Caribbean Cruise - Cozumel, Mexico

We got an early start this morning because we had to catch a ferry to Playa del Carmen to meet a man named Helamen to tour the ruins of Tulum. We weren't in any sort of rush until we realized we had to catch the ferry at another dock a mile or so away! We ran through the town and made it just barely in time! It was SO hot and humid that once we got on the ferry, I was not in a good mood. I was so sweaty and just felt gross so Brady bought me a bottled water and I calmed down :). This is us on the way to catch the ferry before we realized what kind of rush we were in.

Finally made it on the ferry, trying to cool down! Brady wore the shirt he did because he felt like it looked like ruins and thought it was appropriate for the occasion.
Touring the ruins, which were pretty cool actually. I wasn't super excited about going, but it turned out to be really nice weather (not too hot or humid) and a great time to spend together learning about the history of Tulum.
Really cool, old temples

Listening to the tour guide. Helaman didn't actually give us the tour, it was his son Nefi (Nephi) and he was really nice. He gave us the tour with an LDS history of the ruins and talked about the Lamanites and stuff. It was really cool.

I wished I had brought my swimming suit because the beach there was so pretty and the water was too, but we didn't plan for it and didn't have enough time.

We stopped in the shops and looked around and enjoyed the experience. I bought the cutest Mexican bowl that was handmade and painted in the most vibrant colors. It was definitely a good time.

After a long day, we went back to the ship, so I had to get a pic of us in front of it, right?

Me and Miss. Phil and Alesha stayed back to eat at Margaritaville.

Later that night, Brady and Phil were both chosen to be in the Daning with the Stars competition! It was hilarious! I'll be honest, Brady can really bust a move and it was so fun watching him. Phil was so nervous, but ended up taking 2nd place! Brady got voted off because the judges thought he was too crazy and all over the place.

Brady busting a move...

This is him "backstage" being interviewed after he got voted off. It was so great.

Cozumel was a blast!

Caribbean Cruise - Grand Cayman

We were all looking forward to our stop at the Grand Cayman Islands because we've heard it's amazing, but unfortunatley, it was so windy that we were unable to dock the ship because the waves were so big. It was so hot and sunny that day that it seemed odd that we couldn't go play on the beach. We were all quite bummed. So we all just hung out on the ship and had a really good time. The water in the Grand Cayman is amazingly blue and clear we all just wanted to swim in it, but couldn't!
This night we at the Four Seasons restaurant which was always a good choice. We loved the food and I always walked away being so full.

After dinner we went to the lounge and watched the karaoke for a while, then went to a show then Phil, Brady and I went to a comedy show before I called it a night. All the fun in the sun made me tired!

Love this pic of us and my grandparents

This was taken at the show we went to that night. Some of the shows were better than others, but overall, they provided good entertainment for everyone.

While I was on the cruise, I didn't feel like I was that tan, but now that I look back at the pictures, I realize that I did get lots of color! I want to go back already!

Caribbean Cruise - Ocho Rios Jamaica

Jamaica was by far my most favorite stop. I loved everything about it! The hot weather, the people and how they speak (they always say "no problems in Jamaica, just situations"), the little shops and how beautiful it was. My entire family, except grandma and grandpa, swam with the dolphins and went to Dunns River Falls, while Brady and I went swimming with the horses and horse back riding. It was so much fun to spend the whole day with him. This is us on our way to the excursion, we were so excited.Jamaica was beautiful! I seriously loved it and the weather was amazing. Really hot and humid, but I loved it. While we were waiting to ride the horses, I asked someone to take this picture of us in front of the ocean because I loved it so much.

This is what we did! This was the group before us so I took a picture of them since I knew I wasn't going to take my camera with me in the water. We first rode around the island (see pics below) and then went bareback on the horse in the water. The horses were literally swimming in the water with us on their backs. It was so crazy. The horses make this weird noise when they swim and a couple times my horse almost made me fall off, but I stayed strong and stayed on. The next day my inner thighs were sore from straining to stay on the horse.

So amazing!

Striking a pose for the camera on my horse "Brittany" (that was the name they gave her, not me)

Brady looking sweet on his horse "Alex"

After riding around the island, we HAD to eat Jamaican Jerk Chicken - I mean we had to! I even bought the Jamaican Jerk spread so I can make it at home. I loved it. The Jamaican people eat the entire chicken, beak, feet, bones and everything! I think they thought it was weird that we threw all the bones and stuff away, but nonetheless, it was so good and I had to get a picture of Brady eating it. Btw, check Brady's sunburn. He got SO sunburned the first couple days and it was in such an odd pattern. You'll be able to see the weird lines in some of the pics throughout these posts. haha

After riding the horses, we of course went back to the ship and ate MORE food. it was great.

I absolutely love this picture of my grandparents. They are so special to me, I love them so much.

Later that evening, we went to a show (we went to a show almost every night) and Phil orderded so much food from the sports bar for dinner. We didn't go to a restaurant this night because we were all so hungry so we just did a huge buffet

Missy and aunt Suzi

SOOOOO much food!

Also, I forgot to mention that Brady was seriously chosen to be in almost every single game show. This night we were actually both chosen to be in family fued, it was so much fun. He was at the head of the group and had to introduce all of us. He said he was from Utah and that all the girls on his team were his wives and the boys were his cousins or something. Gosh, talk about living up to the typical Utah stereotype!!

