Spring Break...

ELEVEN! Technically I don't have a spring break but this year I decided to treat myself to one! My friend Hailee Thompson had invited me on the Mexican Riviera Cruise back in March with her friends Val and Lyndi, and I knew it wasn't a trip to refuse! Definitely was one of the BEST weeks of my life! Here's the recap...

Saturday, March 12th --- Huntington Beach

We flew out a day early to Long Beach so we could play in Huntington Beach for the night, and also to make sure we weren't late for the ship Sunday!

 Lyndi * Hailee * Kirstin * Val

 The girls excited about vacation

 Val at the airport

 hardly knew each other but became best friends by the end of the week!

 at FRED'S in HB

 the girls... and phil

 huntington beach... my new favorite place

 *besties*

 on the windy pier

 woke up for the sunrise but we were on the wrong side, at least there was a surf competition going on

 we LOVED huntington

hailee packing once again

our new friend and chauffeur david

Huntington Beach was a lot of fun! We ate some amazing nachos at Fred's and then spent the night exploring HB, making new friends, and just having one great night to start our week off!! 

Sunday, March 13th --- Ship Day

We boarded Carnival Splendor early afternoon, got situated, and then explored our home for the week!

 the SPLENDOR!

 long beach... gotta love california

 photo op*

 picture? why yes we would

*FOSTERS*

 went down the slide once and that was enough

 kids pool

 just us

 "what a bright idea"

 photo op*

 lyndi oh so tired

 the casino

 the showroom

 ready for the night

 we didn't know we were on the FUN ship

 felipe, the cruise director

 you know Carrot Top right? Well this is his brother Lemon Drop!

 the band

 new friends nia and jasmin from Bay Area, CA

 somehow we skipped a LONG line by pulling up, dropping our luggage, and them taking it! we didn't mind we just skipped a whole lot of people!

 home away from home

 rv bathroom with such an amazing shower, honestly!

the comfiest beds ever... loved to sleep!

 strike a pose

 adult pool full of salt, yucky!

 making use of the props

 just checkin out the activities

 cute little towel animal things... half the time I couldn't make out what animal it was!

 uh yes, Dennis, the amazing salsa dancer

 fun little show

 dan and justin in the club... justin could DANCE!

 new friend brandon

 nia trying to cool down

 the boys showin us what they got

taking a break from dancing

Splendor was awesome! Checked things out, did dinner in the Black Pearl, went to the Opening Show, and got talked into going to the Red Carpet (the club). We were all so tired but Hailee, so the other 2 girls went to bed and then Hailee made me go dancing with her. It was way fun and we met a lot of people! We love the Splendor!!

Monday, March 14th --- Ship Day

Today we were sailing across the ocean. We layed out on deck, met some randomly awesome guys, and then spent rest of the day in the pool! We were late for dinner so we begged them for us to go to the later one, which they did! Phew! Once again, met some really cool people and enjoyed getting some sun!

 Val * PC (Logan) * Kirstin * Habeeb (Prashant)

 we love cruisin

 photo op* to the bathroom

 zan and nathan from Ogden, UT

 loving the mexican sun

 crazy boys from ASU... definite spring breakers!

 habeeb being such a sweetheart

 val making use of the props, again

 dinner... we loved dinner time

 sun burnt girls

 ship photos

 such cute girls

 PC doing "The Bernie" from "Weekend at Bernies"

 true ship love

 kaitlyn, maryann (from St.George), and jasmin

 *lemon drop*

 ANDY from Washington... I taught him how to swim in the pool

Tonight was way fun! We danced pretty much the whole night with people we had met in the pool that day! Way fun people and such good times!

Tuesday, March 15th --- Cabo San Lucas

Cabo in my next favorite place! The water was amazing and it was just a nice little Mexican town. Lots of tourists which is always fun! Lots of good times in Cabo!!

 cabo san lucas

 waiting for our numbers to be called to get on the tenor to take us over to cabo

 lyndi and i on the tenor

 anthony from Washington showin us how to get down

 crazy val

 glass-bottom boat

 crazy fishies

 boating over to lover's beach

 had to get in the ocean a little bit

 maryann and kaitlyn from St.George

 lover's beach... so pretty

 "flash" letting me drive boat

 gansta captain

 walter and flash, our water-taxi

 bang bang

 viva la meh he co

 love this lady

 new friends

Jazz fan and he's not even from Utah... weird!

 miguel, our lifesaver! 

 photo op*

 ah yes, jenny... crazy lady!

