Ocho Rios, Jamaica

"Evryting cool, Mon?"
"Ya, Mon"
"No problem, Mon."
"Take a look at my booth, Mon"
" I say please, Mon"
"J'makin me crazy."
"No worries, no worries, Mon"
"Buy a Red Stripe, Mon"



If we heard those phrases once, we heard them a thousand times! Jamaica was very interesting with many locals trying to push the "touristy" souvenirs to reggae style music along the streets to "authentic" jerk chicken stands along the side if the road. Once we were past all of that, we headed to Dunn River Falls. It was absolutely amazing and one of our favorite excursions we have ever done on an island. The waterfall is about 180 ft high and 600 ft long, fed by natural spring water, and empties into the Caribbean Sea. A few movies have been filmed there including Cocktail with Tom Cruise and some footage in the first James Bond movie. We climbed the falls with a guide and had an awesome time.........so much fun that we decided to do it on our own again!

Grand Cayman

Mission: to find a beach....... Mission accomplished - Seven Mile Beach. This beach was gorgeous - white sand, turquoise water, palm trees, and snorkeling. We soaked it all in! Eventually, we fed popcorn that we had brought along to the fish - it made for more fish and better snorkeling!

Carnival Freedom

We had two days at sea while we traveled from our different ports. It gave us perfect time to explore the ship, enjoy all the amenities it had to offer, and soak up the sun. The ship so much to do and see: putt putt, shuffle board, pools, hot tubs, a water slide, piano bar, sports bar, spa, amazing service, fancy dinners, shows, music, towel animals, entertainment, casino, hammocks, buffets, lots of food, more food, and did I say food!

First Stop- Key West

We cruised on the Carnival Freedom, and our first stop was Key West, Florida. We have never been to Key West before but have always wanted to, so this was a great stop. We walked to the southern most point, found where highway 1 begins ........and ends, ventured down Duvall Street on our own pub crawl, had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, and enjoyed the crazy scenery that Key West has to offer!

Five years

For our five year anniversary, we took a Carnival cruise with a couple of friends. We drove from snow covered Indiana to sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida to board the ship. On our road trip down, we stopped around Boca Raton to watch the sun rise over the ocean - it was beautiful! A great start to a great vacation.

Country Music + Live Bands + Amazing Food + Great Company = A Fabulous Weekend in Nashville

We had a wonderful weekend in Nashville, TN celebrating a friend's birthday! From the Second Fiddle, Legends, and the Honkey Tonk to Jack's BBQ and Opri Mills, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in the city that was built on country music! Our favorite country music is definitely the oldies....... Yes Waylon, Conway, Hank, Merle, Loretta, and Johnny are who we listen to on Saturday mornings with Ron Colson's Country Classics. What an awesome place for a weekend get-a-way. We should definitely do it more often!

We Love Christmas Cards!

One of our favorite parts of the holidays is sending and receiving Christmas cards. The sparkling glittered cards, family photos, depictions of Baby Jesus and the manger scene, holiday letters, and personalized notes help to keep our focus on the true meaning of Christmas. When the mail arrives, and we have Christmas cards, we have to equally open them so one person doesn't get to open more than the other........ yes just like little kids............ and yes sometimes we fight on who gets to open certain cards! We appreciate everyone who continues to send them with the increasing price of stamps and the use of electronic cards, so we always have them out somewhere in the house for the rest of our family to enjoy them. We usually display them on the mantel in our living room, but this year we decided to do something a little different. I think it turned out pretty neat!