Where the heck did November go? Oh right...it went to Mexico :)

So it's suddenly December, which came much too fast, given that half of my November was missing from real life. Not that I'm complaining. At all. Hans and I were ever so lucky enough to spend the last week and a half of last month on a cruise to Mexico with his family. All eleven of us. And can I just say that I had a blast? Really. I think I could get used to living on a cruise ship permanently. And not just because your room gets cleaned for you twice a day, or because you can eat all the food you want, any time you want, without having to pay extra for it, or because there are lots of fun free shows and stuff to do, or because that bed was probably the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on, or because you get a new towel animal in your room every day. Mostly it was just being able to wake up the next day and be somewhere NEW. I think that is awesome. For anyone who doesn't know me very well, I'm a traveler. I always have been, and I always will be. That doesn't necessarily mean that I just travel all the time (although I have been to my fair share of awesome places), it just means that I have this need within me to travel. Cheesy-sounding? Maybe. But true. So spending nine days going from beautiful Mexican city to beautiful Mexican city was fantastic (although truthfully, some parts of these places were not so beautiful...but we'll get there).

So now for a recounting of the adventure.

Our ship departed from San Pedro (LA), CA. So the adventure starts with a rental car and a ten hour drive. The family was split into three groups. In our car were me, Hans, Reinhard, and Freya. We left at around 3 pm and stopped in St. George for dinner and Vegas to stretch our legs. From Vegas, it was only about 5-ish hours to San Pedro...which put us there, oh around 2:30 am. The rest of the fam had decided to stop at a hotel in Barstow (middle of the desert, about 2 hours from San Pedro). But since we're cheap and we also wanted to make sure we were there on time (I, for one, have a tendency to oversleep), we just drove straight through. We followed the directions almost all the way to the pier...not quite all the way, mostly because it was dark, very foggy, creepy, and to get to the pier you have to drive through like industrial/cargo shipping piers. So basically I just thought we were lost and we'd wait til morning to find the actual ship. In the meantime, we needed to find somewhere to park and sleep, since creepy-pier-in-shady-area-of-town wasn't quite doing it for us. So, on my almost-dead phone, we found a Walmart location in nearby Long Beach. Well, maybe that area is nice in the daytime, but at night it was just short of terrifying. The fog and the modern, light colored buildings made me feel like we were in some creepy si-fi movie with Big Brother watching us or something (yeah, okay, that was nerdy). Along with that, the only person we saw until we got to Walmart was a man in an overcoat pushing a baby in a stroller...at 3 am...but really it ended up being his garbage bag full of belongings...
So anyway, we got to Walmart...and it wasn't like a normal Walmart with a huge parking lot and a friendly, welcoming design, it was like a city Walmart, with pay-parking garages and a ton of shady-looking people hanging out in front. So, needless to say, we decided we'd try a different Walmart. We ended up about 20 minutes away in Torrance. I don't really know anything about Torrance, but it seemed a heck of a lot friendlier than early-morning downtown Long Beach. So we parked towards the back of their typically big Walmart parking lot and tried to get some sleep in our over-crowded Chevy HHR. Hans and I didn't sleep great, but I'm pretty sure Reinhard and Freya were out. In fact, I'm sure they were. So a little before 7am, Hans and I joined the crowd (yes) of people waiting for Walmart to open, then went inside and picked up a few things we needed, along with breakfast from McD's (mmmm, McGriddle....). And then at 8:30-ish, we drove back to the pier, and eventually found our ship, the Carnival Spirit. We parked and waited for the others to show up at our designated meeting time (10am). Two hours later, we were finally getting all of our stuff out of the car to wait some more in front of the terminal while Hans, Pete, and Raiden drove the rental cars back. ANOTHER two hours later, we finally began the boarding process. We pulled out of the port after it was dark, and were accompanied by a small (herd? flock? school?) of dolphins. Good luck, right? Pretty much :)

So the next morning, we awoke in Ensenada. Unfortunately, our excursion had been cancelled because of...inclement weather...?

Yeah I don't really know either...I guess maybe it was a tad not-hot-enough for a resort...but oh well, we made the best of it. Raiden, Hans, Freya and I ventured into the town to check out the shops. This was my first taste of the persistence of Mexican vendors. And really, they are persistent. I heard everything from, "Hey, come in and buy something you don't need!" to "Hey, I need your money, too!" But it was fun anyways. I loved looking at all the little Mexican crafts and such.

Oh and PS-coolest sighting of the day? Sea Lions! Apparently they're like everywhere around Baja California, but there just happened to be a big family of them just outside of the entrance/exit to the ship!

