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!

Introducing Mr. Tristan

Ryan's sister, Amanda gave birth to a perfect little man named, Tristan Jackson! He was 8lbs, 21 inches. He was born on Friday, January 14th.

He is the cutest baby. Seriously, he is adorable! Tons of hair. Welcome to the world little man! And yes, I will be that obnoxious auntie that will kiss you way too much and send you horrible sweaters!




By the way....his little chin. It is the same chin and Ryan and Amanda. So.....chances of our kid having that same chin is quite large.

The top Yahoo searches of 2010 are:

The top Yahoo searches of 2010 are:

1. The Gulf of Mexico oil disaster

2. The World Cup soccer tournament

3. Pop singer Miley Cyrus

4. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian

5. Singer Lady Gaga

6. Apple's iPhone

7. Actress Megan Fox

8. Singer Justin Bieber

9. "American Idol"

10. Singer Britney Spears

Really people? That is what you are searching for? Good gawd!

Day 3 - Your first love

Let me set the scene for you......
First day of high school. I am a scared little freshman (I mean....really little. I could fit into girls clothes still). I was wondering (probably lost) down the hall and I seen him....the crowd parted and revealed Jeremy. I was instantly obsessed with him. He was in one of my classes. It was a science class. I also had a friend in that class as well. So the teacher on the first day started to assign partners. I was PREYING Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy....Autumn would be good to, but PLEASE, PLEASE let me be with Jeremy.

"Ok, Jamie B......your partner is.......Jeremy," said the teacher.

There is a Gawd!!!! I am sure I was grinning from ear to ear. Autumn's partner ending up dropping to class and she became our partner as well.

Jeremy and I actually became really good friends all through high school. Even with a boyfriend, I still had a massive crush on him. I was tormented by his girlfriends (in-which I helped him out by getting them....we were "friends").

The craziest thing I did was he gave me a stick and a leaf one time....I actually kept it. For years. I just got rid of it when I moved in with Ryan. AN EFFING STICK and a LEAF! I kept in since freshman year.

Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name

Dulce is "sweet" in Spanish. I was thinking of names for my business and knew I only wanted one name for it and 4 to 5 letters. I started putting words into a Spanish/English translator and one of the words was sweet/dulce. I loved it!!!

The down side....Dolce (sweet in Italian) is a name of a high-end salon in the valley....they get us confused a lot. I still wonder how many people call the salon looking for invitations? I still get people say Dolce....like the salon? I'll just stop by some time. Uh.....no!

Back to the name. I am very uncreative when it comes to words. VERY. I use creativity all up on design. I have nothing left for the written word. I originally wanted this blog to be all about my life and business.....but now, I just want to focus on my life. My sweet life with Ryan and Tivo.

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts.

Tomorrow = One week in my book! =)

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts.

I am 30 years old, an Arizona native. I got married to Ryan, 2.5 years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada (which is the same place he proposed). We have the CUTEST dog in the world named, TiVO (yes, like the DVR). We adopted him almost two years ago. I have a BA in graphic design and will be receiving a certificate in website design very, very soon.


This photo was just taken on my cruise to the Caribbean. Sorry for the windblown hair.


15 facts - I am not too sure how "interesting" these are:

1. I am an Arizona native
2. I still grew after high school...around 2"
3. I am a whore for Chipotle....eat it several times a week
4. I can roll my tongue like a taco and crease it in the middle
5. I have two tattoos and my navel is pierced
6. One of the tattoos was done by my uncle
7. Did archery as a kid
   
8. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday
9. Love to play poker (Texas Hold 'em) online or live
10. I am tongue tied
11. Lived in a haunted house
12. Have have 6 different families. My mom's adopted family and biological family, real dad's family, step dad #1's family, step dad #2's family, in-laws.
13. I LOVE board and card games
14. I am obsessed with textures. Paper, clothes, other sorts of textures. I just walk down the street with my hand out....touching and feeling everything.
15. My eyes change color throughout the day

30 Day Blogging Challange

I saw this on a few of my blogger friends (Amber & Jenni). Since I am incredibly boring...I hope this spices things up!

I'll start tomorrow!!

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts
Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3-Your first love
Day 4-Your parents
Day 5-Your siblings
Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7-Favorite movies
Day 8-A place you've traveled to
Day 9-A picture of your friends
Day 10-Something you're afraid of
Day 11-Favorite tv shows
Day 12-What you believe
Day 13-Goals
Day 14-A picture you love
Day 15-Bible verse
Day 16-Dream house
Day 17-Something you're looking forward to
Day 18-Something you regret
Day 19-Something you miss
Day 20-Nicknames
Day 21-Picture of yourself
Day 22-Favorite city
Day 23-Favorite vacation
Day 24-Something you've learned
Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26-Picture of your family
Day 27-Pets
Day 28-Something that stresses you out
Day 29-3 Wishes
Day 30-a picture

Dulce has some news......

Check it out here.....

Hand Leash.....Really?

This would creep me out on so many levels.
It is a hand that is attached to a leash so you can "hold" the hand and walk your dog instead of holding the effing leash. WTF is wrong with people? The sad part is.....I am sure they sold MANY. I can’t think of any better way for you to set up an insanity defense for any crime you may commit in the future. Yes, it will look that weird.

What do you think? Would you use it?

The Bees Got Evicted

We have/had a little......ok BIG bee problem. They decided to build a very nice bee hive in the wall of our home. We gave them an eviction notice.

100 pounds of honey, 15,000 bees. It took them about 6 months to build.