Back From An Amazing Trip

I'm going to have to post this vacation in several posts because there is so much and I don't have a lot of time to just sit down and write everything - besides I don't want to leave anything out. So I'll start with last Friday because that is when all the fun began.

On Friday, July 24th - Mom and I left my Uncle Paul's house around 10:30am and headed down to San Deigo so we could catch our cruise ship. We managed to get down there and on the ship by 2:30. By then we were both very tired but very excited to start our cruise. Mom, of course, started to take pictures of everything - so I took a picture of her taking a picture of me while I was taking a picture of her when we first got to our room.

Afterwards Mom and I decided to go exploring the ship. We went to Tiffany's diner for lunch and both had a garden salad, and Mom had dessert after which I skipped.

Then we wandered around the decks, looking at the views of San Diego and enjoying the scenery.

There was one seagull that seemed to follow us everywhere we went, and as I've never seen one that close I took a picture.


Right before we started to sail everyone was asked to put on our lifejackets and head up to where our stations were at. We were on the top deck so we got to enjoy the fresh air while everyone else was crammed inside. Mom and I looked pretty silly with our lifejackets on - Mom fell asleep with her jacket on while we waited for the meeting to start. I guess she was really tired from being so excited about being on her first cruise. I couldn't have slept if I wanted to - those things were heavy! And very uncomfortable, glad I don't have to wear one all the time.

After the meeting was over we were free to do what we wanted. Mom and I went back to the room where she unpacked her suitcase. I decided to just live out of mine so she'd have more space for her things. We went to the dining room after that for dinner. Mom had the steak and I had the grilled chicken with vegetables. And they were good vegetables - not like the disgusting ones you get when you go out to eat. They had carrots and broccoli so it was enjoyable, even though I wasn't really hungry.

When we got back to our room after dinner we had a surprise waiting for us. Mom had a little stingray on her bed, made out of towels with her sunglasses for eyes. Mom didn't have a clue what it was and wondered what the heck was on her bed. When I told her it was a stingray she loved it. We thought it was so cute.

We went out on the deck for one last look at the ocean as the sun began to sink that night and were treated to a beautiful sunset over the water.

We watched the sun disappear and as it finally sank we saw a dark spot in the water - it breached several times and on the second time it came up I recognized it for what it was. We were watching a whale breach the surface for air. It was so cool!

After the sun went down and the air got too cold to stand in we went down to the main theater and finished the last of the "Guess that show" game then joined in for bingo. After that they had a comedian and he was very enjoyable. We went to bed after that and fell asleep with the ocean and the ship gently rocking us to sleep.

I promise I'll add more soon - but it'll have to be later this weekend, I still need to work tomorrow.

Time Won't Wait

It has been a little crazy lately, but not anything I can't handle. Last week was pretty enjoyable, except for the fact that the shots I had to get at the doctors to stop me from getting sick when Mom andI go on vacation to Mexico next week made me so sick on Wednesday that I could barely move and I didn't want to eat because I was so nauseated. I came home early from work that day and slept most of the afternoon away. Melinda and I had planned on going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead, but it turned out that it didn't work for her either so we are going Friday instead.

I did get to try out different hairstyles for the wedding though. Sue came over last Monday and we tried different ways on which we could do it and I really liked two styles a lot. The first picture is a side view of the first style and the second picture is what the back would look like, although the curls will be tighter. And I finally decided that this is the one I want to go for because it'll be easier to do with my veil.

These next two pictures I really liked as well - although the front was going to be a little bit different, so it wouldn't have the zig-zag part. But I really liked how elegant it looked, even though it was really simple.

Last Friday was Mom's birthday and we went to a Jon Schmidt concert. Mike and I had a lot of fun entertaining ourselves while waiting for the concert to start. Perhaps a little too much fun because Mom threatened to seperate us if we couldn't behave. :)

The concert was a lot of fun and Mike and I both really enjoyed it. He was skeptical when I told him it was a piano concert, but he had a good time and really liked the music. And I fell in love with Waterfall.

On Saturday Mike and I decided to do a scary movie night. I rented Friday the 13th - the newer one - and he brought Prom Night, Boogey Man 2, Boogey Man 3, and My Bloody Valentine with him. We ended up watching Friday the 13th - which scared him, Prom Night - which we both thought was dumb, When A Stranger Calls, and My Bloody Valentine. Friday the 13th was fun because Mike jumped a couple times. It made me laugh. And My Bloody Valentine was fun since we watched it in 3D after dark so things seemed to fly out of the screen. After My Bloody Valentine we decided to call it a night, it was late and we were both tired. Mike left all his movies here and told me to just add them to my collection. So I need to find time to re-alphabetize my DVD's in the CD organizers so they'll be in alphabetical order.

Sunday we went to Melinda and Brents for dinner and to do birthday for Mom. I had the giggles thanks to sharing so M&M's with Mike as well as sour cream and onion chips - apparently those two things don't mix. So I was nicknamed "The Gigglebox", Dana from Wayside Stories From Wayside School.

