yer grandmother's tv

Tonight a bunch of us went over to my cousin Jocelyn's house to hang out and play some games. Catch Phrase, Things in a Box and a short game of Pictionary ruled the evening. It was a good laugh. She had a large selection of treats to munch on and it wasn't the cookies or chocolates (as yummy as they were!) 

but the tray of fresh veggies that held my attention. Oh how I've missed such simple luxuries.

I probably ate half the tray myself. Her punch was amazing as well.

//Above picture was taken in my backyard; Title: Things parents shouldn't pass down//

imma be under tha mistletoe

Robyn tweeted that Christmas isn't Christmas until there is a family argument. By the responses she received from it, that's an absolute Truth for just about every family out there! I have to say, we went through our day without too much fuss. I was probably at my Grinchiest when Mom called up the steps at nine thirty this morning to wake Catherine and I up. It's tradition that I'm the last one out of bed and this year was no exception. After some warm cinnamon buns and bacon I sweetened right on up.

Elizabeth's hubby-to-be joined us this year as we opened up our stockings and gifts and it was a nice addition to our little gathering. It was nice that pretty much everything in my stocking was a surprise this year haha and Santa and his elves did a good job. Honestly, just being home was already the best Christmas gift, anything else was just extra.

I brought my family back a bunch of things that I'd gathered along my trip, but my favourite gift was to my Dad. Since he wears hats all the time, I gave him his very own Goofy hat! He had a good laugh, and so did we when he put it on. Loved it!

Turkey dinner was amazing, although I couldn't eat very much since my stomach is still not adjusted back to having quality food in its presence. Mom's Seven Cup Pudding was divine. Shortly afterwards Catherine and I retreated to the livingroom where passed out in a food coma for the next few hours.

The church carol singalong then a brief drive around the harbour was a nice finish to the evening. Catherine and I are currently back in comfy clothes and I've managed to devour an entire bag of popcorn while watching Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Yay Christmas.

home sweet home

Best things about coming home:

Mom kindly making me an especially delicious supper to welcome me home.

Seeing progress made on the back room Dad has been working on bit by bit over the past year.
 
Having Catherine's sense of humour back in my life.

Seeing Elizabeth's engagement ring in person.

SNOW! I was ready for some winter in my life.

Chilling in my room, catching up on my blog browsing and eating half a dozen clementines in one sitting.

There are many, many good things about being home, especially at Christmas time. 

Christmas Eve was a great day in particular. We had lunch at my Aunt & Uncle's house and cousin Beth and her hubby Louis were here for the week visiting from Montreal. Elizabeth got Shane to come along for the festivities as well. Dinner observed one of the most entertaining conversations I've heard in a while. It revolved around "late" thank you cards and the appreciation of facial qualites in a wedding photo. Translations of the word 'pancake' came up as well: 'crepe' or 'pancake-uh'.

 We took photos by the Christmas tree. It's become an annual thing.

Catherine and I decided to stay in town for the Christmas Eve event at Elim church. To pass the time, we went to the mall, wandered around downtown, then went to the park.

We came home and finished wrapping presents. Catherine was especially helpful, the good little elf she is.

xo

warm and bright

merry christmas eve to all of you.

heading home

I'm currently sitting in the Toronto airport waiting for my *new* flight to leave. Half way there! First flight was delayed which threw it all off. Ah well. It's funny how tired I look, hence the picture that describes how I feel. Don't. Look. At. Me. Haha.

The last 24 hours have been incredibly hectic and I am so ready to sleep in my own bed at home. I went to bed around 2am on my last night. I had so much fun at crew goodbyes, the energy and the hugs and kisses I got made me feel so loved. I didn't want to leave. For the last week (and even now) it would not sink in that I was heading home. I have such mixed feelings about it still. I was happy to finally see the end of my contract, to get to be home with family and friends but knowing that when I go, there would be so many people I've come to love and connect with that will not be there when I come back. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with them as possible. My packing was about 90% left to the last minute, as per usual. Spent my last evening stressing out over lack of space issues, but taking plenty of breaks in-between to visit Emma on her work break, then to go with Melanie (Bradley & Ashley showed up too) to watch Ema and Dan, aka The Dreamer's last show on the ship, and again later sneak some pizza at Pinocchio's. As cool as it's been to be a sort of trail blazer when it comes to doing this job, coming home and not having a friend that shared the experience along with me is the tough part. All of my new friends are too far away. It's bittersweet.

