First Cruise Part II

The next morning we got off the boat in Cozumel.  A group of us decided to get a resort package together, the driver met us at the dock and we went out to a private beach and snorkeled.

 

Of course, they always try to make more money off of you, like selling a group picture.  

I could not get over how blue the water was! I was sure my friends were sick of hearing me go on and on about how beautiful the ocean was!  

The snorkeling was amazing!  The water was warm and clear, it was so beautiful, I was glad we decided to do that.

 

After snorkeling we relaxed on the beach - hammocks on the beach are the best!

And enjoyed some virgin pina coladas and margaritas!

Then it was time to head back to the boat - I wish we could have spent more time exploring the city.

My bravery item at dinner that night was a cherry soup.  It was pretty good, but I'm not sold on the whole cold soup idea.

After dinner we went to a couple of the clubs and danced -

 

one of our new friends, Jay, didn't want to dance, so he got to be the purse holder.

I don't remember what was so exciting about the water, the next morning, but when I came out of the bathroom, this was my view! 

After three days of cruising - Cat and I finally made it to the gym! I was pretty proud of myself for going at least once!

Our last day was spent at sea, so it was pretty relaxing, we just sat on the deck and soaked up more sun!

And enjoyed the view!

Our last dinner together.

 
The waiters put on a show for us every night - they were so much fun!

 
We had the most incredible sunset during dinner - everyone was leaving the table to run up on deck and take pictures!

Since it was the last night, we decided to go all out on the desserts, the molten chocolate lava cake was our favorite, we got that every night, some of us had two that night,

and we had to try Baked Alaska.

We went to a couple of shows after dinner, and then went back to our room to pack - where we found...

...Our favorite towel animal of the trip!!

At midnight we had to take advantage of the all-you-can-eat ice cream and pizza one more time - we had a contest to see who could get the tallest ice cream cone!

We went up to the top off the boat and took some crazy pictures before heading back to our room.

One last group shot in our cozy cabin.

Playing Catch Up

The great thing about 1:00 pm church is that you get an extra day to sleep in.  The bad thing is that none of your usual Sunday activities happen.  I am finally back on the 9:00 am schedule, which means I will actually have time to get caught up on my blog on Sundays!  

So, hopefully this year I can get the last two years blogged!

Next on the list, My First Cruise!

My friend Stefanie got a group of us together to share a room on a singles cruise. We left from New Orleans and had a couple of stops in Mexico.

Getting to the boat terminal our first day.

Exploring the boat!

It got a little windy after we started going!

 

Our first night - we decided to be brave and try something new every night (since we could always get something else if we hated it).  

So - the first night I tried ceviche and duck for the appetizers - both were pretty good.

 Our first day was spent at sea - I was super glad to have another albino with me - two of us tried to stay covered up and not burn while the other two got as much sun as they could!

That night was our formal night. 

 It was fun to get all dressed up and wander the ship taking fun pictures with our new friends.

 After checking out the comedy club and getting our pictures taken, we decided to go up on deck and play "Titanic"

 Of course, if you go on a cruise you have to take pictures of all the towel animals they leave on your bed!

The next morning we had to get up pretty early to get off the boat and catch a bus for our first excursion!  I blame the late night and the early morning on my poor outfit choice!

Let's just ignore the very non-flattering outfit I am in and enjoy the beautiful scenery!

 After about a two hour bus ride, we finally arrived at Chitzen Itza.

 One of my favorite parts about this was having an LDS tour guide who had been a Bishop and Stake President and is a native Mayan.  It was so interesting to hear his view on how the Book of Mormon history and the Mayan history relate and connect.

 Our awesome tour guide

 After Chitzen Itza, we raced over to a restaurant for lunch and ate as quickly as we could so we could have some time to play in the Cenote (basically a lake in a cave).

It was a long walk down to the water...

But totally worth it!

 We ended up with only about 10 minutes - so I didn't have enough time to get my nerve up to jump in from the ledge.

But I did have someone take my picture to prove I actually did get in the water (it was super cold and there were a ton of fish!!)

We had another scenic ride back to the boat - it was pretty fun to see all of the little towns along the way.  Then we spent another relaxing night on the boat getting ready for Cozumel the next morning.

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

It was big birthday year last year - it's not every year you get to celebrate your birthday on 11-11-11!  I decided for this special occasion we would go with the "11" theme and have an 11th birthday party.  I turned 11 in 1990 - so I told everyone to dress in their best late-80's clothes.

I bought a bunch of glow stick necklaces and bracelets.

And we had a bunch of old school treats. 

 

Like Pop Rocks

We played "Girl Talk" 

Then I had music videos of all the hit songs from 1990 projected on a screen in our basement and we had a little dance party. 

And yes, in true 11-year old fashion - it was an all girls party - not much has changed in that regard in the last 20 or so years haha.

After my trip to China, the one thing I wanted for Christmas was a new camera - one that would zoom without being blurry!  I got an awesome camera with all sorts of fun features - I had fun playing with it all day!

                                      

                                               

                                     

Just for fun :)  

Dad was working as a concierge up at the Canyons during the winter season and he had to work the late shift on New Years Eve and the early shift New Years Day, he was able to arrange for us to have a condo for New Years Eve so he didn't have to drive down the canyon and back.  

We braved the cold and went out to watch the firework show.  

The next day we took a gondola ride up the mountain 

None of us are skiers - so we just rode up walked around for a minute, and then walked back down - pretty exciting right!  

                                  

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful view.  A great start to the new year.