Last Stop... Cozumel, Mexico

Clear kayaking is quite the treat! Between that and the clear water you can see everything!

We're just the cutest little snorkel buddies.

p.s. That is a shirt you see me wearing in the ocean. No, I was not trying to make some sort of odd fashion statement. My skin resembled the color of a cooked lobster and well... I'm sure you get the point.

Can you believe we found a star fish (by we I mean our snorkeling tour guide)? Darren even got to hold it!

Not sure why a chain link fence is sitting at the bottom of the ocean but it sure made for a great fish playground.

Our guide scared that creature out of his hiding place.

Brain Coral

Our guide found a sea horse and let me hold it.

This is the table of people we sat with for dinner. We lucked out and got an entertaining bunch.

I think everyone needs to own one of these chairs.

3rd Stop... Roatan, Honduras

Yet again I'm taking pictures of the water. As our ship was docking it stirred everything up and I thought it looked so cool!

This was the view right out our balcony. Is it horrible to say a ship wreck is pretty?

Yep, that's coral... and yep, it's beautiful!

Another ship wreck... Sad, but still visually appealing.

Darren and I met the funnest couple (Ray and Rhonda from Atlanta). We randomly grouped together for a day of snorkeling. Darren had researched a great spot called the 'Spooky Channel'. We caught a cab with a cute little driver that didn't speak a word of English. Don't worry, Darren whipped his spanish out and got us to our destination. Turns out, the snorkel spot is no longer public. But, after a few words with Tom & Sue (the owners) we had our flippers on and were ready to jump in.

We quickly figured out it's named 'Spooky Channel' for a reason. You have to snorkel out about 100 yards in knee deep water with reeds tickling your tummy the whole way. Darren and Ray even got bit by some sort of creepy crawly. Once you pass the reeds you have coral on both sides and then water deeper than you can see. That part wasn't too creepy until we saw bubbles coming up for down below. I didn't necessarily want to meet the creature the bubbles belonged to.

So we're snorkeling along and we see this sting ray. We get all excited of course and start swimming toward it to get a good picture. Then we remembered... hmmm... we're not in Grand Caman anymore and this sting ray is probably not a big fan of people. Luckily he swam away and we didn't have any trouble.

There were some fun fish but other than the sting ray we didn't see anything too exciting. The current was pretty strong and pulled us out faster than desirable. We had to cut the trip short and come in early for fear we might end up in Cuba or something.

2nd Stop... Grand Cayman

I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the picture overload... I just couldn't narrow down my favorites.

The water was too rough to pull up to a dock so we took little boats to the island.

We did the infamous 'Sting Ray Island' and boy was it worth it. I had done it once before as a kid with my family but it was equally amazing the 2nd time. Darren wasn't thrilled about the whole idea at first but ended up loving it!

Yes, I kissed it. Too bad the picture didn't catch the actual smooch.

Quite the back massage!

Such a cute little guy... in a slippery marine animal sort of way.

We like to think we're fish too!

Day 2... At Sea

This is the view from our balcony. Water and Sky as far as you can see.

Yes, I went to a flower making class... and yes that is all crepe paper (no other supplies needed).

1st Stop... Nassau, Bahamas

Do you feel like you are looking at a page of one of those beach calendars? Ya, so did we! The water in the Bahamas was breath taking (as cheesy as that sounds). It is SO blue... I mean look at it!

Yes, those are braids in my hair (three of them to be exact)... and yes, they do give me the urge to dance like a 'Bahama Mama'!

Is it bad that I love cool graffiti?

Much Better Lodging

We were pleasantly surprised with a nice boat and room to go with it.

Looks can be deceiving

Darren and I got to go on a Cruise (YAY!) We flew in the night before to make sure we had enough time to make it to the ship the next day.

All the hotels were crazy expensive. So... me being the bargain gal that I am... got the cheapest one. An Econo Lodge for $107.00 (Not great but less than 1/2 the cost of the other guys). Here is a picture of the outside...

It's cute in a 'I paid for the cheapest option available' sort of way. On the outside we weren't terribly disappointed. Oh dear were we in for a treat when we opened the door. I can think of a million things I want to tell you about this nasty little place. But I think pictures speak louder than words.

Don't worry, after this night of adventure we had an amazing experience on our cruise. Stories and photos to come soon!

Where I've been

I guess it might not be a terrible idea to explain where in the world I've been.

Well, I recently changed jobs (I'm still with the same company). I've moved to the Marketing Communications Department. I left my life of event planning and headed off to be a writer.

Do you have a communications degree you ask? Oh no, I've never formally written anything other than a high school English paper.

Much to my surprise, I find myself writing 'professionally' and actually like it. The problem is... all my writing is on social media (facebook, blogs, etc.). So, when I'm done with work I'm never in the mood to update our own blog.

I'll do my best to get better at that. :)

I think I miss his faux-hawk

We buzzed D's head and although it's awfully cute it makes him look like he's 3 years old. Pics of the buzz hopefully coming soon.

World Traveler

It's official... Damon has begun a life of traveling the world. For his first flight he made it all the way to Cedar City! I know, we had to go all out for his first experience... next time we'll stay a bit closer to home ;)

Beautiful Merman

Our trip to California was quite some time ago but I just came across these pictures and couldn't help but post them.