Carnival Breeze Ports of Call and Excursion Options

Carnival Breeze Western Caribbean itinerary has some great ports of call!

So the glorious Florida sunshine has me missing the open seas! I had been meaning to "unpack" more of our last Carnival trip a long time ago and just have not gotten around to it. But my longing to be on a boat right now has me ready to reminisce. We went on the Carnival Breeze in November and loved pretty much every minute of it. However, we would have loved even more minutes had we been more aware of what could be found at each port prior to our trip. I had done plenty of research before we left and I thought I had a pretty clear picture of what would be best, but some of the details weren't super clear. So I thought I would share a little bit of what we discovered for any of those planning a similar trip! Here are the Carnival Breeze ports of call excursion options. 

Carnival Breeze Ports of Call

1.) Miami

We didn't really think this one through, we were pretty cruise ship destination oriented and being from Florida our plan was simply to get on the boat. However, as we were leaving the ship on the way home we realized we probably should have given ourselves an extra day to explore places around Miami. Even though we are both born and raised Floridians we have never done a trip to the Everglades. That will be added to the next trip FOR SURE! I want to wade with the gators!!

2.) Grand Turk

This is undoubtedly our favorite island, not only of this cruise, but of any cruise we have been on. Grand Turk is 7 miles total. You are in port for 7 hours. That is a whole hour to explore each mile and we did pretty much just that! I knew going into it that I wanted to explore the lighthouse. While you don't actually go up into the lighthouse the grounds are beautiful and I heard that not a lot of people head out that far; the lighthouse is pretty much at the exact opposite point from the cruise port and based on what they tell you there is "no beach". However, I had read differently while researching, so we decided to head out on our own. One, because we like it that way anyways and prefer to spend our days in port just the two of us, without tons of other people who book the same excursion. Two, because the ship excursions don't really allow you to go at your own schedule/ pace. And three, because they charge way more than it will cost if you choose to explore on your own.

So upon exiting the ship we found and rented a scooter and started our trek out to the lighthouse. I will admit I was nervous being on a scooter, but Babe was a great driver and we arrived safely at the lighthouse (no admission fee). It was amazing!! There are two trails leading towards the water from the back of the lighthouse. If you take the one to the right you can explore an old armory that is now falling to ruins, as well as the coast line from the top of the cliff. However, if you explore the trail to the left it will take you down the cliff (not super steep, but rocky towards the bottom. I would recommend water shoes if you have them; we didn't) to a pristine white sand beach. There was no one else there but us and the rocks from the cliff had formed this perfect little pool so that the water was calm and swimmable. It was glorious!!

We stayed there for about two hours (lighthouse, trail exploring and private beach swimming) before we started making our way back to the boat. We made sure to leave ourselves time to stop at all the off-beaten places we spied on the way to the light house. One included an old, run-down, abandoned hotel (pretty sure it was named Coral Reef, but you can see what the entrance looks like in the above far left picture of our Grand Turk stops) and the other was a shipwreck at a pretty popular beach located right near the boat. I was surprised no one else was exploring the shipwreck. But we hopped right on. You can swim to it from the beach (not far at all, would even be reachable for older kids). We explored the length of the ship (interior) and then used the ropes hanging from the riggings to make a swing!! Seriously my favorite cruise port day of all time!!

*If you are looking for a more relaxed, less adventuorus day, the beach where the shipwreck was located is walking distance (probably .5 miles) away from the cruise port. They have lounge chairs, crystal clear water, snorkel rentals and a huge ship to explore. 

3.) La Romana

Photo from: Carnival

We didn't end up doing much in La Romana due to rain. Instead we decided to use the money we would have spent on an excursion to go and use the ships spa for the day. The ship has this glorious spa room with these therapeutic, heated lounges for you to lay on. They were so nice, and Babe, who had a sore back, said they really did help relieve a lot of the tension. However, if you do get off in La Romana this port is one that you can't explore from right off the ship. You walk off the ship to a transportation depot. You can't walk anywhere nearby. We did walk to the end of the gate to see if there was a better deal on renting a taxi to get to the old ruins (what we had been bound for when the rain really started coming down), but the deals are the same at the gate as they are at the terminal. However, still a better value than booking through the ship.

4.) Curacao

Oh Curacao! I had been so looking forward to this port. You see, I have ALWAYS wanted to go cliff jumping. I had found blogs that talked about this great place to do it from and so I was all set to go and try! We get off the ship and give the people the name of the beach we need to get to, but no one knew what I was talking about. Apparently there are older names for beaches and some have new or alternate names. So we walked further into the town center hoping someone would know which beach we meant. When I told them what we were looking for they realized we were looking for Playa Knip, which is 45 minutes from the port we were at. Because we got to port so late in the day it was too late for us to try to get there. Had we known more in advance we would have immediately gone to the Avis car rental (which is directly to the left as you exit the ship. We had looked for one right away but didn't see it; it is hiding behind a bush) and taken a car up the coast and then made our way back once it got dark (you are in port until 10pm). Instead we scratched our original plan, got back on the boat, showered and then went back out for dinner after the sun went down. Curacao is a great place for shopping and dining if you want to stay nearby. It is a beautiful town with bold colors and a fort like feel; great for pictures. The more adventurous exploring is further from the ship port. Next time!

