:00 AM...Get Scott up and do devotions/prayers before dashing off to work 7:00 AM...Work 4:00 PM...Leave work and head to pick up girls at school 4:20 PM...Clean house, start homework, start dinner, start laundry.... 5:40 PM...Take Isaac to football and run errands with the girls 8:00 PM...Put groceries away and start showers, lay out clothes for next day, sign homework logs, do flash-cards, fix hair, fix dinner for next day, dishes, laundry, organize stuff, 10:00 PM...crash so I can start it all over again tomorrow.... I mean, come on people! I know that I am not along but geesh! This makes me tired just reading it! And on the way to football, my 10 year old son tells me that my life isn't as hard as his because he has to play football in the heat. Really? I just laughed. So, as I look back over that crazy busy day....I see that I started my day with prayer & devotion....but boy, oh boy do I need to add a lot more of that into my day! I guess I didn't write down all the times I prayed throughout the day. But I need to make sure I am in a constant state of communication with HIM throughout my day. The beautiful part of my day...listening to my kids laugh as we ran from place to place to place and being attacked by Gracie in the parking lot because she wanted to hug me. Now, next time it would be nice to get a warning before being attacked from behind...but I will take that anyday! I love my busy life...I love my busy life...I love my busy life...does that help?

Today

If you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for today…would you be happy or sad? My dad posted on FB today this quote (or a variation of this quote) that he saw in a store and it has me thinking. Boy, does it have me thinking. Today (and I am only going to commit to one day at a time) I have decided that I need to keep my blog updated. You just never know what can happen. And you just never know who might stumble on it and need to see what I am going through. And you just never know if one day my kids want to look back at our life and see what I was thinking. You just never know. That seems to be on my tongue a lot these days. So many people that I know and love are hurting and I can’t do anything to help them…or so I let myself believe. But there is one really important thing I can do – I can pray. And I am committing to becoming the person who says “I am praying for you” and mean it. Not just to be the person who says that but never does it. So, if I tell you that I am praying for you – I mean it. I am really praying for you. God is really working in my heart – in my life – in every part of who I am. This summer at church camp, we talked a lot about the Lord’s Prayer. That has just had such a lasting impact on me. I remember the skit that Alan did about “Our Fathereth up in heaventh” and how we try to use such big words when we pray – instead of just being like…”Dad. I need you. I am broken. My heart is breaking thinking about this person who is going through this thing. Help. Give me Your words. Fill me up with You. Less of me – more of You.” We can say that! We don’t have to pray some big pretty prayer. We can just pray to HIM and He will answer. Seriously – I cannot imagine going through the valleys of life without having God by my side. When people – good people – die. When people – people you love – get diagnosed with cancer. When people- good people – do stupid things that tear families apart. All of these things that I have lived this past summer…..I have lived it with God by my side. I can’t imagine living it without Him. I also saw a funny play on the old Footprints poem. “Why are their those funny looking tracks next to your footprints sometimes, God?” “Oh, those…that is when I had to drag you.” Wow. Funny…but so, so true. I also watched a video on You Tube yesterday where this woman was giving God the Control Seat (or for visual affects, a stool) to her life. But then she crawled on top of Him, held onto Him – everything short of pushing Him off. She begged him to take it from her and He said no….you have to choose to give it to me. WOW. So life is hard. Life is painful. Life is preparing us for a much better place. We are only here temporarily. Thank the Good Lord, we are NOT home yet. I am so looking forward to the day when I am home. Home with Him. In the meantime, Scott and I are doing great. We have been doing daily devotions and prayer time together for 3 or 4 months now. That has made – is making – a big difference in our lives. Isaac is getting ready to turn 11 and in Middle School (how did I get that old?!?!?). Faith is 8 and in 3rd Grade and Gracie is about to turn 6 and in Kindergarten. They keep us busy. Our prayer every morning for them is - Lord, please help them to make wise decisions today and help them to be lights in this dark world. That is all for now. For today. Committing to one day at a time.

Wonderful News!!!!

This is an email I sent to my family this morning....I just wanted to get this out on paper so you can read it! I am sorry that I posted it to Facebook without calling you guys….but I was just so excited!!!!

So, last night…Mom and Dad came over and Dad gave Faith a cross necklace and told her how proud he was of her for memorizing scriptures. After they left, both girls wanted to read their Bibles and work on memorizing scriptures. Gracie quickly lost interest when she realized she had to repeat them to me (HA!) so she ran on. Well, Faith and I sat and we read verses and then, in her new Bible, I noticed a devotional on John 3:16. So, we read John 3:16 and then we looked at the devotional. It told us to read John 3: 1-16. So, I read it to her…stopping and asking questions along the way. When it mentioned being “born again”, I asked her what she thought that meant and she said the same answer that Nicodemus said….to have a new body. Then we kept reading and I could tell that she was still a bit puzzled about the meaning. Then I went back to the devotional and it explained that when you are born, your body is born. When you are born again, your spirit is born. I loved that! That seemed to make a bit more sense to her.

So, we sat and talked about that for a while and I asked her what it meant to be a Christian and she said that it means you believe in Jesus and God. Then I asked her what it meant to be baptized and she said that it means we are wiped clean of all the bad stuff we have done. So, I asked her if there were things that she had done that were bad and she said yes. I asked her what those were called and she said sins. I asked her if being baptized meant that if you did something bad the next day, like hitting Gracie, if you would need to be baptized again in the water. She said no….but she would need to ask God to forgive her.

I asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said that yes, she has been wanting to be baptized for a while! So, I asked her to repeat the confession after me and she did. Then Scott came into the room, so we did the whole conversation over again so that he could hear it. And then we both smiled and rejoiced and told Faith how proud of her we are…..

It was so beautiful! I asked her if she wanted to be baptized right away or if she wanted to wait until Mimi and Papaw come back and she said she wanted to wait until Mimi and Papaw come back! So, we will plan for that in early April!!! God is so good!!!!!!

Umm.....So it has been a while!

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth! It has been so long since I updated that I have decided I am not going to try to recap the last year or so of my life! That would be too daunting! I am not really sure why I don’t journal more, except maybe I was overwhelmed by the idea of trying to recap. Duh, just don’t do it!

I do still read journals and check them each and every day. So, to those that still update…yeah! I read them!

2012. Am I the only person who cannot believe that it is already 2012? I mean, seriously. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were scared of the dreaded Y2K?!?!? I totally get what they mean by “time flies” as you get older. It totally does! Scott and I were just talking last night about how long we have had this little table thing. I remember vividly putting it together in my dad’s apartment in Michigan. So, I was a senior in high school. So, Scott says…that table is about 18 years old and I about died. In fact, I just had to check the math again. Surely I haven’t been out of high school for 18 years. But, sadly….he is right! OH MY! This whole paragraph makes me laugh….

God is so very good to me. Do you ever just stop and think, as we go about our super busy days, just how blessed we are? I know that it is very easy for me to get caught up in a self-pity-party (especially these days) but I am really trying to make a conscious effort to stop that party before it starts and focus on how much He has blessed me. Way more than I would ever have imagined in my wildest dreams!

So…my health journey is still in progress. I was diagnosed with Auto-Immune Hepatitis in April of last year. They started me on prednisone and told me I would be on it for about 6 months. Well, here we are 9 months later and I am still on it. Boo! I am also on another drug that I will be on for the rest of my life. So, of course there are complications from the medicines (now) and lots of risks for more (later) and of course, I am still not feeling great. So, I continue to go to the specialist and continue to go get blood drawn regularly and just continue to trust that He is in control of the situation! Some days I just wonder if I will ever feel “normal” again! Then, I think that maybe a lot of this is just because I am getting older and “normal” is relative! Scott has been super supportive (and scared) throughout all of this. One night, out of the blue to him…because he doesn’t live in my head….I told him that if anything ever happened to me that he needs to remarry because he can’t raise the kids by himself. It freaked him out, but it is one of those things we hadn’t talked about and I thought we should! I guess that I need to invite him into my head more often because then he wouldn’t be so freaked out! LOL

The kids are great. I mean, they are really, really great. God has certainly had His protective hand on our family because one of the drugs that I am really suppresses my immune system….and so I have to be cautious to try to stay as germ-free as possible. Well, the kids have been the healthiest they have ever been since I was diagnosed. That has been wonderful because that complication could be really bad for all of us! So, aside from the constant bickering and “sibling love”…..they are great!

Isaac is thriving in 5th grade and has become quite the social butterfly. I love that boy for so many reasons….one of which is that he has such an awesome personality. No wonder everyone loves him and wants to be his friend! I cannot believe that he has a girlfriend (it will be 2 months on the 16th, he will tell you…LOL) and that this is his last year in elementary school. *GASP* Next year I will have a child in middle school. How did that happen?!?!??!

Faith is such a joy….it is so much fun watching her grow into the person that God created! If there has ever been a child that you cannot tell them what to do…it is Faith. What I mean is….if you tell her that she “can’t” do something, she will prove you wrong! She will try and try and try again until she does it….like zip-lining last year at camp or ice-skating or memorizing a big block of scripture. So far, it seems to be channeled in the right direction….so lots of prayers are coveted as we hope it continues to be channeled correctly! We bought all of the kids Bibles for Christmas. Hers is going to be worn out before the end of the month because she wants to read it all the time. She is working on memorizing the books of the Bible right now along with Isaac. I dare-say, she will get it done first and then Isaac will be so mad! LOL I ‘heart’ her!!!! She has such a funny sense of humor too! One night we were watching TV and a commercial came on for “Say Yes to the Dress” and the bride was a bit older. Faith looked at me and said….”She is obviously getting RE-Married!” She cracks me up!

