Wednesday was a pretty rough day for me. I woke up and got ready for the day and Jami was already off hanging out with the guy she hooked up on. I started walking around the ship yet again by myself. While I was wondering aimlessly I spotted Todd. Now let me tell you about Todd...Todd is in a group called Mountain Blue, they sing gospel/bluegrass music and they are AWESOME!!! His group performed for our singles group, Jami and I had met him at the beginning of the cruise, he is a great friend. Anyways when we talked before we realized that Todd and I are both classically trained singers. He spotted me and came and talked with me and we were comparing stories of our cruise experience so far. He was on his way to the party where we could meet all the staff from the ship and he remembered a conversation we had earlier in the trip and he said "Hey April what if we meet up later and sing together?" I said ABSOLUTELY, I was feeling pretty down and was in need of some music therapy. We decided to me in the Jeckyll and Hyde Lounge an hour before dinner for some acapella time. I was so excited and began counting down the hours.
After he left me I wandered out to the Lido Deck and got myself a spray on tattoo on my foot, it was a music staff with notes. It looked pretty dang good! As I was going back to my room I ran into a girl that I met on the cruise. She asked me what was wrong and I said "well I am pretty bummed that I am by myself again while Jami is off with a guy." "I didn't come on this cruise to fine my next husband or hook-up with someone, I just came to spend some time with my good friend." What she said actually floored me, I still can't believe she said this...she said "Well you know April you already had your chance at happiness, maybe you should give other people a turn." OK...she knew I was a widow...how does being a widow automatically disqualify me for happiness with someone else in the future? I just don't get it. I was speechless, I didn't know how to respond so I just told her I needed to go get a nap and that I would see her later. What she said really bothered me. I went back to my room and cried for a while...what she said plus with family telling me that I am not properly "mourning" my husband by going on a singles cruise just really was hard to get over. I have come to realize that if people think Clint would want me to be crying all the time and locked in my room all the time then they really didn't know him. He loved life and was always an optimist...he wants me to be happy and live my life...I know this because he told me.
Anyways after I napped Jami was back and I asked how her day was, I got up and got dressed for dinner and headed out to find Todd. We got to the lounge at the same time and he had another girl with him who wanted to sing with us, the more the merrier right!?! In all actuality she has a HUGE crush on Todd and I guess she wanted to woo him with her musical talent. So we started singing our favorite church songs and it was pretty fun until the other girl started complaining about singing alto she said "Sopranos have it so easy, they don't have to even learn harmony they just get to sing the melody, so that means Sopranos aren't the best musicians." I thought to myself "Oh no you didn't just say that!!!!" So I said "You know I love to harmonize why don't you just switch me for a while." Let's just say that she was shocked that I could sing both parts, really people it isn't attractive when you put other people down to make yourself look better. But despite the attitude it was really fun and Todd suggested that we sing a duet at karaoke that night, I was all for it. We decided after dinner to go straight to karaoke and pick our song.
Dinner that night was a sad affair, we were all sad that we were going to be back to the real world the next day and of course we were exchanging emails so we could find each other on facebook. I think my friends on facebook doubled from all of my cruise friends!! As we were eating dessert all of a sudden the lights start flickering and our waiters start SINGING AND DANCING!!!! It was so funny, our waiter picked Kathy and started dancing with her in the aisles. It was awesome to see them all getting down. After we stuffed ourselves with our warm chocolate melting cake for the last time and took a million pictures I excused myself to go find Todd and get ready for karaoke. I found Todd and we picked the most perfect song...Summer Lovin' from Grease!!! We had so much fun singing together and the crowd really loved it. Everyone was singing with us and we even got a standing ovation...granted most of them were drunk...by hey we got mad skills!!!