Got up 6:30 to finish packing and then from 7-9am I was back and forth non-stop between costuming and crew office and throwing away a massive amount of trash, breakfast and then finally back to the office again to get my last check. Lines were long. Diversions (a lounge) was our meeting point to get our last bit of info before we left. Emma and Mel and a few others came to wish me, Carl, Anne, Mark, Kevin, Ema and Dan a farewell.  Only Kevin and I are coming back to the Wonder. The rest are either done, or heading on to the Fantasy. Le sigh. Good news that I learned this morning, however is that the band, Speakerbox will be back again in April. I'm glad I'll have at least one musical pleasure to look forward to. Not sure if I love the name, but I definitely like their sound, those cuties from England. Side note, I'm pretty sure there's a job for absolutely everyone I know on a cruise ship. It's such a unique environment to have so many different minded people come together to make it all work. You rub shoulders with performers/entertainers, musicians, electricians, carpenters, engineers, waiters/waitresses, chefs, photographers, massage therapists, hair stylists, teachers, CHARACTERS like Mickey and Minnie all day long. It's pretty amazing. I mean, my job entails more than just being a youth counselor. I'm part receptionist/info guide, Character body guard, and cafeteria lady as well.

So, as you've probably guessed I have signed my returning contract. I'll head back in February! I'll get a pretty cool itinerary again, getting to sail to a few different places. It'll be back to Mexico a little bit, go on their first cruise to Hawaii, up the Pacific coast to San Fran, and then back to Alaska! I'm excited that I'm not stuck in Mexico the whole time. 'Cause as beautiful as it is, the inconvenience of the itinerary and schedule clashes start to get to ya.

The rest of my day yesterday was spent at the airport was spent eating a good burger, reading magazines, hating my computer for dying on me with no available power source, journal writing and trying not to fall asleep. I was there for about ten hours waiting. Brutal. Luckily I had Mark and Anne for the last hour or so to pass the time before our flight to T-dot together. Now I'm half way through waiting another four hours since I missed my connecting flight. Ahh. And I already feel my body adjusting to non-ship food and air. My entire body is stiff and achey. Unless it's simply early onset of old age.

This is probably long enough. Thanks for reading if you did! My thoughts are pretty reflective at this point since I'm still in limbo towards home. It's strange to suddenly have a whole day to yourself. You realize just how much you need time to process everything. You forget that you actually like having time to yourself. Did those four months really happen? It's gone like a dream already. Working four months straight with just one day off the entire time is insane. 

I'm ready for vacation!!!

home in...

ONE MORE WEEK!

unexpected update

Wow, what a surprise! The ship internet is actually allowing me to access blogger! My time here on the Wonder is coming to a close. I have just a week and a half left to this contract. They are training me to be a group anchor right now, aka a floor supervisor. It's something everyone eventually has to do, but usually they wait until a couple of weeks into your second contract. I should feel honoured, not stressed, right?

I am so excited to be going home in time for Christmas. The holiday spirit is definitely in the air but it's hard to believe its December and Christmastime with all the heat and sun around me. I'm actually excited for a reason to wear layers and boots. But I know that feeling will only continue for about three and a half minutes once I get home! Ha. For now I'm ready to hear carols and get excited to be home with my sisters doing fun stuff. I need coffee chats and somebody has to make a gingerbread house with me. No buts.


Like I said before, not sure if I'll be able to update this again before I get home but I really believe that overall this has been one of the most enjoyable work experiences I've ever had. Maybe my mindset's been different and I've been lucky to have met a ton of really great people. North America, Europe, Africa and Australia. No matter how bad a day might be, and there have definitely been bad days, I remind myself I've done this for me and no one else and it's been incredibly freeing.