Gracie is such a DIVA….but our lives would not be complete with her…maybe less filled with screaming and hitting and bossing, but not complete! LOL No, she is getting better about stuff like that, but she definitely still wants things done HER way and in HER time! We (Scott, me, Isaac & Faith) have all created this monster…so we need to learn how to fix it! LOL But there are lots of times when it is so very sweet how much fun she and Faith have playing together and imagining things. She loves preschool and loves for her big brother to help her with “her letters” and anything else that he will help her with. She also has a wild-spirit….the other night I saw her full-moon when Isaac made her mad about something. Oh dear lord, what am I in for? And where did she learn that from? Oh, that’s right…..the very same big brother! I can assure you that Scott and I do NOT walk around mooning people! LOL

Well, I guess that is good enough for my first entry in forever! I hope to be back soon, but please don’t hold your breath!

February...already???

So it has been a while since I last posted…geesh! Where did the time go? Oh, that’s right! It was December – which is busy with the holidays and stuff and then it was January, which has been really crazy at work! I am sure you are all dying to know what is going on in my life! So, here is my recap:

December was a busy month but full of all the Holiday Fun and other excitement! Let’s see…I took the girls to see The Nutcracker! I have never done that….and I will probably never do it again. I guess I didn’t realize that it was JUST a ballet and there is no talking or singing in a ballet. That shows how cultured I am! We had a good time, actually. We went with two other Moms and their daughters from church. We had lunch at Olive Garden and then went to the ballet in Cincinnati. It was fun to get everyone dressed up and do something like that…however, we decided that next December we would just get together and bake cookies or something fun for the girls. As we were leaving the craziness of the center in Cincinnati, I got a phone call that no mother wants to get…Scott and Isaac were in a car accident. They were both okay but it was scary to get that call and be in Cincinnati where I couldn’t get to them right away. Someone turned in front of them and hit them pretty much head-on. They were in a rental (our van is getting some work done on it) and it totaled the car. Isaac was in the front seat and all of the airbags went off. He had some nasty burns on his legs from the side airbags but was okay. He actually thought it was pretty cool to ride in the ambulance. I got to the hospital right as he was being released. Scott was fine except he probably cracked a few ribs. He was in a lot of pain for a few weeks. Translate that to mean that he was VERY whiney for a few weeks. LOL But thank the good Lord that it wasn’t any worse than that! Isaac had a story to share with his friends when he went back to school!

Christmas was fun as always with family! The kids were spoiled, as always. We have now entered into the world of American Girl Dolls at our house….that is exciting and expensive. Isaac got a laptop for Christmas and enjoys playing on Facebook (Yoville) and other educational sites from school. He thinks he is pretty cool. It has actually been a present for Scott and I too because our home computer is dying and we are getting ready to buy ourselves a new laptop too. We should’ve bought two of them (or Santa should’ve) when they were so cheap. I have no idea what kind we are going to get…it is so overwhelming! But that is off the subject! Christmas was fun and we were able to spend time with family and that is what I love most about the Holidays! New Years’ Eve was fun and less exciting this year, meaning no one was sick like we all had the stomach bug last year! The kids had fun ringing in the new year with their cousins and we had fun being with all the family at my parents’ house. We really are so blessed to have our closest friends as our family!

Then January hit with a BANG! I went through a lot of changes at work…which equated to a lot of stress and hours. But I have a job! I tell myself that every day when I just want to throw in the towel and quit! I went from supporting two people to three and three very, very needy ones at that! It has been crazy busy, but I have a much better handle on it now and am feeling less stressed. I will always be stressed but it is more manageable now. For a while there, I wasn’t managing it very well at all. I hate that. As a mom who works outside the home, I always feel guilty about something! I am not giving work enough or I am not giving the kids enough or I am not giving Scott enough….always something to feel guilty about. I have to work very hard to keep it all in perspective! But I know that I am certainly not alone in that..so that is just the plight of women, I reckon!
The kids are all doing great! It is easiest to just give a person-by-person update:

Isaac - I cannot believe that my baby is 9 and in the 4th Grade! He is certainly losing his “baby” and gaining his “big-boy attitude”. I am not sure how I feel about that! He actually cracked me up the other day because he sent both his Mimis text messages to tell them that he had his first zit. LOL That was hysterical! He is doing good at school, but not as good as he can or as good as he was. The teacher said in his latest report card that the content is getting harder but also that he enjoys socializing too much. I was not shocked by that, needless to say. Don’t get me wrong..he is still an honor roll student, but not all A’s like we are used to seeing from him. He is enjoying texting on his cell phone (the texts are priceless) and gaining some independence – as much as a 9 year old can. He is playing basketball and enjoying it this year because they have actually won a few games. He wants to play spring basketball instead of baseball, much to his Daddy’s chagrin! Scott was an all-star baseball player and would love to see Isaac follow in that, but it isn’t his favorite sport. We will see who wins this battle! I don’t care what he does, as long as he does something! He needs to keep active since he is such a big kid. He still enjoys reading and is active on the Student Council at school. No girlfriends yet, but he is definitely getting more interested in girls. It is hilarious to watch how he is growing up and I just love that he still has that very sweet spirit about him. I hope that continues to grow with him as he grows into a teenager. Seriously….he only has one more year of elementary school. How did that happen?

Faith – What can I say about my little Faith? Gosh, I love that little girl. Her spunky personality just lights up my life! Her teacher feels the same way about her! We see her at games and stuff sometimes and every time we see her, she tells me how much she loves Faith and her spunky personality. I just hope we can channel it in the right direction! She is in gymnastics and learning cartwheels now and absolutely loves it. I was astounded that after only 3 weeks (so 3 sessions) she was nearly doing a cartwheel by herself! The thing that I love the most about her is that she will not let anyone tell her that she can’t do something! She is so strong-willed that she will do it just to prove to you that she can! The girls were invited to an ice-skating birthday party and by golly, she worked and worked at doing it! That is going to serve her well in life! She is doing great at school too and really loves reading. Jodi got her a book for Christmas – The Boxcar Children (or something like that) and said numerous times that it might be too old for Faith, but Faith LOVES it. It is a longer chapter book and she is working her way through it. She loves the story. So, I am very proud of her on that! We are going to get her in soccer and softball in the Spring. So, she is busy! It is neat to see how she likes to teach Gracie things and cheers her on. That is also something that her teacher says about her in class is that she is the first to cheer her classmates on. Now, don’t get me wrong…she is SPUNKY! She definitely wants things her way and is vocal about it, but I am seeing more and more glimpses of her sweet personality as she is growing out of the tantrum phase little by little.

Gracie – This child is going to be the death of me. She is so cute and adorable and you just want to eat her up….and then she will throw a holy tantrum and you wonder where she came from! LOL She just gets frustrated when things don’t go her way and she loves to “mother” everyone! She is doing good in preschool…I can’t wait for that parent/teacher conference to hear what they have to say about her. She is really, really struggling with not acting like a baby and that is mostly due to the fact that there are 4 people in the house that struggle with treating her like the baby! Because she screams and throws tantrums, we find that we all try to cater to her more so that she won’t. So, it is a never-ending cycle! It is so funny to me that all three of my kids have such different personalities and yet they are siblings! Gracie is eager to learn to read and write like her siblings…but then she gives up really easy because they will just do it for her. She gets embarrassed very easily and then that draws out a tantrum. I just don’t know what we are going to do about that. Eventually it will stop, right? Please tell me that it will! She has moments of sweetness where she will let us hold her and cuddle her, but then she has moments of bratiness where she just won’t have any of that! She says the funniest things sometimes and keeps us on our toes. But she also absorbs everything we say and that is embarrassing too! For example, she told Faith the other day that she “was done with her”. I wonder where she heard that? LOL She is also in gymnastics and the teacher raves about how good she is – what a good listener, how kind and helpful she is. I asked the teacher if she could send that kid home with me because she currently doesn’t live with us. LOL We are going to get her in soccer and ragball (like t-ball) this Spring. I am anxious to see how she does when she gets to be the one on the Team since she has always been the one watching her siblings!

Scott – well, I told you about the accident. About a month or so after the accident he still wasn’t feeling good, so I finally convinced him to go to the doctor. They told him that he had the beginning of walking pneumonia! So, they put him on an anti-biotic and that didn’t really help. He was just not himself and was sleeping a lot and not feeling good. Then he developed a weird rash on his back that itched and burned and then we noticed that he had some large knots on the back of his neck. He went back to the doctor and after some blood work, they determined that he had mono! Great!!!! At that point, they determined he was not contagious anymore, but that explains why he was not well for more than a month! Thank goodness none of the rest of us got it (at least not that we know of) but there is nothing they can do for mono…it just has to run its course. So, I felt a little bad for riding him so much about being whiney…but he was really, really whiney for many weeks! LOL He is finally starting to feel better – but he is still sleeping a lot more than normal. Hopefully he gets back to 100% soon!

