The love of my life
Here’s a pic of us at our reception, before it started pouring down rain.
Here’s an anniversary prayer I found recently.
Lord, help us to remember when we first met and the strong love that grew between us.
To work that love into practical things so nothing can divide us. We ask for words both kind and loving, and for hearts always ready to ask forgiveness as well as to forgive. Dear Lord, we put our marriage into your hands.
Amen.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Like I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been super busy with soccer league pictures. I finished up last night with taking the pictures. Now I’ve got to finish going through the pictures, editing, posting to galleries, sending emails, and placing orders. Then, start deliveries. Lots of work. I’m just happy that I was able to take all the pics on schedule. No rain outs!
I’ve got several posts in the works, but I just gotta find time to get them finished up and posted. I was looking at my blog earlier and realized that my header has a Corgi on it. WOW! I got a huge lump in my throat, realizing I don’t have a little black Corgi at my feet tonight as I sit and write this post. Tuesday after writing my last post, I cried much of the day. In my peripheral vision, I’d see something white and black on the floor. I guess, by habit, my mind would jump to the conclusion it was Rosie, and then I’d remember that she’s gone. Ugh! I’ve also heard lots of noises while home alone this week. Usually, I would have just assumed it was her, but now with her gone, I became quite curious what was making so much noise. One day, there was a cricket in the kitchen that kept hopping, which made a noise like Rosie’s nails on the floor.
Rob worked hard Tuesday and Wednesday digging a hole in the backyard. We buried her Wednesday and plan to have a funeral for her after the kids make a stone to put on grave. Oh how I miss her…
Anyway, Wow. I got off subject there. I love my header, so I’m not sure I’m going to change it because I know someday, we’ll have another Corgi. But, maybe I’ll find another cool pic to use instead. I’m also working to have some Menu pages with links to those in my sidebar. I’ll let you know when those are up.
So the posts that I’m working on include:
- Kids’ 1st day back to school
- TV Boy’s soccer pics
- Some new recipes
- Cub Scout Survivor Pictures
- Soccer Tourney pics (from this weekend)
- And…..probably more travel posts. I’ve got a couple more cruise posts that I want to share. Then, I plan to move on to Road trips!
So stay tuned.
Popularity: 2% [?]
If you follow me on facebook, you are aware of how the last couple of weeks have gone. So very busy with school starting and all that goes with that. I’m also taking Soccer league pictures last week and this week. On top of all that, Thursday August 5th, Rob had come home for lunch and wondered why he wasn’t greeted by Rosie. I had remembered letting her outside a couple hours before, but she usually makes it well known that she’s ready to come in. We sent the boys out to see if they could find her and she was up under the deck, where she loves to lay where it’s shady and cool. The problem was she didn’t come out when called.
Thinking this was just a flair of up of her back problems that have been going on for a few months. For those of you who don’t know, dogs like Corgis, with short legs and long backs can have issues with herniated/pinched nerves. This causes them pain, paralysis, and loss of control of bowels, etc. We had this problem with our last Corgi, Jenny. So a few months ago when she was acting differently, we pretty much self diagnosed her, but took her to the vet to make sure. Turns out we were right. The treatment we chose for her in this case was crating. The only effect she was having was pain. She still had functionality of her legs and bowels. Stairs are also a really bad thing for dogs with this issue. Super bad news for us because we live in a split-level house with stairs in and out! Anyway, after some crating for a few days we saw a huge improvement in her and was able to let her live pretty normally. We tried to limit her travel up and down the stairs as much as we could.
So anyway, after bringing her back in that Thursday after finding her under the deck, she wouldn’t walk around hardly at all and she stopped eating. We brought her with us to our friends’ house in Atlanta, who we spent that weekend with. After getting back Monday, I took her to vet. She of course was dehydrated. She was hooked to a life-saving IV drip for several days and finally started to walk and eat. She came home Thursday, Aug. 12. She was walking and eating, but not really. She never finished 1 bowl of food over the weekend.
