Finally.........

Okay.....I'm sorry. I am a bad, bad, very bad blogger. I am going to promise to be better in the future. It's just hard to be in doors when it is soooo beautiful outside! I have a LOT of catching up to do! I will start where I left off and hopefully get you all caught up in the next couple of weeks.


I finally finished my accounting degree last December, WOOOOHOOOOO! My mom & dad-in-law took me on a cruise as my graduation present. I know, I know.....I am totally spoiled!


Our cruise left out of New Orleans, we happened to be there for the start of Mardi Gras.


Tommy & I dumped our luggage at the hotel where we met up with Brent & Mary who immediately wisked us away and filled us in on everything they had done already!

First things first....FOOD!!! Great food! We had a pile (literally) of seafood and some local micro brews for dinner. Followed by an interesting, in every way, stroll down Bourbon Street. Who can't love a place with "Huge Ass Beers To GO"?

After an evening of Marti Gras was a morning at Cafe Du Monde where we enjoyed Beignets and chicory coffee, however the beignets were more enjoyed than the chicory coffee. Cafe Du Monde is a 24/7 coffee house that was established in 1862 in the French Market of New Orleans.

Cafe Du Monde was followed by a stroll through the French Quarter where Mary and I were Charmed, however, I don't think either of us needed it!

All aboard!!! We boarded our ship that afternoon. After we were fully educated on emergency evacuation proceedures Mary took the helm and off we were down the Mississippi!

This was our room, however, we really didn't spend any time here!

After a rocky night and a day across the Golf of Mexico into the Carribean sea our first stop was Roatan, Honduras. This was Mary's Birthday. What a breath-taking place to have a birthday! We were greeted by dancers at every port. After pics with the dancers we grabbed a cab and headed to the nearest beach. Tommy & Brent did some snorkeling taking in the view below water while Mary & I waded and took in the view above water.

Tommy took some beautiful pictures in Roatan, these are two of my favorites!

Next stop, Santo Tomas De Castilla, Guatamala. We were signed up for a hike to some waterfalls here, but had some time before to do sight seeing in town. Brent negotiated a short tour with a gentleman and we set out about town.

I can still smell the street in the photo above as each of these tarps had sardines drying on them, smelly but still a beautiful view.

Our guide stopped by a coconut stand where they were using a machete to butcher fresh coconuts into a fine beverage!

We weren't allowed to leave the cab except when our driver took us to a heavely guarded and gated American mall. The photo above is the local law enforcement, they carry really big guns.

That afternoon we went on our hike to this lagoon. The hike was beautiful, so green, so wet.

Brent and Tommy were the first in and the last out. The water was refreshingly cold. Brent is swimming into a small pocket that was in the rocks, where you could get behind the falling water. He's fun to take into the jungle.

You'll never Beliz where our third stop was! HA! This was my 30th birthday and I couldn't have imagined it any better. We went cave tubing in Beliz! Tommy & I took a waterproof camera on the tour, however, it was a cave so it was dark and unfortunately none of the pictures turned out.

What's cave tubing you ask? Well it's just what it sounds like, inner tubes on a river through a cave. What an adventure....Shane and Ashley did this on their honeymoon and said we couldn't miss it. So, we hike a trail, Tommy jumped off a cliff into the Caves Branch River the rest of us opted to simply wade into the river on to our inner tubes, put our headlamps on and venture into the cave systems. The caves were filled with crystalline formations, stalagmites and stalactites, not to mention bats and spiders. Crazy beautiful!

Last stop on our journey was Cozumel, Mexico. Tommy & I signed up for a snorkeling excursion beach party. We were taken on a Catamaran to a couple snorkel spots before being taken to the beach where we were supplied with local brews and margaritas. A few other activities were available to us, we opted for the kayak! After our snorkel tour we hit the town enjoying nachos at the first restaraunt we saw. We enjoyed them so much that after a little shopping we went back for more!

After all these adventures, it was time to make the trip home. Tommy & Brent were exhausted and look more like father and son in this picture than any other! Don't be fooled by the sunglasses, Tommy is out!

We had the most amazing adventures on our cruise and will NEVER forget them. This short little blog only highlights the seven days of our incredible journey.

I will never be able to thank Brent and Mary enough for affording me the opportunity to see such an unbelievably beautiful part of the world. So, I guess I will simply say thanks for the memories! I love you both so very much!

Coming soon to a blog near you......Graduation Weekend!