So after I had my aha moment I went back to my room, touched up my makeup, packed my bags and ran off to find all of my new friends playing cards in the restaurant. I got to bed late that night, got up early since I had to be off the ship at 8:30am for my next adventure (a quick trip to Mexico to start Phase I of the "new April" process). I gave Jami a huge hug and thanked her for convincing me to come on the cruise and made my way off the ship. As I got off the ship I turned around and looked at the ship and all of my friends and I couldn't believe that it took a cruise to Cabo for me to be at peace with all the decisions that I have made since September even if other people don't agree with them, Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. My car came and I was off to Mexico by myself and totally and completely scared out of my mind!!!!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Cruise Part 3
Monday morning we woke up totally excited...we were in Cabo San Lucas!!! It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL...crystal blue water, white sandy beaches and tons of people playing out in the water. We got dressed and took our pic (yeah we had a daily ritual...get dressed and take a pic...that was how we rolled!!) and had to wait in the longest line ever to get in our tender and head to shore. Our plans for the day was to go take our city tour of Cabo. We made it through security no problem and couldn't seem to find our tour guide after 10min or so look searching we found him. We boarded the bus and off we went. Our tour guide was HILARIOUS!! He reminded me of my History teacher from High School...he LOVED the sound of his voice. This guy was either talking or singing in the microphone the whole time!!! Our bus driver on the other hand was the strong silent type, his name is Ricardo and we had a blast with him...he was always around to take our pics for us!
We drove around Cabo and went to a glass factory where we watched them make a turtle out of hot, melted glass...it was amazing they are true artists there. Then we drove to another town and had the best Mexican food I have ever eaten, toured a really old church and of course did some shopping. After we had our fun we went back to Cabo, said goodbye to Ricardo and our tour guide and talked about heading back to the ship. On our way back we caught up with some of our friends, Jami decided to go with them to the beach and I took the next tinder out to the ship and took a much needed nap.
After my nap we got ready for dinner and began our hike up the ship. I was not feeling good all day and even though we had to walk up the 100 stairs I was sweating like crazy. I suddenly realized that my ear was killing me...yep I had an ear infection. I just wasn't myself at dinner and I was contemplating going to see the ship's doctor but I was afraid of how much it would cost. Kathy asked me at dinner what was up with me, I hadn't told anybody I was sick not even Jami, and I told Kathy that I had an ear infection. And OH MY GOSH she was my miracle in disguise...she had extra antibiotics from her last trip to Mexico...she gave me 3 and instructed me to take one a day and I should get better. After dinner they decided to go watch the hypnotist act that night and I tagged along because I have never seen one before even though I should've been sleeping.
It was so cool, one of Jami's friends got chose to go up on stage and it was so funny. I still can't believe that he could control their emotions like that he had them laughing, crying, cold, hot, angry, and some were even making out with people they didn't know. Jami's friend said she knew she was looking like an idiot but couldn't stop herself from doing it. I decided to call it a night and not go dancing that night with everyone. Then Jami told me that she was going with that group to go para-sail the next day instead of with me to go do the zip line. Yeah thanks, I was freaking out about doing the zip line but I decided it this was the place to face my fear...bring it on!!!
Tuesday I woke up kinda nervous and not feeling the best but I had to get on the tinder at the crack of dawn so I had to get moving. They said to dress in light clothes because we were going to be out in the desert so I found the best outfit I could and slipped out the door. I never got tired of riding the tinders to and from because it gave me time to enjoy the beauty of that area and watch animals swim in the water. I got there and found my group pretty quickly and sat next to a girl on the curb and waited. There were quite a few people that couldn't find us so we got a late start on our zip line day. The girl I was sitting next to was in the other LDS singles group and she was from Canada and was absolutely amazing, whenever I go to Canada she said I can stay with her. I was the only one from my singles group that was doing the zip line that day...I think the rest of them joined the para-sailing group last minute, we were missing quite a few people. We drove in a van for about 30min or so until we reached our destination...OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! We were seriously out in the middle of desert...our guide's motto was "Extreme sport equals extreme workout!!" He wasn't kidding, we got our dorky looking gear on and listened to our presentation and then we started hiking to our first destination. We were set to do 9 different size zip lines that day the biggest one was 1500ft across a canyon and about that high in the air. The first was was really short, just to give you the feel of it. I got the hang of it pretty quick, it was such a rush and so much fun. When it came to the big one every one was screaming their way across...but me...I LOVED it!! I flew across a canyon with beautiful saguarao under me I was enjoying it too much to scream, lol!
