Happy Thanksgiving!

The "I'm thankful" game was circulating around Facebook this month. Every day, you posted something you were thankful for as your status. I participated, along with a lot of my friends, and it was really wonderful to not only express the things I'm so thankful for, but to read about the blessings in my friends' lives as well.

So in honor of Thanksgiving today, I'm going to share all of my "I'm thankful" posts together here in one blog post.

I'm thankful...

...for all the men and women who have served, are serving, and will serve our country. I am thankful for their sacrifices and for their families' sacrifices, so that we can live the lives we do.

...for true love. I am thankful for a man who everyone thought in the beginning couldn't be more wrong for me. I am thankful to not only love him but to fall more and more in love with him every day. I am thankful that he loves and supports me more than I ever thought was possible from one person. I am thankful that I get to spend every day for the rest of my life with my best friend. ♥

...for my sister, who is one of the most dedicated, hard working, motivated, loyal people I know. She has the biggest heart, and I am thankful not only to call her my sister, but also my friend. ♥

...for my friends. For the people who accept me just the way I am. Two in particular who have loved and supported me through a really difficult time in my life, even when I couldn't be as good a friend in return. They know who they are and I don't know what I would do without them in my life!

...for my job. This time last year, I knew I was getting laid off in December and was terrified. That 6 months was one of the best things that ever happened to me and now I have a job that I LOVE, I have fun every day, and the people I work for are passionate about the quality product they put out, treating their employees like family, and making their customers happy.

...for the opportunities I've had to travel all over the world, to countries rich and poor. Learning about and experiencing other cultures is a blessing. It makes you truly appreciate your life in a whole new way.

...for the roof over my head and the lifestyle we are able to lead. We may not be rich, but we have more than we need to make this house a home.

...for the town I was raised in. In high school, I couldn't wait to get out of that small town, but as soon as I did, I learned to appreciate it in so many ways. NA♥

...for my parents - who have sacrificed so much, supported me and Amanda through whatever we chose to do, accepted our husbands as if they were their own sons, and loved us unconditionally. They have given us a truly blessed life and I am eternally grateful!

...for my sister-in-law. She was just a little girl when I met her and I am so proud of the strong, adventurous, cultured, thoughtful woman she has become! We don't see her enough but that just makes it that much more exciting when we do!

...for my education. So many people in this world live in countries so poor that they never finish high school, or live in countries where women aren't allowed to get a higher education. Even though I don't use my degree the way I thought I might when I was in college, I am blessed to have had the opportunity to learn, experience and grow.

...for the quiet moments in the early morning where it's just me and a warm cup of tea and my thoughts of everything I am so thankful for.

...that I was born in this country and for all the freedoms and opportunities I have as a result.

...that even though I have to work on my day off today {Tuesday}, I get to spend Thursday and Friday with my family!

...that after I work all day today {yesterday}, my hubby will be the one driving us to NA in the madness that is Thanksgiving traffic!

...for all of my blessings, to be home with my family in NA, for TURKEY, and as always for my loving, supportive, thoughtful, amazing husband!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

What are YOU thankful for??

Public Service Announcement

You might think that the photos from my vacation are done, but I've been saving this gem for its own very special post.

People of the world, the year is 2009. This...

...is UNACCEPTABLE!

It may be difficult to tell from the sneaky photo I snapped, but each member of this family of four ahead of me in line at the airport was wearing tapered jeans that had pleats ironed into them! PLEATS people!! My gram doesn't even do this any more!

I do not mean to be rude. But people of the world, if you are still wearing tapered jeans with pleats ironed into them, please be aware that in the year 2009 this is fashionably unacceptable!

Thank you.

Last day at sea

The cruise ship we went on was absolutely huge! There was so much to do on the ship, but with all the island excursions, not much time to do them in. There was an ice skating rink, a rock climbing wall, mini golf, and a wave simulator that you could surf! We saved all of this fun stuff for our last day on the ship when we were at sea all day.

Unfortunately, we were just ahead of a hurricane and our last day was cloudy and extremely windy. So windy that they closed down all of these fun things we planned on doing and wouldn't even let people walk on the upper deck!

So, I grabbed one of these...

...and we had a canasta tournament all day!




All of us, with our waiters, our last night at dinner.

And a towel swan awaiting us.

Sunday morning we were back in Florida.

Snapped a few photos of this amazing ship before we left...


My 2 favorite men in the whole wide world!



The theater where we saw a few shows.

And then we watched the sun set from our plane, on our way back to reality.

Hope you enjoyed all the photos! Despite the fact that we didn't have much sun, it was a great week with family and we had a fantastic time!

Mayan Ruins

Our last stop on our cruise was Mexico. I had been to the Mayan Ruins before and I was really looking forward to being creative and taking a lot of photos this time. When we left the ship it was cloudy but not raining so I thought it would still turn out to be a good day.

We got to Tulum, took the tram to the ruins and then the sky opened up! We didn't have an umbrella or a poncho and it POURED. We were drenched from head to toe for a good 2 hours.

There was one girl there with an umbrella, and she offered it to my grandmother instead of keeping it for herself (nice girl, right?!) So, luckily, I was able to get a few photos by holding my camera under the umbrella, but I wasn't able to be as creative as I was hoping.


BEAUTIFUL view of the ocean.



My hubby and my gram.

Flower growing out of the ruins.










The Mayans were apparently a lot shorter than my hubby.






There is something about this place that is so beautiful to me. I hope that I'm able to go back there again in my life, hopefully on a sunny day!

And the day wouldn't be complete without a towel animal in our room...this day...a lobster!

Tomorrow, photos of our last day at sea.

Grand Cayman

After work yesterday, I was so comfy on the couch watching football that posting photos completely slipped my mind. But I'm back with it today and sharing photos from our catamaran sail and snorkel tour in Grand Cayman!


Our favorite place to be! <3



My little fishy!


He loves free diving.

My dad does too.


Me, if I'm going 20 or 30 feet down, I prefer a tank of oxygen strapped to my back!

We didn't have much sun in Grand Cayman, but we had fun snorkeling in the rain! And after, the boys practiced their golf grips while we ladies did a little shopping!

And of course, we had a towel monkey waiting for us in our room that night!

Tomorrow...Mexico in the POURING rain! Luckily, with an umbrella held over my camera, I still managed to get a few shots!