silly rabbits...

Oh man, tonight we started playing the funnest (yes, I know that isn't a word) Wii game ever, Raving Rabbids. Click here for some videos. It is just a bunch of silly games involving ugly little rabbit things. So far we've shot rabbits dressed as chickens, danced to silly songs using the wii fit balance board, and sledded down a mountain sitting on a cow. Now if that isn't quality entertainment, I don't know what is. Plus, I'm going to be really sore tomorrow. So it is a fun game and a great workout. What more can you ask for from a game? Anyway, thanks to Tyler for Christmas, we now own this amazing game, so if you want to come over and make a fool of yourself, consider yourself invited. I'll always take the opportunity to laugh at anyone's expense.
... And if this post sounds like I'm writing in another language (Grandmother), maybe you should skip on down to the next post. It's a good one.
By the way, this is a Rabbid. Told you they were ugly.

The day that Dallas went to the mall

It is the day after Christmas, and what does the entire state of Texas decide to do? Go to Northpark Mall, of course. We know, because we were there too. First, we drove around the parking lot for a long time before finding a spot to park, and I don't mean a close spot to park, we would have been happy with any spot that was in the same county as the mall. We finally spotted someone backing out, and Blake hurried to put on his blinker and claim the spot. We weren't really in a hurry, so there were no hard feelings toward the mall, we were just happy to be finally heading inside. We entered through Nordstroms and needed to go down one level before we could get in to the rest of the mall, so we went for the escalator. That is when my day was made. All of the parking mess and crowds were made worth it by one man's actions. Here's how it went... He rushed in front of us to get to the down escalator, grabbed both hand rails, and promptly forgot how to use an escalator. Blake and I expected him to continue moving so we were both standing a little closer behind him than we normally would have been, but I don't think he noticed. He was concentrating too hard on getting onto the moving steps. It took him about 4 tries before he succeeded in getting onto the escalator. I think we were both too bewildered to laugh, look at each other, or even say anything, but when he finally succeeded in getting onto the escalator, I leaned over to Blake and simply said "Buddy the Elf". He knew exactly what I meant and attempted to pretend to ride the escalator like Buddy did in "The Elf". The only problem came when he stepped on the girl behind us. Remember? The mall was already crazy busy and the guy in front of us held the line up for a while, so there was a whole line of people behind us. Anyway, here's a clip from "The Elf" so you can experience just what we did today. No, the guy wasn't wearing all green with yellow tights. If he were, we'd be looking for the hidden cameras. If the video decides not to work, try this link.

We went about our shopping at the mall, and for the most part it was uneventful until we were leaving. We left the same way we came in, and it just so happened that our parking spot was on the far end of the parking garage from where we were. There was this guy driving by us in the opposite direction looking for a parking place. He rolled down his window and said, "Are you leaving?" Blake said, "Yes, but we are way down on the other end of the garage." The guy replied, "Great, no problem, what are you driving?" Blake said, "A Corolla." And the guy finished with, "See you there!"
We walked down to the end of the garage and there was the guy waiting. We both thought out of all the cars in this huge garage, he isn't going to find our "Corolla down on the end." The Corolla is much too common. That is also when we looked around and realized that if we said we are in the "Mercedes or Jaguar down at the end", he never would have been able to find us. Ahh, Dallas. You love your cars.

Bo wanted to...

Bo wanted to record a few Christmas videos to share with the world. If the video below doesn't work, try this link.

Since we got up this morning, we've been talking about who is coming to see us today. To explain the video a little bit: Max is my parent's dog who is super sweet and loves to play with Bo. Bo is old and cranky, and doesn't like to share his toys, so, I can't say their feelings are mutual. Tyler is my brother and besides Blake, he's Bo's favorite fighting buddy. If the video below doesn't work, try this link.

Recent thoughts and happenings

I don't have anything super exciting to post right now, but I do have some bullet points that I'd like to share.

