"Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy."

Monday, October 14, 2013

3 Year Anniversary and Caribbean Cruise

This year on August 24th it was our 3 year Anniversary. We both had to work... Bummer!! So we planned that after work we would go out to dinner. Lara was such a sweetheart and said that she would watch Blake for us the WHOLE day!! Thank you again Lara. So after work we headed out to Market Street Grill. It was delicious. I have only been there once before so it was fun to go there again. As much as I love Blakelee it was nice to have a kid free date with just my husband.
Since we were unable to go somewhere fun over our actual Anniversary we planned a cruise in September. We booked a cruise that went to Grand Cayman and Cozumel through Carnival, September 21-26. 
Our families were all helping us out watching Blake while we were gone. My mom and dad had her Friday through Sunday, Lindsay and Zach had her Sunday through Tuesday, and Scott and Debbie had her Tuesday through Thursday. 
On Friday we headed to my parents house to drop her off. We had a red eye flight at 1am through Delta, so we were at my parents house in enough time to put Blake down for bed around 8pm. We hung out with my parents, then my dad took us to the airport!!!
Surprisingly I did OK leaving Blake that night. It was so routine for me. It didn't really hit me that I wasn't going to see her till we were on the plane, but by that point I was so excited I wasn't sad. I knew that she was in good hands and would be taken care of.
We made it to Florida around 9am and sat in a waiting room for about an hour for the bus to take us to the ship.
We made it on the ship around noon!! We started to explore to see what all was on board. It was so much fun walking around and finding all the fun things.
..Casino..
..Night Club..
..Swimming pool..
..Mini Golf..
We then headed to have some lunch. Every day they changed what they served. It was so nice to have something new every day.
Of course we got on our suits and hit the pool to watch us take off. It was such a nice day!! We sat out for a few hours to soak up the warm sun.
Our dinner time was at 6pm so we headed back to our room to get showered and ready. We shared our table with 2 other couples. They were so nice, so it was easy to sit with them every night. The food was amazing!!! Oh and the dessert.... Delicious!! Every single night they had their regular menu and then a menu that changed daily. That way you had the choice of something new! It was so good. Our waiter was so sweet and way nice we grew to love him.
After dinner was over we hit the casino and had good luck!! :)
..Towel Animal..
Yes we did order room service, most nights!! They didn't have much to choose from for room service but they always had sandwiches. So we would order one and watch a show in our room. 
The night really cooled off as we sat outside for a bit.
On Sunday the 22nd it was a sea day. We were beyond tired from traveling all day and taking only a little nap the day before, so we ended up sleeping in until about noon. In the rooms there is no clock and you have your phones turned off so you don't get calls or texts that will cost you. So we had no idea what time it was, plus we didn't have a window!! So by the time we woke up they were serving lunch hahah!! So we got on our swim suits and hit the buffet.  We sat outside so we could enjoy the ocean.
Next we laid out enjoying the sun.... but it was cloudy this day. Yet it was still so hot!!! I could have laid out for hours on end and loved every minute but poor Griff got fried.... So we called it good and went to hang out inside the rest of the day.
This night was formal night. It was so fun to get all dolled up to have a fancy dinner and take pictures. As we were waiting in a line to get our picture taken our captain was walking around meeting everyone. The formal nights are considered Captains Night so it was so fun to meet him!
Our bunny towel!!
After dinner we got into some more comfortable clothes and went to the casino, walked around looking at pictures, and of course hit the pizza buffet!!! They had pizza 24 hours. No we did not just have dinner then pizza right after, it was a few hours later! But I loved their pizza!!
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In the morning September 23rd (Monday) it was Grand Cayman day!!! Yay I was so excited to be there. I had never been there, Griff and my family had been so I was thrilled to see what it was all about. We woke up pretty early with a wake up call so that we could get ready and have breakfast before we had to be on shore for our excursion. We had to ride a little boat to shore because the ocean wasn't deep enough for the ship to dock. Once we were on land we had about an hour before we had to meet everyone for our shore tour. So we walked around in hopes to shop but they didn't have many shops that weren't Americanized. They had all these shops in a gate right when you got off the boat so of course most people buy all their souvenirs in those shops... but they are so over priced we were hoping to find the shops where you could bargain but they didn't have any close by us. So we just hung out until we had to meet. We were swimming with the stingrays and snorkeling today!!
We rode on a bus that took us to our boat!
Our boat took us out pretty far into the ocean while riding out we had our tour guide that explained what to do when we are with the stingrays. He was from England (I think) and was so funny. Once we were far enough out you think the water would be so deep but randomly there was a sand bar that made the water only come to your chest!! Oh and the water was warmer so it wasn't bad to just hop in.
We had to shuffle our feet in the sand just so you weren't stepping and accidentally step on a stingray, because to defend themselves they lift their stingers and you could get hurt. It was the craziest thing to feel one of them swim past you and their wings slide on your leg!!! We got the chance to hold them and pet them!!
After about an hour of being with the stingrays we got back on the boat and they took us over to some reef so that we could snorkel! It was so much fun being in the water and seeing all fun fish and plants! It was so colorful. I hope that the under water camera that we used worked and got some good pictures of snorkeling!!
We then got back on the boat and headed back to Grand Cayman. We hit some shops and got some fun pictures!! I loved Grand Cayman it was beautiful I was sad to leave but I am so glad we went there!!
We hopped on the boat and went straight up to the pool. Griff fell asleep in the hot weather and I just caught some rays. 
We headed back to our room and got all ready for dinner.
After dinner we went and walked around the ship and maybe hit the casino as well :)!! I was taught to play craps this trip and you know what... It is fun!! We hit the pizza buffet and got hot chocolate. We decided that we hadn't sat in the hot tub yet so we got on our bathing suits and went to relax.
