Our cruise!!!

Hi all!

Well, we made it back, safe and sound! We had a fabulous time! This wasn't just a regular cruise... it was a Music Boat cruise with the top Christian artists and bands! Both my favorites and the girls' favorites were on board!

Here is a link to a slideshow that I put together with just a few of the highlights of the trip. Music Boat Cruise 2008.

We arrived in Miami Sunday evening and stayed at a hotel that night so that we'd be ready to head to the ship bright and early Monday morning. We were a bit awestruck by the size of the ship! It was so easy to get lost on board! lol! We set sail around 5:00 p.m. and enjoyed a relaxing concert with Dallas Holm and Todd Agnew before dinner. After our delicious meal, I headed out on the Lido Deck to see the Katinas under the stars while the girls headed to see their favorite band, Hawk Nelson. Becca had her new camera with her and was right up front so she got tons of great pictures of the guys! They posed for her while they were singing and she got some great shots.

We had to be up bright and early Tuesday morning to head out to Key West . It was extremely hot, but we walked about a mile down Duval Street to the Butterfly Conservatory. The Butterflies were beautiful! They flew all around us and landed right in front of you. Got some great pictures there, and other great shots of the town. We walked back, stopping and shopping at various stores. We even saw Hemingway's House! We didn't tour it, but took some pictures outside.

Back on the ship that afternoon, I headed off to see Leeland, and my absolute favorite group, Casting Crowns! They put on a fabulous show! Becca and Jillian went to see the Indie Jam ShowCase where unknown bands got to perform and try out to win as the top new band of the cruise. They also saw The Afters. Our formal dinner was that evening, so we headed back to the cabin to shower and change into our fancy clothes. We watched Joy Williams after dinner, then headed off to bed as we were exhausted by then! lol!

Wednesday we slept in a bit. We didn't arrive in Calica/Playa del Carmen, Mexico until 1:00 p.m., so we just took it easy in the morning. Mexico was fabulous! Our personal tour guide, Eddie with Edventures, met us at the dock. He took us to the Tulum Mayan Ruins first, which were beautiful, but it was very, very hot! We only lasted there about an hour, then headed off to snorkel in the Dos Ojos Cenotes in the Riviera Maya. Those are underwater caves and caverns where we got to snorkel all around. The water was so cool and felt great after being so hot in the ruins! We left there and got on a boat with another family from our ship and headed out to the ocean. The water was very, very rough and the guides decided that it was too rough to explore the coral reef, so they took us to a calmer area and we jumped out of the boat to swim and snorkel with the huge turtles! We slowly made our way back to shore, then got back in the van and headed to their private lagoon to do some snorkeling there with the many colorful fish. What a peaceful and beautiful place! By then, we were all pretty much exhausted, so we headed over to a small little Mexican restaurant on the beach and ate our dinner, watching the waves and the sun set...

We made it back on the ship shortly before 10:00 p.m. and the girls headed off to see Hawk Nelson again, but this time on the Lido Deck under the stars! More great photos for Becca! By this time, the guys in the band were used to her snapping picture after picture! lol!

Thursday was our day at sea... we all slept in! We spent the late morning and early afternoon sunbathing on deck while listening to The Afters, Rush of Fools and Echoing Angels perform. Jillian enjoyed Dance Praise in one of the lounges… it’s like Dance Dance Revolution only with Christian music. Becca and I went to listen to a few comedy headliners and laughed quite a bit. Our last dinner that evening was again delicious, and the wait staff sang a farewell song to us! We headed back up to the Lido Deck to again hear Leeland under the stars. There is nothing like watching a ship full of people with their arms raised in praise to God!!!

We had to have our suitcases packed and ready to go before going to bed as the ship was scheduled to dock at 7:00 a.m. We got up Friday morning, dressed, ate some breakfast and were off the ship by 8:00 a.m. Our cousins from Ft. Lauderdale , Deb and Al, picked us up and took us to their house to change into our swimsuits and head to Danai Beach for a bit of swimming. After changing clothes, we stopped at his biker club to check it out. They took us to dinner at a BBQ restaurant then took us to our hotel. Our flight left bright and early Saturday morning and we arrived back in Pittsburgh later afternoon.

It was a wonderful trip that we will never forget! Becca and I took hundreds of pictures! We won’t bore you with them all, but take a moment to watch the slideshow to see some of the highlights of the trip.

Music Boat Cruise 2008

Countdown Time!

I can't believe it... we leave for our cruise on Sunday!!!!

Tonight is the Prom....I'll post pictures either later tonight or tomorrow!!!! Tomorrow is packing day and making sure we didn't forget anything on our list.

Sunday a.m., we plan to leave the house around 8 a.m., stop and get some breakfast and be at the airport by 11:00. It usually takes about 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport. Our flight doesn't leave till almost 1:30, but I do NOT want to take any chances! lol!

I'm so excited that I can hardly think straight!!!!

We need a bigger mailbox!

I love to order things online and have them delivered to my house. The problem is, my Mail box isn't big enough! lol!

Saturday morning was the only day I had to sleep in... so I did :) That means that I didn't get my shower until later in the morning. As I'm stepping out of the shower, I hear the doorbell ring! What the heck? Who could that be? I throw on a robe and run to the door, and it's the mail lady... I have three packages, and they won't fit in my Mailbox!

