[travel] Yo-Ho, A Cruiser's Life For Me

Happy Wednesday to you all!

While this will SOUND like a sponsored post, I promise it is not.

Now is the time of year when families begin to plan their summer vacations. Nate and I, personally, like to travel during the off-season: inexpensive, less children traveling, and the "party" scene isn't as prominent as it is during Spring Break or summertime. 

Of course, you all know by now, our favorite way to travel is by CRUISE ship. We have traveled with Carnival and Princess, which are both favorites. They are both owned by the Carnival Corporation, but are two different fleets within the company. Both ships have things to offer to every age/personality type, but we feel Carnival is more family-friendly, party atmosphere, with bright colors and loud noises to accompany. Princess is a bit more elegant, fancy, and classic. We loved our time with both ships, so it really just depends on what you are looking for.

Here are two videos I created (on YouTube) capturing our time with both ship fleets. Forgive the amateurishness of them both, I'm not a pro :)

Princess (Spring Break 2013... I know, I know. I just said we don't like to travel during SB, but we just happened to that year because we traveled with my family: we traveled to Belize and Cozumel, and were supposed to go to Honduras, but it was too windy to dock the ship)

 Carnival (January 2015: we traveled to Key West, FL and the Bahamas)

If you ever have questions about cruising, want to know "hidden" tips from an experienced cruiser, or are just wondering what the heck you do on a massive ship for a week, please let me know! I LOVE to talk cruising!

[love] Anniversary Recap

Sorry for my lack of posting: the past month has been crazy! After our anniversary weekend, Nate was admitted to the hospital! Crazy, I know. He had appendicitis and had to get his appendix removed, which knocked him out for about a week or so. He couldn't lift over 20lbs, so I had a LOT to do around here, especially since we were leaving to go to the beach for the week with his family. Crazy! So we had the appendix episode, we were at the beach, I had GT training for 5 days, it was the 4th of July and we were out of town, and then I've been in my classroom basically all week trying to get a head start on setting it up (I got new carpet this summer so my room was a wreck)! I know, these are ALL excuses. BUT here's a post that was meant to go live the day before Nate's appendix... whoops! I have missed y'all!

 
To see my review of the hotel we stayed at during our anniversary weekend, click here.

Nathan and I were excited to spend our five-year anniversary weekend in Austin, which is only 1.5 hours from our home. We felt less pressure to "do" everything and "eat" everything we wanted, simply because we can go back anytime. It was so nice! Here's a recap of the things we saw and ate (of course!) during our weekend. I'll let the pictures do the talking :)

A snippet of the times we had in Austin: such an AMAZING city and there is plenty more that we want to see and do! Thankful that it is a short distance away. Everything we ate was delicious (as you can tell from the pictures above) and the stores/shops we visited were so fun. I highly recommend a trip to ATX if you have never been!

Happy Sunday! And here's hoping that a regular posting routine will soon commence...

P.S. I am taking part in a Scavenger Hunt with the gals at BlogHoppin, which is a teacher blog: if I get at least 105 points between now and Aug. 6th, I will be entered into a drawing to win some FAB prizes, which include a Canon Rebel camera!!!! So, sorry to be blowing up y'alls Instagram feeds, but #sorrynotsorry ;) Have a good weekend!