As I was recovering from my surgery I had my birthday and it pretty much sucked. I was on a liquid diet and in pain so we didn’t do anything but that wasn’t the reason it sucked. It sucked because on this birthday I became the same age as Clint. That was NEVER supposed to happen he was ALWAYS supposed to be a year to two years older than me. It was so hard coming to the realization…I was going to out live him by a long shot…so needless to say I was pretty depressed. Thankfully my sisters were there to pick up my slack and try their hardest to get me out of that funk, I am eternally grateful for them.
A few weeks after my birthday passed I was talking with Jami about what we should do for her birthday. I decided that I was going to hang out with her for her birthday and that we had better do something fun. We came up with the BEST idea…watch a movie in the park!!! We were so excited, we planned to watch The Princess Bride and have tons of munchies for everyone, she invited everyone she knew and everything was set.
I arrived at her house a day early and we did our ritual bonding…shopping , pedicures and talking most of the night. The next day we shopped like crazy getting everything ready for her party. I brought two of my kids with me and she needed a babysitter and my AMAZING brother and sister-in-law agreed to watch them for us. I dropped off the kiddos and hurried to the park…I was running late and I had ALL of the munchies. I got there and there was already people there (hasn’t anyone heard of Mormon standard time!! Geeze!) . I started getting stuff out of my car and all of a sudden there is a man standing next to me who says “Is all of this for the party or do you always carry this much food in your trunk?” I started laughing and looked up and Oh.My.Gosh…it was Wid!!!!
OK a quick rundown on who this guy is: He is a really attractive widower who had taken Jami out on some dates and yes I will admit I started having a crush on him even though I had never talked to him.
Anyways…I told him everything was for the party and we quickly got it unloaded. We had a while until the movie started (we had to wait for the sun to go down) so Wid asked me if I wanted to play a game. I said sure let’s play some volleyball. I thought that was a safe choice for myself since I was better at volleyball than softball. We quickly got teams together and started playing and you will not believe what he did…HE TRASH TALKED ME!!! Oh yes he did so what did I do? I trash talked back!!! It was so funny, I love it when a guy will tease back and forth with me. We had a good time playing and sadly my team lost. I will admit I wasn’t playing to the best of my abilities because I had a huge pile of cow poop in my way that I didn’t want to step on because I was barefoot. I do believe a re-match is in order…
After that was over he decided he wanted to play softball…ugh…not my best sport remember!?! But being the trooper that I am I put on a smile and did my best. I will admit he rocked at this sport and I did OK, I actually hit the ball several times!!! I know I even shocked myself!! Wid even broke the bat, yeah he was up to bat and swung with all his might and…CRACK…there went the bat, it was pretty awesome!! I think maybe this year I will play on the church softball team so I can brush up on my skills.
Thankfully I was saved by the sunset, the sun finally started to go down so we put the baseball stuff away. Then the picture fest began, it is funny to me when you are at a function like this everyone has to take pictures. I think it was after the thousandth picture we finally were able to start the movie. I have to say if you have never watched a movie in the park you really need to, there is just something about it that makes it cool! I found a seat by Jami on her blanket and Wid sat with some other people. You know how when you like someone you wish they would sit by you, hold your hand or put their arms around you to warm you up? Yeah I had those thoughts during the whole movie, I don’t think I really paid attention to the movie. My mind was busy analyzing the night and thinking about the guy who had made me laugh like I haven’t laughed in a LONG time.
The movie ended and he had to leave really fast because he had a long drive ahead of him to get back home. He squeezed my shoulder said goodbye then said goodbye to Jami and he was gone. The girly-girl in me started thinking of all the things we had in common, how much fun we had and when I could get back here to see him again. The common sense girl in me was saying there were better girls for him, don’t get attached to him, he is way out of your league, just be his friend, blah blah blah. Sometimes you can’t help but wonder what is in store for your life and hope that maybe, just maybe someone like Wid will come your way and help you love life again.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Uh oh
I was just re-reading my last post and realized that a major part of what happened to me in Tijuana is missing!!! Somehow it got deleted...it is the section of what happened when I woke up from my surgery I am going to add it now, so go re-read that post before reading the next one I am going to put up here tonight! :)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Tijuana here I come!!