We were out there for about 4 hours and then we went back and took off our dorky gear and chowed down on nachos...there is something about nachos with jalapenos that make me a happy girl. I bought a pic of me looking ridiculously dorky at the beginning of the big zip line and we headed back to the dock. When I got there I decided to go shopping for my sisters and my kids. I had luck on my side because I ran into Kathy and we went shopping together. Kathy is the most amazing person, she used to be a tour guide and grew up in Puerto Rico so she was the best person to have since she speaks spanish and was able to help me bargain (not barter, right Wid?) my prices. She and I developed a special connection and I can't wait to take my kids to San Diego, where she lives, and visit Aunt Kathy and spend the day at the beach with her.
We finished our shopping and headed back to the ship, I felt utterly disgusting...sweat and dirt mixed with humidity...not a pretty picture, right? The first thing I did when I got back to the ship was jump in the shower, I think I took the longest shower known to mankind! When I got back Jami was there and she said they waited all day to go para-sailing but because the line was huge they never go to go so they played on the beach all day! (LUCKY!!) We got to dinner and we weren't sure what our plans were for that night, thankfully we didn't have any plans and we came up with the best spontaneous idea ever!!!
We got me, Jami, Gueller, Justin and Steve and walked out the the very front of the ship and star gazed. Ok so it might sound a little lame but I loved it!! I am huge into stars, it is something that I have always loved. We layed on the deck of the ship, froze our butts off and saw TONS of shooting stars. It was pretty interesting because you are laying on the deck and the ship is swaying side to side and it really feels like you are going to fall off the ship, it was a weird sensation. Those guys really make anything and everything fun, we laughed the night away under the stars. If you ever go on a cruise you have to do this for me and then let me know how cool it was!!!
After we were done freezing outside we went back in and went to the dance club that is open in the evenings and danced the rest of the night away. We went back to our room to check our schedule for the next day and we were pretty bummed when we realized that the next day was our last full day on the ship and then it was back to reality. But deep in my heart I was really missing my kids and I was really looking forward to going home.
We drove around Cabo and went to a glass factory where we watched them make a turtle out of hot, melted glass...it was amazing they are true artists there. Then we drove to another town and had the best Mexican food I have ever eaten, toured a really old church and of course did some shopping. After we had our fun we went back to Cabo, said goodbye to Ricardo and our tour guide and talked about heading back to the ship. On our way back we caught up with some of our friends, Jami decided to go with them to the beach and I took the next tinder out to the ship and took a much needed nap.
After my nap we got ready for dinner and began our hike up the ship. I was not feeling good all day and even though we had to walk up the 100 stairs I was sweating like crazy. I suddenly realized that my ear was killing me...yep I had an ear infection. I just wasn't myself at dinner and I was contemplating going to see the ship's doctor but I was afraid of how much it would cost. Kathy asked me at dinner what was up with me, I hadn't told anybody I was sick not even Jami, and I told Kathy that I had an ear infection. And OH MY GOSH she was my miracle in disguise...she had extra antibiotics from her last trip to Mexico...she gave me 3 and instructed me to take one a day and I should get better. After dinner they decided to go watch the hypnotist act that night and I tagged along because I have never seen one before even though I should've been sleeping.
It was so cool, one of Jami's friends got chose to go up on stage and it was so funny. I still can't believe that he could control their emotions like that he had them laughing, crying, cold, hot, angry, and some were even making out with people they didn't know. Jami's friend said she knew she was looking like an idiot but couldn't stop herself from doing it. I decided to call it a night and not go dancing that night with everyone. Then Jami told me that she was going with that group to go para-sail the next day instead of with me to go do the zip line. Yeah thanks, I was freaking out about doing the zip line but I decided it this was the place to face my fear...bring it on!!!
