The end?

I've been thinking about this for a while but I haven't done anything on it. I don't think I'm going to keep the blog. I mean, it's taken me over 3 months to do our cruise and honestly I'm not even 1/2 through it.

Also.. aren't blogs like where mom's post about their kids and all the ideas they found on pinterest? 2 things I do not have. Well I've been on pinterest like twice. I just don't get it.

So....there it is.

Barbados

The next stop was Barbados. We wanted more beach time and went to the Boatyard, a recommendation from our cruise director. It was pretty close to the pier and is just part of a restaurant. The sand in Barbados is beautiful. It has almost a pink tinge to it. We didn't like being hassled to buy stuff and it was a little more 'commerical'. That being said, it was still beautiful and we had fun. We relaxed, swam, played on the toys that were in the water for us, ate, and then called it a day.

The pier is also in a very commercial area so we didn't wander around much there. That was the night we had reservations in the steak house of the ship. I went and got my hair done and John had a shave. He loved it. The restaurant was nice and of course we had a good time. The picture of the cheesecake doesn't even do it justice for how big it was. We were convinced after the other 5 courses or whatever that John could still finish it and he got about 2 bites away and quit. We were disappointed.

To reference the other pictures...we had the late dinner so we would generally get back to the ship about 3 or 4 and then we'd grab a snack which included a 'few' ice cream cones. Then we would normally wander around on deck to see what was up and watch as the boat left port.

Day 4 Sea Day

Alright, I will try and work through this some more. This is why I need to be royalty and have a biographer for me.

The next day was our only sea day. We went out fairly early so we could get chairs in the adult only section. We spent several hours out there just relaxing. Stephanie had a spa appointment at some point. We did go take naps that afternoon and then we wandered and played cards until dinner. It was the perfect day at sea.

Day 3 St. Thomas

I really need to get this cruise blog post finished before I forget what happened!

So our first stop was St. Thomas. At the suggestion of our cruise director we went to Meaghans Bay. That might be spelled wrong, but I am too tired to Google it. It was beautiful, but it's a bay so not really any waves and the beach was long but short and lots of people! I can't even imagine what it would be like with more cruise ships there.

We spent a few hours there and then went back to the main street to shop. We did try to find a Foot Locker. That was a wild goose chase and all we did was get scared and hot!

Based on the pictures that night we watched a movie on the big screen outside for a little bit. I think this was also the night that John and I went back to the piano bar till about midnight because it was a piano bar and the talent of those people amazes me!

Day 2 San Juan

Sunday morning was Mother's Day and we were in San Juan. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then gathered up our stuff and headed down to the pier. Everything we'd read said it took 45 minutes to get to the pier. So we planned on going fairly early. Well it took about 15 minutes. So we were at the pier really early.

We were debating about what to do since we had all our bags and didn't know if we wanted to drag them around. We got lucky that we didn't have to wait long and then we were able to go check in. It worked out amazing because they took our bags, we got our room keys, and then we were able to go back out and wander.

I don't know if it was because it was Mother's day or because it was Sunday but a lot of the stores were closed. So we mostly just walked around. We got to see the fort, but we didn't go in because we didn't want to pay for it. We also found a Starbucks!!

We ate at a local restaurant called the Manolin. It was pretty good. One thing I learned is that they really like plantains in San Juan! We went back to the ship about 4 and found our rooms and wandered around the boat. 

Day one and a Test

I've put it off long enough. I need to write the post about our trip. I decided to wait until I'd made our photo book because that is more important! So here it is. I'm going to probably only get one day done tonight because I've been messing around with collage programs.

So we took a cruise in May. We went with Stephanie and Bart. We left Saturday morning and flew to Miami and then to San Juan. We got to San Juan about 8:30 pm which isn't too bad and allowed us to get settled for the night. We stayed at Embassy Suites and it was so convenient; right by the airport. We didn't have any issues with cabs or anything.

It's important to note that we decided to do this whole trip with just carry on luggage. We didn't have any issues except on the first plane where our bags didn't really fit, but they fit on all the other planes, so it must have been an older plane or something.

We just went to the hotel and we ate at one of their restaurants and wandered around.

PS - thank you to Jena for helping me with a collage program (not what I used here, couldn't commit to the price tag right now) 

And then?

I looked back over my last post and tried to remember what happened from 4/20 to 5/10. I can only come up with one thing! After a check of my bank account I guess I can give a quick accounting of what happened.

I believe the weekend after Pat's Run we got the dogs groomed. We dropped them off and then met Stephanie at US Egg for breakfast!

After that we ran a few errands and then Stephanie decided to kidnap me and do some last minute cruise shopping. About 6 hours later we met the boys for dinner. We hit Chandler Fashion pretty good and hard!

The following weekend we started to cut down the tree on the side of the house. It's leaning and is right on the fence, etc. It's about 20 feet tall or so though. We only got it partly done before we decided our garbage pile was big enough and we needed to finish the rest the following month. Then we pampered ourselves a little and get pedicures before the cruise.

