Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Merrytime Cruise - Disney Wonder Day 7

Welcome back to the seventh and final installment of our most recent cruise on the Disney Wonder! We had an absolutely blast and truly enjoyed every moment of our vacation!

If you've missed previous recaps, here they are:

  • Disney Wonder Day 1 (Boarding)
  • Disney Wonder Day 2 (At Sea Day) 
  • Disney Wonder Day 3 (Cozumel, Mexico) 
  • Disney Wonder Day 4 (Grand Cayman)
  • Disney Wonder Day 5 (Falmouth, Jamaica)
  • Disney Wonder Day 6 (At Sea Day)


  • Day 7 was another at sea day and our final day on board the ship. I woke up early, logged a few miles on the jogging deck, then made my way to Goofy's Galley for a little breakfast (I really just wanted a banana). To my surprise, LOOK what I saw in the cooler....


    It wasn't called "strawberry soup" (I think it was called the Tugboat or something), but it tasted JUST like strawberry soup!! I was in HEAVEN and asked for another cup on my way back to the room!!



    I love watching the sunrise and set at sea! Such a gorgeous view!

    Mid morning, Jason and I took the Art of the Theme Ship tour which was great as always. They walk you around and explain a lot of neat facts that came together for the creation of the ship. I've also done this tour on the Magic and the Dream and it's been great every time!

    After the tour, we were wandering around the lobby and ran into this....


    Carolers! How fun! 


    Anytime Christmas festivties existed on the ship, so did hot chocolate and cookies! YUM!

    A few minuets later, these guys appeared (along with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy)!


    I just had to get a picture with them because they looked kinda lonely. (I don't think anyone realized what was going on!


    My husband took a picture with the #1 duck, of course!


    Yum!


    The big cheese! I loved their Christmas outfits!


    Lunch came next. This was our second Disney cruise to encounter boiled crawfish on the buffet (the first was our NY to Canada cruise). It made me giggle...


    For some reason, I wasn't very hungry for lunch but I did enjoy a few bites of my favorites! 


    When we returned to our room, our disembarkation information was on our bed. Whomp whomp...sad times. 


    We didn't let it spoil our fun, though! We had an afternoon movie to watch....Inside Out! Like my shirt? See...JOY and Joy... :)

    The theater on board was sooooo cramped. I've watched movies in the Buena Vista Theater before but didn't remember it being THAT uncomfortable (maybe because I wasn't pregnant last time with the need to change positions often). It was also a full house so there wasn't much wiggle room. Honestly, there wasn't much room to do anything other than sit straight up with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle - anything else and you'd either hit the person in front of you or the person next to you. I enjoyed the movie but the incredibly tight seating quarters kind of distracted me a bit. Overall, I did love the movie! I laughed and I cried and I can't wait to watch it again! :)

    After the movie, we got ready for dinner, then watched Disney Dreams which is my FAVORITE show on board the ship. I might have cried a little more.....who am I kidding, I cry EVERY time I see it - pregnant or not!

    Once dinner was complete, we made our way to the lobby for the final farewell. This really is a cute show to see for kids and adults alike! It's usually held around 10 p.m. in the lobby and there's even an opportunity for additional character pictures if you'd like. We didn't get in line for any this time, but we have in the past! :)


    ....now it's time to say goodbye...to all our company...


    See ya real soon!


    Final towel animal! :)

    The next morning, I woke up a little early to watch the ship arrive in port. It was really sad to see the gorgeous blue water of the Caribbean change to the murky and muddy waters of the Gulf.


    It was also neat to see all of the off shore rigs!

    Before long, we were back in Galveston...


    One of my favorite parts of this trip was the fact that we weren't rushed on the last day. We actually had a chance to eat breakfast with our new friends and say goodbye to our wait staff. Breakfast wasn't until 8 a.m. because we didn't have an early bus or flight to catch and I really enjoyed that aspect of it all!

    As we were waiting for our bus to take us to our vehicle, someone dressed in street clothing waved and told us goodbye - I had to do a double take because I didn't recognize him at first. It was our head waiter from the dining room - you know, the one you see for two seconds who makes sure you're having an adequate dinner each night? Well, this guy (his name was Oscar) actually took the time from day 1 to get to know us - and he visited with us every single night. He was seriously the best head waiter we'd ever had (and this was our 6th Disney Cruise)!

    Overall, the cruise was fabulous and I wouldn't have it any other way!! We loved every moment of our final cruise as a family of two. It might be a few years, but I can't wait to introduce our baby boy to the magic of Disney at sea!

    I hope you've enjoyed this recap! Thanks for sticking around until the end! Until next time...see ya real soon!

    Monday, January 11, 2016

    Of Not Running While Pregnant

    Many people have asked over the past few weeks how I'm doing without running as a part of my life. Ever since my OB encouraged me to stop all extra forms of activity and sit as much as possible (due to the suspicion of premature contractions at 26 weeks), I've been doing just that.


    I'm going to be straight up honest - yes, it's a huge bummer....BUT I'm learning to love this season of my life that I'm in right now cause that's all it is - a season. It will have an end! Will I ever reach another point in my life when I'm told to be lazy (and it's ok)? Probably not. As a friend of mine (also a mom three, one of those being a set of twins) told me, "ENJOY this time now...you'll NEVER be lazy again"...and she's right and I'm OK with that!!

    For almost seven years, the thoughts of training runs have daily been on the back of my mind. How many miles do I need to run today? How far am I going now? Running has been my sanity, a way to calm my brain after a crazy day. I'll admit, the Disney Marathon this past weekend really gave me the itch to run another full in the future. I've been toying with the idea of running Goofy again for at least a year now...and this weekend really helped kick that urge in high gear. Was I jealous of everyone running this weekend? Absolutely not. My husband and I spent several years hoping and praying for this season of our lives, and I'm just taking it one day at a time. Did I hope to be able to run throughout my entire pregnancy? YES. However, I almost made it to the third trimester before hitting pause and I'm ever so grateful for that! A song by Mandisa keeps coming back to me and I think it's fitting for where I'm at right now - "Cause every minute, every hour...everyday is such a gift and I'm content....I'm thankful for each breath. I'll learn to love these days."

    Content...that word describes exactly how I feel. Besides, I've gotten SO much done around my house (from a seated position of course). Combining eight year's worth of stuff between two people to empty out an entire room and make room for one more has not been an easy task. It's required a lot of purging and donating, but it's coming together slowly but surely. Having every afternoon to accomplish that goal has helped so much!

    I've also enjoyed filling my afternoons with other things - like dinner with friends, baby shower planning (for one of my best friends), and baby things (like classes...we have our first one today)!

    I've said all that to say - do I miss running? Yes...but it's not an all consuming thought in the back of my mind on a daily basis. I've enjoyed filling my afternoons and evenings with other things and I know that running will be there for me when I am ready to return! It's just another part of life and I'm learning to roll with the punches and be content in the stage of life I'm in now! The encouragement from you guys has also been incredible so thank you!! :)

    Have you ever been sidelined from running (for any reason...injury, pregnancy, etc)? What did you do to fill your time?

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