Caribbean Cruise - Day at Sea

Days at sea are so great because we just lounged around, at ice cream and great food, played LOTS of dice (one of Grandma and Grandpa's favorite things), layed out and had a really fun time. Here is a pic of one of the many games of dice we played.Our two favorite restaurants, Seven Seas and Four Seasons, were great and we rotated almost every other night eating at one of the two. This night we ate at Seven Seas where we all loved the spring roll for the appatizer and this night Brady even got 2 of them because they were so good, and the chocolate fudge sunday was definitely a must for dessert!
My cute parents, grandparents and my aunt Julie

Lesh, me and Missy

Such a fun chill day on the ship. I loved it.

Caribbean Cruise - Great Stirrup Cay

Our last stop was to Great Stirrup Cay, an island in the Bahamas that Norwegian Cruise Lines owns. It's beautiful and will be even more beautiful once all the construction on the island is complete. The water is so blue and pretty, I was in heaven. It wasn't very warm this day, kind of over cast, which was a bummer, but it was still so fun. We hung out on the beach, went snorkeling, ate lots of food (of course) and even took a nap on the lounge chairs. It was a great relaxing day. This lady was seriously walking around the whole beach with her metal/gold detector trying to find hidden treasures. I had to snap a pic of her because I thought it was so funny for some reason.
Is that blue water even serious? It's so clear I loved it! Along with the white sandy beaches, it was awesome.

Brady, Missy and Lesh stopping for a picture while we toured the whole island.


After we got back to the ship, showered and changed, we all put on our awesome orange shirts and celebrated my grandparents 69th wedding anniversary at Tepanyaki. I felt a little stupid because everyone was staring at us, but at the same time, I thought it was really fun and Grandma and Grandpa LOVED the shirts, which made theh embarassment all worth it.

All of us (minus Missy, Brady and me) at Tepanyaki. Great time for sure.

Can be as cute as my Grandma and Grandpa when I'm 89? They are so in love with each other and are such a great example of how a marriage is and how true love really does last. They are amazing!

The cute workers on the ship grew to love my grandparents, I mean, who doesn't love them, and brought in this really yummy cake for all of us to share after we were done eating dinner. It was so fun to celebrate their anniversary with them. They're already talking about another cruise this year to celebrate their 70th anniversary!

After a week of fun, laughter, all the ice cream one could wish for, sunshine, dancing and eating our hearts out, it was finally time to go home :(. Once we docked in Florida and were waiting to get off the ship it was so funny to see everyone instantly get on their phones. This picture of Brady, my dad and my mom pretty much sums it up!

The Caribbean was great and I can't wait to go back again sometime soon!

Layton Half Marathon

Brady and I ran the Layton half marathon yesterday and it was quite the experience. On Friday, we left work early to head up to my cousin Emily's wedding at Millcreek Inn. She looked beautiful and it was so great to be with all the Jensen's. We left straight from the wedding and headed up to Layton to pick up our race packets and check into our hotel. We checked in and picked up our packets then went to Olive Garden to do some good ol' fashioned carb loading. Mmmmm, breadsticks, and fettucine alfredo hit the spot.

With school and my new responsibilities at work, I haven't had that much time to really train for this race and neither has Brady. I didn't feel prepared for it, but knew I had to get geared up for it regardless. We went to bed somewhat early because we knew 5:30 a.m. would come all too soon. The alarm went off and I was dead tired! We followed the shuttle from the hotel to the park where we had to get on a bus and be shuttled to Antelope Island where the race started. It was a cold, cold morning with a lot of waiting around....not how you want the morning of your race to begin.

We got to Antelope Island at 7:05 a.m. and waited around in the freezing cold until a little before 8:30 a.m. - we had to wait for all the runners to get shuttled to the island. It was absolutely crazy! We finally started running and it started to warm up and was perfect running weather. Due to my lack of training, my IT band on my left leg was absolutely killing me so I had stop 3 seperate times because I felt like I couldn't even bend my knee. I was so annoyed! We finished the race, got our medals, had some food and headed home.

If you are ever considering signing up for the Layton half or full marathon, I don't recommend it to be honest. It was disorganized and an insanely boring course. I'm happy I did it, but it's nothing compared to the Salt Lake City Marathon, that's my favorite! I'm happy to mark another half marathon off my list and look forward to more in the future.

Twilight Concert Series and Utah Game

Missy, Brady and I went to a couple of concerts at the park this summer, Bright Eyes (Brady's most favorite band ever!) and Ghostland Observatory, very entertaining. We had a lot of fun enjoying the summer weather, not to mention all the great people watching - that in and of itself makes for a great evening. haha. After one of the concerts, we were craving some ice cream and then we drove by an A & W and who can turn down a root beer float? I can't tell you the last time I had a root beer float and it was really good :-)
Brady's mom works for the U and she got us tickets to the first game of the season and it was great. Again, a great night to enjoy the summer weather and enjoy time with my hubby. I couldn't help but look north east of the stadium to Primary Children's Medical Center and think of our sweet angel baby, Pierce. We think of him often and love him loads.

School is officially in for both Brady and I and we're staying busy with that and work, of course. Work has been busier than ever lately, but I am grateful to be employed and count my blessings daily.