Stamp and Cruise

I finally was able to sort through my pictures and resize them to post here so you can all see what I did for the week I was gone! I had such a wonderful time on the cruise. I was REALLY homesick for my kids, but still had a fabulous time meeting all of these wonderful people, stamping my heart out and visiting some new exotic places!

This first picture was one of the many ice and fruit sculptures we saw all week. This was set up as we walked into the Windjammer Cafe for our lunch right after boarding the cruise ship.

The next picture is of Alma, Gina, Kim and myself. They were so kind to invite me out for a drink one night. I had a great time and really enjoyed getting to know them.

One of the very first things we had to do once on the cruise ship was have our lifejacket drill! Here's a picture of Julie and Amber. It was pretty funny seeing a room full of people in life jackets!

It was such a pleasure to meet Char and Wendy on the cruise! The group of friends they were with were a lot of fun and had us laughing most of the time!

This is our dinner crew. We had such a blast with Kris and Luann every night. Getting to hear the exciting excursions they took daily and their experiences in their stamping classes. Our waiter, Vivek, was such a joy. He was absolutely adorable in every way and made our dinners so enjoyable.

We had a lot of fun with Tolga too! He was our head waiter. I think he received a lot of cards that we stamped during the week. Kim made him a "special" card that made all of the rest of us laugh!

Meeting Em for the first time was a real treat. She is such a superstar and I just loved getting to know her!

Gina was a lot of fun too! She had SO MUCH energy and just never stopped. You would never know that she barely slept! LOL She is such a warm person and I really enjoyed getting to spend time with her.

Nichole was such a sweetheart. She is every bit the sweet, beautiful person she portrays on her blog. It was a real thrill to finally meet her.

Nicky is an absolute baby doll! She is so sweet and so very talented. I really enjoyed spending time with Nicky and getting to know her. It's just impossible not to give her a hug every time you see her!

I had such a great time meeting Amber. She is a friend of Julie's who says she isn't a stamper (she fooled us) LOL. I knew Julie through blogging and Paper Pretties and had talked to her a few times before going on the cruise. So, when she said she was bringing a friend with her, I was a little nervous. Being in close quarters for 7 days with someone you've never met can be scary. We had THE BEST time. I felt like I had known Amber and Julie all my life. They made the cruise (and my missing my babies) the best time EVER. I wish they didn't live so far away from me! I miss you guys!

The three of us didn't know what to do being able to dress up each night and not have kids pulling on us and getting their sticky fingers all over our outfits! LOL And for me, wearing something that didn't have to be breastfeeding friendly was a real treat!

Here's a picture of Julie and I in front of the boat in Jamaica. The weather was absolutely beautiful!

Here's a picture of the theater from the next deck up. We went to see the shows, which were great, but they really made me miss my days of performing. . .especially on the cruise ship.

Here's a picture of Wendy, Rhonda and Brenda on our last night of the cruise. They were so much fun and such a riot! It was great meeting you girls!

I almost forgot about this picture of my roomies and I on the beach in Labadee, Haiti. What a beautiful beach and a spectacular view of the ship in the background.

Last, but not least, here's a picture of my sweet daughters. I brought them each back a shirt from Haiti and they just HAD to put them on right then. I had to snap a picture because they were so excited to put them on. My homecoming wasn't the homecoming I expected, unfortunately. I missed my kids SO MUCH. When they picked me up at the airport, I opened the van door to Arwen passed out sleeping and Isaac really irritable. He didn't want to look at me, and that absolutely broke my heart. My husband said he had been irritable all day, but I really think he was mad at me for leaving him for a week. I tried to wean him before I left, but it didn't go too well, so he was forced to drink from sippy cups all week while I was gone. Savannah was so sweet and was standing in the van holding the book she had made for me while I was gone. She flipped through each page to show me the pictures she had drawn and colored of me on the boat! I just started to cry! It was so absolutely sweet. When Arwen woke up, she was VERY excited to see me too! She couldn't stop hugging me and wanted to be by my side always. It took Isaac 2 days to "forgive" me. He's back to normal now, but it still breaks my heart to think about his first reaction when he saw me. My sweet little man.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my pictures! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're having a great day!