What's Up Wednesday ~ June

Hello!! It's been a minute, but I always love joining in on this blog post.  The past week or so has been somewhat of a blur that did not include any blogging, but I have included a few updates below.

What we're eating this week........

Monday - chicken sausage and shrimp

Tuesday - women's event appetizers :)

Wednesday - going out with friends

Thursday/Friday - have no idea....this is life lately

Saturday - sheet pan meat & veggies, mashed potatoes, appetizer, dessert.....We are having friends over so therefore, I need to know a menu :)

What I'm reminiscing about............

All things about our cruise last month!!

What I'm loving..............

I loved the Elvis movie!  I thought it was well done from a theatrical stand point and Austin Butler did so good portraying Elvis, down to the way he walked.  There are certainly some sad aspects of Elvis' life which were portrayed in this movie, but I did enjoy it.  Elvis was my first concert!

What we've been up to..............

These past few weeks have just been busy with work and organizing around the house.  We have had some house guests, which has been good, but my attention has been towards things at home lately so the blog has taken the back burner.

What I'm dreading...........

Figuring out a few business items & the continued heat of summer

What I'm working on.............

I need to do a little travel scouting for an upcoming quick trip we have.  

What I'm excited about...............

We have an upcoming quick trip and I always enjoy getting away for a little bit.  

What I'm watching/reading.............

We just finished watching Maid on Netflix.  It was good, but that is definitely hard and sad along the way. Most anything on tv in our home is baseball.  I still try to watch the new Hallmark movie of the week, but am usually a week or two behind.

What I'm listening to...........

All the podcasts....Story Tellers, Jesus Over Everything, The Open Door Sisterhood, Don't Mom Alone, In the Face of Illness, The Big Boo, Dwell, The Proverbs 31 Ministry, Office Ladies, I Hate Green Beans, The Father's House

What I'm wearing............

Most days you will find me in a skirt or dress.  If it is under 90, I may wear pants and a short sleeve top, but otherwise, y'all, it is hot.

What I'm doing this weekend..........

I am probably going to stay in my house getting caught up on laundry and maybe one of those Hallmark movies!

What I'm looking forward to next month........

We may go see our older daughter for a weekend, but other than that, we have no big plans.  I am hoping it involves some swimming and relaxing too.

What else is new................

Our house was painted last week and we really like the new color.  It makes the stone show up and the house just looks crisp and cleean.

This is a before on top and after on bottom.  The pictures were taken at different times of the day, so the stone looks brighter due to the sun in the top photo.

Enjoy your day and hope to be back in this blog space soon!

10 on the 10th

 Happy Friday friends!  We have made it to another Friday and I hope it's a good one for you.  Today is a fun topic for 10 on the 10th.......Vacation Travel!

Are you planning on taking a vacation anytime soon?  

Why yes, we have a short vacation coming up soon.  We are going to Cincinnati in a few weeks to go to a Reds baseball game and hope to visit the Art Encounter as well.

Have you recently gone on vacation?

Why yes, we have.  I just spent last week and this week highlighting all about our Western Caribbena cruise!

(Link to most recent cruise post and others posted on blog)

What is your favorite way to travel?

Definitely, cruising is a favorite way to travel!  But, I don't mind flying as long as there is some flexibility with the trip because delays happen.  I feel like the same goes with driving.  I do enjoy a road trip from time to time as well. (**Updating the blog post to also include RV camping and traveling by train are fun too....basically, I will travel most any way it comes!)

If money were no object, where would you go and why?

A few places come to mind.  First, Australia.  It looks like a beautiful country and we have dear friends who live there.  While I am in the area, I would love to go to Bora Bora.  Those pictures look stunning to me.  A little more realistic, I would also like to visit Spain & Portugal and I want to take my girls to Austria for a Sound of Music tour.

Who would be your favorite person to take on vacation?

My husband and my daughters

What do you absolutely have to pack when you go on vacation?

Sunscreen, medicine and snacks are must haves and I do love my packing cubes whether it is a weekend or week long trip.

What are your memories of your all time favorite vacation?

