Yeah, so this video is almost 14mins long…y’all know I’m long-winded!

Whew, we’re finally coming to a close!  Just this one, and then probably one more, just talking about the cruise in general!

Anyway, on Wednesday morning, we dropped anchor in the beautiful Cayman Islands.  We had planned to book an excursion to see the turtles, the stingrays, a beach, and do some snorkeling.  But, unfortunately for us, our last minute planning landed us without any tickets for the excursion.  They didn’t have enough for all 3 of us.  But, we figured hey, we’ll be there for 8 hours.  We’ll just do it independently. O_O

Now, Grand Cayman doesn’t have a port big enough for the cruise ships to dock.  So, you have to take a “tender boat” from the cruise ship to the actual dock. This should have gone smoothly.  Only, it didn’t.  Apparently, the current was too strong, so we had to wait, wait, and wait a little more before we were able to start getting on the boats.  It was nearly 1pm when got off of the boat.  We needed to be back by 3:!5pm to leave with the ship. OK. So, we got off of the boat, and the first thing we see is a lady with a big sign, saying that she and her company would take us to see the stingrays.  The sign said $40/each, but she told us $25/each and that Izzy would be free.  OK, where do we sign up, lol!  We ended up on a little excursion  with about 15 other people from the Magic, including 2 couples we had previously met on the ship.  And we had a great time!

When it was time to get back on the ship, there was a loooong line, and we were at the very end. Then suddenly, one of the crew members from the Magic popped up, and starting sending people with small children to the front of the line, because it was very hot. #SCORE (Thanks Izzy!)

We got back on the ship, washed up, then went to go have dinner

And the next day, we hit Jamaica!  Izzy stayed on the ship for this one! We ended up meeting back up with some of the people we had met in Grand Cayman the previous day, and went to Doctors Cove Beach, in Montego Bay!

After that, we did a little souvenir shopping, which I kinda, definitely, hated.  The Merchants were like, extra pushy about you seeing their store, even though they mostly had the same, mass-produced things, trying to pass them off as handmade. O_O  We did by a few handmade bracelets, a little dress for Izzy, and Byron bought a cool looking necklace, which ended up lost somewhere on the ship .  If I ever have occasion to go back to Jamaica, we’ll try Negril, which was very highly recommended, or Ocho Rios!

Next time, my overall thoughts on cruising, and the vacation itself!  Thank you so much for all of your comments!  I know I’m dragging this out, but there are SO many pictures, and so many things to tell about that I have to spread it out, lol!  Thanks for reading!

After a great time in Houston, we set out for Galveston at about 11am Sunday morning. The drive took about an hour, and then…

Hi Galveston!

We parked our car (at Galveston Park N Cruise, $65 for a whole week, inside, and RIGHT across from the port.  Like, RIGHT across from the port!) and then dropped off our luggage to be taken aboard the ship.  Then, we stood in an insanely long line, outside, that I forgot to take pictures of.  The crazy line moved pretty quickly though, and we were soon inside…and in another long line, that I couldn’t take pictures of.  Then we went through metal detectors, and had our water shaken to make sure it wasn’t liquor (o_O).  Then, we got in ANOTHER line, to get our Sail N Sign cards, and have our picture taken, so that they could verify who we were when we got on and off at ports.  THEN we were able to get on the ship,  and go to our room, which we either didn’t get a picture of, or lost the memory card or something.

Anyway, we washed up, changed, and started exploring the ship!  The first night, there was a dance party for the kids, hosted by Camp Carnival, which is the program for kids 2-11.  Izzy got down!

And won a medal for her awesome dancing:

Go Izzy!

Those kids were jamming!  And y’all…they played the Casper slide!  THAT’S what I should have gotten video of, lol!

Anyway, after that, we were all tired, so we were back to the room for the night:

To watch some Pocoyo

But not before checking out the balcony

Then ending up like this

And waking up to look out of the window

Y’all, I have such a struggle getting Izzy to get into the bath tub….but she sees the ocean, and says “Swim, swim, help, mommy, wanna swim!” O_O

The next day was a sea day, and we took Izzy to Camp Carnival to be with her group (2-5yo) as soon as they opened.  She barely had time to say bye to us once she saw those other kids, lol.

I circled her, lol

Then Byron and I went to explore the ship some: (And apparently didn’t notice the smudge on the camera lens for a while O_O)

We Looked at (yea, just looked) the outdoor track and workout area

Pretty carved fruit at the buffet

Not pictured is Byron hurting his ankle at the basketball court while I was off checking out the (overpriced) spa

Picked up Izzy for lunch..