That is my family update! Oh wait, I left out Buckeye! We have had our little shih tzu for a year now and he is doing great. He has occasional accidents still, but he is doing much better and has become a true member of our family – as much as a dog can! LOL

So, things are going pretty good. Mom and Dad are in Florida (lucky dogs) for the winter so that makes childcare interesting for us. We have a great babysitter for Gracie, so that helps. I wish she was going to start school next year, but since she has an October birthday…we have another year of preschool in our future. I don’t think she is ready anyways. She is definitely the baby of the family!
We bought the girls new beds in January and I LOVE their room now! They had bunk beds that we got used from a friend of mine when Faith was born. They were probably 15 or 16 years old and just weren’t very secure, so I was so afraid that they were going to collapse or something. So, we bought them new bunk beds and the unit has a desk on one end and drawers and a shelf on the other end. I absolutely love how their room turned out! They have more room to play and the bottom bunk isn’t attached, so that will be nice as they get bigger. Of course, now that they have a desk…they want a computer! LOL There are some websites with games on them that they can earn “tickets” for their school by playing….so they both love to do that. I am good with it because they are educational ones. It is amazing to me that we have come so far since we were in school. I can remember in junior high going to the computer lab and playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego…but we didn’t have any of the cool stuff that they have now! LOL

So, I wish we were planning a Girls’ Cruise again this year! That was so much fun last year and I wanna go again! Any takers? I am not so sure that I can convince Scott of that…but I wanna go! I told him the other day that I was going to book a cheap flight to Key West. He said he didn’t have the vacation time and I quickly replied that I never said anything about taking him! LOL I need a beach! Maybe we can plan a trip to Myrtle Beach this summer. Scott doesn’t love the beach as much as I do, so I am not sure how he will feel about that. But I like to feel the sand in my toes and listen to the ocean! I also like to lay in the ocean on a raft with an umbrella drink in hand…but I don’t see that happening with three kids with me! LOL “Isaac, bring Mommy another margarita!”

As I look back on 2010, I have to say that I am so blessed. I have a great husband (even if we don’t always see eye-to-eye), I have three beautiful children (no, they aren’t perfect…but they are mine), I have a job (even if I don’t always like it), I have a house (with a big payment, but He provides), I have a wonderful family and friends who love me (in spite of who I am)….and most importantly, I have a God who loves me (with all of my faults and failures) and who walks with me every step of the way. Sure there are lots of things I want that I don’t have….sure there are lots of things I would change…sure there are lots of imperfections that I would love to see change…but I am so blessed. I am going to face 2011 with that in mind and just take what life throws at me and use it for HIS glory.

Maybe next time I won’t wait two months to post…but I am not making any promises!!!!

Two posts in one month????

So, wow! Two posts in one month! How is that for progress? Really what that means is that I am bored at work and so, I am going to waste some time to update you all on my “oh, so exciting” life! LOL

So we are officially done with our Football and Cheer Season! Football wasn’t quite as exciting as last year, as we didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, but the boys had a good season and we weren’t too sad to see it over. There is just a lot of drama with parents and such on that team. A lot of the boys are from broken homes and the things their parents say and do are just so sad! And of course that carries over to the kids! So, as much as I want the boys to win…I want them to learn life lessons more and sometimes that comes in the way of losing a few games!

Cheer season was really, really good! My first year coaching is under my belt and I think it went great! Tai, the head coach, did a fabulous job and I think we made a great team! She did great with all the details and logistics and I just had a ton of fun with the girls! We took first place in our competition!!!! That was so very exciting and I was so proud of the girls. Now, mind you….we only competed against one other team, but we still took first! And they had a lot of tumbling in the first part of their routine – which means lots of points, even if executed poorly – and we didn’t have any tumbling….so that is really good that we won! We had a party later that night and one of the girls was just bawling as she was leaving because she was going to miss us so much. I assured her that we would see her again next year, but she and her mom were crying as they were leaving. I guess that means we did a good job! Our goals were: to make sure the girls had fun and that they learned something. I think we accomplished both of those goals! And we learned a lot in the process too!

So, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I ran in the Turkey Trot for the third year in a row! It was warm this year, but rainy! I have never in my life voluntarily been running in the rain….so this was a first for me! BUT – I beat my own time! The first two years I did it (a 5 mile race) in about one hour and seventeen minutes. This year I did it in one hour and nine minutes! I was super excited about that great time! I hope I can beat that next year! This is really becoming a tradition that I love….I have done it by myself the past two years and I don’t mind it at all because it is great time to think and also people watch! There are lots and lots of people there. One girl wanted to be my friend and running buddy…and I actually kept up with her for the entire first mile….but then I had to slow down and let her go on! Plus, I had just downloaded some new tunes to my iPod and really wanted to listen to music instead of trying to talk, while out of breath, to a new friend. LOL She was nice, though!

We had a great time at my parents’ house with a bunch of our family. Aunt Susie was there and this was the first time I had seen her since she nearly died with a heart attack about a month ago. She told me that she doesn’t remember much, but she does remember waking up and seeing me crying and telling her that I loved her. That was scary….and I hope a big wake up call for her! It was fun to just be with family and eat and laugh and play games and watch the little ones all play together. Poor Cali…everywhere she went, she had three little mother hens right behind her, Faith, Gracie and Michaela. It was cute, but probably annoying for Cali! God sure has blessed our family this year…and every year. After we left there, we went to Scott’s mom’s house and of course , there is always drama with his family. But we still managed to have a good time. I just ignore the drama and pretend like it isn’t there! LOL His mom has said several things to me about how she wishes we could all be together and blah, blah, blah….so I just ignore it. She doesn’t understand that the drama that accompanies that just is not fun! Oh, the joys of in-laws!!!

Friday, I went shopping with Dad! I was a bit upset because our Wal-mart changed the way they do things and instead of cutting the shrink-wrap off the 5:00 AM deals at 5:00 AM, they let you grab it whenever but you couldn’t check out until 5:00 AM. So….lots of stuff that I wanted but didn’t get. However, there really wasn’t’ anything I “needed” that I didn’t get. I wasn’t very prepared and actually wasn’t in the mood at first….mostly because my body was aching all over from pushing so hard the day before for the Turkey Trot! But…I quickly got in the mood and ended up having a great time shopping on Friday – mostly by myself. I just took my time and enjoyed it! I got a lot of our shopping done, but still have a LOT to do! The kids “Santa gifts” are done. Isaac is getting a laptop (can we say spoiled) and the girls are getting the Bitty Twins American Girl Dolls (again, can we say spoiled)? Now just have to get everyone else bought for and the other little things for the kids. I like them to have a lot to open on Christmas morning! Scott gets annoyed, but I like them to each have the same amount of presents and for it to be a lot….even if I have to wrap up silly things separately! Oh…and I really like the paper I got this year. The girls talked me into buying bows this year…I HATE bows because they never stay on. Plus, Buckeye likes to try to take them off the presents. But right now I have everything wrapped that I bought for people other then my kids under the tree. So far…nothing has had to be re-wrapped. We will see how long that lasts!

Okay….here is where I could use some help! Gracie….she is four now, but she is still having temper tantrums as if she were 2 or 3. I am truly at my wits end with her! On Saturday, we were getting ready to head out and I asked her to try and go potty before we left. She proceeded to scream as if I were killing her slowly for 45 minutes. Seriously….45 minutes straight of screaming, kicking, crying, slamming doors,….full blown temper tantrum. I was a bad mommy and actually threw a plastic stool…not at anyone, just at the floor, because I was so upset and couldn’t get her to stop. That kinda scared Faith and I explained to her that my options were to hit Gracie or throw the stool and I chose to not hurt her sister. LOL After she did this for 45 minutes, she came out and got in the car and said she was ready to go. I was like, SERIOUSLY? This is an extreme example, but she does this screaming, hitting, growling thing every time she doesn’t get her way. It doesn’t always last this long, but she does it a lot. We have tried spanking, time out, taking things away, putting her in her bed and/or room, everything! I am at a loss as to what to do to stop the screaming!!! Any suggestions? We are about ready to turn her in for a newer model that doesn’t scream!!! LOL

I can’t believe that it is going to be December tomorrow! This year has truly flown right on by! I guess it is true what they say…time flies when you are having fun! I love this time of the year …. But I don’t like working this time of the year! LOL I wish I could take the whole month of December off. LOL I guess I will just have to settle for the last week!

Everyone needs to UPDATE your blogs! I miss you all!!