All the things I've crossed off my bucket list in these last four months have made the rough days so worth it. I've had the time of my life! Love you all and see many of you very soon.

cute kids

Hey everybody. I'm still here. Haven't been able to access my blog while on the ship (frustrating to say the least) and I haven't brought my laptop ashore in a while. For some reason I can now so here I am. Anyhoo, just wanted to say a quick hello and inform you that Christmas has arrived on the ship. The tree is up in the big atrium and our kids spaces are decked out too. I don't really mind since I kinda started listening to some Christmas music this week. I have about 6 weeks left on the ship and I'm very much looking forward to spending it with my fam at home.

I had a funny conversation when I was walking with one of the little girls in our spaces, bringing her from the Lab over to the Club and we saw her parents along the way. The mother looks at her and says "Mommy's just gotta put some makeup on and we'll be right back to get you!" The girl is delighted and we continue on our way. Little K says, "Mommy puts lipstick on everyday." I say, "Maybe she thinks it makes her look pretty." She hesitates for a moment and declares, "No, only sometimes!" (If only you could see how sweet and cute this little girl is, and how chatty she can be it when she's out of her shell, twas quite unexpected) then she continues to say, "she doesn't always look good with it. My grandma, she wears lipstick every day too." I figured it would be best not to tell her mommy that story when she later came to pick her up but I chuckled inside.

Til next time.

thunder, lightning & fishies

The evening in Puerto Vallarta on Wednesday was unreal. After sitting in the internet cafe for an hour we left to search for food and looked to the sky to see incredibly dark storm clouds coming closer. Funny, since Cassie had said that it felt like rain. No kidding. Cassie and I decided against going to Chili's in the mall since it would have taken up 20 minutes of our precious time just to get there, and ate at a little restaurant across from where the ship was docked. Bucanero's hit the spot with cheeseburgers and fries, which I crave all the time. And we even had glass bottle 7UP. We tried to keep the empty bottles as a souvenir but they confiscated it before we got on board. Seriously? Its just glass.

We got back to the ship and I had another 40 minutes before work started, she another hour and ten, so we went to deck 10 to take in the storm. It was on top of us. Amazing thunder and lightning and thick, humid air. We stayed long enough to see us pull out of port and for the cold, heavy drops start to fall. We left just as it really started to pour, literally seconds from being completely soaked. Oh how I've missed storms like that.

Thursday in Cabo San Lucas, with our breaks together, Vannessa and I went snorkelling! First time ever for me. For the boat ride to get there and the equipment it was $15. We got to the beach and had to hop out into the water at the shoreline. Grabbed my awesome goggles, fins and lifejacket and went for the water. How amazing to swim along the surface and have hundreds and hundreds of little fish swimming beneath you just inches away. We saw some pretty, colourful ones. I was swimming and observing next to a rock and came up to the surface to have a huge pelican resting on it looking down at me. Near the time to leave we took some pictures and I jumped back into the water without my lifejacket so I could have a proper swim and go a little deeper. I found I was still floating almost the same amount with the salt water. We were so tired as we grabbed the tender boat back to the ship and it felt so good.

We're back in Cabo til 12:30pm today, so once again Emma, Cassie and I got off the ship together around 9:30 this morning to grab breakfast and internet at this place called Captain Tony's. We tried to get in a request to swim with dolphins this morning but its in such high demand that we didn't get it this time. We'll try again, don't you worry. Right now this is all I want: good food and to give yall an update. I start work at 2 and will finish 12:30 tonight. Long day ahead of me yet! Especially since we stayed out a bit late for the party on Deck 5 after we finished work at 12-12:30am. It was nice and chill and gorgeous with the lights of Cabo surrounding us. Cassie and I wore our glow stick necklaces that we'd had earlier at work. E'rybody was jealous. We give them out the kids on Pirate Night and we counselors don't like to miss out on such fun things.

Mmmk. I think I've got you guys up on the highlights of this week. You know the drill--I'll get pictures eventually.

PV

Hey World!
It's been a crazy week. I've been working the early shift so I've been able to go to quite a few of the shows with some of my coworkers.We went to Dreams again and had an even closer seat so that whenever the streamers or snow or bubbles came down, we were actually surrounded by it. The cast changes over next week so I've been trying to see as much as I can.