A Hairy Chest Contest on the pool deck O_O

And soon is was time to go get ready for dinner, which was one of the Elegant nights!

Towel Elephant!

Always wipe the bottoms of your feet after lotioning, so you dont slide around in your ridiculous shoes!

And watch for chocolate stealing babies!

We woke up in Cozumel the next day!

We dropped Izzy at Camp Carnival and went off to do our Beginners Snorkeling excursion! We stopped and got a crappy underwater disposable on the way.

Y'all have NO idea how much bravery it took to for me to take one hand off of that floatie to do a thumbs up. I can't swim, and we were in DEEP water!

I have no idea why we didnt take out the mouthpiece for this picture, lol!

  Then we went back to the ship and got Izzy, who promptly fell asleep on the (FRIGHTENING, SEATBELTLESS) cab ride to the beach

Excuse the quality, this was scanned in. That thing is REAL and creepy, and feels really awful to touch. Izzy...didn't meet it, lol!

She woke up to eat though, lol

And to see the beach for the first time in her life (and mine!)

And play in the sand, and taste the ocean

and NOT cooperate for a picture with mommy!

And a wave knocked mommy down while taking this one with daddy, lol

Next up is Grand Cayman, and Jamaica!

Very, VERY early on Friday, the 13th of January, we set out on for our vacation!

After about a 8-9 hour drive, we arrived at our hotel, the Aloft by W, in Houston, TX. (this photo is a night shot, from my cellphone.)

There was a slight bit of drama, as we had called ahead to ask about checking in early, and were told it would be fine.  It wasn’t. There weren’t any rooms available. BUT they did have one available within the hour, so it turned out ok. The room was great, and in a great location (very close to the Galleria mall, just a very short walk away!)

The Lobby at the Aloft

While in Houston, we:

Ate at the Cheesecake Factory (for the first time)

Crab Wontons and Calamari

Izzy NOT eating her food, lol.

Lousiana Chicken Pasta. Yummy!

Visited the Water Wall

It's cold over here!

Byron being silly

Shopped (window) at the Galleria

This is a big sign!

Walking, Walking!

This is a lot of freaking stores!

Jumped up and Down

Ate at the Breakfast Klub

This line, in the cold? This food better be good!

Finally made it inside, but still a line!

Delicious chicken and waffles! Well worth the wait!

Slept

All tired out!

Ate at Pappadeaux (We actually walked to Pappadeaux from the hotel, thinking it was closer than it was.  It was only 1 mile, but in the cold, and bundled up in a heavy coat, so…yeah.  But, on the way back, I had downed a rather large drink, so I’m pretty sure it was the fastest mile ever, lol!)

Fried Alligator

Boutin

Big Bay Platter

King Crab with Pasta

Swamp Thing. Peep the Sippy cup in the background, lol!

Checked out the View

We had an absolute blast in Houston!

I’m linking up with Mimi over at Lipgloss and Binky this week for her Frugal.Fab.Friday meme!

As you may know from recent posts, I wear a size 11 in shoes. So, I usually can’t find shoes in my size in most stores. Target is one of the few places that I can usually find my size, so when I found myself there Thursday night, of course I had to check their merchandise. And what do I see? A glorious, glorious clearance sign! (Byron says I have “clearance glasses”.  I can spot a clearance sign from anywhere in a store, lmbo) Then I spotted these boots!:

Usually $40 on clearance for $11.98. Praise.the.LAWD!  I even tweeted that there was no way they weren’t coming home with me.

And wellll…. they come home with me!

And that’s my fab deal this week!

Ok, my fashionista friends, I need some assistance.  Like I’ve mentioned before, I can’t really put together a fab outfit.  At least I don’t think.  But I don’t want to look crazy!  So, here is what I’ve put together so far. Un-ironed, rather blurry, bad pictures, because I was in a hurry.  But they’re good enough to get the idea!

Please, offer your opinion on if I need to move things around, if I need some different items, if I need to take things away.  How should I accessorize? I may have to update this tomorrow with better, unhurried pictures, because there are a few things that I didn’t end up photographing.

I kinda loved this. Snagged on clearance at Kohls for $6, down from like $50!

This is less boring than it looks in this picture, I promise! The top has a cute open crochet detail at the back!

I dont know why this is SO blurry! But the top has little metal medallions all over, which makes the detail that you see up top.

