Happy 8th Anniversary

First I want to start by saying that I have been much more positive and not letting things bother me after I got baptized. I know it is really weird to say that but it has. It is like I’m taking everything in stride.

We started out by me taking off on Friday. Justin still had to work so I got everything together. Putting the suitcases in the truck was not fun. Especially with our heavy “drink” suitcase which has our 5 bottles of wine and 12 bottles of water. That of course had a padlock on it so that it wouldn’t get confiscated. So we were planning on leaving a 10 but we can never leave on time for anything so we left at 11. That wasn’t so bad at all.

We head out. Weather was not bad at all on the road then it started drizzling a little bit. We can still handle that. We drove for 2 hours then stopped at a restaurant in Savannah, called Carey Hilliard’s. It was like a local Cracker Barrel or something home cooked like that. Everyone was friendly, but our waitress, but I won’t go into those details. So then we drove for another 2 hours and we were in Jacksonville (our most favorite city yet). We went to St. John’s Town Center (I can remember the name of that place). Justin and I got manicures and pedicures at Nail Time. We have to remember this place next time we are there because it was awesome!!! The ladies there were so professional and you can’t beat $35 for both a manicure and pedicure. It was Justin’s first time getting a manicure and I think he is hooked now. We had a separate room from everyone when we got our pedicures done and it was so romantic to have people working on our feet as we gaze into each other’s eyes. Yea, it didn’t happen like that but it was nice to wish that. So our hands and feet were nice and soft. We then ate at one of our favorite places and shared a healthy meal at Cheesecake Factory but we topped everything off with a Red Velvet cheesecake that was awesome. It was two layers of Red Velvet cake with white cheesecake in between, topped with cream cheese frosting and shaved white chocolate pieces. So much for eating healthy. We topped our evening off at DSW (my favorite shoe store in the entire world). Then we rushed off for 2 more hours of driving to Port Canaveral to stay at the Radisson where we stayed for one night and are able to leave our car there instead of paying a crazy fee to leave it at the pier.. Once we got there we were lucky enough to get upgraded to a suite that had a jacuzzi. However, we got there so late that we didn’t get to try it out. It was definitely a nice surprise and upgrade. We had a nice rest though.

So the day of our cruise we were able to have a nice view of the ship from our hotel room. We had breakfast and then waited for the shuttle to take us to the pier. While we waited we talked with some really nice fellow travelers. We gave them a few tips because this was their first time traveling with Carnival but they had sailed with Royal Caribbean before. We were lucky enough to go ahead and be placed on the shuttle ahead of time. So I would like to add that so far we have had a really relaxing experience. And it is very hot and humid. We had a speedy check in and we had officially started our trip. We did our usual changing of our dinner table because we like to have a 2 person table. I’m sorry but I like to spend my vacation being romantic with the person I love. So the Maitre D was very nice to us and told us the best table to go with. He answered the telephone and he kept saying “Mate” I asked him if people in England also used “mate” and he replied by saying that the Australians stole that phrase from them. I thought that was very interesting. I proceeded to ask him if it bothered him that sometimes people would mix up the Scottish accent with the English accent and he said that nothing bothered him. I thought that was a very good way to put it.

So far at this point we have been using all the stairs. We have vowed that we will not use the elevators and we are just going to use the stairs. That way we can really try to burn off those extra calories. And we never used the elevator at all. I feel so proud that a dress I was not able to wear last year that I can now and I refuse to look back. Justin has been such a wonderful help with me and supporting that I want to lose weight. He has also lost some weight and is feeling great about it. I feel that in order to be successful at weight loss you need the people closest to you to be that support system to help you keep the fight going.

It really rained hard and to top it all off we saw a rainbow. And this wasn’t any ordinary rainbow but one that was actually in the water and we drove right beside it. I had never seen one that you could actually drive right beside and you could see it in the water. Pretty darn amazing. Justin just said that was probably a sign to play the Lucky Charm slot machine. Hmm, I think I’m going to have to try that.