Hello? Testing...1-2-3

Wow. Has it really been since June that I journaled? And I didn’t even give a recap of our day traveling home?!?! Where has the time gone? And so much has happened.
Let me finish out the story with a shortened version of our trip home. We had to be up and off the ship really early on Monday morning even though our flight didn’t leave until 4:30 or something like that from Miami. We spent the whole day at the airport…shopping, eating, sleeping…and then at the last minute, our flight was delayed. We were all tired and cranky and missing our families and emotional and it wasn’t that fun of a day. To top it off, here is what I found out at the airport when I had a conversation with Scott:
Scott calls me at the airport and asks me if I am sitting down. I wasn’t, but I told him to go ahead and tell me what happened. Apparently on Friday (this was Monday), Faith Anne got into trouble at school. She was in her morning “Kid’s Club” class and she flipped the bird and said the “f” word! Yep, you read that right. So, the teacher (who is a first year teacher) goes across the hall to the Kindergarten teacher (who we know pretty well) and asks her what she is supposed to do? The K teacher tells her that she has to send her to the principal’s office. So….off to the Principal’s office goes Faith. Apparently the principal talked to her about it and filled out an incident report that she gave to Faith to bring home and have signed by a parent and returned on Monday. Well, I was on the cruise. I am the one that typically goes through their folders….Daddy didn’t do it. So, Monday rolls around and Faith had not told Scott about this….and had not shown Scott the report that was supposed to be signed. Faith goes to school and the teacher sends her to the Principal’s office to return the incident report. The principal looks at it and then looks at Faith. She asks Faith: “Did you show this to your Mommy and Daddy?” Faith says: “Yes.” Principal says: “Did you have Daddy sign this?” Faith says: “Yes.” Principal says: “Why did your Daddy print his name?” (side-note…Faith had FORGED his name by printing SCOOT BE*****) LOL Faith says: “My daddy doesn’t know cursive.” OMG. Yep, in Kindergarten, my daughter flipped the bird, said the “f” word, forged Daddy’s signature and lied. I am for sure in the running for parent of the year. So, Scott tells me this in the airport. Mind you, I am tired. I miss my kids and husband. I have had very, very little sleep. We are stranded in an airport. To say that I was upset is an understatement. And I was so embarrassed that I didn’t want to tell my aunts and cousins. I told Jodi first…and then Mom…and then Joy. Joy counseled me (because she is good at that) but then she pointed out a little fact… her children (who are older) had been to my house that weekend. ***Insert glimmer of hope**** Maybe it was Joy’s kids that told Faith to do it! I wanted to blame ANYONE but my Faith! LOL Well, it turned out that it was Faith’s idea and we had to fix it when I got home….but rest assured….that incident report will FOR SURE be a part of her scrapbook for when she graduates from high school. I don’t want to forget this! Not my proudest moment as a parent, but for sure one of the most memorable!
So, I will leave the trip home at that. There were delays and calls of trying to get different flights and sleeping in airports and dinner at Chili’s….and happy to see families, but sad that the fun was over. I will never forget that cruise as long as I live. It was MARVALOUS!!!!
So, life has obviously resumed since then! We had a good summer….didn’t really do a whole lot, but feels like it flew by for some reason. The kids keep us busy with baseball and t-ball and lots of trips to the water park. Isaac had church camp for a whole week and he loved it. He also spent a week with Jodi and Jim and he loved that. So, he had a fun summer. He is just growing up so fast!
Summer came to a screeching halt when Football and Cheer Season started in late July. I say that in jest, but our lives do tend to become consumed with Football and Cheer. Scott helps to coach Isaac’s football team and this was my first year as Assistant Coach for Faith’s cheer squad…and Gracie was one of the mascots! SO! Needless to say, we had a busy end of summer/fall. Practices start in late July and we aren’t done with cheer yet! We have our competition on November 21 and then we will be done. Football is done, though. Let me just summarize by saying this….I do these things for my kids because they want to do them and I want to be involved. As far as football goes, I realize this is pee-wee football and colleges will not look at Isaac’s pee-wee tapes to see if he is eligible for a scholarship. Some of the parents on our team….they don’t realize that. They think that Jim Tressel (OSU’s coach) is at our games scouting. And for Faith and Gracie…they like to cheer because they are loud and they get to dance. I am not out there because I want to be the best team mom ever and put everyone else down. So, that should tell you that there was lots of DRAMA this season with parents on cheer and parents on football. It really is a shame because aside from the drama, I have made some really good friends with some of the parents and I enjoy the social interaction that it brings. It also allows you to spend time with the families of the kids that your kid is becoming friends with…..or maybe you can steer them to not become friends with them! LOL Our cheer competition routine is really, really cute. The coach has done a great job with the girls this year…she handles all the “business” stuff that goes along with coaching and I just come in and have fun with the girls! It has worked out pretty well for us this year and the girls have had fun. I have actually really enjoyed coaching too, but I will be happy when it is over! It is just a long season! And then we will be on to something else, I am sure!
Here is my person-by-person recap:

Scott
He is doing really good. He changed jobs this summer. I honestly don’t remember when…I am pretty sure it was around the first of July. He was working for Time Warner Cable, but left there to go to Cincinnati Bell. He is doing the same thing – door to door sales, but with a slightly different product line. I was very scared for him to take this opportunity, but the District Manager is a guy that we go to church with and he was actually working on getting Scott to come over for a long time before we finally did it. Let me tell you, it has been a huge blessing to our family. The pay is much better and Scott is doing very well there! The pay structure is a bit different and so because he is so motivated by competition and making money, it has been good. I am very proud of him. There was a learning curve and he still gets aggravated from time to time, but it has been a good thing. I am sure, like everyone, we have had our share of ups and downs lately….we just say that we don’t always LIKE each other, but we always LOVE each other. It just seems that life gets so busy and we lose each other in the busy-ness of taking care of the kids – this was especially true during football. We rarely saw each other and so when we did, it seemed like we were always picking at each other. When we took time to slow down and spend some time together, it got better. I am sure that we are not alone and that a reminder to stop and enjoy each other will need to come again and again as we travel this road called marriage together!

Isaac
My little boy is definitely growing up very quickly! He has developed a bit of an attitude (at times) but is still my sweet boy, most of the time! He keeps me in stitches with some of the things that he comes up with! He is doing great in 4th grade. This is the year that most people have told us we would know if we made a mistake or not by starting him early. So far, he seems to be doing really, really well and I think we made the right decision. His teacher said that he is just a very happy kid and very mature for his age. She couldn’t say enough nice things about him when I went to the parent/teacher conference. Of course, that made me very proud! I think he is great, but to hear his teacher say the same was pretty nice! He tried out for a select basketball team and did not make the team. That was pretty devastating for him and Daddy, but a couple of his friends are going to be playing in the same rec league as him, so I think he will be fine. He really loves basketball, but we haven’t worked with him at all and try-outs are during football season. So, we will just have to work more on that next year. He did better at football this year, but is still just not very aggressive for his size. I told him that he is too much like me (LOL) and has a hard time turning the “mean” on for the football field. I am not sure if that is something he will ever be able to do. I guess we will see with time! However, he had fun playing and seemed to really develop some friendships this year with some good kids and that is what really matters. I already miss some of the friends that I made with the moms at football too….but not all of them! LOL Still no girlfriends for Isaac…and he doesn’t seem too interested in girls yet, so that is a good thing! I will take that as long as I can!

Faith
Well, I had her parent/teacher conference last week and so far…she has had a good year in 1st grade! It is funny because the kid that the teacher described is not the kid that lives at my house. Faith – I would sum her up in one word….drama! If you look at her wrong or say that she burped or that she said something or just do something that irritates her….she throws herself down and sobs as if you have just stabbed her in the back. EVERYTHING is to the extreme with her. But her teacher said she is very even-tempered and very encouraging and quick to respond and basically, the total opposite of what she is at home. I guess I would rather he be good there than at home, but I would seriously like that child to come and live at my house! LOL She is top in her class in reading and her writing is great….she is just doing really, really well in school! I was so happy to hear that! Again, to have a teacher confirm what you thought is always a good thing! She has two of the girls that she cheers with in her class and they are her “best friends”. They actually all seem to get along pretty good considering the amount of time they all spend together. It is neat to see how she is developing into a young lady….although there are only glimpses of that because she is still very much my little girl. She is so good at cheer that I am anxious to get her into gymnastics this winter and get working on doing flips and stuff. She has the natural “voice” (LOL) and moves of a cheerleader, so hopefully we can help her pursue that if she wants to. I can’t believe that she is 6! Time just flies by!

Gracie
Where do I begin with little Miss Gracie…or should I call her Pterodactyl? She is a difficult child, of course, because she is my third! LOL She is 4 and in preschool and just growing up way too fast! We changed her babysitter and now my friend, Tai, who is also our cheer coach and her daughter if Faith’s BFF in class, is now watching her. She does a good job with her and has 2 other little girls who are 4 that she watches. Gracie seems to really respect her and knows who is in charge! She just has a very stubborn personality and still throws temper tantrums! I don’t know what I am going to do with that child….it is a bit embarrassing. They are definitely better, but still there. For example, the other day at church she THREW herself down on the ground because she dropped her paper bag and wanted me to pick it up. I was already half-way up the stairs and was not going to turn around to pick up a bag that was right by her hand. So, we left her and she followed us all the way to the car SCREAMING the entire way. Yep, I was so proud. I just don’t know what we can do to make her stop that! She has her own sense of style and will not wear something that I like if she doesn’t like it. I mean, she is just her own little person – very head-strong. I have NO idea where she gets it from! LOL She definitely keeps us on our toes!

So, that is my quick over-view! We are all doing well. Our “new” church is still going great. Scott and I have been missing out on Praise Team quite a bit lately due to football, but we get there as often as we can. That church has just experienced a huge amount of growth over the past few years and they are feeling growing pains of trying to figure it all out. I pray that it will continue to go smoothly. So far, you can totally see God’s hand in everything and as long as they keep Him in the center, it will be fine. We have made some really good friends there – we are involved in a small group and that has been such a blessing to us! One of the biggest ways that it has blessed us is….the two ladies that are in it are into this “bulk cooking”. They cook enough meals for their families and ours once a month and we freeze all the dinners and then just pull them out and cook them. I cannot tell you how wonderful that has been. One time I took a day off work (because we cook all day for about 8 hours) and did that with them. One month I helped with some prep work in the evening before they cooked for 8 hours and then this past month, one of them just did it all by herself. It is amazing and so much cheaper! They are big “couponers” and so that really helps. But it cost me $135 for a month’s worth of dinners and a few breakfasts and lunches. And the food is REALLY good….meatloaf, chicken alfredo, chicken gumbo, flank steak, t-bones, chicken cordon-bleu, some really, really yummy stuff! That has been a blessing…and I have learned some cooking tips! And we are eating great! LOL But seriously, the women in my small group have become good friends and that has been fun to get to know them. Scott actually went and spent a day with one of the guys too….they drove to Chicago for a Cubs game. We have really enjoyed it.

