Happy holidays!
I hope you have a safe and wonderful weekend!
P.S. No animals were hurt during this photo shoot....except for maybe their egos! :-)
12.23.2011
12.21.2011
Almost Wordless Wednesday- Bahamas edition!
Our Bahamas trip in pictures (at least the ones that I can show because we are not in them)....
We had free access to Atlantis which was AWESOME because they had a fun water park. I didn't think that I would still enjoy a water park at age 33, but it's a blast. This was one of the slides in the park- you could challenge someone to see who hit the water first. On the back side of this "Mayan Temple" is the slide that is shown in the commercials for Atlantis. It is a huge drop off, then you go through a tube that is surrounded by sharks before you hit the pool at the end. Very cool. By the end of the week we went down all of the different slides (half you went down with just your body, half you were in a tube) at least once.
Atlantis has a HUGE aquarium where you can view all of the various fishes, sharks, manta rays, etc. three different ways- outside near the pools, in tunnels, and in a tube where the animals can swim right over your head. Here we were outside watching a funny looking shark swim around.
Hammerhead shark
Reef shark swimming above us in the tube.
This was the pool and a view of the condos where we stayed.
A local Bahamian restaurant where we had a delicious conch salad (think ceviche just with conch instead of shrimp or fish). Mmmm.
The amazingly turquoise waters of the Bahamas.
The horses in downtown Nassau all wore hats. Adorable!
One afternoon CP and I wandered around Paradise Island. I was ready to head home because my feet hurt when we came upon this place. Very pretty, even though we have no idea what this place was or who owned the property.
We did a total of three days of diving with Stuart's Cove Dive Shop. The reefs weren't that amazing, but we did get to do some wreck dives which was cool. A lot of celebrities dive with this shop so they had pictures all over the place with the various celebs (Matt Damon, Heidi Klum, Andy Samberg, etc.). One of our dives took us to an underwater Cessana plane used in one of the James Bond films.
View from the dive shop
We had free access to Atlantis which was AWESOME because they had a fun water park. I didn't think that I would still enjoy a water park at age 33, but it's a blast. This was one of the slides in the park- you could challenge someone to see who hit the water first. On the back side of this "Mayan Temple" is the slide that is shown in the commercials for Atlantis. It is a huge drop off, then you go through a tube that is surrounded by sharks before you hit the pool at the end. Very cool. By the end of the week we went down all of the different slides (half you went down with just your body, half you were in a tube) at least once.We also enjoyed the "Raging Rapids"- think lazy river except with rapids while you are floating down in a one or two-person tube. That was especially fun after a few mango daquiris!
Atlantis has a HUGE aquarium where you can view all of the various fishes, sharks, manta rays, etc. three different ways- outside near the pools, in tunnels, and in a tube where the animals can swim right over your head. Here we were outside watching a funny looking shark swim around.
Hammerhead shark
Reef shark swimming above us in the tube.
This was the pool and a view of the condos where we stayed.
A local Bahamian restaurant where we had a delicious conch salad (think ceviche just with conch instead of shrimp or fish). Mmmm.
The amazingly turquoise waters of the Bahamas. 
The horses in downtown Nassau all wore hats. Adorable!
One afternoon CP and I wandered around Paradise Island. I was ready to head home because my feet hurt when we came upon this place. Very pretty, even though we have no idea what this place was or who owned the property.
We did a total of three days of diving with Stuart's Cove Dive Shop. The reefs weren't that amazing, but we did get to do some wreck dives which was cool. A lot of celebrities dive with this shop so they had pictures all over the place with the various celebs (Matt Damon, Heidi Klum, Andy Samberg, etc.). One of our dives took us to an underwater Cessana plane used in one of the James Bond films.
View from the dive shop
Our last day of diving we went SHARK DIVING! The whole experience was very cool. We were surrounded by ~30 reef sharks for about 40 minutes. The dive masters had to wear chainmail because they fed the sharks the chum via a long stick. No cages for us which made me especially nervous, but after a while I relaxed and enjoyed the experience. The dive masters stressed keeping our hands as close to our body as possible, no sudden movements, etc. Towards the end a shark was gliding past me and I bravely stuck two fingers out to touch its body as it glided by. Very cool.
