Spring Break Cruise: Part VI

(I've been slacking on my cruise posts, but I'm planning on getting them all finished in the next few days so that I won't wait too long and start forgetting things!)

Beautiful Belize and St. Patty's Day!

We awoke bright and early on a cloudy 17th of March....aka St. Patty's Day! Pilar and I quickly suited up, ate our breakfast (room service actually arrived on this day) and headed down to the nightclub to meet up with the boys and with the rest of the people who were going on the snorkeling excursion. Once we had all arrived, we made our way down to the bottom of the ship and boarded the double decker boat that would taxi us to our snorkeling site. As I mentioned, it was a little cloudy and chilly since it was around 8:30am, and there were intermittent rain showers. These factors did not do anything to help my nerves. It may sound silly, but I get really nervous about the smallest things, and this was one of them. I was nervous the water would be cold, nervous I would inhale the water, nervous I would panic, nervous I would get seasick as my brother had when he snorkeled (and we share the same motion sickness issues). Needless to say, I was a little nervous.

Our tour guides on the boat were awesome Belize natives with very thick Jamaican-like accents. They were pretty funny, too. They distributed our snorkles, flippers, and life jackets as we approached our destination. Once we arrived, they gave us the go ahead to jump on in to the water. I followed Pilar out and eased my way on in...and the water was perfect! I fumbled around a little bit, trying to figure out how to breathe and how to make my mask comfortable, and once I got it, I was off. I stayed with Pilar and the guys for a little while, but I soon found myself so completely amazed by all of the life under the water that I ventured way off by myself. I can't explain how awesome it was being out there under the water and seeing the different types of exotic fish and vegetation. I found myself praying a lot while a swam around. This was such an incredible example of just how small we are and how vast God is, that there is an entire world under the ocean that we rarely experience. It was funny, because I would be peaceful and prayerful, and then I would see a cool fish or some colorful coral and would think, "That's fu***** awesome!" I don't generally use a lot of profanity, but this would pop right into my head, and I think that will suffice to say how beautiful it was under those turquoise blue waters.

I think I snorkeled for about an hour and a half or so and then happened upon Pilar on my way back to the boat. We both got back on and ran into Chris who had ended his snorkeling early due to motion sickness issues. There is so much irony in the fact that I NEVER got seasick at any point on the cruise but Chris and Travis both had issues with it. Poor little guys. Anyway, we turned our gear back in and headed to the second deck of the boat for some sun and some rum punch. The sun had come out by this point and our tour guides had graciously made some delicious rum punch for all of us. This was one of my favorite parts of the cruise...sitting atop this boat, gliding over gleaming turquoise-colored waters with the wind flying through my hair, sipping on rum punch, and listening to 90's music. I was sitting next to a really nice older couple from Canada (Pilar and I found that we only ended up meeting older people...not really sure what this says about us,) but this couple was really cool.

By the time we made it back to the ship, we were all in a pretty good mood and I especially was ready to start celebrating St. Patty's day with a Long Island in the hot tub. We did precisely this, and had full access to the hot tubs since everyone on the ship had left to explore Belize. We had decided that the snorkeling would be our only exploration in Belize, espeically since the boys had been there the year before and had said that there really wasn't much to see on land. I believe we made a great decision by staying on the ship because we had pretty much the whole thing to ourselves. We just lounged and enjoyed the incredible water and relaxing day for the rest of the afternoon. Chris worked out and then passed out in the cutest little bear cub position...

I woke up from my sun induced coma just in time to snap a pic of Pilar and Travis mid coma...

And this is what the view from the hot tub looked like:

After our lovely day in the sun, we returned to our rooms, showered, and napped. We joined the boys for dinner...lovely as always, and then headed back up to our room to prepare for our St. Patty's day festivities. I had come prepared with a lime green flashing necktie that I loaned to Chris and I was already wearing a green dress, so Chris and I were safe. Travis decided to safety pin a green apple onto his shirt and fasten some green shot glasses to his head that he would later use to borrow drinks from strangers. Pilar decided to take part of our green luggage tag and pin that onto her dress. We definitely looked ready to party.

