Cruisin' the Caribbean

I've never been on a cruise, so what better way to have my first cruise experience than with 300 other LDS young single adults? We left from Miami for a full week of fun and (mostly) sun with stops in Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Isla Roatan, Honduras; and Grand Cayman.We had a day of travel on the ocean before reaching Cozumel and another day at the end, so we took advantage of a lot of the ship's amenities, such as mini-golf on the top deck, shuffleboard, basketball, ping pong, hot-tubbing, and the water slide. Now, playing mini-golf on a cruise ship is a little different, as the ship rocks a little bit from side to side and the wind is a lot stronger on some holes that are more exposed. That just adds to the challenge. It was a tough battle, and in the end Devin eaked out the win over Laura.
Each night, we had assigned seating for dinner, and these are my tablemates. The guys were my roommates, too. Three brothers from Heber, UT. Good guys. The girls were also from Utah and were characters, so we all had a good time eating our dinners and ordering a little of everything (since food is included in the flat cruise rate). Favorite meals: lobster, escargot, salmon, steak, and assorted desserts--too many to mention.

Cozumel, Mexico
Here's me with the ship in port in Cozumel. Most of us went to a beach where they had volleyball, sea kayaks, a sea trampoline, and a whole lotta beach chairs for catching rays. Ah, that's the life!
At night, our group enjoyed several on-board activities more than the rest. Karaoke was a big favorite, as was dancing in the White Heat disco later in the evening. Above, Kizzi and I sang a duet of "A Whole New World" that made us famous for the rest of the cruise. We didn't sing together again, and I suspect it's because we both knew a repeat attempt would only disappoint our adoring fans and taint our legacy.

Belize City, Belize

We had an un-Belize-able time in Belize. I joined another large group in going cave-tubing, and it was a very cool experience. Pretty chill just sitting in a tube and floating down the river. Only bummer was that my camera isn't water-proof, so I had to leave it on the bus, and I haven't been able to get pictures from anybody. So you'll just have to trust me that it was great. Oh, and we had a little excitement by almost not making it back to the ship in time, so that got our hearts beating and had us running down the dock to get to the ferry.

Isla Roatan, Honduras
Though we'd had a great time in Cozumel and Belize, the weather had been so-so. In Isla Roatan, Honduras, the weather was what we hoped for and expected in the Caribbean. Well, after some short showers in the morning, anyway. My cousin Shelby (below) invited me to join with her and her friends for a tour of the island and then a little frolicking on the main tourist beach (above). I think we also loved Isla Roatan because the sand was super-soft and the water was that beautiful blue you want to wade out into and swim.
This picture of Shelby and I is from the second formal dinner night. Don't we look smashing? Well, it was good to hang out with my cousin, especially since my sister Megan and I didn't even know Shelby was going to be on the ship until we got there. Imagine my surprise when I was looking at the "phone/room list" and saw my cousin's name. Definitely a pleasant surprise.

Grand Cayman

Our final destination did not disappoint in terms of thrills and beautiful scenery. A small group of us did our own excursion to 'Stingray City', where we got to swim with stingrays, hold them, let them give us a neck/back "massage", and even give one a little smooch if you wanted to. Again, my camera isn't water-proof, so I don't have pics, but I'll keep trying to get them. After our time at 'Stingray City', our little fishing boat took us to a spot where we could snorkel for a bit. Mostly there were just little fish, but we still liked getting to kick around for a few minutes before heading back to shore and to the cruise ship.
I really owe my sister big-time for telling me about the cruise and inviting me to go with her. She'd had a good time on one of these before, and I can now add my own stamp of approval on the LDS singles cruise experience. Thanks, Megan!

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Classy Coco

This is just a quick, long-overdue post to congratulate Conan O'Brien on his brief but entertaining run on the Tonight Show. I watched the final show with a group of my Deloitte friends, and we all agreed that Conan showed true class when he thanked everyone at NBC for the remarkable support and love they've shown him over the years.He could have been bitter and made pointed comments and criticisms about how they've handled the Conan & Leno situation, but he took the high road and chose to show gratitude. Way to go, Coco. We look forward to following you in whatever your next project and/or show may be.

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Keys Please

Don't you just love how it's only when you're in a hurry that you lose your keys? Well, I got home from the grocery store and was going to drop off the groceries and do a swim with my friends before some more friends came over to eat.

Since the swimmers were almost to my building, I just went directly to meet up with them. They gave me a ride to the parking garage, and I took them to the pool, and they could warm up while I dropped off the groceries and grabbed my swimming stuff. However, when I got up to my apartment, I couldn't find my keys. Figures.

So I went down and told let them know I might be a bit before swimming with them, headed to the front desk, got the spare room keys, and finally got into my apartment. After putting away the groceries, I snagged my own keys, dropped off the building's spare keys back at the front desk, and went to look in the windows of my friend's car, just in case my keys had fallen out when I hopped in. No dice.

The next option was to check my car. By this time, I knew I wasn't going to be swimming. So I wasn't in much of a hurry. I took a look in the driver side and didn't see anything on the seats or floor. Figured I might as well have a peek from the passenger side, and I noticed a funny little sound. Still no keys in sight. Then I realized what the sound was.

My car was running.

Let me say that again. My car was running.

For a solid 20-30 minutes or so.

As in, the keys were in the ignition and the only thing keeping it from driving down the street on its own was the fact that the automobile had been in park this whole time.

Wow.

Well, in the end it all worked out fine. I'm happy that I'd locked the doors, so at least nobody could just take my running car for a spin after I'd left it there. Or worse.

Yay for momentary lapses in intelligence that lead to funny stories.

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NYE Dancin' with DJ Ted Dancin'

My brothers and I went downtown for some New Years Eve action this year. DJ Ted Dancin' (a Salt Lake DJ with a good reputation) was gonna be on the turn tables, so we thought we'd give it a go.Lo and behold, our good high school friend Emily was there, plus another friend Joel, so that was a fun little CHS reunion. I didn't see them later, so I think they may have split and went to another place for the actual midnight countdown.Pete's friends are a hoot. They're very friendly and it makes me so happy that he has surrounded himself with good people. I think this was maybe these two's second or third date, so that was kinda interesting to observe, but they were great and we had a lot of laughs.Of course, Pete and Jordyn were shakin' it on the dancefloor. Pete has typical Smyth silliness in his dancing, along with actual moves and rhythm, which makes it quite entertaining to see him just going to town and her trying to reign him in just a tad so he isn't too over the top. They're adorable together. Also, it's good to have a date for New Years, because then you know who to kiss when the clock strikes 12. Note: I didn't have anyone this year, but we'll cross our fingers for 2011.We also ran into my good high school friend, Allie. I haven't seen her in probably 8-9 years, so it was a blast from the past and we enjoyed catching up. And that girl and her friends sure do know how to dance up a storm.The best part about the night was spending it with my brothers. I love these guys like they were... well... my brothers. Always good times when we're together. Plus, look how stylish these handsome devils are! I felt under-dressed, but I won't make the same mistake next year. You can count on that.

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