Umm….what else? I know there is so much more. OH! I went to a “Fun” party. LOL Have you ever done that? Let me tell you….I was embarrassed FOR SURE, but I did have fun! Having a few adult beverages helped the embarrassment a bit, but it was all in fun. One of the girls at work threw it and we all sure laughed at lot!

So, a few weeks ago, for my Mom’s birthday, the women in my family got together – My mom, Jodi, Janice and my two older nieces (Desmonde and Dru) and we went out for breakfast. We met at my mom’s house and then left from there. My mom and dad are pretty private people when it comes to talking about any infertility problems they had and the whole adoption process of Janice and just all of that stuff. Not like they tried to hide it, but they just are pretty private and don’t talk about it. Well, that morning, for some reason, we had a very open and real conversation about it and it was so interesting to me. I went home and was telling Scott about it and I was like, I am 34 years old and that was the first time I can ever remember hearing that story and learning those things about when my sister was adopted. And Janice shared about when she went to meet and live with her biological mom for a while. It was just such a neat time and I am so happy we had those conversations. Jodi’s blog made me think of this. Janice shared that after she went to live with her mom for a while, she found out that her mom never, ever told anyone that she had a child. Now, obviously once she met Janice, she ended up telling her other kids (Janice has older siblings) but she still never told anyone else about her. So, after lying about her for over 20 years….and then meeting her…..she still wanted to lie about her. That was the thing that made Janice realize that she didn’t want this woman to be a part of her life. It was very eye-opening to me because I could never understand why Janice couldn’t just feel wanted by my parents and that to be enough for her. And I am sure I will never understand how she feels, but for that brief moment, we were able to see into her emotions and also see my mom’s emotions about how that all played out. I am sure it was good for Janice to hear my mom say that at the time when Jan was born, my parents just went along with whatever the birth mom said because they wanted the baby so bad they were scared to mess it up. I don’t know if I am doing the whole conversation justice, but it was one of those moments that I wish I could bottle up so I could play it over again and again in my mind. And now seeing Jodi and Jim go through the wild roller-coaster that they are on, it just is neat how God’s hand is in everything. Often I think we lose sight of that because we get so wrapped up in the uncertainty and the fleetingness of this world….but He is in control and He knows what the outcome is going to be. Again, I don’t think I am doing this story justice…but it was a beautiful moment and one that I was so glad happened!

Well, if you are still with me…you must be bored! I am sure there is so much more that I could tell you, but I can’t think of it right now! I still lurk and check journals occasionally…so thanks to those who keep me occupied at work! To those that haven’t updated lately, I am bored at work…so please update! LOL

Cruise Recap - Day at Sea

Day 5 – Sunday, May 16 The fourth day of the Cruise!!!
Well, we slept in a little bit on Sunday too. But not too long because we wanted to be sure to get great sun chairs for our day of relaxing on the ship! So, we went and saved some chairs (which sounds very simple, but with me and Jodi being so stinking indecisive, it really wasn’t very simple!) and then ate breakfast. Then we headed up and enjoyed our time on the deck!!! There were times when there was a group of us laying out, but there were lots more times when there was one of us or so just laying there. Jodi went shopping, Mom was just walking around…I think we were just all enjoying our last day on the boat.

It seems that a lot of funny stuff happened that day, but I am already forgetting it! I do remember that Joy and I talked a lot and we just enjoyed that. We both decided that we missed our kids, but not enough to go home yet! HA! We also decided that we had to talk our husbands into doing a cruise at least once, however we are certain that it won’t be as much as this trip was! So, then we decided to go and do the water slide! So, Joy, Kelly, Jodi and I took off and went to the slide! Kelly is so funny….she is super skinny and cute, but she has no self-confidence. So, she didn’t want to take her swimsuit cover-up off to walk to the slide. So, Joy just told her to walk between she and I and Kelly’s butt would look great. That was hilarious.

The water slide was very fun! I forgot that the water would be salt water though. Oh, and Kelly went first and we were all cracking up laughing at her because she sat up so it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for her to get to the bottom. It was almost like it was in slow motion. While we were waiting in line, they had a “hairiest chest contest”, so that was funny to watch. There was always something going on at the Lido Deck!

We also decided (me, Joy and Kelly) that we wanted to hate Jeanna (skinny cousin) because she is so perfect, but you just can’t because she is so nice! We decided that while she was sleeping on the deck in her bikini. HA!

So, the day was spent relaxing and I absolutely loved every single minute of it! Oh! I almost forgot that Mom happened to be in the dining room when they were making ice cream sculptures. So, she brought one to me to make up for not ordering me a drink the day before at Cozumel. That was sweet of her (but I was still salty about it…Just kidding)!

After spending 6 or more hours in the sun, I decided to go read or nap someplace in the shade. So, I went to the balcony in our room and dozed for a bit. It was so nice! Then I moved inside and dozed in there for a bit (after showering). Well, I need to tell you that prior to the cruise, I think for Easter or something my mom bought me and Jodi (and her) matching pajamas and robes. Well, it was a requirement that we all have said robes on the cruise….and we all wore them while we were getting ready. So, at this point, we had all taken showers and were sporting our robes just laying around the room killing time until it was time to get ready for dinner.

Well, there was a show in the theater before dinner. Mom was planning on going. Jodi, however, thought that it was the same show we had seen already, so she had talked me and everyone else into not going. So, she was just shooting for dinner-time (8:00) to be ready. Mom was shooting for 7:00. I was also shooting for 8:00 and it doesn’t take me very long to get ready. So….the cruise director made an announcement reminding us of the show and that is when we realized that we all had different plans and that it was NOT the same show. So, all of a sudden, we were sent into warp speed mode to get ready so we didn’t miss the show. It was pretty comical because you would’ve thought that we were the ones performing (since we were all in the same robes and we were all in panic mode). Heaven forbid we miss anything on the cruise! LOL

So, we all got ready in great time and went and caught the last half of the show….and it was good! Way better than the first night!!!! I am glad we caught part of it!

So, we get to dinner….and we were the last of our group of 23 to arrive. Remember how I told you that on formal night we (Mom and Jodi and I) had tried to jazz up the seating arrangements and it didn’t work? Well, when we got to dinner…the doors hadn’t opened up yet, so the other 20 women in our party were there waiting at the doors. The “cousins” (our posse) had a plan and executed it BRILLIANTLY! We ran (or walked very fast) into the dining hall when it was time and staked the claim to our table so that the “young cousins” could all sit together. It worked out BEAUTIFULLY! And we had a BLAST at dinner that night!!!!

Let’s see. Dinner was good….we all thoroughly ENJOYED our last night of chocolate melting cake (the most delicious dessert in the whole world) and we just enjoyed the company. It was a GREAT way to end the cruise! Well, just like the other night, when we were done (or almost done), the waiters sang a song. I got all teary eyed because it was about how our bags were packed and it was time to go and I just didn’t want to go! But it was great…..and then the music picked up and they started dancing on their tables again – LOVED IT. UNTIL…..see, there was this bachelor party that had their dining table next to one of ours. Well, they had picked up two girls that night for dinner and all throughout dinner, they would chink their glasses and the girls would kiss…nice. Well, when the dancing started, the girls (or one of them) got up on their table and started dancing. The music stopped and they got her down and then the music started up again and then a guy from their party got up on the table, so the music stopped and this time…it didn’t start again. So, we all boo’d them and they left with their heads hung in shame…..too bad they ruined the great entertainment that night. But we still had a blast at dinner!!!

We got some great pictures of our group that night and then the P-A-R-T-Y started! We went up to “our band” and danced the night away! I mean….we literally danced the night away! When we got to the lounge, our band was so excited to see us (and were excited to see them) and we all were dancing and having a blast! Even Joy’s mom (the preachers’ wife) joined us! She had a hoot too! And my mom’s cousins who were with us, they danced! They were in their 50’s and had NEVER danced in their life! They were raised strict Baptist and just never did that…..so they did and they had a blast!

There were some guys there….we had a nickname for one of them, but I can’t remember what it was. But he was there with his wife, but she wouldn’t dance with him. So, he danced with anyone that he could…..and had fun getting everyone to dance with him. It was comical. He was pretty harmless even though he tried to dirty dance with my mom! Then there was this other guy who was very harmless and just enjoyed dancing…so he danced with a bunch of us too.

We danced and we danced and we danced! The band played for a long time and lots of people came in and out of the bar. One lady who was dancing with us was like….we wish we would’ve found this bar earlier…this is the most fun we have had the whole time! I was like….yes, we are a fun group! LOL We took pictures with “our band” and told them how much we enjoyed them! The guitar player had a Jesus sticker on his guitar….they were just awesome. I mean, really…really AWESOME!

So, we shut that place down and reluctantly left our band. But the night wasn’t over yet (even if it was after 1:30)! We all went up to the Lido Deck and found the ice cream machines and walked around the top deck. So, that isn’t the brightest idea with an ice cream cone. It is very windy and so the ice cream was blowing all over the place. HA! And it was raining a little bit. And I was wearing a skirt and it was very windy. LOL But we walked around the deck and laughed and took pictures and just had a ball. Then we found some chairs and sat down and started singing! We sang some Acapella songs and just cherished every minute of that evening.

Finally, when we were so tired we couldn’t hold our eyes open any longer….we went to bed. I set the alarm on my phone and it literally told me that my alarm would be going off in like 2 hours and 40 minutes or something like that. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much that last night…..but we sure didn’t care! We had a ball!!!!!

Stay tuned for my final Cruise Update. The trip home….not as much fun as the Cruise, but quite the adventure!!!!