Monday Mike, Mom, and I went down to get our shots for traveling out of country. The receptionist there was a real winner. Mom dubbed her "The Wicked Witch of the West" while we were waiting for our turn. We were done by quarter after tweleve. I headed back home to pick Jack up from the groomers and get movie tickets for Harry Potter since Mike and I are going on a double date with Rose and her husband Chris on Thursday to see it. Then I ran down to JoAnn's because my friend Brigette had promised me she save me some boxes so I could use them for packing. I wasn't expecting a cart load of boxes, and they filled up my trunk and most of my backseat. I spent the rest of the day packing.

Today I really didn't want to go anywhere, so I stayed in my pajamas all day. I packed a bit, did some laundry, the dishes, played with Jack since he's stuck inside for a few days while the fertilizer sinks in, organized my boxes so they don't take up so much room in the spare room I'm keeping them in, and cooked my very first pot roast all by myself. I was so happy when it wasn't disgusting. I was keeping my fingers crossed until I took my first bite - but it was tender and juicy - even though it didn't have a whole lot of flavor so I had to add some salt and pepper to it once I took it out of the pot - but hey, it was edible, and that's what I cared about. Now I can add that to the list of things I know how to cook!

Mike had class tonight so he didn't get to try it but he can have some later this week. We have a wedding to go to tomorrow, Ashley Lamb's, so we will be heading down there around five or so. And since I decided to go with the curls instead of the French twist for my wedding I asked Sue if she could do a French twist for me tomorrow for Ashley's wedding, so she's coming over to help me with it. It is going to be a crazy week, but I need to try and stay on top of things, because time isn't going to wait.

Cooking Up A Storm

Well this week has been a pretty slow and rather tiring one, but crazy at times too. Work was pretty much dead most of the week so they kept sending us home, so I got to spend more time with Mike. He's almost all the way caught up on the second season of Supernatural now so that's good - almost two down and then only two more to go. We've got a little less than two months to finish getting him caught up - but I think we'll make it.

Mike wanted to try a few new dishes that I make this week. So I made homemade macaroni and cheese on Friday. He doesn't like the boxed kind, and neither do I. It tastes like it is made of fake cheese and it is really rubbery. So when I told Mike I knew how to make homemade macaroni he was really excited - and told me I'd have to show his mom how to do it. He said I couldn't just give her the receipe because she still wouldn't be able to make it. I figured I'd let him try it first to see what he thinks before I had his mom make it. He loved it, which shouldn't really surprise me. He's liked everything I've made so far - he isn't that picky. I had made lasagna early this week as well, and he loves that too - even though he's had it before.

I decided to be brave and invite his parents over for dinner and decided to make cream cheese chicken, a dish I've never attempted before. His parents accepted my invitation and I invited Melinda and Brent over as well, and they too accepted the invitation. I was a little nervous because I'd never made it before so I got started on it early thawing out the chicken and preparing the butter and italian dressing mix so I could put the chicken in the crock pot before I got ready for church.

Mike came over around 12:30 since I was starting my temple prep classes today and asked him if he'd come with me - he'd do just about anything for me so he didn't mind coming along. We had fast and testimony meeting and Mike and I both went up and beared our testimonys. Temple prep class was amazing, I haven't felt the spirit that strong in I don't even know how long! It was the most amazing feeling! We came home after temple prep class so I could finish up details on dinner. I was somewhat relieve, and I'm being honest here, to walk in the door and smell the warm scent of the chicken and when I checked it - just to be sure that the chicken on top was cooking as well I was relieved. I had doubled the amount of chicken called for because we had eight people coming for dinner and I wanted to make sure I'd have enough to feed everyone. So I was happy that the top pieces of chicken were white and not pink.

Arla and Albert arrived around quarter after five or so and Melinda and Brent weren't far behind. Dinner was served shortly after. Mom had dragged out her good china and got the rolls out of the oven while I was putting the corn into a serving dish. Everything was perfect. I was happy that it tasted just as good as when Melinda would make it for us. Albert really enjoyed it - and turned to tell my mom how much he liked it thinking that she'd made it. She explained that I'd made it so he turned around and told me.

Mike told his mom now she knew why he didn't come home for dinner anymore. She said she could think of five good reasons and four of them were on the plate in front of her. Everyone really enjoyed it - so dinner was a success. Melinda brought cupcakes for dessert so we had our choice of what flavors we'd like. I had chocolate peanut butter - but I wouldn't let Mike have both ice cream and a cupcake because his blood sugar has been really high lately. So he had some rocky road ice cream instead. I still want to try some of the blueberry lemonade cupcakes Melinda brought - but it'll have to be later.

But one thing's for sure - I'm feeling better about my cooking skills now that I've stepped out of my box and tried a few new things. It's good to know that I'll have more than five things to feed to Mike after we get married! :)