Life at Sea

My mom and I just got back from our cruise in the Bahamas. We went to celebrate her birthday (August 31) and mine (September 26). We had a great time. The cruise ship was interesting, but the whole trip was priceless.

We found the Imperial Majesty cruise line through a promotional offer. We originally believed it to be a scam although we eventually jumped on board and paid all due fees. However, from the moment we arrived to the hotel the night before the cruise, the whole thing screamed dingy scam everywhere. Later on I discovered we're not the only ones angry about the scam.

We actually tried to get off the ship. It was so dirty, stunk so bad and there was so little to do... but we stayed on. Let's put it this way: When the lady at guest services in the Bahamas asked what ship we were on, she said, "Oh- the dingy!" Needless to say, we (and all of the "guests", really) made fun of the ship A LOT! We ended up meeting some really great people and having an awesome time.

Here's a recap in photographs.
Longest post EVER.

A little about the ship...

Towels spotted with brown and yellow... topped with a few hairs. (That screams clean!):
Artwork in our closet. Oops, I mean in our "room":
Don't worry- they had sculptures by the water coolers.
Our "hallway"! (Notice the "Dead End" sign- they were at the end of every hallway):
...tons of on-board entertainment:
See how enthused my mom was about the ship!:
Smoky karaoke (this was so much fun! We actually stayed here for hours)...
Olympic sized swimming pool (yes, this was the only pool):
...THE Grand Lounge:
When all else fails, there's drinking.
But thank God we splurged and upgraded to the window room (you had to stand on the bed in order to see out the "window"):
The cruise ship was small. Needless to say, there was some serious cruise ship envy at the port. See this picture below? That's it. That's the entire open section of the cruise ship.:
Styrofoam cups and coolers of water. Classy.:
At least they had an arcade!!!
Let me tell you- there were so many hotties on board!
This has got to be the funniest part. Most cruise ships will take pictures of the guests in front of their grand staircase on the formal night. What does our ship do? They bring in a screen with a photo of a real ship's staircase for people to pose in front of!!!!!:
We did make friends (from all over the world, too! England, Russia, Alabama, Cuba, Amsterdam..!):
In the Bahamas my mom and I rented a scooter to take around town:

We went to the gorgeous resort Atlantis. There we walked through their aquarium and hung out on the beach and in the pool!:
A Bahamian marketplace ("Hi pretty girl... Why don't I show you something nice... Make an offer.."):
I got a sunburn :( All over..:
It was a memorable experience with my mom.

Cruise Recap On Its Way

Hi!

I just got back from my cruise to Nassau, Bahamas yesterday. I've got a ton of pictures on their way to a fat blog post. Check back soon!

Can I Just......?

Lately I've seen a "tagging-thing" going around where people post pictures of themselves at their high school prom. I was never tagged, but I definitely want to post my pictures!!

I finished high school early and was barely there, so I missed out on most of my high school moments. (I went to the community college for most days.) So when my senior prom came around, I just had to go. My date was my good friend Richard, who graduated years before me and had never even been to my school!

The dress: A few years before prom, I modeled this handmade, one-of-a-kind dress for a little boutique. Needless to say, i fell in love with it. When prom started approaching, I couldn't think of any other dress I would want. (It hadn't been sold yet!) ..I also couldn't afford it. It was $475! Considering it was 75 yards of fabric and hand sewn, it was worth it, but still! So...

A few weeks before prom I came home to find my dream dress and beautiful matching shoes in my bedroom. My mom (who isn't overflowing with $), put herself out to fulfill this dream of mine. I tried that dress on every single day up until prom.

The night was beautiful. I have never felt so beautiful. Richard picked me up and we went to dinner at a piano bar in Tampa. The prom was on a dinner boat. How fun! Richard was a great date: we danced just to the last song (on the top level of the boat) and talked most of the time. After that we got cheese fries at a local diner :)

Soooo... I really, really wanted to post these pictures because I loved everything about that night. It showed me how much my friends and family care about me and was a perfect kick-off to the rest of my life!

Daughters Are Always Right!

Remember my Mom? She was having some trouble with, um.. eating. You all gave her such great inspiration and advice that she's snapping into shape! I had to follow through with directions when I received this in my inbox today!:

SUBJECT: Tell your BLOG group this!

Today, so far, I had :

BFAST: 2 egg whites, a piece of ww toast with touch of canola/butter spread and a glass of o.j. & coffee w/little cream, no sugar

SNACK: FF plain yogurt, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1 tspn flaxseed, blueberries

LUNCH: Salad with lettuce, corn, black beans, shredded carrots, onions, cuc's, tom's and sauteed chix breast w/ FF balsamic viniagrette

SNACK: small amount of FF plain yogurt with 1 scoop of protein powder

DINNER: making a stirfry with brown rice, broccoli, carrots and talapia fish :)) YUM!

I have been following the 6 small meals a day and Sandy (a healthy friend of hers) gave me a list of foods and which groups to eat with which to follow. I have been doing this the whole week. It is a lot of prep and $$ but I am getting used to it and liking all of the eating!!! :) Thought you'd be proud of me!

If you have people who refuse to exercise or eat right, don't give up on them! They won't put through the effort until they are ready, but you can try many things to help them see what works for them. Thanks for all of your comments before!

Mothers

When I was younger, my mom would take me out for "date" nights. We'd dress up, go to dinner at Carrabba's and giggle like schoolgirls. On the way home we'd listen to the Grease sountrack with the windows rolled down, shouting the lyrics without any pride.

Nobody is like my mother. We can fight like dogs, but without her, I wouldn't be what I am today.
Mothers, you have the future in your hands. Happy Mothers' Day.