We headed down to the piano bar where we enjoyed some lovely "Blue Islands" ...a stronger, much more intense version of a Long Island. We downed a few of those puppies and were good to go. It didn't help our situation that the ship was experiencing some pretty turbulent waters, so it became hard to gauge just how much fun we were having. We met up with Quyen, one of our friends from UMASS, got some seats around the piano, and had a blast. I always enjoy piano bar and this time was no exception! We decided to head over to the nightclub and dance the rest of the night away. This was a great idea, as always, especially when they played Zombie Nation as well as a ton of other ragetastic songs! After a few hours of raging and a missing Travis, we headed back up to the room. Chris recovered Travis outside of their room and we all retired to our quarters. There are many more interesting stories to go along with this night, but unfortunately, I must protect myself and my friends from embarrassment. Needless to say, we had a BLAST!

Next stop: Cozumel!

There's a place in my heart...

I have to begin this by thanking Pilar for inspiring me to write something about my experiences at A&M. I've been wanting to do this for a while and after reading her blog, I think now is the time.



To say that I was born an Aggie would be the understatement of the century. To say that I "bleed maroon" or that I've been raised a die hard Aggie would be like saying that Mother Teresa was a good lady. These would all be major understatements.

My dad has had season tickets since the early eighties...same section, same row, same seats, with the same person: one of his college roommates, Gilbert. We would always rotate who got to go with Dad that week (my mom or brothers usually won) or sometimes we would luck out and get extra seats and would all get to go. At this point, I loved A&M because my parents loved A&M, because my brothers loved A&M, and I loved all of them, so I loved A&M. I stood tall when we were on a losing streak which, let's face it, has happened more than we would have liked in recent years. I never faltered, never jumped on the other team's bandwagon no matter how many of my friends did. We would go to basketball games and baseball games and no matter how bored I got, I always appreciated the atmosphere and warm environment. We bundled for the cold football games. We layered for the Independence Bowl in Shreveport when the Ags played Mississippi State and lost in double overtime after a few inches of snow and a very cold and almost frostbitten 9-year-old Rebecca. I had already experienced a great deal of Aggieland at this point. And then Mark entered his fish year at A&M.

Mark is my oldest brother, almost eight years my senior. I was in fifth grade when he came to A&M and joined the Corps of Cadets, Company L-1. My cousin, Kevin, was a senior in L-1 which made Mark's decision to join. This was an entirely new experience for all of us and I became obsessed. All I talked about was Mark and the Corps. He was my hero, so brave for enduring such hardship and never complaining. He was so old and grown up for already being in college and was just so....cool. We went to all of his Corps events: reviews, barbecues, football game march ins, and receptions. He joined Parson's Mounted Cavalry his sophomore year and helped turn the program around with the help of his classmates. His senior year he was Executive Officer of the Cavalry and of L-1 and by this time he had made incredible, lifetime friends and had matured into a confident, successful man. I couldn't have been more proud of him.

Patrick is my second oldest brother by five years. He was not as sure about joining the Corps as Mark had been, but decided to in the end. His fish year was Mark's senior year, so they had one year together. Pat blossomed throughout his time at A&M and in the Corps. This was his place, where he was meant to be. He was chosen to be guide on bearer for his outfit, which meant that he was in charge of carrying and protecting their flag, a much more daunting task than it sounds as these outfits like to steal each other's flags. The biggest thing to happen to him occured in the spring of his sophomore year. Patrick was elected to be a junior yell leader. This experience was huge for him and for our entire family. It was like he was royalty...instantly famous among Aggies. We were opened to a whole new world full of experiences including marching down the streets of campus in the torchlight parade before midnight yell practice and then entering a stadium of thousands of screaming people through a tunnel on the arm of one of the people that they were ALL waiting for. It was incredible. As a sophomore in high school, this was probably about THE coolest thing that ever could have happened to me. Patrick was also chosen to be a Ross Volunteer, head yell leader, a class agent, and was voted the outstanding senior in the Corps of Cadets his senior year. On top of all of this, Patrick had been very involved with St. Mary's Catholic Church and had always talked about Aggie Awakening. He was always striving to be a good example to his underclassmen and to the rest of the student body as he was an ambassador for A&M. I was a junior in high school when Patrick was a senior at A&M and had grown to be friends with his buddies as we were a little closer in age than Mark and I. It was a lot more emotional for me to watch all of them graduate because I had watched them evolve from shy, timid, bald, scrawny freshmen into secure, confident, mature seniors and I knew things would never be the same with everyone gathered at the outfit barbecue or all the guys hanging out in Pat's room or summer house because they would all scatter to different cities. I also knew I was next in line.