Here are some things that you should know about me...obesity runs in my family, I used to be a toothpick when I got married but have 4 big children via c-section packed on weight and when I am under stress I am not one of the lucky ones that lose weight...I gain weight. It seems like I can just smell a doughnut and here comes 5 pounds. This is one of the things that I used to proclaim "wasn't fair" in my life and Clint would always counter "life is fair April...it just isn't equal" then I would usually roll my eyes and continue to fume inside (yes I have a bratty side). When I married Clint I thought I was the luckiest girl in the world. As I continued to be happily married to him (while gaining weight) I knew that I was the luckiest girl in the world. Not once did he ever talk down to me because of the weight that I gained. He used to tell me "April it really doesn't matter, after we die our bodies will be restored to its perfect state. Then we will have eternity like that together, this is just a small bit of time, I love you just the way you are!!! Isn't that all that matters?"
At the time yes it was all that mattered, I was happy, in love and struggling to lose weight so I could be happy with myself. So one day we were talking with some friends and came up with and idea. I needed a tool that could help me lose weight and sustain my new weight to help keep the weight from coming back...we decided that one of these days I was going to get the Lap-Band. After Clint passed away I was at my highest weight ever and I didn't know what to do. When I moved to Idaho I realized a couple of things #1: that Clint had to love me for eternity but the next man doesn't have to and he won't want someone who looks like me...does that make sense? and #2: my children need me healthy because I am the only parent they have left. I did the Body for Life program and I even did the have HCG diet and both gave me results but when I was done the weight I had lost came back. I was talking to my friend Lucy and she again suggested the Lap-Band, gave me her Dr's name and number in Tijuana and I made the call. I looked at my calendar and realized that the best time for me to go to Tijuana was the day I got back from my cruise since I would already be in San Diego.
I was so excited about going but also pretty scared. At the time Tijuana was having MAJOR issues with drug lords and all of that stuff. People were getting kidnapped, shot at and mugged. I wasn't worried about getting kidnapped I mean come on...I am not the skinniest, prettiest girl in the world so no one would want to kidnap me. But I was worried about getting shot at and mugged, I was carrying a boat load of cash to pay for my procedure and I had 4 little ones at home that would miss me but I prayed and felt OK about going. My Dr sent me a driver to pick me up at the dock and she was so sweet, she calmed my fears, talked me through what I would experience and got me there safely. The best thing I think I did was make sure that my friend Lucy and her Mom would be there with me. Lucy has been with this Dr for 10yrs and knows the ins and outs of everything there. Her mom speaks Spanish and since the night staff there doesn't speak English I thought it was best if she could come too.
I got there and they weighed me and got me all prepped for my procedure, now we just had to wait on the Dr who was being held up with another procedure, which was fine by me since it gave me time to catch up with Lucy and tell her about my cruise. Finally the time came for me to have my procedure...I am not going to lie...I was scared out of my mind but I knew everything was going to be OK. It was hard to go in there alone because Clint had been with me at every other surgery I have had, so this was a first. I don't even remember them putting me to sleep but I do remember some of the waking up part and let me tell you I didn't expect this...
So I don’t remember any of what I am going to tell you, all of this was told to me by Lucy. Right after they were done they put me in the recovery room and all of a sudden I started sobbing uncontrollably. They tried to talk to me and see what was wrong but I wouldn’t respond to them. They were worried because everything went “as smooth as butter” according to my Dr and nothing should have been causing me that much grief. They went and got Lucy and told her what was wrong and asked her if she could try to get me to talk. As she walked in she said she remembered it feeling kinda weird in there but she couldn’t figure out why. She said “April what is wrong? Are you OK?” I mumbled a reply, she thought I said “Where is he? Where is Trent?” Which she thought was odd because I knew that Trent (Lucy’s husband) couldn’t come. She replied “Trent? Remember April Trent couldn’t come!” Then I sat up and yelled “No!! Not Trent…Clint!! Where is Clint? Where did he go? He was just here with me!!!!!” She was speechless, she didn’t know what to say to me. The staff was asking her who I was talking about and what they should do. She then explained to them my situation and who Clint was and that moment is when she realized what she was feeling. She has no doubt in her mind that Clint was there with me that day, she could feel his presence and then all of them…Lucy, her mom and the Dr and Nurses started to cry with me. She said that she felt to tell me that everything was going to be OK and that I should go back to sleep and then all of a sudden I nodded and laid back on my pillow and went back to sleep. I woke up a while later surprised that the procedure was so fast and that I was feeling not much pain at all. Later that night Lucy told me what happened and I cried again. I was so worried about doing this with out Clint by my side and in reality he was there with me all along, I should’ve known he would be there. I hope that the people there that day will remember what happened and realize that the people we lose never really leave us.