Cruise Recap - Cozumel

Day 4 – Saturday, May 15 The third day of the Cruise!!!
So we were able to sleep in a little bit this day. And I have to be honest, I have taken too long doing these updates and I am already starting to forget stuff! So, I might leave out some very important details!

Let’s see….we got up and we did order room service for coffee, juice and croissants again. We went and ate breakfast and I guess we just got our stuff ready for our day at Cozumel. I don’t really remember what we did…oh no! I am pretty sure we just went and ate breakfast and had a slower morning getting ready to get off for the day. We got off the boat at Cozumel and BOY WAS IT EVER HOT! Oh my….I don’t know if I could put into words how incredibly hot it was! But it was pretty neat because we pulled up to our dock right next to another Carnival Cruiseship. We could see right onto their boat and ours was bigger! HA! But it was neat. Jodi, Mom and I watched us pull up from our balcony….and Mandy, Chelle and Joanne did too! Their balcony was right above ours, so we chatted and just watched how cool it was to see this big ship come into dock. Once we docked and heard the “all clear” type announcement, we hopped off the boat! We walked down the long pier to Cozumel! It was so pretty and looked just like what I thought commercialized Mexico would look like. We took some pictures at Three Amigos bar and did a little bit of browsing before we joined up with the folks for our excursion to a place called “Playa Mia”. This excursion was a bus-ride to a beach. The price (which mom bought for us…THANKS MOM!) included a Mexican Buffet, lounge chair, water fun stuff, umbrellas….and DRINKS! There were 10 of us that chose to do this excursion….Mom, Jodi and me, Mandy, Chelle and Joanne and Joy and her cousin Kelly and her mom Janet and her Aunt Betty. So, we all start following the “guide” to our bus….only SOMEHOW we got separated. Joy and I were busy taking pictures and enjoying the scenery on our way there and the moms were following us and we somehow got separated from Jodi. I was a bit panicked, but we quickly found them. LOL The bus-ride over was fun because the tour guy was a hoot. So, we get on the bus and away we go! We get to Playa Mia and we get off the bus and start our little walk back to the beach. There were cute shops on the way, but we all really wanted to see the ocean and beach, so we kept walking. We get to the sand and the beach and AHHHHH….it was heaven! We found 10 chairs together and I immediately know that we need umbrellas because it was H-O-T. So, I go off with the little dude to get our umbrellas….only to find out that I wasn’t able to get enough for everyone, they would only give me two. So, I head back to where I had left everyone and proceed to have the little service guy put our umbrellas up. Then, they all wanted to move our location, so they start moving and I have to move the umbrellas and the service guy ditched me at that point. I guess he didn’t want to put the umbrellas up again. Now, it was a great idea to move spots, but I was a bit perturbed at first because I was fooling with the blasted umbrellas. So, we get to our new spot and I am trying to put the umbrellas back up and it isn’t working and I am hot and perturbed and then the drink guy comes and brings everyone (BUT ME) a drink. I was really perturbed at this point. Here I was trying to get everyone taken care of with the dumb umbrellas and they all ordered drinks but no one ordered one for me, the umbrella girl. HA. Funny how looking back on it now, why would they have ordered me a drink? They were just trying to enjoy themselves and here I was trying to take care of everyone and I didn’t have to do that! LOL Oh well, I was salty just until I got my drink….LOL Then I was fine! It was all about the margarita, you know. LOL So, we got all set up (the service guy did come back and do our umbrellas again) and we headed off to eat. I was a bit disappointed with the Mexican Buffet because I was expecting super yummy authentic Mexican food and it was really just like anything you would find here at our local “authentic” Mexican restaurants. But it was food…and it hit the spot.

After eating, and I am sure some more drinks, we headedoff to the ocean. Mom got us some great rafts and we enjoyed laying on our rafts (drinks in hand) and laughing and talking. For some reason, we kept drifting on our rafts over towards this rope and on the other side of the rope is where these boats were coming in. So, Joy was the designated swimmer and she would pull us over away from the rope. It was quite comical because we kept drifting. Then Joy and I had the bright idea to both get on my raft together and after several attempts and nearly going potty in our suits because we were laughing so hard, we gave up on that.

It was so nice and so relaxing and so fun to just be in the ocean! I think Jodi was annoyed with me and Joy because we kept laughing and she was trying to nap. Also, you know that Jodi likes to have her own space….it was so funny when Joy’s mom just grabbed a hold of Jodi’s foot because she was scared to float too far away. She actually (we didn’t know this at the time) is very afraid of water but didn’t want to miss out on the fun, so she joined us. Anyways…..Jodi did really good at tolerating that, but inside I am sure she was like…get off me! LOL It was just so much fun!!!!

We came in and used our rafts on our chairs (which was an awesome idea) and enjoyed laying on the beach. It was so beautiful! I ended up dozing for a bit and our mother (Jodi and I both fell asleep) had the service guys put more umbrellas up while we were asleep so we wouldn’t burn….that was awfully nice of her! We woke up from our siesta (ha! Appropriate since we were in Mexico!) and Jodi and I went and got “henna-like” tattoos. We got them on our feet and I have to tell you….I LOVED it and really, really, really want to get a tattoo on my foot now! Anyways, we did that and then we went to sit back down for a bit….and then….

Kelly (Joy’s cousin) really wanted to go parasailing. The price that was listed was $60 a person. Well, when we first got there, they told her they could do it for $50 a person if the three of us did it. Well, we were in Mexico, right? So I told Joy and Kelly that we should go back down there and only take $40 each with us. We did and we got there and I did the talking and asked the guy what his lowest price was. He said it was $50 a person. I said, we will do it for $40 a person. He said no. So, Kelly had decided that she was going to do it no matter what, but Joy and I were not. So, she started asking us for money so she could do it for $50. We started to give her money and walk off and the guy suddenly changed his mind and we did it for $40 a person! WOOHOO! Now, if you know me at all, that is a big deal for me….I am never that assertive!

Okay. So, we walk down the pier to this little tiny boat with four Mexican guys on it. We get on the boat and they don’t speak hardly any English….so who knows what they were saying about us. But they get us all suited up and we get ready to go up and let me just tell you….It was AWESOME! We are all three together…I was in the front….Joy was on my back (behind me) and then Kelly was behind her. So, we go up off the boat (we do not get wet) and go high in the sky and it was so beautiful! It was like the second part of my skydive, once the chute was drawn….only longer. The view was spectacular! The water was so many different shades of blue….we could see the entire island….we could see our cruise ship….and all the adobe huts…..and the beach….it was so gorgeous! I LOVED every second of it….Joy and Kelly….not so much. Joy’s harness (that was supposed to be around her legs) wasn’t very secure and ended up around her waist. She was never afraid that she was going to fall because she was securely harnessed, but the harness just wasn’t staying in the right place. So, she was worried and tense because of that. And I am not sure if Kelly just had motion sickness or what, but they were both a little green around the gill by the time we landed back on the boat. Again, you don’t get wet. Very neat. So, we get on the boat and Joy and Kelly are both super pale and not feeling well. I was alright, but I was feeling a little bit queasy. But that was because here we are in the middle of an ocean on a tiny little boat and the boat is just rocking on these huge waves. Well, our rope from the chute somehow got wrapped around the motor when we came in, so one of the guys had to dive in the water to unwrap it. So, we had to sit there rocking the waves while he did that. So, finally we start moving and get back to the dock. We get out and the guys are all talking in Spanish and then they try to offer us a ride back to our cruise ship (on the boat) and we say no and keep walking. Well, Joy knew enough Spanish to know that they said something about “the pretty one”. Come to find out, when they were putting Kelly’s harness on….the guy pretty much fondled her! GROSS! She is very cute and very little….and so, Joy and I were a bit offended that we weren’t “the pretty one”, but it just gave us one more thing to laugh about from our trip!

So, after we got back from parasailing, it was just about time to get back on our bus. We packed up our stuff and went shopping at the little shops they had there. This one guy from a jewelry store called me into his store for “a free gift”. When I went inside, he offered me a free shot of tequila. I looked at him and told him that I had just gone parasailing and the last thing I needed was a shot of tequila. LOL We bought some souvenirs and then got on the bus. I will let Mandy tell you about their experience with the bus ride and their mom.

When we got back to the main area, we spent the next several hours shopping and enjoying the beautiful scenery there at Cozumel. OH! And I also bought a pop which was heavenly since I didn’t have any pop on the cruise. It is the simple things in life!!!! We had fun shopping and buying cheap gifts and great jewelry for ourselves and just enjoying the evening there. Finally we decided to get back to the cruise ship. So, we walked down the long pier again and back to “Destiny”!

After being so hot and so yucky all day….we all couldn’t wait to get in the shower! So, I took a quick shower and a quick get ready and then headed up to the Lido Deck because our band was playing there that night. I found my way there and looked for others from our group, but I didn’t see anyone. So, I got a piece of pizza (loved that 24 hour buffet) and sat down on a lounge chair and enjoyed listening to “our band”. I was by myself for awhile (it is so fun to people watch on a cruise) and then Mandie and Amanda happened along. We chatted for a bit and then I decided to go see if I could find anyone else. Well, I went to the karaoke bar and there was a bunch of our group! I kinda forgot about it…but I guess I sang a song then too. I sang Independence Day. I missed Mandy and Chelle singing. So, we hung out there a bit and then we all went and hit the Midnight Mexican Buffet! That was very yummy and the company was great! I went out and listened to our band some more and watched the crowd get a little crazy. Then I went back in and joined the rest of the ladies and we (the younger generation) sat and talked for a long, long time. We laughed and talked and just had a great time enjoying each other’s company!

