The Day for Dads

This year we decided to travel to Amarillo for Father's Day.  My dad lives in Dallas, and we get to see him often, but Jer's dad is in Amarillo and we thought it would be nice to make the trip for this special occasion.  We had dinner with him and Jer's grandmother, and the rest of Jer's siblings and significant others, and it was really nice.  For his dad's gift, Jer picked out a DVD about Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen (yeah, no clue here either).  Apparently they grew up watching wrestling with their dad, especially those guys, so Jer thought it would be a cool way to reminisce.  It went over really well, so bravo to Jer.  The next day we had lunch with Jer's grandparents on his mom's side.  His grandfather is a hoot, and there's never a dull moment in conversation with him.  We actually sat around for a while and he asked me about my family's history, my job, our plans for our Europe trip, etc. I don't think we've ever really sat down one-on-one and talked for an extended period of time, so it was cool.  When it was time to leave, he told me that he really enjoyed talking with me.  I thought that was sweet.  :)  Here's a pic of Granddad with little KC on Father's Day:

    
And little man, being his usual cute self:

I Need Some Sunshine Today

There's been some recent news about a family friend and it's hard for me to process.  It's not my own family member, but I can't help but think about what it must feel like for hers.  When something bad happens to someone you know, it forces you to face your own mortality, and your loved ones' mortality.  No one in my immediate family has been stricken with cancer, but man, I sure do feel like I'm in the minority.  I know too many people (around my age) that personally had cancer, have siblings with cancer, or have parents with cancer.  Open that up to include grandparents and extended family, and the number affected grows exponentially.  It's so morbid to say, but it really just feels like a matter of time before I or someone very close to me gets diagnosed.  I hate cancer.

On a somewhat related note, I received a call from the National Marrow Donor Program regarding the recipient of my bone marrow donation back in January.  He is still fighting, and now needs a white blood cell donation.  This is much less intensive than the procedure I underwent in January, but it still worries me just a little bit.  They'll need to extract the cells over a period of 3-4 hours, where I'll be hooked up to a machine and effectively "giving blood" for that long.  They'll separate the cells from the blood extracted from one arm, and then the remainder will be pumped back into my body through the other arm.  Considering my history of fainting and the low blood pressure problems I experienced during the last donation, I'm not 100% confident about doing this.  There's no way I could say no to helping this boy, though, so I'm just hoping for a smooth procedure.  I have it scheduled for next week.

"Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul." - Jim Valvano          

Wimbledon, Here We Come!

We finally pulled the trigger!  Jer and I just bought tickets to the Wimbledon Ladies Final match next month.  I had no idea how hard it was to get tickets to Wimbledon! The majority of Center, Court No. 1 and Court No. 2 tickets are sold in advance through a public ballot.  There are always more entries into the ballot than tickets available, and successful applicants are just chosen at random.  You don't even get to choose which day/match you want to apply for; that is also chosen at random.  And the even bigger kicker?  The ballot is open from August to December of the preceding year!  Sweet jeez.  I definitely did not have all my plans finalized last year to know that I would have wanted to apply.  The other way to get tickets is to participate in the Debenture process every five years.  With a debenture, you get a Center Court ticket for every day of the championship for the five year period.  The cost is about $34,000 USD.  Debenture holders can use the tickets themselves, or sell them in the secondary market, if they so desire.  This is where I came in!  We had to search for debentures in ticket exchanges.  There really aren't that many available, and they are super pricey.  Tickets to the Men's Semifinal and Final matches are astronomical.  They run about $3300 - $5000 apiece.  APIECE!  We quickly abandoned our hope of seeing one of those matches and instead opted for the Ladies.  Might as well use the gender inequality to our advantage, right?  It's not "cheap" to watch the Ladies either, but at least it's not as much as the Men's.  Besides, this is a once in a lifetime experience.  I think we can make the sacrifice. 

