Day five of our cruise was our disembarking day. We were so bummed to get off the ship. We had so much fun and could have easily done a few more days. Our wishes were somewhat granted when we couldn't get to port due to heavy fog! They closed the channel and we had to wait several hours until the fog lifted! More time on the ship...
Day four on the ship was another day at sea (sailing back toward home). This was also Nathan's birthday!! What a lucky guy to get to celebrate his birthday on a cruise!!
On day three we arrived at the beautiful Cozumel, Mexico!! Nate and I went out on our verandah for a bit to watch other boats and see the beautiful waters!!
Day two of our cruise was at sea! It was a full day and night of sailing towards Cozumel. We started our day off with a little time out on the verandah, watching the waves and water! I loved having this option to get some fresh air any time we wanted or needed it!
Monday morning came and so did all the nerves. We were all so anxious and had so many mixed feelings and emotions taking up residence in our minds. As a Mama, I wanted this so bad for Mason. I couldn't bear the thought of his disappointment if we weren't able to go. But as a sister, daughter, friend, etc. I was so bummed for the ones not able to come with us. And so bummed at the thought of it not working out like we hoped and planned.
We checked out of our room, grabbed some breakfast, and headed to the parking garage/shuttle. We didn't know what lied ahead...
We got to the cruise terminal with plenty of time to spare. Everything was moving pretty smoothly so far. We checked in our luggage and then waited until it was our turn to get in our first line. We didn't have to wait too long before that time came. It started getting more real by the second. However, we had to keep reminding ourselves to not get too excited just yet. We still had a Covid test we needed to pass...
Back in September of 2021, Nate's parents surprised the entire family {all eleven of us} with a Disney Cruise. We were set to sail on December 27th thru the 31st on the Disney Wonder, leaving out of Galveston, TX. We were all so excited to do this together as a family!
We spent a sweet little Saturday morning at Vita Coffee House with Nate's brother and our SIL. Our church was actually paying for everyone's coffee that morning. How generous and awesome, right? Vita is owned by one of our friends we have known since she was a little girl. Vita is a gorgeous coffee shop with a boho feel. It's so cozy, warm, and inviting. I just love it there. And you can't beat the delicious coffee!
Earlier in the day, my sister texted me to see if we wanted to trick or treat the downtown square. With all that had been going on with Diesel, I was so out of it. I didn't even realize that was the day for the trick or treating! I asked Mason and we both agreed it would be good to get out of the house. So we met them downtown for some trick or treating on the square.
I used to think Pinterest was dangerous (making me want to do all the things) but now Tik Tok has taken the cake! There are so many awesome crafts/diys on there! And, I love that there are so many Dollar Tree diys/crafts/hacks on there. Fun and inexpensive crafts are my jam!
When transferring my photos from my iCloud to my external hard drive, I noticed so many pictures that deserved a permanent spot here on my blog. While they may not warrant a full blog post, I want them here. So, here's a random dump of moments from August.
We finally got to see the new Globelife Field and we were impressed!! Nathan scored some awesome tickets from work for the three of us. We were so excited to go!
A few weeks ago, I shared our Chicken Coop Reno. We've added a few things to the coop since then. I added a solar lantern on the coop itself, some solar lights around the bottom, and some cute little fencing. I am loving the way this coop has come together.
I almost missed posting about St Patrick's Day! And I couldn't let that happen. Not because we celebrated in some big kind of way, but because I have the cutest pictures to share. But first, we had to be a little bit festive, so green Lucky Charms for breakfast it was!
For a while now, I have been wanting to renovate our chicken coop and get chickens. I knew that it was probably a big undertaking because our coop was in bad shape, so I kept putting it off. After we had chickens the last go-'round, we had a miniature donkey back there. He wasn't so gentle around the coop and tore it up. Well, on Saturday, March 6th we had a friend over with his tractor to till up the garden and do a few other things around ours & Nate's parent's properties. We were out working around the coop and I mentioned to Nate's mom that I wanted to renovate the coop & get chickens. She was excited and gave me just the amount of encouragement I needed to get started. I told Nate I was ready and that's all it took...
It's hard to believe that just a few short weeks before we were under a winter storm and experiencing below zero temps. And then BAM! Jeep topless weather. That's Texas for you! Mason and I went to grab a snowcone for an afternoon treat and we took all the backroads to/from. It was too pretty of a day to not get out and enjoy it!!
Day four of our trip {January 18th} was my birthday! We had a fun adventure planned for the day and couldn't wait! We tried to sleep in as much as we could so that it would be closer to time for our adventure, but that didn't work for me. I woke up naturally around 7 am every day of the trip. I did hang out in bed for a while, though!
We just hung out at the cabin for the first part of the day. We cooked breakfast, opened birthday gifts, and then got all of our snow gear ready! It was finally time for...
S N O W M O B I L I N G!!!!!!
On day three, the rest of or group wanted to go check out Taos. On the way there we went through Eagle Next and then to Angelfire to show the Moores the RV Resort that we stayed at a couple of summers ago! It was one of the nicest RV Resorts we have ever been to!
I am pretty sure I could get used to waking up in a log cabin!! Every day feels like a vacation and who doesn't want to feel like they are on vacation every day of their lives? I made a note to "buy a log cabin in the mountains" in my phone! Goals, for sure!!
Back in November or early December Nate's mom started texting him asking if we'd be interested in a cabin/mountain trip for my birthday in January! Nate didn't even have to ask me. He knows that if the question is mountains that my answer will always be a YES!! So then the search for a cabin began! She found one that fit our family and the time frame that we needed. It was so cute and dreamy! Seeing pictures of the cabin surrounded by snow made my heart so happy! However, when we got there we had to switch cabins!! More on that later...
So, a few days ago I shared our New Mexico post by numbers and then I ghosted this space! Again. I guess I was a little too confident in getting blogging done on top of catching up on work, all the house stuff, and a new semester of school! Hopefully, I can get it done soon because I have tons to share about the trip! But in the meantime, it's time for the Currently link-up with Anne in Residence. This month we are sharing what we are currently loving, reading, remembering, sharing, and wishlisting.
Hi!! I am Crystal. Daughter of the One True King, wife to my high-school sweetheart Nathan and Mama to a 13 year old boy named Mason. We're the Halls and we love to travel around Texas {or anywhere, really}. I blog about our daily life, traveling, DIY'ing, and everything in between. Welcome and thank you for stopping by!