Anniversary Trip Part 2

Day 5

We were supposed to port in Honduras on this day, but the captain couldn't because it was too windy. We were so close and it looked beautiful. There was green everywhere with tons of mountains. I want to go back someday! So we headed towards Costa Maya and we had an extra day at sea. I soaked up the sun and Justin played some dodge ball and basketball.

Day 6
Costa Maya Mexico
So we woke up early Thursday and we were SO ready to get off the boat...it was raining :( We were bummed at first but we didn't realize it was before 6 a.m. local time and we were assured this was normal and it would burn off. So we braved the rain and got off the boat. We had debated on doing an excursion since we didn't port the day before but we never did. The port in Costa Maya was very big and there were the usual shops. There was a really neat restaurant where you could sit in the water at tables and eat and swim around. It looked neat but it was so early we didn't attempt it. We walked around and decided to see what there was to do. From the ship you could tell this was very un-populated. To the right of the port here was NOTHING, I'm talking nothing but beaches and trees. To the left you saw very few beaches, we knew we needed to do something! We ventured to the edge of the port and of course locals were offering beach breaks and transportation. We noticed a group of people dealing with them and asked what they were doing...and the day began! We joined this group of 13 people and ended up getting a beach break excursion for around $25.00 a person! When we got to the beach, it was beautiful...it rained a little bit but not too bad. There was some covered huts with tables and we had our own personal waiter. We had unlimited use of the kayaks too! I ended up getting a 40 minute massage for $20.00 (yes, $20!) I was sore for 3 days after, lol. We rented Jet Ski's and had a blast. Best of all we made some awesome new friends. They are from Tennessee, not too far away. They have kids around the same age as ours, we will definitely be hanging out with them again :) 

That night was the second Formal Night and our new friends invited us to sit at their table! The group was so big we ended up getting the "captain's table" It was huge!

Captains Table

We had such an awesome time on our Cruise, there is nothing like being away with your love for a whole week, by yourselves. 

End of the semester...and a new project visual:)

I've been MIA lately because school has overtaken me. I tried to stay on schedule as much as possible, but because of our vacation I got a tad behind. So I've been catching up the last two weeks so I could finish the semester. I finished my Soc 101 class with an A (woohoo!) and my Psych 101 exam is Tuesday night. I really enjoyed these two classes and I have learned a lot from them. I'm a little sad to leave my Psych class because my teacher was just amazing (if anyone takes Psych 101 @ SCC- Take Rushton)  Getting back into school was a change; but hard work pays off! 

Ok, enough about school, right? I'm off for an entire month and I plan on staying busy! Lanie and I have plans to make some special Christmas cookies next week and I've got a project up my sleeve, who knew. 

Our bathroom has been the same for 4 years now, and I'm just ready for a change. We have Ralph Lauren Metallic Gold walls, Green rugs, a Dark brown bookshelf and tortoise shell accents. 

*I'll add some pictures tonight*
Adding Current Pictures:

You can see my paint can on the tub-hehe

So over the next 3 weeks I plan to transform it into something a little lighter and crisper. My vision is clear in my head, but man is it hard to get it out!
Inspirations:

List of things I have to look into (so I don't forget!)

Towel Bars

Towels

Bath Rugs

Lighting Choice

Molding for Mirror

Also, I'll update with the second half of our trip soon, :)

Anniversary Trip- Carnival Dream

Wow, we had such a GREAT time last week on our cruise! We planned it in March and it was well worth the wait! If anyone is thinking about going on a cruise or trying to decide about a vacation, try a cruise out! I'll post about our ports and activities to help you decide :)

We boarded the Carnival Dream on Saturday November 19th. We arrived around 2:00 p.m. and it took us about 1 hour to go through security, get our sail-n-sign card and board. We were starving so we had our first lunch in "The Gathering"- the lunch buffet area. We walked around the ship and tried to learn where everything was ( I was still finding new places by the last day ;) ) We caught a beautiful sunset that night!