*You can also book car rentals ahead of time, either through Avis or through the Budget Car rental at the casino in Curacao. By the time we got to the Budget place all the cars were gone and they would have had to be returned at 4:30, it was already 3:15.

5.) Aruba

Aruba probably ties for our second favorite port! It's a toss up between Aruba and The Baths in Virgin Gorda, which you can access by ferry from Tortola. Aruba was another destination where we knew we would be renting some type of our own motorized vehicle. We planned to go to Arikok, the national park in Aruba, which has a natural pool. I had read that the only way to get directly to the natural pool was by ATV, so that is what we got. It took a good bit of time to get out there and I would definitely recommend some type of off-road vehicle. However, it might be worth it to pay a little more for an ATV which has a back seat or cushion. We got a one-seater and I just sat in the extra space on the back; once you hit the rocky path, ouch!! My tailbone kept hitting the metal bars and it was not a pleasant ride. But the scenery was stunning, the natural pool totally worth it and the caves were amazing to explore! I won't give too much away, because you should get to be surprised, but you really should try to check out as much of the park as you can in the time you have. We did both main caves, the pool and even had time to stop at the little cafe on site to eat (it was decent, but not great). I do wish we had thought to pack a heavier snack so we could have spent more time exploring instead of stopping to eat.

Tips for Aruba and Arikok National Park

*If you are afraid of bats the caves may not be your thing. I was fascinated by the bats, but they do fly freely and while there were not a whole lot, because it wasn't night, there were quite a few that flew right past us.

*You can take any vehicle into the park, however, you can not take cars directly to the pools. You can park some distance away and will be walking (a pretty fair distance) over rocky, steep terrain. Even from the top of the natural pool (where you will park the atv) you must be able to walk down stone steps. You should be pretty physically able to reach the pool.

*If you choose to swim in the natural pool, you should be a strong swimmer or else stay furthest from the rock wall that seperates the pool from open ocean. Every so option the waves will hit and come over the rocks and you will get swept up in the wave. You won't get pulled out of the pool, but will definitely get tossed around a bit. 

*This would be one cruise excursion I would be willing to look into booking through the ship. They rode in these open-air, off-road, jeep-like vehicles and mostly kept pace with the rate we were going. They had maybe 15 less minutes at the pools and I am not sure if they explored the second cave, but otherwise the cushy seats and guide might be worth the extra money. Though if you are prone to car sickness (I can be) I may think twice, the drivers were spinning donuts and driving crazy! It looked like a lot of fun, but it also might have been a cause for Dramamine.

Overall I think this was one of our favorite cruises, between the ship itself and the ports of call. I would highly recommend it if you are a cruise lover like we are!

Disclaimer: Choosing to do your excursions on your own can pay-off (see below), however, we know that we take the risk of something happening and not having the insurance provided by booking through the cruise. If you book your excursion through the cruise and something happens while on the tour (bus breakdown, accident, etc.) you are insured through the cruise and are guaranteed to make it back to the ship. If something happens and your tour gets stuck or you are late getting back to the ship they will make sure the ship doesn't leave you. However, if you book your excursion on your own time the boat will not wait for you if something happens. Ultimately, if you book your own excursion and something happens you are on your own. And if you miss the call time to be be back on ship, well, you're just SOL. We always make sure we are back near the ship an hour before call time, just in case we run longer than planned (hit traffic, etc.) we are safe to make it back in time.

An example of what we saved by going out on our own:

In Grand Turk

How Much You Can Save Planning Your Own Excursion

Our cost:

Scooter rental: $60.00 (+$15.00 tip after; optional)

Extras: $10.00 snocones and drinks at lighthouse

total: $85.00

perks: we had plenty of time to stop, explore and even pet the donkeys

VS.

Ship cost:

Excursion: $69.99 per person

total: $139.98

* The excursion is only about 2 hours and you are completely at the mercy of the tours time schedule. The bus that got to the lighthouse only stayed for about 15-30 minutes, which (in my opinion) is not enough time to explore the whole area even if you don't plan to swim. 

In total we saved over $50 dollars and also gained more freedom and time to explore at our own pace.

Hope you found this helpful! Happy cruising!!

