In The Christmas Spirit...

Mark and I took off Friday and today - and used a good chunk of that time on Christmas prep. We planned our menu for Christmas, did a bunch of black Friday shopping and dragged out all of our Christmas decorations.

And, we forced the cats to get in the Christmas spirit too.

Introducing Kali, the elf:

And Santa Rocky:

They love us. Really.

I Am Thankful For...

... my family - both the family I was born into and the one that I married into - and that they're always loving and supportive.



... Kali and Rocky. They have been such a welcome addition to our little family.



... our new house. It's been everything we hoped for and more.



... online friends that become real-life friends.



... my amazing husband and all the adventures he takes me on. I'm a better person because of him and I love him to pieces.



Happy Thanksgiving!

Mission 101 - Officially Over

My 101 goals in 1001 days officially ends today. It seems a little crazy to me that it's been close to three years since I wrote that list. And, it's a little crazy to think about how much has changed in the last three years.

So, is it mission accomplished?

I officially completed 82 goals, roughly 81.2%. Definitely a passing grade - even though the goal is to complete everything on the list. Finishing everything was just something I couldn't do.

Many of the remaining goals are ones that have lost a bit of their allure. (Or, even their practicality - #33 on the list was "Finish Quilt" and I've since lost the pattern. Oops!)

When I look at the total list now, I see bigger themes in it that I didn't see at the time:

• Establish myself as a "grown up". I've been rocking a great full time job. I married an amazing man. We bought our first home. If that's not the definition of a grown up, I'm not sure what is.
• Travel. I've had the opportunity to visit some great new places (Hawaii, the Caribbean) and revisit old favorites (Disney, Atlantic City) during my 101 run.
• Cook - for real. The cooking-related goals have morphed as my cooking interest has changed a bit. Even though I'm not officially checking them all off, I'm considering them a success. My cooking skills and repertoire have grown a lot in the last few years. I even started my own cooking blog to keep track of these adventures.
• Get healthier. This one is a little hard to define - but I did catch up on all doctors appointments that were neglected during my college years and, before we moved, went the the gym on a regular basis. (Which, for me, was a really big deal.)
• Volunteer. This has been my favorite set of goals to pursue. I've gotten to work with some great organizations - deepening my involvement with some and starting to work with others.
• Have some fun. I did plenty of things on the list just for the hell of it. We auditioned for game shows - twice. I took my first trip to a spa. I read, I wrote and I hosted parties. And much of it I'll continue to do in the future.

So, even though I'm leaving some unchecked, I feel like the big goals were more than covered and for that, I'm considering this Mission 101 accomplished.

The "Befores"

Remember when I moved over the summer? And there was that flurry of DIY/house posts? If you've been wondering whatever happened to that, consider this part one of your official update.

Inside: As of writing this we really haven't done anything inside. Really. Not even painted. Because...

Outside: We've been whipping the grounds into shape. It seemed like a better idea to do the outside stuff while the weather is nice.

Before I show you what all we've been doing, here's what the yard looked like before. These were all snapped the first week we were in the house.



In the front: Over-grown bushes, over-grown hostas, a poorly-cared for flower bed around the front tree (lower left corner) and (not pictured) TONS of mini acorn trees.



Out back: A peeling deck, some random rock gardens and (not pictured) TONS of mini acorn trees.

And then there was this thing. The previous owners had a play set there so the entire area was wood chips over landscaping fabric.

I promise to get some snaps of the "Afters" up soon!

Christmas Gifts?

I'll be doing another review for CSN Stores soon. The biggest problem with these reviews is that I'm never quite sure what to get.

I was considering getting a nice briefcase for Mark for Christmas - but then realized I'd end up blogging about it before Christmas and he reads this. Gift spoiled. (Sorry, Mark.)

I'm also thinking about cat toys. We got them a stocking and it needs to be stuffed!

Or something practical for around the house - a pet door so the cats can get into the basement (and we can hide the litter box!) or a composter so I'll have a steady supply for next year's garden.

Of course, there's always that fun list of stuff I'd love to have too.

CSN Stores has so much fun stuff that I really can't decide - what are your favorite things on CSN?