With all the choices of Mailboxes we had when we moved in here, Frank chose one that was not very big... I would love to have one like this one! Gorgeous, isn't it?

I know that the next time I decide to look into purchasing a mail box, I'll definitely check out Mailboxixchange.com! They've got a large selection of Mail boxes to choose from. AND, they even have an affiliate program!

No more running to the door in a robe for me! lol!

Grease!!!

Well, tonight is the night! The first performance of the High School's production of Grease!

I can't wait to see it! The girls are both in it and have been working like crazy! Practice night after night after night.... but it will be worth it in the end. I honestly thought Becca might quit and not be in it because she had to miss so many practices because of work. But I'm glad she stuck with it. It's her senior year and all her friends are in it, so I know she's glad she stayed.

Frank and I are going to see the show tonight, then Friday night I'm turning pages for the pianist in the pit band. I went to their practice on Tuesday night and boy does that music zip! Wow! It is non stop! I couldn't watch any of the show because I had to keep my eyes on the music the whole time! lol!

Then Frank and my nephew Kenny are going to camp for the weekend and Mom and I will go to the show on Saturday night. I can't just go one night ;) I have to watch it several times! lol!

I'll try to take a few pictures and post them!

My new Piggy Bank...

Here's a picture of my new Piggy Bank after buying gas last night:

The weekend...

Well, we all had a pretty good weekend for the most part.

Let's see, Friday night was relaxing. Didn't have a lot planned, so we ordered pizza and I picked it up on my way home from work. Unfortunately, I totally forgot that I had planned to take Jilli to a Pancake Dinner at our sister church that night! Becca had to work, so when she got home at 8:00, she asked me how the dinner went! Uh oh! lol! Oh well, I'll still give them a donation since I did order the tickets...

Saturday morning I was up at 5 a.m. to get showered and ready to be at the school at 6:00 to help make subs for the band. We sold 20, so that will give Jilli a nice little profit for her band account for next year. She wants to be a majorette next year instead of just the marching band, so she's going to need even more money than normal... I left there at 7:30 with my subs, dropped them off for Frank and Jillian to deliver, and headed to Penn Run for an all day quilt retreat! I had my sewing machine, material, and everything else I needed already packed in the van. I spent the day sewing and got Jillian's quilt about 3/4 of the way done... I have to take some pictures of it to post on my craft website. I also purchased a couple of pillowcase kits that were adorable! Becca's is black with white polka dots and some cartoon type students all over it... hard to explain, but really cute for her to take to college. Jillian's has penguins with turquoise, orange and black accents. Perfect match for the quilt I'm making her!!! I sewed those up so they'd have them when I got home... I'll post pictures of those later too.

Sunday, I preached at the UMC in town for both services. Their second service has a lot more attendance than our church, close to 100 people, but I knew quite a few of the people. It went well. I used the same sermon that I used last week for our three churches.

We went up to Goodwill in Indiana in the afternoon to try to find Becca a prom gown for the Grease musical. Jillian has hers, but Becca hasn't been able to find one yet... No luck. We went over to the mall and she found her shoes for the real Prom... no heels because her date is short! lol! We went to CiCi's for dinner. Yummm!

Unfortunately, the evening did not end well... we got a call that Frank's mom is in the hospital. She was having pain in her chest. They've admitted her and will run some tests this morning, but she is stable. After hearing from Beth this morning, it sounds like it actually may just be a strained muscle because she tried to overdo it on Friday. The doctor had encouraged her to get more exercise, so she walked to Beth's twice on Friday, AND cleaned out the van! So if she was stretching a lot to reach for things in the van, she could have pulled something. We are hoping and praying that is what it is.

So now it's Monday morning and I'm back to work. It will be a busy week with the kids having musical practice pretty much each night and I have some running around to do to get ready for a picnic I'm having on Saturday. Pray for nice weather!

Is your life as you expected it to be?

Someone asked this question over at the wahm.com boards and it really got me to thinking about it...

Her question was, "Is there something that you always thought that you would've done at this stage in your life but never got a chance to? And how is your life now different than you expected?"

Here was my response:


Wow! Good question... I'm 45... if you had asked me this question just 5 years ago when I turned 40, I would have told you that I was not where I wanted to be and that financially, things sucked big time! I had just gone back to work after being home with my girls and that hurt a lot. I didn't want to go back to work outside the home, so I felt like a failure... We were in major debt, my health wasn't the best, and I wasn't very happy.

Fast forward to now.... it's amazing the difference 5 years makes LOL. I love my job. Yes, I'd still rather be home but having this job has made it possible for us to get out from under our debt. My boss is extremely flexible, so I'm still able to take time off as needed, so I'm still there for my girls. Health wise of course, it has sucked for my dd Becca, but we've made it through all of the cancer and migraines and she's now on track to graduate in June with Honors and will be going to college in the fall.

We've done a lot of traveling in the last three years, more than we have ever done before, and we have plans for even more!

Is there something I want to do yet? Hmmm, nothing major comes to mind. If we decide we want to do something, we figure out a way to do it!

Is my life different than I expected? Another hmmmm, I'd have to say it's pretty much the way I had hoped it would be. Five years ago, I would have said NO! It was not what I expected or wanted! But now, it's going pretty darn good.