St Thomas Virgin Islands

St Thomas is beautiful. Talli couldn't get over how much it looked so much like Okinawa Japan where she grew up. The gorgeous beach in front of the dive club was the backdrop for many a photo and had us all ooh-ing and aah-ing.

The staff at St Thomas Dive Club were more than patient with us as we figured out just what everyone needed and which people were doing what on the boat that we had at our disposal for the day. We had 2 certified divers, Jeff and me, and two taking Intro to Diving, Jason and Jeremy, and 5 snorkelers, and one just along for the ride.

When the cool chick behind the counter, Jenn Kerr told us she was going to be our dive master for the day we were thrilled.

She taught Jason and Jeremy the basics of Scuba Diving as the boat sped us off the coast line and out to a little out cropping of land a little ways out.

We all geared up and jumped into the gorgeous water.

Aaron

Aren't the masks the cutest? So flattering too... Ha!

(Talli, Jeremy, Jenn, and Jason)

Jenn had Jay and Jer do a few skills and made sure they were comfortable with their gear and then the five of us were ready to do some diving!

(Jen, Jay, Jeremy, and Jeff)

It is hard to explain how different scuba is from snorkeling. You feel like you are in a totally different world. It is calm and peaceful when you are deep in the ocean. Moving takes almost no effort. It must be a little similar to being in outer space in that way. I often roll over and look up at the people snorkeling above me and think,"they have no idea what they are missing out on down here!" I was so excited that Jason and Jeremy were going to experience this with us.

Jeff and Jason

Jason, Jeremy, and Jeff

Jenn was an incredible instructor and both of the guys were at ease as we explored the wreck site we were diving. It was pretty dang cool!

Jeremy and Jeff

Jeff

Jeff

We also saw some interesting little creatures down there. We even saw an octopus. Jeff tried to touch it and it inked him! Here is a picture of what his fingers still looked like a few hours later...

Jenn Kerr

Jeremy

Jeff

While we explored the wreck below our friends snorkeled above us and did a little exploring of their own.

Tara

Phil

Talli

Haley and Tara

By the time we had finished diving, all our snorkeling friends wished that they had taken the intro course with Jeremy and Jason. I can't wait for them to see what all the fuss is about!

When our time with St Thomas Diving Club was up we were ready for some lunch!

We found a great place called Jen's Cafe!

It was such a cute little place and the food was awesome!

After lunch we still had some time to wander around downtown and check out all the little shops.

We came across all kinds of goods for sale from Rolex watches to the incredibly bizarre. Talli and I ended up finding some really cute sun glasses.

It was almost comical how many times we had to fight off all the Taxi drivers offering to take us back to the ship. I am certain I can say without exaggeration that we were asked if we wanted a taxi a minimum of 50 times!

It was such a relief when we finally were ready to get on one that we would be left alone for a few minutes. Here we are in our "Taxi".

We watched from the ship as the sun set over another perfect day.

A Happy Week

So, do you want to know how bad I've got it? Last Friday I went skiing completely alone. Loved it. I purchased my season pass, and appartently lost all sense of responsibility as well. Three times since then I have deposited my children at school and promptly headed for the hills. Literally. If the rain had continued a few more hours last night, our opening day of baseball would have been cancelled and I would have had the entire family on the slopes today.

Again, I am admitting the addiction, and plan to do absolutely nothing about it. Call me crazy. Go ahead, I already know it to be true.

I also know that I am happy. Joyful even. Sometimes as I am skiing down a hill I have to remind myself to just stop smiling. It makes my teeth kinda cold anyway. When I brought Tara up with me at the begining of the week we ended up with just over 2 1/2 hours to ski.

It started snowing so hard on us that we both went into the ski shop and bought masks to wear.

We became the girls with no faces. We looked awesome. We laughed so hard at all our little mishaps, and especially at how silly we looked. It was an absolute blast. Totally worth it, even with our limited time to ski.

I spent another day solo on the slopes and then came back again with friends. This time Kirsten, Tara and Jason, Talli and Jeremy and their little girl Megan all came up to play.

The day was so beautiful we even ditched our coats and extra layers for the first half of the day. It was so much fun to have everyone up there with me!

We took lots of pictures, and shared lots of laughs. Especailly when Talli lost one of her skis on the way up the lift in the exact place Tara had just a few days before!

I promise I will not be blogging about every ski trip I make or continue to bore you with my newfound love for this sport. But being that this is as close as I get to journaling, I wanted to document just how nuts I've gone. My next step is finding a good pair of skis. What we have spent in rentals in just the last few weeks I could have purchased a pair by now. Any suggestions?

Out to Sea

We spent two days at sea while on our cruise. We all loved that we could sleep in late and wouldn't be missing out on anything other than breakfast. Because there were so many of us finding chairs around the pools together was next to impossible. In fact by the time any of us were up it was hard to find any chairs available around the pools or anywhere else for that matter. Both days we ended up finding a stack of chairs on the very top of the ship at the back. It was pretty windy up there but we were just glad to find somewhere we could all spread out.

All of us girls had brought multiple books on the trip and had no problem sitting out all day in the same chair reading, sleeping, listening to music, chatting, and leaving occasionally for the necessary ice cream cones before, after, and in between meals.

The guys on the other hand, didn't sit still much. They found the shuffle board game right up near where we had set up shop for the day. They had a blast with that.

They would take dips in the pool that always turned into a competition of sorts, who can hold their breath the longest, who can swim the most laps while holding their breath and then eventually who can make the biggest cannon ball. The last one almost got them kicked out of the pool area permanently. The no diving signs and the 5 foot deep water had not deterred them one bit! Tara and Talli caught some of their pool time on camera.

(pre cannon ball contest)

(another contest)

(And we've been spotted!)

On the last day it was a bit overcast and ended up being pretty darn chilly, but we were determined to spend the day pool side.

Somehow I convinced all the guys and Haley and Tara to come do the water slide with me. It was freezing cold and windy as can be as we ran up to the top singing happy birthday(an inside joke that had to be documented) and huddling together until it was our turn to go and we got the all clear sign from below. We flew down that thing at crazy speeds, raced out and hopped straight into the hot tubs. I felt like such a little kid running around on the water slide and swimming when in was clearly too cold to do so. But what a feeling to be so completely care free for those few days! The result of my two days at sea were 3 books read and a great tan. Enough said. At least in my book!

Hello Lover...We Meet Again

I fell in love on our last cruise

It happened right before Jeff's eyes

It was a bit of a change for me,

not my usual preference of tall, dark and handsome

We're talking short, dark and rich

We met every evening on the 9th deck and occasionally on the 5th

Just the thought made me smile

Nothing else could compare

We bid farewell last October

and while I may not have shed any tears,

I desperately missed those rendezvous!

This last trip I was thrilled to find my friend once again on deck nine

My feelings hadn't changed a bit

in fact absence may indeed have made my heart grow fonder

Can you blame me?