Our Cruise Adventure

After Christmas of 2010 and having to help clean Kyle and Bethany's bedrooms and seeing how much stuff they had in their rooms, I decided that I'm absolutely sick and tired of clutter.  I informed them that next Christmas was going to be different; we're going to create memories instead clutter.  I told them that we were going to go on a family trip somewhere and that would be my Christmas present to them.  I reassured them that Santa would still come and give them a present or two and he would fill their stockings.

I informed Tessa of my new plan and asked her if she would want to go with us; she said yes.  I decided on a cruise because it would be a first for all four of us.  Tessa was thrilled and offered to pay her way!  I looked at many different cruises and finally decided to go with Carnival, so I booked the cruise.

I'm going off topic for a second, but you'll understand why in a moment.  Sometime after Luke died, I got a book from the library about a woman and her five daughters at Christmas time.  The author wrote about each woman and her story.  One of the daughters inherited her grandmother's home, so whenever the granddaughter had a life decision, she would ask her grandmother for her approval for the decision she was wanting to make.  Even though, her grandmother had passed away, the granddaughter knew that when a letter addressed to her grandmother came in the mail, it was really her grandmother giving her, the granddaughter, her blessing.  Ever since I read the book, when I receive a letter or a piece of mail addressed to Luke, I think it's Luke letting me know that he's still here with me and saying hi.  He is giving me his blessing that I'm doing well in life.  I choose to believe.

Back to the cruise story.  So I booked the cruise, and the very next day in the mail, I received a post-card in the mail from Carnival Cruises addressed to Luke.  When I saw it, I started to cry.  At that point, Luke had been dead for 5 1/2 years and not once did I use his name, plus, he never had the opportunity to go on a cruise.  I knew for a fact that he was sending me his blessing that I booked the cruise!  He's such a great guy!

Kyle and Bethany knew that we were going to go on a trip, but they had no idea where.  On Christmas morning, I announced that we were going to go on a cruise.  They were super excited, but Bethany was a little scared that the ship might sink.

I packed our bags and gathered the kids birth certificates and Luke's death certificate just in case.  I could not find my birth certificate, even though I just had it a month or two ago.  I searched every nook and cranny to find the safe place where I hid it.  I never found it.  I didn't know what to do, so I brought my baptismal certificate and my marriage certificate hoping that something might work.  Tessa's boyfriend dropped us off at the port and the porter took our bags.  We went through security and waited to through a massive line to embark.  We finally made it to the next available person, so I gave her all of our information.  When she got to me, she frowned.  She went and got her supervisor and that's when things started to look really, really bad.

It was Jan. 2, and it was technically a legal holiday, so calling the state register recorder office was out of the question.  We tried calling the hospital where I was born to get a copy of my birth, but nobody was answering their phones.  I started to cry because the only options were to let Tessa take the kids on the cruise, and I go home or all four of us go home.  In a last ditch effort, I called my mom and asked her where she was and if my younger brother was home.  Thankfully, she just pulled up to her house and my brother was out front with her, so they both drove to my house and broke in.  I told my brother go into my bedroom and go into my closet.  I told him what box to pull out and where to look for my hospital birth certificate.  As he was looking through my baby book, I thought of where my legal birth certificate might be.  He stopped looking through my baby book, and looked at the other place, but it wasn't there.  He told my mom that he felt like he was never going to find the document, but he didn't give up.  All of the sudden, he stated the name of the city where I was born, and asked if that was it.  He found my hospital birth certificate with the the official seal on it.  Oh my gosh, I cried again.  Since it was a holiday, every mail box place that faxes was closed.  He went to a cash checking place and basically convinced the guy behind the counter to fax the document.  I got the fax and it was approved, so we were allowed to embark.  All of us were so thankful.  I think this year, I need to break down and spend the money and get ourselves passports.

We had an amazing time on the cruise.  Kyle was able to wander freely because he was old enough, but he had to check in with me.  He was very responsible and was able to earn more freedom every night.  I was quite impressed with him.  Bethany wanted to hang out with me and Tessa most of the time, but spent some time in Camp Carnival.   Bethany felt a little seasick and had to take a little medicine to help out her tummy, but the rest of us felt fine.  I loved the rocking of the boat and it felt soothing while we were in bed trying to fall asleep.

I cannot believe the amount of food I ate.  It was great knowing that we could eat whenever we wanted and could try everything.  I loved that they had different themes at the buffet, so I was able to try many different foods that I would normally not try.  During our fancy dinner time, Tessa and I would sample each other's starters (appetizers).  Every night, they had a "didja" (did you ever try?) on the menu.  The first night they had escargot, but we didn't order it.  I was worried that my stomach would react violently towards all of that butter that the snails were swimming in.  The next night, we ordered the alligator thingies.  They were breaded balls with alligator mixed in with it.  It was okay, but all of the other flavors washed out the alligator, so I'm not really sure what alligator tastes like.  The third night, Tessa ordered the candied salmon and it was nasty.  It was raw salmon with some other weird stuff, but Tessa didn't mind it.  On the last night, they had three different types of sushi.  I tried each one, but hated all of them, while Tessa loved it.   Almost every night, I got the molten lava chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert.  I only ate half, but enjoyed every single bite.  Since I ate so much, I hardly ever took the elevator, so I walked up and down many flights of steps.  My calves were hurting so bad the second day, but by the last day, my calves were used to being used so much.

Two of my friends and their families joined us on the cruise and it made the experience extra special.  I hope that we can travel again together!