So much to be thankful for...

This has been a pretty full year for me, and there are so many things for which I give thanks regularly. I'm thankful for a job that I love, friends and family who are loving and supportive, a great town to live in, a creative streak a mile wide and so much more.

But this Thanksgiving I has something extra special to be thankful for: going on an amazing Caribbean cruise with Brian!


We sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale on Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam to rather rough seas and high winds. But that didn't keep us from exploring the ship and enjoying the fresh sea air.

Our stateroom was very nice and the stewards kept it immaculate and decorated!

I almost felt like I was at summer camp as there were so many things available to do each day. There were pool games and musical shows, educational seminars and a movie theater, a fitness center and bingo. The hardest part was deciding what to do!

The chefs were amazing, not only at creating wonderful meals but also beautiful desserts and decorations!

Day or night, the ship was lovely. As big as it was, I was amazed that we were able to get right up into port for the day trips.
The nature lover in me enjoyed finding the wildlife on each island. This little crab was lightening fast at skimming across the beach and burying in the soft sand.

I have no idea what kind of lizard this is, but I thought the curl of the tail to be a nice touch.

Never again will I scoff at photos of the clear blue Caribbean waters. Words just can't describe how beautiful it is here.

In Grand Turk we had an awesome time Snuba diving (it's kinda like Scuba, except the tank is floating above you an a raft and you have about 20ft of tube to swim around). I'm still getting the film from the underwater camera developed, so stay tuned for those photos!

On San Juan we signed up for the ATV ride through the rain forest. Brian drove most of the way, but I still got a little time in the driver's seat. The scenery was beautiful and the ride was fun. ATV is not something I would have opted for if I was traveling by myself (hiking is more my style) but I enjoyed it more than I expected!

We made time for a little sight seeing and some shopping (I had no idea that jewelry was such a bargain here!) and even got in a little bit of relaxation.

It was interesting to see several of the other cruise lines compared to ours (on the right). Many of the people we met on board said that Holland America is one of the best out there. Not having anything to compare it to, I'd have to say that it was pretty fantastic! We're already thinking about our next adventure...maybe Alaska??

Fun things I've done

Life have been pretty busy lately, but that's nothing new. Work has kept me running around, and I've done some really fun Holiday Planning workshops. I love that my job is all about getting people to think critically about how they deal with money. Not that I think everyone walks out of a class and completely changes a lifetime of financial habits overnight. But you have to start somewhere, right?

I'm coming up on my third week of training to run a 5K. As expected, my biggest challenge is not to push myself too hard, too soon. I have a detailed, gradual plan (check out Active Trainer if you're interested in buying a ready made plan or creating your own) to work up to running for 4 miles without stopping to walk. But the over-achiever in me wants to just jump right in to running non-stop for as far as I can. I know that isn't sustainable, or even healthy, so I'm taking my time and building a solid foundation. I've also started doing an hour of yoga every Sunday morning. It's a peaceful yet energizing way to ease into my week. If you haven't heard about it, the website Yoga Today offers free one-hour classes every week. It's a great way to keep it fresh and challenging. Today I succeeded in doing Crow pose!

When I moved into this apartment, one downside was the very small closets. I compensated by hanging two tension rods in my bedroom closet: a lower one for pants and a higher one for shirts. The shirt rod is support by some old shelving hardware left from the last tenant. But the pants rod kept slipping under the weight of my pants. Since the inside of the closet is drywall, I couldn't increase the tension on the rod without damaging the plaster. So I did what any DIY crafter would do: I improvised!

With just a few simple supplies (screws, screwdriver, and non-skid caster cups) I was able to fix my problem.

I screwed the casters into the wall and the ends of the shower curtain rods fit perfectly into the cups!

When Brian first told me that he was getting a Ford Mustang, I had this idea to make a mixed CD of songs about Mustangs. That was several months ago... But I finally got around to downloading iTunes and doing it last week.

I found an image that almost matches his car for the cover work...

Then spent a few hours searching for various songs. The "Crank it up!" track is actually the sound of a Mustang starting up and pulling away, which I thought was a fun way to start the list. The other songs range from 60's surf bands to country to White Zombie. The only thing I couldn't bring myself to include was Vanilla Ice's "Rolling in my 5.0." And, of course, no Mustang album would be complete without the Wilson Pickett classic "Mustang Sally" to wrap it all up.