December 2022

Monthly Recap

Jan 1

Wow. December was a month for the books. We had been looking forward to this month for a while, mainly because right at the beginning of the month we were going on our first cruise ever with our best friends Travis and Jessica.

We drove to Austin on Dec 1st for our flight out to Ft. Lauderdale the next morning. So thankful we did that for our 6:30am flight. Travel was relatively uneventful. Trav and Jess picked us up and the fun began!!

We stayed just out side of Miami Friday and Saturday night and had a good time just hanging out and playing games and laughing and catching up. Sunday we headed to the parking garage to get a shuttle over to the cruise terminal!

I’ve talked to a lot of people about cruises in the past and they do seem to fall in the love/hate category. We were so curious about which side we would fall on. Turns out…it was love all the way! I really enjoyed how there was just so much to do even on the ship, or you could choose to do nothing at all. You could really individualize your vacation even if you were traveling with others.

The food was great, the shows were great, the view and the stops were awesome as well. We stopped in the Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica. Although we had slightly rough seas one day, none of us got sick. We felt a little queasy at times but it passed and we kind of enjoyed the gentle rocking of the ship, especially at night with the balcony door open. Listening to the water while you drift off to sleep was really quite magical.

They had a special on board that you’d get a credit if you book your next cruise and the prices were cheaper if you booked on board as well. So we decided to do it and book our next one! We will be sailing out of Galveston next time so we can drive down the same day and won’t have to fly or stay in a hotel before we go. We will be visiting Honduras, Costa Maya and Cozumel on the next one with four sailing days as well. We leave the week after Thanksgiving and honestly I already can’t stop thinking about it!!

Once we got home, I got really sick. I think it was the flu partnered with exhaustion. I had a fever for a few days and just tons and tons of mucus. I was finally feeling better by the time our Christmas party rolled around. We had the BEST time!! Almost our entire guest list showed up and we did a white elephant gift exchange and had yummy food and conversation. So nice to be able to finally host in a home we love.

After that it was pretty much all Christmas prep and events. Paul was really busy working on our friends house and finishing up work with them. I stayed busy getting last minute presents, wrapping and making plans for the weekend. We had a great Christmas eve that involved shopping and movie, candelight service and then take out Chinese. Christmas day was non-stop. We opened presents and the Paul made pretzels and we headed up to Ry and Maddy’s. We hung out with them for the afternoon and then went to our friend Jana and Barry’s for some games as well. It was a packed day but we loved every minute.

The rest of the week lived up to it’s reputation of being a week where you just don’t know what to do with yourself because the whole world seems to stop. So we focused on resting and just taking it easy for the end of 2022. Rung in the new year by taking Kaylee out to dinner for her 22nd birthday and then going over to our friends Tom and Lynn’s house for snacks and games on NYE!

1st/last day photo

What happened this month?

Went on a cruise!!!
Sick!
Got cow
Booked another cruise
First annual Christmas party at our house! Smashing success!
Game lunch at Nancy’s super fancy house
Massage
Looked at Christmas lights
Paul worked on Sam and Jeff’s house
Power went out
Paul made pretzels
Christmas Eve chinese food
Christmas day with Ry and Maddy and Kids and then Jana and Barry
Cheryl Bell birthday lunch
Kaylee birthday dinner
Tom and Lynn Brooks house for NYE

Notable US/World events

Honestly, no idea. Too focused on living life to pay attention to the news this month!!

Travel

Started the month with our very first cruise! Traveled from Waco to Ft. Lauderdale to Miami to Nassau, Bahamas, Labadee, Haiti and Falmouth, Jamaica!

Watched

This list is long. Like really long. We had a lot of down time this month being mostly off for the holidays and I had a week where I was super sick and didn’t hardly do anything except watch Christmas movies!

Noel diary
Something from Tiffany
Falling for Christmas
Nocturnal Animals
White Lotus
Holiday in Handcuffs
Grinch
8-bit
Spirited
Burnt
The Volcano = Netflix
Stutz = Netflix
I believe in Santa
See How They Run - HBO Max
El Camino Christmas - Netflix
Four Christmases - Netflix
Lost City - Netflix
Violent Night - Theater
Glass Onion - Netflix
Holidate - Netflix
Emily the Criminal - Netflix
BlackBird - Apple TV

Read

Built to Belong by Natalie Franke - finished, 3 stars

Studying/Bible verse that impacted you the most?

I’ve been doing my BSF and Anchor Down studies on my own this month. Missed the week we were on the cruise and then I got so sick the week after I missed and then we were on break for the rest of the month. Very excited to get started back up in January.

Favorite Memory from the month?

Everything about the cruise is a favorite memory. We both seriously had such a great time. We didn’t know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised. Would love to make this a yearly outing with our friends! We already have our next one booked and are counting down the days.