Scrapbooking our engagement picture.

Jim and I have been married for 16 years and I am just now starting to work on our wedding pictures. I have completed our engagement photo so at least that is a start. But to be fair, I didn’t develop my scrapbook addiction until after we were married. And now, I probably have more supplies than I can use and still buy more so I can have the perfect (for me) page!

Our story is rather interesting, at least to us. You see, my husband knew my grandparents. His family had a TV store and had sold (and installed) many TVs for my grandparents over the years. Then he met my parents playing darts. When my parents and some of their friends decided to open a dart bar, my grandfather was there and Jim was rather surprised to see him there. In the conversation they had, he found out that my grandfather was my mother’s father.

Several years later, I started playing darts. I met Jim and he asked me what brought me to the dart bar. I told him that my parents owned the place so he quickly asked me who my parents were and so I told him. He then realized who my grandfather was and had some stories about him to share!!!

Jim and I became good friends. I knew that if I ever wanted to go somewhere, I could always call and ask him and if he wasn’t doing anything, he would always meet me wherever I wanted to go. For years, he would ask me out and I would decline because I didn’t want to change the scope of our friendship. But then one night, I had a dream about him and that dream convinced me to let my guard down and take a chance. Our first date was on January 8, 1999 when we took my son Wesley to the movies for his birthday. We went to see Patch Adams!!!

We have been together ever since and I must say, it was the best dream I have ever had.

Our engagement picture was, I’m sure, taken by my sister-in-law, Sharon. It was taken at the August (1999 family birthdays when Jim told his family of our engagement. At that time, we had not set our wedding date, but we knew we wanted to be married before the end of the year.

My plan is to start working on our wedding scrapbook pages tomorrow… at least that is my plan!!!!

Carnival Magic 2011 – Installment #15. The scrapbook(s) are complete.

I started this series as a way to keep track of the scrapbook pages I made for this cruise. And now, 17 days later, the books are complete. The pages are in chronological order in 4 albums!!!! I made some extra pages to maintain a flow through each album. I have also completed all of the journaling as well!!!! All that is left for me to do now is to make sure all of the remaining pictures are in photo protectors and placed in a binder for safe keeping.

This has been a lot of fun and I cannot wait to start working on the next pictures! Up next will be pictures of my daughter’s wedding in March of 2012. I have asked her if it would be okay for me to share the pages on here and she graciously gave me permission! Since they were married at the sub-courthouse, these pages shouldn’t take long. But I still want to make sure I have some scrapbook pages for this special occasion.

Family Lunch plus some Carnival Magic fun today!!!

Today would have been my dad’s birthday. Since we have lunch every Sunday with my mother, we decided that today we would have lunch for breakfast. Breakfast food was my dad’s favorite thing to eat with the exception of a very good steak and lobster. After he retired, he would make himself breakfast every morning. And not just a bowl of cereal or some toast. He made a full breakfast… eggs, potatoes, bacon, biscuits!!! The aroma of his cooking still lives in my brain. Definitely something I remember so fondly. The first picture if my dad with my son and daughter. They were so young then.

Before I went to my daughter’s house for lunch I was trying to regain my composure of a tragic scrapbook incident that happened the night before. I was desperately trying to work on my journaling for the Carnival Magic cruise and I was making some very slow progress. And then it happened. I was drinking a glass of Cran-Grape juice. I had the paper I was journaling on in front of my in a nice, neat stack. When all of a sudden, the glass decided to fall over!!! The contents of the fresh glass of juice went all over the paper I was using for my journaling. All. Of. It. Was. Ruined. I decided to quit for the night and went to bed.

This morning, I woke up full of hope that I could at least work on the additional pages I want to use in my scrapbook and also put finishing touches on the scrapbook album. I definitely had success in that area!!!!

Now, I will have to FORCE myself to go to Hobby Lobby in the morning to get some more of the paper I want to use for journaling. I noticed in their ad today that some of their paper is on sale and the one I need is included in the sale. I think I will make sure to stock up on this particular paper.

Here are some of the pages I did this morning along with the finished scrapbook album decorated and a picture of how I am doing the journaling.

My plan is to work on more additional pages for the scrapbook album which I will share with you when they are done.

Thanks for reading!

