Needless to say I've kinda been MIA when it comes to blogging lately. The biggest reasons are:
1. My computer has been messed up lately (for a while) but thanks to some lovely people from church, it is up and running again!
2. Life has been busy! After 2 years of working at the bank, I started a new job this summer! I now work at a local clothing store and work a few afternoons a week there. Also, school has started and I started NURSING SCHOOL about 4 or 5 weeks ago! :-) To say that it has been a little crazy would be an understatement! Getting back into the swing of having school every day during the week has taken some adjusting since before I only had school 2 days a week and could work the rest since I was only taking prerequisites. Now, the real deal has begun and school is every day and is intense. While it is stressful trying to keep up with due dates and content and stuff, it's also very, very exciting! Knowing that just 3 semesters (plus the remainder of this semester) stand between me and my dream of becoming a nurse is so crazy to me! 2 years from now and I will, Lord willing, be working as an RN and it's just so surreal. I can't wait!
That's all for now, but I am going to do my best to keep up with blogging because I love looking back and remembering things and being reminded of memories!
Okay, this was by far my fave day!! I'd never been on a cruise with Marvel Day at Sea and it was absolutely amazing!
Today we woke up around 9 and then went to eat the breakfast buffet at Cabana's. It was all super good-like I'm pretty sure you can't find any "bad" food on any Disney property. My favorite was the hashbrowns.
After breakfast we went to lay out on the pool deck to get some sun and watch the Marvel shows/movies that they had showing on the Funnel Vision above the pool.
We chilled out for most of the day and then went and got ready for dinner/shows early because we had a reservation to meet the superheros at 3:45. :-)
We waited in line to meet Spiderman, Black Panther, and Ironman. It was super awesome! The costumes looked great and it was just amazing!
After we met them, we went to a Mickey and Friends Superhero Party which was a tad childish haha. It was neat seeing the characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, & Pluto) in this show because they all had superhero tshirts on, but the show itself felt like a flash back to those elementary school "say no to drugs" things we used to have to watch! haha!
After this, we went to watch the nightly show which turned out to only be for kids too haha! Dr. Strange taught us qualities that superheros possess and taught us how to open portals with hula hoops LOL.
Afterwards, we went to eat supper at Lumiere's where they had their Marvel Night menu. While we were waiting to enter the restaurant, Groot, Gamora, and Star Lord on top of the balcony! So neat!
For my appetizer I tried the crab cakes! I'd never tried that before and they were pretty good! I was impressed!
For my soup I tried the Mushroom soup which I was a tad nervous about but it was actually really good too. (Once you learn to step out of your comfort zone a little bit and get used to all the fancy wording on the menus, ordering food is less intimidating haha!)
For my entree I ordered the ribeye and vegetables which was really awesome as well.
For dessert I ordered some apple crumble thing which was good, but had a really strong cinnamon flavor which I couldn't handle much of. Very good, but a little goes a long way. ha!
After this, we went to the Marvel live show and Y'ALL!! It was ah-mazing! I was super pumped to get home and show Mom & Dad the video I got of the show because it was absolutely amazing! Stan Lee even made an appearance in the video somehow and it was just so sweet!
[Disclaimer: my memory and details on this day are going to be a little less descriptive just because as hard as I try to enjoy it, Pirate Night is just not my favorite. I guess I'm just not that into it? I always enjoy the shows and stuff but I just don't get as excited about Pirate Night like everyone else seems to. haha]
This was the day that the boat docked in Grand Cayman. Brianna got off the boat and toured around the island but I decided to stay on the boat and go to the Princess Gathering to meet some of the princesses and then go lay by the pool. There was also a Carnival Cruise ship and another Disney cruise ship (the Fantasy) docked at Grand Cayman when we were there. I wanted so badly to just be able to tour the Fantasy to see what it looked like in comparison to the Dream and the Magic.
At the Princess Gathering, I met Rapunzel, Cinderella, Belle, Tiana, & Ariel. I got pictures with each one but the lighting was awful and I quickly deleted all of them haha.
I went and grabbed lunch from Donald's Duck-In and then laid in a chair on the deck by the pool and watched the movie on the big screen.
After Brianna got back I went to try and watch part of Ralph Breaks the Internet but the movie had already started so we went and played Disney trivia again in the Promenade Lounge.
We went back to the room to get dressed a little earlier today because there was a Pirate Show that afternoon that we didn't want to miss.