Overall we had a fantastic time at a very beautiful place. :-)
12.20.2011
Back from vacation
Our Bahamas vacation got off to an awful start on the 9th. We show up for our 10am flight at 8:15am. We park the car in the economy lot and head to the check in desk. There is no one lined up and no one behind the desk, so I swipe my credit card into the Jet Blue machine.
That's funny. The machine is telling me that I can't check in earlier than 24 hours in advance or within 30 minutes of my flight.
CP walked over to the departure screen....there was a 8:15am flight down to Fort Lauderdale, but nothing at 10am. He glares at me, then asks if we are supposed to be on the 8:15am flight. I check my iPhone calendar and confirm that we are supposed to be on a 10am flight. But then I check the Orbitz travel reservation printed out just a few days prior (that I clearly never glanced at) and OH NO we were supposed to be on the 8:15am flight. WTF??!??
With no one at the desk, I dialed the Jet Blue contact number and grabbed a baggage handler to ask if they could get a Jet Blue person at the desk. A Jet Blue representative comes out and proceeds to tell me that the flight time had changed and that I should have received an email from Orbitz telling me about the flight change (she also said this happened to someone yesterday so I didn't feel so stupid). Luckily there were seats on the late afternoon flight out to Fort Lauderdale and we were able to get on that flight for no cost.
I was thankful that CP didn't get angry because really, what would we have done? Yes we were arriving in the Bahamas a few hours after our originally scheduled time, but it could be worse.
With no flight for hours, CP and I went out to breakfast and did some Christmas shopping before heading back to the airport. The flight to Fort Lauderdale kept getting delayed and we only had an hour between flights as it was. Halfway through the flight I asked the flight attendants to see if people would stay in their seats so that we could run to our next flight (I would have thrown in a "but it's our honeymoon!" if needed). Thankfully the people in front of us complied and we ran to our next flight, making it just in time!
The rest of the trip was smooth sailing after the rocky start. I had a great birthday- a wonderful facial at the spa, fun at the water park, many mango daquiris and then an amazingly delicious dinner at the Mesa Grill, a Bobby Flay restaurant.
Other than the HIGH HIGH HIGH prices for food (we got a little bitter towards that at the end), we had a great week. Pictures to come tomorrow!
That's funny. The machine is telling me that I can't check in earlier than 24 hours in advance or within 30 minutes of my flight.
CP walked over to the departure screen....there was a 8:15am flight down to Fort Lauderdale, but nothing at 10am. He glares at me, then asks if we are supposed to be on the 8:15am flight. I check my iPhone calendar and confirm that we are supposed to be on a 10am flight. But then I check the Orbitz travel reservation printed out just a few days prior (that I clearly never glanced at) and OH NO we were supposed to be on the 8:15am flight. WTF??!??
With no one at the desk, I dialed the Jet Blue contact number and grabbed a baggage handler to ask if they could get a Jet Blue person at the desk. A Jet Blue representative comes out and proceeds to tell me that the flight time had changed and that I should have received an email from Orbitz telling me about the flight change (she also said this happened to someone yesterday so I didn't feel so stupid). Luckily there were seats on the late afternoon flight out to Fort Lauderdale and we were able to get on that flight for no cost.
I was thankful that CP didn't get angry because really, what would we have done? Yes we were arriving in the Bahamas a few hours after our originally scheduled time, but it could be worse.
With no flight for hours, CP and I went out to breakfast and did some Christmas shopping before heading back to the airport. The flight to Fort Lauderdale kept getting delayed and we only had an hour between flights as it was. Halfway through the flight I asked the flight attendants to see if people would stay in their seats so that we could run to our next flight (I would have thrown in a "but it's our honeymoon!" if needed). Thankfully the people in front of us complied and we ran to our next flight, making it just in time!
The rest of the trip was smooth sailing after the rocky start. I had a great birthday- a wonderful facial at the spa, fun at the water park, many mango daquiris and then an amazingly delicious dinner at the Mesa Grill, a Bobby Flay restaurant.
Other than the HIGH HIGH HIGH prices for food (we got a little bitter towards that at the end), we had a great week. Pictures to come tomorrow!
12.09.2011
Bahamas baby!
After a flight to FL that leaves this morning, a three hour layover, and then a flight to Nassau, CP and I will be in 80 degree weather for the next 8 days. I can’t wait. I will most likely get sick due to the weather change, either when we get there or coming back but WHO CARES!