Oh my goodness....this is hard to say.  New York City is my favorite city, so I love all my vacations there.  Disney has always been fun, even a trip to Disneyland a few years ago stands out to me.  As mentioned, I have always enjoyed a cruise.  A paticular favorite was going on a cruise out of New York City with my husband.  It was all of my favorite things and I'll never forget that moment!  I also love London, Paris and Belgium.  Our family spent a month in Belgium and were able to travel to other cities on the weekends when we had free time (we were there for training during the week).  

We lived in Bogota, Colombia for 3 years and were able to travel within Colombia and Peru.  Traveling to Macchu Picchu was amazing and we took a fun family trip to Cartagena, Colombia.  Another memorable trip was a trip to Hong Kong and Singapore that I received free as a travel agent.  My mom went with me on this trip and we visited a cousin who lived there as missionaries. This was back in 1996.  Most recently, I also enjoy a lot of shorter day/weekend trips to areas within a few hours of home.

Where would you never go on vacation and why?

The first place that comes to mind is India due to the crowds. I also am not a big fan of Indian food.

What is the worst thing you've ever experienced on vacation?

When I was single, in my mid-20's, I went to see a friend in Texas for a weekend.  I flew into Dallas from Memphis.  There were such bad thunderstorms, it took us close to 7 hours to fly there.  I could have driven to Dallas in the time it took me to fly. We kept getting re-routed, but finally made it.  My friend and I drove to Austin.  While we were there, the car we had was broken into and we drove back to Dallas with cardboard over the window.  This was eventful, but thanfully, we were safe.

The other quick story that comes to mind was a family vacation to Washington DC in fall of 2013.  The government had its first shutdown in 17 years the week were there, so all Smithsonian and monuments closed within 24 hours after we arrived. We completely had to pivot our plans.

What is the best thing that ever happened to you on vacation?

I married my husband on a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana.  On our 20 year anniversary, we took our daughters there to show them where we got married.

Love travel and so thankful for it!

Linking up with Marsha

Cruise 2022 ~ Day 7...& all the food

 This is the last of the cruise update......but maybe the most fun highlighting lots of food!

I feel like I should say I didn't eat all of the food picture, but I did eat a lot and even a few things not pictured.  We just took pictures of most of the food served, no matter who ordered it.

Before I get to the food, our last day, we arrived back in Miami.  It took a while to get off the ship, but it was a fun moment when the cruise director said our names over the ship intercom when we started following him on Instagram!

To get the food kicked off, these were treats the last morning.  Yes, I got one last serving of frozen yogurt.  Some of the pastries were eaten and the others, we took off the ship.

It is safe to say the frozen yogurt machine was my favorite on the ship.

Strawberry Bisque Soup

Brisket

Chicken Parmigana

Lobster

BBQ Slider

Tilapia

Cheesecake and fruit

Lots of bread

Fresh squeezed orange juice, water and hot tea in the dining hall for breakfast

Breakfast in the dining hall

Crab cakes

Grilled shrimp

Filet mignon.....this was so tender and delicious

Key Lime Mousse

Breakfast from the buffet

Salmon

Ribs and shrimp creole

Lasagna

Omelette Station....I had a cooked to order omelette literally every morning

More breakfat

BBQ, grilled sausage and mac-n-cheese

Chocolate marble cake

More frozen yogurt

I think I did have one salad :)

Steak

Chicken fried chicken

A Carnival classic....Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

Cruise 2022 ~ Day 6

 Today was day 6, our last day at sea.  Lots of pressure to fit in all the things....activities and food this last day!

The day started with another beautiful sunrise

Avery and the girls did the ropes course.  It finished the first 3 and turned back around.  I couldn't push through this.

But I did ride the bike around the track though!

We did the water slides and then hung out on the deck.

The pool is usually crowded on the ship, but I did put my toes in while watching some entertainment on the deck in the afternoon.

We went to a Q & A about ship life with our cruise director, nicknamed Donkey.  It was an interesting session and we loved our cruise director.

I love sitting at the back of the ship, watching the water and eating my yogurt.

We made it to dinner and then watched the sunset.

And we continued to get animal towels each night