As promised, I’m preparing to write more than anyone will ever care to read- but hey- I promised one huge puke fest of information so that’s what I’m going to deliver!

I posted my pictures early this morning. I went to bed at 2 Friday night and 2 last night because I was saving, naming, and organizing 50,383 pictures. Just looking at them makes me so happy. Guys, it was the best trip I’ve ever taken and I so wish I were enjoying it all over again. Here’s an extremely short recap of the amazing and adventurous 20 days- oh- and like I mentioned in my last post, my pictures match accordingly in the Mediterranean Cruise Collection so follow along. Ha ha I sound like a teacher.

Day 1- Surprisingly enough I found P with no trouble at all. The Rome airport isn’t all I was building it up to be. We met at the baggage claim, got on our bus, and went to the ship! Easy enough- thank goodness.

Day 2- We were in Florence and Pisa this day. It was a 12 hour tour so we were exhausted at the end. Plus it was hot- so yeah, sweaty girls aren’t fun girls. In Florence we say several beautiful churches and made time for some authentic gelato. P and I also wandered to a quaint little tavern for some famous Italian Chianti. It was such a great day. The night on the ship- as every night- was spent in the formal dining room, watching the cheesy show, and people watching (which consisted of nicknames and making up stories about who they were and where they came from)- followed by late night tea and or ice cream and burgers.

We were so healthy.

Day 3- We were in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It’s so beautiful there. We saw the palace and the church where the famous Princess Grace lies. We also saw the Monaco race track and the extra famous Monte Carlo Casino. It was really hot that day so P and I ended up sitting on a bench near the casino and chilling out. My parents called while we were lounging, so that was a nice surprise. It was a really nice day.

Day 4- At sea. It was full of lots of laziness, relaxing, and eating. Repeat.

Day 5- Barcelona baby! It was such a great day. Barcelona is full of amazing architecture so that was a treat. We started our trip going to 3 different restaurants trying tapas. Yum! Afterwards, we saw the famous Gaudi church. It makes me sad that it’s taken literally over a hundred years for this masterpiece to be built- and it’s still not even finished! I think that could be a good Sunday school lesson- how God uses our lifetime on Earth to build his masterpiece. P and I visited a Starbucks because we decided that’s something you must do in Barcelona.

Day 6- Mallorca! Mallorca is beautiful. The town of Valldemossa is stunning. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones have a house out there and I can fully understand why. It’s such a quiet little area. I enjoyed our time there. We also spent some time at a beautiful vineyard in the mountains there where we sampled 3 different wines. It was such a nice little afternoon.

Day 7- Remember what we did on day 4? Yeah, it was more of that. But at this point we figured out how to maximize our cheese platter ordering, ice cream trips, and late night pizza.

Day 8- Today we were in Tunisia- and it was HOT (hence why there are no pictures of us in that set). We saw Carthage, which was okay. We agree that part of it looked like they just threw some rocks on the ground and said, “Hey! Let’s call this place Carthage!” but then we saw some more areas that were more legitimate. Afterwards we went to Si Bou Said, which is a souk of sorts. P and I bought these really pretty Eye and Hand of Fatima charms which we’ll put on a necklace. Sort of a modern day BFF necklace if you will. It’s something so ingrained in the culture where we live(d) so it was special to buy them.

Day 9- Palermo, Sicily. Guys- this was the greatest excursion ever! We made our way into the mountains to see the Baroness di Salvo’s house, a very old dwelling that has been passed down. Soon after we arrived the Baroness herself put on a cooking class for us! She didn’t speak any English, so our guide translated as she made really delicious, classic Sicilian dishes. YUM! And then? Then carnage began. We figured we’d sample some small tastes of the things she made, but oh no. Not quite. Instead, they took us to this other room where we proceeded to eat,

and eat,

and eat.

Guys- we LITERALLY ate for THREE HOURS. 17 courses.

17 COURSES.

Um, hello immense sickness and fatness!

P and I finished around 3 that afternoon and didn’t eat again until a late breakfast the following morning.

Now that’s a Puke Fest.

Wait- I said I would never say that again, didn’t I? Sorry.

Oh- want to hear a funny side story? Although- I’m not sure if it will be funny since you weren’t there- but I’ll try guys! Okay- as we were feasting we were sharing a table with 2 older women. We were making small talk with them. We were talking about their families, and I had asked one of them how old her children were. The lady started rattling off the following, “Well- there’s 60, 65, 66, and 68.”

I slapped my hand on the table and called out a big hearty, “You look AMAZING!”

She looked at me like I was an idiot (and P did the same) and said, “Those are years, not ages.”

Right. Roger That.

Day 10-
Pompeii. I woke up feeling ill that morning and wasn’t thrilled about Pompeii (um- again why there’s no pictures of us that day!) Despite the yuckiness I had a great time. Those Romans were smarties. I enjoyed getting to see a few different places they inhabited while on the cruise. The Ruins of Pompeii was very interesting.