Yesterday when we got home for church, she was the worst I’ve ever seen her. She was pretty much paralyzed and we could tell nothing was going to make her better. Unfortunately, she suffered her last 24 hours. I sat next to her much of the day and evening to adjust her when she got uncomfortable, since she couldn’t do it herself.
Today Rob and I took her to the vet and the vet was shocked since she had responded decently last week, but the vet said she may have suffered a stroke or something with no return. We stayed with her as they put her to sleep. We brought her home and we will be burying her tomorrow so the boys can have some closure to the situation.
Ugh! You just don’t realize how much you expect to be met with such enthusiasm. I know especially for Rob, who Rosie would always greet with true excitement. Today, as I did stuff around the house, I would hear a noise or catch something in the corner of my eye and my mind would think, must be Rosie, then I would realize it wasn’t really her. As hard as this is going to be, I’m going to be listing all the memories of Rosie that come to mind. Memories of rosie…
-loved popcorn.
loved candy. She was so sneaky. No matter how well I thought I hid candy from the kids for like Easter or Valentine’s Day, Rosie would find it!
-was a bit OCD about marking her territory.
-loved to go for walks.
-loved to lay in her bed. We had one in the living room and one our bedroom.
-scared of thunderstorms.
-was a bit ditzy.
-hated having her nails cut.
-hated the camera.
-started to thump her leg as of late when we would pet her right below her neck. It was so funny.
Other facts about her…
We got Rosie after buying our first house in 2000. TV Boy was 2. Rosie was 3. Rosie was here to welcome Trey as a newborn. She would always get a concerned look when I would let him cry too long. Rosie came from award winning show dog parents, but her frame never grew to the accurate size, so she could never be a show dog. This was fine with us we had no plans of showing her.
Well, I hope all this makes sense. This was a hard post write……
Click here to see Rosie memorial page.
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This cruise was planned a little while after we found out we were expecting our 2nd chil. We wanted to go ahead and bring TV Boy on a cruise, because we knew it would probably be quite awhile before we got to take him on one. Rob’s Mom and Step Dad joined us, which was nice. This trip was taken in October over a long weekend with a Columbus Day Holiday. We opted for a 3 day Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas and the private island, Coco Cay.
We left Thursday night and drove down to Orlando. We spent the night at the Amerisuites Orlando. This made for a relaxing morning of free breakfast at the hotel and heading over Cape Canerval to the port.
After boarding we went to the Windjammer Cafe and had lunch. We hung out on deck and waited to do the mandatory lifeboat drill at 4:30. At 5:00, we set sail to Nassau!
Since this was the first cruise with TV Boy, we checked out the kids’ program, which we found to be very disappointing. The age group he was in was 3-5. As an educator, I found this to be ridiculous. Especially for kids like mine, who would be bored coloring and playing with blocks when they go to the kids acitvities. Heck! He could do that with us just as easily, but that’s the point. He would be bored. Oh, I won’t go into all the details of this, but I’ll just say this was just the beginning of Royal Caribbean making us feel like we’re JUST the incompentent customers!!
That evening we attended the Welcome Aboard Show starring Jan Downs. Afterwards, we put the little one to bed and headed out to the piano bar.
Here he is the next morning dressed and ready to go, but it was so much fun to play on the pullman. We had an interior room for the first time. This was also our first time on Royal Caribbean. One thing we really missed about Carnival is the larger cabins. We’d also never been in a cabin without a port hole or window, which may have contributed to the feeling of being cramped! TV Boy slepted on the pullman, which is bed that folds into the wall. This helps when you put it up during the day to give the room a feeling of openness. The little table between the 2 beds folds up too.
Our first full day was spent in the Nassau, Bahamas. We actually had an excursion over to Paradise Island to Atlantis Resort. Since just a few months before Rob and I had enjoyed a 7 week cruise with a stop in Nassau, we had already experience the awesomeness of Atlantis. We knew that TV Boy and Rob’s Mom and Step Dad would really like Atlantis and the aquarium there. Eating at Atlantis is not cheap. We looked at several menus there and decided to walk back to a restaurant we saw when walking to Atlantis called Anthony’s Bar and Grill. This was first time to have conch! Since I was pregnant, I only had a small bite. It was yummy and I highly recommend you try some if you’re at a place that serves it.
