If there are white caps in your toilet... 4

On the second morning this is what greeted us. Hubby Guy (the only one up that early) caught some gorgeous pictures of sunrise. He knows that I love it when you can see sunbeams (Tyndall effect) so he took pictures whilst saying to me "If you'll drag yourself out of the bed you could see this beautiful sunrise." I vaguely remember him suggesting I should get up but I rolled back over and chose to enjoy the beautiful photos instead of the real thing.

Our first stop in a port was Costa Maya, Mexico. It was the first time I got to see the really pretty turquoise water. The pier there is really, really long (like 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile). It was really fun to watch all that happens to dock the ship. We watched from our bubble (of course). Here is a picture of the ship from standing in front of the orange building. As you can see, there was another ship there that day too. We got the inside parking spot.
Costa Maya was where we went to see the Mayan ruins. (The one the shore excursion guy recommended). The Yucatan Peninsula is eat up with Mayan ruins. There were ruins available to see at every port. We wanted to see the best option. We were impressed. We took LOTS of pictures. I'll post the highlights. The Kohunlich ruins are ruins of an entire Mayan city. We've seen ruins out west and they are generally just of a dwelling or a couple of dwellings. This was a city and we didn't even see all of it because we didn't have time on account of how long it took to ride inland on the bus (2 hours in and 2 hours back). We had to be back on the ship by a certain time. Anyway..

When we first got off the bus we encountered two dogs at the little potty stop place. One of them was just too cute. I started talking to her. I was eating the sack lunch that was provided so she was pretty interested in anything I had to say. I didn't give her anything to eat because I didn't know if the people there were keen on that. Well... Hubby Guy when he saw how cute she was went ahead and gave her most of his sandwich and some of his banana. Suffice it to say we made friends. She became our tour guide. She went wherever we went. We called her "Tour Dog" (original... I know). Anyway, here's a picture of the two of us.

This was the first building we saw. I forgot the name of it but the stairs were impressive. When you get to the top it opens up into several rooms.


At the top of the stairs you can see a door. As I went to walk through the door I saw this. There were very pretty plants and flowers all around.


Across the grassy lawn from that building was a building called the king's castle. I couldn't help but take a picture of "the king" sitting on his castle.


After a couple more buildings we walked up a big hill to visit the temple of the sun god. There were several huge carvings of faces. A couple of them were still colored with the original stain the Mayans used all those many years ago. After seeing several buildings I was amazed at how solid the construction was. I was curious what they used to stick the rocks together. Just before we got to the temple our tour guide (the guy, not the dog) stopped to show us a tree. It turns out they still harvest those trees from that area. They are the tree Chiclets gum is made from. Back in Mayan days they would mix the sap with rocks to use as cement to build with.



After the temple of the sun god we walked a bit through a bit of a jungle. There were all kinds of pretty plants along the way. Here's a hybiscus I was taken with. I took his picture from several angles but I like this one the best.


The last picture I have is of our real tour guide. His name is Manuel. He was AWESOME. He was very knowledgeable about the Mayan people. He is a proud descendant and that made him all the more believable. He was also very kind and funny. Here's a picture of him showing us some of his artwork. He is an artist on the side. He had several really cool paintings of Mayan stuff. If he had been selling his paintings I definitely would have bought one. He brought them just to show us though.


We got back to the ship in just enough time. By the time we set sail it was already dark. That night we took in a stage show in the main theater. We wandered around the ship for a little while and called it a night. And that was day 3.

If there are white caps in your toilet...3

I've always thought of cruising as a rather rigid way to vacation. I've heard the stories about being assigned a dinner table full of strangers, set dress code, etc. Well... we chose Norwegian for their new "Freestyle Cruising". I am a BIG fan of freestyle cruising now. The only real dress code was that you couldn't wear your bathing suit into the fancy dining room. Better yet... you never were even required to go to the fancy dining room. We could eat whenever and wherever we wanted. We never even had to sit with strangers. There was a table for two waiting everywhere we went.