I stayed the night there and the next day Lucy and her mom had to get back to AZ so I went to the home of my driver, she takes care of the patients for the Dr's at her house before they go back to the USA. I met 3 other women who had procedures the same day I did and I became friends with one of them. She had the same procedure done and she lives in Washington. We exchanged numbers so we can keep in touch and update each other on our progress. I flew back home the next day, which was Saturday, I had been gone from my kiddos for a whole week and I missed them so much. I was sore and hungry but happy to be home. My sisters did an AMAZING job taking care of them for me and I am forever grateful for them.
Since I have had this procedure I have lost 50 pounds and I have much more energy than I ever have. I am still a long ways from being where I want to be. I am not allowed to eat white sugar, white flour or carbonation, that was hard at first to stick to but I don't think about it anymore. I am going to the gym when I can and eating good foods and teaching my kids the importance of diet and exercise. I love how I look, I am still not the skinniest person out there but I am happy with my appearance with one exception but sticking with the gym might help if not I know an excellent Drs in Tijuana and Phoenix who also do tummy tucks!!!! LOL
At the time yes it was all that mattered, I was happy, in love and struggling to lose weight so I could be happy with myself. So one day we were talking with some friends and came up with and idea. I needed a tool that could help me lose weight and sustain my new weight to help keep the weight from coming back...we decided that one of these days I was going to get the Lap-Band. After Clint passed away I was at my highest weight ever and I didn't know what to do. When I moved to Idaho I realized a couple of things #1: that Clint had to love me for eternity but the next man doesn't have to and he won't want someone who looks like me...does that make sense? and #2: my children need me healthy because I am the only parent they have left. I did the Body for Life program and I even did the have HCG diet and both gave me results but when I was done the weight I had lost came back. I was talking to my friend Lucy and she again suggested the Lap-Band, gave me her Dr's name and number in Tijuana and I made the call. I looked at my calendar and realized that the best time for me to go to Tijuana was the day I got back from my cruise since I would already be in San Diego.
I was so excited about going but also pretty scared. At the time Tijuana was having MAJOR issues with drug lords and all of that stuff. People were getting kidnapped, shot at and mugged. I wasn't worried about getting kidnapped I mean come on...I am not the skinniest, prettiest girl in the world so no one would want to kidnap me. But I was worried about getting shot at and mugged, I was carrying a boat load of cash to pay for my procedure and I had 4 little ones at home that would miss me but I prayed and felt OK about going. My Dr sent me a driver to pick me up at the dock and she was so sweet, she calmed my fears, talked me through what I would experience and got me there safely. The best thing I think I did was make sure that my friend Lucy and her Mom would be there with me. Lucy has been with this Dr for 10yrs and knows the ins and outs of everything there. Her mom speaks Spanish and since the night staff there doesn't speak English I thought it was best if she could come too.
I got there and they weighed me and got me all prepped for my procedure, now we just had to wait on the Dr who was being held up with another procedure, which was fine by me since it gave me time to catch up with Lucy and tell her about my cruise. Finally the time came for me to have my procedure...I am not going to lie...I was scared out of my mind but I knew everything was going to be OK. It was hard to go in there alone because Clint had been with me at every other surgery I have had, so this was a first. I don't even remember them putting me to sleep but I do remember some of the waking up part and let me tell you I didn't expect this...
So I don’t remember any of what I am going to tell you, all of this was told to me by Lucy. Right after they were done they put me in the recovery room and all of a sudden I started sobbing uncontrollably. They tried to talk to me and see what was wrong but I wouldn’t respond to them. They were worried because everything went “as smooth as butter” according to my Dr and nothing should have been causing me that much grief. They went and got Lucy and told her what was wrong and asked her if she could try to get me to talk. As she walked in she said she remembered it feeling kinda weird in there but she couldn’t figure out why. She said “April what is wrong? Are you OK?” I mumbled a reply, she thought I said “Where is he? Where is Trent?” Which she thought was odd because I knew that Trent (Lucy’s husband) couldn’t come. She replied “Trent? Remember April Trent couldn’t come!” Then I sat up and yelled “No!! Not Trent…Clint!! Where is Clint? Where did he go? He was just here with me!!!!!” She was speechless, she didn’t know what to say to me. The staff was asking her who I was talking about and what they should do. She then explained to them my situation and who Clint was and that moment is when she realized what she was feeling. She has no doubt in her mind that Clint was there with me that day, she could feel his presence and then all of them…Lucy, her mom and the Dr and Nurses started to cry with me. She said that she felt to tell me that everything was going to be OK and that I should go back to sleep and then all of a sudden I nodded and laid back on my pillow and went back to sleep. I woke up a while later surprised that the procedure was so fast and that I was feeling not much pain at all. Later that night Lucy told me what happened and I cried again. I was so worried about doing this with out Clint by my side and in reality he was there with me all along, I should’ve known he would be there. I hope that the people there that day will remember what happened and realize that the people we lose never really leave us.