The next day, our stop was at Royal Caribbean’s private island, Coco Cay formerly called Little Stirrup Cay. The really awesome thing about going to “private island” when cruising is that the cruise line owns that island, which means:
We’d never been to a private island before and we knew after a busy day in Nassau/Paradise Island we would be ready for some relaxation. We found a quiet area by this cover with very calm waters. Rob and his Mom enjoyed the speciality drink there, called the Coco Loco. Since I was pregnant, I got a virgin one and it was so yummy! Read about Coca Cay. Here’s an article about all private islands that are owned by cruise lines.
You do have to tender into the island. Here’s some pics as we get ready to tender back to the ship.
After returning to the ship, we hung out on board. Then, headed up on deck to watch us leave the beautiful island and head towards Port Canaveral. 
That evening we ate a wonderful dinner and went to see the Farewell Showtime. The next morning we were back at port and time to head home.
I can’t write this entry without saying that Royal Caribbean’s service did not live up to Carnival or Celebrity at all. We had a room steward that was never reachable, when in truth, we have never had to call a room steward. He never replaced our dirty towels one day. In fact, the 2nd night on board, I stood out in the hall way in my gown looking for someone to help, because our toilet would not flush and had started overflowing. And the already mentioned saga about the kid program. All of this could have been made better if the staff actually seem to care that we were not happy with several parts of the cruise. We filled out the survey at the end of the cruise as we always do, but this time we did not have many positive things to say. I really wonder now if those are even looked at, since we thought that for sure we would get some type of letter of concern or at least acknowledgement after cruising with RC. We never did…
Would I go on Royal Caribbean again? Yes, but only if it was a much better deal than any other cruise.
See all the photos from this trip here.
Popularity: 4% [?]
I just love when Rude Cactus does the posts of numbers. I’ve kept that in mind, trying to find a good time to do a post like that. Well, unfortunately the time has come. LOL! I was hoping it would be some wonderful post about a vacation or new job. Not so much. I’ll just let you figure out why it is unfortunate by leaving you with the totals….
Days since this all started: 16
Days it seems like it’s been going on: 35
Trips to the emergency room: 1
Antibiotics Rob has taken: 3
Pain meds attempted: 2
Trips to the dentist (so far): 1
Root canals to be had this year: 1
Antibiotics that seemed to work for a few days: 1
Antibiotics that made his tooth hurt more than it ever has: 2
Phone calls to the dentist: 6
Phone calls to the pharmacy: 2
Cost of meds including all the ones that are wasted: $31.24
Days the dentist was on vacation while this was going on: 5
Times of puking: too many to recall
Dentists who said it was out of her “realm” to prescribe Phenergan: 1
Phone calls to relative for Phenergan: 1
Times Rob and I have decided we must be totally ignorant: 30
Times we mentioned that Rob is allergic to Codeine: 50
Times we wonder why we keep putting drugs into his system: countless
Days of work he’s missed: 4 (I think), but regardless WAY too many
Times I googled something related to nausea, drug side effects, etc: 42
Times I told the kids to be quiet because their Dad is sick: 164 
Times I think he’s getting better: 7
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Tuesday night the week before 4th of July, Rob was talking with his brother about finding something “fun” to do over the weekend. The last few years we have mainly hung out at home and enjoyed time with our neighbors. Before that we headed to Texas to visit my family there. Anyway, after some thought and research we decided it would be fun to head up to the North Georgia Mountains. Since it was so close to the date, there were only a few options. We ended up staying here in Murphy, NC. We went with Rob’s Mom, Step-Dad, adopted sister, and his brother. Dividing the cost of the condo ended up costing about the cost of hotel for one night!
Rob really enjoys going up that way for many reasons, which include the beautiful mountains and seeing his old stopming grounds at Young Harris College.
Nice wrap around porch with a beautiful view.
After they got back Rob and Nick got the fire going to grill the super thick steak. So yummy! We also had salad, broccoli, and stir-fry veggies. Dessert was Strawberry shortcake.