I'm beyond excited about the prospect of watching this match live.  I've been watching Wimbledon (and all the Grand Slams, for that matter) on TV since I was a kid.  My hubby is THE BEST for agreeing to buy these tickets, considering it's a much bigger deal to me than it is to him.  I think he'll still have a great time though.  It's kinda crazy since I don't even know who will be playing in the Finals at this point, but I will definitely be following intently when the tournament starts on June 21.  Luckily Wimbledon doesn't have camera restrictions, so I will be taking about a bazillion pictures while I'm there.  I can't wait!!         

Goooooooooalllllll!

Okay, so it was a lucky goal, thanks to the English goalie making a terrible mistake.  But, hey, it still counted!  Even though the American team didn't end up winning the game, I think they can probably be happy with the tie.  The German team won convincingly on Sunday (I have to root for them now b/c of all my German friends!), and I'm hoping for a Dutch win on Monday morning.  Since individual teams don't play very often this early in the World Cup, it's nice to have multiple teams to root for, so that I stay interested!  Hup Holland!

On Saturday morning, I participated in the Plano Komen Race for the Cure.  It was awesome because there were so many of us!  My mom and dad were there, along with my sister Jill and 3 of her children, my sister Jo and her family, our friends Sarah, Rachel, and Rebecca and their families, and Jo's friend Emily and her family.  We were all sporting our black Team Komen shirts.  I decided to try and run the 5K even though I haven't been training at all lately.  I ran the first two miles straight through, then walked for about a minute.  Then I ran the last mile.  I was hoping to run the entire thing, but the ridiculous muggy weather and lack of preparation held me back a little bit.  At least it was only for a minute though!  After I finished, I walked back from the finish line until I found my friends and family.  I crossed the finish line again with them, and then we checked out all the great booths and hung out for a while.  It was a wonderful way to spend my morning.

 Opa, with his grandsons

Rachel, Sarah, and Rebecca, who walk for their mom (currently fighting Stage IV breast cancer)

Sarah's son, Ryan, at his second Komen event!

Jo and Livy (who is becoming a Komen veteran already!)

Emily and Emerson

Team Komen!

We spent Sunday relaxing in the pool at Jo's house before enjoying Supper Club - southern style!  I've learned to eat as little as possible for breakfast and lunch on Supper Club days.  The food is guaranteed to be delicious and plentiful, and this was no exception.  We had some yummy ribs, pork, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fried okra, cornbread, and bean salad.  Dessert was peach cobbler with homemade ice cream.  Damn, that food was good!  I look forward to the next one.  Have a great week, everybody.   

More Preparation!

I made a couple more steps forward this past weekend in the preparations for our Europe trip.  We met with our housesitter on Saturday so she could get acquainted with our house and meet our doggles.  I was a little nervous that Juneau wouldn't be on her best behavior and might scare the lady away, but she was perfect!  You could tell this lady was comfortable around dogs of all sizes and temperaments, so I'm sure that helped the situation.  I'll let you know how it worked out with her after we get back from our trip.   

I also bought a couple bags I deemed "essential" for traveling to Europe.  (Getting a 20% off coupon to Coach might've helped that designation).  Our trip to Mexico last weekend made me realize I needed a padded tote bag of some sort to carry around our camera and lenses while we're sight-seeing.  It also would be nice if that bag was big enough to double as my carry-on bag and hold my laptop and other assorted things I'll need on the long flight.  Problem solved!  The one I found below is very roomy, has tons of compartments and zipper pockets on the interior, and even a few on the exterior.  It has two shorter straps for wearing on my shoulder, or a longer strap if I prefer to drape it across my body.  And did I mention it's pink on the inside?  Adorable.  No one needs to know that this is technically a diaper bag.  Once I remove the changing pad, no one will be able to tell.  ;)

There will be some times when I don't want to lug around the big bag though, or we'll be going to places where I don't want to have my expensive camera, or going to places where I don't feel comfortable just having my passport and money in my back pocket, so I bought another, much smaller, bag for those occasions.  I just wanted something compact and thin, that can sling across my body (to help prevent theft!), but that can hold my passport, money, and point and shoot camera.  This guy filled that need for me:

Last thing - I also bought these adorable personalized, polka dot luggage tags.  I need my bag to stand out since it's the standard black color!

With these recent purchases, and since Jer bought me some awesome luggage this past Christmas, I think I am set.  Hurry up, Europe!  I'm ready to go!
    