Whether or not I would go to A&M was never a question. I wanted to go to A&M because I wanted to go there, not because my parents wanted me to go there (they did, of course) but because it was my decision. I couldn't imagine going anywhere else and I didn't apply anywhere else. I would go to A&M right off the bat and if I couldn't get in, I would go to Blinn and transfer. That was that. Fortunately, I got in! On December 23rd of my senior year I was working at Hallmark and my parents came in wearing their Aggie gear. "We're going to the Holiday Bowl!" my dad had said. "Really?" I asked. "No, but you got into A&M."

I think I rose five feet in the air. They had been checking the website that showed current students and my name popped up. A few days later, my letter came in the mail. It was happening.

I had a very clear picture of what I wanted from A&M. I wanted to join Kappa Theta Beta, the Catholic sorority that my sister-in-law had been in, and I wanted to be involved in something on campus like Fish Aides or CARPOOL. I wanted to make some awesome friends, guy and girlfriends, and meet a handsome, Catholic Corps boy. I wanted to be engaged by the time I graduated and married within a year of graduating. These were my plans.

It's so funny how much things change, how much you evolve, how much I've changed. I had a rough freshman year. I hadn't realized how hard the transition would be for me, coming from a small town that I had lived in since I was three and had had the same friends since about that time. Making new friends didn't come easy to me, and although I did end up making some awesome ones, I still found myself feeling lonely a lot of the time. I didn't get into Fish Aides or CARPOOL and wondered how my brother could be elected yell leader and I couldn't even get into one of these organizations? I did end up joining Kappa Theta Beta which opened the door for me to so many opportunities and friendships at St. Mary's.

I don't want to drone on with a fact by fact overview of exactly how college panned out for me, I just want to talk about how I've changed. I went into college with plans and a closed mind. I had opinions and prejudices and expectations and plans and all of these things have been radically thrown out of the window. The thing that has kept me sane through college has been my faith. I've definitely faltered at times and made some shady decisions, but God always takes me back. The relationships that I have cultivated are what have allowed me to grow. I've kept a solid friendship with Rachel since high school and through her I've met so many different people at UT. I found that I like people that are different and I enjoy being friends with people who have different opinions than my own, something I never valued before meeting these people. I met so many people through volunteering for Breakaway and being an IMPACT counselor who challenged me in my faith and drove me to do the research and soul searching I needed to do to defend my Catholic faith so that I would have a knowledge of what I believed. These people did this out of love and always respected my beliefs, despite our differences. I have learned so much from them. I have found a solid group of bros with whom I could tailgate with, watch sports with, and get boy advice from. I've always related well with boys and am so thankful for these relationships. The people that I owe so much to, who are always there for me to talk to, who provide me with endless encouragement and advice, are my close lady friends. As much as I value my guy friendships, there is something so special about girlfriends because there are so many things about girls that only girls can understand. I have become independent and satisfied with myself because of Pilar's independence, focus, and unconditional love, and I cannot thank her enough for that. I have been made sane in some insane situations because of Katie C's level head. I have been blessed to have been surrounded by so many lovely women. You know who you are, and I am eternally grateful. I think the most important change that I've seen in myself is comfort and satisfaction in who I am and where I am. I used to think happiness could only come from being with a guy and I didn't think this because I'd always been dating a guy, I thought this because I'd NEVER been in a relationship with a guy. I used to look at girls who were graduating single and think, "Oh, poor girl." Now, I have found true happiness and joy in friendships and am treasuring those now while still keeping an open mind about relationships. I mean...I have the rest of my life to be married :)

So here I am, at the end. I graduate in a week and am in a much different position than I imagined I would be. I am so satisfied with my experiences and knowledge gained and I am grateful beyond words for Texas A&M for providing me with this experience. It's so true that God's plans are always so much greater than you could ever imagine. I don't know where he is taking me this year and it's scary, but I know I'll be safe, that he has a plan, that I must keep my head up and my heart open.