The past couple of years I have been calling my birthday my “Pretty Princess Day” because it annoys CP (ha ha). I will be turning 33 (!) tomorrow while we are in the Bahamas….so I think that calling it my “Pretty Princess Week” is in order. :-) We don’t have anything specific planned, probably just head out for a nice dinner. We don’t have ANY part of the vacation planned which usually works out well for us. I will be getting a facial at some point in the week (CP said that he would give me one for free- HEY-O) and we will do at least a day of scuba diving, but in general our plan is to RELAX.
Needless to say, no blogging until I get back. Try not to freeze too much while I am gone. :-)
The past couple of years I have been calling my birthday my “Pretty Princess Day” because it annoys CP (ha ha). I will be turning 33 (!) tomorrow while we are in the Bahamas….so I think that calling it my “Pretty Princess Week” is in order. :-) We don’t have anything specific planned, probably just head out for a nice dinner. We don’t have ANY part of the vacation planned which usually works out well for us. I will be getting a facial at some point in the week (CP said that he would give me one for free- HEY-O) and we will do at least a day of scuba diving, but in general our plan is to RELAX.
Needless to say, no blogging until I get back. Try not to freeze too much while I am gone. :-)
12.06.2011
Nook books
I have continued to read a bunch of books on my Nook. All ratings out of a possible 5 stars.
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen
2 stars
A woman whose husband leaves her for a man he met on gay.com only a week after a horrible car accident heads home to her Mennonite family for solace. I wanted to like this book. The author has a sharp wit and remembers minute details about various stories. However, she jumps around so much while telling stories I would often get lost. The book needed to be more structured.
Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man: A Memoir by Bill Clegg
4 stars
I am such a sucker for stories about addictions. Bill Clegg was a literary agent who walked away from his job, boyfriend, and home to go on a two month crack binge. As usual, I was horrified but couldn’t put it down.
Run by Ann Patchett
3 stars
Two families come together unexpectedly after a traffic accident in a snowstorm. I think that this may be the last Ann Patchett book I read because nothing compares to Bel Canto. The story was interesting enough, but I certainly wasn’t rushing back to the book.
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
4 stars
In the days following the Hurricane Katrina Syrian-American Abdulrahman Zeitoun travels the city by canoe, feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. On September 6th police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his own home. Some of the background information on Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his family dragged at times, but overall this true story makes for a riveting book. It’s so amazingly sad that this actually happened in the US.
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
3 stars (basically 3.5 stars)
Golden Richards, polygamist, is having a midlife crisis. His family is in turmoil, his business is failing, and he hasn’t dealt with the deaths of two of his kids. I wanted to like this book more, but didn’t like Golden, the main character in the book. When the author told the story through one of Golden’s sons and one of his wives I found the book to be a lot better.
Have you read any good books lately?
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen
2 stars
A woman whose husband leaves her for a man he met on gay.com only a week after a horrible car accident heads home to her Mennonite family for solace. I wanted to like this book. The author has a sharp wit and remembers minute details about various stories. However, she jumps around so much while telling stories I would often get lost. The book needed to be more structured.
Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man: A Memoir by Bill Clegg
4 stars
I am such a sucker for stories about addictions. Bill Clegg was a literary agent who walked away from his job, boyfriend, and home to go on a two month crack binge. As usual, I was horrified but couldn’t put it down.
Run by Ann Patchett
3 stars
Two families come together unexpectedly after a traffic accident in a snowstorm. I think that this may be the last Ann Patchett book I read because nothing compares to Bel Canto. The story was interesting enough, but I certainly wasn’t rushing back to the book.
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
4 stars
In the days following the Hurricane Katrina Syrian-American Abdulrahman Zeitoun travels the city by canoe, feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. On September 6th police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his own home. Some of the background information on Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his family dragged at times, but overall this true story makes for a riveting book. It’s so amazingly sad that this actually happened in the US.
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
3 stars (basically 3.5 stars)
Golden Richards, polygamist, is having a midlife crisis. His family is in turmoil, his business is failing, and he hasn’t dealt with the deaths of two of his kids. I wanted to like this book more, but didn’t like Golden, the main character in the book. When the author told the story through one of Golden’s sons and one of his wives I found the book to be a lot better.
Have you read any good books lately?