We got up and had breakfast. Then we went into Murphy for some 4th of July festivitives. There were many of the normal carnival activities, which we didn’t participate in because they were so expensive. We are so spoiled to live in Auburn, where we have City Fest and other events that are completely free to the public. We walked along the little river walk, watched the ducks, and the kids played on the playground.
This duck kept talking to me
We made it back over to the area where they did a peanut drop. An airplane flew over dropping 5,000 peanuts. Everyone ran like crazy to pick up the peanuts as they fell to find the red, white, and blue ones, which could be turned in for cash. We didn’t find any of those, but it was fun anyway.
After that we went to the Cherokee Chambers of Commerce/Visitor Center and then we went to the Fires Creek Picnic area located in Nantahala National Forest. There we picnicked for lunch and the kids skipped rocks in the stream.
I continued to be in a great deal of pain. It was just a constant feeling of being stung over and over. The rest of the afternoon, I just chilled at the cabin. We cooked out hamburgers for dinner along with baked beans and smores. The rest of the family went to watch fireworks. I stayed in to rest and keep my ankle elevated and iced, but was able to see some fireworks from my chair.
From there we drove around for a bit looking for a place to fish. We ended up down a dirt road in a secluded area. Although I lathered up in OFF the chigars found their to areas that I had not sprayed. I got nearly 30 bites. Ugh! At this point of the trip I had about had enough of nature and was ready to be inside. 2 fish were snagged, but both were smaller than my hand and were thrown back in.
After leaving there we were hungry and next on our agenda was Fields of the Wood, which is something so different than anything I’ve ever seen. You can climb to the top of the Ten Commandments Mountain and visit The Psalms Of Praise. We ate lunch in the covered picnic area. Then, without it occuring to us that there were 372 steps, we walked to the top of the 10 Commandments! Needless to say we were ZONKED. We wanted to see the rest of the place, but it required climbing a lot more stairs. We should have planned to drive around to the top of the 10 Commandments and then seeing the rest by stairs (because there is no driving access.) We were able to drive up to the cross of flags, which is quite a ways up the mountain. Nice views also.
Then, we went back to the cabin for some much needed R & R and leftovers. Late that evening Rob, Nick, TV Boy, and I drove over to Brasstown Bald for a midnight hike to see the stars, surrounding cities, and possibly late night fireworks. It was nice and cool, in fact, downright chili on top of the observatory. The stars are amazing when you’re away from civilization like that. After tromping back down the mountain, we had a midnight snack at Waffle House in Blairsville.
We left Brasstown and we were ready to get home. We did decide to take Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway.
Here’s a pic at one of the stopping points on the highway. Yah, I know it’s not “scenic”, but the road and cliffs were cool and then when this Maverick drove by, I couldn’t resist
Then near the end of the trip, Monkey Boy got silly and wore my neck pillow on his head.
I have lots more great pictures from the trip that I would love for you to see, so click here.
Popularity: 9% [?]
So this blog seems to be turning into a cruise blog and I’m sorry to those of you who think of cruising as a ridiculous way to travel. Since we can’t take any big vacations now, it’s just been so therapeutic for me to write these cruising entries. I do plan to do some other travel posts, too. Anyway, so what else have we been up to now that it’s summer. Well….
This week TV Boy has been at Boy Scout camp and will return tomorrow. Here’s a couple pics before he left.
After leaving the Scout Hut, we took Monkey Boy to his Grandparent’s house for a stay-cation. While we were up there we met our new nephew and Monkey got to play with his other 2 cousins.
This time with both kids away has given me time to work on my job search and just go full force with trying to make something happen on the job front. I’m hoping that putting in this extra effort will give me more opportunities. Please pray that it will. After all, I need a vacation! And I have to work so I can actually take a vacation, right? And once again, I digress.
On Tuesday, my Dad dropped in for a quick visit. He’s been an official for RAAM again this year and on his way back he usually tries to stop by. We enjoyed the visit with him and look forward to seeing him again soon. I know he was bummed that the boys were away.