Tuesday I woke up kinda nervous and not feeling the best but I had to get on the tinder at the crack of dawn so I had to get moving. They said to dress in light clothes because we were going to be out in the desert so I found the best outfit I could and slipped out the door. I never got tired of riding the tinders to and from because it gave me time to enjoy the beauty of that area and watch animals swim in the water. I got there and found my group pretty quickly and sat next to a girl on the curb and waited. There were quite a few people that couldn't find us so we got a late start on our zip line day. The girl I was sitting next to was in the other LDS singles group and she was from Canada and was absolutely amazing, whenever I go to Canada she said I can stay with her. I was the only one from my singles group that was doing the zip line that day...I think the rest of them joined the para-sailing group last minute, we were missing quite a few people. We drove in a van for about 30min or so until we reached our destination...OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! We were seriously out in the middle of desert...our guide's motto was "Extreme sport equals extreme workout!!" He wasn't kidding, we got our dorky looking gear on and listened to our presentation and then we started hiking to our first destination. We were set to do 9 different size zip lines that day the biggest one was 1500ft across a canyon and about that high in the air. The first was was really short, just to give you the feel of it. I got the hang of it pretty quick, it was such a rush and so much fun. When it came to the big one every one was screaming their way across...but me...I LOVED it!! I flew across a canyon with beautiful saguarao under me I was enjoying it too much to scream, lol!
We were out there for about 4 hours and then we went back and took off our dorky gear and chowed down on nachos...there is something about nachos with jalapenos that make me a happy girl. I bought a pic of me looking ridiculously dorky at the beginning of the big zip line and we headed back to the dock. When I got there I decided to go shopping for my sisters and my kids. I had luck on my side because I ran into Kathy and we went shopping together. Kathy is the most amazing person, she used to be a tour guide and grew up in Puerto Rico so she was the best person to have since she speaks spanish and was able to help me bargain (not barter, right Wid?) my prices. She and I developed a special connection and I can't wait to take my kids to San Diego, where she lives, and visit Aunt Kathy and spend the day at the beach with her.
We finished our shopping and headed back to the ship, I felt utterly disgusting...sweat and dirt mixed with humidity...not a pretty picture, right? The first thing I did when I got back to the ship was jump in the shower, I think I took the longest shower known to mankind! When I got back Jami was there and she said they waited all day to go para-sailing but because the line was huge they never go to go so they played on the beach all day! (LUCKY!!) We got to dinner and we weren't sure what our plans were for that night, thankfully we didn't have any plans and we came up with the best spontaneous idea ever!!!
We got me, Jami, Gueller, Justin and Steve and walked out the the very front of the ship and star gazed. Ok so it might sound a little lame but I loved it!! I am huge into stars, it is something that I have always loved. We layed on the deck of the ship, froze our butts off and saw TONS of shooting stars. It was pretty interesting because you are laying on the deck and the ship is swaying side to side and it really feels like you are going to fall off the ship, it was a weird sensation. Those guys really make anything and everything fun, we laughed the night away under the stars. If you ever go on a cruise you have to do this for me and then let me know how cool it was!!!
After we were done freezing outside we went back in and went to the dance club that is open in the evenings and danced the rest of the night away. We went back to our room to check our schedule for the next day and we were pretty bummed when we realized that the next day was our last full day on the ship and then it was back to reality. But deep in my heart I was really missing my kids and I was really looking forward to going home.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Cruise...part 2
We get to our table, sit down and introduce ourselves to everyone, I knew right away that we were going to have a fun table. I start to look over the menu and Jami says "Hey April that table over there is full of really cute guys." Right as she is saying these words to me one of the guys from that table looks over and totally hears the rest of what she says. He says "Hey do you want to come over and sit with us?" She jumped right up and went over there. Yeah...she ditched me...it wasn't the only time that happened...I got used to it after a while :) So I moved over to her seat and started getting to know everyone at our table: Justin from Farmington, 28, never married; Gueller (goes by his last name) from St. George, 28, never married; Dan from Provo, 32, never married; and last but certainly not least Kathy from San Diego, didn't ask her age, divorced with 5 kids.
I have to say that the food options on the cruise were AMAZING!!! It was really hard to pick which one I wanted to eat that night and I am not going to bore you with the details of my meals but I will tell you this...If you ever go on a Carnival cruise you absolutely have to order the WARM CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE for dessert!!!!! I have not had anything like that before and now it is hard to eat regular cakes because that one was so good, it was so good in fact that I had it every night for dinner!!!! :)
After dinner we found out where the guys were staying and surprisingly they weren't that far from our room. We hung out with them for a little while and then headed off to our room, we were beat from our day of traveling.
