Cruisin' through Marriage

It's been 14 wonderful years full of ups and downs and here-s and there-s. On April 22, 1996 I turned 21 years old and got to go through the temple for the first time. What a birthday gift. Then, 2 days later, I married my best friend and became his gift for time and all eternity. Isn't he lucky! ;)He has been by my side (minus business travel) ever since. To celebrate this fun anniversary, Steve booked a cruise to the Mayan Riviera. It was a 5 day cruise on Royal Caribbean with stops at Key West, Cozumel, and Costa Maya.

Our first adventure came when we tried to get to the airport. We found out later that a semi had turned over and there were 2 additional crashes on I55--our route to Midway airport. The 2 1/2 hours were ticking very quickly while our car was progressing very slowly. Even after we got off the freeway to take side streets (Thank you, Blackberry) our baggage check-time was upon us. Steve called and discovered that the only Southwest flight available had 2 remaining seats and was at 6:30am--a mere 8 hours before boarding the ship. He booked them for an additional cost to ensure that we'd make it on the ship. My stomach was already tied in knots from the stress of traffic, but now this trip went from being a "steal" to just a good deal. I hate spending money; however, I was appreciative of Steve's quick thinking and managing skills to do what it took so that we didn't lose our entire trip. I was on the phone telling my mother, who was home watching my kids, of our predicament when Steve discovered that our original flight had been delayed. We had a chance! It was then delayed one more time!!! Upon arrival at the airport, I dropped off Steve to run in and talk to ticketing to see if we could still make it on the flight and check our bags, and then I parked the car and took the shuttle to meet with him. They had to see my face before they did anything, but they were cheering on the computer to print out our boarding passes quicker so that we could make it. We were the last people to board the plane, but we made it. My stomach relaxed 4 hours later when I saw our luggage on the belt. Everything was going to be OK.

April 24th, we slept in, walked around Fort Lauderdale, and boarded the ship. Amazing! I couldn't believe I was there.

Sunday, the 25th, we had 4 hours to acquaint ourselves with Key West, Florida. We visited the Southern most tip of the United States...

visited Peppers of Key West, where they have a free tasting bar lined with different sauces (barbecue, chipotle, teryaki, mustard, hot pepper sauces, etc.). They give everyone an endless supply of tortilla chips to dip in tiny cups of sauce. There were 2 hot sauces at the end of the presentation that Steve actually turned down. They were special HOT sauces that they only let you dip a toothpick in because they are SO hot. This was the funnest thing we did in Key West.

My desire in Key West was to have some of their famous key lime pie. And I did...frozen and dipped in chocolate on a stick. Delicious!

Mmmm! Mmmmm! Good!

This little gecko was studying me as I was eating my treat. I was fascinated by these cute lizard things. They reminded me of all the lizards my brother and I adopted as our pets and played with as kids. These little guys made us miss our boys and think of how much they would have LOVED seeing them.

We spotted a pirate ship! It even had a jolly roger flag! Again, the boys would have LOVED seeing that!

This water was gorgeous!!! Cold, but beautiful. I was glad we were snorkeling in this water. Brrrrr!

Key West was full of characters, but this guy was the most interesting to look at. He was initially a statue, but then he was yelling orders, and finally he was riding a bike and yelling "Paparazzi" at me!

We had a visitor in our room when we returned from dinner. Isn't this towel dog the cutest? CREATIVE!

Formal Night

I got to order whatever I wanted and have dessert every night on this cruise. My favorite thing was the flourless chocolate cake and the chilled fruit soups. Unbelievable! I also got to go outside and enjoy the warm night air, look at the moon, and not do a dish or put anyone to bed. Heaven.

Me--relaxed & sunburnt

Steve-my man

The next morning took us to Cozumel. We were 2 hours delayed, but we still got to go on our excursion to the Mayan Ruins in TULUM.

Where geckos roamed about in Key West, iguanas chilled in Mexico. They were everywhere at the ruins.

The temples were fascinating. It was so fun to speculate about what took place where and why. The Mayan culture was so fun to learn about and see.

Tulum is the only city of Mayan ruins that sits on a cliff. Aaaah. Breathtaking.

This window Steve is pointing to is situated so that twice a year, on the equinoxes, the sun's light shines through it and lights up the temple. Brilliant!



Costa Maya was our next stop. We got to ride in the back of a truck bed through the jungle to our camp. This was where we would get outfitted for the ZIPLINE! Yes, again, we thought of our boys. I think "Totally wicked" would have been said a few times if they'd been there.

We had a blast!!! It was hot, but we zoomed over the jungle and along the Lagoon of 7 Shades of Blue. So fun!

Another visitor. I think this one is an anteater.

Now, we're back to real life and the end-of-the-school-year crunch.
I am so grateful to my mom for watching my children and buying them everything they wanted, even feeding them pizza for dinner 3 times!! I'm glad everyone survived and that my mom still is speaking to me. :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I'm also thankful to be an American citizen. I really am so blessed!

But, the question remains...when can I go again and who's coming with me?