vacationed

I'm baaaack! The cruise was lots of fun. I definitely would have done a few things differently (packed more jeans and inside clothes, ate a little less, slept in more, stayed up later) but for the most part it was great! It took a while to get used to the cruise. First, the whole being on a moving ship thing. That took me about a day to adjust to. My stomach was a little off and my head felt heavy (I actually felt just like I do when I drink too much) but I started to get the hang of it. I so wish we could have spent more time in Mexico. We had to tender into Cabo because the water was too shallow and the whole tendering process (riding in on small boats) took for-ever and resulted in only being able to spend a few hours there. Cabo was my least favorite of the three ports but even so, I wanted more! Having never been on a cruise I didn't realize that it truly would be about the cruise, not about the Mexican ports. Those were only a small part of the overall trip. The rest of the time it was about food and shows and pools and games. And for that I should have packed jeans, not all shorts and tank tops! But you live you learn!
Our room was tiny but just right for the two of us. Nice big bed and a balcony with a beautiful view of gorgeous sunsets each night.

The shows on the ship were great, really good singers and dancers and good comedy. There was a magician and acrobatic guy who kind of sucked but nothing to do complain about! The food was actually really good. Norweigan is not ranked very high for their food but we thought it was good. I can only imagine how good it is on the cruise that are considered "gourmet". Every meal was 3-4 courses so I think we gained a couple pounds...but we did work out every day and that saved us. Plus we told ourselves we were on vacation and that meant we could enjoy it. I looked forward to the authentic Mexican in the ports and oh it was so good. In Mazatlan we got side by side hour long massages on the sandy beach. They were amazing!

Puerta Vallerta was our favorite. I never wanted to leave. We went on an excursion to a private island called Las Caletas (Google it, it's been in movies). It was gorgeous with a private sandy beach and chairs, a spa, kayaking, snorkeling, playing with seals, an open bar and awesome food. It was a beautiful day and soooo much fun. When we left we took a taxi the boardwalk in PV which is beach on one side and restaurants and shops along the other. I love love loved it. The sunset was AWESOME too. We ate dinner at a restaurant that was on the third floor of a building with open air windows overlooking the beach.

There were many challenging moments where we'd stupidly argue over dumb things, as would be expected for any couple I'd hope. It was good for us to try out this first big vacation together and it was really wonderful. We laughed a lot, reminisced a lot, talked a lot about the future and just had a really good time. We spent lots of money on Bingo (and came so close to winning $1000 but didn't) and restaurants (all but 2 of the 10 on the ship were free) and some little souvenirs. But really it was so worth it...and not that bad. We barely drank any alcohol at all because it was crazy expensive ($10-$15 a drink) and we figured we could put that money towards other, more fun stuff. The night we got there Nathan started to unpack and realized he only had four shirts. This was a huge deal considering we'd planned to work out everyday...and once Nathan wears a shirt to work out it cannot be worn again (he sweats). So um..he needed like 15 shirts, not four. The week before we left I got a suitcase ready for him as I was doing laundry and filled it with shorts, pants, sandals and everything he would need except t-shirts. And the REASON I didn't pack t-shirts was because, even though I filled his drawer with tens of shirts, he insisted I not pack him any because he wanted to be able to wear them the week before the cruise and would then do laundry and pack the night before. He failed on that last step. We had a good laugh about it and then paid $4.95 a shirt to get the housekeepers to wash his shirts for him...silly boy.

The last couple days at sea were cloudy and windy so we kind of lost our tans. They're still visable but not quite as great as they were. But we don't need the dark skin to prove we went there. We will have some really great memories that will last even longer and that will tide me over for sure. It was hard to take pictures when it was just the two of us but I think we got some good ones.

All in all this much-needed vacation was sooo good and just an awesome time for us. Now it's back to work and school in a little while (this coming week is actually spring break so I have a little longer before starting back up). I am going to start applying for jobs tomorrow. Graduation is so close and I need to find a job so we can start our new life together. But I'm not counting down anymore. I'm beyond excited to be with Nathan and for that I CANNOT wait... but the rest is bittersweet as I will so miss my friends and my job. I will still look at my ticker of course but I am not so anxious as I was months ago.

I love Nathan so so so much. :)