Last Friday, Pack 29 had their June Pack Meeting. It was held at the Forest Ecology Preserve. Monkey is now a cub scout!
Last week was VBS. Monkey Boy attended and TV Boy and I volunteered. TV Boy helped in the recreation station and I was with a 4th grade bunch. Here’s a few pics from VBS. See all pics here.
TV Boy is running cross-country for school next year, so he’s been training with the high school/jr. high teams every morning at 6:45. Rob, Monkey, and I have also gone walking during the time that TV Boy is running.
Other happenings of this summer include trying to stay cool, watching movies, enjoying being with each other (or at least trying), and before you know it we’ll be getting ready for school. How’s your summer going?
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Another way that cruises make money is BINGO, but I would say you have more of chance of winning there than in the casino. Rob and I usually do 1 or 2 games of BINGO on each cruise. On our last cruise, we won $150 or something like that. They not only have BINGO games to win cash, but they also have a free cruise BINGO game. Oh, I digress.
On our last cruise our Bar Waiter was so awesome, which I’ve mentioned before. Rob tipped him extra the 3rd night of the cruise to let him know how much we appreciated the extra effort that he put in to make sure we always had drinks and really didn’t have to even ask for refills, etc. Of course, he got the recommended tip at the end of the cruise. Some times tipping a little up front will give the employee some incentives to continue their hard work. Although, it’s not expected. We have had such bad service from a room steward (house keeper) that we did not tip him much at all.
Need help with cruising jargon? Check out Cruising Terminology
Did you miss my first 2 Cruise Talk posts?
Eating and Drinking
Cruise FAQs
**Photos courtesy of booklover1020, rdrakennedy, and hull**
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As I mentioned in my last post about cruising, my next post would be on eating! And there is a LOT to discuss when it comes to that on a cruise.
For the ships that have free-style cruising like Norwegian Cruises, their dining is done differently. Although, I’ve never done this before, I understand it to be more like what you would do at a regular restaurant. You make a reservation and you pay out of pocket. For Rob and I, that’s not something we want to have to do at all! We enjoy the ease of knowing when dinner is every night, going and sitting down, enjoying dinner, eating as much as is humanly possible and knowing it’s included, and leaving when it’s done. Not having to pull our credit card out to pay at then end of dinner. Blah! Who wants to do that?
Dinner is done in 2 shifts, usually in 2 dining rooms at opposite ends of the ship. When booking your cruise you should be asked if you would like early dining or late dining. Early dining is great for people who are used to eating around 5 or 6 and for those traveling with children. An advantage to early dining is that you can go to the earlier show after dinner. This means you can retire to bed much earlier or have more time after dinner to party on board. When Rob and I are traveling just the 2 of us, we always do late dining. We like this because there are not many children, so you don’t have to deal with whiny children and all that goes with that. Dining late also means that if you plan on watching the shows, which we highly recommend, that you’ll be up pretty late. Don’t forget that depending on the length of the cruise, you’ll have a one or two late night/midnight buffets to attend. Even if you don’t eat, we recommend going at least to the Gala Buffet. There is a huge display of food art and ice sculptures. Those are also the nights that you have your formal dinner, which is really exciting for those that like or would like to try lobster!
We always book cruises through our travel agent, so I’m not sure how this works if you book through an online site, but our TA always asks about seating arrangements for dinner. When Rob and I go by ourselves, we have the option to eat at a table of like 4, 6, or 8. We like the option of 8. You’ll be sitting with the same people every night, because it is assigned seating. This has proven to be enjoyable and quite interesting. It’s neat to meet people from all different walks of life and different places. When Rob and I travel with other family, we elected to eat at table of 4 or 6. This made it where it was just our group. This worked out great when bringing TV Boy, so that we weren’t as embarrassed when he didn’t use his best table manners, or when we had to reprimand him for acting a fool at dinner.
As far as what is served at dinner, depending on the cruise line, you’ll have Appetizer, Salad, Entre, and Dessert. You’ll have 4-5 choices for each. I highly recommend trying things you normally wouldn’t eat. Think about it! It’s free and if you don’t like it you can always order something else. Caviar, lobster, sushi, escargot, duck, calimari are just a few choices of things you may have the opportunity to try. Here’s a sample dinner menu.
