Disappeared

I disappeared. I disappeared for awhile there didn't I? Wow. Its been almost 2 full months since I posted. That may be a blogging record for me. Not the kind I want to set. But I'm about to get you all up to speed on our last 2 months. You see there is this thing called Step. Step is a test that sucks all light from your soul, and then slits your throat. Thats really the best way of describing it. But somehow you survive the light sucking, and the throat slitting. Its a miracle really. And I'm not here to complain about step. I am just explaining to you where I went for 2 months. Well actually no, June was spent in blissful bliss, frolicking around the country (Countries) and gaining back any light that was sucked from us. If you can make it through 2nd year of med school with an aspiring surgeon. You can make it through anything. We went on a cruise! Which I was actually not looking forward to. (I know how lame of me to be worried about leaving my child for a week) That is all I could think about-all the stories of kids losing an arm while their parents were away on some trip. So....my mom came out and eased my worries a little, and she brought Faith who played with him and helped my mom out, and it was a break from my mom's day to day life with my autistic brother Ammon-so it worked out.

 So Brad surprised me on Vday with this cruise as my gift, anniversary gift, and post step gift. I know husbands are always normally gone 8-5 right? And that's fine, thats normal. And some are even gone more than that-but it wasn't that he was gone 8-5, home for dinner for an hour, then gone 6-10 every single day even Saturday and Sunday. It was just that he carried with him such an indescribable burden with him. This feeling of everything rides on this test. He wants to be an orthopedic surgeon (or some type of surgeon but he says its ortho 100%) and you have to do well on the test to be competitive, so if he doesn't do well, there is no other options, he has to do well, or basically he will be unhappy doing something else that isn't per-say his 'dream'. Its not pretentious its just what he wants, he loves, and he wants to do something he loves. 

So...everything rides on that, if he loved ortho and it wasn't competitive then he wouldn't have to score so well, and then he wouldn't be as stressed I would say. So the level of stress is what he carried, and naturally I carried it as well. So all along I knew the Lord would take care of us, and has a plan for us, so I just had faith that it would all work out. I don't think it put a 'toll' on our relationship, but it definitely made me feel like my relationship was different, kinda one sided I would say-as I had Mr. Jello Brain for a husband. He would come home and I would try to pillow talk and several times I would be mid sentence and wahlah he would jump, like the sleep jump. Twitching would have you. Mid-sentence! I mean...who is that tired? Who falls asleep when I say, "How was stu-!TWITCH!-dying?" He does. He did pre-Step. But don't worry. We remembered why we like each other spending every single second together for 8 days straight. PS We got his Step scores back yesterday, and phew....we are VERY happy with his score and he will after all...be able to be competitive as an orthopedic surgeon.

 So, all that stress for nothing. Actually, I am pretty sure he needed the stress to keep him going, and I needed the stress to age me 5 years so people stop asking for my ID when I try to buy wine. (I have never bought wine in my life.) Mostly just when I am walking through a casino is the only time its happened to me, and I love it. But seriously, we are so blessed and we know that, and we contribute it to all the prayers and fasting of our family members and loved ones.

Our cruise left from Galveston, so we just took the quick 9 hour drive down there and boarded our ship. We put our swimsuits on then had someone take this pic of us, then realized we didn't have time to swim so we promptly changed back into our dinner clothes. Cruise newbies. 

They always had performances and singers going non-stop, so we were frequent attenders to the shows and what have you.

We learned quick that the sit down dinners were fabulous and did not even compare to the buffet that was open all the time.

We attended many comedies. We went to the non-family friendly one and realized really quick we weren't in love with listening to the F word every other word. No joke, how does a person complete a sentence with that many F words. I didn't think it was possible, or funny at all. So we stuck to family friendly.

We went to several shows, and one time Brad wanted to go to the magic show and I was so tired, he told me he was going to go get us seats, and I could get ready then come down. I fell asleep and didn't wake up until the show had already started and by that time it was so dark in the theater and I couldn't find him, and it was mayhem and we had a small tussle because he was mad at me, then I got mad at him for getting mad at me for being exhausted, and then we were newlyweds again :). Actually no...because we fought a lot more as newlyweds than we do now. 

I usually ordered 1 or 2 appetizers every meal, then 1 or 2 entrees, then 1 or 2 desserts. Only once did I order 3 entrees. Just because I wanted to try all the crazy food. I tried alligator, shark, and I tried cow and fish and shrimp and lobster several times over ;). The portions were pretty small so I didn't feel too bad, plus my stomach was so stretched out by the end that was like a normal amount of food for me. 

Our ports visited Cozumel, Mexico, Belize, and Roatan Honduras.

In Mexico we swam with dolphins, which was way too expensive in my opinion for what we got. I thought we would be swimming in a cove with wild dolphins they roped in and we could do as we please, but no it was very structured with trainers and 1 dolphin and very money driven obviously as a freakin picture cost $30, but I watched families pay over $300 dollars for their precious pictures and I just said to myself-I will remember the moment I kissed a dolphin. Belize we got on a small boat and jumped off in the middle of the ocean and snorkeled with a guide I couldn't understand and he swam too fast for my looking needs. I got my salt intake for the next 3 years because sometimes I forgot I was snorkeling and I just would breathe through my nose, then that would fog my mask so I would take it off then I would rinse it then somehow putting the snorkel back in required me getting insane amounts of salt water in my mouth. 

In Honduras we got a cab with some random couple, and went to a restaurant in Honduras and ate the REAL non touristy Honduran food, because that is where Brad served his mission.  Then we went back to a beach and got completely sun burned because somehow the sun just was our next door neighbor that day, so hot.

We spent the nights of our cruising at shows, and on the Serenity deck where no kids are allowed, in the hot tub just talking to each other or strangers. We talked and talked, and some days we watched movies in bed in our room, and some days we just laid out all day. So basically it was wonderful on so many different levels. I didn't miss Miles too much the first 4/5 days, then by day 5 I would see a baby and hold back tears. I just got so....emotional about it, and I don't know why. I missed him, and I needed him more than anything. I knew this before but he is just part of me now and if I don't have his little grimy hands and too long of fingernails scratching my face and grabbing my cheeks and kissing my lips I get sad. So yes, it was a wonderful break from real life. It was a break and everybody needs those, couples need those. So it was worth the money, time, and leaving Miles to take an amazing trip with my amazing husband. 

PS I will add pictures later because we mostly took pics on Brads phone :) and I only have mine right now!