 We found the Sushi Bar on the ship and hit it up every night...it was great!

On Day 2 we were at Sea, heading to Cozumel! So there was lots of Tanning going on :)

Day 3 - Cozumel

We played Putt Putt the morning of the port

Justin and I have been to Cozumel once before on a Princess

Cruise. We rented mopeds and drove down to a beach so we decided to repeat. For $30.00 we rented a Honda moped/scooter and drove around for 1.5 hours. We made a stop at a bar/restaurant! It was beautiful, endless water and authentic Mexican food. We had Pico, taco's, salsa, chips and 2 drinks for $23.00.

After eating we continued driving seaside and even passed a HUGE lizard, it had to be 3 feet long! We eventually had to make a turn to head back to the ship...or so we thought :/ . It was very UNCLEAR on how to get back to the ports so we ended up in downtown Cozumel where NO ONE knew any English...even a public official. We were extremely nervous and wandered around for about 30 minutes until we spotted some other tourists! They waved us down and we stayed together as a group...we finally found someone to give us directions and it took about 20 minutes to get back. Luckily, no one ran out of gas...2 of the couples were in the red zone...SCARY!

When we made it back we went to drop off our Moped and the guy tried to tell us we scratched it and he wanted more money from us...UGH! Seriously?! So after 15 minutes of arguing we finally got our card back (he kept Justin's Sail-n-Sign card as collateral)

It was awful...we will not be renting those again in he future...as we got back on the boat we noticed big posters warning you about renting those things...wish I had seen them before!

Day 4 - Belize

We decided to do an excursion (through the ship) in Belize. Some people had told us that there wasn't much to do outside the port so we needed to do one. I'm SO glad we listened!

The Ship can't port on a dock in Belize so you had to take Tender Boats (15 minute ride) to get on the land. Since we did an excursion, we took a boat directly off the ship and to the snorkel site!! Talk about turquoise water, amazing!

We were about to snorkel for an our and the space was big! If you look to the far right of the water there was a brown line in the water where the reef was. On the other side of that line where the water is a navy color- It drops to 1600 ft! On our side it was 15-20 feet of beautiful reef and lobsters, sting rays and of course tons of fish!

 It was really neat, we talked to a local the 30 minute ride to the snorkel site...he told us about average income and living styles for the people of Belize. The currency exchange is 2 to 1, so 20.00 in USD is 10.00 in Belize. He makes $24,000 USD a year, so only $12,000 in Belize. He works about 1 hour from the Cruise ports and says he normally stays in the city 2 or 3 days out of the week b/c gas is $12/gallon! He says he lives comfortable but very SIMPLE compared to US people.

After the hour of snorkeling we took a 10 minute ride to a private beach for a beach break! It was beautiful..We ate a lobster tail, cole slaw, fries and a burger! The locals free dive up to 70 feet or so for these lobsters! They were amazing.

This is as we left the island...very secluded!

We got back on the boat around 12:30 and went directly on a tender boat to Belize. Every port has 'port shopping' which is pretty much the same thing everywhere.  A million "Diamond International" stores and "Del Sol" stores...along with liquor and cigar places. Belize had lots of knock-off pocketbooks and sunglasses. There were thousands of purses to choose from. We decided to go through the terminal to the market of Belize where the locals were - BAD IDEA. As soon as we went through the gate we were bombarded by people. Ugh! Now I like my personal space, and they crossed the line. We were followed by a young man trying to get us to do a horse and buggy tour. We only told him no 5 million times. I was getting really annoyed and he just kept on. After we pushed him off by trying to buy some gifts for the girls, we were offered some "green green". SERIOUSLY!? We ran back to the terminal...lol. I don't advise going out of the ports. Not worth the stress or the stares. Moral of the story : plan to spend the money on an excursion in Belize, because there is not much else to do there.

This is half of the trip..I'll make another post with the second half :)

CRUISE

So I've been so busy with preparing for our CRUISE!! 

