Favorite Picture Friday: Guess Where We Are Going?

We have planned our next big trip! That's right, we are getting so excited researching and booking our next destination. This vacation is one that we have talked about for a long time and we thought we would post a picture as a sneak peek so you can guess a part of our trip. Take a look and see what you can figure out:

Give up? Obviously we are headed back to Europe, but specifically this ticket is for... Italy!! This is just one leg of the trip so we will have to post our itinerary later.

Numbers from the Bahamas

I like this tradition that we have with doing numbers after every trip. Jason and I usually do them as we are driving home from the airport and laugh at what exciting and sometimes bizarre events happen to us when we travel! I really don't think we would have it any other way. So, without further adieu... our numbers from the Bahamas:

# of nights on the cruise ship: 3
# of levels on the cruise ship: 12 (not including the running track on the top level)
# of ports the cruise visited: 2 (Coco Cay and Nassau)
# of parties on the cruise ship on New Year's Eve: at least 5 that we could see, but probably more
# of airplanes on the whole trip: 3
# of private islands visited: 1
# of steps on the Queen's Staircase: 65
# of sunburns: 0 (yeah!)
# of seashells collected: over 20 really nice ones and quite a few that are broken
# of forts visited: 1
# of times we did room service: 3
# of times we did room service after midnight: 3
# of soda refills that Jason consumed: too many to count
# of steaks consumed on the cruise: 3 for Jason and 1 for Lisa
# of balloons dropped at midnight on New Year's Eve: hundreds
# of balloons we snuck to our room to keep as souvenirs: 2 (don't tell anyone!)
# of purses Lisa bought (this is what Lisa buys at every travel location): 2
# of hats Jason bought (this is what Jason buys at every travel location): 1
Jason's favorite moment from the whole trip: Snuggling with Lisa in a hammock on a private island.
Lisa's favorite moment from the whole trip: Walking up and down the Queen's Staircase with Jason and then haggling at the local Straw Market.

What a great trip it was and I just have to, again, publicly thank Jason for putting the whole thing together for us and being the best travel buddy anyone could ever ask for. I LOVE YOU!

Favorite Picture Friday: Jan. 20th, 2011

This picture for Favorite Picture Friday takes place on our cruise as we were counting down to midnight.

Our Trip to the Bahamas: Full Story

Finally we have found time in our busy schedules to post some of our favorite pictures from our most recent trip to the Bahamas. Even though the Bahamas is a British colony, it is considered its own country, so that means it is added to our list of countries visited on our countdown located on the right side. That makes nine countries!

We started out the cruise on New Year's Eve, where we headed off the coast of Florida and when midnight struck we could go out on the deck and watch multiple firework shows occur on the coast. Inside the countdown occurred in the main centrum where hundreds of balloons were released at midnight. The cruiseline also was handing out free party gear, like hats and horns. They were also giving out all the free champagne you can drink, but we didn't have to worry about that. For dinner that night we were able to go to the dining room for a delicious 5 course dinner, complete with lobster, shrimp, and steak. Yum! Once the countdown bash was over Jason and I stayed up late, ordered room service, and explored the ship. Basically it was a perfect night and the best New Year's Eve I have ever had!

Here we are in Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas. We docked early that morning and we had the whole day to explore the island. Most of the cruisers stayed near the boat or went to the touristy areas, but Jason and I wanted to go see more of the island. The Queen's Staircase (pictured below) was one of my favorite sites we saw on the whole trip. It is this beautiful staircase built down the side of this cliff in honor of Queen Victoria. There is a step for every year Queen Victoria reigned. Not only was it a beautiful area, but Queen Victoria is one of my heroes so it was a very special place.

Here I am just enjoying the staircase.
Here we are visiting one of forts in Nassau. It was located on the highest cliff on the island, which meant that it had the best view of the area. Hardly any tourists were there so we were able to walk around and take our time searching and exploring the whole area.

A view of Nassau.

Here is a picture of us with our cruise ship "The Majesty of the Seas." It was a great ship to cruise on and we had a wonderful time on it. It's funny because we have found that by the end of a cruise you are sad to leave your tiny room and the huge ship. It becomes a temporary home for the travelers of the sea.

Jason back on the ship enjoying one of our favorite things to do on cruises: Relax and enjoy the ever changing scenery.

The other day of our cruise was spent on a private island owned by our cruiseline, Royal Caribbean. It's called Coco Cay, and it was so much fun to spend the entire day just relaxing on an island with only our cruise ship as the inhabitants.


On the island there were several different food areas, and since it is ran by our cruiseline the food was free. We went to Blackbeards Grille and had some BBQ while we watched the waves drift by on the beach.

Here I am on the boat that took us from our cruise ship to Coco Cay. The cruise ship was just too big to dock on the private island, so we had to take a little boat to shore. Honestly it was a fun ride that we could have kept on doing if the island wasn't so entertaining in its self.


As you can see by the picture below the water was a beautiful blue, the sand was soft and warm on our feet, the sun was shining, and there was a slight breeze to our perfect day.

Of course some splashing always occurs when we get in the water.

We played in the sand and wrote love notes to each other.



Here we are doing Jason's favorite thing that we did on the trip. Relaxing on a hammock. I didn't know this about Jason, but he had never been in a hammock before! I couldn't believe it! All over Coco Cay there were beach chairs and hammocks that you could use while chillin on the beach. Jason and I walked to the opposite side of the island from where the boat dropped us off and practically had this beach to ourselves. We grabbed this hammock and just relaxed and took a nap while looking up at the blue sky and green palm trees above us.

There are so many fun things about going on a cruise. Such things are free room service, amazing food, constant entertainment, the best sunsets around, and these cute little towel guys that we would find every night on our bed. We learned from our last cruise that if I left my sunglasses out they became part of the decor.


It really was the best Christmas gift I have ever received! Jason does know how to treat his woman well! We love going on cruises and understand those people that only travel by cruise boats, because it is the most relaxing and convenient way to travel. We like to travel our old way, which is just jump in to another country and run around it until we've seen and done everything, but there is nothing wrong with taking it easy every now and again. I can guarantee that this won't be our last cruise!

Favorite Picture Friday: Jan. 7th, 2011

Back from the Bahamas

I am glad to say that Jason and I made our way home from our New Years cruise safely. We had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. Then we drove home from the Vegas airport to find St. George covered in snow! But that's okay because it can snow when it is Matt's Birthday! We will have to post pictures and share stories about our quick getaway, but for now here are a couple pictures of us on the beach!