The nightly show that night was called "JunNk" and I honestly wasn't too impressed. It looked like it was going to be an acapella group but they didn't really sing they just kind of made cave man noises?? I was super confused the whole time haha.
After the nightly show, it was time for the Pirate Night show on the pool deck with fireworks! This show was not like the one I remember on the Disney Dream because Jack Sparrow was not part of this show at all. However, Captain Mickey as well as Captain Hook and Mr. Smee made an appearance and I love fireworks so it was alright.
Afterwards, we went back to Rapunzel's Royal Table for dinner but the dinner tonight was pirate themed. The food was really really good! Click here to see the Pirate Night menu!
For my appetizer I ordered the Smoked Saucisson. It was okay but I remember it being different.
For my salad I ordered the Romaine Wedge except I got Honey Mustard for the dressing instead of Thousand Island.
For the Main Course I ordered Tia Dalma's Jerk Chicken. This was really really good!
For dessert I ordered the Banana Bread. It was good too, but tasted more like cake instead of bread.
I couldn't find any of these pictures but I'm sure you could google them. :-)
Today was a day at sea and we kind of just chilled because we were kind of worn out from the day full of traveling/go-go-go busy day on Sunday. I woke up around 10:30 (totally did NOT mean to sleep that late, though haha!) and then went to eat at the food places up on the pool deck. They had Donald's duck-in and Pinocchio's Pizza on one deck and then on the other they had Daisy's Delites and Cabana's.
For lunch that day we ate from Donald's/Pinocchio's. Cheeseburger and fries from Donald's and the best slice of BBQ chicken pizza from Pinocchio's. We kinda just chilled by the pool until later that afternoon and watched the movies they had on the Funnel Vision (which was the big movie screen above the pool). We were able to see the border of Cuba as we sailed by.
Then, we went to play Disney movie trivia in the Promenade Lounge (got 16/20 correct!) and then watched Jack Jack's Diaper Dash which is where they race babies as they crawl across the floor in the lobby of the ship. Usually the babies take off crawling but this time 5 out of 5 babies cried! Haha!
After that, we went to watch Mary Poppins Returns in Walt Disney Theater. I LOVE that movie!
As we were walking across the ship after the movie we ran into Mickey and the gang dancing through the ship. :-)
Afterwards, we headed back to the room to get dressed for the show and dinner.
Tonight, the show was Tangled: The Musical! If you know me at all, you know that Tangled is my FAVE movie, Rapunzel is my fave princess, and Flynn is my fave prince!! I was PUMPED about the show and dinner following at Rapunzel's Royal Table. Click HERE to watch Tangled: The Musical.
The entrance to the restaurant was amazing too because it looked like you walked right into the movie!
Y'all, my dreams came true when we ate at Rapunzel's Royal Table. haha. The restaurant was beautiful and I got to meet Rapunzel and Flynn (for the first time.) We were walking through and I totally caved in to my inner child for a moment when I saw Rapunzel because I elbowed Brianna and squealed "THERE'S RAPUNZEL!" hahaha.
For my appetizer, I ordered the Ravioli Tiroler which was "Filled with pulled beef and portobello mushrooms tossed in a Red Wine Thyme reduction served with roasted carrots and pearled onions.
For my soup/salad I ordered Potato Cream Soup (y'all, I'm ALL about some potato soup haha) and it was delicious. Loved it!!
For my entree I ordered Captain of the Guards Prime Rib of Beef which was with a "Double Baked Potato, Broccoli, Sweet Roasted Carrots, and a Red-Wine Veal Sauce." This was super good too. The potatoes were super cool looking and it was all delicious!
For dessert, I ordered Rapunzel's Fry Pan Sweet Bread, and tbh y'all I saw that it came in a frying pan and was like "I want that!" It was delicious too but I was honestly pumped that it came in a frying pan haha.
While we ate, Flynn & Rapunzel and some of the guys from the Snuggly Ducking sang/performed. They apparently wanted us to sing along and dance but I missed the memo and kept eating and "got in trouble" by one of the Snuggly Ducking guys haha. He said "So, that's the girl who'd rather keep eating than participate in our songs." hahaha.
this day was probably my favorite because I love love love Tangled and this was like a dream come true honestly. :-)
So me and one of my best friends decided to start a yearly "Girls Trip" and for the first one we decided on a Disney Cruise!! :-) Word on the street is that Disney cruises are super expensive and are way more in comparison to other cruise lines. I DISAGREE. Once you pay for your trip in full, you are DONE. Your food is paid for. Your room is paid for. Your tips and gratuities are paid for. You are done paying (except souvenirs and excursions) and can just relax and enjoy your vacation (and unlimited snacks, breakfast and lunch every day, and 4 course meals each night, plus a nightly show!)
