The Bahamas!!!

We got back Saturday from a very relaxing cruise to the Bahamas!! We left last Monday morning at 2:00AM.... I wasn't looking forward to that, but everything worked out and we made it to our ship around 12:30. 

After we checked in and went through security and all that, we explored the boat.  It was HUGE and what's crazy is that it isn't even considered a big boat.... it's actually one of the smallest that Royal Caribbean has.

My most favorite thing was the absolutely BEAUTIFUL views.  The water is amazing.  I could definitely move down there.  I would want to live on paradise island in one of the colorful houses that has a boat dock.  Tanner and I decided that we would just rather have our own private island, you know like Isle Esme... from the Twilight Saga... Anyways, we did some looking around and we could definitely purchase us our own island, but we need $8 million first, so no big deal!! haha... maybe one day.....

We went to the pirate museum and that was pretty cool.  They had a bunch of old artifacts from forever ago that the pirates actually used.  Tanner loves history!  We did alot of shopping, I say "we" but it was really just me.  I window shopped for the next time that we go to the Bahamas.  We had no idea that diamonds are so much cheaper there.  We will definitely be going back in the near future, for let's say an anniversary present! I saw some gorgeous earings!

My second favorite thing would have to be the all you can eat, anytime you want, soft serve ice cream machine!!!!!! Tanner and I were constantly in line with the little kids. I LOVE soft serve ice cream.  I had ice cream for breakfast and for lunch and for snack and for dinner and for middle of the night and anytime I wanted it!

That's all for now!  I'll post the 4 pictures that we took later! (yea, I know, we aren't very good at taking pictures....haha)

LATEST HENSLEY NEWS:

The day that we have been so impatiently waiting for has finally arrived!!! Tanner will start working for our local Police Department August 23rd!  We are beyond excited.  Everyone keeps telling me these horror stories about how I will never see my husband, etc.  But anything is an upgrade from what he was doing.  I was only seeing Tanner for a rushed 30 minutes a day, during my lunch break.  Regardless of which shift he actually gets, I will see him more than I currently do and thats a plus!!

We decided that we wanted to celebrate his quitting, the new job, our anniversary and we might as well throw in my birthday... And what better way to do this than go on a cruise to the Bahamas!!!  That's right, we are going to the Bahamas in just 2 weeks.  We like to be spontaneous and booked a last minute cruise! :) We will celebrate our anniversary on the second night and my birthday on the third night.  I wonder what they will give/do for us?

So that's the latest news in our life!!

Our view in just a couple of weeks!!

I'm {Blank} Because.....

I'm weird because...

I have nightmares if I chop up peppers.
I prefer to not cuddle when I'm sleeping.
I'm not comfortable unless my feet are cold.
I count things as I'm walking.
I have a fear of running over someone in my car.
I could easily live off of rolls.  I love them that much.
I would rather cook a 5 course meal that takes all day than make a sandwich.
I despise the word crusty.  It makes me cringe.

Safe Haven

I just found out the other day that one of my favorite Nicholas Sparks books, Safe Haven, is going to be a movie!!! I am so excited :)  It is supposedly coming out in February. If you haven't read the book then you should.  Here is a little summary of the storyline:

When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family. But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards ...

Josh Duhamel will play Alex and Julianne Hough will play Katie.

Date Night/ Near Death Experience

As you know, Tanner and I have been going on at least one date every month.  These dates were planned at the beginning of the year.  If we don't do anything else during the month we have to at least go on the dates that we planned.  Especially since most of them are already paid for!  But since we love each other soooo much we make it a weekly habit.  I know, you just threw up in your mouth a little! :)

Last month we went to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery and saw 39 steps by Alfred Hitchcock.  The play is about a man in London trying to help a counterespionage agent. (I don't know what that means...so I googled it.... it's government activities designed to detect and counteract enemy espionage) But when the agent is killed and he stands accused, he must go on the run to both save himself and also stop a spy ring trying to steal top secret information.  We laughed throughout the play!  It reminded me a little of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  We definitely enjoyed it!

I bet you are wondering about the "near death experience" part of our date.  Well on the way back from Montgomery is was raining cats and dogs.... I wonder where that expression came from?  And who decided on cats and dogs?  My animals hate the rain....  Abby will hold her business for 2 days if she has to... she will not go out in the rain! 

Anyways, it was raining so hard that we could barely see.  The roads were full of water, the wipers were going so fast that I thought they might fly off the car, and we were driving very slow for 231.  Well before we know it we start to hydroplane.  I have hydroplaned many times but never like this.... we did a 180 through the median.... At this point I thought we were going to flip, I was in the passenger side and was picturing my head smashing against the ground!  Pretty scary, but we made it through the median without flipping.  The only thing I can figure is that it was so wet that we just kept sliding and God was definitely watching over us!  So we made it through the first hoop but we are still sliding and are now on the opposite side of 231, sliding sideways accross oncoming traffic.  At this point I grabbed Tanner's hand and was pretty much saying my goodbye because I just knew that this was it.  I just knew that all those cars coming at us were going to crush us.... at least me anyways, they were headed for my side of the car.  BUT we made it through that as well.... and then comes the hill.... we are headed for the trees now...  Tanner was finally able to gain control of the car again and was able to slam on the breaks before we went for the trees. 

We just sat there in silence for a minute in awe that we were still alive and that we made it through the whole ordeal like nothing ever even happened.  Molly Mazda's axle was full of mud and chunks of grass.  Also, the tire weights were knocked off but other than that eveything was fine.

In the movies you always see the person's life flash before their eyes but all I felt was peace.  I wasn't scared, I was content.  I don't have regrets in my life and am happy.  I have always been someone who is thankful for everything that God has provided me with and rarely take things for granted. I say rarely because everyone takes things for granted!  I absolutely hate negativity and try to find the positives in everything that life has to offer.  The good and bad.