 Hook (Barrett) and I really getting into the music being played in the Piano Bar

 ship photos

 jasmin almost knocking over the set, so funny!

 totally just hopped in with these guys...

 don't mess with us

yep that's right... don't even think about it

 Chris from PA, THE piano man

 week long friends... "ginger", nia, hook (Barrett), & jenny

 more friends... anthony, andy, & nia

 and curls (Bobby)

 and who can forget KENNY ROGERS!

 dibbs line-dancing... sooo funny!

kenny rogers bustin' a move with zan

Today was such a long day but we all had so much fun! Had so much fun in Cabo with some people we had met from the cruise! After Cabo we came in and napped, showered up and went to dinner, experienced the piano bar, and then finished the night dancing in the Red Carpet. I was more people-watching tonight, Cabo took it out of me so I just "chilled" tonight, still was so fun!

Wednesday, March 16th --- Cabo San Lucas

Initially we were suppose to be in Mazatlan either today or Tuesday but due to the mugging the people do to the tourists as they get off ship, the ship spends 2 days in Cabo! I didn't mind that one bit!  On to Cabo for another day...

 up and at it for some para-sailing over cabo

 our water-taxi driver... they love the white women!

 sweet hair buddy

 getting ready to sail away...

 whoooooo

 up in the air

*hails*

 *kirst*

 up up and away we go

 lover's beach/the arches

 more of lover's beach

 precious

 yes this is for real and no he didn't know we took a picture

 cabo wabo

 some popular marlin restaurant

 Spring Break... ELEVEN!

 we had to TIP for toilet paper... glad to be an American I tell ya!

 check out this hot grandma

 oh jasmin... "how do Mormons take pictures?" "like this!"

"Special K" got her bangle on the temple necklace!

 this here is bernie (Adam)... hilarious and he didn't even know it!

 the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen

 a little trouble with my mascara

awesome miguel

 silly girls

 dinnertime! nom nom nom

spying on the boys... shhh don't tell

my piano man husby (he played Bon Jovi for me! now if that's not true love, I don't know what is!)

Cabo was amazing today! Hailee and I went para-sailing and then toured the town, found Cabo Wabo, and then Hailee went back to ship for a snooze while I stayed and shopped with Nia and Jasmin. Found piano man eating so Nia and I stopped and talked with him. Once again, had some amazing nachos! We had to get back on ship early so once we got on board, pool time! No one was really getting in the pool so we just hungout with everyone and enjoyed the amazing sunset! It was a very LONG day so after dinner I just hungout in the piano bar while the girls the Red Carpet or whatever they did... I really don't know! I spent my night listening to this amazing man play and sing with kids I met there. It was fun just to sit and listen and relax! He played Bon Jovi's "Runaway" for me, it was awesome! It was a way good night!!

Thursday, March 17th --- Puerto Vallarta

Since today we would be at port all day, we decided to sleep in! Yay! We didn't have anything planned so we took our time getting up and off the ship. We walked around a bit, Val buying a few things, and then we were stuck! We all decided to do the zipline through the jungle, so that we did! They said not to take cameras (safety issue) but then wanted to charge us $100 for a cd with pictures... no thank you! So we don't have any pictures... sad! 

 way to pose with the statues val

 some weird looking mexican donkey

 getting ready to zipline it

 just waiting...

 waiting to get geared up and climb some trees

 puerto vallarta adventures

 the splendor at night

 look what we came home to...

 happy saint patricks day

 pretty sure we were the ONLY people celebrating on the whole ship

 honestly, we were!

 my sweet glow in the dark straw

 guys on stage were singing "Baby Got Back"... had to help this lady out with the BACK part!

 jazzy, hails, and habeeb

 ship photos

 the photographer just loved us

 I want this couch

 new friends braun, tara, vanessa, and paul

 *KAREOKE TIME*

 Bon Jovi...

 "Livin' on a Prayer"

 i made paul duet with me, i was scared

 totally ROCKIN it...

 and then LAUGHING about it

 we even had a real band behind us... it was awesome!

 hails and kaitlyn

 awww maryann, love this girl

 my new ogden boys, nathan and zan

 pizza at 4 in the morning? why not!

 i'm not sure... i think she just wanted a picture, maybe of her tattoo!?

 the big U for the Utah group

 nathan was wearing my #33... how sweet!