I stayed the night there and the next day Lucy and her mom had to get back to AZ so I went to the home of my driver, she takes care of the patients for the Dr's at her house before they go back to the USA. I met 3 other women who had procedures the same day I did and I became friends with one of them. She had the same procedure done and she lives in Washington. We exchanged numbers so we can keep in touch and update each other on our progress. I flew back home the next day, which was Saturday, I had been gone from my kiddos for a whole week and I missed them so much. I was sore and hungry but happy to be home. My sisters did an AMAZING job taking care of them for me and I am forever grateful for them.
Since I have had this procedure I have lost 50 pounds and I have much more energy than I ever have. I am still a long ways from being where I want to be. I am not allowed to eat white sugar, white flour or carbonation, that was hard at first to stick to but I don't think about it anymore. I am going to the gym when I can and eating good foods and teaching my kids the importance of diet and exercise. I love how I look, I am still not the skinniest person out there but I am happy with my appearance with one exception but sticking with the gym might help if not I know an excellent Drs in Tijuana and Phoenix who also do tummy tucks!!!! LOL
Thursday, August 19, 2010
It's the final cruise one, I promise!!
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!!!!
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!!!!
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!!!
Monday, July 12, 2010
I love it when we're crusin' together
Now for the moment you've all been waiting for...I WENT ON A LDS SINGLES CRUISE!!!!! Yes I did and I really can't believe I went either. I had been feeling restless and I really wanted to travel. This year was going to be my and Clint's 9yr wedding anniversary and he promised me that this was the year we would go on a cruise to celebrate. I thought long and hard and decided that dang it, I am still going on a cruise with or without him and since it was most definitely without him that I was pretty sure that he would be going along with me in spirit. On facebook I noticed an ad for the 1,000 Saints at Sea. So I checked it out and found out that it was a LDS singles cruise for 5 days to Cabo San Lucas Mexico. It sounded perfect, so I talked to my BFF/fellow widow/soul sista Jami and we decided that we were so going together.
I had lots to figure out before the cruise but the most important thing on my plate was finding people to watch the kids, people that I trusted 100% and would take care of my kids as if they were their own. The answer was pretty obvious...my sisters!!! Val already lives with me so she could watch them but someone else would need to watch them while she was at work. I called my sister Robin and asked if she would come out and I would pay for her airplane ticket. She talked with her boyfriend and got ready to come spend 2 weeks at my house watching the kids and hanging out with Val and me once I got back. I was totally excited and nervous!!
I think the day came faster than I thought it would but I had my passport and I was so ready to travel. My flight took me to Las Vegas and then onward to San Diego where our ship was docked. Jami and I made sure that our flights got to San Diego around the same time so we could go to the ship together. We ended up in two totally different sections of the airport and we had no idea how to get to each other and to the cruise ship. Luckily she saw a guy in a red hat that said "Carnival" on it and found out that there was a bus taking people to the cruise ship. She called me and told me to find a red hat guy and with some luck I found him and they were able to get us on the same bus. We were of course totally giddy and excited when we found each other and we were on our way to the cruise ship.
There is so much to write about this trip and how it really changed me so it might take a few posts to get it all in so sit back and enjoy the ride...I mean...sit back and cruise on through these next few posts...OK that was LAME!! Ha ha I am a dork sometimes, just enjoy and if you are lucky I might post a few pics :)
Once we got to the dock I was shocked at how many people there were. It felt like we were a bunch of cattle slowly being led to the final destination. We had to go through this long line to get through security and then to finally check in and get to the right ship. It was all very boring and exciting at the same time. (Hey it was my first cruise!) On the way up into the ship I swear there were tons of workers waiting to take your picture, that is how it was the whole cruise, every where you looked there was the "paparazzi" now I know how the celebrities feel!!
It didn't take us long to find our room because we were on the first floor of rooms once you get on the ship...in other words...the farthest away from where all the activities were. We seriously had to walk up 100 stairs to get to dinner and where all the activities were. I got bored one day so I counted For some reason when I counted I only counted 80 stairs but then an awesome guy named Todd was walking down to his room when I was walking to mine and he counted 100 stairs, so I counted again and sure enough it was 100, my poor children are really going to need math tutors. Anyways...