We didn’t do much after this. We went to dinner and met our waiters, Nop (of course short for a name that was really long and he was from Thailand) and his team waiter, Ed, was from the Phillipines. His English was not the best but he was very nice. They really were not that extra talkative but they were very accommodating to say the least. Our seats weren’t that bad, better than we had the last time we were on this ship. We weren’t able to see the center of the dining room but that was ok at least we had a 2 person table.

Later that night we played a little in the casino and went to the Welcome Aboard show. It was different than what we had seen before which was a good change. The cruise director invited 3 unbenounced passengers on the stage and had them make noises at certain times while he hit them in the head with a blown up hammer. I have to get one of those for Justin. That would be his perfect toy.

The next day was our "at sea" day and we just relaxed and did activities on the ship. I did win some money on the slots which was really cool. I can’t quite remember this day. I guess nothing really happened that significant.

Our 3rd day was in the port of Cozumel. We did a powerboat excursion. Oddly enough we were with 2 other couples that did this excursion. One couple was an interesting, retired commercial pilot that was with a woman that he met 3 days ago but they had been corresponding prior to that. He pretty much told Justin all of his life story. Needless to say he was very talkative and I did my own thing when we stopped for a break. The excursion was really good. Justin really enjoyed driving the powerboat. I wish I had driven one stretch of the boat ride but I was too chicken because Justin really was struggling with driving that thing. I had a huge fear that we were going to flip over but on the way back I felt much better. We also met another couple from Orlando. They were Puerto Rican so we had lots of things to talk about. They seemed like a really nice couple and we had lots to talk about but that is as far as it went. Neither one of us initiated any kind of meeting or anything further on the ship. We did however, see them on the last day of the cruise but that was about it. I never know why we never try to talk to other passengers and form lasting relationships. I guess we are just enjoying each other’s company and that is all that matters.

The beach that we visited was really nice and the food was good too. We did a little shopping afterwards but the port was really empty considering there was only one ship there. We met a shop owner who said that he only made $36 that day. I was interested in a dress he had for my mom and the poor man was still trying to give me a discount. I thought that was so nice of him that I paid him full price for the dress and wished him good luck.

Ok, our next day was in Belize. This was a day I had to face my fears. We started off early in the morning taking a tender (small boat) into Belize. The large Carnival ship can’t dock at the pier because of the live reef could get destroyed. However, they are building a pier at the other end of the island for the future. So we did a zip-lining tour. I’m thinking this was going to be pretty cool. I really had no idea what it entailed but I thought it would be really fun. So anyway…..I get my harness attached and my cute helmet, take the pictures, look at Justin, laugh at him for a little while. Then we take this long hike up to the mountain to get on the landing of our first traverse and I’m like the 4th person on line and dummy me is panicking. Ok, then I’m thinking, is this for real. Umm, yea, it is. I look down, I forget to tell you I have a fear of falling. Not necessarily of heights but I have a fear of falling. So, my hands begin to shake. The guy that hooks me up asks me if I’m ok, I say, yea and am I really doing this. Justin says, come on you can’t chicken out now. So, here I go, the first words that come out of my mouth are, “Jesus Christ.” While everyone screams, I do this. So when I get to the end, the guy asks me do I go to church. Umm, yea, and I wanted to tell him that I just got baptized but I didn’t. So then Justin lands right behind me and the guy asks Justin the same thing. Oh well, weird I thought. So, we do about 3 more traverses and I’m doing ok at this point. My hands are still shaking and I’m getting a little adrenaline rush. Then we get to this landing where we have to do this repel. I know Justin kept telling me we had to do this but I was just thinking it was the kind where you go down the side of the mountain and just hit your legs on the side of the mountain over and over or something. Yea, that wasn’t it. You are actually repelling down the side by a single rope. I’m freaking. The person told me it would be ok and I see that you can go slow. So I tell the lady to let me down slow. And then it was too slow and I told them to let me down faster. Umm, yea that was the wrong thing to say. I went down fast and it felt like I was never going to stop. I made it to the bottom and I start breathing hard and the guy at the bottom asked me if I was ok and I said no. Then I started to cry. He told me to take a deep breath and told me everything was going to be ok. It was just me and the guy standing there and there was nothing Justin could do because he didn’t know what was going on. So the guy set me up for the next traverse. There were people ahead of me and they were making sure I was ok as I kept wiping my eyes. Justin finally came behind me and told me everything was going to be ok but I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. He told me that I had faced my fear. Yea, this wasn’t very comforting since I had to do another repel. However, this one was shorter. There was a lady setting this one up for me. She asked me how I was doing and I said not good. She said that I was doing really good. I told them to let me go down slow. So I just closed my eyes real tight and held my breath. It was finally over. I swear I drank the water they provided to us in one gulp. Let’s just say I was really quiet all the way back of our hour bus ride. I could hear people talking about my experience, “Yea, this lady said she wanted to go slow and then she said faster and they let her go down real fast.” Leave it to me to have people talk about me. Let’s just say you could also hear me screaming at least 2 villages over. You would have thought someone was murdering me or something. But I didn’t go down without a fight.

