Cruise to Mexico

I believe it was this summer that Dave's youngest sister suggested that all of the siblings and Dave's Mom go on a cruise together to celebrate some monumental birthdays with spouses and no kids. She found a great price on a 5 day trip to Mexico that was a few weeks ago. 10 of us went in all, Myrna's 4 kids, Dave being the oldest and only boy, along with his 3 younger sisters.

We left on Monday, waking up to fresh snow in Boise. Dave and I drove to the airport to meet the others and luckily our flight was only delayed about a half an hour. We landed in San Diego where we met Myrna and Art who flew from the Bay Area and then together took cabs to the port where we boarded the ship.

We sailed on Carnival cruise line and the ship was the Elation. It was a 10 year old ship, 12 decks high and very nice. We got on board and by that night all of us were sea sick. I have gone on a cruise 20 years before, a 7 day to Mexico and never got sick. Everyone else who usually didn't get sick wasn't feeling well either. We talked to some of the crew on board and they said it was the first it had been in 2 years. There was a storm the weekend before we left that brought high winds and heavy rains to the west coast. It certainly left the Pacific Ocean a bit tumultuous.

The next day was much better and by Wednesday we were in Cabo San Lucas for the day. We all got off the ship and split into 3 groups. Several went on a zip line tour, Dave and I went on a Cabo by Land and Sea tour that he had won and 4 others went shopping. We all met up at Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar's bar at the end of the day and had a bite to eat and then headed back to the ship.

Friday we were in Ensenada where we all went shopping. I also had my hair put into corn rows. It was a fun day that we topped off by eating an authentic Mexican lunch at a small open cafe. Dave even had a cuban cigar.

The meals were great, the company good and the weather nice. We were so busy I never so much as cracked a book open or even listened to an ipod. For me, that was amazing. I also did not take my laptop but I did have email through my Blackberry which had service the entire time so I even Twittere'd a few times.

When we arrived back in San Diego on Saturday morning, we had a few hours before our flights left so us girls and Dave took the city bus into town and visited the mall. It was fun to see a bit of the city and I was glad I was an experienced bus rider and was comfortable trying public trans portion away from home.

It was a nice, fun filled vacation with great company. I really enjoyed spending time with Dave's family and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun traveling in a large group because there was always someone to do stuff with :)

Looking Forward to 2008

I actually meant to cover my goals for 2008 in the last post, but 2007 turned out to be full enough to justify it's own post. So I've been following all the talk and blog posts about resolutions, goals, etc for 2008 and thought I would document mine merely for the reason of measurement for next year. So here we go:

Personal
* be patient with the kids and choose my battles
* be a good spouse and give my marriage 110% each day
* continue to train the dogs and walk them at least 3x week
* maintain good walking habits (3.5 miles/day) and attending yoga at least 1/week
* eat fresh fruits and vegetables each day (at least 2 servings)
* continue resolution to not smoke (began 1/1/06)
* learn more about investing and monitor personal finances (in moderation)
* read more (self-help, learning and enriching titles instead of junk)
* make time for family and friends
* finish scanning all the family pictures and create my grandmother's scrapbook by her bday in October
* begin work on a scrapbook for my Mom of "S&K Ranch" history (critters, cars, buildings, etc)
* make DVD's of scanned pictures for family members to deliver in March with original pics
* complete house inventory for insurance purposes (software is installed)
* watch less mindless TV
* drink less alcohol
* drink more water

Professional
* maintain a positive attitude about my work, job and co-workers
* figure out what I want to do with myself (school, different career path, own business?)
* attend some kind of training to learn some new skills

2007: The Year in Review

As I begin the new year I tend to look back and review what happened this year. I started out this year living apart from Dave and Aaron living with his Dad in Reno until the end of July. I was very happy to move back in with Dave in March after our few months apart. Dave even re-proposed and gave me my ring back after I moved back in and we recommitted ourselves to each other.

Dave and I visited his Dad and step-Mom in Yachats, OR at the beginning of February for a wonderful long weekend of relaxation and eating great food. We also made a day trip drive up to McCall for the Winter Carnival. We took the dogs and had a fun day despite a long delay at breakfast and an even longer delay because of a traffic accident that caused us to miss the parade.

At the beginning of March I took a few days and went to Sun Valley with Chloe to swap out some computers for work at our Ketchum office. A few weeks later, I went to see Aaron and spend some time with family. I picked Aaron up in NV and then we went onto my Dad's where my 2 step-sisters met us. We had a nice long weekend there and then went on to Sacramento for a few days. I ended up returning Aaron a day early and heading home from that trip and wondering how things were going to go in the future with Aaron as he actually seemed worse.

Shortly after that, Aaron started talking about wanting to come home. I told him he had made a 6 months commitment to his Dad's and he needed to stay. This was probably the best decision I made. By the end of his 7 month stay, he was very appreciative to come home and has been on good behavior for the most part since. He is also off his medication, something we had been wanting to move towards but I was not brave enough to do it during the school year, so I was glad he did it at his Dad's. Aaron will be 13 in March and I think we are only beginning the challenges we will have with him during his teen years. But, I am hopeful that he will continue to do well, being respectful, minding adults and doing well in school. My goal is to remain patient, consistent and strong.

At the end of May, Dave and I traveled to AZ to stay again with his Dad and step-mom this time at their home in Green Valley, AZ. We had another nice, long weekend of relaxing, sun and good eats. On June 1st, Dave and I celebrated being together for 6 years. Shortly after that, we decided to get married before Fall and begin planning the Oregon Coast wedding for Labor Day weekend.

At the end of June, my good friend Wendy got married and I flew up to Seattle to join her and her son Kyler on their special day. I have know them for almost 10 years now and it was great to meet her husband and catch up with her Dad.

July was VERY busy at work as we completed a huge project that required all the computers to be reimaged and everyone trained on a new system in a 2 week span. This was why Aaron stayed another month at his Dad's. I was very happy for the project to be completed and for him to be home by the end of July (also my birthday).

In August, Dave took Matt and a truck full of stuff up to Moscow for his Junior year at U of I. Since he moved out of the dorms and into an apartment, he was finally able to take some furniture and more kitchen stuff. Aaron and I took our annual trip to CA to visit family and had a nice time catching up with family and friends.

In September, Dave and I traveled to Lincoln City where we got married at the Yachats Light House on September 1st. We had a wonderful, romantic, long weekend of beautiful weather and great food on the coast. Then it was back to school for everyone and the beginning of Fall.

At the beginning of October, I reduced my work week to 30 hours, so working 6 hours a day so that I could be home after school with Aaron. This has been a great change for the house but the lesser paycheck is taking some getting used to. The extra 2 hours a day allows me to get more done and definitely be more relaxed before the dinner/evening rush. Also in October Aaron and I made a quick trip to CA to attend my great-Uncle's funeral.

In November, I tackled the downstairs bathroom, removing wallpaper, texturing and painting. It was a big project for such a little room. Our Thanksgiving was nice, Matt was down from school and joined us at my friend Heather's for a wonderful meal. December was busy and full of the holidays with decorating, gift buying and lots of cooking.

Aaron is visiting his Dad for 2 weeks in Sparks, NV as Dave and I are headed on a 6 day cruise to Mexico with his 3 sisters and their spouses and his Mom and step-Dad next week. I can hardly wait!!

In February, we are taking the new MDX to McCall for a weekend to enjoy the Winter Carnival. We also hope to visit the Oregon coast in the summer or early Fall to celebrate our 1 year anniversary.

All in all, 2007 was a year of change, growth and acceptance. I am looking forward to the new growth and knowledge 2008 will bring.