The day after Ensenada was a Sea Day. Basically just a day stuck on the ship. They do have activities, but to be honest, most of them aren't that great, and it was too cold for the pool. They do have some fun comedy shows at night, though. AND. K event of the cruise...no just kidding, but it was pretty monumental for me...they had this thing called Superstar Live, which was basically karaoke with a live band. So I went to watch, and then I decided that I wanted to do it. SCARY. I don't sing in public. I don't even sing in front of friends or family members, unless it's to the radio or something. But I decided I needed to get over my fears and just do it. So I went back to the room to grab Hans, and signed up to sing Mercy by Duffy. I was the last one to go, and I'm pretty sure I rocked it :) I mean, I was totally frozen to the spot the whole time, and I could barely hear myself above the band, but the crowd was cheering and Hans said I did really well, so I'd like to think that my foray into public performance was successful. Score one for Kristin. (I wish I had a picture or video to prove that this actually happened, but I don't, so you'll just have to trust me :)  )

So after the Sea Day, we had 2 days in Cabo San Lucas, which was my favorite town, not counting resorts. We had to tender into the dock (take a smaller boat from the ship, which was anchored out a little ways), and it was just a cute little seaside town.

And the scenery was completely gorgeous. Cabo is famous for its rock formations.

We spent the first day in Cabo at a resort. The pool was FREEZING, so we spent the day laying in the sun or in the HAMMOCKS (win!), and eating lunch at the beachside buffet. (Also, FREE 5-minute massage. Excellent).

The resort:

View from my hammock:

View from the restaurant:

Lunch:

The beach:

The next day, I went horseback riding on the beach with Freya, while Hans went parasailing with Reinhard. To get to the ranch where the horses were, we had to ride a bus for an hour across the peninsula. It was kind of terrifying...we were driving through desert and half the road was made of dirt. And I don't mean like a normal dirt road, I mean like, this thing was apparently being constructed, so it was like red dirt + the scariness of construction zone driving. But eventually we made it. First we rode through some cactus-y area to get out to the beach, then we rode down and back up the beach and back to the ranch. It was fun, I just wish we could've gone faster :)

After that, we went back to the ship for lunch, then ventured back into town for some shopping! I found the Hard Rock Cafe, where I bought a city shirt (unfortunately, it looked exactly the same as the Nassau city shirt...part of the island tour collection I guess...oh well, such is the price of collecting...), and we also came across Johnny Rocket's (Dad's fave)! 

Then, after a quick photoshoot on the beach (just a short walk through a slightly-scary military compound), and a half-hour wait in line to get back on the tender, we were back on the ship and leaving beautiful Cabo. (PS-check my photo blog in a couple weeks for that photoshoot!)

The next day, we landed in Puerta Vallarta. Our excursion here was to Las Caletas, a little strip of beach and jungle that included sea kayaking, free lunch and unlimited drinks, parrots, and monkeys! To get there, we took an hour-long boat ride, the purpose of which was to show us the BEAUTIFUL city. All the buildings were set on the mountains that rose RIGHT out of the ocean. It seriously was so cool to see.

We also passed through some more cool rock formations

Once we got to Las Caletas, we ate a delicious Mexican lunch, then checked out the animals. We actually got to hold the parrots and the cute monkeys!

Hans even kissed the parrot! Ick!

After that, we lazed on the beach, played in the water, went kayaking, explored the rainforest, and discovered about a million crabs!

Then, on the way back to the ship, our crazy boat crew performed a Grease medley and a Queen medley, complete with costumes. Very entertaining, if I do say so myself.

Grease:

Queen:

Our last port was Manzanillo. We were supposed to stop in Mazatlan instead, but apparently tourists were being beheaded or something like that.....yeah.....so instead we went to Manzanillo! Which, might I say, is kind of a trash hole. Or, as the next night's comedian put it, "That was some raggedy sh**." Luckily, we got to go to another resort. And this one was seriously amazing. It was like a tropical paradise next to a beach, with as much free food and drink as we wanted.

Hans jumping into the pool:

On the beach:

Beach Beds!

(Part of) the pool area:

View from the bar:

Inside the (very ritzy) Aztec (or Mayan?)-themed hotel:

Once we left Manzanillo, it was a two-day sea voyage home, with not much in the way of events, except for Thanksgiving dinner with the whole fam...

...western family photos (the real one of which I don't have because you had to buy it)...

...trying some frogs' legs (not terrible, but not something I would order again...they just tasted like tough fish)...

...and watching sunsets...

Once we got back into San Pedro, it was just a quick 11-hour (?!? I don't know where those 2 extra hours came from...) drive back to Orem, where we were greeted by dead trees, frigidly cold air, and a very fat, very happy cat :)

Vacational success? Most definitely.

~~I know this post was very long...but I hope you enjoyed it anyway :) ~~

~~For more/better pictures, see my facebook~~

My hubby the champion!

So for those of you who don't know, Hans has been participating in a tackle football league for the past year or so. Well, he'd had some rough luck with a couple of his previous teams, but this season he was able to get on to the new UVU-sponsored team with a bunch of other guys who were actually pretty good at football...and guess what? They went undefeated and won the championship! Woohoo!! Anyways, I think that's pretty cool. My husband, the UTFL world champion! Or something like that ;)

Here are some photos for your enjoyment. Don't mind the mustache, Hans just grew it for the championship. Some kind of football fashion statement. I couldn't explain it to you.

It's a slippery slope... {pun intended}

...let's just consider this a continuation of my previous post.