Our next port was in Costa Maya. This one was just a lazy day for us by sitting out on the beach drinking and enjoying each other’s company under a hut. Once again we were the only boat in port and this makes for a slow day for the locals there.

We ate some really good authentic food which was a mistake considering we were going to be eating at the Supper club tonight which is a special restaurant that you have to pay extra for. They give you so much food that it is unreal. So needless to say we were really full that day. Poor Justin got sick that night. He always manages to get sick when we eat there because of all the food. But it was a very nice night and we had a wonderful time.

We did spend nights on our balcony just staring at the stars. We thought we saw a spaceship in the sky because there was this light that was flying in the sky. So we sit there and keep staring out and we see it again. We always joke when we see something like that and we say that it is Justin’s alien family coming to take him home. So this object flies over again. This time we are thinking it is some sort of insect or bird. I’m not sure how it could have been a bird but still not sure what it was. It came out just about every night we sat out. So it must have come out only at night.

Our next day was at sea. I did the blackjack tournament and scored on the board but that didn’t last long because someone beat me out but it was fun to play. So we weren’t doing that well on slots and we moved over to the table games. I just about tripled my money because of a great dealer. His name was Roystern from India but Justin and I nicknamed him Anoop (from American Idol). That was a lot easier for us to remember. Justin won like $40 on one hand and I told Justin to take a picture because it would last longer. “Anoop” thought he would die laughing. So the next night we tried our luck again but no luck because we couldn’t ever find “Anoop” to deal for us. And we lost all the money that we won with him. So the last night at least we walked away with some money. But we brought it to play with.

Our last day we were in Nassau and it wasn’t that bad. We just did a beach break which was relaxing. No big whoop there. I think the next time we go we will try to do an excursion at Atlantis.

We said our goodbyes to all the nice staff we met. Justin and I had a great bar waiter at dinner. His name was John from India. He was so sweet. We asked for a straw one time and he brought us a straw every time after that. We kind of felt bad that we didn’t buy that much from him because we brought our own wine at dinner each night. But we did buy a few sodas here and there. The bad thing is that his tip was only 50 cents from it. The drink people work so hard and they really don’t have much to show for it. The cruise director said one thing that really meant a lot. He said that the crew members work so hard for the small amount of tips just so that they can support their families. And everyone works so well together even though they come from such different backgrounds. There are people that work together and their countries are at war. It is just amazing what a melting pot a cruise ship is for all the nationalities. It just goes to show you how different a person can be in a different setting.

So our debarkation wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t as bittersweet as it usually is because we didn’t go directly home. We were going to stay a few days in Orlando for our anniversary. We were going to go to Universal Studios where Justin’s friend that works there was going to get us free tickets. We were all stoked and ready to go. We stayed at this really nice hotel and was able to walk to the park. So we are all sweating and I’m drenched already so I had to buy a hat. So we decide to sit in a Starbucks while Justin tries to get in touch with his friend. Well, so much for the free tickets. His friend ends up giving the tickets to his mom and here we are trying to figure out what to do for the rest of the day. Oddly enough, I would have been really upset about this but this may sound weird, ever since I got baptized I don’t let things bother me as much. I know it wasn’t anyone’s fault and we just need to move on. So this day we just go to the mall. It was really crowded and wasn’t that appealing but oh well, we were with each other. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen and it was really good. The rest of the time was a blur but I do remember that we ate at this really cool English Pub. I had 3 beers and when I got back to the hotel the room was spinning. So needless to say the beers went down really easy.