The first night at dinner you’ll meet your bar waiter, assistant waiter, and waiter. The bar waiter is the person who handles all your drink orders. If you’re a wine drinker, you’ll have the opportunity to order a bottle of wine for the length of the cruise. Your bar waiter will bring it out for each cruise and take it back at the end of dinner to keep it chilled. Waiter and assistant waiter work together to ensure you have a smooth and expeditious dinner.
If your not up for socializing, getting out of your bathing suit, or just in the mood for a quick bite, you always have the option to go to the different buffet bars that will be situated usually on the Lido deck. For example, they may have one bar that is just good ole “American food” like hamburgers, fries, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, etc. with the other bar being a different “theme” each day, like Mexican one day, Indian food one day, etc. Many cruise lines also have a 24 hour pizza bar and 24 hour soft serve ice cream machines! These would also be options for lunch as well. During breakfast you’ll find these bars will have eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, cereal, fruit, etc.
When you go to the formal dining room for breakfast and lunch, they normally have just one of the dining rooms open for those meals, so you may find that you have to go to a different dining room for those meals. Both of those meals is different from dinner in that you don’t sit at your assigned seat. You just file in and they seat you at the next available table. Breakfast choices are the normal types of foods similar to what is listed above for the breakfast buffet bars. Here is an example of a lunch menu:
Main Courses
Mongolian Steak Salad
Oven Fresh Sun Dried Tomato Baguette
Spaghetti Zia Tereasa
Pan Fried Fillet of King Clip Nicoise
Vegetable Fajitas
Create your Own Burger
Desserts
Strawberry Banana Mousse
Chocolate Gateau
Creme Carmel
Ice Coupe Black Forest
Ice Cream – Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry
Sherbet – Orange, Pineapple
When it comes to drinks, like I said in my FAQ’s, the free drinks available are tea, juice of some sort, lemonade, water from the tap. Rob and I are soda drinkers, so we were excited to find out about the Coke Cards that are available. In fact, that’s one of the first things we do after getting on the ship. You just go to a bar that is open or they may have a table set up, where you can purchase your Coke Card. This gives you unlimited coke, diet coke, sprite, and whatever else is available. Each person has to puchase one and you have to have the card with you when you order. You’ll also get a drink container, which you can use to get refills in. I think they run about $6 a day plus 15% gratuities. This pays for itself if you order at least 3 cokes each day.
If you would like to partake in alcoholic drinks, watch out! This is one place where cruises make their money! They walk around with the drinks of the day in souvenir glasses. You can also order pretty much anything else. Since you don’t have to pay for your drinks as you order them, it’s easy to lose track of how much you’ve spent until they slip that bill under your door half way through the cruise and/or the last night of the cruise. More on the cashless system in another post.
I’ll have to say you get very accustomed to eating all day on a cruise. When you get home from your cruise, you find that you still want to eat all day. The bad part is that you don’t have someone waiting on you hand and foot. I think I’ve pretty much covered all the ins-and-outs of eating and drinking. If you know of something I forgot to share, please comment.
Need help with cruising jargon? Check out Cruising Terminology
Popularity: 6% [?]
This week at Show Us your Life over at Kelly’s Korner is How You Met Your Husband week. I’ve written some pretty in depth posts about that here, here, here and here. I have most of the next post And baby makes three…(part V) started, but never finished it. Maybe I’ll finish that soon. Anyway, for this post I’m going to write an abbreviated version of these posts.
I was a sophomore at Texas Tech and Rob was a sophomore at Auburn. We met on AOL, when it was just beginning to get popular. We chatted online every night and day for a while and then started talking on the phone. I flew out to meet him not long after. Eventually I transferred to Auburn University. We dated a little over a year and then got engaged.
We were engaged for about 3 months, which made for some really quick wedding planning.
Our wedding was great. We had so many people come from far away to be with us during that special weekend.
We have now been married almost 13 years. 13 years??? WOW! That’s hard to believe it’s been that long.
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