Caught Cat Napping

I hate the cold. Really. The weather here is somewhere in the 40s and when it gets like this I make every excuse I can to stay in my pajamas, in the house, as much as possible.

And, it's not too hard when I have accomplices. The kitties favorite pastime on a chilly day? Cat napping, of course.

Seriously, why would you want to go outside when you can just cuddle up with them?

Bakerella!

When I found out Bakerella was doing a book signing close by, I knew I had to go. I adore her website and am pretty much in love with everything she makes.


The book signing started off with a Q&A. It was great because it really gave everyone a chance to chat with her about questions and problems we've had trying to make our own cake pops.




And then, we hopped on line to get our books signed!



We chatted while she signed the books. She was so sweet and really excited about meeting everyone, which made it that more fun.


Now I've got this beauty for my ever-growing cookbook shelf.


I think it's about time I finally tried out making cake pops!

Thinking Christmas Cards

I mentioned before that I love this time of year. Everything from Halloween to New Year's is fun event after event. One of the many things I love is getting holiday cards - and I love sending them.

Last year was our first foray into photo cards. I'll admit, I wasn't sure I really wanted to send photo cards. To me they always seemed like something for cute little kids. We sent out a photo card with one of our wedding shots; I loved the way it came and we got tons of compliments on them.

This year, Shutterfly is offering 50 free photo cards to bloggers so it looks like we'll be sending some out again this year. I've been poking around Shutterfly and there are so many great designs to pick from.

I love the ones with the Retro/Vintage feel:

And our photos from the Caribbean also make for some fun holiday cards:



Or ones with the kitties on them:

I really can't decide!

Shutterfly has lots of great card options:

• Holiday Cards
• Christmas Cards
• Hanukkah Cards

And if you're a blogger and interested in getting 50 free cards, you can check out the promotion here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Do you typically send out holiday cards? Are you a fan of photo cards or more traditional cards?

I received a promo code for 50 free photo cards for making this post but the opinions expressed are my own.

My Morning Show Debut

In my college Intro to Journalism class, we had to read a story in front of a TV camera for our segment on TV journalism. I was terrified, turned four shades of red and stumbled through my story.

After class, the teacher pulled me aside and told me he thought I would do really well in the TV world and I should try it again. Of course, I finished out my college career without trying it again. I was more than happy to work behind the scenes but I never forgot what Dr. Cole said.

A few months before we were to leave for our cruise, I found out that they do morning show programs on board. On a whim, I tweeted about it - and Carnival tweeted me back. They made it happen.

Mark taped it from the Lido deck. It's a little hard to hear but it's me and I'm on the show!

Ship Fun

Besides our stops, we had two at-sea days to play on the ship. We did a lot.

Monday Night Football was on the big screen on the Lido deck so we got to watch the Giants game in the middle of the ocean.


We got all gussied up for the first formal night.

Mark played in the ping-pong tournament.

We met Julie and Josh; they were on their honeymoon and we all hit it off really well. We also got along great with our waiter, Joe.

We sang "Happy Honeymoon" to Julie and Josh.

And Joe was the king of dirty table jokes. It made for a very entertaining nightly meal.

The waiters also danced and sang nightly. We loved it!

We wrapped Josh up like a mummy in the final round of one of the competitions.

And won a trophy for it!

Josh also got picked to participate in their battle of the sexes competition:

They celebrated Halloween on board - the cruise director, Goose, was Spongebob and the assistant cruise director, Gayve was a turkey.

We ate a lot. They even had a chocolate buffet one day!

We played a super windy game of mini-golf.

We got towel animals every night.

And took a class on how to make our own.

We got to take a tour of the kitchen, too. It was so interesting to see how they make everything.

There was lots of stuff we didn't get pictures of too - all the concerts, the comedy shows, the hairy chest contest, laying by the pool, lounging in the hot tubs late at night and visiting the spa.

It really was a fantastic week.

Cozumel, Mexico

Our last and final port of call was Puerta Maya on Cozumel.



