Hello St. Martaan and St. Kitts

Our first island stop was in beautiful St. Martaan. We took a ride with this fabulously funny lady telling us all about the island. Apparently, St. Martaan is half French and half Dutch. It was beautiful, but laced with poverty and many locals "trying to make a buck" selling massages, music, crafts. I ended up buying something- because we ALL need to make a buck, right?

We don't have a ton of pictures on this island. This is because we spent most of the day at the NUDE beach. Noooo, we didn't partake. Some of the girls with us did, but not us. It was really an experience. The snorkling was great and very romantic for us. We got SO sunburnt. Okay, I did. The sun in the islands sure kisses you in a much different way. (We are not tanned in some of the places that sure were noticed on the nudists!) With my bathing suit ON, I was for sure sun-kissed that day. Lesson learned.

Lunch on the beach. Bliss.

You sure eat well on cruises. It was great because we were on "My Time" dining--so there was no schedule and we didn't have to eat with anyone. The service was second to none and we met people from all over the world. Ireland, Turkey, Jamaica, Phillipines, Florida...and the town I grew up in (Twinsburg, Ohio). This gal might have been my dance teacher when I was itty bitty! SMALL world.

The next day we arrived in St. Kitts. We took a breath-taking ride through some of the island to one of the bays. We stayed at an off-season beachside resort that was charming and quiet.

It was this lovely cove of beach.

This island bay was on the Atlantic side of the ocean, so the snorkling was a bit cloudy. 

The mountains were fantastic.

Goodbye St. Kitts.

Hello lovely Antigua

One of the reasons why we wanted to take a cruise was because we couldn't decide on an island to go to! Well, this day we were convinced that Antigua is the one that we will absolutely go back to out of the 5 islands we went to.

We got off of our ship...and got on another! It was a yacht catamaran cruise. The captain was great and was planning on going around the ENTIRE island (both Atlantic and Caribbean sides) for the day. It was so gorgeous. We saw where many stars live or vacation at (Eric Clapton, Angela Lansbury, Oprah Winfrey). It was the coolest day!!

We stopped at this deserted little island that had a protected reef to snorkel. This little island was like in the movies, everybody! We went out with a guide and saw some beautiful reefs. I'm sad we didn't have a waterproof camera, but oh well. We then went back to the boat and they cooked us lunch, had an open bar with the infamous Caribbean "jungle juice". Yes, it can be dangerous.

Here we are on the way back....it was a perfect day. With wide smiles, we danced and jammed (and some locals twerking) to reggae and sunshiney perfection on the water.

Back on our cruiseline. We discovered a putt-putt course and small waterslide. Too cool! We then jammed a bit at the 80's dance party that night. Other nights we watched musicals, a comedian, hung out. Too fun.

Hello St. Lucia and Barbados

Here we are in St. Lucia. In the background are live volcanos called "The Pitons". We boarded another boat and went snorkeling AGAIN. We are not shoppers, not too keen on siteseeing.... and didn't want to do anything "touristy" so we opted to enjoy the spectacular sites on the water instead for pretty much every island.

The little bays were so colorful and brimming with all sorts of island feels. You just wanted to dock the ship and stay at these places FOREVER. It rained a bit this day, but was still good. We met some people from the town I went to college and a couple from El Salvador.

Here is where we stopped to snorkel. BY FAR the BEST snorkeling we did on this whole vacation. Among the gorgeous reefs were red snapper, tubular fish, octopus, colorful fishies. Again, we didn't have a water camera (boohoo) but what we have are mental memories of this incredible undisturbed reef. It was perfect and romantic to hold hands snorkeling.

Next stop: Carlisle beach, Barbados. 

I was personally really excited about Barbados- from what heard. Well, to tell you the truth it was kind of a disappointment. We ran into some friends so that was fun, but it POURED almost the entire day. All the dirt/trash/soot from the local streets got into the ocean, so big red flags went up and the lifeguards said to be careful in the ocean because the bacteria levels were high. Eew. Bummer.

 I didn't go in the ocean, but Josh did. I later told him that he had better wash himself off! My friend and I found a lovely local jewelry maker (lived there from Germany) and we had custom bracelets made from her and enjoyed lunch on the beach.