Each evening we would get a newsletter that told us all the activities that would be going on aboard the boat for the following day. That way we could plan what we did and did not wish to participate in.

Lesson 1: Early on they offered lots of talks about shore excursions, port talks about where was best to shop, etc. I bought in as a cruise virgin. By the end of the week I had figured out that all that was really a cleverly designed sales pitch. It wasn't all for naught because I did feel educated about stuff I new nothing about. I was just annoyed by the big marketing undertow to it all. I would have done better to just ask the shopping guy or the shore excursion guy specific questions and skip the big talks. All of the crew of the ship were really helpful and willing to answer questions honestly. We asked and the shore excursion guy gave us a recommendation and he was spot on and we really enjoyed it.

Also... in the same vein.... I bought in to the "get free stuff" push too. Now... I did end up with a charm bracelet that was basically free. I did pay for the first charm but it was only $5. That was really clever. The whole thing is just a promotion to drive you into the big jewelry store chain that happens to be in all the ports we went to. I just had to go on a quest at each port to find the store and go get my free charm. It was a bit of a hassle, but I did end up with a cute charm bracelet that represented my first cruise.

Our first day at sea I spent hopping from "talk" to "talk". When I wasn't doing that we were busy chilling. We were amazed with 2,200 people (over 3000 if you include crew) that we were always able to find a spot where no one was. That was a nice surprise. You can also easily find people. The big crowds were generally in the area of the boat where advertised events were happening. If you avoid those places you really don't have to fight off crowds. Below is a picture of us relaxing at sea. We had the whole back end of deck 13 to ourselves! We explored a lot that day and scoped out all the places where few to zero people tended to congregate.

If there are white caps in your toilet....2

So... we went on a 7 day cruise. We sailed to the Western Caribbean aboard the Norwegian Spirit.

The above picture pretty much sums up day 1. We got on the ship at about 12:30. We couldn't get into our room until 2:00 so we just wandered around the boat. We found this spot on deck 12. It was at the very front of the boat. We dubbed this location "our bubble". The bridge in the background is a bridge over the Mississippi river. We went out of New Orleans.

One of the funniest moments of the trip happened that first day not very far from "our bubble". I wish I had more pictures of the areas of the boat where we hung out the most. Our bubble was in an area called Galaxy of the Stars. It was a giant lounge area where you could sit around and look out at the water. There was also a dance floor and stage in that room. We hung out there A LOT. Anyway... the very front of the room is dedicated just to sitting around looking at the water. In the very middle of the room at the very front of the boat there was a very authentic mermaid. (By authentic I mean she wasn't sporting any seashells and she was VERY anatomically correct). Anyway... this little old couple was making their way across the room. The lady stopped and said (in a really sweet old lady way) "Isn't this nice!" Immediately after she said that her hubby guy proceeded to grab the mermaid's anatomical correctness and say "Yes, especially these!" The old lady just giggled and they walked away. They really cracked me up.

Shortly after that funny moment we were able to go to our room. It was awesome! We had a private balcony. The whole thing was rather spacious with the exception of the bathroom. It had pretty tight quarters.










It was better than I had imagined it would be based on stories I've heard from other people who have gone on a cruise.

The boat didn't leave port until 6:00pm. Here are some pictures from our exodus from port. We floated down the Mississippi for 7 hours before we were finally in the Gulf of Mexico. We went to
sleep before we ever go to the Gulf. That was day one.

If there are white caps in your toilet walk away, and other things I learned at sea.

I have a series of posts for you. I'll get started tomorrow.

