Cruise Recap!

We had such a wonderful time on the cruise!! We spent 5 nights on board Carnival's Ecstasy and made two stops, Progresso and Cozumel.  I'm really glad we went with a group of 10 of our friends. While I love spending time with my husband on vacation, having friends included on this trip just made it that much better! There was always someone to lay out with, eat at the 24 hr buffet with, go on the waterslide, play in the casino, people watching on Lido Deck, or Bryson and I could sneak away and watch the sunset together.  I was so surprised at how many things there are to do on the the ship. A cruise really caters to all ages and all different lifestyles!! I could say so much more about how great it was, but I know this won't be our last cruise! Here are a few pictures to show you our adventure: (check fb if you want to see more pictures)

 

Watching the boat sail away from Galveston

Every night we got dressed up and ate way to much at the fancy restaurant! It was so good!!

We were all so excited to be in Progresso, Mexico!! We spent the day an exclusive beach resort with water kayaks, ocean trampoline and an all day buffet and open bar!

Second stop was Cozumel, with waters soooo blue! We took the catamaran excurison and went to Passion Island. Another day at the beach, another buffet and open bar :)

Last night, group shot in the sunset

All in all a great vacation! Can't wait for the next one! 

Tips for Traveling with kids

In the past 15 months since Violet has been born we have done our fair share of traveling. We've been on two plane rides and countless road trips to visit family and friends across the great state of Texas.  I feel like we've experienced and learned from each and every trip.  For example, to only driving 1.5 hours in our 7 hour trip and had to check into a hotel because V would not stop crying in the car, or to her sleeping the whole entire airplane ride which was glorious, and lets not forget explosive poop in her car seat and we were still 3.5 hours from getting home! Trust me, traveling with kids is definitely an adventure! I thought I'd share a little of our insight when traveling:

1. Be flexible. Children and traveling can be unpredictable! So stay calm and assess the situation as it comes your way.  As stated above we had intended to get farther in our travels one night while Violet was 3 months old, but when the crying just wouldn't let up, we decided to stay at a local motel in a small town and continue traveling early morning.  Though not what we had first planned, everyone was well rested while we resumed our travel the next day!

2. Food.  Always, always bring food or drinks with you.  This will/might help defer fits and crying due your child being hungry.  If possible wait until you are either on the road/airplane to feed, at least you'll get 30 minutes of no screaming then :) Also remember if you are on a road trip there are usually gas stations or grocery stores that have milk, fruit, and other snacks. 

3. Gear. Be sure to pack all of the necessary essentials when traveling. Such as, pack 'n play, stroller, diapers, wipes, swing, bumbo, car seat etc.  We are lucky to have nieces and nephews when visiting my in laws, so we know that there is extra of everything there.  But when we traveled to Colorado a few weeks ago that was another case.  We used a small umbrella stroller through the airport (right before we boarded it went into luggage with NO cost), we rented a car seat from our rental car company, Violet is still young enough to sit on our laps on the airplane, and our hotel provided a crib (though we borrowed a pack 'n play from my cousin). 

4. Toys.  Bring them!! All different kinds.  I have V's toys in rotation...I put some "away" each month and rotate the already "away" ones in.  It keeps them fresh for her.  So when we travel I take some of her toys that are "away" in rotation, so she thinks they are new and cool and keep her entertained a little longer.

5. Extras Clothes. You never know what your child is going to get into or spill on their clothes  When we travel I usually bring 2 extra outfits just in case we need them.  There was a time didn't bring enough and we thankfully borrowed some pants from her cousin! 


I'm sure I could share plenty more tips, but it's more fun if you make the experience and learn on your own.  I'd say most of all have fun while traveling with your children!  Though in the moment you may be really stressed out or very sleep deprived, enjoy taking your little ones on adventures with you!

Vacation

Almost a year ago I wrote this post "Wanting Wednesday"...one of them is coming true in T-minus 5 days...can you guess??

