Promised Pictures

Folks have shared and so, now I can post a couple more pictures of the cruise to Ensenada.

This first one is a picture of our ship in Los Angeles where we boarded. It was actually docked right next to the Queen Mary which I hadn't seen since I was 6! (Remember mom? When we went with grandma and grandpa?)

Justin's comment about this one is that it makes it look really fun because you can't tell from the picture that it was too cold to swim. Even so, Marissa and I braved the water slide. As soon as I hit the plunge pool I made a bee line for the ladder and emphatically yelled "Get me out! Get me out!" at the kids who were in my way. Not only was the air cold- but the water was actual ocean water that they pump in for the pools. Brrr- like freezing cold french fries.

The next photo is pretty self explanatory- a group of us eating lunch in Ensenada. What you can't really tell from the picture is that we had 4 tables lined up but it was so chilly in the shade that most of us were huddled around the one table that was in the sunshine- not just for the photo-ops, but for warmth! (I know, all you Iowan's are crying for me and my chilly trip to Mexico! Boo-hoo, hace frio!!)

You also may notice that Justin is managing to have a philisophical conversation in the background during this festive photo op....weirdo. :)

This last one is my personal favorite. Clearly Justin enjoyed getting to know my colleagues as here he is pictured with a "what on earth" look on his face.

Actually, James (the other guy in the picture) and his wife were the couple we rode down to LA with. We had a lot of fun with them- they go to our church and are leaders for the high school group there. Justin and James both got a kick out of this picture.

Ryan Adams Concert

So, last week we discovered that Ryan Adams was going to be performing on Monday night in Santa Barbara at the Arlington Theatre. (Ryan Adams is a favorite of ours- we've seen him 3 times!) So, we decided to buy tickets in lieu of paying to do any excursions in Ensenada.

On our way up to the balcony we found a strange door that had Justin perplexed:

The Arlington is pretty cool- here's a little video pre-show that I took so you could see what it looks like on the inside. It's hard to tell, but the theatre looks like it is open-air but actually the ceiling is made to look like the evening sky- with stars and everything. In fact, when we first poked our heads in downstairs Justin thought it WAS an outside theatre!

Ryan came out onstage at 7:53 (concert wasn't supposed to start until 8:00) and declared that he was "bored" and proceeded to play a short acoustic set. This was awesome for us b/c we love his acoustic stuff and weren't anticipating hearing any of it (since he is currently touring with his band and his most recent album was a little harder rock than usual). Here is a short clip of part of one of his acoustic songs- "Damn Sam I Love a Woman that Rains"

After the acoustic set things sort of went downhill. The audience decided it would be fun to yell out requests- he doesn't take them- and then when the band proceeded to joke around between sets (which we thought was kind of funny) audience members actually yelled "SHUT UP AND PLAY". Then, the concert ended WITHOUT an encore. First concert I have EVER been to that didn't include an encore!! Major disappointment but, in a way, it was to be expected. He has never been a predictable performer and still isn't!

Cruise etc.

I know this is going to be a bit of a disappointment BUT I really didn't take many pictures on the Cruise. Other people did and so there is a possibility of pictures in the future, if those other people share...

The cruise was cool. It wasn't really "us" exactly- kind of a vegas-on-water feel to it- but it was free and it was fun to hang out with and get to know people from Softshare better. It was a 3 day weekend cruise down to Ensenada (which is on the Baja Peninsula and which, incidentally, has the exact same weather as Santa Barbara...) so it's not like we were swimming or snorkeling or even laying out in the sun (too chilly!). But it was sunny and nice out and it was cool to go on our first cruise. Although, you could really feel the rocking of the boat more than I thought we'd be able to. THAT was really weird- it felt like you were constantly on the verge of passing out- like the feeling of vertigo. Strange.

Here are a couple pictures of our room and the dining room:

One Week and I'm already BURNED OUT!!

Children's Choir hasn't even started back up yet!! I'm exhausted. Maybe because our vacation was a bit of a whirlwind... Fun, but a whirlwind.

Here are some highlights:

1. We found out we're going to be an aunt and uncle!!! Justin's little sister Abby and her husband Kyle are expecting in July!! Yeahh!!! I can't wait to be a "fun" aunt (Aaron knows what I mean by that.)

2. Happy Joe's taco pizza, Anita's chicken and noodles, Anita's chocolate chip cookies, BRUEGGER's.

3. IOWA (no explanation or elaboration necessary there).

4. Sanibel!! My parents gave us a trip to Sanibel for Christmas. It was BEAUTIFUL and an awesome way to spend time with my family who I MISS LIKE CRAZY!!

5. Getting bumped on our return flight... Now, this might sound like a bad thing but really, it wasn't. Our return flight, which was supposed to take us from Sarasota, FL to North Carolina, then to Arizona, and finally to Santa Barbara at 6:30 PM was overbooked. We volunteered to be "bumped" in return for compensation (two free round-trip tickets). Our bump landed us home 5 hours EARLY, we flew first class from Tampa to Vegas AND we still got two free round-trip tickets....for the inconvenience.

The downside of our vacation:
1. 5 extra pounds (see above #2)

2. Exhaustion (see above #1-5)

Now we can't wait to go home again!! Luckily, we have two free round trip tickets!!!