Day 11-
Rome (again). While we were on a 20 days cruise, some were on a 10 day. Today was the day we dropped those people off and got a whole new bunch of 10 dayers for the Eastern Mediterranean Tour. P and I opted to stay on the ship and have a lazy docked day at sea. It was very nice, and if I remember right, we ate too much.

Day 12-
Another day at sea like all the others!

Day 13-
Dubrovnik, Croatia! Dubrovnik is beautiful. We went and saw the city walls where we spent a few hours wandering around, seeing a church, and just enjoying the sights. It was so beautiful. P and I found a place to sit inside and hung around there for about an hour watching the day go by- as well as lots and lots of people. I’ve never seen water more sparkly than in Dubrovnik.

Day 14-
Corfu, Greece.

Day 15-
Today we were in Olympia!! Not only that- but in Olympia during the 2008 Olympics! Pretty cool. P and I actually got to walk the original Olympic track which was 600 Herculean feet (whatever that equivocates to!). P has a video of us walking the entire track that I posted below! We’re not very animated, totally sweaty, have no makeup on, and are walking the whole time with not much to talk about, but hey- you gotta walk the track when you’re at the Olympics! We’re such Gold Medalists. Ha.

Day 16
Santorini, Greece. Simply beautiful. You can see from the pictures. We spent some time in one of the small villages and then made our way to the black sand beach- which was gorgeous. P and I found a little outdoor restaurant and had some delicious authentic Greek food. Yum.

Day 17
Today we were in Ephesus. It was simply brilliant. I really enjoyed our visit there, not to mention we had a really great guide full of lots of information. We saw the Virgin Mary’s house, where she spent the last years of her life. Afterwards it was on to the ancient city of Ephesus. Apparently there is still so very much still covered that needs to be excavated. It was so neat to see, especially with all the Biblical references.

Day 18
At sea.

Day 19
Today we went to Valletta, Malta. It was really humid and miserable so we didn’t spend much time out and about. It was still nice to get out and walk around a little.

Day 20
Messina, Sicily. Today we did a short little excursion and saw some of the highlights- including this crazy huge clock that has this 15 minute “show” everyday at noon. It was very Disneyish.

And then the trip was over, and my heart was really sad.

Really really sad.

In fact- I feel sad now just typing about it knowing it’s over!

Did I mention I have an amazing boss that allowed me to borrow against the vacation I haven’t yet accrued rather than being unpaid? While it’s a huge blessing, it means I won’t have any vacation for literally the next year. How sad, right!?

Anyway, the trip was over and I bid my sister farewell- but there’s more to come on that.

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So moving along to the dogs- they’re a lot of work. I won’t say much since I told you about Rocky. I’ll try to post a few pictures in the coming days. It’s nonstop with 4 dogs. It’s been a test of patience- a test I seem to be failing

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So as you know- college football season is underway and Will is the happiest guy in the world. The first OU game proved to be not only a blow out- but wet. We got poured on! They ended up having over an hour delay and instead of driving home due to the rain and gigantic lead, my obsessed husband wanted to stay! Sigh. I guess it’s something we’ll remember…

Will is very excited to finally be able to utilize our tickets, and I am too.

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It seems like ever since we moved back it’s been nonstop on the go craziness. We lived with Will’s parents for a month, then P came to visit, then I went on vacation for 20 days, and then-

my dad is coming in 2 weeks! I’m so excited. He’s coming to Texas for some big racing thing and Will is going to meet him down there. After the racing weekend, he’s going to come up and stay a couple days with us, which is very exciting. I’ve been missing my family so much and it’s been hard, so it will be nice to have him here.

Not only that, but it gets better!

The following week my mom and sister are coming to stay a few days!! I can’t tell you how excited I am about the next few weeks. It will be really special for me. I’m not sure when I’ll see my family next, so I’m really happy about their visit.

I’m sure there’ll be lots more talk about all that in the coming days.

As for things now, it’s been a busy weekend full of cleaning. Will, his dad, and brother are in Indianapolis this weekend for the first Colt’s game in the new stadium. It was something they had planned before we moved back, so it’s been something Will has been looking forward to for a long time. It also allowed me a weekend of peace to clean, and man did I! Will didn’t do much while I was gone so I had lots of work to do. Plus, I can get a little fanatical so it takes me longer than most when I get in a cleaning mood. I started Saturday morning and finished at 3 today. I stopped in the evenings to get my pictures all sorted and play with the dogs. It’s been a very productive weekend!

Want to hear a funny story?

Yesterday afternoon a locust somehow got into the house and I was freaking out all day but would’t get near it because I was so scared! It ended up on the couch and I sprayed so much lysol on it that it set off my carbon monoxide detector. ha ha.

Then it ended up on the floor and I put a glass bowl over it with my purse on top- where it will stay until Will comes home to get the locust out of its little biodome! ha ha. I’m a nerd.

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I think that’s about all for now. It’s taken me a long time to write this and I’m starting to get antsy. Hope you had a nice weekend!