When in Rome

Last weekend in Mexico, Jer and I tried our best to use as much Spanish as possible.  I can pretty much understand most things I read in Spanish, and a lot of things spoken to me (if done slowly), but responding in Spanish has never been my strong suit.  I'm usually not very comfortable speaking it, but I decided to give it a shot this trip.  I was pleasantly surprised that Jer had the same attitude as well.  We were so proud of ourselves for trying to speak the native language, but quickly had to laugh when we saw the response.  Almost every single time we would say something in Spanish, the person would respond to us in English.  It was hilarious.  I walked up to the bar and asked, "Que hora es?"  The bartender's response, "Two thirty."  We'd say "gracias" every time something was brought to us, and the response would be, "You're welcome."  Haha.  Can't say we didn't try!  

I Left My White Skin in Puerto Aventuras

Note to self: Remember to reapply sunscreen after a couple hours.  Ouchie!

Jer and I vacationed in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, this past weekend.  We arrived early in the afternoon on Friday and went straight to the beach!  Our hotel, Omni Puerto Aventuras Hotel Beach Resort, only had 30 guest rooms, so we were expecting a pretty laid back and relaxed atmosphere.  Boy, were we right!  We were practically the only people on the beach!  That meant we could lay out wherever we wanted, get drinks and food delivered to us expediently, and enjoy the quiet serenity.  It was amazing. 

Our room was very nice and spacious, but the coolest part was the private balcony.  It had a seating area, a hammock, and a jacuzzi.  The balcony overlooked the adjacent lagoon and marina.  This is where dolphin activities were held, so there were about 30 trained dolphins there.  I was hooked!  Those animals are freakin' smart, not to mention adorable.  I took about a million pictures of them.  You could go right up to the water to get a closer look.

On Saturday morning, we headed out on a snorkeling expedition.  We visited three different areas.  The first part took us out to the open water, where we got to see some sting rays.  There were tons of other, smaller, fish in those parts, but nothing too exciting.  The second area we went to was more like a fun, adventurous break from snorkeling.  There was a place to snorkel, but Jer and I just spent our time riding the zip line and doing some cliff jumping.

The third part of the snorkeling trip was definitely the coolest.  We visited a cave, complete with stalactites, bats, and dark waters!  It was a little creepy snorkeling in such dark water, but it was worth it.

 

On Sunday morning, Jer and I chartered a boat for some deep sea fishing.  You could do a shared trip, with people you didn't know, and with whom you'd have to share time on the equipment, or you could pay extra and get a private boat.  We opted for the more private experience!  That way if there were only a couple of bites, we would be assured it happened to us and not someone else on the boat.  We embarked on our trip with the captain and the first mate, who would prepare all the rods and bait for us, and help us get any catches into the boat.  We started to get anxious when we went an hour without any bites, but then things quickly started popping!  Jer hauled in the first catch, a beautiful bright yellow and green Mahi Mahi.

Next it was my turn.  I hooked something and started to battle it, and I seriously had trouble!  I turned over the rod to Jer because I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to reel it in.  It's a good thing I did, because Jer ended up battling it for quite a long time and it turned out to be a whopper of a fish!  Check out this pic below...look closely and you'll see that I snapped it right as the Mahi Mahi was jumping out of the water.  It was a huge fish!

 
Jer's arms were worn down after that, so I knew I had to step it up when the next one hit.  My turn came along again, and this time it was a "normal" sized one.  It wasn't easy by any means, but it was manageable!  Here are our catches:

 

We had the first mate cut up one of the Mahi Mahis so we could eat it for dinner.  We took it to a local restaurant and they prepared it for us in three different ways.  I could not believe how much food came from that one fish!!  We didn't get anywhere close to finishing it all.

Since Puerto Aventuras is a private, gated, self-sufficient community, we merely had to walk a few feet to get anything we needed.  There were numerous restaurants and shops within a stone's throw of our hotel.  Nothing was ever crowded.  The prices were typical of a tourist town, but the portion sizes were generous.  It was really nice to be in such a care-free atmosphere for a few days.  It was hard to leave!