Spent yesterday morning before work sitting at the front of the ship on Deck 5 where we have our crew pool, and just lay out. I'm slowly getting darker, especially after yesterday. Dark as in really pink. Oops.

Currently sitting in an internet cafe next to where we're docked in Puerto Vallarta where wifi is $1 an hour. It's so hot and humid here today. Waiting on a video to upload of my room, I made a little tour for you. All of its two inch squared glory.

Things have been going on, lots of new people have joined us the last few weeks, others have left for vacation, some for good. And yeah, there's boy drama a little bit. Mostly I just want them to stay away. You all get them 'ship eyes' eventually. If I haven't said what ship eyes are, they are what make you find people attractive when you wouldn't otherwise because of the slim pickings. Ha.

Anyway, if my room tour vid ever uploads I'll link you guys to it but for now, here are some pictures from Puerto Vallarta two weeks ago. My first trip to the resort/beach.  

bangs again and getting lost

I got fed up with my hair this morning. Well, I've been annoyed with it for the last few months, trying to grow out my bangs again but not liking how the hair awkwardly splits in the middle. Which leads to this morning when I took the shears to them somewhat impulsively/rather carelessly cut them short again. It's a little rough around the edges, which looks fine with my hair down. But up? Mmmm. We'll see. Cutting my own bangs is always a week long tweaking process anyway. Why was this necessary information again?

In other more exciting news, we're in port in LA today. Starting a new cruise. I start work in a little less than an hour at 2:30. I had a good morning, happy to see my bangs again, taking my time to eat breakfast instead of scarfing it down in 3 minutes as usual. Then a few of us (SJ, Shiv, Jennifer and I) went to the Del Amo mall and Target. Only a $30 cab ride... Only. Not so bad if you share one, but still. I'm missing the convenience of Robson and Granville street in Vancouver; upset that I finally figured out where all the stores I love exist on the day I left. But it's not all about shopping. I've been browsing more than anything else. Just seeing new places, getting lost and finding my way again. Exploring. I LOVE it. There's always something new to see.

Disney Dreamin'

You know what’s strange about working on a cruise ship? Going to see a showing of one of the musicals in the theatre then going to get my supper and eating next to Aladdin and Cinderella. Well, not in full dress anyway. A few of us from YA went to see Disney Dreams together tonight (Dani, Caroline, Cassie, Teresa and Hunter, for my own reference). I’m such a sap, I was tearing up the whole time ‘cause I loved it so much. I kept trying to hide my sniffs within the notes and was wishing so bad for my sis Catherine to be next to me since she’d be in a similar state, if not worse! I’ve seen almost all of the shows now and as everyone had told me this one was by far the best of the lot. Amazing. I love musicals. (And Pirate Parties with ziplining Mickeys and fireworks. That was last night's cultural experience. They are much better held outdoors now that we're out of Alaska.)

Also, a letter of importance...

Dear Mom,

I miss your home cooked meals. A lot.

Love,

Emily

Mexico!

This is the first time I've used Internet since the coffee shop in Victoria, which was about a week and a half ago. I feel so disconnected from the world but now that dry dock is over I'm back to having limited time to see things and that's my priority unfortunately. Facebook just makes me miss home more anyway. The last few days have felt like all I've done is sleep, eat, work, repeat.

Saturday we stopped in Ensenada, Mexico. My very first taste of Mexican culture. We will never go there again, as it was only part of our repositioning cruise from Vancouver. I spent my brief break seeing the sights.

And there wasn't much to see really, it was a 'hot mess' as they like to say here; cluttered, tacky billboards lined the streets. It didn't really matter though because the entire time I was thinking, "I'm in Mexico right now. I'm in freakin' Mexico right now." They did happen to have a decent little park along the way just on the side of the street and there was a Mcdonalds and a Starbucks. I went and ordered an iced drink from Starbees. It was ALL in Spanish, so I just ordered what I saw advertised in the picture cause I didn't know what anything was. The girl spoke english anyway, but I got my first pesos back as change. (side note: I bought flip flops that were $134.00 today! Pesos that is. It's weird how expensive it all seems, but apparently you get 12 pesos for 1 american dollar.)

