Summer Cruise ~ The Epic

My mom, invited me on this amazing cruise this late summer. We also tagged along with step grandma Shirley and her daughter, Marie. This was my 2nd cruise. This truly was an amazing trip. The ship alone was worth every penny. I am just amazed on how this ginormous ship can stay afloat (I leave the engineering to the hubby). We set sail from Miami and our ports were St. Maartins, St. Thomas and Nassau, Bahamas.

The Ship ~ NCL's Epic

Epic is an understatement. This ship was massive. It is one of the largest at sea. It made it's maiden vogue just two months before we set sail.

Specs:
Overall Length: 1,080 ft / 329.5 m
Guests: 4,100 (double occupancy)
Cruise Speed: 22 knots

The ship featured 20 restaurants (freestyle....one of them was teppinaki), 3 water slides, an Ice bar, Blue Man Group, Cirque Show, Legions in Concert, Casino, rock wall, bowling and other activities. It even had an escalator and the largest chandelier at sea!

Here are a few photos that I stole off the net of the ship.

What our cabin looked like. Super roomy! Huge balcony.

Here are my photos of the trip....

Us in St. Maartin. It was the first day on land in 3 days. From left to right: Grandma Shirley, my Mom, Jill, Me, and Marie. The first stop in St. Maartin...we took a submarine to the reef and saw tons of fish and jelly fish. We also saw starfish and even a few turtles! St. Maartin is half Dutch and half French.

Our ship is St. Maartin.

What I woke up to....the first day of LAND. I NEEDED to get off ASAP!

I coxed my mom into eating sushi. Well, got her drunk first, then talked her into eating sushi for the first time. First stop was to teach her how to use chopsticks. She was happy when she was able to pick something up.

She looks terrified to eat the sushi. I started her off on Cali roll, Shrimp Tempura, and Spicy Tuna. For it being aboard a cruise ship....it was quite tasty and fresh!

Baby stingrays at Atlantis in Bahama's.

Saw Shark at Atlantis in Bahama's.

Atlantis in Bahama's. It was AMAZING there.

Amazing glass installations around Atlantis.

My mom and I on the beach in St. Thomas. MY FAVORITE part of the trip. Well the food was right up there....but this beach was amazing!

See how crystal clear the water is. I snorkeled. Yes, I snorkeled and LOVED it. (Remember this blog: Jamaica freak out moment). I feed the fish dog bones. There was hundreds of fish and just a beautiful day. Water was perfect. I swam and snorkeled for hours. Even seen barracuda fish and didn't freak out.

Iguanas around St. Thomas.

Ice Bar fun!!! Yes, the entire bar was made of ice. It was freezing....I had no socks or pants for that matter.

We had one major snag coming home. Our plane was delayed 7.5 hours. OMG! Sitting in a Ft. Lauderdale airport for that length of time....when you are tired and unburnt and just want to get home. Poor Grandma S. She was super sick. Plus, when we arrived in Phoenix, they had another 2 hour ride home. They didn't get there until 4:30. We were all up for 26 hours.

We all had a wonderful time. Even after the delay. It was great time to spend with my mom. I was very lucky I got this great opportunity!

Oh, and I got to knock off tons off my 101 list!

Adam Carolla

#35 - Go to a comedy club.


Ryan and I went to see Adam Carolla (radio host, tv host, writer, actor, comedian) at the Tempe Improv. I like Adam. He is smart and extremely funny. Adam Carolla is Ryan's man crush. Yes, Ryan has a man crush and it is Adam Carolla. Ryan idolizes the man. Thinks everything he does or says is funny. He started to do stuff, because Adam does it. One major thing Ryan does, because Adam does it is run red arrows. If the light to go straight is green and you want to make a left hand turn, but it has a red arrow.....Ryan goes through it.

Adam started off the show with his radio segment, "What can't Adam complain about?". Adam can complain about EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING! He had people in the audience shout out things. The first was Make A Wish Foundation. He brought up some good points about them. Also someone said cake. Any one who listens to Adam, knows he LOVES pie. Really LOVES pie. He started to argue that birthday cake is a germ encrusted thing. I completely agree now. Think about birthday cake. You bring it out with cheap, made-in-China figurines that you know no one washed. Then you have candles that everyone "blows/spits" out. He is SO right. Birthday cake is gross and I will not have the flu/cold smeared cake any more.

Adam put on a great show, complete with visuals and his famous stories. Most of all, he doesn't rub his success in your face, he shows how hard he worked to get where he is at. He even showed us his earnings for the last 20 years. BTW, his earnings went from $250 to over $2 million with several goose eggs in between. I wish Adam the best of luck and many more years in entertainment!

Checks off the old 101 list in 1001 days

I have a HUGE one I just completed. Read 15 Fiction Books - DONE!!!