So, when we all decided to go to bed, Jeanna’s room was on our same floor, so Jeanna, Jodi and I got to our floor and there was this woman standing in front of this door. Now, some of the room doors were decorated for special events or what-not and this door looked like it has been toilet-papered, but it looked that way the whole time. So, this woman was short and older and we had seen her earlier with a group of people dancing to “our band”. So, she is standing there in front of this door just looking at it. So, we ask her if she is alright and she keeps saying she is looking for her room….”D”…..her room “D”. Well, rooms are numbers and they are not on your sign and sail (or door key) card. The only thing on there is the letter that corresponds to your “muster station” or the place you would go in case of an emergency. So, when she says she is looking for “D”, that really doesn’t mean anything. So, I explain to her that “D” is her muster station, not her room number. She was so confused. Jeanna was so sweet and put her arm around her and I was just annoyed and told her she needed to go to the front desk and ask for help. Jeanna offered to walk her down there and she said no, she would be alright. She could go there by herself. So, she takes off down the hall saying “D” over and over again. We about died laughing. Poor soul. We don’t know how she got “home” that night, but we saw her the next day and she looked no more worse for the wear!

We went to bed that night…tired and sun-burnt, but with big smiles of another wonderful day on Destiny in our hearts!!!!

Stay tuned for our last day on the ship….It was a DOOZY!!!!

Another Cruise Update!!!!

Here is my next update! I am already starting to forget the details...I better hurry up and finish this before I forget everything!!! LOL

Day 3 – Friday, May 14 The second day of the Cruise!!!

Jodi hopped out of bed at 6:00 something in the morning (CRAZY GIRL) with her binoculars to go out on the deck and watch us pull into Key West. Once she was up, we were all awake because none of us wanted to miss one thing! So, we opened up the curtains and enjoyed looking out our window at the island of Key West. It was cool because there was a Royal Caribbean ship docked on the island too and there were little boats beside them (like, the kind of boats that you would own) so it gave you an idea of just how big these cruise ships are. At one point, Jodi was laughing at me because I was like…Oh! What are they doing? I thought perhaps it was pirates (NOT REALLY) because the little boat got close and then a few guys jumped onto the big boat….they were helping to secure it. What a hoot. It was neat to see the difference in size.

Mom called and ordered us room service so we ate some fruit and croissants while we got ready for the day. Jodi and I were ready before Mom, so we went up to the Lido deck and ate breakfast and then found our way off the ship! We got off and boarded a trolley that took us into Key West! This was my second trip there, but it felt like my first because I saw some things I didn’t see last time and I also saw some of the same things but didn’t know how to find my way around! LOL Mom met up with us pretty much as soon as we got there and we started shopping and looking for Margaritaville! I mean, you have to go to Margaritaville if you are going to Key West….that and have a piece of Key Lime Pie! We actually did both! We found a quaint little Key Lime Pie Shop and we split a piece….none of us really liked it, but we had to have it!

We had so much fun shopping at this one store, especially. It was called “Yours and Mayan” and they had the most beautiful beaded jewelry! I could’ve spent a fortune in there, instead I just spent a small fortune! LOL There were just lots of neat little shops and things to see. We found Mandie and Amanda and they joined us on the last leg of our journey to find Margaritaville. We all enjoyed a yummy Margarita there and then got some souvenirs. Mom decided to head back to the cruise ship to save us some lawn chairs on the lido deck while Jodi and I finished shopping. We finally hopped on one of the last trolleys to the boat. I was in line waiting for Jodi and thought that I would not get on without her because it would be one thing to be stranded in Key West with her and an entirely other thing to be stranded by yourself! In reality, we had PLENTY of time…but I was just thinking about all the “what-if” scenarios. We got on the trolley with this group of high school boys, or actually recent high school graduates. There was a party of about 35 kids on the ship for their senior trip. They were funny because they made fun of the girls on their trip and just listening to them talk was funny. Thankfully, we did not see them the rest of the trip. LOL

Anyways, Key West was wonderful. I wish we could’ve stayed there longer. There was this really neat jewelry and clothing shop that I went to the last time I was there, but I couldn’t find it this time. Funny thing happened..there was one of those living statues (people who pose like statues) and we saw him when we were all together. Well, when we split up and I was walking back to the trolley stop to save our place in line, I was on my cell phone talking to a friend at home. Well, I walked right by him and he yelled at me when I was in front of him to get off the phone because I was on vacation. I about died….I nearly dropped my phone he startled me so much! That was a hoot!

So, we got back on the ship and changed into our swimsuits and went to find where Mom had saved us seats. She chose the loudest spot (LOL) but also the best people-watching spot! At this point, I started feeling bad because we couldn’t save enough chairs for everyone. Mom told me that my Dad worries about this all the time when they are cruising with the group too. So, I had a hard time with that because I wanted to be able to take care of everyone, but I just couldn’t. And that is hard for me. So, I had a hard time relaxing. Then we had some chairs open up next to us right as Mandie and Amanda walked up…so I was able to take care of them. LOL And then Jodi and Mom were leaving right at the time that Kelly and Joy were looking for a spot, so I was able to take care of them. LOL I realized that I was getting a bit burnt, so I went and read a book on our balcony and dozed in the shade. It was just a nice and peaceful afternoon. Then it was time to get ready for formal night!

Formal night on the cruise is the night that nearly everyone dresses up fancy! Mom, Jodi and I got all gussied up and we went down to the Main Atrium. We had made plans to have the entire group meet there for a group picture. Since we were early (SHOCKER), we posed for like a million pictures. They have all these different “photo stations” set up with different backgrounds and so we stopped at all of them, I think! It was funny because the photographers kept calling us sisters…..Mom was eating that up! I don’t think we planned it, but Jodi and I were both wearing black and Mom was wearing red, so we got some really good pictures! It was fun…I felt like we should be hearing Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi song while we were posing. LOL So, the entire group showed up (all 23 of us ladies) for our group picture. There was a little bit of drama with that (go figure…with a group of 23 ladies there was drama, right?) but we got a good group picture and went into dinner! Mom, Jodi and I were trying to jazz up the seating arrangements for dinner, but our attempt failed. Although, we did get to sit at a different table and had a lovely dinner again. The food was delicious (of course) and the dessert was amazing! The after dinner music was wonderful. The waitstaff sang to us again. I am such a dork, I actually got all teary when they sang that night. It was just such a magical experience – being on this dream vacation with all of these ladies.

After dinner, we went to a show that night. They had a “Las Vegas-Style” show in the main theater, so we all went to that. It was a little weird, but still a pretty good show. Something about a big couch and Paris and the couch talked….just a little bit odd. The highlight of the show, well there were three highlights for me. First, Chelle spilled her drink. That was funny to me for some reason. (Sorry George…neither Mandy nor I were about to share ours with her because they were so yummy!) And then the guys in the show came out to do YMCA and one was scantily clad and it was fun to hear my mom and the Aunts hoop and holler about that. The third highlight…I was sitting next to Joy’s mom and Joy was whooping about something in the show and her mom leans over and commented on how loud Joy was since she had had so much to drink. I leaned back over and said, she hasn’t had anything to drink…that’s just Joy! She lives up to her name! It was funny. Joy’s mom was so stinking cute and sweet. I am not sure that she knew how to take our little group, but she was a trooper!

So, we left there and went to check out what was happening at our “bar”. I don’t know if we even went into the karaoke lounge that night….maybe it was a comedian or something instead. But we found “our band” again and had yet another evening of dancing and closing the place down. That night they went on really long because there was another group there enjoying them. They were more rockers then we were, so they requested Free Bird and some other “rocky-type” songs. But let me tell you, that band is AMAZING! We loved every minute of it and danced our butts off again! What a riot!!!! I think the drummer actually broke his cymbal at one point because they were jamming so much. LOVED IT.

We left there and went to our room. We were pleasantly surprised to have received a lovely treat in our room! Since Mom was a VIP, she had a nice photo frame as a gift and we had a plate of yummy treats with Good Night written in chocolate. It was very cool and a nice surprise! We took our showers and finally went to sleep during the wee hours of the morning! It was another day in paradise and another day where I don’t know how we could’ve crammed more into it if we had tried!

I love vacation!!!!

Cruise Recap - Day 2

Here is my next recap!!!!

Day 2 – Thursday, May 13 The first day of the Cruise!!!
Since our flight left Dayton at 5:45 AM, it was an EARLY morning! I got up and got ready and went to pick up Joy at her house and then we went to my parents’ house. My dad was our chauffer for the trip. We all loaded into his truck and off we went to the airport. Note here…I was pleasantly surprised that not only were Mom and Jodi ready on time, but they were also both in good moods! That is saying a lot since they are not morning people! Yeah Jodi and Mom!!!

We got to the airport and dad dropped us off (breathing a sigh of relief, I am sure) and we went in. We didn’t know it then, but we were the last ones to arrive! How crazy is that since I am the only one used to that early morning hour and I am usually the first to arrive anywhere?!?! LOL I guess we were all pretty excited about this trip!

A very nice lady at the Delta counter helped us immediately (we must’ve looked like we needed it) and we were on our way! We met up with the rest of the group at our Gate. Thank goodness we had our own semi-private area to wait. We might’ve gotten on the nerves of the other passengers. (Or maybe we did anyways? LOL) After some great pictures and my mom handing out our “magic wands” for anything that annoyed us or wasn’t going our way…we were on our first little plane to Detroit.

