30 Things I Learned Cruising to Mexico

1. Cruise parking is nuts. GET THERE EARLY.

2. Cruise departure ports look a little like those found in airports.

3. The simplest staterooms may have no frills, but they're functional. (And you can watch an unholy amount of cartoons! Because everyone needs a cartoon break sometimes.)

Best stateroom ever! Okay, this isn't actually a stateroom, but the Atrium, which is the central area of the ship. 

4. Cruise food is deee-lish! (I also have a post about that! You can find it here.)

An appetizer that my mom ordered one evening.'Tis a crab cake. 

5. Bathrobes + Sunglasses = Bathrobe Mafia

You'll be sleepin' with the fishes...

6. Mangoes are still my favorite fruit.

7. I am such a ham.

8. There's nothing like waking up and being surrounded by water on all sides.

9. Evening gowns are wonderful.

So is my daddy. :) 

10. Darjeeling tea is also wonderful.

11. My mom can drive in Mexico. (Nobody died.)

12. Flounders are weird.

Just look at it. 

13. A mango Shirley Temple is best served after learning to ballroom dance with a rather attractive dance partner on a moving ship. (There. I said it. Sometimes I think people are attractive.)

14. Towel animals. Just towel animals. (According to Carnival, they can come to life Toy Story style.)

15. I went to a marriage show with my mom. It was awkward. Never again.

16. I am a terrible snorkeler, but I plan on getting better.

17. A person from England can successfully teach a bunch of Americans to country line dance (also on a moving ship).

18. I am an excellent human chess piece.

This is after I got taken out by a queen. 

19. I am also great with animals.

19 1/2. I am also very humble. ;)

20. The Caribbean is currently my favorite large body of water to swim in.

21. I love exploring temples and castles. Indiana Jones must be a distant cousin or something.

22. Cozumel has two faces. Most tourists only see one of them.

 The real Cozumel.

The facade of Cozumel. 

23. There were too many pirates on this vacation.

Mom meets the Asian Jack Sparrow. 

24. It doesn't always pay to be the captain of the winning team. In some cases, you get sacrificed to the gods. (It was considered a high honor.)

To score, players would shoot the ball through the hoop...with their hip. 

25. Iguanas are divas.

Look at that little face.

26. Elation is a beautiful word. It was also the name of our ship.

27. This is an excellent place for your sombrero.

28. You may not always get a room with a view. (In fact, you may encounter the Plastic Apocalypse, like my brother did. Behind a decorative curtain, where a window would be, was only pale plastic.)

29. The ship had a Chocolate Extravaganza to celebrate chocolate because that's how necessary chocolate is.

30. The Malones were able to survive their first cruise, without someone falling off the ship, being left somewhere in Mexico, or becoming a pirate. Yay!

Let the Triumphant Music Play!

I have finally found a job! I can work and earn monies!


(You don't even understand the joy I feel. The pressure to get a job was killing me.)

Easy Mac Plus!

A new favorite for finals week. Well, NEXT finals week. Which we shouldn't be thinking about, because we just survived the last one.


But as easy recipes go, this one's pretty simple. Sorry, health nuts. This one's not really for you. But it's delicious.

Here's what you need in your kitchen: 

-Instant Mac&Cheese (I prefer Kraft Easy Mac, but to each his own. Pick your favorite!)

-Jar of salsa

-Pan (If your mac doesn't come in individual cups)

-Bowl (Unless you want to eat out of the pan)

-Spoon


And here's what you do: 

-Make the mac according to instructions (with or without pan)

-Once mac and cheese is in your bowl, add salsa

-Shovel that piping hot unhealthy goodness into your mouth

-Get back to work, procrastinator.

It was quite delicious. 

Inside An Old Scrapbook

I found this on a sheet of notebook paper inside one of my mom's old scrapbooks. Thought I would share.

"A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness, blow the rest away."

~Arabian Proverb


Shoutout to all who have tossed my chaff into the wind and kept loving me anyway.

All for Yum and Yum for All: Good Eats Aboard the Carnival Elation

Everyone's heard about gaining weight at sea from all of the fine dining choices on cruises. From 24-hour eats to chocolate buffets, there's so much to choose from.

There's also a gym, but really, who goes there?

This post is to give you a little taste (I really did most of the tasting here) of the delicacies I sampled while sailing across the Gulf of Mexico. If you're curious about some of the edibles you can munch aboard, read on!

But I warn you: Do not look at this post while hungry.

 Duck topped with some sort of berry on top of Thai glass noodles. Duck tastes something like ham!

 Lobster and shrimp! Dad and I were plotting to make a slingshot out our napkins and launch the lobster tail across the room. 

 Fettuccine and chicken. A classic!

 After dinner coffee. 

 Tiramisu! An all-time favorite!

Fruit at Sea Day Brunch

Kevin enjoying his Sea Day Brunch. Sea Day Brunch is a meal only served on days where the ship is at sea, as opposed to a a port of call. 

Steak and Eggs are probably one of the best things on the menu. 

 Mom's almost finished. 

 I got a tea addiction last semester. The cruise really didn't help.

Chocolate Extravaganzaaaaaaaa!

I've never had a crab cake, but Mom loves 'em!

Spring rolls! 

Mom and I split a plate of sushi. 

Baked Alaska with Neapolitan ice cream and cantaloupe. 

Pineapple sherbet. 

Basically, a mango Shirley Temple. Best served after learning the cha cha cha with a new attractive dance partner friend.

It's a little hard to get back to normal food around the house, but only having fancy food every once in a while makes vacations special, don't you think?

Pillow Fort Therapy

The past two weeks have been a roller coaster from walkin' on sunshine to chilling with The Princess Bride's Wesley in the Pit of Despair. One of those weeks just so happened to be at sea on a cruise ship with my family.

Cruising is wonderful, but coming back to reality after a week in the lap of luxury or schlepping around Mexico is like a kick in the face.

The week only spiraled down from there. I've applied and or given my resume to nine places, and none have hired me. My parents are none too happy at this.

However, one depressing afternoon after a battle royale with my parental units, I posted a status on Facebook about how I wished that today could be full of pillow forts, mozzarella sticks, and smiles.

At the urging of my friends, I made a pillow fort with my brother and mom the next day. Of course, Mom rewarded the pillow warriors with strawberry milkshakes and my brother's high school performance of Grease.

Here's the finished product!

 Not just pillows! We used furniture to frame the fort. 

 A little blurry, but look at the tongue. 

Milkshake delight!

 Kevin and I enjoying Grease!

When I'm in one place, my heart always longs for another. I guess it's one of the side effects of wanderlust. But one thing I've learned is to love the reality that you're in. If you always long for something than you don't have or somewhere you aren't, you're only going to be unhappy and unable to enjoy the blessings of where you are right now. 

And right then, I was glad to be inside the pillow fort with my favorite person, right then. Even though there was more stress to come after, that moment in time boosted my spirits and steadied my spirit for the days ahead.