Again, I don't know know why so blurry!

Attack of the blur, again! *sigh*

And here are my “summer” shoe options!

My crazy, crazy sale finds! From L-R, $16, $14, $24 for both pairs of sandals, $7, and are you ready? $2!!

So, there we go! HELP ME!! Is there hope for these outfits?

I am TIRED.  We’re about 10 days away from our vacation, and we are just now getting into planning mode full swing. I took a little time this weekend to put together outfits, and try everything on to make sure it looked like I thought it would.  It didn’t, of course, so it was back to the drawing board for some outfits.  I’m going to put together a post, with pictures, and hopefully you ladies can give me some insight.  I’m not a fashionista, but I want to look good, so I may need a little help!

I was supposed to be done with work until February, so that I could pack, plan, and prepare for the cruise.  Yesterday was supposed to be the last day.  But that’s not happening.  *sigh*

I feel ah.maz.ing now that I’ve been off of my birth control for about a month.  I had no idea that I was being affected SO much by it. I feel like I came out of a fog!  I feel so much more laid back, my relationship with hubby is improving, and not that you want to know, but my sex drive is through the roof, lmbo.  So, i don’t think another hormonal birth control is in my future.

I really have to get myself back on my healthy eating/workout grind.  I know I probably won’t make any real progress until after we return from our trip, but I have it on my mind, which will help me make better choices.

I have LOVED having my Senegalese twists this past month or so.  I took them down yesterday to wash my hair, and my hair is noticeably longer.  I was a little freaked out my how much I shed, but I had to remind myself that it was actually a whole month’s worth of shedding.  I’ll be re-doing that same style some time this week.  My head is pretty sore for about the first week, and I want to be used to them before we go!

Are any of you located in Houston, or familiar with the area?  We would love to check out some great restaurants or sights while we’re there, so any suggestions would be appreciated!

I got new glasses!  I’m pretty sure I’ll be vlogging at some point this week, to show them off!

We’re redoing Izzys room!  In addition to the yellow that is already there, I incorporated pink and green (using her tissue pos from her birthday) and started new bedding, and Byron has built her a beautiful tv stand, with cubbies for storage.  Instead of the regular store bought cube baskets, I made the baskets, using different fun fabrics in different colors.  It just needs to be painted now!

I have had THE hardest time finding cute sandals this time of the year.  I’ve been on basically every site I can find, and every store we have locally.  I finally, FINALLY found what I was looking for at Rack Room Shoes,and I was able to find 3 pairs of cute flat sandals for about $45. SCORE!  What do ya’ll know about the size 11 struggle?  Not to mention, I randomly found two SUPER cute pairs of heeled sandals at a local boutique, on clearance.  $1.99 for one pair, $6.99 for the other. Yep!

I’ll be posting a review/giveaway for Silky Wraps this week!  Be on the lookout.  Also, you ladies who I’m supposed to sending the Covergirl items, I have NOT forgotten about you, lol, just been crazy busy.  I’ll be emailing you for addresses, and sending out your items when I send out the package for this giveaway!

Hope your 2012 is off to a great start!

So, we ended up taking the party on the road, to my mom’s house. Which ended up for the best, because there was a MAJOR standstill on the interstate, due to roadwork, and I would have been really upset if our parents had been the ones in traffic for (extra)hours, instead of us.

I was up until midnight Friday night making this cake:

Which is think is QUITE adorable, for my first time working with (homemade) marshmallow fondant. And making these cupcakes:

With homemade buttercream frosting, which was OMG good, as was the cake! I used the recipe here: Rose’s Favorite Yellow Cake and it was just amazing!

I also made these:

Which are candy dipped pretzels and oreo pops. The brown is milk chocolate, and the white are vanilla candy melts. The drizzles are dark chocolate for the brown, and white chocolate, colored in pink and green.

I didn’t get nearly the pictures that I wanted to, because everything was a little on the hectic side, due to the last minute change of location, but overall, everyone had a great time, and all of the food was yummy!

On Born Day:

1st Birthday:

And Today!

Happy Birthday my sweet Izzy!

So I scrapped the first cookies and tried again. I’m very pleased! They aren’t perfect, but they’re cute, so I’m happy, and proud to serve them! And Izzy helped this time. If you consider using placemats to slide across the floor, pulling out all of your tupperware, and making a milk puddle to stomp in to be help. Once she saw the finished products, she had a little meltdown about “baby bird cookies”, lol, so least they’re recognizable to kids,lmbo!