Cozumel, Meheeco

Lets go back to the Caribbean shall we...to Cozumel!

This is where the clouds started rolling in for the rest of the trip, but who can complain with warm rain? Not me.

I won this trip through my work and part of the deal is I had to go somewhere there was a Del Sol store. We are a worldwide company and our stores are all in fantastic locations so thats not too bad of a deal. Since I chose a cruise and we had a port on every stop, we planned to visit the Cozumel store.
These guys were really great.

I work for the corporate office so it was a lot of fun to go to a store and see what goes on in the actual stores.
After we made our visit to the store my parents went and shopped and did their own thing and Russ and I rented a scooter and explored the island!



The water was so beautiful!

Sure wish we had more time to take all that in!
We unfortunately followed the rain cloud around the island. It kind of hurts to be in the middle of a rain storm cruising down a road in a dress. But it was fun.
We stopped and had a really good lunch on the water. It started POURING while we were there so that was a bummer, but at the same time pretty cool.



Russ went out in the water and snorkeled for the short time we had left and I hung out at the beach. A huge regret of mine not to get in the water but we didnt have a lot of time. I think he captured some pretty cool under water creatures.
These ones are my favorite...dont they look like such happy fish?!

I have no idea what this is?

And I think this is awesome!

After he snorkeled for a very short time we hopped back on the scooter and headed back to the other side of the island to catch the ship.
As we sailed away there was a really beautiful sunset. I felt so happy to have my parents with me.

Merry Christmas to all...

Ecko & I were so prepared this year in getting our Christmas cards out early. We mostly just sent them to the family, but we still wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful year ahead. Much love...




Merry Christmas!!

Grand Cayman!

The first day on the cruise was a day at sea. We mostly ate, sat in the hot tub, read and RELAXED...best part.
The first night was a formal night so that was kind of fun to dress up.
Some people went all out in a tux and the works.
Dont they look nice?

Doesnt our food look delicious? My first time having lobster.

One thing I dont love about being on a cruise is not having enough time to really see where you are, and get a real feel for culture and people. Since we only had limited time we did the typical organized tourist activities and they were great!
Off the ship in Grand Cayman

We did a sting ray/dolphin tour. I love dolphins, when I was young I used to want to be a dolphin trainer. How the heck I ended up in my boring job is beyond me.
Unfortunately, they didnt let us take ANY photos while with them, except you could purchase theirs for $7 a photo. Nah, the memory is good.
However, we did get this AWFUL pic of me and some dude. While we were getting the run down of the dolphins we all had to sit together in our swimming suite. This guy, sitting next to me my dad would put it "swallowed a watermelon".

I kind of feel bad for taking this behind his back, but at least we didnt show his face right?
In all fairness thats how I felt after the cruise.
From the dolphins we hopped on a fun little boat and took a ride over the beautiful waters to find the sting rays!



I'll be honest, when you are getting off a boat into the ocean of sting rays, you cant help but think of the Crocodile Hunter being killed by one.

My mom and dad hopped right into the action. I was SO proud of them.

My mom was one of the first to offer a kiss...

Russ obviously liked the rays

Isnt that water amazing?

I think I have said this in another post, but I LOVE snorkel face. Dad, your pretty much a 10.

Russ has a really great underwater digital camera. I became more comfortable with them and took a little swim. Gosh I love being underwater.

The red speedo you might remember from Thailand made an appearance...with the sting rays...and my parents. Ive cropped this photo just in case you werent in for a PG13 post.


One of my favorite moments of this day was when Russ and I were in the water and a sting ray decided to swim up and try and suck on my belly button. This is a very scary thing, and I may made a sound that has never come out of me before, quite...low. Without skipping a beat Russ says, "And thats my boyfriend everybody".
Such a great day in Cayman, I wish I could have seen more of it!

Cruise-Ft. Lauderdale

Since it took me a whole month to finish my last post I think I will break my trip up again so it doesn't take me a year.
I got back from a Caribbean cruise Thanksgiving week. It was so great.
Back in February while I was in Thailand I won a trip through my work, so we finally got to go! Since I took a lot of time to visit Asia the beginning of the year I decided to give my boss a break, even though it was a trip from my work, and planned the trip at the end of the year.
I took my parents and Russ and we had a great time.
I have some friends that live in Ft Lauderdale so we decided to go out a couple days earlier to visit them for a bit. They had a chance to go to London at the same time, and we had already bought our tickets so they said we could still stay at their house and explore the city.
Planning a trip around a bf that is a huge hunter and a dad that is a crazy dedicated U of U fan, we finally found a week to go!

As you can see by my moms suitcase she was confused and thought we were moving to FL.
We got to Ft Lauderdale around midnight so just went straight to bed.
The next day we got up and went into town for a delicious breakfast and walked around town.



There was a Ute game on that day(an away game) so of course we had to drop my dad off so he could watch his Utes lose a terrible game. Sorry dad.
While he was watching the game Russ, my mom and I went to the beach!
It was a tich chilly, but so nice to be by the ocean!

We went back and retrieved my old man and went out on the water taxi. Ft Lauderdale is absolutely amazing. I could not believe the size of homes on the river ways. Insane! There were beautiful HUGE yachts parked outside of these multi million dollar vacation homes.



We went around on the taxi around town and stopped at one of my favorite restaurants ever, Bubba Gumps! I am going to try and hit up all the Bubba Gump locations in the world I decided this trip. Love the food, Love the movie.





