Birthday Celebrations

Today, I celebrated my 23rd birthday with family and friends. I enjoyed homemade waffles with strawberries, the beach, USA vs Japan World Cup final game (unfortunatley USA lost), ziti dinner and delicious cake. I also received many thoughtful gifts :)

a ZOO adventure

Penguins...

Tigers...

Bears...

Oh my... what a HOT day it was!

Alexander Springs

A beautiful June weekend at
Alexander Springs with great friends!
Jenn and Broc met us for a weekend filled with cooked meals over fire (well coals due to fire ban), a four hour canoe run, endless card games, dominos, s'mores, wildlife and refreshing dips in the 72 degree spring.

It was a fun and relaxing summer weekend!

Back to school!

Well, it is officially the third week into the Spring semester. It sure doesn't feel like Spring with the highs only being mid 50's. Logan and I have finally settled back into the school routine but this semester calls for alarm clocks set between 7 and 8am EVERY day of the week. We are not too excited about that, but with every passing week we are that much closer to the end of the semester.

I never got to put my goals for 2011 down on paper so I decided to do it here so I can look back come 2012 and see how I did. I know resolutions are usually the thing to do but I am not really changing anything so I decided to call them goals instead.

• Study hard and continue earning good grades
• Save money
• Get some scrapbooking done this year (none got done in 2010)
• De-clutter and get a bit more organized
• Continue working out, but bump it up a little
• Make it to church on Sundays as often as possible
• Try new things
• Visit at least one place new

So far those are the major goals and I am looking forward to all of the fun times following through with them will bring. Until next time...

Orlando Tradition

It has become somewhat of a tradition for my mom to take the family to ICE! at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando. ICE is truly an amazing exhibit which can really only be captured by walking through and taking in the craftmanship that expert ice carvers have used to transform tons (litterally) of ice into a story. Inside the event it is 9 degrees and so they equip you with a fashionable (NOT) huge blue parka, which is much needed for us Floridians. This years theme was "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and so the story goes...

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

Mom getting in on the fun!

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

Whoosh!

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

THE END

This year it was my mom, my sister and her boyfriend, Logan and his mom and I. We explored the hotel and had a great lunch, got to do a little shopping at the Florida Mall and finished the night with a delicious dinner at Bahama Breeze. Thanks Mom for a wonderful day! Sadly, the Christmas season is coming to an end but fortunatley we are heading into a new year and all of the wonderful things 2011 will bring are eagerly awaited.

Carnival Legend

Revisiting the adventures of the past week makes me appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to travel and to have such a great travel partner. A little over a week ago, Logan and I left for our first cruise together from Tampa. As we left that morning the forecast for Bradenton that night was going to be in the twenties (now that's really cold, especially for Florida). We were very much looking forward to the warm sunshine waiting for us in the Carribean but little did we know we would have to fight eighteen foot waves while voyaging south. We made it through with happy spirits, some seasick pills and the awesome movies on in our cabin. Our first port of call was Grande Cayman which we woke just in time to watch our ship drive right on by, followed by an announcement from our Captain that it was too rough to tender and we would be proceeding on to our next port with arrivial the next day. I think you could hear the entire boat sigh with dissapointment because not only were we looking forward to a new place but everyone just wanted to get off the boat. But needless to say, we made the best of it and enjoyed the ships ammentities and had an early night to bed.



Dressed up for dinner



Although at this point the trip sounds miserable, which it was slightly, we woke up to bright blue clear skys in Isla Roatan, Honduras. The ship docked at Mahogany Bay which is Carnivals new port and after exploring for a little while and enjoying some sun with a fabulous view we headed off on our first excursion which we decided to book after saving money by not visitng Grande Cayman. We took a looong but scenic bus ride up into the rain forest and were very happy to be accompanied by a friend and his new wife from Bradenton (he was on his honeymoon). We arrived in the canopy of the rain forest where we would listen to a safety briefing ("Don't be stupid") and then decend to ground via Zip Line. We covered over 2.5 km of zip line in stretches from 100ft -600ft. The speed was incredible and the views were amazing. The final zip line landed us in a national park, Gumbalimba. We then took our bus to Tambyana Beach were we enjoyed a brief snorkling adventure as the clouds rolled in. Just a side note: my mom was very excited about the fact that my brother and sister-in-law recently vacationed to Isla Roatan and rode the same ziplines we did, she thought that was pretty cool.



I couldn't Belize my eyes at our next port which we had to take a 15 minute tender from our ship to the dock. Belize, surprisingly looked a lot like Florida in vegetation until the limestone formation became visible off in the distance. Logan and I decided to book a tour through cavetubing.com (If you ever go book through them). Our tour included a VERY entertaining air-conditioned tour via bus which lead us to the national park which we would be equipped with tubes, life vest, helmet and head lamp for our excursion. We hiked for about 30 minutes through a cave while given a lesson on plants and trees native to Belize. When we reached our destination it was time for the chilly water (well it was 70 degrees). We linked together and headed for the cave. Inside the cave it was imaginably dark which was why we used our head lights but we were able to see stalagmites and stalactites, crystalized rock and even a bat. One of the best parts of booking through cavetubing.com was that we got an additional twenty minute open water tubing expereince which lead us back to the begining where we left our equipment and proceeded for a delicous meal of stewed chicken, yellow rice and coleslaw prepared by an amzing Belizian woman. After a refreshing Belikin beer we boarded the bus to head back to the port where we explored for a short while and boarded one of the last tenders for our ship.

 

We didn't think it could get any better after our last two ports but we proceeded on to Cozumel, Mexico. In Cozumel we took quick look around the port and then headed downtown where we wanted to depart for a tour of the island. We met two awesome travel mates who shared a taxi with us for the next 3.5 hours. The first stop was San Gervasio Myan Ruins which we explored for an hour. We then made our way to Coconuts bar where we had some of the most amazing views I have every seen. We had a snack and some drinks and then casually drove back to the port stopping along the way at photo op spots and the Bob Marley bar where we shared another drink with our new friends. The day was truly amazing and we could not have been more fortunate to have met such wonderful people whom we shared lots of entertaining conversation with throughout the day.

The last day of the cruise was spent at sea, with clear sunny blue skies. Logan and I went out to the pool around 9 o'clock in the morning and didn't leave until 3 in the afternoon. We played miniture golf on the top deck although it was so windy the ball never stopped rolling and relaxed watching an ice carving and eating chocolate covered fruits. Although, the cruise started out rough, we could not have asked for a better vacation and we look forward to our future travels together.

<3 I love you <3



Life Love and Laughter