more of the same

 It's pretty difficult to blog when there is nothing going on... just lots of snow, movie watching, cooking, playing board games etc. Nothing particularly exciting but it's really been a fantastic week. Mike was able to work from home all week, which was such a blessing. The roads have been a total nightmare and I like knowing he's safe here at home... plus I'm selfish, and I'll take all the time with him that I can get! The dogs have been playing outside constantly-- I really have to force Jack Bauer to come in and warm up.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday! We're supposed to get some more snow tonight and then another huge storm Tuesday/Wednesday.

he makes me laugh

I opened the freezer tonight to get a bowl of ice cream (Soy ice cream!) and noticed the container felt a little bit too light when I picked it up. I opened the lid and found this:

it was empty except for a note from my dear husband. I.Love.Him.

it was bound to happen

The last time I was sick-- like go-to-the-dr.-give-me-drugs-sick-- was the August 2009. That was until this past week! I spent last weekend in Tulsa with my mom (dad was in Hawaii on a business trip) and on the drive back to Arkansas I could tell things weren't right. I woke up Monday morning unbelievably sick. :( The Dr. thought I had the flu but the test came back negative. I was diagnosed with bronchitis (102 temp!) and sent home with lots of meds. I stayed in bed, asleep-- basically until Wednesday.

 antibiotics, nose spray, inhaler, some narcotic cough syrup (AMAZING stuff), mucinex etc...

and my fever started to come down! Mike has taken such great care of me, he's an amazing nurse! I'm definitely on the mend, getting better every day. I can't wait to be over this crap.

I'm married to a 12 year old.

Mike shaved his beard. I prefer him with the beard and he agrees to have one in the fall & winter-- but since it's spring, it came off!

He looks so young!!
P.S.- here's a pic of Mike with his beard:

My Valentine.

I woke up this morning with a bouquet of flowers on the pillow next to me. :) Mike is too good to me. We've had a great day, some yummy food and just some nice time together. I love this guy. <3

Thankful Thursday

I woke up this morning and for about 10 minutes I thought it was Friday! Oh well, that's okay because I have a lot to be thankful for on this Thursday. :)

• I mentioned it earlier, but I am so thankful for Mike's promotion and success at work.
• That we are prepared for this approaching winter storm. Flashlights, candles, lots of food etc. We should be good for a couple of days!
• That Jack Bauer's ear infection isn't bothering him as much today. The poor guy was in some serious pain yesterday.
• That we're actually getting a tax refund this year! (First year ever.) And that the state return was deposited yesterday and the federal refund will be deposited Friday!
• That my baby brother got an xBox and can play online with Mike and his friends. Might not seem important, but since he's a Marine stationed in Japan I know he's excited to have that connection back home! <3

Hope everyone has a great Thursday and stays warm!

Way to go Mike!!

Mike got a pretty big promotion today!! And since I feel like I only post pictures of house stuff and Jack Bauer on here, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to post some pics of the hubby. <3

If you know Mike at all, you know what a goofball he can be. I rarely get him to pose normally for pictures. So this is a nice mixture of cute normal pics and typical Mike pics!

He's worked really hard for this promotion and I'm incredibly proud. He's really advanced quickly at his company and he deserves the success and recognition that he's getting!

and Mike insisted I include this terrible fake yearbook picture- he says it's his favorite. LMAO!

Way to go babe!!

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation Part Six & Seven!

Last cruise post!!!!!! Are you excited??

So last time I posted, we were enjoying Christmas with some sunshine, drinks and a formal night. December 26th for me is usually spent driving all over town hitting up all the after Christmas sales. This year it was spent on a private island in the Bahamas. Don't hate!

We woke up to lots of fog-- pretty and kinda creepy out in the middle of the ocean:

A few hours later we docked at Great Stirrup Cay- NCL's private island. We knew we wanted to snorkel, and the water and conditions couldn't have been better!

ahhh, toes in the sand! I miss this.

I had a few too many strawberry daiquiris from this little beach side bar:

Mike & Rob had some giant nasty beers while we waited in line to get back on the ship. Yuck.

The next two pics aren't great- but I thought it was kinda humorous that Mike and I accidentally dressed in coordinating colors for dinner that night. Ha! Yeah, we're that couple.

And that concluded our last night on the ship!

The next morning we woke up to this view:

We were back in Miami. Boo.

We all had breakfast together and starting saying our goodbye's. Mike's family was leaving before us, so we all gathered for some pictures in the ship's atrium:

Mike and I wanted to do a cheesy pose using the ship's props- they loved this roman column thing and tried to incorporate it in all of their formal pics. Funny thing is, I actually really like this picture (you know, minus the column and the tacky marble wall)!

Mike's family left and we decided to have one last drink at one of the ship's bars:

We headed back to the room and waited to be called over the intercom. We used the ship's transfer service to the airport. It was awesome because we didn't have to worry about our luggage until we landed in Arkansas that night!

Mike decided to use the balcony one last time for some reading.

and I just had to share this picture because it shows off the messenger bag I had made before we took the trip. I found the seller on etsy and she was fantastic to work with. I have a post later this week that tells just how fabulous she is. :-)

 another random pic-- we called this guy Jorts (you know, jean+shorts=jorts!) the entire cruise because he seriously wore them every day. Sometimes with a black mesh tank top. Not kidding!! LMAO!!

and one final picture from Miami International airport. I kept joking that I was so disappointed that we never saw a single Golden Girl or Dexter.

do you like the "gritty" effect I put on the picture?? haha!

So that's it! We survived my tedious vacation posts. And it only took me about a month to do it all. It really was a great trip. I cannot wait to go back to Belize, was pretty disappointed with Miami and made some great memories with Mike and his family. All in all, a pretty awesome Christmas. :-)

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation Part Three, Four... and Five!

So I figured I better finish my blog posts about our Christmas vaca before I forgot about it. I know it's not the most riveting thing to read, but after all this is kind of like my little diary and I know I'll want to look back on this stuff! So, here we go!

Our next stop was Belize. This place is absolute paradise. Our favorite stop on the cruise. The people are so friendly. the water is perfection, just lovely! But, our excursion on this day was spent cave tubing- so I didn't bring my camera. Boo. Our favorite stop and not a single picture! Oh well.

After our long day in Belize, we celebrated Mike's 31st birthday on the ship. They were having a "White Hot Party" at the biggest bar/club so we went and had too many dirty martinis and danced the night away. So fun!!

I threatened Mike that I was posting this picture even if he made a stupid face... I kept my promise!

Mike, warming up his sweet dance moves:

doing his best Don Draper with his dirty martini:

 After Belize we sailed on to Costa Maya, Mexico. It was Christmas Eve and we spent the day at the Kohunlich Mayan ruins. Simply amazing!!

Here we are on the bus heading to the ruins:

and some random pictures of Mexico as we drove toward the ruins:

Can you tell it was about 250 degrees outside?? So hot.

The coast line there was kinda rough, definitely glad we didn't do a beach day!

The next day was Christmas! It was a day at sea so we spent the entire day laying by the pool, sipping tropical drinks and reading. It was heaven!

But first, we sailed by Cuba!

Here's Mike, getting some sun and relaxing.

and my toes!

That night was formal night on the ship- we got all dressed up and had a fantastic dinner.

 I just have one more post to do and we'll be finished with the cruise stuff. It was sooo much fun (and I still have my tan!!) haha!