I love this picture not only because its funny, but because of what happened when this picture was taken.
This shark was right outside a busy outdoor restaurant. Russ got his picture taken with his head inside the shark but I told him to do another picture because it didnt turn out (even though it did). He stuck his head back in the shark and was moving his legs all around like he was struggling so I told him to wait for the flash. But really I grabbed my parents and we ran and hid, while he was "struggling" with his head in this shark all alone with no one around. I was laughing so hard when he finally pulled his head out when he didnt see a flash and we were no where to be seen. Good sport Russ...

The water taxi went until midnight and we were on the very last taxi and still missed half of the route. Next time!
The next morning we went to a really good crepe place for breakfast and drove to Miami to catch our boat!
My parents and I had both been on a cruise before, but Russ hadnt. He was very excited, mostly about the all you can eat food.

Russ was on the water slide before the boat even started its engines. He was going to take advantage of every minute he could.
He was going so fast I only caught his arm.



The first day is always exciting with all the food, and places to explore. Im pretty sure Russ didnt stop eating that first day, except to go down the water slide.
I love this picture. This picture was taken after we had just eaten a HUGE nice meal in the dining room, and went on the back of the deck to find a hot dog bar.
I think the look on my face, and my dads says it all. I wanted to throw up just watching him eat it.

How that boy stays so skinny and fit is beyond me.

Halloween

Holy cow, I started this post a month ago. As I write this now, its no longer fall, in fact its the big blizzard 2010 the media hyped up all day. But I will continue with what I had already written....

This time of year is so great. I love Halloween, I love the fall colors, I love sipping wassail and breaking out the Uggs. Love it all.
I also really love dressing up, I think its so much fun.
This year was no different, and I was able to dress up in 3 different costumes!
My friend Mason is obsessed with Halloween and throws a big production of a party every year. This isnt just a swing in for a chat kind of party. He plans it for months and has absolutely every detail planned out. Its awesome.
Last year he had a Zombie themed party and this year was a 1920's-1940's Hollywood style.
I was googling images online and found this lovely looking lady and decided to emulate the costume best I could.

After a few trips to DI and $6 dollars & a few changes later...wala!

When we showed up to the "Scarborough Inn" we had to check in and get a key at the front desk and follow the bell boy.

We had a pretty big group so they were checking in 5 people at a time as we checked in and received your key there was a clue, and one of the 5 of us was killed.
From there we went into the hotel lounge were we were offered a black widow (some kind of chocolate milk drink, or a bloody eyeball martini)
Here at the "bar" there was another clue when you got your drink, and someone in that group was "poisoned"

As we were sipping our beverages and waiting for the other guest to arrive, there was an old fashioned movie playing in the background and old 20's music.
Again, the details, unreal!

As the crowd started making their way in and more and more people were "poised" a waitress was bringing us "Severed fingers" which were pigs in a blanket and other Halloween appetizers.
Once everyone had checked into the hotel and received their drinks, we were escorted into the dining area where we were served vampire blood soup (tomato basil), skeleton salad (Caesar salad) and the main course which was ham, potatoes etc.
Through each course, multiple people would receive a clue they had been murdered during dinner.
Under all of our seats were clues, and we had to take our clue and find others in the group that had our similar words to form a team.
My team!

From here, my team was given a case file explaining we were in a haunted hotel, and this big extravagant story which I would really love to share but have to much to blog. Long story short, we spent the rest of the night in the kitchen with the made, the library with the nanny, the graveyard with the murdered family, the front area with the concierge and bell boy, and desert with the maid, trying to figure out who killed the Scarborough family.
There were cool hints like this...to through you off. So while we were in the kitch with the cook, she made it seem like it was the maid.

Turned out to be the nanny. It was such a great night and absolutely blew my mind the effort put into all of it.
The gals

The guys

The cast

The mastermind behind all of this

Thanks Mas, for letting me have a small taste of what it would have been like back then. Loved it.

My work also really loves Halloween. Ive been at Del Sol for 4 years now and I swear the costumes just get better and better every year. People go all out!
I was kind of a dud this year and just re-used a costume I used last year for a non Del Sol party.
Here are a few of my fav costumes from my coworkers:
Tetris

The girls in my department




Del Sol does some nice cash prizes. This guy is in my department and has won the last 2 yrs in a row! He made this costume from scratch!

We also have a pumpkin carving contest. Each department has to carve their own pumpkin. My department has won the last 2 years in a row..woot woot.
Here is our totally awesome Bob Marley pumpkin, complete with smoke coming out of his mouth as well as his music playing in the background.

I was Miss Oprah Winfrey. Its hard to tell in these pictures but I had a nice big bootay behind me. I shoved a whole bag of cotton in my thighs, butt, and stomach. It was hot, but nice and Harpo like..

Isnt my friends baby cute?!

On Halloween night Russ & I spent the first part of the night at my parents house visiting and eating chili and cider. We then went a Halloween party as Marge & Homer Simpson. I have to give total credit to Jeana. She is the most creative person in the world when it comes to Halloween costumes. Every year her family looks amazing.
Thanks so much Jeana!

I waited until the last minute looking for yellow body paint so we went to Walmart and got craft paint. It worked! But was super uncomfortable!




I think this is such a funny picture of Russ.
In his defense, it was really hard seeing out of those eye balls!


We looked a little rough by the end of the night, but we sure had fun dressing up!