Last day on the ship when we found out about the ginormous amount of rain that had fallen where we live. Oh, what devastation of flooding in Boulder, etc just 40 minutes north of here. It poured in SHEETS here in our town for days when my mom was keeping the girls. Unfortunately, when we got to Puerto Rico we turned everything off- cell phones, didn't watch the news....we were completely disconnected. We had no idea of any of this! 

We got a bit fancied up and had another yummy dinner in a bit of a "fancier" restaurant on the ship. It was our last night and we were celebrating our anniversary. Not like we hadn't been celebrating ALL week, but this was the last of the fancy celebrating.

Then we had to say goodbye. Goodbye to the sweet friends we met. To "Big Boy" our housemate, our towel friends that always greeted us at night, to large taxi fees, to Connie and Jeff of whom we ran into and hung out with in the most random places all the time, the sun-kissed bodies, the large amount of sunscreen we wore after day one, the friendly locals, the 7 sundress I brought, the sweetest cruise staff, the rum punch, the fresh fish that I had almost every night for dinner, the fish we saw snorkeling... the special times that were just for the two of us. 

Minus our sad faces here at the airport...I felt like we fell in love all over again and again. Like the good 'ole days, just us and the love that we share that brings so much laughter, adventure, and sweetness to all the moments in life that mean the most.

a little about Lauren

I love that Lauren is always so aware. She notices everything and cares for the sweet details. I found her bed made perfectly for her soft friends.
They were all tucked in all perfect for the day.
Because it matters.
This is her moment and it is special for her.
It puts the "happy" in her day.

She draws. Only when she wants. Sometimes all over her hand. 

Sometimes on anything she can find at the moment. The moment needs to be inspired though.

Hearts. She notices them. Even a small pickle on her sandwich.

She also notices others hearts. Here is one of her new friends. 

New to town and a heart to be blessed.

She's blossoming into her own person. Just how she wants. Her timing. 

With her own individual confidence and creativity. 

She has chosen to adopt a slower pace in which to navigate life. We often call it "dilly dallying". She has that down. This allows her to keep an eye on her surroundings and the people around her. To take the time to care for not only herself but to keep her heart completely open for others. Room for her to haven fun and stay sensitive, courageous, helpful, gifted, delicate and smart.

She pays attention. 
And it connects to the center of her heart.

  
Stay true to yourself, dear Lauren. 

In your journey of growing and changing and learning, 
keep staying aware and delighted in the small things in life. 

These are the things that matter. 

The details are where your smile is. 

Protect it because it is special and needs to be shared.

Glendo Reservoir

 We headed out one weekend with family and some friends to a lake about 3 hours from here. We were so excited to find a big, deep, great fishing lake AND a beautiful campground. My brother heard of this great town and lake. Yay! This was our view from our campsite!

Got the boat in... very carefully I might add.

Suited the troops up in their gear.

We stopped at a HUGE beach-- like soft ocean sand beach-- for the big and little kiddos to play and dig and throw and build and...you get the idea.

Then to the tubing...

The relaxin....

More relaxin...

Cliff jumping. THAT would be my crazy husband.

Then it started clouding up. Then crazy cold...

Colder. Then rain. ON THE BOAT.

So back to our campsite dripping wet and COLD. To be united with our dripping wet tent, chairs, etc.

Luckily our "Boy Scouts" Steve and Josh were prepared. They had covered the food and went on a search for dry firewood.

They made fire like real men do.

And we cuddled and laughed and chatted ...and slept with the earth.

This is what camping out is all about.

Being together, enjoying the outside and making memories to last.

See you next year Glendo Reservoir. 

You were spectacular.

BFF's

Forever is a very long time. How is it that people can talk so casually about a concept that we cannot even wrap our minds around? Sometimes we have a friend and we sense that our souls are very closely connected. We know that the connection is above time and space. We know that wherever we are in our lives we will always remain friends. Even if we do not see each other for months or years we are able to pick up right where we left off. This is what people mean when they say friends forever.

These types of friendships can start at a very young age, and last a lifetime.

These friendships are fun...

Full of laughter...

Girl time...

It's holding close...

having adventure...

catching up and staying connected...

Loving through it all.

Even the miles and miles between us.

I love forever friendships.

They are the priceless treasures and gems in life.

We LOVED having all six of the Youngblood's stay with us for the week. 

A taste of Texas and a sweet time for all.