There were some other boring things like checking out a new gym and going to Nando's for Cinco de Mayo.

The last thing before our big cruise was that Cassadee Pope came to Tempe and did a free concert. I love the Voice and I loved Cassadee from the very beginning. So even though it was a Wednesday night I dragged Stephanie and John out there. It was a short concert but it was good and I'm looking forward to her new music.

I got a little bit recorded. There as some background noise because we were at San Felipe's eating some dinner.


http://youtu.be/_sDM5H_SrVc 

http://youtu.be/KpLO0Ho3skE

 It don't let me load the video and I don't know why but here are the links.

Pat's Run

I had signed John, Nick, and I up for Pat's Run not too long ago. It's 4.2 mile run in honor of Pat Tillman. The race finishes at the 42 yard line of Sun Devil's Stadium. This was the weekend after the Boston Marathon and they stepped up security and while I saw a lot of security we didn't encounter any issues. There was something like 28k people running the run which is actually more than the Boston Marathon.

We were on a team with some people at work and someone had told us to put our finish time at 30 min (ha ha, yeah right) but they did that so we could get an earlier corral. Somehow that put us in corral 3. That is where the good of this story ends. We didn't really know when to leave to get down there, etc. So at about 6 am on Saturday we were trying to get ready and all we had in our house was 1 banana that John and I split (this will come into play later). We headed down there and parking was crazy

 

 

We ended up parking at Tempe Marketplace and walking to the start (we clocked it on the way back and it's about 2 miles). Well, I had to go to the bathroom at this point but we were hurrying to the start line and while I was trying to keep up with John my calves cramped up. We got up to the start line and they were already on corral 9. So we didn't have time to find a bathroom and we just got in line and started running.

I would say that the first 2 miles or so went pretty well. Then my foot went numb. I had one leg wrapped because of shin splints and then a compression sleeve on the other. So we had to stop and unwrap my leg.

Shortly after this picture was taken I really started to feel the lack of food. I started to just get angry. Right after you go under the 202 there is a Denny's and I thought it smelled awful and wanted to throw up and I was just getting really hot and tired.

So we continue on and my Endomondo tells me we are at 4 miles as we're turning into the stadium parking lot so I tell myself I can handle another 3 minutes and I should be done. Well, they just sit there and wind you through the parking lot!! I knew it'd been further than .2 miles and I had to pee, I was hungry, I was hot, I was getting annoyed with the people around me and all the people who were already finished. I was ready to just quit. I was done. Nick got me to the finish line where I promptly demanded a bathroom that I almost passed out in. While I was doing that, Nick got this picture.

And remember.... we then had another 2 mile walk BACK to the car. So... it was a good run, but there were a lot of things to learn from it. We'll see if we do it again or not.

From there we went to grab some breakfast at Crackers and then home to shower and take naps! We did get to do this though:

And I had this to reward me at work:

So that is done. We did 100 miles before the cruise. Honestly, we both could have probably had it done a few weeks ago but we decided to finish it together at Pat's Run. So now that goal is reached you may ask what is my motivation now?? How about this?

A few fun side notes is that I learned how to do this:

And I now have my own currency:

Best weekend ever?

For Christmas I had decided to get Brooklynn and I tickets to Beauty and the Beast. Well, the 13th was the day! I had double booked my day so it was busy; but that also made it one of the best days!

Nick had told me that Brooklynn had been counting down and was very excited. I knew she was getting all dressed up so I figured I better put some effort into it.

Our first stop was lunch. We went to Gordon Biersch down by the theater. I thought it was a good spot because that location is pretty neat being upstairs in downtown Tempe. She did really well during lunch; ate well, behaved well, etc. I told her we were making a surprise stop after lunch and that we were going to go potty before leaving since the theater is crowded. In the bathroom she told me she needed to reapply her lipstick. The other lady in the bathroom found this entertaining. She would have reapplied her blush as well, but her mom wouldn't let her bring it.

This was reapplying our lipstick

From there we went to the Candy Addict. It's a candy store with a sorts of candy. She wanted everything Hello Kitty, noisy, and messy. We stocked up on some treats and headed to Gammage. At Gammage we went and looked at the souvenirs. We narrowed down the list from purse, shirt, crown, snow globe, and doll to just shirt and crown. Add a few drinks and a cupcake and we were set!

We had some time to kill so we went out on the patio where I was hoping she would get out all her excess energy.

We were wandering around in the bathroom (can you tell I was hoping we wouldn't have to crawl over a bunch of people in the middle of the play for a bathroom break) and I thought this would be a cute picture.

She did ok during the play. There are a few parts where it's a little slow for kids and it is a 2 1/2 hour play. I'd say she made it about 45 min into the first act before she got restless. During the intermission I told her she couldn't sit in her chair. So she walked stairs.