So I was on my way to work this morning...it was pretty dreary and grey with maybe a light drizzle...not surprising since it rained all day yesterday. Anyways, as I drove off the highway into American Fork, it started to rain just slightly harder. Then, through my rain-spotted windshield, something pulled my attention momentarily away from the road. But it couldn't be, so I dismissed it.
And yet, there it was again.

A snowflake.

{Insert swears}

THIS IS WHY I WANTED SUMMER BACK!!

Because snow is NOT acceptable until January--MAYBE December.

Because, as lovely as fall is in THEORY, it doesn't exist in Utah! Fall is just a gross mixture of a few beautiful fall days and a bunch of nasty, slushy, snowy messes. As soon as summer is over, winter thinks it can take over. And I haaaaaate winter. Because there is nothing good about cold and because snow, as pretty as it seems, is only pretty until you have to go somewhere, and then it is an extreme nuisance.

Unfortunately, my husband, like so many other men, enjoys the colder months. So there's probably no chance I could convince him to live in Arizona. Sigh.

I miss you, summer.

Come back, summer!

K seriously, where the heck did summer go? One day, I was enjoy the warm sun and pretty smells of my favorite season, and suddenly, it all disappeared in the fastest September I've ever experienced. Now it actually gets chilly at night, and it'll be OCTOBER this week. That's not okay, because sometimes it snows here in October. And it can't snow, because it's still supposed to be summer!

Right?

Okay but for reals, can somebody please tell me why summer came and went so quickly? Because I swear we like just barely got done with winter, and I am so not ready for another one.

I guess I'll just have to move toooo....Hawaii? Yeah, Hawaii sounds good. In the meantime, though, summer, I would appreciate it if you would come back and stay for another 5 or 6 months.

Thanks.

Bunny Breakthrough!

So, for those of you who know about my bunny, Luna, you'll know that she had previously earned herself a reputation for being evil, along with the nickname "Bunnicula." Well, in a bizarre turn of events, Miss Luna has now become the good pet! I'd noticed her becoming more docile since I got Scout, probably because I didn't try and take her out of her cage and play with her as much, seeing as kittens demand much more attention than bunnies. Luna also has gotten into the habit of coming up to the side of her cage to greet me when I walk past, and she lets me give her a little scratch on the head, something I trained her to do by giving her treats. She also will occasionally let me reach my hand into her cage (aka her safe zone, where you usually would NOT want to mess with her) and pet her. However, up until tonight, whenever she was out of her cage, she would frantically run away every time I walked up to pet her or pick her up. BUT! Tonight, as she was scampering around, having a cat-free blast (Scout was safely locked away in the bathroom so she wouldn't harass Luna), I cautiously approched her and reached out my hand. She sniffed at it for a second and then just sat there, so I reached out and gave her a little head scratch, and....TA DA!! She stayed put! She waited until I was done, and then scooted away to continue her exploring. I know that to most of you, this probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but I honestly can't tell you how disappointed I was when my adorable, soft, precious little new bunny wanted nothing to do with me and would frequently let me know that by grunting and trying to bite me. So for me, the fact that we're friends now is very exciting :)

Little Cat

So for those of you who don't know, I am the owner of the world's weirdest cat. Seriously. She's super cute, but she is the definition of a psycho. Some of her hobbies include licking anyone who sits too close; running frantically around the house; attacking the bunny, people's hands, plastic grocery bags, her tail, and anything that's not nailed down; sucking on fluffy blankets; and pulling herself around on the carpet by laying on her back and dragging her body up by her front paws. She's pretty sure she owns the house. No amount of sprays in the face will stop her from doing something she wants to do, and she eats more than Hans does, which is saying something. But still, she's my little love cat. I love that she's here to keep me company when Hans isn't (because let's be honest, although my bunny is cute and fluffy and soft, she DOES NOT like to cuddle...but she does seem happier and more well adjusted now...if only by a slight degree).
Anyways, I feel like I've kind of gotten a glimpse of what it's like to see your child grow up. I know, I know, all you mothers out there are scoffing at me..."It's a kitten, not a child. What does she know?" I KNOW she's not a child. Don't worry. But just seeing how big she's gotten in four months is crazy...I miss my tiny little kitten that followed me around everywhere. Now I have an almost-grown cat that whines when I leave but then doesn't like to cuddle with me unless it's on her schedule.

Here she is at about 5 or 6 weeks, when she fit in my hand:

And here she is now. She's longer than my forearm:

So now I'll end with a cute story that Hans is going to kill me for. So Hans was pretty anti-cat...it took a lot of convincing to get him to let me get her. Once we had her, he had to admit that she was cute...but still maintained that he would hate her once she wasn't a tiny babe. However, as time went on, Hans continued to prove that he couldn't resist her adorableness. One night, we were watching a movie, and the three of us were cuddling on the couch, with Scout on my chest, and Hans leans over and totally kisses Scout on the head. SO CUTE! I loved it. It was adorable. Anyways, that's all for now!

Hans  <3  Scout