On Tuesday the 24th it was Cozumel day!! I was stoked to say the least!! We woke up very early this day and hit the breakfast buffet. We had to meet in the comedy room with the group that was doing the same excursion as us, that way the ship could make sure we made it to the right boat. It was crazy leaving the ship this day, I felt like we were a herd of cows haha! Another Carnival cruise ship was there at the same time so we had double the people on this little dock.
We had to take a ferry ride to Playa Del Carmen, it was about a 45 minute ride, that took us just straight across the Island. We sat on the top of the boat so we could see out and feel the sun. Once we made it we took a bus ride through the Jungle to Rio Secreto Caves.
We had to gear up and shower off before we could go into the caves since the water in them was natural springs and their drinking water. We went through them with a tour guide named Alfredo!! He was awesome. As we walked through the jungle to start the caves Griff and I saw a Tarantula on the path.... Chills....!!! Griff hurried past it thinking I was right behind him, but I couldn't move I was so terrified! I stood there with tears staring to well up. There were 2 guys from our group behind me that stood and blocked the spider so I could run past it. I was so scared that the tears started to fall down my face and was feeling like a spider was one me.... So our tour guide told me they will not hurt me (in his broken English). As we were in the caves he would ask me if I wanted to see a spider, I would tell him NO!! So he led me past the spider and would show the rest of the group. But luckily it was only a grass hopper type of spider so no tarantulas were in the caves!!
 Moving on haha!!!
The caves were amazing. I was a little worried at first going down into them because I am Claustrophobic and nervous of what was in the cave but it ended up being amazing!!! We would be walking then all the sudden there would be tons of water and we would be swimming. The water was supposedly 72 degrees but lets just say I was so happy to be wearing a wet suite.
We were in the caves for a good 2-3 hours exploring. When we were done we were able to get dressed and they gave us lunch. It was amazing Mexican Food!!! 
Then we relaxed in the hammocks in the Jungle.
The bus then took us back to dock where our ferry was but we had an hour before it took off. So we walked the beach in the rain because it started to rain, it rained pretty good for a while. It did clear up and was such a beautiful day. As we were walking the beach a man came up to us to offer us a massage, we were in a hurry since by this time we had 15 mins before our ferry left. So they gave us a free 10 minute massage right on the beach. It was so relaxing hearing the ocean!!! I wish we could have gotten the hour massage.
We made it back to Cozumel and got back on the ship.
What a beautiful day!!!! I loved Cozumel it was so pretty and  had some awesome shops. I want to go back!!
We made it back on the ship around 6:30 which means we missed dinner. So we went to the buffet to eat instead. Then hit the hot tub.
We got ready for the night. We made it to one of there shows called Love and Marriage!! It was so funny, they brought married couples on the stage and would ask them questions and see if their answerer's matched. Loved it!! They were having a late night Mexican buffet and line dancing. It was so fun to join in!!!
On Wednesday the 25th it was a sea day so we decided that we would head to breakfast at the diner. It was delicious. I love breakfast and to have it cooked right for you... My favorite!!
..My virgin smoothie..
We decided to go play some games at the casino then I headed to the pool to catch a few last rays of sun before our trip came to an end. It was so hot this day. They said it was only 84 degrees but with the humidity it was much hotter. I could only lay there for 10 minutes and had to go jump into the pool. I did get some great sun though! :) So it was totally worth it.
..Ice sculpture..
More games before dinner!! We loved the quarter machine. 
Our waiter and co waiter!!
Our main waiter next to me is Flaviu and the co waiter next to Griff is St. Juste!!
They were the best. When ever all the waiters had to dance, which they did every night, our waiters would get right into it. Such great guys.
We had mentioned that we were on the cruise to celebrate our 3 year Anniversary, so they brought us a cake with candles and sang us Happy Anniversary. So cute.
..Our Table..
This was our room keeper. He was the one who would make all the towel animals and make our bed everyday. He did an amazing job!!! His name is Claudius.
Since it was our last night it was only appropriate to spend it out on the deck drinking Hot Chocolate and enjoying the night!! We were so sad to be spending our last night on the ship knowing we had to leave in the morning and go home... yet we were thrilled knowing that we would be able to see our baby the next day!!!!
The morning of the 26th we woke up early and got ready for the day. We headed up to have our last breakfast and noticed that we were back in Florida. We hung out for about an hour waiting for them to call our number before we could exist the ship. Once off, we found our bags and headed to the bus!
The bus took us to the airport. Our flight was a few hours away so we had some time to kill. We grabbed some lunch and did some shopping then we flew home. It seemed like the longest flight ever knowing I just wanted to be home holding Blakelee.
We made it home around 7pm and I ran to the car to get Blakelee out. As I opened the door I heard her say "Hi HI HIII!!!" I started to cry and was so happy to hug and kiss her.
This was one of the funnest vacations that I have been on. Griff and I had not been on a trip just the 2 of us since our Honeymoon so we were thrilled be spend some time together. We had so much fun and saw some amazing things that we had never seen before. We will never forget this trip and I am so blessed to have family so close and family so willing to watch little Blake's so we could have some fun. 
Happy 3 years babe I love you!!
I am one of the luckiest girls ever having Griff as my husband. He is so kind and generous he lets me do what I want as do I. We spend as much time together, with the time we get. We also have our girl and boy time which is so great that we can do that. He gives me the best hugs that lets me know he will always be there. He helps me through so much and Always has my back. He is always there for me!! He is one of a kind and will make me laugh even if I am so sad or mad, just to break the ice. He has learned to help clean and cook as well as take care of Blakelee. He knows that it makes me happy when he helps out. I married the best and I am so thrilled to have him for time and all eternity.