Cruise: Day 2

Like I mentioned last time, Day 2 was a "Fun Day at Sea". That it was. Dac, Me, Val and Austin shared a suite... two connecting interior rooms with no clocks. I had woken up (as had Val I later learned) several times and checked my phone... 5 a.m.... 6 a.m. Finally, we came to realization that it was in fact, 9 a.m. and we'd missed half the morning already. =) Apparently, I should have read the Fun Times a little more closely.

Once we got around, we headed down to breakfast on the Lido deck. I enjoyed breakfast... it's my favorite meal of the day anyway and it was fun to have so many options. Of course, my breakfast almost always included some eggs, pancakes/french toast (or both!) and chocolate milk. I mean, that's breakfast of champs right there folks. Breakfast of champs.

After breakfast we went on the quest for lounge chairs so I could make like my pug dog and sun myself silly. Easier said than done. (Note: wake up early on sea days, grab some breakfast to go and head straight to the chairs... people are chair-savin'-beasts and it's hard to find one.) We lucked out and David and Terese had parked it up on the Sun Deck by the water slide. There was also a lone chair across from them that I snagged and David was leaving anyway so Val stole his. Dac and Austin just explored most the day and Dac read a book he downloaded off and on. I didn't get a ton of sun that day... probably due, in part, to the 100spf I was sportin'. =) Seeing how I was still recovering from flu-zilla, I tried to nap. It was just too noisy and there was too much excitement going on up there for that. I'll discuss this more in the pro's and con's of cruising post I'm likely to do. haha.

I did get in some good rest though and I read part of a People magazine and a semi-trashy but oh-so-funny book I bought. (Note: Alisha, don't buy books on vacation... you don't like to read when you're NOT on vacation. Stick to magazines... they're more your speed.)

We also talked to some nice people who were laying out beside us. People on cruises are kinda fun. You see all kinds and for the most part everyone is real nice and friendly. Later, the nice waiter man walked by and Val ordered a "Drink of the Day". It was in a whale cup, and not to be left out, I had to order one too. I think it was a Yellowbird. (Note: All in all I was fairly disappointed with the drink specials... but I did find a couple of tasty treats... I'll share those in a bit.)
I think for lunch I hit up the deli and had a wrap and something from the dessert bar and an ice cream. I'm such a child. There's just something about ice cream in a cone. =) Once I began to feel a bit burnt, we headed back to get ready for our first dinner in the dining room... it just so happened to be "cruise elegant" night. So we got all fancied up...


... tried the "Kiss On The Lips" which was quite delightful thank you very much...





...and enjoyed steak, lobster, and the like. Here's what I had:

Starter: A cream pasta with turkey on top.
Main Course: Steak, potato, onion rings.

Dessert: Warm chocolate melting cake with ice cream. (Followed by, no doubt, an ice cream cone, haha.)
After that, I can't really remember what all we did... but we did some stuff around the boat then hit the hay...Day 3 coming soon...

Cruise: Day 1

Well actually, let's back up. Dac's parents (David and Terese) are celebrating their 30th anniversary in June and they SO generously decided to take us kids (Dac, me, Austin and Valerie) with them on a cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate. =) We've been talking about it and planning it for months and it was finally here!!!!!

Unfortunately, before we even left... I got big time sick with some awful flu-type bug. It. Was. Horrible. I haven't been sick like that in years and I was even more worried sick that I'd miss the cruise we'd been anticipating for months. Yikes! The next day (Friday) I was feeling a tad better. I was still only eating crackers and Sprite, mind you, but it was definitely an improvement over the day before. I went ahead and worked half a day then headed to Derby with Val and Terese for some last minute shopping and to get our nails did. =) Yes please.

Now, we're ready for Day 1. Our flight left bright and early from Wichita and I won't even go into the mess that was the Wichita airport but thankfully we made it on the plane and after a pit stop at Atlanta, we were on our way to the boat in Jacksonville, FL.
Here we are setting sail and about to go under the bridge in Jacksonville.
For not feeling a 100%, I sure managed to slip into vacation mode pretty easily. =)
My toes in my comfy new flip flops. Love these. They're perfect for my Fliinstone feet. =)
That first evening we basically just watched dolphins swim by (be still my beating heart) and explored the ship. Here's the atrium. I have more boat pictures that will come in another post.
Val and I feeling cruisetacular after a long day of travel.

Dac and I watching the sun set on the Serenity Deck.Pretty, no?

The moon was the closest it had been in like 18 years that night... we missed it while it was still at the horizon so this is the best we could get.In all the excitement we missed our designated eating time in the main dining room. So, we ate a casual dinner on the Lido Deck... followed by duh... an ice cream cone. (Note: I have been craving ice cream non-stop ever since. I miss the 24-hour ice cream service in a big way, haha.) After more exploring, everyone pretty well hit they hay early, but Dac and I went to the Welcome Aboard show which was totally cheesy but pretty fun too. Then we went to another lounge to catch a comedy show that was pretty funny. I MAY or may not have fallen asleep at some point during that, so we headed to bed too as soon as it was over.

