Vacations

So I realized that it has been way too long since we posted, but if you only knew how crazy life has been...  Plus, we are currently picking up a wireless signal from our new neighbors, so we actually have internet at home for the first time since we've been married.  Who knows how long it will last, but we are taking advantage of it for now.

Yes, the title of the post is correct, because we have separately and collectively been on 4 trips in the last two months.  Pret began the vacation spree by going hunting with Kate (our dog, for those who don't remember) and his dad and brothers in Arizona for a week the end of January.  I taught for the week and slept more than I have since who knows when...  Kate did an awesome job hunting and we look forward to more hunts with her in the future.

Then, as a birthday/graduation celebration, Pret went to Cancun for a week with some friends.  I opted not to go and save my vacation time for later.  While he was gone (getting lost, avoiding baracudas, and browning in the sun) I went to visit my friend, Lauren and her family in North Carolina.  She and Dallas had a beautiful baby girl, Lindley, the end of December, so it was fun to go and see her.  It was a pretty quick trip, especially because I was delayed in Chicago for an extra 4 hours because of a storm, so I didn't get to NC until about 11:30.  I was able to enjoy NC BBQ and relaxing times with friends.  Lauren and Dallas were wonderful hosts and I look forward to seeing Lindley again soon.  :-)

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we have some new neighbors.  Sadly, our renters on the other half of our duplex had to move out of the state.  They were an adorable little family and we were just working up to trying to share the Gospel with them.  But we have found some new tenants who seem to be people who will take good care of it and help us out.  I just heard a lot of banging on the wall, so they must be hanging stuff up.

March 11-17 Pret and I went on our first vacation just the two of us.  We flew to Ft. Lauderdale and went to the beach there the next day.  That was wonderful to just be on the beach and enjoy the sun and the water.  Then, for those of you who know us (and specifically Pret) well, know that he has a hard time going a day without exercising and working-out.  So we found a Gold's Gym just a few miles from our motel and headed there for one great, but humidity-enduced sweaty workout! It did help us feel better about going on a cruise the next three days and eating whatever and how-much-ever we wanted.  

One of our friends used to live in the area, so he recommended our dining for the evening which consisted of Cuban cuisine at Padrino's and ice cream at Jaxson's.  

Right after this picture was taken, my ice cream got pushed up into my shirt--luckily I was able to get it soaking and all is well now.  

The next day, we slept in and then took a drive down the coast by Miami.  That almost cost us the cruise as we got stuck in traffic.  I had forgotten to look at the check-in time, and we were an hour and a half late.  We only made it on the boat (the Norwegian Sky) with about 15 minutes to spare.  

These pictures were taken as we were driving along the coast.  The sign on the back of the bus kept flashing "Call 911" but as we drove past, the driver did not seem to be in distress, so we didn't do anything.  It was kind of funny, though. 

We started the cruise by working out in the gym and watching the land disappear and the water change color from the treadmills.  That night, we enjoyed dinner from one of the more formal restaurants on the ship.  It was great (and kind of weird) to be able to walk out after eating and not have to pay the bill.  We called room service a little later and enjoyed some snacks in bed.  I think that was one of the highlights for Pret as he has always enjoyed room service!  

The next morning, we docked in Nassau, Bahamas.  
This is us waiting for the excursion to leave the dock.  Our boat seemed huge when we were right next to it!  We rode a catamaran to a little island and enjoyed some beautiful snorkeling.  I loved seeing the blue-green fish and Pret just enjoyed being in the water.  We looked through the village a little, but mainly just went back to the boat and chilled there for the afternoon.   We went to a great dance/music show that night and Pret ordered the first round of Piña Coladas.  Then, for some entertainment, they had their version of "The Newlywed Game."  We were worried that it would get a little vulgar, but it wasn't too bad.  The funniest part was one of the couples was LDS and from Utah (they said they were from Utah and we deduced the first part as they declined the free drinks to "loosen them up."  It was pretty enjoyable!  We played some ping-pong that night as well, and then fell asleep to movies in bed (after a second round of room service snacks).  

On Sunday, we had a day on the beach.  Pret snorkeled for about another two hours while I read and slept in the sun.  I didn't get into the water until the very end, but it sure felt nice.  We both got just a little burned that day, but overall we did really well in keeping the sunscreen on so we just got tanned and not burned.  

I'm not sure what is wrong with the color on these next pictures.  I am kind of bummed, though.

Here is our "hello" to everyone from the Bahamas!

This was the beach.  It was pretty crowded, but I found just enough room to lay out and soak up the sun!

Here were were on our way over to our island.  That's my Hunk of a Husband!

That night we just took our time getting ready again after our day in the sun, ate a late dinner, and spent some time just walking around the ship and enjoying one last night without any pressure to do anything.  We went back to the room with our final piña coladas and Pret watched TV while I finished up the book I had borrowed from the ship's library.  

In the morning we slept in, had our last breakfast in bed, and disembarked at about 10:00.  It was really quite sad to leave and we were planning all the future cruises we want to take as we waited in line to go through customs.  

As we were on our way to Miami on Friday, we happened to stop for a smoothie for Pret at a place called "Smoothie King."  Pret got a yummy piña colada one (can you tell what his favorite flavor is?) but sampled one called "The Hulk" and wouldn't stop talking about it the rest of the 20 minute drive to Miami.  He was already planning on going back (we were staying in the same area on Monday night) and said it would be the only thing that would be good about ending the cruise.   So after another good work-out at the gym, we headed back to the Smoothie King to get some smoothies.  I will admit, it was pretty good.  We enjoy Jamba Juice quite a bit, but Smoothie King does have it beat.  I was lamenting to a friend about it last week and she informed me that there is one a mere 20 minutes away (verses 2,000 miles), so now we just have to decide if and when it is worth the drive.

That night we ended our vacation with a dinner on the beach-front and a stroll down the beach.  I think of all the pictures I took, this one of Hollywood beach is my favorite.  We had our "dream-come-true" long walk on the beach at sunset and it was great.  Pret and I collected sea shells for me to bring back to my students.  (I just gave them each one today and they were pretty excited about it.)  

Afterwards, we couldn't decide whether we really wanted ice cream or not, so we decided to go back to Smoothie King for one last scrumptious taste!  It was delicious.

Our vacation ended with a long flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Denver and a scramble to find a ride home home when I realized that I had given the wrong time to our scheduled pick-up and they then couldn't do it.  (Thanks again, Michael, for coming to get us on such short notice!)

Wednesday it was back to work for me and back to studying for Pret.  Pretty depressing after all the relaxing.  Utah did welcome us back with 5 beautiful days of 60+ degree weather, but then shocked us with snow last night and today.