Review of past months - Anniversary cruise.

Hello all!

I wanted to give you a review of what I was doing during the months there was no blogging here.  I'll try to keep it short.

After my class in January, I spent the later part of January and early February with my family.  We (my parents, brother, niece and I) went on a cruise to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary.  None of us had ever been on a cruise, but we all enjoyed it immensely.  We went to St. Thomas, Antigua, Tortola, and Nassau.  We left from Ft. Lauderdale, FL and you know you are in Florida when you see Spanish Moss.  Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

We went before all the recent cruise problems!

My brother had a banner made for the hall outside my parents' room.  It looked great and I put up a white board on their door so that people could wish them happy Anniversary.  We also had golden confetti 50's that we sprinkled on our dinner table. 

Mostly we shopped on St. Thomas.  There were a lot of things that the shops were giving away for free at several of the ports.  St. Thomas had the most of those.  Of course they want to buy things, but the stuff they gave was pretty nice.  Mark and Indera where the king and queen of finding all the free stuff. We had fun visiting shops and we did actually buy a few things.

Dad on St. Thomas

We still shopped on Antigua, but we found a local taxi driver to take us on a tour too.  We were able to visit a place where you can swim with the sting-rays.  We didn't do that, but Mark was able to get some sting-ray Beanie Babies to take home for his antique Sting-ray cars.  Then we went to a beach where we were able to snorkel.  That was fun and the beaches were beautiful!  We also visited a place called Devil's Bridge.  It is a place where there is a hole in the coral and the waves can shoot up through it.  I tried to catch that just right, but didn't manage it very well.

On Tortola the rest of my family went on a tour of the Island.  Mom and Dad went on a ship excursion and Mark and Indy found a local driver to give them a tour.  They all got some really nice pictures and enjoyed the day.  I took an excursion to the Virgin Gorda Baths.  I wanted to do some more snorkeling.  The place was beautiful and I did see some fish, but the view is what really made this trip for me.

The baths are made up of huge boulders spaced around a small bay.  You can go to another part of the baths through a narrow path in and under some of those boulders.  So, I did that.  There were parts where I was bent over very low, some walking in water and some narrow spaces to get through, but it was really worth it.

We only had a short time on Nassau.  So we did a little shopping for free stuff and I found a Hard Rock Cafe!  So, I got a pin for my collection from there.  Dad and Mark got some Tortugua (sp?) Rum to take home as gifts and for themselves.  Indera got her hair braided and so did her Dad.  They both looked great.  Mom stayed on the ship as her knee was giving her some problems, but we did managed to find a Pepsi for her and she was happy with that :).  I didn't get pictures of these things, so you will have to imagine it.

I did forget to say that we arrived in Florida a little early so that Indera and I could go visit the Harry Potter World at Universal Studios.  We had a wonderful time there too.  If you go, try the butterbeer.  It is very sweet, but it was worth it to say I had some.  I also got a Hard Rock Cafe pin there for my collection.

After the cruise, I stayed in Florida to visit with a supporting church.  It was a wonderful visit with the Sebring Christian Church.  I enjoyed the time there with family and getting to meet new friends.  At the tail end of the cruise, I got the cold that was going around in the family.  So, by the time I had to speak at Sebring CC I was pretty hoarse.  Even so, the people were gracious and interested in what I had to say.  They kept asking questions and even put up with the coughing fits I had through the answers.  

On the drive home to Johnson City, TN I stopped in Irmo, SC to spend the night with a college roommate and her family.  It was wonderful to see Jim and Wendy and their kids!  As soon as I got to Johnson City I went to the First Assist.  I found out I had acute Bronchitis.  So, I spent the next week or so just getting better and trying to get to feeling normal again.  So, Now you have an idea how I spent the rest of January and most of February.  More review later.