Our first towel animal of the trip was waiting for us when we got back that night. I got the biggest kick out of these. The "Fun Times" was also waiting for us. (Note to future cruising self: READ THIS CLOSELY. You'll learn all kinds of useful things, like, how your cell phone time will get all screwed up so when you wake up at 6 a.m., it's actually 9 a.m.)Day 2 was a Fun Day at Sea. More on that later!

Guess Who's Back

Back again... Sorry... you know everything comes to me in a song. =)

We're back!! We had a great trip to the Bahamas on this gal:
And now we're finally getting our "land legs" back. I'm going to break down the trip into several posts... but before I get started on that... I want to share a new little light of my life I picked up last weekend. A soap pump! =) It's an exciting life I live internets... and exciting life indeed.


This beaut made its home in our "master bath" (I guess you could call it that... it's the bigger of the bathrooms.) This bathroom is in desperate need of an update... but since we're up to our earlobes in our other bathroom overhaul... this one will just have to wait. (Although we did temporarily replace the faucet...as seen above... to stop the leaking.) We have big plans for it though... which include taking it back to its 1920 glory days. One project at a time I guess. Anyway...the soap pump. Isn't she purdy? Hand hygiene just got a little more exciting in the Call house.

I plan to share more house updates as we make them... but the truth is, I've been horrible about taking pictures of what we've already done so far. Hopefully I'll be better from here on out.

So... it had been YEARS since I'd gone bowling for a birthday party... but we went... and it was fun! =)

These are the birthday girls, Jana and Erika.
We went down to Ponca to eat at Napoli's first. I had the Stromboli. It was pretty good. Then we went bowling. I was a little tired and hopped up on pop so you might imagine I was a little out of control. I can't confirm nor deny that though. =)


Tabitha
Me...geez I'm ridiculous.
Kayla
Jana
Erika
Heather
Crazy fun night... topped off with ice cream. Had a blast... love these girls. It was like high school v 2.0. =) Happy birthday Jana and Erika!!!!!

Kid Friendly

I've had the total pleasure of seeing most my friends' kids lately. It's been fun! They're all so cute and at fun ages.

First off, a week or two ago, Erika sweetly invited us over for a delicious dinner. I haven't been cooking much lately so it was even more exciting. =) We had a great time and enjoyed the company. I brought ice cream and it was an apparent hit with their girls Jazzy and Jessie! These girls are sweet as can be. Jessie's still warming up to me but Jazzy always acts thrilled to see me! Sure, she acts like that with everybody, but it still makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. =)

Later in the week, we had dinner with Mark, Kayla, and Journey. After we ate, we snapped a few pictures of Mark and Journey all dressed up for the local Daddy-Daughter Dance. They looked so good and I'm sure they had a blast! I just loved J's dress!! Isn't she a doll!? =) More of these pictures will be on our photo blog in the near future.

Last week, I met up for Mexican food with Tabitha and her little Man Jonathan. TOTALLY failed and forgot to get a picture of his adorable little face though. =( He has got to be the most laid back kid I've ever met. He's fun!

Friday, Charli and I had a slumber party!! We camped in the family room (she in her super exciting princess sleeping bag, and me on the couch with no exciting sleeping bag...haha). She was SO good for me the whole time. Saturday, she went on a road trip to OKC with me to see the ol' college gang. Love those girls!

First, we hit up the donut shop (duh), then after a few pit stops, we met the girls (whom she thoroughly impressed with her awesomeness!!) and had lunch at McAllister's. Then, we watched Rango... which, honestly... I was NOT impressed with. Sure, there were some funny parts, but it was pretty dark and I didn't think it was very toddler-appropriate. Afterward, we hit up Orange Wave then headed home. It was a long day, but other than me not feeling 100%, it was a blast. I'm so glad I got to see the girls and I couldn't have asked for a better travel buddy!! =)

PS - Can NOT believe I didn't get pictures in OKC. =( Beyond sad about this.

PPS - Peety got to play with both Charli and Journey the past couple weeks and he just LOVED it. He likes to chase them around and run circles to show off. He's super good with kids and loves the company. =)

PPPS - Celebrated my friends Erika and Jana's birthdays last night... more on that (with pictures) soon!

A 'BIG' Anniversary

This past week I celebrated a very special anniversary. It marked my 4-year match with Sky - my "little" through Big Brothers/Big Sisters. =) I had known for a long time that someday I wanted to be a Big Sister. After I finally dove in and filled out the paper work and was interviewed (you know to make sure I wasn't a creeper and to see who'd be a good fit for me), I was given two folders to look through. The folders had the names of two little girls... both around 8 years old who were on the waiting list for a Big. I've heard stories of some people taking weeks to decide on a Little... but I had mine picked in less than 20 minutes.

To be honest, there were times when I doubted my ability to connect with her and make a difference. Now, I still worry about not making a big enough impact, but I have no doubts that our match really was meant to be. I'm so glad I've gotten the chance to get to know her! She's stuck with me now. =)

Let's look at some pictures back from 2007. Sky was 8, I was a newlywed, and had just started my job, oh and was living in our little rental house with "vintage" shag carpet. (I figure if I put vintage in front of it, which is certainly accurate, it makes it seem less hideous and more trendy).