We, along with our friends Julie and Josh that we met on the ship, grabbed a cab to Paradise Beach. Unlike our other ports of call, most of the beaches in Cozumel were private and you had to pay a fee to use it. We opted for Paradise Beach because it was a public beach and thus, free.

It was different from the other beaches we visited because you felt more like you were at a restaurant on the beach. Waiters were always around to bring you whatever you wanted. The water was also filled with inflatable slides and other toys to play on.



You can sort of tell from the picture that the water here wasn't as clear as it was at the other beaches. We were definitely spoiled earlier in the trip but it was still beautiful!

These guys were also hanging around:



So fun!

We got our frozen drinks and a plate of nachos and spent another day vegging on the beach.



And Julie and Josh went parasailing! It wasn't something I was brave enough to do but it was fun watching them.



And, of course, we spent some time walking around the port afterwards.

For all the shopping we did, we didn't really buy that much!

I met Rachael Ray today!

My local Borders hosted Rachael Ray for a book signing this afternoon. I know there are lots of people who aren't big fans of hers but her 365: No Repeats was the first cookbook I ever bought so she holds a special place in my heart. It's largely because she made things seem so accessible that I started cooking.

I, along with my cousins Janel and Michelle, hit up Borders early to get wristbands that would put us near the front of the line. We were really surprised by how fast the line moved - we were in front of Rachael in now time!



Rachael was really nice. We chatted while she signed the stack we had. We told her this was Michelle's first cookbook and she was telling us the best ways to get started with this book.



I had also brought two of my older Rachael Ray cookbooks along. They're both beat up and full of tabs and sticky notes. She said she loved seeing how well-loved they were and signed them for me too.



But, the new one is nice and personalized - so fun!



Along with the book signing they also were hosting a pet adoption day.



And Rachael made a donation to one of the local dog rescue organizations along with it.

The pups were so cute!

I think it's great that she made the effort to help out a local organization while she was in the area.

I had a great time meeting Rachael and I'm so excited to break in the new book!

Costa Maya, Mexico

Porting in Costa Maya was a bit of a surprise. We were scheduled to go to Belize but because of damage there from Hurricane Richard the decision was made to go to Costa Maya instead. They announced it during dinner the night before and we were immediately a little bummed - the one excursion we had planned was in Belize!

We had been scheduled to go see Mayan ruins in Belize so when the excursion desk released a list of act ivies for Costa Maya later that night we were excited to see that Mayan Ruins were still an option. We booked the trip to go check out Chocchoben.

Our guide for the day was Lizbeth.

She is part Mayan herself and extremely knowledgeable about the Mayan culture and the ruins at Chocchoben. On the hour bus-ride there, she gave us a primer in Mayan history (even teaching us how to use their number system!) and got us prepped for the big sites.



For me, the ruins were breathtaking. I had taken a few history classes about the Mayans and Aztecs when I was in college but it was not something I thought I'd ever get to see in real life. I was completely geeking out the whole time.



In the picture below, the alter where the person is standing is a spot where they used to do human sacrifices to the rain god. I read a book specifically on that topic in one of my classes so I was thrilled to get to see it!



The ruins were in the middle of the jungle, so once you got into the higher temple areas it gave a neat view of the landscape. We also got to see buildings that are still to be excavated - they don't have the money to do it yet. I'd love to go back in twenty years and see what more they've uncovered!



Did you notice those dark clouds creeping into the last two pictures? Our sacrifice must have made the rain god very happy because as soon as we were getting ready to walk back to the bus they skies opened up. We were seriously soaked - like, ringing my shirt out soaked - by the time we got back.

On our bus ride back we got a "snack box" of Mexican snacks - chips, vanilla cakes and Coke. I love seeing other countries' food!

When we got back to port we were still soaked (and, I had a white shirt on) so we ran back to the boat to change and then spent some time poking around the port area.


It was small, but fun. There were a lot of shops selling local goods which made for interesting browsing.



We had been told that Costa Maya "wasn't very developed" but actually seeing it was a bit of a shock. Outside of the port area, this was pretty much the scene:



Even on the hour-long bus ride we didn't pass anything more than two small villages.

Inside the port though, things were hopping. The favorite? The party pool with swim-up bar:

Super fun, right?