Modified Keto day 10 plus 3 packages in the mail!!!

I must honest, today started out real rough. I woke up with a migraine that did not go away until around 6 this evening. I managed to drag myself out of bed around 10 and decided to fix myself something to eat. Today’s breakfast consisted of bacon and eggs. And yes, I did have my normal coffee intake. But, once again, no Starbucks.

The cruise countdown cheered me up but didn’t make the headache go away. I wonder if the diet has anything to do with the headaches…

I did receive some packages in the mail today. One from Baublebar, one from Michaels, and UPS delivered 2 Shutterfly orange envelopes. Not only did I get the replacement photos that UPS conveniently misplaced last month, I also received the replacement photos that Shutterfly sent. But since I still had a headache, I did not open the packages.

In the late afternoon, I started getting a little hungry so I had the last of the left over chicken stuff I made yesterday and I also had one hotdog that was sliced and stuffed with cheese then wrapped in bacon. My beverage of choice after my morning coffee was unsweetened ice tea.

Once I started feeling better I started opening a couple of the boxes. Up first was Baublebar. Today’s package only contained one pair of earrings, the Fantasia Drop Earrings. I just love them and I cannot wait to wear them on our cruise. I also received the Lobe Wonder Ear Support patches I want to try and the Devonne Sunglasses in pink which was a gift with purchase. I truly love they way they package their products.

Then I opened the box from Michaels. I could not wait to see the different colors of vinyl I ordered. I’m even more excited to start playing with them on my Cricut Explore Air. I have plans for some tumblers and now that I have all of the different colors of Vinyl that I want, I’m going to really start on the tumblers this week. Maybe even tomorrow!!! These are the colors I ordered: light yellow, red, grape, azure, med blue, caribbean, and flamingo. I’m just so excited!!!

Now about the Shutterfly orange envelope thingy’s… It is obvious that the original one was damaged and so far, I have been afraid to open that envelope. But, I won’t know the extent of things until I do. It didn’t take much to open the original package and I was really afraid that the photos would be damaged but, to my surprise, there was nothing wrong with them!!! I guess now I can organize these photos as well as the photos from our Carnival Triumph cruise and a trip to Galveston. There are plenty of photos to do some large scrapbooks!!!

With the headache finally gone, I feel energized! I think I will use this time to do something productive. I just do not know which productive thing I want to do. I think I will start with the photos so they do not get messed up!

Getting Carnival Vista ready #4

Although I have been on 10 cruises (1 on Cunard, 1 on NCL, and 8 on Carnival), I am always looking for information. Not just for the ports we will be visiting but also for packing ideas, especially with things people usually do not think about. My information comes from blogs like Cruise Radio and some from YouTube videos like EECC travels, CruiseTipsTV and CruiseGear. They seem to have very concise information that really applies!!! (And I also follow them on Instagram!!!)

I recently made a shopping stop at our local Dollar Tree. When you see the pictures of what I purchased, please keep in mind, I’m shopping for 9 people!!!! My list started out looking like this…

This shopping spree is for items that can be used in all three stateroom. These are the items I was able to check off our list: Zip lock bags in various sizes (1 of each size for each room… it might be overkill but at least we will have enough to share with other cruisers), 6 mesh laundry bags, 3 night lights, clothespins, jumbo clips, and some generic type command strips with the hook, and 9 lint rollers because you can never have too many of those!!!

I also had to make a trip to Target and while I was in the check-out line, I noticed some travel size Advil so I picked up a couple of those! Just another thing to check off our long Dollar Tree shopping list!!!

At the end of the shopping spree, if you want to call it that, our list now looks like this:

I plan on going back to Dollar Tree on Friday to knock off some more things from the list.

Getting Carnival Vista 2018 ready #2

Our adventure on the Carnival Vista is a 4-generation family cruise. There are a total of nine of us on this cruise… 8 relatives and 1 friend that we will refer to as my personal wine expert!!! There will be 3 people in 3 staterooms. All staterooms are on the Lido deck. One stateroom is an interior with walkway view!!! I was so lucky to be able to grab that one, LOL. The other two are adjoining balcony staterooms. This adventure is going to be so much fun.

In the first installment, I showed the fans that we have purchased so far. Today’s installments will be some items that are essential for us. Not everything will be useful for everyone but it is for us.

Since there are 9 of us and we will be bringing on our own cokes and sprites, it is necessary for us to have our own koozies!!!! The koozies that look like tropical shirts were purchased online thru Oriental Trading. The other five I purchased at Michael’s. Who knew koozies would be near the checkout line!!!!

With 3 staterooms, I will put together 3 binders with all the necessary and important paperwork. Inside the binder will be a pencil holder to keep passports, case for tipping, and other items.

Of course, each room will have a dry erase board for communication purposes!!!! Dollar tree to the rescue.

What are your necessary cruise items???

Carnival Magic November 14-20, 2011 Pre-Cruise Fun at home

Besides meeting people, part of the fun of being in a Facebook cruise group is buying the T-shirt!!! I ordered our on May 24, 2011 and there were received and ready for pictures on May 31, 2011. It feels like things are starting to fall into place!

As time started to fly by, different people were having meet & greets in their area. I thought it would be a good idea to organize something in our area. The date was set for October 15, 2011 and would be at J. Gilligan’s in Arlington. We had a blast. It was great to meet new cruise buddies and catch up with ones we met on the Carnival Conquest. The Irish Nachos were so delicious (as always) and the staff was very attentive to our needs. I definitely took a lot of pictures and it was difficult to select a few for my scrapbook. So, I did what anyone would do and picked my favorites! I will only be sharing a couple of the pages on here as I have not asked for permission to show friend’s and their kids/grandkids on here. FYI… I have no idea who the fairy is, but since we cannot see her face, we can only assume she dressed up to watch the Ranger’s play-off game.

