My vacation

My cruise was amazing. We had such a great time that we are already planning our next trip, possibly a transatlantic cruise that would allow us to have ports of call in Europe. I cannot rave enough about Royal Caribbean and our trip. We were 2 of 4000 passengers on board the world's largest ship. They pride themselves with having a very diverse staff of 1400 from over 73 different countries. I think it was the Captain who said wouldn't it be great if the world could get along as well as everyone on the ship. About half of the passengers were from different countries.

We were never bored, never unhappy, and never hungry. I'm embarrased to say how much weight I gained but all I can say is I wish it was easy to drop this amount of weight as easily as it was to gain it. There's so much stuff to do on board which include shows, casinos, singing, ice skating, rock climbing, flow rider, miniature golf, the gym, spa, shopping, swimming, going in their hot tubs, lounging around, sunning on the deck, participating in tournaments, games, dancing in one of their nightclubs and that's just on the ship. I indulged in a very relaxing spa treatment while on the ship. It was just glorious.

Danielle won several free gifts on board, she also won two basketball tournaments (against all guys), and took 3rd place resulting in a few hundred dollars in a blackjack tournament in their casino. We were in Puerto Rico on my birthday which was kinda cool. Ironically, we both forgot it was my birthday until that afternoon (maybe my issues with turning 30?) But it's really easy to lose track of your days while on board.

The ports of call were incredible. I wish I had more time to get a true sense of the islands but the beaches were stunning. I had so much fun snorkeling at Coki Beach (St. Thomas). We were given fish food and the fishes literally ate out of our hands. At Orient Beach (St. Martin) I had fun sporting my boobs on the clothing optional side of the beach. There was something absolutely liberating about being able to do that. However, poor Danielle was truly traumatized by the sight of the men sporting their stuff. LOL!

When I have my pics organized I will post some. Sorry so short but I have to get back to my disaster of a house.

***3 weeks and counting until we ttc again (If all goes according to plan).

15 days and counting...

If you've checked out my ticker, you'll notice that we are leaving for our well deserved, long awaited cruise in two weeks. There are so many choices for things to do on the islands. Our 7 day cruise will stop in Puerto Rico, St. Martin and St. Thomas. So we decided that our days will be mixed with touring the islands, a zipline course, snorkeling, a banana boat (I'm terrified of that) and we are going to lay out at Orient Beach in St. Martin which is a "clothing optional" beach (read: nude---gasp!!!) I think it will be awesome. We will never see these people again and if I'm going to be honest I think it's kinda hot! Danielle refuses to go san bathing suit top but I'm working on her.

Today was fun because we went to get books for the beach and did a bit of window shopping for a new bathing suit (Thank you Target for being the only store to have swimsuits in December), and buy some travel gear.

On a mini rant: The stores are unbelievable. Just 2 days ago, it was Christmas. I wanna say that I wasn't surpised but I was... the stores had Valentine's Day stuff out already. Are you kidding me?

FSA to the rescue

Let the coziness begin. Yesterday was our first day of snowfall. I stayed in for most of the day working on my newest knitting project. I've ventured off into trying out a baby sweater. It is my most advanced project to date.

I'm not a big fan of the winter. Actually aside from aesthetic reasons, I hate it. So lately I've been planning our cruise which is such a great mental getaway. The silver lining in not being pregnant is that Danielle and I can do some cool excursions such as the zipline, segways, snorkeling, etc.

Last week I found out that my job offers an FSA program where I can use pretax dollars to put into an account to pay for medical expenses. I can use it for IVF and IUI's. I can also use it for lypo and while that is incredibly tempting, I will save it for ttc. Unfortunately you can only contribute $5000 max so we are not sure if we want to use it towards IVF or get two injectable cycles out of it. I guess we'll decide closer to the time. Anyway, the money becomes available shortly after I come off break so the timing is dead on.

Gearing up for round thirteen

While I've thoroughly enjoyed my break, I'm getting excited and a little antsy to ttc again. Although breaks generally suck whether they are forced or voluntary, they do help. Anyway, I'm getting my checklist together. I still need to get alcohol swabs and a sharps container. After temping for over a year, it is going to be so weird not to temp this cycle or use opks. What will I do with myself every morning? It's become a part of my routine. I've decided that I'm not even going to temp during the tww because I've had such misleading charts in the past that it's not worth it. But who am I kidding? There's no way I can go without having some kind of information during the tww, so my supply of internet cheapies will be in the mail soon.

As far as our cruise, it's been so much fun looking at different excursions for us to go on. However, we may end up being a little limited if I am pregnant. I've found one that just seems so adventurous and a little scary. You almost look like a little alien but I bet it's fun.

We are on our way

I'm so freaken excited. This week, we paid for our cruise and got a really nice deal with an on board credit. We got one on our last cruise that we used to pay for snorkeling and a buy-in to a poker tournament which Danielle placed 2nd! I love my little professional poker player (P3). Our cruise leaves on January 11th and goes to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. I'll be in Puerto Rico for my birthday which is really exciting.

I have about 1 more week until we are back in the ttc game. I've really enjoyed my break. It's been so stress free these past few weeks and I can't tell you how many pina coladas I've had. It's been great hanging out with friends and just doing things that I usually won't do during the tww.

Danielle and I have been doing our own Biggest Loser contest and while I've lost a few pounds, Danielle has done fantastic and has lost 10 pounds so far. I'm so proud of her. We are going to look fantastic on our cruise, pregnant belly or not.

Royal Caribbean Crusing- AGAIN!!!

Ahhhhh, there's nothing like taking your mind off baby making like planning a vacation. With turning 30 looming over my head, I've decided the only way I'm going to make it through is to be on vacation and bring my 30's in with a bang!

Danielle and I went on a cruise in January and we had a blast. We went left out of Miami and went to Nassau, Key West, and Cococay. It was the best vacation ever. We did things we've never done before like snorkel, go on jet skis (waverunners), and parasail. It was just a great time. Danielle played a poker tournament on the ship in their casino and won second place.

So this time around we are planning a cruise on one of their newer ships, Freedom of the Seas. We will be leaving out of Miami and going to San Juan, Puerto Rico; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and back to Miami, Florida.

Here are some of the wonderful features of ship:
FlowRider®---------that's that surfing water feature
H2O Zone---------- water slides, etc
Cantilevered whirlpools
Rock-climbing wall
Ice-skating rink------------yes an ice-skating rink
Royal Promenade
Extensive WiFi capabilities and connectivity for cell phones
Full-size, flat-screen TVs in every stateroom
Themed bars and lounges
Adventure Ocean® youth facilities
Fitness Center and Day Spa
Full-size Everlast boxing ring----------Can't wait to show off my Rocky skills
Casino RoyaleSM--------------------Danielle will take it down again
Presidential Family Suite
Sports Pool
Full-size sports court
9-hole miniature golf course-----------------how fun
Johnny Rockets® '50s-style restaurant
Portofino Italian Restaurant
Chops Grille
Ben & Jerry's® ice cream
Vintages wine bar
Boleros Latin-themed lounge
Sorrento's pizza

Now if I'm preggo, it will be hard to do some of the excursions we did on our last cruise but we will still have fun. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!