Words for Wednesday: Dreams and Things

I have been thinking a lot about my "bucket life list" recently. Trying to think of the things I want to do, the places I want to see, in my lifetime. I love this quote for many reason, but ultimately for all the promise it holds. We are made up of every bit of our past, present and future thoughts. The places we have visited before, the things we have already read, but also of all the dreams we hold and all the places that call to us for some reason. Right now what is calling to me is a nagging desire to see the world immediately around me, to immerse myself in it and explore its hidden corners. I would love to have a tiny house, hooked onto the back of a truck, that could take me from town to town. Take me from my little slice of Florida, all the way across the U.S., to the seas of the Pacific and back again. I would love to spend a few months trying out different states; eating in the mom and pop diners, browsing the shelves of a local bookstore, sipping coffee on the sidewalk of the corner bistro. And while I don't know if that will every really happen, at least not anytime soon, I believe that specific desire is a part of my soul for a reason and I believe it's part of the make-up of who I am. 

Who are you? What dreams are part of your makeup? 

Woman in Gold

My husband and I went to a prescreening of Woman in Gold last night. It was hands down the best movie we (we meaning he actually agrees and not just me speaking as a we for him) have seen in a very long time. And we see A LOT of movies. I untderstand if you wish to stop reading at this time, while I do promise this post holds no specific spoilers you may be able to deduce the general feel of the from the following thoughts.

I had figured going into the movie that I may cry. I knew what it entailed and I knew there would be scenes from the life of the main character portraying her life as a young Jewish woman in Austria during the Nazi occupation. What I didn't expect to have happen was to feel so utterly connected to the woman she becomes in her later years of life. Maria is now an elderly woman living in America and has enlisted the help of a young family friend who happens to be a lawyer. At one point in the movie she remarks that you must hold onto pieces of your history so that the memories those tangible items hold do not get forgotten. She then states that it is often the younger generations that do the forgetting. Woman in Gold paints a tragically beautiful, hope-filled picture of what happens with our histories. A picture of that younger generation as it learns to embrace a history that it has more distant connections to, while the direct link to the past learns that while objects can pull memories to the surface they have always been held within us wherever we go.

It was for that very reason that I was a sobbing mess at the end of the movie. I have often thought that with age our memories may grow more gray, the edges may fog and fade, the image become less clear. But I wonder now if that is true. Maybe the older we get the more clear the past becomes, fine tuned by the crisp memories of a youthful soul. Maybe that line between the past and the present becomes thinner and it is easier to see the histories we have tried to block from our minds. That thought was crushing, but it was also inspiring, to think about all the memories a lifetime can hold. I think of the memories, pleasant and not, that I carry with me now. The weight of another 50 years of them seems astonishing. 

I can remember sitting with my mimi. While she never had many memory problems there were days when I could tell that she thought she was talking to my mother. It was the present memories, the things that had happened the day before that were easier for her to forget, like the fact that my mother was now a grown adult and not the woman in her early 20s sitting across the able from her. That is was actually me.  I was ok with that, because the stories she remembered so clearly were the ones that showed me who she was as a woman my own age.

It does get me thinking, about the things I will recollect if I am around to hit the age of 80. What scenes will I be walking into, what memories will I come face-to-face with, whose faces will I see smiling at me from corners of rooms that are no longer a part of my actual surroundings? I sat there in that theater and I could picture myself old and wrinkled, skin thin but bravado strong, saying things so matter-of-factly. Maybe it really is true that the older you get the less you care about speaking your mind. Maybe you speak what you think because you have waited too long to speak your truth and it is finally time to let it all out. To let out all the memories, all the knowledge, all the lessons learned and life lived. You let it out while at the same time it pulls you in. You get pulled into the past, pulled into the story of who you were and who you have become and in that moment you get to live the best of both worlds. You get to live with all you have learned, all you have walked through, all that you are now, but for a brief moment you also get to live it with all the people who had to leave before you did, including the version of yourself you once were.

Sharing Saturday!!

I do so love a great beard! Love journeying through life with this one! 

While I had all intentions of posting yesterday for 5 on Friday, in typical Melanie fashion the day got away from me. So I am dubbing this Sharing Saturday. Sharing 5 things I am loving lately and sharing a few of those things in a happy little giveaway to share that love with you! Here goes: 

1.) Disney Flower and Garden

Our passes are almost expired and I think I may cry for a long time, but before that we will be going big with one last hoorah... and a lot of watermelon salad!! This stuff is my jam!! Seriously, if you have passes, the ability to make it to Epcot or are planning your yearly visit during Flower and Garden, you can NOT miss the watermelon salad. I love this amazing little blend! I waited all year long to get this again and it did not disappoint! If I could eat it everyday, I would. I have tried watermelon salad other places and Epcot's is by far my favorite!

2.) Snavely Vegetables and Garden!

