So I have not blogged in quite some time. I have been super duper busy! My time....and life has been handed over to Ancestry.com. Kidding. I love my job, but I feel as if my life has been dedicated to Ancestry.com. It has become my home away from home. Good news though, I start school this week so my routine will be switched up a little bit, which I am incredibly excited about.
Well, I just got back from a week long vacation with the fam. It was....well it was great, to put it simply. We went on a cruise and had the unbelievable opportunity to stop in Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We did some of the coolest things ever! We got to climb a waterfall in Jamaica, snorkel in Grand Cayman in some of the bluest water I have ever seen, just kicked back in Haiti, and in Cozumel we got to swim with dolphins—and a shark!!! Coolest and most amazing experience ever. It was insane! My baby sister has wanted to swim with dolphins forever so watching her face was just priceless. We were both a tad bit nervous before we got in the water, so knowing we can turn to our Heavenly Father for anything—including needing help to be able to swim with Dolphins Hahaha, we said a quick prayer before we got in the water and were just fine. We realized that our Heavenly Father created these beautiful animals and we were getting the opportunity to enjoy His beautiful creations. Since that experience, I think I finally know what I want to major in: Dolphin training.
This trip was such an eye opener for me. I feel like I learned so much about life and about myself and oddly enough had a lot of my prayers answered. Abby Lou, my little other half, was with me all week. I don’t think she left my side the whole trip. I love that little girl more than literally anything in this world. She is the most beautiful girl, inside and out. She is just pure goodness. I look up to her so much, and I just pray that I set a good example for her. She lives in North Carolina so I only get to see her every couple of months. Spending this week with her made me realize how powerful love and family is. I didn’t know it was possible to love someone so much. I would truly do anything for her. It gave me a teeny tiny glimpse of the love our Heavenly Father has and feels for us. It physically pains me to see her hurt and I would take any pain she feels in a heartbeat if I could. This is what our Heavenly Father does for us. And just as I want my baby sister to feel nothing but joy, confidence, and happiness, so does our Heavenly Father. Ahhh, it’s just so amazing!!
We met some really cool people on our trip. Our waiters were from Jamaica, The Dominican Republic (of course any person I met from the Dominican Republic I had to tell them my best friend was going there, as if they cared.... Haha!), and a place I had never heard of M-----. The man from there was named Magen, and he looked just like an Indian Aladdin. I’m not even joking. He was the coolest guy—EVER. They were awesome and made our trip a lot of fun! On the boat they had a Flowrider which I most definitely took advantage of. They asked me to be in The Best of the Best competition that they had on the last day. So it was me and 5 other guy riders competing. I was the only female rider, and in honor of that I asked them to play Taylor Swift while I was riding. They did. Hahaha! My family....oh wow my family. They are just great!!! They were all just as nervous as I was. Abby Lou was screaming and cheering louder than anyone (she ended up getting a sore throat because of it. Haha!) My brothers were all cheering me on and giving me pep talks and my sister-in-law.... Hahahaha! As I’m riding she gets up and runs across the audience and gets everyone to do the wave and cheer and then grabs the microphone from the announcer and starts yelling my name. Needless to say, I won. I got to sign the Best of the Best Flowboard, and take a picture with a giant trophy. Haha! It was a really fun experience.
This whole week was the best of the best. But the Airport...the airport always has such a bittersweet feel to it. You’ve got the energy of being excited to go on vacation or to pick up a loved one, and you’ve got the miserable energy of goodbyes. Goodbyes are always hard. No matter how positive or happy you try to be about it they just suck. You know that quote? “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”. Well that is much easier to quote than it is to live by. Haha! But I’m trying my hardest. And I had the best 7 days ever! I love my family so much!! I am so blessed. ☺