The next day we thought we were going to be able to find tickets to Universal but that didn’t work either. So we just sat in the room and I watched a movie (27 Dresses, which was awesome) while Justin caught up on some work stuff. We were unable to go to Universal again today and just decided not to spend the money at all to go to any of the parks. We ended up going to the movies to watch Fame. It was pretty good but I liked the original a whole lot better. There was this really old couple that were right behind us and he surely didn’t want to be there because he was talking throughout the whole thing. He ended up hobbling out of the theatre and then he came back at the end. So once again, I didn’t get that upset about him talking but just prayed that he would be quiet and then that is when he left. So I didn’t get upset. I was just imagining Justin and I being that couple and me dragging him somewhere that he didn’t want to be. Wow, I’m doing that now….

So this day was our anniversary, were have been married 8 years to the day. I just remember this day like it was yesterday. I think we got married at 2. I got dressed in my white dress and it had that true meaning of me wearing the white dress on my wedding day. My mom drove me in her car to the church. I waited in a little office and saw Justin pull up in his pick up truck. I was so excited and sad at the same time that we didn’t have anyone come to it. I was really sad that Justin’s family couldn’t be there and sad that I didn’t have any more of my family there either. But we didn’t have the money to have a big wedding. My Godfather (who was also our pastor at the time) performed the ceremony for us and he was sad that Justin’s parents weren’t there either and he gave Justin some words of encouragement. My mom stood beside me and the church secretary was there as well as another guy that I can’t remember his name but I know he was smiling at us. So Justin was there standing in front of the church and I think there was a piano player there too. So I walk down the aisle by myself and I couldn’t stop smiling. Then my Godfather says a few words and makes us say our vows. I literally could not speak my words because I was crying so hard. And my sweet Justin was just smiling the whole time. As I’m writing this now I want to cry but Justin would just wonder what was wrong with me. It is hard to explain how someone could love someone so much. All my life I have had crushes and no one understood me because of the way I come across. I’m either too mean or too nice. Justin understands me. It is hard to find that person that truly understands me and loves me for me. He is my soul mate and I’m so glad that God blessed me with such a wonderful husband. So this day is special to me forever and I always want to do something special on this day because it was the day that changed the rest of my life. For our honeymoon we only went to the beach because we didn’t have the extra money. I guess that is why we go on cruises all the time because we have to make up for our crappy vacation. But no vacation can be crappy when we spend it with each other. Ok, I’ll stop with the sappiness.

So, today we went to the movies, did a little window shopping and went to dinner at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion restaurant. The concierge at our hotel suggested it and made reservations for us for our anniversary. This was by far the most magical experience we have had so far. They treated us so nicely. We were greeted and were immediately wished a happy anniversary. When we opened our menus we had a personalized message written in it also wishing us a happy anniversary. This was the sweetest thing any restaurant has ever done for us. Our dinner was excellent and Justin and I shared a meal that we kind of wished we had our own because the scallops were to die for. We then had a complimentary dessert that had happy anniversary written to us in Hawaiian. The manager came over and also wished us a happy anniversary. They all made us feel so special. I couldn’t believe it. The server was excellent. They made us feel like it was our day and it was. I am definitely sending them a thank you note because they made us feel so special. They had complimentary valet service that we didn’t take part of but the server asked us if we did because she would have had our car ready for us when we were ready. Wow, that was just such phenomenal service. And the price really wasn’t bad. Everyone knows how cheap I am and I really have no complaints.

We then topped the night off with a night out at a bar. But this was no ordinary bar. It was an ice bar. Which means there is a room that is 27 degrees. Umm, yea. They provided you with coats and gloves but no socks and yes, I had open toed shoes and my feet were little ice blocks. We had a lot of fun there. It was definitely a night to remember.

Unfortunately, our trip has ended but we have such great memories and we are planning and ready for our next adventure.

I love you Justin Nathaniel Allen!!!!!