Ziplining was awesome through the jungle, and more exercise then what we had hoped for! Poor Val and Lyndi got ate alive by mosquitoes, counting 28 for Val I believe, I only had 5! I got sick on the ride home, of course, so once we hit ship I went to bed while the girls got something to eat. We got up and ready and out we went to celebrate St.Patrick's Day. I was still out of it so I broke down and got me a Coke costing $2.46 a can! It was well worth it! Met up with my new friends Vanessa and Paul and got Paul to duet with me. It was awesome and so funny! We hit the Red Carpet following my performance and danced our bums off till 4 in the morning. A huge group, well whoever was left in the club, went up to the Lido deck for some late night pizza and soft-serve ice cream! That pizza was AMAZING, even at 4am!! And then off to bed we went...

Friday, March 18th --- Ship Day

We woke up with smiles on our face knowing that we would finally be able to catch some sun! We grabbed our suits and some breakfast and walked outside to the cold and to the wind! It was horrible and totally put a damper on our day...

 trying to be happy... but we are not

 i mean come on, i'm in a sweater!

 laying out... clothed!

 "Leopard" here was the most exciting thing about today

 yea baby

 so entertaining

this was the best part!

 girl group expanded over a weeks time

 photo op*

 thanks for keeping my hand up Val, ha!

 such FUN girls... love them!

 "where should I put my hand?"

"here i'll help!"

 during the closing show.. we liked it! family next to us, not so much!

 photo op*

 val trying to get the burn out... with visine!

 awww piano man

 lyndi and val for formal dinner night

 hailee and myself at formal dinner night

 haha silly, silly girls

 beatles at the closing show

 absolutely love these 3 people!

 I was in deep competition with nancy here in making the piano man our husby... i think she won! she got a song written after her... dang it!

"cause we're the 4 best friends that anyone could have!"

We were so sad about our crappy pool day, even though we were quite entertained throughout the day. Tonight was formal night so that was fun! We weren't even in "formals" but still, it was fun to be in a dress and some heels! Dinner was amazing and so was rest of the night! We did a lot of hanging out in the piano bar where the piano man played "Shot through the Heart" for me! What a sweetheart! And then of course, ended up in Red Carpet where we really just hungout and talked a lot with everyone we had met that week! Lots of good times!!

Saturday, March 19th --- Ship Day

Once again... cold and windy out on deck! We were really upset by now by the bad weather and the water was awful so the ship was really rocking today. I had to bum a patch off of Lyndi cause I was getting so sick. We weren't outside for too long until we went inside and bummed around, even went shopping in the gift shop! It was quite the lazy day...

hailee and zan

 it seriously was cold!

 my little maryann

 boys during all-star show

 felipe... such an awesome cruise director

 waldo and hails

 *BERNIE*

 pc and val... such goofballs!

 only one invited to the white party! thanks guys!

 love ya jas! such an awesome girl!

 we are women, hear us roar

 did someone blink?!

 crazy friends of the week

 haha love it!

 lyndi working her way off ship

JERSEY from ASU... we were suppose to duet "Uptown Girl" but didn't get the chance to, someday!

Even though the day was kind of a bummer, the night was awesome! We did dinner, went to an All-Star singing show that some of the guests put on, and then hit up the piano bar and Red Carpet for one last time. We got to say goodbye to a lot of people, which was sad! I met some really amazing people that I know I'll stay in touch with and become real-life friends with! We danced, laughed, and chatted the night away...

Sunday, March 20th --- Homeward Bound

Woke up, packed, and off we went... so sad but I guess you have to get back to real-life someday. The cruise was amazing and I spent it with 3 awesome ladies that made it that much more fun! Met a lot of people who seriously have changed my life! Sometimes it's good to get out of the "Utah Bubble" (which I don't think I'm in, but still...) and open your eyes to the way people live their lives, and to see how really different people are! It was amazing talking to these people and really getting to know them and their stories. It was absolutely one of the BEST weeks of my life! So many memories were made, it will be hard to forget! Thanks Hailee for the invite and thanks everybody for making it so awesome! Here's to the SPLENDOR... Spring Break, ELEVEN!!! Much Love Ü