All She Wants To Do Is Dance: Travels

Okay, quick whirlwind shock and awe summary of the past few weeks. Like I stated in my previous post - when it rains intentions, it pours. Here is the first of three entries.

Christmas! We spent our first Christmas at Jason's apartment and it was wonderful. As you may or may not be able to see, Jason set up a fire, sweet Charlie Brown tree, lights, bubbly, and presents. He sent me around the apartment on a scavenger hunt for my gifts. I discovered many thoughtful treats, including a scarf for the chilly place that might await us in 2012 if Jason is accepted to one of his northeast schools. The finale, though, was a suitcase packed with the movie Up and our very own adventure book! He had written a few entries in it already and the last entry revealed my final gift - a trip to Disneyland! It couldn't have been better and naturally I bawled giant happy crocodile tears because that's how I roll: tough exterior, mushy insides.

Preview of Disneyland!

Trip #1: Florida! As you can see here, Jason got to meet a few of my nearest and dearest. Pictured below is one of the Krause family menagerie: the creatively named, Birdie. In the background, you will see my parents' 35 fish, all named Adam Goldberg after my dad's law partner. We Krauses have a cunning wit, I know.

Our next adventure took us on a cruise with the Krause clan, including Ashley's sweet boyfriend Chris and our British pet, Danny. Group photo here:

We traveled to Jamaica and the Grand Cayman Islands. It was relaxing, exciting, and fun.

We consumed (and buried) many a Caybrew.

We bonded over card games...

And frosty beverages. Pictured here are our cruise benefactors - the Duke and Duchess of the industry.

Naturally, I hammed it up on stage one karaoke night to my own special rendition of Ice, Ice Baby. Clearly, you can't take me anywhere. And, as any cruise attendee with tell you, the fame went directly to my head. Yeah, those men you see on stage were my back up dancers. I recruited them after being wowed by their MC Hammer performance. Oh, and a band played behind me. If this whole PhD thing becomes a PhDon't, I definitely have a Plan B.

We scheduled two excursions, ziplining and tubing, though our bus ride to said destinations turned out to be a freebee. As in, we nearly died about 17 times. It was effing scary. Here's a quick shot of the White River in Jamaica upon which we tubed and tipped and got trapped in bamboo forests. Re: ziplining - I am scared of heights, so naturally I yelled every obscenity I know to the beautiful rainforests of Jamaica. I inadvertently taught a few 8 year olds some new words for 2102. Oops.

This is a necessary shot of Kate and Leo aboard the Destiny because I am a cheese ball and made him do it. Jason understands this and wisely obliged.

One final Jaimie and Jason cheese ball shot because that's what cruises do; they separate the strong from the weak. Couples who survive together in a 5 x 5 sq ft cabin, thrive together. And then, one partner makes the other partner kiss them during sunset and then makes their brother capture it. One of the people in this relationship seems very demanding, but I won't reveal the identity of that person.

On the way back, I got to see a few old friends. Pictured below are Lisa and Ayla. I finally got to meet her new cutie, Brayden!! What a sweetheart. Love those kids.