2011 in Review - Mass Chaos in a Blog Post

Rats! It's 2012 and I'm still not done recapping 2011!!! That's okay though because I still contributed far more posts to this thing in 2011 than I did the previous year. Sometimes we have to measure progress in inches and not in yards. Why do we not use the metric system here in the states? It just seems silly. The math alone is so much easier. Anyway, this will have to just be a huge mass recap that will take us to December:

1) Jen and Adam do massive amount of yard work. Our back yard is fenced and it was landscaped with shrubs, mulch, and cement curbing along the fence line, and around the house. Unfortunately, the previous owners did not take care of it and we needed to replace everything. After we got Hero we decided we wanted more room for her to run and a little space for a container garden. It took all summer to get the landscaping cleared out and leveled for the sod we put in. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of the final product, but we're not done anyway. It's maybe a little hard to see, but the below pics show all of the ripped out landscaping:

This was all of the cement curbing we ripped out before it was hauled away:

It's still very much a work in progress. My goals this year are to stain the fence, add the garden, flowers, plant a tree or two, make sure Hero doesn't ruin the lawn, and possibly extend and stain the patio because, you know, dream big.

2) We said goodbye to Amelia. Amelia was the silver Saturn I bought when I was fresh out of college in 2002. I was so proud of her and also clearly still in my car naming stage. We had some good times and poignant moments together she and I. However, Adam and I knew that we would need to replace her sometime in the next few years and why not do it now when we still have two incomes? We replaced her with fun, zippy little Subaru Forester and we love it! Sorry Amelia, but I feel better knowing you're with someone who will still appreciate all of your good points.


3) I got bangs! My hair's so now! (What movie is that from? 10 points) They probably won't last long, but it was a fun little change for a while and thus noteworthy.


4) Adam and I went on a Thanksgiving cruise with his family. We left on a Saturday and came back the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It was just lovely, lovely, lovely. Jenny and Ben took much better pictures than what I took below with my iPhone, but at least it conveys the major parts of our wonderful trip!

Don't you love Adam's below outfit? It's kind of like a mullet. Business casual-like polo shirt on top and an athletic event down below. Please be aware he doesn't dress this way in public. Anyway, all of our cabins were next to one another and we had them open up the balcony partitions so it was like having a nice, private common area for the family. I loved just sitting and reading on our balcony! The downside was the chain smokers who were in the room right next to ours.


Here's a beach shot from Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. I love beaches, but I have a little bit of a shark phobia. Seriously, I've told friends not to swim too far out before. At this beach, though, the water was so clear, I had not a care in the world. The sand was like baby powder and it was so great to lay in the sun and swim! Adam and I rented a paddle boat and went all around the little bay area we were in.

Who's this handsome sandwich getting ready for a day at the beach?!

Oh, look! Another beach! Next stop was Grand Cayman. Adam and I were beach fiends this trip. We just hung out at Seven Mile Beach and did a little shopping right before we got back on the ship. This beach was lovely, but I swear I've been to prettier ones at this same port on previous cruises.

I bought a hat in Grand Cayman to protect my aging skin. This is right before it flew off my head and I made a nice spectacle chasing it. Yep, still got it.

I think my favorite port and shore excursion was in Mexico. Adam's parents booked us a private tour of the Mayan ruins at Koba and Tulum with LDS tour guides. They are a husband and wife team and run a company called Alma's LDS Tours (wife's name is Alma). They were so great - very knowledgeable and they set up a fabulous lunch for us and arranged everything with the tours. It was awesome! The below pic of Alma and Miguel is actually our second stop at the Koba ruins. The site is huge and so spread out that you ride bikes to see all of the ruins. I loved it!

There were several towers/pyramid type structures with steps going up to the top that you can climb. We climbed the tallest one. At first it seemed like no big deal, then I got about a quarter of the way up, looked down, realized I was climbing up something with only a rope in the middle to hold on to and the fear set in. I looked at Adam and declared my intention of going no further. Why tempt fate? Then I saw all these other people, many of them older than I was and possibly less graceful (is that possible?) and I decided to give it another try. I made it to the top and it was kind of a defining moment for me. Seriously. Here's what it looked like looking down from the top.

A triumphant Jen. One of my favorite kinds of Jens.

Adam, annoyed that I'm taking this photo, smiles halfheartedly. He's at the base of what we climbed.

Here are some pics from Tulum. It's also pretty neat and right next to the ocean. I'd been here before when Lis and I went on a cruise so it was fun to see it again.

More Tulum.

Our stop before Mexico was Roatan, Honduras. If you enjoy going to a place that has been entirely created by the cruise lines, and is crowded with just more of the shops you've seen at every part, this is your spot. It may have been the rain that poured on us. It may have been the fact that Amber lost her hat in the water when we were on the sky coaster thing. I'm not sure.

Heading to the beach at Roatan, just before the rains came.

Once we got back to Fort Lauderdale, we had one more excursion planned before our plane left. We went to the Everglades and did the air boat ride thing and communed with the alligators. This was one that wandered over to the wild life preserve. Up close and personal.

Et voila! This is 2011 up to December. I may not have it in me to talk about December.