We have a theme going on! Garden! Garden! And more garden!! This weekend, after being at the beach with a girlfriend, I came home to my our very own garden. I was beside myself!! I have been wanting one for so long and while Babe has too, I think he thought my enthusiasm for a garden was a lot like my enthusiasm for other things. I can quickly jump on an idea, but then quickly lose appeal for it. I have wanted a garden (and bees) for oh, going on about 4 years now! He was shocked, and I think I may have even surprised myself, with how much I am loving it. I basically cried the night I saw it. And within a few days it was already sprouting!! YAY!!!! First stop garden, second stop honey bees!! We are growing cucs, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and watermelon; basically growing tacos, with a happy sweet treat!! Only one week in and it is already sprouting!!

3.) Clean Sweep!

I never thought I would say this, but "I have been loving cleaning." I have been purging my way through the house. A friend started a challenge to get rid of 40 things a day, for 40 days, for Lent. At first I said, "No way! Uh uh, not gonna happen." Next thing you know I had gotten rid of 240 thing in a period of 1 hour (in order to catch up) and I was hooked. It has recently gotten a little more challenging now that I am getting past the definite throw-outs, but I am excited to keep going and to learn what simplifying looks like (more on that later), as of right now it looks like 3 trash bags to pitch and two to donate! 

4.) Snuggly Beards!

Babe has kept his beard around (per my request)! Yay! Who enjoys shaving anyways?! And you just can't beat a man with a beard, at least in my opinion. However, Babe is very low maintenance. He just keeps it trimmed and typically doesn't listen when I talk about things like beard upkeep. But when I got the opportunity to try a beard care kit I couldn't turn it down and he obliged to try it out for a while! His beard is so snuggly! I love it. Smooth Viking is a wonderful company that offers 100% natural beard care options. While Babe's beard isn't long enough to use the beard balm he has been using the oil (Beard Oil - 100% Natural) which he says has made his beard less itchy and also much softer. It makes snuggling during movie night so much better. I also love that they are an Orlando based company. When I first partnered with them I didn't know that this was the case. I found out when I received the products and read the address. I love supporting local businesses and will definitely be using Smooth Viking in the future. If you love beard snuggling as much as I do you should totally give them a try!

5.) Tea Time!

I was recently given some Organic Dandelion Root Tea to try. I love tea! And while I am not typically a floral tea lover, I couldn't pass up a taste test. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this tea from Kiss Me Organics. It has a subtle floral taste and dash of cinnamon, it blended nicely with my honey (I add honey to everything I drink) and a little sugar. It was delightful! The fact that is organic was great too. It's the perfect treat for an afternoon pick me up and being naturally caffeine free it didn't keep me up until all hours of the night.

*This post is sponsored by Smooth Viking and Kiss Me Organics and because they were so great to share some of their wonderfulness with me I thought I would share some with you! Here's a little treat for one lucky tea-drinking, beard-snuggling winner! (Beard Conditioner - 100% Natural Beard , Beard Balm - 100% Natural, Organic Dandelion Root Tea)

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Words for Wednesday: Adulting

I found this quote not too long ago and while times aren't that dark today I know there is someone somewhere who could use a push, a reminder, to keep chugging along. Whenever I read this, on a dark day or a brighter one, I am reminded about why I love it so much. It is short and simple and to the point. You have made it, you have made it through hard things and while you will face them again, you also know that you have the strength to make it through. You have done it before! So hold tight and be strong, there is light to look forward to. 

And just in case you are more of a "I need humor more than a dose of reminders in order to keep my head up today" kind of person, then I hope you enjoy this little ditty that has kept me smiling for the past week or so... 

And with that I am off to Disney, because that is where I take myself when I am just plain done and over the "adulting" thing for the day!! Seriously, why didn't the grown-ups warn us better about this whole thing?! 

Words for Wednesday: Ash Wednesday

Today I find myself exponentially grateful for God's outstanding grace. I am thankful that love is shaped like a cross, like a Man with outstretched arms, who died because of love. Because of His love for us; for broken, sinful people. He came to Earth to make sure we got to live forever with Him and He came because of a love that would save the world from itself. I pray that in this time, I will pull closer to Him and to that love. I prat that I can better learn to love like Jesus did and that I can embrace this Lenten season with an open heart, one that can better see and fully live the miracle of Jesus' life. This year for Lent I am not giving up something that I will, most likely, fail at. Instead, I want to pick up intentionality. Intentionally spending time in God's word, learning more about Him and His heart. Maybe that means I am ultimately giving up time I would be spending doing something else, but I want this season to be about growing closer to the meaning of a love that looks like a Cross. 

Surrendering the Older Brother

"Don't you know I'm the prodigal son?" He says it with a smirk and a condescending smile as he closes and locks the bathroom.

