Back to the Cruise...

I just realized I've been a slacker and have yet to post anything about our cruise with the daily agendas and ports/ reviews of all that we did. Here's a recap of day 1: We flew from Atlanta to Puerto Rico via Delta Airlines. It was a 3 1/2 hour flight and no passport is needed. You can also use your cell phone in Puerto Rico. No roaming fees apply. We were on the boat less that 30 minutes after stepping out of our taxi. For first time cruisers we sailed through the embarktion period. Once onboard we were like lost puppies. The ship was big (and we later found out it's one of the smaller ships in Royal Caribbean's Fleet). We had lunch at the windjammer which is what we called buffet city. After that we spent the rest of the day and night roaming the ship and people watching. Here are a few photos from that day...

Brent on the top deck before leaving port

our interior stateroom

a panoramic of the atrium area 

view of interior balconies and the glass elevators

us celebrating our anniversary with a self portrait

I promise to get back on track and share all 5 islands we visited!

Charlie update

Charlie is home and seems to be back to his old self. His lab numbers were crazy bad last Monday when we initially took him in. He had to go for treatment 3 days last week. On Wednesday they finally removed his IV and let him come home for good. He's still working on finishing his medicine off and once he does we will head back to the vet to have his lab work completed again to compare to what they ran while he was sick. Tomorrow's a big day for him... Grooming day! He will come home looking like a drowned rat. But he's my drowned rat and I can't help but smile when he looks so small and shaved down. Pictures to come! Thanks to all who were concerned about our little man. It was a scary time and I hope not to encounter any other toxic events with him in the future.

P.S. THANK the LORD that MONDAY is over. I need some time to chill out. Looks like I'll be pretty lazy tonight!

We Did it!

Us before the Depot Day's 5K

We survived our first 5K! Back in April I told my family that I was going to train and run in my hometown's fall festival's 5K race. They all chimed in and said they had thought the same thing and we would make it a family affair. Fast forward a few months and my dad breaks a bone in his foot so he's scratched from the race. A few months later my sister moved to Auburn for school so she scratched herself from the race as well. That left me...by myself. I originally started Couch to 5K after making the declaration to my family that I was going to run. I made it to week 5 or so before coming down with a bad sinus infection and eventually decided that I wasn't up for training so blew it off. The second time I started couch to 5K was in August. I made it to week 3 and decided I'd never get far enough into before the race so I gave up. I spent the last 2 weeks telling myself I was going to run but physically knowing I'd probably suck it up. I was determined not to be that girl who said she was going to do something and then didn't follow through. Somehow I convinced my husband to participate as well. What a sport he was! He's more dedicated to the gym so it was easier on him than he'd expected. There were a few times in the race where we both were mad at how dumb I was for making us do this cold turkey. However, 30 minutes after our finish we agreed to purchase running shoes, start training, and set a goal for our next race.

Brent running toward the finish line

Me running up the last incline

all smiles after realizing we weren't dead

You have to love my Papaw's humor. He got this for me... I did NOT wear it in the race but it was hilarious when he pulled it out of the cabinet and said he had a sure fire way for me to win 1st place :)

Brent finished in 33:26 and I followed right behind at 33:30. He could have had a much better time but I kept begging him to stop and walk. At one point I demanded he run on without me but being the sweet husband he is he walked by my side. I ended up getting the Silver Train medal in my age group for the 2nd best time. I highly doubt I had much competition. Our goal is to run a bit and finish our next 5K in under 30 minutes. Wish us Luck!!

He may kill me for this...

That was Brent living it up on the cruise. I thought it was too funny not to share :)

FYI: I finally figured youtube out and he FLIPPED when he found out it was a public video. I've since had to delete the youtube version and settle for the blogger version. Sorry, but we will have to live with the crappy non-HD quality if I want to avoid sleeping on the couch all week.

Sick Puppy

Charlie spent the day at the animal hospital hooked up to an IV and a catheter. We're not sure what happened but he started vomiting yesterday and didn't stop until we got him started on his medicine. We went to 6pm service at church last night and when we got home we found throw up piles # 2 & 3 within 3 hours. He managed to do it one more time before I called the emergency vet. She suggested we keep a close watch on his gums and make sure they didn't lose their pink color. They Did. He also managed to up chuck one last time in the closet before I got him to the vet (add 3 more pukes to the total...in the car). The vet ran blood work and said his liver enzymes are way too high. He's not sure if they vomiting caused the high liver enzymes or the liver issue caused the vomiting. Needless to say he has to go back tomorrow to get hooked back up for one more day of hydration before they let him attempt eating. He's so pitiful and hungry. He keeps walking to his food bowl and looking at me. He was pretty chipper right when we got home but he's since settled into his nightly spot curled up on the couch. Pray for good news. He's our little buddy and I don't even want to think of any other options than him just eating something he shouldn't have.

They shaved his leg and left the IV port in it while he's home. It looks like a cast.

hanging with mom...ready to feel better

Gotta Go Fast

I'm behind on blogging... and cleaning...and laundry so it may be a while before I resume normal posting patterns but this photo is too cute not to share real quick. My grandmother Carol purchased my grandfather the ride along at Talladega Super Speedway a few months back and yesterday was his day to ride. We were unfortunately unable to go but she emailed me this photo and it made my heart smile yesterday.

That's my grandfather (blue hat) and his twin brother after their day at 'dega. Be sure to check out more on her page.

News Alert...

We will have running water tonight! I know this a random statement but we've been without it for 13 days in our kitchen. Thankfully we were only home for 5 of those. My dads on his way down to install our new sink and faucet. That means there is only 1 step left until the kitchen is complete: tile backsplash. Yay!

We're Back...

We made it back to our house around 10:15pm last night. It's nice to be home but I sure am missing life on the boat. I will give a short recap here and then use the next few posts to give a more in depth opinion of the islands and what we liked and disliked (not much) about the cruise.

 As most of you know we were out of touch for a while (7 days) and the hardest part was Saturday. By Saturday we were ready to be with friends tailgating and watching games. When you're on a cruise ship in the middle of the Caribbean there really aren't many TV channels that broadcast college football games. It annoyed me to see so much coverage of the US Open and Cricket (apparently the sport of all other nations EXCEPT USA). We had a hunch that Alabama would win but it was nerve wracking to not know what was going on. Thankfully my husband received a text message from a friend that mentioned something about "Saban ruling the world" and we were able to confirm the win. (note: he did not open the text... it said that much in the subject)

Other than Saturday the boat was a bit like Heaven. So much food EVERYWHERE. We chose to go with Royal Caribbean and will definitely stay loyal to them. No need to fix what isn't broken! Of course the on board nightly shows were at times corny but it was nice to be able to walk in and out of shows as you please and always have something to view. People watching was absolutely hilarious. I guess I thought rednecks were only from the South. WRONG! There were also people from approximately 48 countries on the ship. Needless to say there were a lot of languages to hear and culture styles to view.

Stopping at 5 islands was great. Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten & St. Croix. Puerto Rico was also a nice place to visit for a day.

Brent and I decided 3 things on the cruise: 1. We will definitely go again (and invite friends and family to make the trip more fun) 2. We plan on going to Sandals Antigua for our 5 year anniversary (must start saving now) 3. Cruising really was a good deal after seeing and experiencing the food, accommodations and service.

Stay tuned for more updates... Coming soon: Barbados :)