The flight was fine and we arrived in Detroit with no problems. We all were hungry, so we kinda split up and did our own thing for breakfast. Joy and I opted for a sit-down breakfast at Max & Ermas’. It was yummy! We then headed to our gate and got off with…oh wait, PROBLEMS! We boarded the plane just fine. But then we didn’t take-off right away. In fact, we sat on the plane for a long time. There were storms and such, so we had to wait for a good time to take off. Mom was panicking a little bit….well, not so much panicking as getting upset because this just meant less time on the boat. So, we took off and ended up landing in Miami later then expected, but still in PLENTY of time!

We get off the plane in Miami and head on our way! We found the people holding the Carnival Signs….and one older man who told us that someone’s Mama was looking for us. That was so cute. Joy’s mom had flown from her home in Iowa and the first time they saw eachother was in the airport at Miami. They were both pretty excited!

After retrieving our luggage and boarding a bus to the boat….we were so stinking excited! I remember seeing the ship for the first time and commenting that it was OUR turn to take pictures and get on the big boat! Mandy said, yes…it is our turn to annoy others with our pictures. You aren’t annoyed, right? Well, even if you are..don’t tell me. LOL I don’t really care. Kidding….kinda.

So, we get to the dock (and really, I mean building next to the huge ship). This was my mom’s 10th cruise with Carnival, so she was a VIP. We weren’t sure what that meant, but we quickly found out. We didn’t have to wait in line at all and we went to a little reception room (hoity-toity) to get registered or whatever it is called. We got our sign-n-sail cards (the room key and the way you pay for everything on the cruise) and were on our way!

We were marveling and oohing and ahhing over every little thing on our way to get on the ship…and then we where there! It was beautiful! When you get on, you are in the main atrium and it is like a grand entrance to a very nice hotel. I was immediately surprised that the boat wasn’t nearly as wide as I thought it would be. I mean, we walked on and I could see right across to the other side. Now, mind you, it is HUGE. But that was just my first thought. We got in the atrium and decided to wait to watch everyone else get on before we ventured to our room.

Immediately there was a bar-maid with a tray of umbrella drinks and Mom bought Jodi and me our first drinks on the cruise! LOL We wanted to have them in hand when everyone else boarded! Plus, I think it was my mom’s way of telling us it was okay that we drank in front of her. Neither Jodi nor I have ever drank alcohol in front of our mother. What Mom didn’t know is that this drink was delicious….but VERY, VERY strong! And we hadn’t eaten for quite a few hours. LOL After everyone else boarded, we all went our separate ways to our rooms.

Our room was awesome. I mean, they are very small on cruise ships, but it was so nice! It had two twin beds and a Murphy bed type thing. It went up into the ceiling and they bring it down at night. We had a balcony and the view was incredible. We dropped our stuff and immediately went exploring! We found the Lido deck and sat and enjoyed our drinks (well, kinda because we were feeling a bit tipsy. LOL) and then we had a little bite to eat before we took off to explore the rest of the ship!

Okay, let me explain to those who have not been on a cruise what the Lido deck is. This is the place to be. LOL This is where the pools (salt water filled) and hot tubs are. This is also where there were like 6 or 7 buffet lines and about 6 soft-serve icecream machines. There were 3 or 4 bars and lots of bathrooms and tables and indoor seating and outdoor seating and a water slide and just lots and lots of things here. They have a pizza buffet, a New York Deli line and lots of other things. This is where we ate nearly every meal except dinner. Lots to see and do….and lots of great people-watching opportunities!

So, after we explored the entire ship, we went back to our room to get ready for dinner. We all got spiffied up and headed off to find our dining room. Now, let me insert here that we were all tired and excited and hot and everything all rolled into one. Mom and I took off to find our dining room and Jodi stayed behind to finish getting ready. Well, Mom wanted to try some perfume, so we went to the perfume store and then got lost trying to find our dining room. We finally found it and sat down and Jodi got there right after. LOL She didn’t have any problems finding it. Just a note…Mom and I had problems finding it EVERY NIGHT. LOL

Dinner…WOW. We had the best seats in the whole house. Our group of 23 women (I know, isn’t that cool) had three tables right in the middle of the dining room. Seriously, the best seats in the house. So, they treat you like absolute ROYALTY on the cruise. They put your napkins on your lap for you and just cater to your every whim. After looking at the menu, and following my mom’s advice, I ordered two appetizers (she ordered 3) and then a dinner and an extra dinner to share with her. I wanted to try tilapia (yuck) and this is the time to do it since you can order whatever you want and it is all included in what you have already paid for! Dinner was delicious! We had fun talking and laughing and just enjoying every minute of it! Dessert was DIVINE. Now, I remind you that this is my mom’s 10th cruise with carnival and for the past 10 years we have heard about this great dessert called Chocolate Melting Cake. So, of course that is what we got for dessert…Mickey Mouse Style. What is this slice of heaven, you ask? They bring you this sinful bowl of hot chocolate cake and then two smaller bowls of vanilla icecream and it is DIVINE. There is really no other word to describe it. I am sure it will be in heaven for you to try there if not before!!! So, as we are enjoying this taste of heaven, the maitre’ d introduces himself and then the best part (so far) happens. The waiters start singing and dancing….it was AWESOME. They had these little platform spread throughout the dining room to store the menus and stuff in and to put the trays on to serve from….well, they are also dancing platforms! That was a hoot! We all loved it! Marella, one of my mom’s cousins that we were sitting with, was a particular hoot and was fanning herself because she said she was getting hot from the waiter who was dancing by her. She chose her seat differently the next night to be closer to him. LOL

So we left there and went to the 5th Floor. This is where a lot of the entertainment was. There was a casino, shopping, a piano bar, a sports bar, a karaoke bar, a bar with a live band, a dance bar (like hip-hop or something), an internet café (LOL), a library, a cigar bar, and who knows what I am missing. But you get the point….there was A LOT of different things to do on that floor. We went to the karaoke bar first and what a hoot that was!!!! We got there and got books and Mandy put us all down to sing “Goodbye Earl” by the Dixie Chicks….I put in to sing “Killing Me Softly” by the Fugees and Mandy put in to sing “Something about Elvis” (or something like that) by Patty Loveless. Well, we quickly figured out that the person in charge of the karaoke was the world’s biggest dork with no personality. I mean, seriously….Ines was her name and bless her heart, she needed a behind-the-scenes type job…we think she was related to the captain! Remember that dorky guy in “Dirty Dancing”….the grandson guy…yep, that was Ines. She also couldn’t sing, but thought she could. LOL Anyways, there were some good and some not-so-good singers while we waited our turn. Meanwhile, the “older” ladies we were cruising with also came to the karaoke bar, but didn’t sit with us. They were a riot. Well, it was our turn and so Jeanna, Chelle, Mandy and I (at least, I think that is who went up there) got up and sang Goodbye Earl. Since we were on a cruise with 23 ladies, we had a good cheering section (HA) and it is a fun song, so everyone cheered us on. Well, just as we went to sit down, Ines called my name and at this point…this is what I am thinking….”I am about the whitest girl in here getting ready to sing a song with soul in a room full of soul sisters. What am I doing?” LOL But at that point, what have I got to lose?!??! So, I sing my song and had so much fun with everyone doing the “1 time, 2 time” and “go on girl” stuff. Then Mandy sang her song and ROCKED IT! She is amazing….and it was pretty ironic that she sang a song about Elvis because the next guy sang “Teddy Bear” by Elvis. This is the funniest part….he had a great voice, but didn’t look a stitch like Elvis. He was pudgy and bald. Well, Mom and her cousins all got out their magic wands and tried to use them to make him LOOK as much like Elvis as he sounded like him. LOL It didn’t work. LOL But it was fun!!!

So, some of our group went to bed (party poopers) and the rest of us made our exit from the Karaoke bar when a few of the ladies got out of hand with their song and actually, Ines started to sing again. This was AFTER we had done the Conga Line around the bar (started by Joy) and laughed our butts off. So, we looked in at the piano bar, but it was really smokey in there, so we opted to not stay there.

We went over to the bar with a live band….and it was love at first sight. First of all, this place was decorated so COOL! It was dark, but had these cool lights on the ceiling that were huge music notes. There was a huge trumpet on one wall and the tables had legs that were also instruments. It was just really, really cool. And the band. Wow. What do I say….the band was simply AWESOME! It was a group of guys (I think they were Filipino) and they were amazing! The lead singer was the drummer…..they sang covers from all genre’s. Anyhow, we went in and were up dancing almost immediately. I don’t even think I can do justice to how much we loved this band…..and this band loved us. Have you ever been to a party or a club and seen a group of girls dancing and they look so sexy and sultry and every guy wants to be with them? Well, that is precisely what we were…….NOT! We were that group of ladies that you see that you wonder, umm…do they think they can dance? Then you realize….they are having a ball and I want to be with them! That is what we were! We danced and we whooped and we hollered and we just had an awesome time. The drummer would say “Ladies” and point his drum stick at me….although everyone else thinks he was pointing at them. Anyways, he would ask us to dance and sing songs just so we would dance to them. This was night one of our love affair with Music Network, the greatest live band on Carnival Destiny EVER! We literally shut the place down that night (at almost 2:00 in the morning) and then headed back to our rooms.

When Mom, Jodi and I got to our room, we were so giddy and just talked for a bit while we all got ready for bed. Oh, and of course we had a “towel creature” in our room and chocolate mints on our beds. It was HEAVEN! We fell asleep still smiling from our first “day” on the boat!

Tomorrow is KEY WEST!!!! Stay tuned!!!!