• I love the Christmas season. Our Christmas trees have been up since just before Thanksgiving and we left for our trip. (and yes, we have 2 trees.)
• This weekend we finished our Christmas cards and sent them out.
• Today I wrapped Christmas gifts and put them under the tree.
• I've been collecting recipes for Christmas candy that I can make. I'll get Blake's input and make that this week.
• I LOVE our fireplace. It is gas and turns on with a light switch. I run it all day long (because we don't pay for the gas... awesome.)
• Bo had to go to the vet last week and get a bunch of teeth pulled and the 3 that he has left cleaned. This has been happening yearly since he was a puppy. Poor guy.
• Bo can still do all of the things he could do before getting his teeth pulled.
• Last Friday, we went to the Watermark Christmas party. There were tabasco shots, a dunking booth, powdered sugar snow angels, and a bucket of egg nog involved. Not like any Christmas party you've heard of, right?
  
• Texas weather is crazy. Yesterday it was 80 degrees and beautiful. This morning when we woke up, it was 30 degrees and we are expecting freezing rain.
  
• I was taking Bo outside this morning, and Blake was going to work and he accidentally locked me out of the apartment. Of all mornings... I went down to the office and they gave me a spare key after verifying my SS#.
  

Our trip. This is going to be a long one...

We went on a cruise this week. Here are some thoughts and a bunch of pictures from our trip. We had a lot of fun... relaxed a lot... and had a lot of laughs at/with our fellow cruisers.
The overall experience was a blast, and it was nice to trade the cold for a few days for some nice warm sun. We got up REALLY early Saturday morning and drove to Galveston. We arrived early and found a Starbucks to sit and relax before parking the car and getting on the boat. Our room wasn't ready yet when we got on the boat, so we ate some lunch while still in port and explored the ship. By the time our room was ready, we were both pretty tired from getting up so early, so we unpacked and took a nap. Every evening there was a show, and the first night had a bit of a taste of the nights to come. There was a lot of singing, dancing, costume changes, comedy... all incredibly cheesy, but we got a good laugh. There were 10 people at our dinner table that we met on the first night: a couple on their honeymoon, a couple with two little kids, and then a family of four with two daughters that were 17 and 19. The food was good, but a little bland for our liking, but the chocolate cake was AMAZING. It came in a bowl with a crusted top and gooey inside and a little scoop of ice cream. I had it every night.... amazing.
Every night when we got in from dinner, there was a towel animal waiting on our bed, so I took pictures of them every day. Here is the one from the first evening... a seal.

Our second day on the ship was spent at sea. We spent some time exploring the ship some more and also got started on the search for a baby name. We came up with around 35 that we liked, and then cut that list down to 5 by the end of the trip that we both really like. What a job! (On a side note there... the name will remain a secret until the birth, so no point asking! haha.) Also, the second day of the cruise was "formal" night, so we put on our best for dinner and went to the captain's welcome aboard reception.
Blake had the lobster for dinner. This just so happens to be his second try with lobster. (Here's the first... in case you missed it.) This time, it was just the tail pre-prepared, so it went better than his first lobster a year ago.

Day three was at Cozumel, Mexico. We spent the day shopping and being heckled by shop vendors. I got a good laugh from some of the stuff that was said to us. I can't say that it made me want to come in their shop and buy a lot of stuff, but it was funny none the less.


Blake got a goofy balloon hat. When I say he got it... he didn't request it, the guy was just making them for tips. Blake was super happy about this one.


A cute little boy outfit we got while shopping in Cozumel.
Day four: Progresso, Mexico. We spent the day at the beach, so we didn't bring a camera along. It was nice to relax and read some though... in between being asked if we wanted to purchase a shirt, bracelet with our name on it, other beaded jewelery... you name it. The water was cold, but not so much so that we couldn't get in it. Once we decided that we had enough of the beach, we went back to the ship for some lunch and to try out the pool. We were both surprised when we found out that the pool was not only COLD but also salt water. It was fun though. We also tested out the slide a couple of times. It was fun.
Day five: another day at sea. We slept in, had breakfast, and swam some more. Here are some pictures from around the ship.






BINGO! Wow, did those old people take it seriously.
We overheard someone talking about this cake, so we thought we should try it. It was good. We liked it and everything, but it wasn't as good as the guy made it out to be. It was pretty though, so I took a picture.

Proof that it wasn't as good as the guy made it out to be.

Our last morning, we were supposed to be getting off the ship at about 8:15 am, but because of some really strong wind from the previous night, we were delayed until 10:30. We were glad we decided to do "self-assist" debarkation because that meant we got to get off 1 hr before everyone else. We got to the car and headed for Granbury to pick up Bo. He was one happy little dog. All in all, it was a long day of driving, but we made it home safely. Back to the real world!