The second act is shorter and she did pretty good during it. She got restless quick but she was saying she was tired so I put her on my lap and we did good the rest of the time. I think her favorite parts were probably "Be Our Guest", the whole ballroom scene with the gold dress, and the end where the beast turns back into a prince. That's my guess but that is where she seemed to be really interested.

She tried to hit me up for ice cream on the way home, but I had to hurry because we had another engagement for that evening!

I had been waiting for this artist to come to Phoenix for a while. In December he announced a tour and Phoenix was his last stop! He played at the Hard Rock in downtown Phoenix. I'd never been there and it's a small venue. He is Marcus Foster. Check out his stuff on iTunes, AWESOME!

So the four of us (John and I, Stephanie, and Bart) headed down there. We were looking for dinner first and thankfully we decided to just eat at Hard Rock. There were 3 acts; Bad Lucy, Ruston Kelly, and Marcus. I liked all of them. Ruston was amazing. We all had a good time. It was a long day and a late night, but SO, SO fun.

Bad Lucy

Ruston Kelly

 Here is a video; it isn't actually anything to see, so maybe I should call it audio of Ruston.

Stephanie and I both really liked Ruston.

This is Marcus

Us with Ruston

I loved every minute of it!!!

PCH

A last minute thing came up on the 9th and I conned Nick into joining me. There was only one real downfall. We had to get up at 2:30 in the morning. We were able to volunteer for the ABC telethon for Phoenix Children's Hospital. Our shifts were 4:15-10:15. The good thing was that when we were done we got to go home for they day! It was interesting to sort of see all the behind the camera stuff for the news. Also, because it was so early, etc. but they want to make it look like calls are pouring in and we are busy we were "acting" alot and making our phones ring and pretending to answer them. I didn't find a clip where Nick and I were surprisingly interviewed....needless to say we were not expecting it.

You can sort of see the beauty queen? More on that....

What we were supposed to be doing...

What we did more

Big Red made a generous donation

Someone brought in IHOP. Nick and I were pretty sure these were the beauty queen's breakfasts.

One of the camera guys with sweet chops!

I've done this once before and I have loved it both times. I feel like it's such a worthwhile cause.

Trying

I am trying to keep up on my blog because I know if I don't things are going to get backed up quickly. So, here goes. First, this is random, but if I put it here then I will know where to find it again!

I made this the other day and I thought it was yummy! Paired with some brown rice :-)

Tour de Tempe

To cap off our crazy week we had the Tour de Tempe ride Sunday morning. We got out there early to register and get all our free stuff! Coffee, tea, banana, bagel, muffins!!!

I will say that this is a fun ride, but for some reason the fact that they advertised it as a 10 mile ride was perfectly fine with me. There ended up being 15 of us in our little group.

I know some of these people are in our group but I only recognize Mikel in the pink stripe on the left

Stephanie, John, and Brendon getting ready to ride

Ok, here you have Stephanie, Lynn, Mikel, Bart, and Lance

I had my Endomondo going but most the time when it talks to me I wouldn't hear it in time or didn't hear it at all. I started to feel like we were going further than 10 miles though.

This was our own little pit stop. You have Jane, Bart, Lynn, the two girls I don't know (Teri's peeps), Dave, Daphne, Brendon, Monica, and Lance

Got some pictures in. John, Mikel, Steph, Teri, and Bart

This was as we rode through the ASU campus. I also want to say that someone didn't plan this well. There was the festival of the arts going on down on Mill plus a triathlon on Tempe Town Lakes which we rode through all of them. I had to get a picture of this tree though because I thought it was so pretty.

I think Mikel was tired of riding too. This was on the way back and she sort of just took off!

So it ended up that the ride was more like 14 miles. My butt hurt and still does. However, when we got back by the car we saw this!

It's sort of hard to see, but it's actual LARPing!!! They were serious about it too. I had a good laugh over it. This was all that came to mind:

Alissa get your gun!

This past week was our gun safety class. So Wednesday and Thursday night I went to John's work for the class. There were about 24 of us. The bosses were really nice and brought in dinner for us and everything.

Saturday was our range time. We were split into two groups. He had us do several different exercises. We did a seated round, standing, one armed, timed, and so on. This was all with a .22 and went pretty well. Then we got into some 'races' with balloons. Then we had a sort of free for all with a variety of guns. Again we were provided with some chips, sandwiches, and cookies.

Teresa and Donna

John by one of his targets

Gene, Ken, and Donna checking out their handiwork

Adding new targets

Donna loading her magazine

One of me!

This was my untimed target

I love that revolver!

Some of the girls with their targets!

This video was really quick because I only got the last little bit on video. Gene and Ken had gotten new guns. I can't remember what they were but they blow your socks off a little when you fire it.

To finish out our Saturday we went out to Maricopa since John's parents were getting ready to head to Idaho. We went out to the casino for the seafood buffet. It's not cheap but we ended up getting a steal! If you sign up for their players card you get a free buffet, $10 per person, and we got a 12 pack of soda! So we had quite the haul.