Okay I'll just tell you it's #3!!!!It will be our very first cruise! We are so excited to spend a week with 9 of our friends on a relaxing vacation! This vacation has been in the works for a long while now, it just took forever to get everyone's schedules to workout and we only booked it ourselves a month ago.  It will be the longest time we've ever been away from Violet, which I'm sad about, but at the same time I know she will be in good care and have lots of fun with her grandparents.  Also, I have a non realistic fear that we are going to sink like the Titantic... Other than that, I'm stocked up on sun screen, swimsuits, and shorts!

Anyone have tips or advice for first time cruisers??

A 'lil bit of Comfort

I totally forgot to blog about this! Three weekends ago we had a weekend getaway, and it was wonderful!! Our friends from our neighborhood/ministry/community/basically like family-type of friends in Austin invited us to join them at  the Haven River Inn in good ol' Comfort, Texas. (It's a tiny town outside of San Antonio) The Haven River Inn is a cute  100 year old bed and breakfast on about 20 acres of land with the Guadalupe River streaming through it. There wasn't an actual "plan" for the weekend except to hangout and relax, and that was fine by us.  The three couples stayed in our own rooms in the big house and the single girls stayed in the cottage, which was perfect for cooking lunch and dinner and late night games.  The Haven served the most delicious breakfast! I want to try to recreate one of the casseroles!

They had these huge wrap around porches with tons of rocking chairs on them. While Violet napped (and I had the baby monitor with me) I sat on this porch and read, rocked...and rolled? But it was a relaxing time to be still, not have to do anything, and be some place peaceful. I looked out to this view:

The weather was cloudy Saturday morning but then cleared up for a beautiful sunny afternoon. Bryson spent most of the afternoon fly fishing with the guys, while I was able to catch up with the girls on the porch or hanging by the river.  This group of friends we have are truly amazing, so caring, loving and welcoming! It was like we had never left. Violet loved playing outside and with the other little girl Abi. They had so much fun together!

It truly was a wonderful relaxing weekend with friends! It made us really miss living in Austin, and especially living in the same neighborhood as these people. They are so inspirational, God-loving, kind and FUN!! We love and miss you guys so much!

I could write so much more about this weekend but I'd rather you experience it for yourself. If you are looking for a getaway I would totally recommend this place!!

Adventure Week

Last week was Thanksgiving week, but I like to call it Adventure week! Bryson took the week off before he started his new job. So we took advantage of the time off and went on a few adventures!

First stop Bluebell Creameries in Brenham, Texas. I have been wanting to go on a tour for years!!
They only do tours during the week, so I'm glad we finally made the trip I mentioned to B why didn't we do this in college? We totally could of had our friends skip class and make a day trip of it! haha!
We had a great time exploring the gift shop and the tour was about 30 mins and very interesting! And we got a free scoop of ice cream at the end! I tried the newest flavor Spiced Pumpkin Pecan and Bryson had the Mocha Almond Fudge, while Violet enjoyed tastes from both of us! And they give you these free hats to wear, I was more than okay with wearing mine for the rest of the day!



Second adventure was the Wortham Theater Christmas Tree lighting!
Every year the Houston Ballet puts on this event for people of all ages to enjoy and its the kickoff for The Nutcracker. My friend Kim works for them and invited us to come out. We enjoyed a few choirs, watching cute little kids dance around to the music and The Nutcracker characters/Ballerinas were there to take pictures with you! My family has made many many trips to see The Nutcracker since I was little so it was neat to see the ballerinas up close! Violet loved the Rats, I thought she was going to cry. But she put on a huge smile and started to pet them!

Our last adventure was at Saint Arnold's Brewery.
My sister, her hubs Matt, Bryson and I really enjoyed the place. It was lively, yet chill at the same time. You pay $7 get a half pint glass with 4 drink tokens (someone messed up and I was lucky and got 5!) and go on a tour. Our tour guide was the actual Owner himself! Bryson said it was a much better tour than the other one he went on. So we had a few drinks, we brought in some snacks to much on and then went on the tour and drank some more. It was waaay to early for me, so I only used one token and then drank their fantastic (free!) root beer the rest of the time!