We leave tomorrow and I have TONS to catch everyone up on when we get back! So be prepared for a whole lot of posts in a few weeks ;) 

Fried Apples Recipe!

So I'm a sucker for Fried Apples at Cracker Barrell. Ever since I was little it was my choice for a side with my meal. So when I had a few leftover apples from our Pumpkin Patch trip, I HAD to give it a shot.

This is a super easy recipe too! 

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1/4 C. Butter

1 tsp. Cinnamon

8-10 Apples, Cored

{these pictures are from my phone-Not the best, sorry!}

Slice apples, I used my Pampered Chef Apple Slicer again, from my Apple Pie Recipe :)

Melt Butter in Skillet and add Butter and Cinnamon until all melted, Add Apples and let simmer on low-medium for about 25 minutes

Add some Ice Cream if you wish---We wished ;)

Chicago

Vacation posts are always so difficult for me. I think that it is because there is so much information and so many pictures that It's hard to figure out what to say and post. I'm going to split our vacation into 2 posts so they aren't so lengthy! We had such a great time in Chicago. I try to go once a year and the perfect time to go is Fall. It's not too cold but it's chilly so you able to pull your 'winter' clothes out and enjoy them sooner than in South Carolina. We had a packed schedule! We ended up leaving Wednesday night because of the flight schedules. We use my Aunt's companion passes and that means we are on standby. The flight on Thursday were all booked and we had little choice but to leave Wednesday when there were available seats. An extra day in Chicago, okay by me! My sister and her baby Kipton and Lanie and I had a BLAST. Here are some highlights from our trip!

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Our first stop was the Museum of Science & Industry. I came here about 10 years ago and had "Breakfast with the Dinosaurs" I still remember the museum and how much fun I had. I also remember the baby section...they have a life-like baby through all stages of pregnancy so you can see how it develops. Since I'm super into pregnancy and pregnancy health and all things having to do with babies, I'm not surprised I remember it. Lanie also loved this section and had so many questions!

The place is huge, you really need 2-3 full days to appreciate the museum. Lanie loved seeing all the displays! 

We toured this Smart Home

The toddler area had a cute reading 'loft'

A huge rock climbing wall about the stock market

Can't remember exactly what this was, but awesome falling mist

Watching chickens hatch- so cool!

This tells your how old your organs and cells are in your body and when the last time

 they regenerated, very neat!

Let's not forget the food...we went to some awesome places, BUT the 2 most worth noting are Giordano's and Sprinkles!!!

Lanie playing with her new AG stuff @ Giordano's

The Lego store is in the Water Tower, it is so neat. There is a huge place where the kids can go and play with Lego's (all day if you want!) and then of course, tons of Lego kits to buy

Woody- Made COMPLETELY of Lego's!

Ok, I'll make Post 2 shortly :) 

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkins!

Well, I will never ever ever forget Lanie's first pumpkin carving memories. It was hysterical. She went through a stage where she was terrified of anything orange...the fire, a Nerf ball and unfortunately a pumpkin. 

Now don't get me wrong, she loved the idea of a pumpkin and was completely fine until:

#1 We showed her the guts:

Lanie's Second Halloween 1 year old

#2 We lit the candle:

Lanie's Third Halloween 2 years old

Totally off topic, but WOW look at how different our kitchen is!!

#3  She was fine this year (from what I can remember and documented by pictures)

Lanie's Third Halloween 3 years old

#4 And We're Back

Lanie's Fourth Halloween and Addison's Second

Lanie-4 years and Addison -1 year

Addison LOVED it!!

Look at this comparison:

LOL

I love posting about the changes in my babies, it helps me remember what they used to be like. It is so hard to forget those baby stages. God has blessed up with 2 beautiful baby girls who are very different. I'm loving every minutes of each of their lives.

Little miss brave girl

I love her sweet cheese!

Our cool pumpkin!