I leave you with this song that I listened to on my move up to A&M before my freshman year. I was following my parents and my mom told me (via walkie talkie) to turn to 106.1 because "We Bleed Maroon" was on. I heard it for the first time in a very long time the other day and thought it was a great example of how things have come full circle. Gig'em and God bless :)

http://youtu.be/vsz8sJ68udc

Spring Break Cruise: Part V

Stop numba two: Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras

After our time crunch in the Caymans, we decided to set more than one alarm in order to get up at a decent hour and make the most of our Wednesday in Honduras. We landed a little later on this day than we had in the Caymans, arriving around 10 AM. At this point in the trip, we had been in the sun pretty much constantly for two entire days, so we spent extra time applying sunscreen to our already burned selves. Once lathered, we headed down to breakfast and to a spectacular view of Honduras!

After breakfast, we headed down to debark from the ship. From what we could tell, Mahogany Bay was made specifically to be a destination for cruise lines. The ship pulled right up to the dock, so there were no taxi boats involved. We sauntered down the dock admiring the scenery and looking forward to another lovely day on the beach. As we neared land (the dock was really long) we started to hear an Usher song drifting over from one of the restaraunts. This was entertaining to us since we were in practically a third world country surrounded by beautiful and exotic vegetation and it still had somehow managed to be Americanized. Despite this fact, I was happy, because it meant I could dancewalk.

Those who constructed this port were very business savvy because you had to walk through a souvenier shop to get to the beach. On another tangent, this souvenier shop housed ample amounts of liquor at very competitive prices. There was a display for Crown that was being sold at two bottles for $35. I still regret not stocking up because I loooooove me some Crown. Anyway, we were anxious for more beach times, so we scooted out of the souvenier shop, through the very Americanized outdoor mall area and down the path to the beach. It was a lovely walk through trees and over bridges with the scent of exotic flowers wafting through the air. I had had a sneaking suspicion that the beach would be crowded, judging from the droves of people that were walking in with us and the fact that there was another cruise ship docked as well.

My suspicions were accurate. The beach was small and packed. It was wider than the seven mile beach in the Caymans but was not near as long. It also had a lot more palm trees and was loaded with lounge chairs, which was nice. I just think after having space to stretch out at our last beach, we were a little disappointed by the fact that we were practically on each others laps were pretty sure the beach was man-made. We were finally able to find two loungers next to each other (no way we could have found four) and set our stuff down. The boys wanted to take a walk down the beach and walk down the dock that was a little ways down the beach so we joined them. We hung out on the dock for a little while and then decided to head back to our chairs and take a dip in the water while the boys explored the uncharted territory on the other side of the dock. We had surmised that there may have been another beach on the other side of that forbidden forest so Travis and Chris set off on their own little bro journey. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. Their intentions were discovered by a beach cop and they were sent back to lounge with the commoners.

Despite the downsides of this beach, it was still lovely. The water was a beautiful greenish blue and was a perfect temperature. We also happened upon two little boys who had a football which was pretty clutch as we had regretted not bringing our own football.

You can see Trav out there rocking the shirt because of the horrible sunburn on his back. Poor guy :(

We played with them for quite a while (another regret of mine was wearing a strapless bikini top which hindered my ability to dive and tackle as freely as usual.) After a group of bohunks took over our football game, Chris and I headed to the beach bar for a beer and a hurricane while Pilar and Travis enjoyed coconut water straight from the coconut. All of our beverages were delicious :) We spent the rest of the day lounging under the shade trees and eventually headed back to the shopping area where I bought a cute little multicolored purse which I have been using ever since. Once this was purchased, we were headed back to the boat.

This night was another pretty chill night. We went to dinner and then went to see a magic show in the Ivanhoe Theater. I believe we also went to watch some karaoke. We went to bed fairly early because we had a snorkeling excursion at 8:30AM the next morning AND the next day was St. Patty's day. We knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we would want to be verrry well rested for St. Patty's day!

Stay tuned :)