Sunday morning we totally slept in until 10am!!! That was the good thing about our room not having a window, we could sleep in as long as we wanted. We quickly realized that we had missed the Book of Mormon classes that morning so we got into our swim suits and decided to hit the Lido Deck and go work on our tans. Now most of you know that I am a red head, all of my life I have tried to tan and much to my dismay I can't do it, I burn and then become white again. So I guess I should say that Jami worked on her tan I worked on my burn. We got to the very top of the ship and the view of the ocean was totally breath taking!! We were just enjoying ourselves when who should walk up the steps...yep our boys from dinner. We invited them to lay out with us and then another guy (who we nicknamed Handsome Rob) comes up and joins us. It was so much fun those guys are hilarious and really Handsome Rob was way more tan than the rest of us, I was pretty jealous.
That night for dinner was the formal dinner night. After we were done laying out we went to our room to spend a couple of hours getting ready. Yes we really took that long, looking as good as we did takes some time to do. I think the last time I dressed up like that was for my wedding and I thought it was so much fun!! Everyone there was decked out, it was so great to see all the different dresses. After dinner we decided to go do some karaoke. I decided I would sing and everyone at my table wanted to cheer me on. The song I chose probably shouldn't be sung on a cruise ship for fear of jinxing the ship but I sang it anyways...My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion...yep I sang it. It was really fun having my own fans out in the crowd after that I decided that I would sing again another night but try to convince other people to sing with me.
That night was probably one of the most fun nights on the ship. We went to the guy's room and hung out there for several hours. Justin put on his snorkeling equipment and then he stuck a flashlight in his face and we took oh...several million pics of it...I guess pretty much everything is funny after midnight. After we were done we went back to our cabin to crash because we had to be up bright and early for our first shore day on Monday morning...a city tour of Cabo!!!
I have to say that the food options on the cruise were AMAZING!!! It was really hard to pick which one I wanted to eat that night and I am not going to bore you with the details of my meals but I will tell you this...If you ever go on a Carnival cruise you absolutely have to order the WARM CHOCOLATE MELTING CAKE for dessert!!!!! I have not had anything like that before and now it is hard to eat regular cakes because that one was so good, it was so good in fact that I had it every night for dinner!!!! :)
After dinner we found out where the guys were staying and surprisingly they weren't that far from our room. We hung out with them for a little while and then headed off to our room, we were beat from our day of traveling.
Sunday morning we totally slept in until 10am!!! That was the good thing about our room not having a window, we could sleep in as long as we wanted. We quickly realized that we had missed the Book of Mormon classes that morning so we got into our swim suits and decided to hit the Lido Deck and go work on our tans. Now most of you know that I am a red head, all of my life I have tried to tan and much to my dismay I can't do it, I burn and then become white again. So I guess I should say that Jami worked on her tan I worked on my burn. We got to the very top of the ship and the view of the ocean was totally breath taking!! We were just enjoying ourselves when who should walk up the steps...yep our boys from dinner. We invited them to lay out with us and then another guy (who we nicknamed Handsome Rob) comes up and joins us. It was so much fun those guys are hilarious and really Handsome Rob was way more tan than the rest of us, I was pretty jealous.
That night for dinner was the formal dinner night. After we were done laying out we went to our room to spend a couple of hours getting ready. Yes we really took that long, looking as good as we did takes some time to do. I think the last time I dressed up like that was for my wedding and I thought it was so much fun!! Everyone there was decked out, it was so great to see all the different dresses. After dinner we decided to go do some karaoke. I decided I would sing and everyone at my table wanted to cheer me on. The song I chose probably shouldn't be sung on a cruise ship for fear of jinxing the ship but I sang it anyways...My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion...yep I sang it. It was really fun having my own fans out in the crowd after that I decided that I would sing again another night but try to convince other people to sing with me.
That night was probably one of the most fun nights on the ship. We went to the guy's room and hung out there for several hours. Justin put on his snorkeling equipment and then he stuck a flashlight in his face and we took oh...several million pics of it...I guess pretty much everything is funny after midnight. After we were done we went back to our cabin to crash because we had to be up bright and early for our first shore day on Monday morning...a city tour of Cabo!!!
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