12.05.2011
Restless
This weekend I felt restless. Walking was just not cutting it.
On Thursday CP and I had taken the dogs for a walk and let them off their leashes at a park. I started to jog to get the dogs to run around a little more and lo and behold, it didn’t hurt! So on Saturday I decided that I would go out for a jog to see how it felt. Technically I am not supposed to run for another two weeks but I was feeling pretty good.
I decided to start allllll the way back at the beginning. Week 1, Day 1 of Couch to 5K. I haven’t truly been consistently running since MAY when I ran the half marathon, so there was no need to kill myself. Plus I figured that if my body could handle it, I would try to run at a 10 minute/mile pace instead of my usual 11.
I’m proud to say I DID IT!! With no pain near any of my incisions! The only pain I felt was afterwards- in my heels of course. This plantar fasciitis is killing me! It’s already been a year of pain….maybe it’s time to think about the boot that I can wear at night…
Oh yeah that is sexy- aka poor CP
I stretched out when I got home but was definitely sore yesterday and was sore when I woke up today. Today during lunch I ran Week 1, Day 2 and it also didn’t hurt.
I guess I should start thinking about goals. Three days a week of running through winter? What will be my first race back?
12.01.2011
The State of NSC- November 2011
A monthly take on my world.
Weight: 211. YIKES. I’m not sure if I am getting ready to get my first period in a while or if I really have gained that weight (I guess it’s possible although two weeks ago I was around 204). Looks like I need to start weighing myself weekly and post it so that I am paying more attention to what is going in my mouth because this is EMBARASSING!
Current Feeling: Fat. I am wearing the same black pants into work on the days that I go into the office because I am nervous to try on some of my other work pants. I’m pretty sure they are not going to fit. (Thank goodness for Jeans Friday even though I can’t fit into my jeans right now…). I have been walking at least once a day but it doesn’t seem to be helping.
Running Stats (taking a break until the new year from running to rest my heels/recuperate from surgery)
Total Miles Run: 0
Time Spent Running: 0:00
Longest Single Run: 0
Current aches and pains: Despite my lack of running, my plantar fasciitis is back! It’s so ridonkulous that I have been talking about this for A WHOLE YEAR. JUST GO AWAY. Other than sharp stabbing pains at random moments near one of my incisions (good times), I don’t have much pain from my surgery anymore.
Current Favorite Song: Fitz & the Tantrums- “Moneygrabber”
Looking forward to: Our trip to the Bahamas in 8 days!! My birthday in 9 days! Christmas in 24 days!
Annoyed about: I am going to look like crap in a bathing suit for our trip. I curse my MIL for bringing down the apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving as I’m sure it didn’t help with my current belly.
Proud about: Frankly, nothing right now. Booooo.
How are you feeling with the start of this new month?
Weight: 211. YIKES. I’m not sure if I am getting ready to get my first period in a while or if I really have gained that weight (I guess it’s possible although two weeks ago I was around 204). Looks like I need to start weighing myself weekly and post it so that I am paying more attention to what is going in my mouth because this is EMBARASSING!
Current Feeling: Fat. I am wearing the same black pants into work on the days that I go into the office because I am nervous to try on some of my other work pants. I’m pretty sure they are not going to fit. (Thank goodness for Jeans Friday even though I can’t fit into my jeans right now…). I have been walking at least once a day but it doesn’t seem to be helping.
Running Stats (taking a break until the new year from running to rest my heels/recuperate from surgery)
Total Miles Run: 0
Time Spent Running: 0:00
Longest Single Run: 0
Current aches and pains: Despite my lack of running, my plantar fasciitis is back! It’s so ridonkulous that I have been talking about this for A WHOLE YEAR. JUST GO AWAY. Other than sharp stabbing pains at random moments near one of my incisions (good times), I don’t have much pain from my surgery anymore.
Current Favorite Song: Fitz & the Tantrums- “Moneygrabber”
Looking forward to: Our trip to the Bahamas in 8 days!! My birthday in 9 days! Christmas in 24 days!
Annoyed about: I am going to look like crap in a bathing suit for our trip. I curse my MIL for bringing down the apple pie and pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving as I’m sure it didn’t help with my current belly.
Proud about: Frankly, nothing right now. Booooo.
How are you feeling with the start of this new month?
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