The Original Because of Love

There has been a bunch of stuff that I have wanted to tell ya'll about. I have sat down numerous times to write a few blog post, but I never really got things organized. So since it is 8/08/08 I thought that I would write about 8 different random topics.

1 - Alyse Nicole

• I missed her so much while we were gone. I left my little "baby girl" and came home to a "big girl". She grew up so much in a week.


• This is a picture from the night of we got home. Josh is giving her all her little gifts. (A purse from the Bahamas with her name on it, A handmade turtle toy from the Bahamas, a duck in a space ship from Kennedy Space Center, and a police officer bear from the police hall of fame and museum.)


• We have a no go with the whole potty training thing. I told my mom that I expected her to have her completely potty trained by the time I got home, but it didn't happen. I think we may have been a little ahead of ourselves. I guess we will try again when we are home for a longer amount of time.
  
• Funny story - Yesterday I was in the kitchen cooking and the house phone rang. I reached for and looked at the caller ID. It read - "Stephanie - Cell". Um....ok. I looked over at Alyse who was sitting on the couch with my phone up to her ear. I picked it up and said, "Hello". She started "talking". As our conversation continued, I suddenly heard my voice echoing in the other room. She had put the phone on speaker and was now walking, pushing her baby in a stroller down the hallway. It was very funny.
  

2 - More about our vacation

Here are the answers to the most asked questions.

• How was the food? - Very good. I decided that since I could order how ever many choices I wanted that I was going to be a little more adventurous in my food choices. (Usually I order some kind of chicken and make it as plain as possible.) I tried a bunch of new things and I really liked all of them. I had lobster, pumpkin soup, poached pears, peppercorn steak strips with risotto, roasted duck, strawberry bisque, and a bunch of other yummy things.


• Speaking of food - I was planning that I would most likely come home a few pounds heaver, but I decided that I was just going to enjoy myself and not worry about my diet. When I stood on the scale the other day I had prepared myself for the number to be higher than a week ago, especially because I ate at least 2 desserts everyday. Shockingly I did not gain one pound! (PRAISE GOD!) I guess that walking around that ship, going up and down the stairs, and snorkeling was pretty good exercise.
  
• Did you like snorkeling? - Yes, it was a lot of fun, but it was a little difficult at first. We had to wear these life vest things. It made it a little difficult to swim around. It also wasn't possible to go under the water hardly at all. Both Josh and I had some difficulties with the actual snorkel. The mouth piece was really big. I couldn't close my mouth all the way around it so water kept getting in my mouth. Eventually I just pushed it to the side and held my breath, but then it fell off and I lost it for a few minutes. Josh was breathing through his like a mouth guard so he had water in his mouth too. After a few minutes we got the hang of it and really enjoyed it.


• Was it what you were expecting? - Um....no. Carnival is kinda a "party, fun cruise". We knew this before we left, but it didn't really look anything like I expected it to. It was "Art Deco". In my opinion it was tacky, neon, ugliness. I think that I should have been cruising in the 1920s or something. Besides all the "decor", I really did like the ship. Our room was pretty nice. It was very clean. The crew was very nice. Both Josh and I decided that we will go on another cruise. We just might chose another kind of ship.
  
• Did you like the Bahamas? - Sure. We didn't really see a lot since we went snorkeling. We also weren't really all that great at the whole bartering thing. We weren't really prepared for that. We did get a few gifts and souvenirs (When you see my "Chanel" purse, just pretend that it is real. Ok?)
  

3 - Television

• "So You Think You Can Dance" is over!
  
• I am very excited about the Olympics! Swimming, gymnastics, diving...can't wait!
  
• Last week Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was here in Charlotte. I think it would have been fun to have gone and seen the house if we had been in town. (FYI - Elevation was one of the partners of the show.)
  
• A few weeks ago I also missed an open workout with the trainers from The Biggest Loser here in Charlotte. Guess I will just have to stick to watching these shows on TV.
  

4 - Elevation

• I miss my church!!! Josh and I haven't actually be at Elevation the past two weeks. Two weeks ago we were with Pastor when he spoke up in Durham. This past week we were on our cruise. I can't wait to be back this week.
  
• You may have already heard, but there were over 600 people that were spontaneously baptised last Sunday. Isn't that amazing?!


• Elevation really is taking over. Well, at least taking over the Target parking lot. I was there the other day and noticed a bunch of Elevation stickers on cars. I started counting and there were 16 cars! The other thing that I thought was interesting was that I didn't recognize any of the cars and I never saw anyone I knew from church when I was walking around.

5 - A little song for you

• I love this song!


• I think Josh got tired of me replaying it over and over while we were driving home from Florida.

6 - Books

• I have got to read a lot since we are traveling so much. That makes me happy.
  
• Right now I am reading about The Baxter family in the 3 series by Karen Kingsbury (1, 2, 3). My friend Joy and my mom told me that they are a MUST read. So far I am in the second series. They are good, a little predictable, but that is ok. I have a lot of reading to do to catch up for the new one that comes out in September.


• After I am done with all those books, Josh got me a book called "The Inn" when were were at our hotel in Cocoa Beach. It is a ghost story that is based at the hotel we stayed at.
  

7 - Blogs

• This is a link for one of the best blog post that I have ever read. It is kinda long (sorta like this one you are reading right now...), but it is worth reading it. Good stuff!


• I am writing this blog on my dad's laptop from my bed..... Dear Josh, can I please have a laptop!!!!!!


• My bloglines page had over 100 new blog post to read when I got back into town. Now that I am all caught up, they are going to start racking up again!
  

8 - Leaving on a jet plane

• Yes, that is right. We are leaving again. On Monday morning, we are headed to Canada.


• Alyse has only been on a plane one other time when she was only 3 months old. I am a little nervous about this whole thing.


• I HAVE TO PACK AGAIN! This time for not only Josh and I, but for Alyse too and we can only have 1 bag each. Stress!


• What are we going to do in Canada? My mom's whole family is in Canada. We are going to my grandpa's house (right outside of Niagara Falls), my uncle's house (in Toronto) and my great aunt's farm.


• We are also going to be celebrating my Grandpa's 80 birthday. There is going to be a surprise for him too. I don't feel guilty talking about it because I know that my Grandpa doesn't read my blog. I don't think he knows what a blog is. I will ask him and let you know when I get back. That should be entertaining!
  
• Anyways, I doubt that I will get another blog post in before we go, so I guess that you will have to wait for a new post until later next week.