We got to our room and there was only one, single bed.We had no idea what we were going to do about the sleeping arrangements but we would figure them out later. There was a whole group of widows and widowers that we knew from Utah on the ship and we really wanted to find them. We found the girls pretty quick there were three of them in a room and three beds. Then we looked at one of the beds and realized it was screwed into the wall and somehow you could close it up and it looks like a big box on the wall and guess what...we had a big box on our wall...so thankfully we had two beds in our room, problem solved. We hung out with them for a while and went back to our room to get our cameras and go up to the Lido deck and have our safety drill and wait for the ship to set sail.
Finally after what seemed like an ETERNITY our ship set sail. It was the coolest thing except for the fact that you have to learn to walk all over again it is a good thing I don't drink because some of the drunks on the ship were worse of than I was when it came to walking. We went back to our room to check the schedule and get ready for dinner. We had early dinner and our tables were assigned to us so I was pretty excited to meet who were going to be our dinner companions for the rest of the cruise. We got all dolled up and went down there and low and behold our table had 1 older lady (who is the world's biggest angel and my new "aunt") and 3 good looking guys...SWEET!! I had a feeling we were going to be enjoying our dinners!!
I had lots to figure out before the cruise but the most important thing on my plate was finding people to watch the kids, people that I trusted 100% and would take care of my kids as if they were their own. The answer was pretty obvious...my sisters!!! Val already lives with me so she could watch them but someone else would need to watch them while she was at work. I called my sister Robin and asked if she would come out and I would pay for her airplane ticket. She talked with her boyfriend and got ready to come spend 2 weeks at my house watching the kids and hanging out with Val and me once I got back. I was totally excited and nervous!!
I think the day came faster than I thought it would but I had my passport and I was so ready to travel. My flight took me to Las Vegas and then onward to San Diego where our ship was docked. Jami and I made sure that our flights got to San Diego around the same time so we could go to the ship together. We ended up in two totally different sections of the airport and we had no idea how to get to each other and to the cruise ship. Luckily she saw a guy in a red hat that said "Carnival" on it and found out that there was a bus taking people to the cruise ship. She called me and told me to find a red hat guy and with some luck I found him and they were able to get us on the same bus. We were of course totally giddy and excited when we found each other and we were on our way to the cruise ship.
There is so much to write about this trip and how it really changed me so it might take a few posts to get it all in so sit back and enjoy the ride...I mean...sit back and cruise on through these next few posts...OK that was LAME!! Ha ha I am a dork sometimes, just enjoy and if you are lucky I might post a few pics :)
Once we got to the dock I was shocked at how many people there were. It felt like we were a bunch of cattle slowly being led to the final destination. We had to go through this long line to get through security and then to finally check in and get to the right ship. It was all very boring and exciting at the same time. (Hey it was my first cruise!) On the way up into the ship I swear there were tons of workers waiting to take your picture, that is how it was the whole cruise, every where you looked there was the "paparazzi" now I know how the celebrities feel!!
It didn't take us long to find our room because we were on the first floor of rooms once you get on the ship...in other words...the farthest away from where all the activities were. We seriously had to walk up 100 stairs to get to dinner and where all the activities were. I got bored one day so I counted For some reason when I counted I only counted 80 stairs but then an awesome guy named Todd was walking down to his room when I was walking to mine and he counted 100 stairs, so I counted again and sure enough it was 100, my poor children are really going to need math tutors. Anyways...
We got to our room and there was only one, single bed.We had no idea what we were going to do about the sleeping arrangements but we would figure them out later. There was a whole group of widows and widowers that we knew from Utah on the ship and we really wanted to find them. We found the girls pretty quick there were three of them in a room and three beds. Then we looked at one of the beds and realized it was screwed into the wall and somehow you could close it up and it looks like a big box on the wall and guess what...we had a big box on our wall...so thankfully we had two beds in our room, problem solved. We hung out with them for a while and went back to our room to get our cameras and go up to the Lido deck and have our safety drill and wait for the ship to set sail.
Finally after what seemed like an ETERNITY our ship set sail. It was the coolest thing except for the fact that you have to learn to walk all over again it is a good thing I don't drink because some of the drunks on the ship were worse of than I was when it came to walking. We went back to our room to check the schedule and get ready for dinner. We had early dinner and our tables were assigned to us so I was pretty excited to meet who were going to be our dinner companions for the rest of the cruise. We got all dolled up and went down there and low and behold our table had 1 older lady (who is the world's biggest angel and my new "aunt") and 3 good looking guys...SWEET!! I had a feeling we were going to be enjoying our dinners!!
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