Looking back on our little scary adventure that lasted about 30 seconds but seemed like 10 minutes.... I think about something that Abraham Lincoln said:

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count.  It's the life in your years."

This is an absolute fact! :)  So make sure that you are really living your life because you just never know what can happen!!!!

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum Series

I have been reading the witty Stephanie Plum series for the past 3 months now.  I finished reading them this weekend.  There are a total of 18 books and the 19th book comes out in November.  I will definitely pre-order it!!

The books are about a girl named Stephanie who is a bounty hunter with lots of attitude.  She is quite possibly the worst bouny hunter in the Trenton area.  She makes captures off of luck and just the simple fact that all of her FTA's are caught by suprise by whatever crazy thing Stephanie ends up doing.  Her cars are always getting blown up, wrecked, or stolen. 

She is in the middle of the longest lasting love triangle ever.  Either guy would be a great pick.  Morelli, her on-again, off again boyfriend is more husband material.  Ranger, her mentor and sometimes lover, is very mysterious but lots of fun! (I'm definitely leaning towards team Ranger, especially after Smokin Seventeen!!)  Her partner in crime is a previous ho named Lula.  Lula is quite the character and you will literally laugh out loud at the things that come out of her mouth!

These books are great!  If you haven't read them then you need to go out there and purchase the first book, but beware.... They are addicting!!





Three Things Thursday

1.  I know I haven't blogged in over a month!  I just get soooo busy and tend to put things on the back burner for later.  I have been working on our house and the more I work on it, the more I feel like that I am not getting anything done!  Very annoying and frustrating.  BUT when I step back and think about what the house looked like just 4 weeks ago, I notice how far we have actually come.  My mom bought this beautiful potted plant/flower for our front porch.  Let's just say that I am the opposite of a green thumb.  I did everything that I was told to do to take care of it AND I followed the directions that came with it, but somehow still ended up killing it.  Maybe one day I will be good at taking care of plants....


2.  It seems like everyone around me is having a baby or getting preggo!! I for one am not ready for that and am staying away from new borns for the time being.... I know you can't really get baby cuties, but I just don't want to take the chance! haha People keep asking me if I have baby fever and no, no I don't. I'm not sure if I will actually ever have "baby fever" I get PUPPY fever! :) This past weekend Tanner and I added to our family, a baby laboykin. He is a lab and boykin mix and just has the cutest personality! We made a decision that Max would be our last animal addition to the family. Living in the city has its limits and we just don't have enough room for any more animals! Well....maybe a bird or fish...? I'm just kidding!



3.  Is it really June?? Man has this year gone by fast!  I guess with all the excitement of being a newly wed, being promoted and purchasing a new home has just made this year fly by.  Next month will be a year that Tanner and I have been married! CRAZY!  People always say that the first year of marriage is the hardest.  Well I'll tell you what I have learned... Yes it is hard, BUT you just have to learn to ignore things.  Like the fact that that your significant other throws his clothes on the floor.... not even a foot from the laundry basket.  I mean come on, just sneeze and your clothes will make it into the basket.  But instead of starting an unnecessary argument over nothing, just let it roll.  Save your energy to argue about the more important things! haha!!  I'm just kidding.  Try your best not to argue but instead have a conversation.


I hope everyone has a marvelous Thursday!!

Bucket List

I MARKED ONE OFF THE LIST!

Get busy living or get busy dying!

Here's my list! I will continue to add things!
Items that are scratched out have already been done.



Go to Australia
Ride in a hot air balloon
See the northern lights
Ice skate at the Rockefeller Center
Go whale-watching
Visit Alaska
Marry my best friend
Be a spectator at a Cirque du Soleil
Go on a safari
Run a marathon
Become an early riser







Go to a Boston Red Sox game
Attend a murder mystery dinner
Go deep sea fishing
Learn to salsa dance
Take a self-defense class
See Macy's 4th of July Spectacular live
Go on a helicoptor ride
Drive down Route 66
Become a home owner
Learn to say "no" without feeling guilty







See the pyramids in Egypt
Visit the four corners
Learn to play poker
Have a house with a wrap around porch
Take up yoga
Go to the winter Olympics
Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
Take a photo a day for a year
Dive the Great Barrier Reef

Swim with dolphins
Ride a segway
Shoot my own Thanksgiving turkey
Build something
Go to Bora Bora
Witness a meteor shower
Adopt a pet from the animal shelter
Hike the Inca Trail

Manic Monday: Weekend Recap

FRIDAY:
- We bought a house!!!
- I signed ALL the papers wrong... so now I have to sign them all over
- We celebrated at Rodeo with the whole family
- We moved furniture until 3:00 in the morning....

 

SATURDAY:
- We slept in!
- We finished moving the furniture
- We bought a new trash can and got the smell good trash bags.  I'm never using regular trash bags again!
- We found out that the light in the master bedroom doesn't work
- We worked on the kitchen
- We set up the washer and dryer

SUNDAY:
- We had a blow out.  Very scary!
- We went shopping!



One of my most favorite items that we purchased was a blue chair.  It is so comfortable!  This picture is not the exact chair but it is very similar.  Isn't it cute?!

Three Things Thursday: The Lucky One

If you have seen the Lucky One then you know that it is a good movie.  If you have read the book then you know that the movie was VERY disappointing!  Regardless, there are still some quotes from the Lucky One that I loved!

1. "Finding something like that, in a war, is like finding an angel in hell."- Logan

2.  "You should be kissed everyday, every hour, every minute."- Logan

3.  "Sometimes the most ordinary things could be made extraordinary, simply by doing them with the right people."- Elizabeth Green 'Beth' (quote from the book!)