And, like something that feels threatened and angered I do the first thing that comes to my mind. I start spewing venom. I start banging on the locked door like all of the world's problems will be solved if I can just break the door from its hinges or in any way shape or form get him to move faster. "Open the dang door!! You are the most selfish person I have ever met in my entire life! Who do you think you are? Get out of the shower!! You do not have time to shower! Today is not about you!! We are already late and we have to leave! Dad said we had to be out in the car! You think of no one but yourself! You care about no one but yourself! We all know you're the fricking prodigal son, you sure do get everything you want!! That's your problem!! Now GET OUT!!!" I scream so hard my throat feels raw. I scream and I scream and I am right where I was before I ever even started screaming, behind a closed and locked door, accomplishing absolutely nothing. And do you know what happens with those words that left my mouth like venom? They burn. They burned coming out and they burn afterwards. They burn a hole right through you. They are words that never leave you.

There is no vindication in them. There is no answer. There is only weakness and the hurt that you felt and then placed on someone else. And maybe in that moment, when all my brother wanted was 5 minutes in the shower even though he had woken up late, he felt like he would use the prodigal son card to get what he felt he deserved. But when you feel like you have the authority to call yourself that it's also because you know how far you had fallen. How lost you had been. And instead of looking behind the condescending smile and the air of entitlement that I was "so sure" he was throwing in my face, I played into the older brother role yet again. And in that moment I was just as lost as I had always assumed he was. I was so far past any realm of understanding because I let my own brokenness cloud what was going on. I fell into my human nature and made my bitterness, my brokenness, more important than his struggle. And I will always carry that with me. You see, I vowed after that trip to NEVER again go on a family trip with John Wayne. Or at least to never be made to stay in the same hotel room with him. And I never did. I will never have the chance to. Because a year after that trip, he would never get the chance to take another one. 

I had prepared myself for this week's sermon. I had been given fair warning that this sermon was going to be about the prodigal son. I thought that I had come to terms with the demons that I faced that left me a heap of a mess after each previous sermon preached on this same story. I was wrong. Because again, from word one, I was waterworks. And do you know the moment that I truly broke open? It was these 4 simple words, "Jesus loves older brothers." That was all it took. I thought I had come to terms with it, with my sin and brokenness and the bitterness that played so strongly on my heart. I had asked God to forgive me. Thank God I had the opportunity to ask John Wayne to forgive me. But I realized, in that moment, that I had never allowed myself to forgive me. I never forgave that part of myself that held so strongly to those moments where everything in me broke. 

I held onto those words, to those moments of broken anger and others like them, like some badge of shame against myself, so that I would remember the feelings that came after them. I never really let them go. I let them play on repeat and fester in my mind and in my heart and all that did was lead to more broken and bitter feelings. This time at myself for the role I often played in our story. I feel grateful for the times where I could have a conscious discussion with my brother. I am grateful that not long before he died, we had been talking about trying to give the whole "family trip" another shot. And yet, I still could not surrender the hardness I had built against myself and his addiction to allow for me to drop my "older brother" badge altogether. I held onto it, unwilling to surrender it to God. Unwilling to let Him take it and make that part of my heart His. It seemed too ugly somehow. Too broken. But nothing is too broken for God.

_______________________________________________________________

"Jesus loves older brothers." 

_______________________________________________________________

My heart needed those words. Jesus came for everything lost in us, for the older brothers and younger brothers alike. And He said "I love you. I love you more than the pain of death and loss and I will carry you home. I will celebrate YOU, because you were lost and now you are found." And with tears streaming I surrendered the darkest parts of myself. The parts I tried to keep locked tight and hidden away. I surrendered them then and I will surrender them each time I feel like I am trying to pull them back, because God can do such a better job at loving the older brother in me than I can. 

If you would like to listen to the sermon and the rest of the series (preached by Zach Van Dyke) you can click through the picture at the top of the post or find it here. 

5 Things for Friday

5 fun things this week in this crazy household! 

Snow! Beautiful Snow! 

Babe and I just got back from Snowshoe in West Virginia and we could not have been blessed with the most perfect ski weather! We typically ski Snowshoe in March in years prior, but had booked for earlier this year and we are glad we did. We have never seen so much snow. The big northeast snow storm didn't hurt us either. It was piled high!! If you are planning a ski vacation soon and can't spend the big bucks to fly out West I totally recommend Snowshoe. It's a wonderful resort and it is also a great place to learn to ski if you have never been. There is a great mix of runs and enough variety that you can work your way up, but the runs aren't so long to where you feel like you are wearing yourself out too quickly. We really find it to be the best resort to ski on the east coast unless you are able to make it up higher into Vermont. We drive it so it's the perfect destination to be able to reach it without feeling like you are spending more time in the car than on the slopes. 

