Christmas ornament tradition continues

Since I was a kid, every year we go to Hallmark and pick out a keepsake ornament. I've always loved this tradition, so we keep doing it (see last year's here).

We weren't thrilled with the selection this year, but are still pretty happy with the ones we found. Hans' matches his Halloween costume! (sorry for the dark instagram photos)

Cruise Part III - Cozumel

Also known as Heaven. It was a perfect day, sunny and gorgeous. We didn't want to do one of the excursions because they're so expensive. We thought we'd just wing it. After getting off the ship, we asked a bunch of gift shop workers and taxi drivers what they recommended. They all said different things, haha. When we got to the taxi stand, they were telling us it would $30 to take us to the private beach we wanted to go to. Seriously? Yuck. We were hanging around waiting to see if anyone else from our boat was going there so we could try and share a cab. Hans overheard some guy negotiating with a rental company and heard him get offered a dune buggy for $55 a day. Then Hans stepped in and said "Ya, we'll do that, too." We took this little dune buggy all over the island, just enjoying the sun and the drive.

At the very southern tip of the island, we found an ecological preserve called Punta Sur. Entry was pretty cheap and there was a lot to see! There was a turtle nesting area, crocodile habitat, light house, and the most perfect private beach. The most beautiful white sands and crystal clear, turquoise waters. And almost abandoned. We saw only a few other people the whole time we were there. 

We rented snorkel gear, got all suited up and dove it! It was cold at first, but then felt wonderful. We saw a few, clear fish. And then I saw something huge. Like.... almost my size. And I kinda freaked. I was smacking Hans' arm to get him to turn back, but he didn't see it and kept swimming toward it! You could tell when he saw it. It was just lurking in the weeds at the bottom and staring at us. Creepy. I totally thought it was some sort of baby shark. We booked it back to the shore. As we returned our gear (with the guy teasing us for coming back so soon) we described what we'd seen to us and he's all "Oh, ya. That's a barracuda." Umm... what? No. I'm done with getting in the water. At least it's a good story....

Cruise Part II - Progreso

This little port didn't impress us too much. We did a double-decker bus tour that was pretty fun. We sat on the top and you had to watch your head because the power cables hang pretty low. Then we parked on a private beach. It was kinda a cloudy day, but we still got some sun. The water was a little murky and the beach had some junk on it. I imagine we just caught it on a bad day. The worst part was that every 30 seconds someone tried to come sell us a conch shell or a temporary tattoo or a bad dvd rip. We went back to the ship early cuz we were a little bored. Our dining buddies told us that they did an excursion inland to see some mayan ruins and really enjoyed it - we'd probably do that if we ever went back. At least we didn't get left behind like one very unlucky (and very drunk) couple.

double decker tour

That guy has an iguana!

We be cruisin'

We just got back our first cruise and we LOVED it! It was so much fun. We did a five-day trip out of Galveston on the Carnival Triumph. We stopped in Progreso and Cozumel. The ship was really nice, clean and comfortable. There was so much food! We ate ourselves silly. Progreso was just kind of "eh" but we absolutely loved Cozumel. We even got to see some dolphins swimming alongside the ship! I have a lot of photos, so it'll probably have to be split into multiple posts. We had a great time and can't wait to cruise again.

The Carnival Triumph. They just remodeled it this year and it was really nice!

Love the towel animals on the bed.

Formal night

Watching Rango in the outdoor movie theater

Our dining buddies, Krystal and Chris and Brad and Angel.

Thanksgiving leftovers

Wednesday, I took off work and that really helped off-load some of the cooking stressed. I made pies - pumpkin, pecan, and cherry (just 'cus) - dinner rolls, breakfast cinnamon rolls, and got the turkey brining.

That made Thursday really easy! Mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and jello salad. It didn't take long - I even got in a nap.

We were joined for dinner by Hans' parents, our friends Rob and Danielle and their beautiful daughter Ryleigh, and our friends Paul and Andrew. (I'm sad I didn't think to take a group photo. Whoops). Somehow, everything turned out just right and finished all that the same time. And Yes, we all ate ENTIRELY way too much.

While I'm grateful for so many things (the list is far too long, and probably a little mushy), one thing I was so grateful for last week was the Pioneer Woman's cooking blog. I used her turkey brine recipe, pecan pie, mashed potatoes, and cinnamon rolls and all were a huge hit. I don't think you can go wrong with any recipes she puts out.


I hope that everyone else had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as we did.

We did it!

I'm not much of a runner. I try, I just really suck at it. I just keep trying, though.

As a young women's leader, I'm encouraged to complete the Personal Progress program along with my girls. To encourage them to do it, show them how, and learn a few things myself. For the Knowledge value, one of the project options is to create a regular workout/fitness program. I decided to take it a little farther and add a 5k to it.

So I signed up for the Turkey Trot. And in one of our discussions about PP, told the Beehives that that is what I'd be doing.

Only later did I discover the Turkey Trot ain't no 5k. It's a five MILE. Oops. Hans and I both really wanted to back out. But I couldn't face my girls and tell them I hadn't done it!

That meant that Thanksgiving morning found us freezing our butts off on the S. Congress bridge with 21,000 of our closest friends.

But you know what? It went so much better than I thought it would. I had fun! And I went faster than I did in any of my practice runs. Don't get me wrong - it was still a snail's pace. But I finished at 1:08:14, and that included a rather lengthy pit stop at a port-a-potty with a too-long line.

It was a great incentive to keep working at it - get a little faster, a little stronger. We're even contemplating the Cap10k next year!

I'm glad I did it. And rewarded myself with an extra-large slice of pie at Thanksgiving dinner.

DIY floating wall clock

Here's another great craft-y pinterest find. This blog, Faded Plains, gives some pretty detailed instructions, including links on where to buy supplies. I used her same vendors (all three from etsy) to order two sets of wooden numbers (in different sizes and fonts) and the clock hands/mechanism.

Then you just paint everything with acrylic paint. This brand seemed a little thin and took several coats (which frustrated painter Hans).

After that, we stuck it to the wall. With sticky tack. For reals.

And it's pretty and fun.