Joey and I went on a short Baja Mexico cruise this month. We left the Thursday before Easter and came home on Easter Sunday. It was a nice spring break vacation.

It was windy when we embarked from San Diego (can you tell from this picture?) and it stayed windy pretty much the entire cruise.

The staff on the ship were great. Our room steward did a great job tidying up our room every day and night. We especially liked the towel animals he left us:

Our headwaiter was great and the food was delicious. However, there was more silverware than I knew what to do with on the table:

We stopped at Mexico the second day of our trip. Joey and I took a shuttle with a very entertaining tour guide to a town called La Bufadora to see the blowhole. It was very interesting. Joey actually got wet trying to get pictures/video of it. When I saw that the ground was wet I didn’t want to get too close.

On our walk to and from the blowhole, we walked through a strip of little shops where everybody wanted you to come in their shop. I wish I would have taken some pictures or video of this. It was very, very interesting. Every shop we walked buy they’d say:

“Ma’am (or sir) just a mexican minute to look at my store. You don’t have to buy anything, just look…you need a watch? look at these watches…”

They sold mostly jewelry, watches, purses, wallets, churros, fresh fruit and candy. Oh, and you can’t forget all the pharmacies that were there. They handed us lists of medications we could buy without a prescription. Just crazy.

As it was getting closer to the time our shuttle was leaving, we started telling the people that we didn’t have much time so, they proceeded to say:

“Just a mexican second to look at my store”

They just wouldn’t stop! Ahh! Anyway. I ended up buying a nice shell necklace for $10. Not bad I guess. We had authentic mexican food – carne asada taco, fish taco and a shrimp taco – before getting on the shuttle. Yummy!

After we saw the blowhole we went to the oldest winery in Mexcio and tasted a couple of wines. They were delicious. A nice couple at our table took this picture for us:

After we got back to the ship we changed into our bathing suits hoping to get in the hot tubs (since it was too cold to go swiming) and they ended up being full for quite a long time. So, this was about as much as we did in our bathing suits – sat by the window and had a margarita.

That night was formal night. It was fun to get dressed up and go to a nice dinner. They even sang happy birthday to me.

The next day was our “Fun Day a Sea”. They had different activities all day long. So, we went to a towel folding class. It was a lot of fun to learn how they make all those towel animals. Now when we have guests we can leave them a towel animal on their bed Here is Joey making the puppy dog:

I think he liked making the elephant the best:

Here are a just couple pictures of us on the ship:

Sunday morning we had breakfast and then sat on deck for two hours waiting to debark. We were the last group of people to debark. I think that was the most sun I got the entire cruise.

All in all, it was a great cruise. I think my next cruise will be longer, warmer (Caribbean maybe?) and with more people. Anybody interested? In a couple of years of course.

Wrapping Christmas presents (or any present really) is probably one of my least favorite things to do. I have the hardest time cutting the paper the right size and with a straight edge but I found a couple solutions to my problem:

• Scotch Gift Wrap Cutter is a must – it cuts the paper so easy and much straighter than I can get it with scissors. This is a must have!!

• Good quality wrapping paper is best – the thicker the better. The cheaper (thinner) wrapping paper rips to easy.
• Wrapping paper with lines on the inside for cutting. Awesome!
• Boxes to put awkward shaped presents in are always good. Gift bags are an excellent option too.
• Going slow – I discovered that if I take my time, the gift wrapping process goes much better.

Here’s a fun “How to Wrap Presents” video I found on YouTube:

and maybe next year I will try to wrap presents Japanese-Style:

I hope all your presents are wrapped and that you have a great Christmas!

This Saturday I went to the local Farmer’s Market with some friends from church (another “first” for me this summer). It was a lot of fun. There was a great selection of fresh produce, fresh meats and seafood, canned goods and much, much more.

I bought zucchini, cherries, corn and homemade pasta. I made the homemade pasta last night for dinner and it was delicious. I think I might try making my own pasta sometime in the future. Any suggestions? Have you tried making homemade pasta before?

I also bought a watermelon lemonade (another first for me). I wasn’t sure what it would taste like but it was so delicious! I can’t wait to have another one. If you have the chance to try a watermelon lemonade, go for it!

This summer I’ve:

• Rolled Yahtzee 3 times during a game of Yahtzee
• Went to a drive-in movie for the first time with Joey and my sister, Christene. It was a lot of fun but made for a very late night since we stayed for both movies.
• Attended a REAL Salt Lake game for the first time. I really enjoyed it and hope to go again soon.

I also hope to add a couple more “firsts” before this summer is over. Wish me luck!

I just bought tickets for Joey and me to see Body Worlds 3 here in Salt Lake City. It looks amazing. I can’t wait.

BODY WORLDS 3 is a first-of-its-kind exhibit where visitors learn about anatomy, physiology and health by viewing real human bodies. The bodies are preserved through plastination, which is a groundbreaking method for specimen preservation invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens in 1977. BODY WORLDS 3 & the Story of the Heart features more than 200 authentic human specimens including whole body plastinates, organs, translucent body slices, and a special presentation on the heart.

If you have a minute, you should check out their website and buy tickets.

Just in case you were wondering how to keep the stress level in your life high, here are some things you can try:

1. Don’t exercise
2. Personalize all criticism
3. Throw out your sense of humor
4. Be “macho” and never ask for help
5. Become a workaholic
6. Worry about things you can’t control

I saw these things listed on a handout and thought it was very true. I especially need to work on #5. What about you?