A slice of heaven

The Grand Cayman Island: Gorgeous, Grandeur, Magnificent.  

That really sums it up.  This island was the most gorgeous place I've ever been/seen.  We were able to spend about an hour shopping before our snorkel tour left and I got a turtle for my Pandora bracelet.  The snorkel tour was just amazing (as you'll see in the pictures).  Andrew does not like deep water, and wasn't sure how to feel about snorkeling.  But he LOVED it.  The guides took us to 2 different snorkeling locations and also to "sting-ray city."  It's not really a city, more like a gathering of sting-rays that have allowed humans to interact with and feed them for several years.  In case you didn't catch the inference, they're wild sting-rays.  Talk about scary.  But it wasn't.  It was a little odd at first, and I can't say I got used to a sting-ray rubbing up on me while we were there, but it was truly incredible.  The snorkel guide has been visiting so frequently that a special sting-ray actually swims up to him when he jumps in the water.  They gave us squid to feed them, and let me tell you, that was a very unique experience.  Sting-rays don't have teeth, so they suck their food in.  You have to keep your hand under the water when you feed them so they don't suck in air, and it feels like a very strong vacuum.  And they swim UP ON YOU when they can smell the food on you!!!  Their skin on the bottom is so soft and lighter colored than the top, which has a rougher texture.  The snorkeling was great too.  The coral reefs weren't very colorful like I was expecting, but the fish were so beautiful.  After snorkeling, we went to one of the beaches and just played in the ocean.

If we had known how sunburnt we were, we probably wouldn't have stayed out in the sun . . . but we didn't, obviously.  Andrew is very fair skinned . . . he's Danish and he spent most of his life in a sunless state, so he got it bad.  Surprisingly, I don't have fair skin (most red-heads do).  While I can't get as dark as my mom or sister, I can get a pretty good tan.  But I tanned, like (or would it be unlike) Andrew, in a sunless state all summer.  So it was bad.  Can you tell?  (the only picture I had of my sunburn was all dressed up for dinner . . . and all I had of Andrew was of him lying in bed, writhing in pain.  haha)

"I'm on a Boat!" Or I was . . .

You all know you'd be singing that song too!

So this year when we got our tax return, we decided we needed a vacation.  I don't count flying home for the holidays as a vacation, so its been 3 years since we've been on vacation.  So we looked on Orbitz and found a 7 night Caribbean cruise for an awesome price.  We went to Montego Bay, Jamaica, the Grand Cayman Island, and Cozumel, Mexico.

We thought it was really cool that the cruise had us sitting with other couples around our age every night for dinner.  We met some really fun people and hung out with them for most of the cruise.  There were a lot of things to do on the boat; there was a casino, several clubs to dance at, shows, stand-up comedy, magic shows, etc.  And there was always food.  Andrew's favorite was the 24 hour pizzeria.  I won't embarrass us by telling you how often we ate there.  The food all over the boat was delicious.  There was a breakfast and lunch buffet everyday that ended around 10.  We usually ended up getting out of bed at 9:30, throwing on a swimsuit and running downstairs to catch the end of it.  The hard life, you know?

They even had entertainment on the decks during the day while we sunbathed.  Well, I sunbathed and Andrew melted in the sun.  To his credit, he was the most "tan" this summer as I've ever seen him.  My favorite event was the hairy chest contest.  Old men . . . the "Thong Song" . . . I'll let you try to play that one through your heads.  They had 5 (I think) pools on the boat and a water slide.  I did bring workout clothes for the gym, but . . . lets just say that we've been home for just over a month and I'm finally back down to my pre-cruise weight (not that I've been trying THAT hard).

We thought we took more pictures than we did, but I guess we were having too much fun!

I'm putting up pictures from each place we stopped in different posts . . . so look for those!

Ooh Ah Ah Ah

No silly, we didn't go to the zoo!  What would give you that idea?

We went to the Ape Caves!

For those of you who don't live in Washington, and I suppose for those of you who do live in Washington, and have never been, they're these really cool caves that were created after a volcanic eruption.  It's pitch black, cold, and rocky (like, really, really big rocks).  Sounds like a nightmare, right?  Not really.  I mean, it is ankle-twisting central, but other than that, it's awesome.

We went with a group of friends (correction, we went with a friend who brought his friends) and had a blast.  The hike took about 3.5 hours (if you're in really good shape, you could probably subtract 1 hour).

It was just a whole bucket-o-fun.

Pics to prove . . .

The gorgeous view before we entered the cave

Climbing down!  I was standing on that guys hand . . .Oops!

In the cave

A small gap of light

Art . . . or destruction of organic matter, however you want to look at it

Coming out (of the cave)

23rd Burfday

23 was weird for me - the realization that I'm aging finally hit me (yes, it took 23 years).  Probably more weird because I thought I'd at least be graduated by the time I was 23.  To be technical, I will graduate while still 23, so there.  But I can't complain about life, because it's grand.

My sweet husband had to work on my birthday, but he still planned out my day for me.  He set my alarm for 9 am (who misses sleeping in until 9 am?  I don't, obviously).  He left a card over my cell phone with an address and an instruction to be at that address by 10 am "on the dot" - his exact words.  There were other words in the card, but that's not the point.  So I arrived at the address and it's a group of commercial businesses . . . I thought maybe my GPS (narrated by Homer Simpson) had misguided me, so I googled.  I could choose from Coldwell Bank (we love Chase bank, so I knew it wasn't this one), a natural foods store (look at us, do we look like we eat natural?), a refrigeration company (we're not really in the market for a fridge - you know, apartment living. They may charge us $90 a month to use it, but a fridge came standard).  And then there's the nail salon (this is more like it).  That's when my good friend Tia showed up at my window - to take me to get a pedicure!  Thanks to the foot massages I get on a weekly basis (I said he was sweet, didn't I?), I wasn't too appalled to let the technician see my feet.