Thrifty Cold Weather Shopping 

If you are anything like me, you love a good vacation! You love it even more when you save money on it. While Snowshoe has gone up in price just a bit since we originally started going almost 10 years ago, we still find it to be very reasonably priced. And with gas rates at their new glorious low driving there was our best option (I am also a lover of road trip time so that was a perk in my book! As long as the drive is under 12 hours I would much prefer the car to a plane). However, trying to make sure you are prepared for cold weather can get pricey. Best way to save some dollars is to plan ahead. We bought our ski clothes at an outlet during the summer and prices were super low. I also typically stock up on Hothands hand and foot warmers when they are in the dollar spot at Target (plus you can't beat getting super cute Disney ones). You can get double packs in many cases and if you wait until you get to the slopes to buy them they will be upwards of $3. Same thing with waters and Gatorades. We make sure to grab those at a Walmart before going up the mountain. Prices skyrocket once you reach the smaller towns/ ski resort, plus the selection is a lot smaller. 

The Maze Runner Series

I have been making my way through The Maze Runner series and have been loving it! I devoured the second one in two days (though the road trip home definitely played a large part in that). I highly recommend it if you are a fellow book lover! 

Getting Excited for Birmingham

Making me miss the long dark hair! Excited for time with these sweet ladies! 

A few years ago my mom and I and a girlfriends mom flew out to Birmingham to visit my childhood friend who moved there when she got married. We had a great time eating our way through little cafes, hiking and window shopping. We are doing it again for Valentine's Day weekend. I am excited for a little girlie R&R!! My girlfriend always has some of the best little adventures planned and I can't wait to see a little taste of how she spends her days now that she is a wedding planner. You can check out her sweet site at Kalee Baker Events.

Valentine's Day Prep 

I have never been a huge fan of Valentine's Day, so me being gone it not that big of a deal for us as a couple. We will probably do a Disney night one night before I leave. However, being in the classroom this year I have found it fun to watch the kiddos get excited about Valentine's Day. I have been having fun pinning Valentine's Day crafts and coming up with ideas for their little goodies. If anyone would like to use it I have created a Valentine that can be used to go along with Extra gum. It is free in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.   

Hoping everyone has a wonderful weekend!! 

Any Valentine ideas for a wifey who's never been huge on the day in the first place? Feeling like trying to leave a festive gift for while I'm away. 

Linking up with Christina and the other wonderful 5 on Friday ladies! 

Words for Wednesday: Choosing Him

I have never heard of The Chaos of Stars, I am not sure what kind of book it even is. But these words speak to me. The word chaos itself has always spoken to me, it was such a part of my life for so long. But then, the stillness came. The unmoving, calm of stillness that came in the form of a 5 ft 11 inch man. God knew I needed him. God knew that my lifetime, my wild soul, my wandering spirit needed him. It hasn't been easy; we were two kids (well more so me than him, I don't think he has every really been a kid) trying to navigate life as we morphed into adults while trying to also learn to work as a team. I won't lie, there were times when I asked myself "is this right? is this the place I am supposed to be?" But I know what those questions were, they were my own doubts of being able to make it through the tough stuff. I had always been one who liked to use the easy exit. When life gets tough I tend to revert into a world of my own, to fill my mind with outlandish fantasies in order to pull my head out of reality. I do what needs to get done to keep up the world around me, but inside I am somewhere else. And he is not much of a talker, not one to contemplate over crazy dreams. What he is is sturdy. He's the wall you lean your back against when you would otherwise just fall over. He is exactly the quiet peace I need. 

I am a fire. 

He is the fireplace containing my path of destruction. 

I am the waves, pulled by the unseen force of the moon to the shore. 

He is the shore, steady and unmoving,

Always catching me at my breaking point 

and letting me beat against him when the storms kick in. 

And so this marriage makes no hard and fast exits. It looks for no ramps off the interstate and even if it sees one in its peripheral vision, while driving through a bumpy patch, it keeps its eyes straight ahead. It heads toward the goal of a life long and well lived (God willing) until it can hold one weathered, wrinkled hand in another. It chooses to love life at its best and at it's worst, because that is exactly what marriage is. It is choosing someone not despite their faults, but because of them. It means choosing to love the messy counter tops because someone didn't put away their breakfast cereal (sorry Babe! I try). It means choosing to laugh when ones wife gets miffed that part of the salad ingredients are missing and so she storms out of the house to go get them rather than just eat the salad without them. It is the choice we make to try to be the best version of ourselves all the while knowing that when we fall short we will be loved anyway. He teaches me what choosing means. He teaches me that growing together as one, but also as individuals, can be a beautiful ride. He shows me that choosing to do even the most messy parts of life together is what this world is all about. For that I will always choose him. 

This quote, from Eclipse, hung on the wall at our wedding. 

Words for Wednesday: A Winged Soul Favorite RM Drake Quotes

Today's Words for Wednesday quotes are just some of my favorites (a very small portion really) from R.M. Drake. Though I know he has intended them about someone other than himself, there is something in them that speak to me on a personal level about my own soul. I have always been a head in the clouds, fly-away, dreamer. It is that part of my soul that will always be forever grateful that God chose a man like Babe to be my husband; a man that knew that part of my soul needed to stay wild and so he nurtures it, loves it and lets it fly, because he knows that is the way to keep it flying home...   