Go me! Coming from a person that HATED to read. I now love it and a huge source of entertainment. I am really trying to cut down my TV watching. But, then again, I did name my dog, TiVO (BTW, he is the cutest and best dog EVER!). Work in progress.

The last two books that I read/listen to was. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks and 1st to Die by James Patterson.

The Notebook: Well lets just say that I am not a fan of love stories. Maybe I am jaded, but it wasn't that special. It is a great love story, I will give you that, but I wasn't captivated by it. I wasn't excited to find out what happens. I did see the movie, but I didn't remember too much about it.

I think I need action packed books to hold my attention.

1st to Die: Loved it! It is the first book in the Woman's Murder Club series. Once you think you know who the killer is...Patterson gives you another twist. Good book! I am currently on the 2nd book and it's not as good, but still was excited to see what happens next. I should be finished with it today.

I did a few other items as well. In two weeks, I'll mark off a whole bunch more!!

101 things in 1001 days

# 47. Read 15 fiction books (13/15)

I just finished the 4th book in the Harry Potter Series - The Goblet of Fire. I thought it was good. All the twists and turns and unexpected plots. It held my attention and as all books, I hate to see them end. At least this is a series and I have a few more to look forward to!

101 List Progess....

#47 - Read 15 Non-Fiction Books.

Two down.....One of them was a MONSTER! 1074 pages.....wowser for sure!

Under the Dome, by Stephen King.

Plot: A town gets cut off by an unknown "dome" and it deals with how people behave when they are cut off from the society they've always belonged to.

First off....I REALLY enjoyed this book. SK wrote this book with many different narrators. After all, he introduced an entire town of characters to us. With everyone being the narrator, the readers can find out exactly what that person is going through and thinking. Also his or her's take on the "dome" that surrounds their sleepy little town in Maine. SK even had a woodchuck, dog and even children be a narrator for a bit. It was a perfect way to introduce such a large cast of characters. You are able to keep them straight, bond with them and enjoy their views about the dome. I know some people criticizes SK's writing, but he can really talk the people. He can tell a story like no other. Plus with Under The Dome, you have no clue if it is military, aliens or bio that is causing this "dome" around this town. With SK writing it, it could be all three! The town also starts to divide into two groups. You got your heroes, your villains sides........what side would you choose?

Also, this book, SK attempted to write it in the 70's.

FANTASTIC book! There are rumors that it is going to be a 14-mini series on HBO. It will be fantastic and with 14 hours, I think they can keep true to the book and the characters. I can not WAIT to see who they cast! If you read/listened to the book......who would you cast?


Blaze, by Stephen King under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman - Trunk Novel

Plot: A "good natured," Blaze criminal steals a baby.

I did like it and I really started to get into in about 1/4 way through. Was it the best novel? No, by I really liked Blaze and I wanted only the best for him. I bonded with him.

This novel was also like Under the Dome, SK started writing the story along time ago. Even before Carrie. He started thinking about it and wanted to updated it. It took him a really long time to track down the 100 page story, typed on a typewriter.


#40 - Get all As For a Semester

I did it!! All A's! Model student am I.


#41 - Build a website portfolio

Done, I just need to make it better.

Solar Power - Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day (well yesterday, I never got to finish the post)!!
In heart of Earth Day, I want to introduce our solar panels! We used ACDC Solar Power. Ryan is now a sales rep. Please let me know if you have questions and I can forward them along.

Our first month, we saved $59.00. Plus, our excess production gets rolled into a usage credit that will be applied toward future use. On-peak production gets applied to on-peak usage, and off-peak production gets applied to off-peak usage. A vast majority of my usage is off-peak, so I don't expect that I'll ever have an off-peak credit. In the winter and spring, I am likely to produce more on-peak electricity than I can use. When the summer comes and my usage increases substantially, my production credit will be applied. My savings for April were pretty small, but the 358kWh of extra production will definitely help in June and July! I expect that the April figures showing a bill of about $90 will be about the lowest that my bills will ever be. This figure includes many base charges and fees that will probably not or cannot be reduced (transmission fees, meter read fees, taxes, etc.).

Ryan started a website.....I need to redesign it. iwentsolar.com

I really need to design it!!!! Poor thing has no design skills, but to his credit, he has asked me for months to design it.

Happy Friday!!

BTW, my FAVORITE sushi place, Stingray opened another restaurant. In the Biltmore (24th Street and Camelback). I am a happy girl!

Back to the list....

#47. Read 15 fiction books: 2 more down!

Finished the 3rd Harry Potter book: The Prisoner of Azkaban. I can see why HP got so much hype. I do like the books and I will def. be sad when they are finished. They are easy reads and JKR really is able to build a character and captivate and audience.