The picture in this frame is from Spring Break just a couple weeks after we were matched. We made the frames (and had a mini pom pon fight) a couple months later.

So ignore my scary face and look how little Sky looks!!!!
Now, before we move on to some pictures from this week's celebration, I'd like to take the chance to talk more about Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Not only am I a Big, I'm also on the BBBS Board of Directors. I'm a big believer in the program because I have witnessed time and time again the difference it can make in a child's (and a Big's) life. I frequently hear two main questions, so I'm going to answer those here! =) If you have any other questions about how to get involved, just let me know!


1 - What do you guys do together? I think there's a lot of a concern about this... I had these same concerns. It's really been pretty easy though! We've done all sorts of things... we've gone to movies, played arcade games, gone to the park (a lot), gone out to eat, made lots of crafts, gone on a Sonic Coke date, had a slumber party, baked cookies, played lots of Guess Who, went to Exploration Place, rented movies, carved pumpkins, went to the Renaissance Festival, rode bikes, planned a meal and went grocery shopping for it, went bowling, volunteered, watched funny YouTube videos, did homework, jammed out, and the list goes on and on. BBBS suggests not spending a lot of money on outings and I've followed that. Occasionally we'll do something a little "bigger" but for the most part our time together is fairly inexpensive. By far the thing we do the most is just hang out. Sky makes herself at home at my house... most weeks she comes in, grabs herself a pop (recently I was deemed really cool b/c we happened to have Mountain Dew... haha), pets on Peety for a little bit, then does homework at our kitchen table. It's that simple.

2 - How much time does it take? Sky and I are what's considered a "community match". This means I had to commit to spending 2-4 hours with her a week and that she could come to my house and we could do things out in the community together... as opposed to just in school, but more on that in a minute. Now that we've been matched for so long, things are a little more flexible and we get together every other week. While a "Community Match" is obviously the most flexible option, it's also a more time-consuming commitment. If someone doesn't have a few hours a week, they can still participate by being in a "School-Based Match". These matches require 30 minutes a week and typically involve the Big eating lunch with the Little at school, reading with them, participating in a project, etc...

Now then, here's how we celebrated Wednesday. I knew Sky would probably have homework so I wanted to allow time for that. So, we headed to College Hill Coffee in Winfield for a snack while she finished up homework, then we played Garfield Go Fish. =) Hey, you're never to old for Go Fish.

Here you'll see ALL of Sky's matches... and my two. Yeah, she stomped me.

Here was my snack: a sugar free/caffeine free Vanilla Chi Tea and a Morning Glory muffin (kind carrot cake-ish.) Both were really good!

Here's Sky having fun and humoring me by letting me take a picture. After seeing the pictures above... can you believe how much she's grown and changed in four years!?!? Holy smokes!!

And her snack: a salty caramel cupcake with caramel filling and a tall glass of milk! She assured me it was real good too.

Happy anniversary to us! =)

PS - I want to give a shout out to Sky. She has really made some awesome improvements over the years. Her attitude is lots better, she has more confidence and it shows in how she takes care of herself, her grades are MUCH improved (she's even student of the month in science right now!!!!! YES!) and she really has a good head on her shoulders. I hope she continues to believe in herself because I know she can do anything she sets her mind to.

That's that... I'll be back soon with an update on the rest of the week's fun activities.

Party Harty!

This weekend was essentially Dac's second round of birthday celebrations! =) That's how he rolls. Friday night he worked a bit late then I made some wheat beer bread (with coke instead of beer) and some creamy wild rice soup (a la Tastefully Simple) and we just relaxed and watched "The Book of Eli"... I wasn't a big fan honestly. Of the movie I mean... the food was good... the movie... not so much. Still, it was fun to spend an evening together, obligation free.



Saturday we got up and met these guys' sweet little bitty guy. We took some pictures, got peed on a few times... you know, the usual! =) Then, we got wild and crazy and headed down to Stillwater for a day of shopping, eating, and hanging out. We got Dac some new shoes and did lots of walking around. He also go to enjoy some Aspen Coffee and we ate Wild Buffalo Wings for supper since he missed out on our last trip there. It was a fun day! =)


Today, we went to church then I had a lunch date with Kayla. =) That was fun too! Then, after some housework (why is it that it never ends?!?!?) I met my mom in Winfield to run a couple errands and of course, hit up Happy Hour at Sonic. Also fun. I did more housework and Dac and I took a walk to Braums for supper and little treat.



We've been under a Tornado watch and warning for most the day... which gets me as giddy as a kid in a candy store but all that's past us now, so I guess I need to just settle down. It's not that I like death, lost homes, damaged property, etc.. and I certainly hate the thought of people being stuck in storms... plus I worry sick about all the animals out there without a house to go in but I just LOVE storms. I can't help. I think I watched too much "Twister" as a kid or something.



In other not-important news, I have an ear ache. It feels like swimmer's ear so I got some drops last night. We'll see how it goes. =) Told you it wasn't important.



PS: I'm sorry, but I was LAME and didn't take ANY pictures of this weekend. =( FAIL. Have a great week! =)