R&R

View from the porch (minus some snow this time of year):

I'm looking forward the next week of vacation in the Santa Fe National Forest! Bryson's family built a house up there and its surrounded by trees, mountains, a porch swing, trails, peace and quiet. Bryson and I are hoping for a lot of rest, catching up with each other, and quality time with his family. It will be nice to not be on a schedule, sleep, be with family, and actually spend time with Bryson after 6 week of city living.

***Those of you who went on the New Mexico Spring Break trip 2007, dont worry there is running water this time :) that trip was rare and freezing!!***

3 Days and 2 Nights

We have officially made it to our "summer home" in NYC!! It's been great so far! We are living in Herald Towers at 34th and Broadway.Our apartment is about the same size as our house. Its a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom, full kitchen (with dishes included), great living room and couch. Our roommates are a married couple that works for CCC as well and they move in tomorrow. Here's our building:

The Gap is downstairs on the left, Forever 21 is to the Right and Macy's is across the street! Ya'll start praying that I have self control and dont spend ALL our money!

We have really been enjoying the past few days!in the above picture, we can see the MetLife building from our bedroom view. While Bryson has been in a Director's meetings, I've been able to do a little exploring on my own. We have this really cool book called "NFT...Not For Tourists Guide to New York City" and lets you know everything! Like I needed to find Kinko's and it had listing of them. And let me tell you, when I found Kinko's I had a huge smile on my face and wanted to yell "Yessss!" after my find, I was determined to find a Gyro stand for lunch. When we were here in February I had the most delicious Gyro...so I was on the hunt. Where I was yesterday was East Midtown and there weren't too many food stands around, but I kept looking and finally had myself a gyro! And it was good!

Last night we were in a photo shoot for the Wyndham hotel. The overall project director for the arts track, LeighAnn, has a friend who was the photographer. She needed 50 people to mingle and eat and drink for free. So a group of us decided to go! Whether or not we even make the photos chosen it was still fun to take part in it. Here are the Art Track project directors looking good at the photo shoot:

Colorado

 

This past weekend Bryson and I went to Colorado to visit my side of the family! It was so relaxing and fun! Four days went by so fast, I wish we were able to stay longer. (and I wish we lived closer to them!) I really enjoy my family in Colorado! And now that I'm older, I wish we all lived near each other so we could be around each other more often. You know that feeling of being with people your related too..

Among all the things we did...88th birthday party for my Grandma Chapman, Fargo's, BBQ at the Ritz, The Broadmoor, Colorado Sky Sox Baseball Game....our favorite thing was the 6 mile hike we did with my Uncle Dick, Kelly and Matt!! We hiked 6 miles at Red Rock Canyon! It was such a beautiful day! As you can see from the picture above :) Anyways it's really close to Garden of the Gods. During the hike, you can actually see Garden of the Gods in the distance, which was beautiful to see along with the view of the city of Colorado Springs. My Uncle Dick led us for about 45 mins and showed us this spot where the picture is taken. Behind us is an old rock quarry. It was so cool to see the rock cut out like that. Over to the left of the picture its grassy hills, which use to be a landfill, but they covered it with grass and its now used for a greenspace/hiking trails. I would say it was an easy hike. We weren't like climbing to a peak or anything. I mean a few times I was out of breath due to the altitude. The trails at Red Rock actually lead you to hike up Pikes Peak! (we would have to train for that trail...maybe next visit!)

All in all it was a great visit! I really enjoy my family! Check for more pictures on Facebook :)

IAM::NYC

I'm back and head over heels for NYC. First of all, lets review:

IAM-
I really enjoyed the conference. I must admit the first day I was there I was feeling pretty insecure, because I wasn't an "artist" and the felt like I had to be. But I remembered Amanda's voice in my head "everyone's an artist" and my own voice to "stop having a pity party, and learn new things." So I did. I loved the workshops I attended! I went to The Artist Way and learned about this workbook and I want to do with some the girls in Austin. I found it terribly interesting and thought it would be good to do in community with some of my closest friends. (Dont worry I'll start recruiting you soon to join me!) I went to a short films workshop, okay I confess I just wanted to chill and watch movies :) But I finally saw the TOMS documentary and nearly dropped lots of tears. Gotta do a shoedrop! And then saw the film "Taking Root" about Wangari Maathai Hello, empowerment. She is an amazing woman and the film was beautifully put together. Overall the conference was really new and different for me. It opened my eyes to the more of the world. I think from watching the films, and hearing from the 5 non profits that spoke in the evening sessions, it made me realize other countries needs. It was interesting to see artist from other parts of the world! These were some of my favorites: awesome Poet Billy Collins, Musician Helen Sung, Susan Isaac's monologue of "Angry Conversations with God, Nigel Goodwin, and last but not least Limon Dance

I loved the traveling in New York! Lots of walking and lots of subways! I felt like we were busy being tourist most of the time, trying to see everything we could. Bryson and I did have a few moments to find a quite place to chat and relax just the two of us! We had a free day on Sunday and spent it just us. We had a freezing breakfast in Central Park, checked into our Hotel, then we went to Bryson's old apt complex and went to the rooftop (27th floor) and saw an incredible view of the city and the Empire State Building, rushed to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty and back to meet everyone for dinner in Brooklyn at SEA (this restaurant is in the movie Garden State....really trendy with modern decor and really loud music, but delicious Thai food!) check my facebook for pictures...I'm getting tutoring from Nick soon :)

The trip has us excited for summer in the city. Prayers appreciated :)

Fulton and Ann Street

Im here in NYC! currently blogging from Pace University- downtown conference center. where the day breakout sessions are being held. (which by the way are awesome! the night meeting is at the TriBeca at BMCC.) Those of you who have ever been to a CCC Winter Conference, this conference is scheduled the same way, but different at the same time. Friday we just had a main meeting, Friday was 3 breakout sessions then the Plenary (main meeting) and today is scheduled the same way. But different then winter conference because, well there are more than just students, I'd say the age ranges between 20-70 yrs old. so there is quite a range of people here, with different life journeys, different countries and different beliefs. And the night meetings are filled with performers-dancers, poets, musicians, philosophers...I'm loving it! Even though right now I'm about to ditch a breakout session and nap in an open classroom....it's been so fun!

I feel like I'll need to process a little to tell you more about it. But what I can tell you the organization that is putting this one International Arts Movement is a faith based non profit arts program, very similar to Fireseed Anthology, except more professionals are involved than students.

We are staying at a Hosteling International on 103rd and Amsterdam and it's incredible. It's like a big hotel with swanky lounges and a HUGE kitchen! there are over 400 beds available. Our room is sleeping all 12 of the 16 that came. It's kind of like summer camp style with bunk beds. Tomorrow night B reserved a special place for us just a few blocks away...more on that place later. We've been able to do sightseeing during our long lunch breaks. Yesterday we had lunch in Times Square, and I think I could eat the street cart gyros forever!!!

I love new york.

almost New York

T-minus 20 hours we will be in Manhattan!! I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Bryson has spent a summer there so he's familiar with the City (somewhat). I on the other hand was telling guys at work, "I think I'm going to go through my wallet and just bring my license and debit card, cause I'm scared to get pick-pocketed." While Phillipe laughs in the background, Ernest assures me that "It's not like that!" They have been before and tell me you just have to be careful, that I will probably see a few crazy performances on the street, and strange people will talk to you on the subway.


The reason we are going to New York is because we are attending the (iamencouter.com) IAM Conference. It is..."International Arts Movement's annual gathering of artists and creative catalysts to wrestle with the deep questions of art, faith and humanity, to inspire the creative community to engage with the culture that is, and to create the world that ought to be." Friends of ours that have been before say its pretty amazing and inspiring! I'm excited to experience it and learn more about how influential art is in our culture. Since Bryson is more of the artist in the family, I'm excited to be there with him and hear his ideas and thoughts too. The Fireseed Team along with 8 other students and/or professionals are taking the journey with us!! We were able to take a later flight home, so we get a day to play in the city! What will we do?!! There is so much I want to see and do!

We have to finish packing! Update you all soon! :)