Words with Friends

Friends, the welcome to adulthood version!

So, after the first week back at school, and back to a realistic schedule, I came home and took to the couch where I then proceeded to not move. For the entirety of the afternoon. Did you know that the all 10 seasons of Friends are now on Netflix? Well, they are. I had planned to simply watch the final three episodes, which I did. I laughed, I clapped, I awwed!! I loved it as much now as I did in 2003 (yup, 2003!) And now I am well into the middle of season 1. So much for just a few episodes, right?

Watching Friends as an adult, you pick up on things you didn't as someone coming of age. You still watch the story, you watch it unfold for characters you fell in love with so many years ago, but somehow the words mean something different now. Or else you just hear parts you chose to ignore before.

5 Things I Reheard (with adult ears) while watching Friends

"Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You're gunna love it."
- Sure 'nuf! As a teen I know exactly what I heard "real world (ie adult world), you're gunna love it!" That whole it sucks part? Went in one ear and out the other. Adulthood was this glorious thing, that I was going to enter into, fully knowing myself, my place in the world and how it was all supposed to fit together. Adults sometimes forget to mention that to children, you know the fact that it doesn't all fit together right. Or did I just fail to hear them? Probably. But I do love it. It sucks. Somedays it sucks real bad. But then there are those days, or even those little moments that shine inside the really sucky days, that make me remember I love it. It's real, it can be real sucky, but I love it.

"When did it all get so complicated?" 
- Somewhere, at some point along the way it got way complicated. But that's ok. It's supposed to be complicated, if it wasn't we wouldn't be here, we would be in Heaven.

"What if we dont get magic beans? What if all we have is beans?"
- There are days where I feel like I have no beans. No beans anywhere. And then somedays? They feel like days full of copious amounts of magic beans. Days where I have beans to share with the world. "You get a magic bean! And you get a magic bean!"

"Do you have a plan? I don't even have a pl."
- I thought for sure I would have this amazingly, wonderful, glorious plan for my life by the time I hit the age of 25 tops and then by the time I hit 28 I would have it nicely tied up, with a beautiful bow sitting atop. Well, I have had many of those said plans. And then reality set in and God said, "that was really sweet, but that's not your life." And now here I am with a job I LOVE and a community of people I am blessed to have in my life. And yet, I would tell you that I just have a pl at this point. I am still trying to figure out what the rest of my life is going to look like when I "grow up" and that's ok. It's all a journey.

"I've got magic beans."
- The scene ends, the episode is winding down and the questions we all ponder as adults have been thrown around. "How do we find the magic in it all?" And the answer is, we really never have to find it. It is always there. It is in the little moments, it's in the friends we hold close to our hearts- you know, the ones that never leave you even especially when life starts to pour- it's in the small blessings that fill each day. We all have a pocket full of magic beans, we just simply have to see them for what they are.

One Little Word: Surrender

Halfway through 2014 I heard about this idea of 'One Word', of choosing a single word to help focus and change you through the year. I have never been good with resolutions. One, because I am a horrible long-term, follow-througher and two, because I feel like if you really want to change something or start something new, why not just do it, why wait? So the idea of one word to help me work with, to fit into my life, instead of a goal to work towards was appealing. I have also felt this yearning for something to help me focus during my devotional time and I think 'One Word' will help do the trick.

But that still left the task of finding the right word. What should I focus on for a year? What should my heart strive to, reflect on, build from?

To be honest I think God has been morphing this into my word for 2015 since I first heard of the idea. He has been planting seeds, watching how I water them and waiting for me to start tending them. Or really to start letting Him tend them for me.

He has been asking me to surrender.

And in typical fashion I tried my hardest to work around that. To keep surrender from being my word for this year. So it is only fitting that in order to choose my word, I had to surrender to it. Surrender to God. To let Him win the battle I had been waging over my idea of the "perfect" word. My original thought: "Surrender? Really? Why not create or joy? I would like a little bit more of either in my life."

Yet, so many times this year I have found myself saying, "Let it go. Let it be..."
After a year of nothing, of numbness and trying to walk through the darkest parts of my story without losing myself, I came to a new understanding of who I was. Of the way I worked around my life, constantly running on an invisible hamster wheel, turning things just so and at just the right speed to keep everything going. As if I had ever had any control. And when it all came crashing down I realized the truth; that there had never been any wheel at all. And so, in trying to figure out where to go without one, how to move forward without spinning wheels that weren't going nowhere, I heard this small little voice persistently calling me to just "surrender, to lay it all down." 

It was as if I could hear God telling me,
"Surrender. Let go and let Me. Surrender to me so that you can embrace more of me, embrace more of what I have for you. Know that it will be good. It may be hard, but it will be good. It will be by My plans, not by yours, but it will still be good. Remember, I work for the good of those who love me. So love me. Love me without plans and control, just let go and love me and it will be good. See where I take it."

