John and I (along with a few of our friends) went on a cruise in the Western Caribbean. We staked our claim on the Carnival Valor and set sail for the open waters. Did you know that Valor actually means: boldness or determination in facing great danger. That really set my mind at ease! Miami was our first port and went spent some time at ports in Grand Cayman, Honduras, Belize and Mexico.
This was my first cruise AND my first time out of the United States (wait, I did spend about an hour or so in Canada as a child). We had an extraordinary time and my favorite memories include:
Getting lost in Grand Cayman with the Cannon’s and finding the prettiest little beach, Snorkeling on the Barrier Reef in Belize, Snorkeling and swimming in Cozumel, playing Mafia (I’m still not sure who to trust these days!), Eating dinner with our friends, My 2-year Anniversary actually spent with my husband!!!, the waiter who announced “Oh, so you want the cheap wine then!” but in an accent that made me question his intentions in stating that, finding out that the tv stations were all Denver local channels (how unusual), watching a guy walk into a statue (from the motion of the boat) and then angrily staring the statue down, walking on the deck on a very windy night, towel animals, falling in love all over again.
Once back on land, I spent the next day swaying back and forth and occasionally grabbing for a rail or counter top to steady myself. I guess all that time rocking on the boat had changed my sense of balance and stability, although you’d also think that after 8 days on a ship you would start to get used to all that motion, and yet I never did!
We were so happy to be in the States that we practically volunteered for Jury Duty. As random as the selection of jury duty may be, somehow John and I ended up being called for duty on the same day. We both served and never actually made it on a jury panel. I did learn some interesting things about our government and spent time near the offices of Mr. Hickenlooper. What a great name!
October 15th, 2007 at 6:24 pm
sounds fun! i’ve never been on a cruise or out of the US either… vacationing in september/october seems weird to me. (i’m right in the middle of a college term and just finished pretty much flunking an economics midterm today….) i got summoned for jury duty once but got out of it because it was the week of finals. its kinda weird how pretty much everyone tries to get out of jury duty, but i actually wanted to do it after i sent my excuse in so i wouldn’t have to…
October 19th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Sounds like you had a great time on your cruise! And I’m glad you two were actually together for your anniversary this year! I like your pictures!
October 25th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
sounds amazing!!! I’ve never even seen the ocean.
That picture of you is John is too cute! I love your face. haha! that sounded funny 
You said your pastor would be there, I’d look for him but i have no idea what he looks like. HA! Glad you had fun!
I can’t wait to see Relient K TOMORROW!!!!
November 5th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
You seem like such an awesome girl and I’m not just saying that. I love how you write.
I wish we didn’t have the same name so my intentions would seem so much more sincere…lol.
I’m glad you had a blast on the cruise and with your husband…
Rock on girlie, and write more will ya.
Sincerely,
Fan of Relient K and now… fan of Sarah Warne…haha.
Peace.
November 17th, 2007 at 5:13 am
I saw some of the pics from the cruise from other blogs/posts and thought the scenery looked gorgeous. I went on the K-Love Cruise in Jan. 2006 but just to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. It was my only trip out of the country so far. But I have a passport now. LOL I also got to go whale watching and see whales pretty close up in Long Beach while waiting to go for my roommate to arrive … at least as much as you can see with most of their large bodies under water. I learned how to spot their whereabouts, though. IT was cool. I absolutely loved the towel animals. One of the highlights was getting back to the cabin everyday and looking forward to seeing what critter would be greeting me.
I almost bought the how-to book, but it was NOT cheap. LOL
I have been on the jury panel for a couple of high profile cases in CA when I lived there. I wasn’t selected but stayed for the pretrial motions. It was very interesting. Legal things interest me, though. My husband got a notice for jury duty dated the day we were moving from CA to UT. Obviously, he didn’t serve that time. IT was pretty amusing, though.
Glad you had such a wonderful time together.