Finished Stephen Kings - Just After Sunset. It is a huge collection of short stories (Stephen King's short stories are other authors novels). I liked some, others I thought would make fantastic movies. N was my favorite. I was about this therapist and we hear his notes on a patient called N. N has developed an obsessive compulsive disorder from a rock formation. Great story. There was another one called Hell Cat. Defiantly a work of S. King. I also really liked A Very Tight Place. After listening to the author notes on why he wrote this story (about port-a-johns), he really wants his readers to learn his fears and what motives him and his ideas. I was also really surprised by Stephen King's stories that are "normal". No horror, no crazy stuff. Normal stories.

My Holiday

I had a very nice Christmas this year. Relaxing and drama free! I loved spending it with my husband and family.

Christmas Eve
We went to my Grandma's home. She makes this FAB dinner. I look forward to it ALL year. She makes this incredible prime rib with all the yummy side dishes that go along with it. LOVED it! This year we did a white elephant exchange however, our family did not get the memo on the $5 price limit. So it was a little crazy with that part. With all the jokesters in the family....I thought there would be more "funny" gifts. Jeff (stepdad) gave an "old geezer" box. It was full of stuff older people might need. Canes, creams and stuff I don't want to imagine! It was so funny!

The rest of the evening was spent exchanging gifts, drinking and telling funny stories. Great, great night!

Christmas Day
I woke up to what has become a great Christmas morning tradition. Jeff makes this INCREDIBLE breakfast burritos. The sausage was fresh (literately....they bought a pig at the fair and had s/he butchard). Yes, that's right. Two fantastic meals right in a row. Then we did our next tradition....stocking suffers!!!! My parents go ALL out with these. Some useful, some, the same tradition every year. Any case, we love to do that. They gave me a WONDERFUL camera for Christmas!!

#60 - Buy a new camera on my 101 list! So I get to mark that off!!

Ryan's Parents gave me Wii Fit. Another fabulous gift that can help with #87 - loose 8 pounds. Great gifts padres!!!!

Ryan gave my an incredible gift as well. A Kindle. It will help me with #46 and #47. He is the best! I made out so good in the gift department this year!!!

My mom cooked a fabulous lunch. Super yummy with ham (yes, from the same pig) and all the yummy sides. Fantastic meal #3 right in a row.

After that, we went back over to Grandma's home to play some Wii bowling. I kicked @ss.

Overall, I had a WONDERFUL holiday. I am glad I got to spend it with my family, well except TiVO, my furbaby. We gave him special treats and a new goose toy. He LOVES it. I never seen him act this way with a toy. He has not put it down since he got it.

Hope all of yours was just as wonderful!

List Progress....

#7 - Try 10 new restaurants (3/10)
Latte girls and I went to Sauce. It is owned by the same people of NoRTH. Fox Restaurant Concepts did not let me down, I loved it. I was reasonably priced (one pizza and two drinks it was $15). Great atmosphere, great service, fantastic pizza.....you can't ask for anything more! I give it 3.5 stars out of 4.


# 12 - Cook 10 new dishes (1/10)
I made shredded Green Chili meat in my slow cooker. It was delish and I will cook it again. Great for parties as well!

Recipe:
1 Chuck Roast (any size)
1 Small can of green chili
1 Small can of jalapeños
1/2 cup of water
1 onion (if you want)
Season with cumin and other stuff

Cook on low for 10+ hours.
Take the meat out and cut the fat and shred the meat.
Season with more cumin and anything else you want to through in the pot.



#97 - Use my cloth bags for shopping (4/15)
Used my bags twice this weekend!!!

#47 - Read 15 fiction books - Marley & Me

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not." - John Grogan on Marley the dog.


I just finished Marley & Me by John Grogan. Holy water works with the eyes.

Marley & Me was a wonderful book. I smiled, I laughed, I cried and I learned so much and realized that a relationship with a dog is absolutely wonderful and can add so much joy and love to your life. A must read, but with a box of tissues!!

Another book I read awhile ago was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. GREAT book! Another must read. Especially for dog lovers. It was in the point of view of the dog, Enzo. Crazy, I know, but still worth every word. It was the first book after Twilight, that I found interesting and couldn't put down. To this day....I still talk to TiVO as if he knew what I was saying.

“In Mongolia, when a dog dies, he is buried high in the hills so people cannot walk on his grave. The dog's master whispers into the dog's ear his wishes that the dog will return as a man in his next life. Then his tail is cut off and put beneath his head, and a piece of meat or fat is placed in his mouth to sustain his soul on its journey; before he is reincarnated, the dog's soul is freed to travel the land, to run across the high desert plains for as long as it would like.

I learned that from a program on the National Geographic channel, so I believe it is true. Not all dogs return as men, they say; only those who are ready.

I am ready." Enzo, The Art of Racing in the Rain

Both of these books will yes, make you cry. But they will make you love life more and cherish the little things. Good or bad. They make you love your pets more and make them more apart of the family and your life....not to mention your heart. They make you feel grateful for the time you do have with man's best friend.

Go read both books and go adopt a best friend of your own. Arizona Animal Welfare League / SPCA is a great place to start!