And so I shall do just that. This year I will surrender. 

Words For Wednesday: The First

I originally intended part of this blog as a space for words. Not my words, the words of others. Words that had touched me in some way. Words from books, movies or any other form of media, spoken or printed, that stuck with me long after I had closed the pages or walked away. I figured it was time I finally started sharing them. And so I am dubbing most Wednesday's from here on out as Words for Wednesday. Some will be just the words; quotes from people who can say what I am feeling, at a certain time, better than I can. And some will be there words and my own. The quotes that spoke so much into my soul and why they did.

Today's words come from one of my favorite books read this year, in all my 28 years really; 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. 

"He forgets, that he was someone's dream once, himself."

"The finest of pleasures are unexpected ones." 

"It is difficult to see the situation for what it is when you are in the midst of it. It is too familiar. Too comfortable." 

Though written by Oscar Wilde, it is also a favorite and sits as the opening to The Night Circus.

"Love" is fickle and fleeting. It is rarely a solid foundation for decisions to be made upon.

"No you were not destined or chosen. You were in the right place at the right time, and you care enough to do what needs to be done. Sometimes that's enough." 

"There is nothing wrong with being a dreamer. But dreams have a way of turning into nightmares." 

And while I know the last one is  a long one, I hope that you have made it this far, because it is one of my absolute favorites: 

"Stories have changed, my dear... There are no more monsters to slay, no maidens in need of rescue. Most maidens are perfectly capable of rescuing themselves in my my experience, at least the ones worth something in any case. There are no longer simple tales with quests and beasts and happy endings. The quests lack clarity of goal or path. The beasts take different forms and are difficult to recognize for what they are. And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister's story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead. Good and evil are a great deal more complex than a princess or a dragon, or a wolf and a scarlet-clad little girl. And is not the dragon the hero of his own story? Is not the wolf simply acting as a wolf should act? 

5 Things I Have Loved Lately

Because it is Sunday and I would fully like my day of rest I am hiding out in the computer room before church so that I do not have to go help with "Project Never-Ending Shed" as I have so termed it.

5 Things I Have Loved Lately

1.) I watched this through a link someone posted on FB and I loved every minute. I loved Johnny's humble humility. I loved how he didn't even seem to understand why they would want to raise the price of the teepee. I love that he cared about the people he was selling to. I love that he carded for the farmer, the hard working men and women who help keep food on our tables. Worth the watch.

2.) This is outstanding! Working in Children's Ministry, or with kids in any capacity, we sometimes wonder if the kiddos are even listening at all, but they are. They so very much are! Just listen to her tell the story of Jonah. I used to think that God would sound like Morgan Freeman, but now I wonder if He will sound like the voice of this little girl when she is telling Jonah what God has to say. "My love is great, it is greater than my anger and it is for all my creatures."

3.)Walking through The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp. It is an advent devotional and yes, advent maybe over, but isn't every moment really a moment of advent. Always leading up, always preparing our hearts for Jesus. I love it for many reasons, but I won't lie in saying that one of the biggest appeals is that is is perfect for a non-morning person like me. I am not an early riser. I fight that morning struggle of "stay-in-bed, hit-snooze-just-one-more-time" vs "get-up, don't-rush, have-some-quiet-God-time." The Greatest Gift has short enough clips though I don't feel like I have to rush through my morning devotion. I can still pour over the words while I eat breakfast, fill my soul and have some quiet moments to reflect on it all.

4.) Writing Day!! These sweet ladies and I have been meeting up every couple weeks for about an hour or so to chat about writing, life and our blogs. This past week we had our first ever, full Writing Day. It was some many bits of wonderful!! Melissa led it for us with schedules, prompts and sweet destinations for a change of scenery. I ended the day feeling refreshed and excited for this happenings on this space for 2015! I can not wait for our next one.

5.) The shed is almost finished!!! Praise the Lord, do a dance and thank the hands that completed it. Because we had done a Thanksgiving cruise as opposed to our New Year's cruise this year Babe thought it would be a great time to fix the shed and replace all the wood that has been water damaged since we bought our house. "Three days," he said! "Won't take too long," he said! Lies! He was mostly lying to himself, but that 3 day project has turned into a 1+ week project! While it has been wonderful having Papa (his dad) here with us and hearing the two of them banter like old men do, I just want to go to Disney! After painting boards the color of sand for two days I think I am entitled to some magic and color in my life!! I just wanted to eat from Holidays Around the World and hear the sweet story of Jesus at the Candlelight Processional. But alas, I will wait until next year and be thankful for pretty new shed walls and hard-working men and a finished product! Though now Babe says the shed looks better than the house. Good thing he thought it so smart to buy enough paint for the house as well. Oh, the joys!

Linking up today with Christina and the lovely ladies from