So we got pedicures, and went out to lunch (it's important that I mention Andrew gave Tia permission to go out to lunch with me - we thought it was funny), and then spent several hours at the pool.  It was pure bliss.  So then came dinner, at The Red Robin (we're fancy here).  Dinner was delicious and they were nice enough to let me bring my cheesecake.  If you don't remember the story behind the cheesecake, click here.

I'm grateful for good friends to celebrate with!

Baby Aurora

The gang

Dan's daughter Dev - watching her eat spaghetti was quite amusing

The force is strong with this one

I tried to surprise Andrew with the Star Wars exhibit at the Seattle Pacific Science Center, but he's too intuitive.  And who am I kidding - I'm not the best supriser in the world either.  Who cares, because it was pretty awesome.  I don't think anyone was as excited to be there as Andrew.

By the way, I love that Andrew is a nerd.  It's actually one of the reasons I find him so smokin'.  I'm not too fond of the stereotypical nerds, though.  Ever tried to play, "Where's that smell coming from?"  It's pretty much impossible in a room full of mouth-breathing, Jedi-to-be nerds.  I'm just grateful the nerd I married has good hygiene, along with many other adorable qualities.  I'll save that list for later.

Even though the room was stinky, the exhibit was not!

Did I mention that we went to the rest of the Science Center too?  Because we did.  They had a butterfly pavilion, which I have a bit of a hard time in.  I love butterflies - I think they're beautiful.  They're also one of my mom's favorites.  So in 4th grade when my class went to the huge butterfly pavilion in Denver, my mom told me to wear bright colors because butterflies like bright colors.  I wore bright pink sweat pants, a BRIGHT tie-dye shirt and a bright green jacket (stylish, I know).  Turns out my mom was right!  Butterflies LOVE bright colors.  They came flying at me from all directions, mistaking me for a giant walking flower.  I don't care if it's a beetle or a pretty butterfly; if it comes flying at me, I'm going to swat.  Lets just say I might have started crying a little and I didn't spend too much time in the pavilion.  So when we went to Seattle, I wore black.  No scary encounters, but I probably had an elevated heart rate the whole time we were in there.

Pics to show how much fun we had!

Hmmm . . . can you find Andrew?

Some mini hooded figure

A cool ship . . . I think it's called the Millennium Falcon or Falcon Millennium?  One of those.

The chewbacca lookin dudes

Andrew mimicking the roller robot

Another cool (pointy) ship

"Andrew, I am not your father"

The different pieces of Darth's helmet

The actual "life savors" - that's what I used to call them

Cool ship #3

An update in one breath . . . or two, depending on how long you can hold your breath

We moved out of Ray and Marcia's house!!!
We started a new quarter in January.
Andrew got excited over a Labor Union Laws class and I got excited for the 25 page research paper I had to write.
We probably saw a good movie or two in there.
My mom and Kale both came to Seattle for Kale's All-Northwest concert and he rocked.
We went bowling.
We played bingo.
We booked a cruise for September.
We both made the dean's list (I got my official dean's letter today . . . it was put in my "hometown's" newspaper, so I hope everyone from the city of Puyallup didn't skip over us overachievers - all 10 of you that actually know who I am).
I bought a plane ticket to go home for Kale's graduation . . . He's 18 and graduating.  When did that happen?!
Found out Kale got accepted into the Air Force Academy in Colorado.  GO KALE!!!
We started a new quarter in March.
I'm depressed for about 2 hours every Tuesday and Thursday as I watch extremely disturbing videos in my Family Violence class.
Andrew started his LSAT class.
I lost my job, so I'm looking again.  Fun stuff.
We're going to the Seattle Pacific Science Center exhibit on Star Wars tomorrow . . . Andrew's inner nerd won't know what to do with itself.
Oh . . . and I didn't update our blog once.

The hours between 11-6 really do exist

We might be in our early 20's (ok I'm in my early 20's and Andrew is pushing the second half of the decade) but we are old when it comes to bedtime.  It's a rare occasion for us (I really mean me) to stay up past 11, let alone past midnight.  New Year's Eve is one of those occasions Andrew doesn't put up with my "old" age.  So we went up to Seattle for the fireworks off of the space needle.  It was freezing, and we had to pay $10 to park our car for 1 hour, but it was pretty awesome.  The space needle literally looks like it's on fire when the fireworks are going off, but don't worry, it isn't.  Thanks to our new scarves and leather gloves from mama Donnelly, we stayed cozy.  I even stayed up with Andrew for the drive home!  What a trooper . . .

Our friends Cedar and Tia

And because I know you're all wondering what could these two have possibly *resoluted this year?  I'll tell you . . . 

• Floss every night (research has linked plaque to cardiac disease, so if that isn't enough of a reason, I don't know what is)
• Don't procrastinate homework (like I am doing right now by writing this blog)
• Do today's dishes TODAY (an apartment kitchen can stink up pretty fast if you leave stuff out)
• Put Xbox and PS3 controllers away when you're done using them (this one is Andrew's)

*resoluted: to have made resolutions (I made it up)