Family Life… Mom’s birthday

Today is my mothers 78th birthday, but she didn’t remember how old she was. Our weekly Sunday lunch with mom was at Kimmie’s house. She really enjoyed the lunch we had (roast with potatoes and carrots, salad, and dinner rolls) and she was excited about her birthday cake and ice cream. I just do not understand how she doesn’t like chocolate!!! Happy Birthday, Mom!!! I hope you have enjoyed your day. We cannot wait to go on our 4-generation family cruise. You are going to have a blast!!!! Things have really changed since the last time you cruised over 20 years ago!!!

Carnival Magic 2011 Installment #3 We’re going to Galveston!!!

In anticipation of the pre-cruise festivities happening in Galveston, we decided to start our vacation a few days early. We made reservations at Silverleaf Seaside Resort for November 10 – 13 and would move to Quality Inn on Seawall Boulevard on the 13th for one night. This meant instead of packing for 7 days/nights, I would need to plan for 10 days/nights!!! Time to start my packing lists.

I have a packing list method that has worked for me for our last cruises and vacations to Cozumel so this method would also be used for this cruise. On a piece of paper, I write the day and date for each day we will be gone including travel days. Next to the date, I make a note of any planned activities for that day. This gives me an idea of what I might want to wear and what I will need to pack. My list for this cruise looked like this:

Thursday 11/10 – Travel day. Comfy clothes.

Friday 11/11 – Being a tourist in Galveston. Jeans/shorts and shirt

Saturday 11/12 – Lots going on today. Morning meet and greet at The Original Mexican Cafe. Conquest leaves Galveston for her new home port of NOLA. Evening meet and greet at The Spot. Jeans/shirt for am. Jeans/nicer shirt for pm.

Sunday 11/13 – Watch Carnival Magic arrive. Move to Quality Inn. Laundry if needed. Maroon 5 concert. Dinner??? Jeans/shirt

Monday 11/14 – Embarkation!!! group t-shirt and jeans

Tuesday 11/15 – Sea Day. Cabin crawl. Meet and greet at Red Frog Pub. Elegant night. Swimsuit, shorts, shirt for daytime. Elegant long dress for dinner. Capri’s or shorts/ shirt after dinner and pictures are taken.

Wednesday 11/16 – Sea Day. Swimsuit, shorts shirt for daytime. Sundress or capris and nice shirt for evening.

Thursday 11/17 – Costa Maya. Swimsuit, shorts, shirt for daytime. Sundress or capris and nice shirt for evening.

Friday 11/18 – Cozumel. Second elegant night. Swimsuit, shorts, and shirt for daytime. Cocktail dress for dinner and pictures. Capris or shorts and shirt for after dinner.

Saturday 11/19 – Sea Day. Swimsuit, shorts, shirt for daytime. Sundress or capris and nice shirt for evening.

Sunday 11/20 – Debarkation. Comfy travel clothes a.k.a. jeans, shirt.

Once my list is compiled, I can easily decide on what I want to wear and start packing. In no time at all, I have my clothes packed and also pack some extra clothes and possibly every pair of dress shoes I own!!! A girl has to have options!!!!

From the day I finish packing until the day we leave, I will constantly check my lists to make sure I have everything we need. Do I have our passports? Do I have reservation confirmations? Since this cruise was booked as an early saver rate, have there been any more price reductions? And even with all this checking and double checking, we usually still have to go to Walmart for something we forgot!!! Do I have the confirmations for our in-room cocktails??? And don’t forget the mani/pedi appointment!!!

November 10, 2011… I must say, I love travel days! But I’m not a fan of traffic… especially Houston traffic. I have fear and anxiety during this part of the trip. But that’s ok. I will get through this with the help of my husband and son and possibly pharmaceuticals.

We arrive at Silverleaf Seaside Resort, get checked in, and haul all of our luggage to our condo. We are staying in a basic 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo. Time to relax and have a quick dinner and do absolutely nothing but enjoy our view. Since we are Silverleaf timeshare owners, we have stayed here before on prior trips and know this place will do nicely for 3 nights.

Sometime prior to leaving for Galveston, there were reports on Facebook and Cruise Critic about there being a problem on the Carnival Magic. I believe it was a propulsion issue and the ship would be making an unscheduled stop in Freeport, Bahamas. There was a possibility that our itinerary could be altered. But we would not know anything for certain until after we board the ship. Doesn’t bother me any. I’m still going to be on a ship and on vacation!

This concludes installment #3. Coming up in installment #4: being a tourist in Galveston.

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!!!