Now the time has come… I must find my perfect travel mascot. I searched on-line specifically for a red frog and I did not find anything I couldn’t live without. I had no choice but to go to Toys R Us and search there. I just knew that they would have the perfect from for me!!! After some searching, I finally found my frog I named Fernando deFrog Cruz! Her is perfect. (So perfect that after the cruise, I went and bought 2 more!) Once I had him at home, he immediately had to start training and earning his keep! I hope I don’t start having second thoughts about him!!!

As our travel dates get closer, it is time for me to put together our travel binder. Our travel binder holds everything we will need for our trip. All pre-cruise confirmations and cruise documents are in sheet protectors and are placed in the binder in the order they will be needed. Passports are in the zippered old school pencil/pen holder. I also include extra sheet protectors to use for the Fun Times and other information we receive along with the dreaded Sail & Sign statement… or as Jim calls it, The Sign & Sink statement!!!

In the next installment, travel dates are planned and confirmed, I double check everything, how I plan our packing lists and packing, driving to Galveston, and a condo tour. At least that is my plan 🙂

Carnival Magic November 14 – 20, 2011 Installment #1

I am fully aware that this cruise was almost 7 years ago. But, I am just now starting to work on my scrapbook for this cruise and thought I could also blog about the fun we had on what was then a new ship.

This sailing would be the inaugural sailing out of the United States and the first sailing out of Galveston! The itinerary for this sailing was:

Monday – Depart Galveston at 4 pm
Tuesday – Fun Day at Sea
Wednesday – Fun Day at Sea
Thursday – Costa Maya, Mexico from 8 am to 5 pm
Friday – Cozumel, Mexico from 8 am to 5 pm
Saturday – Fun Day at Sea
Sunday – Return to Galveston at 8 am

We were so excited about this cruise. My mother and then step-father booked their stateroom in July of 2010 and we followed them about 2 months later. So, we had a long wait. And this long wait would mean some big changes with our travel companions. During this time, my mother and step-father divorced and cancelled their cruise. And it would also mean a job change for me. But these events did not change our plans or enthusiasm in any way. We were excited. We were going on a brand new ship!!! We were going to a port we have never been to!!! We were bringing our son on his first cruise!!! And the excitement continue to grow over the next 14 months.

We joined a Facebook group for this sailing which was a lot of fun. Various activities were being planned and friendships were being formed.

So now the long wait would begin and plans for overnight stays and parking would need to be considered and made but first… I would need a travel mascot… In the form of a frog! His name would be Fernando DeFrog Cruz and he would go everywhere with us and meet other travel mascots! I had plenty of time to find my perfect travel mascot. One that looked like he would be fun, outgoing, and hopefully sober.

There is something about a long wait that sometimes makes the wait go by real fast. Just knowing that there is a cruise booked and coming up makes me happy. It gives me a lot of time to plan things I would like to do at the various ports and it gives me time to go shopping. And I know exactly how important cruise shopping is!!! It was time to let the list making begin.

Please return for Installment #2 which will be about our area Meet & Greet and I found Fernando!!!

Craffice is finished but…

Now it is in complete shambles!!!! After arranging and organizing everything, I decided it was time to start preparing for our cruise!!! It doesn’t matter that our cruise is months away. This cruise is going to be different and special. It is a family cruise!!! But what will make this cruise so special is that my mother will be going and it will likely be her last trip. You see, my mother has dementia. Our goal, as a family, is to go on one last family trip so, hopefully, she will make some special memories that will last in her memory.

Going on this trip will be my mother, myself, my husband, my daughter, her husband, and their 3 kids and one family friend. My grandchildren and our family friend have never been on a cruise before. I cannot wait to see their faces when they first set foot on the ship!!! I have never planned a cruise for 9 people before so this may or may not be a challenge for me. But, I’m up for the challenge.

The planning process actually began last year on July 23rd. The itinerary was selected first (by my daughter). Leaving Galveston going to Mahogany Bay, Belize, and Cozumel. Next was the ship. Freedom or Vista? Vista it is!!! Now we wait!!!!

Part of the fun of waiting is starting to think about what we want to do at the port of call. Thinking about what clothes we will need to pack, what we need to buy, do we need new swimsuits or will butts be hanging out??? Then we need to make lists… lots of lists!!! I have made lists for each person to know what the should pack, what is allowed to bring on-board and what is prohibited. I even have a Dollar Tree shopping list for some things we need to get.

During this waiting period, we have decorated our lanyards, working on decorating our luggage tags (for carry-on stuff). We are trying to decide on shirts… Maybe the one we have seen that says “Oh Ship, It’s A Family Trip” or something along those lines.

And since I have decided to be productive during this wait period, I have finished my scrapbook for our 2010 Carnival Conquest cruise and I have started on our 2011 Carnival Magic cruise. And after I finish that one, I will start on our 2014 Carnival Triumph cruise. Then I will be caught up on those and will start on the scrapbooks for our many vacations to Cozumel. Plus various family events like my daughter’s wedding, and my oldest son’s wedding, other family weddings, family birthdays, and so many other things. But I have an end goal, that might take a very long time to complete, but I have a goal!!!

At this time, I plan to blog about the scrapbook I will be making for my 2011 Magic cruise. It will be a large scrapbook as there was a TON of stuff going on. But for now, I must work.

Thanks for reading and please come back to read about my upcoming cruise adventures and to see the scrapbook’s I will be working on.