Day one was travel day/embarkation day! Our flight left out of Nashville at 5:30 am on Sunday. We left for Nashville around midnight, arrived at the airport around 2:30, and flew out right on time. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, FL and had to take a shuttle from FLL to the cruise port in Miami. The shuttle was about a 30 minute drive and only cost $15 per person! SO simple and worry-free! I totally recommend SAS Transportation if you ever need a shuttle in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area!
We arrived at the cruise port between 10:30 and 11:00 and our embarkation time was around 12:30. This allowed us plenty of time to go through security and get checked in with plenty of time to spare.
While waiting to board, we were able to meet Goofy!! So fun!!
We got on the boat in time to head to eat lunch before checking into our stateroom and getting ready for the show and dinner.
We ate lunch at Cabana's (the buffet style restaurant on the boat) and sat next to a couple and their two kids. Their little girl was the CUTEST and she leaned over and tapped me on the shoulder and said "Ma'am??? Where's your kids??" LOL!! I told her I didn't have any kids and her response was "Well who did you bring to Disney then??" hahaha.
After lunch, we walked around the boat and checked everything out to kill time before we could check into our stateroom and change clothes for dinner.
We watched the Sailing Away Party on the pool deck. Super neat and exciting!
After we checked in, we got ready for the nightly show and dinner. On Disney cruises there are two showings of the nightly show and two dinner seatings. If your assigned dinner time is 6:15, then you watch the 8:15 show. If your dinner time is 8:15, you watch the 6:15 show. Our dinner time was the second seating so we always watched the show before dinner each night. The show on the first night was "Twice Charmed" which was a different outcome of the Cinderella story--the show reminded me a whole lot of the plot of the Cinderella III movie. It was a super great, Broadway-style show. {To watch the show, click HERE!}
On the Disney Magic, you dine at a rotation of three restaurants for dinner: Animator's Palate, Rapunzel's Royal Table, and Lumiere's. On the first night, we ate at Animator's Palate. This was an awesome awesome AWESOME restaurant. The walls were decorated with black and white drawings and cartoon pictures and the ceilings were paint palates. It was all black and white until dessert time, and then there was a show with lights and colors and featuring Sorcerer Mickey!!
For dinner, you get your choice of 4 courses: Appetizer, Soup/Salad, Entree, and Dessert.
For my appetizer I ordered the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes which was "pasta purses filled with truffle-scented cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce."
For my soup/salad, I chose the Baked Potato and Cheddar Cheese soup which was described as . It was delicious!! Probably my favorite dish of this meal!!
For my entree, I ordered the Pennete Bolognese which was "Pennete pasta mixed with a rich Bolognese sauce garnished with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano and toasted garlic ciabatta. I liked it okay but this was the "safe choice" for me because I was a tad intimidated by all the fancy words and knew pasta would be "safe" haha. Next time, I believe I will choose chicken or steak, but this was very good.
For dessert, I chose the cookies and cream sundae. It was super good, but I was SO full by this point! Haha.
This is where the show starts. The lights lit up and the black and white drawings on the walls came to life in a colorful, animated, movie-type show. Super super neat!! My favorite part, of course, was when Sorcerer Mickey made his appearance and the Fantasmic! song played!!
After dinner, we pretty much went back to our room and went to sleep because we were super exhausted from traveling!
I'm just a simple girl who is simply striving to become more and more like Jesus each day. I have big dreams but I'm also a very low-key, go with the flow kind of girl. I'm currently pursuing my dream of becoming a registered nurse which has been one of the most fulfilling yet challenging things I've ever done. My biggest dream and goal in life, however, is becoming a wife and mom. I pray for God's guidance and perfect timing for when and how those dreams become reality. Until then, I'm enjoying life (as much as you can while going to nursing school) and enjoying spending my time with my family as well as going to as many of our hometown high school basketball games as possible. Glad you stopped by my blog-it's not much yet, but good things take time. :-)