Perspectives

Kutless wrote this song "Perspectives"

It feels like your life's crashing down all around you
Let me ask if it's really so bad
Look at the world in it's suffering
Can you honestly tell me that know one else could understand All the hurting inside
Why can't you see that freedom is sometimes simply another perspective away
Who could you be if your lens was changed for a moment, Would you still be the same
A young child looks through a great stained glass window Watching the people go by Everyone seems to be wearing a red coat His mother sees jackets in white
Now he can't understand why does she see it this way
Why can't you see that freedom is sometimes simply another perspective away
Who could you be if your lens was changed for a moment, Would you still be the same Yesterday, you really couldn't see, By changing your angle a new world would be
Revealed to your once blinded eyes by moving a few degrees
Why can't you see that freedom is sometimes simply another perspective away
Who could you be if your lens was changed for a moment, Would you still be the same

That song came to mind this morning. I was standing in my office (3rd floor in a building on a hill to start with). I was filing and looking out the window because of where I was standing. I was listening to a different band that writes very contemplative lyrics. Something about looking out on the world really helps me put things into perspective.

I was considering the drama going on with my biological family. It's insane. In times like this I am SO NOT RELATED!!!

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday about how sometimes a couple of days worth of calming sure can lend perspective to a situation and can really keep things from escalating and turning into unnecessary conflict.

This time of year especially I feel like we're pulled by tradition and a societally placed system of "what you're supposed to do". I don't know about you, but that system causes me stress. I can't help but think that it is at least responsible for part of the prevalence of seasonal affective disorder seen this time of year. I buck it with everything I have. We don't even have a Christmas tree this year. It wasn't worth it to me.

Here's my Christmas and New Year offering to you:

I wish you perspective. If I could I would grant everyone the gift of discernment as it pertains to all things holiday related. May you not be bound by any manner of societal system but instead be controlled by the realization that God is in control and is the greatest gift giver of all time.


Merry Christmas to ya and Happy New Year!

I Have To Brag

I am SO EXCITED!!!!

As some of you know, each year during the winter season I coach gymnastics at the local high school.

The hardest thing about coaching high school girls is the mental/emotional aspect of the sport.

Last night was our first meet of the season. I did NOT have high hopes as we've had a bit of a rough start and too many kids in the gym to be able to adequately focus and getting done what needed to get done.

Well..... WE WON!! FIRST PLACE TEAM!!!! (Last year's pic)
This is my 5th season with the team and that has happened exactly never. That was the first time in 5 years. AND... to sweeten the evening, one of the biggest headcases on the team (and also arguably the best on the team) qualified for Regionals in the All-Around. If you don't know anything about gymnastics, that's HUGE!!! The second best on the team came within a 1/2 point of doing the same thing. Another girl came within 2 points. This is AMAZING!!

So now we can relax into the season. We've established some momentum that should carry us pretty far. I feel like every season we're fighting for the top. We've gotten so stressed out over who we need to beat that it has sabotaged our performance. With that first place notch in our belt, we can shift focus and really "tear-it-up".

I laid in bed until 1:30 am because I was so excited and keyed up. I'm still pretty keyed up. I can't wait for practice tonight!

Don't You Wonder...

Do you ever wonder what life would be like if instead of just thinking the good stuff you think about doing that you actually do it? I wonder about that all the time. Life goes much differently in my head than it actually turns out.

Sometimes too I wish that friendships between women were as easy as friendships between men. Men just punch each other in the arm and say something like "I like Craftsman tools" and they are bonded for life. Women have to work through each others emotional layers/walls. Now, I do find some sport/interest in the process. I do want to know all the stuff that you find out through the process. I just hate that sometimes it's difficult to know exactly how to proceed. I liken it to putting together puzzle pieces. Sometimes you have to work intensely to find just the right fit. With women I think sometimes that it takes a while to find out which edges line up.

I have a friend. She never did fall into the category of secret friends (See the last paragraph of this post for definition). She's a person who, after being around her a lot, I wanted to get to know. I never would have known that had I not been around her repeatedly. She is really kind and genuine. She's a perfect mentor type person. I've learned so much from her just by being around her. Anyway... we are working on what I would call a friendship. It's complicated. I want to know her well. BUT... I feel like "the process" is taking forever. I'm sure I'm guilty of overthinking the whole situation. I can't help myself!

Wouldn't it be nice if the process were the same with every person. "Secret Friends" are easy. Others aren't. I know this, though. Sometimes it's the friendships that are hard fought that end up being the biggest blessings.