Today we stopped in Puerto Vallarta, after two longgg days of being at sea. We were so happy to see land and it is so gorgeous here!! Super convenient too, because there is a mall with Subway, McDonald's and Chili's inside and a Walmart right next to it, all directly across the street from where the ship docks. Oh, and a resort just ten minutes away with a beach and a pool we can use for free. Perfect. 

I worked from 7am-6pm today with a 2 hour break in the afternoon. I was guiding groups of people to the gangway to do port adventures for the first 3 hours and I was rather tempted to sneak off of the boat and join them. On my own break, I got off with Cassie where we met up with a couple others coming back from the beach and we all went to Walmart and got food in the mall foodcourt. I bought a sub and paid in pesos. I have no idea how much I actually paid for it, I didn't even understand what she asked for. I just handed her money with a question on my face and she nodded and took it all. Must have been exact? Hope I figure it out soon. Luckily the guy making my sandwich spoke English. Let's just say I am now very inspired (desperate) to learn spanish as quickly as possible, even though before now I pretty much hated it.

The weather here in PV was super sunny and incredibly humid. Apparently the humidity is from the hurricane that passed by in the last day or two, but we've been fine. Last week I got my first real taste of rough seas and I'm very happy to say that I did not get sick while plenty of passengers and kids were tossing their cookies all over the place. Gross. I only felt kinda blah the first night, and been ok since then. Just a little headache at the most. Feel free to tell that to my dad you guys! Proud to have my sea legs. In my cabin I get rocked to sleep every night and since my room is right next to the side of the ship it sounds like a quiet washing machine which is soothing. I love it.

We're in Cabo San Lucas the next two days. One is a short day, the other a long one, not sure which is which, but we are "tendering" for both to get to shore, aka, catching a little boat to get to shore instead of walking the gangway. Slows things down a bit. Chances are with my schedule I won't have time to get off this week. There's always next week. Oh, and some friends of mine went jet skiing this morning and dolphins were swimming right next to them in the water, said they could reach out and touch them if they wanted. Awesome right? I'll have a late start to my shifts next week, starting at 10 or 11am at the earliest, so I plan to get up early with a friend to try do whatever I can!! So excited!

I know I sound like I'm completely loving life all the time here, but I have definitely had my homesick moments. I miss you guys and I wish there wasn't such a massive time difference between us.

Last night in Canada you guys! As of tomorrow I will be making my way towards LA and Mexico. Bout time. But I'm a little worried. Apparently Alaska cruises were just a lovely little break from the craziness that the kid spaces usually are. They will be super packed in Mexico. Imagine, sitting with anywhere between 100-200 kids for 9-11 hours in one room. Yikes. We'll see how this goes! All I know is that I am looking forward to seeing the sun on a regular basis. I think I deserve it. haha.

Above pictures are from when we were in Victoria. A group of us went orca whale watching for super cheap and then my roomie and I went exploring downtown. It was a fun DAY OFF. Didn't even know I'd ever get one of those!

a quick update

One of my favourite pictures from Alaska. 

We spent the afternoon on the sports deck in Tracy Arm, 

playing games with the kids all with the gorgeous view of the glacier.

dry dock: day 4

Hello world! I am currently sitting at a Starbucks in Victoria, BC with a few comrades from work. I'll be here for the next week and a half for dry dock! It's nice to be in one place for a little bit of time for a change, to have a chance to discover the fun spots. Our days are shorter which is great. Instead of the usual 9 to 11 hours a day, it's a normal 8. I've been doing a lot of random jobs. All of us from the Entertainment department wait in one place until someone radios us asking for x amount of people to go to an area to do something for them. I've done trash runs, carpet moving, fabric sorting, vent cleaning, furniture moving, all sorts of dirty, dusty jobs. We got our very own set of coveralls and gloves which are kinda fun to wear. Our bodies are taking a slight beating but don't get me wrong, it is a welcome change.

As we arrived from Vancouver to Victoria they held a Sail Away Party up on deck 9. It was fun to do something together that wasn't work and to mingle with some of my friends in other departments. A good start to Dry Dock! 

In our off time we're free to leave the ship any time, 24 hours a day and they have a free bus that runs back and forth to town for anyone on board until 2 in the morning. Our first chance off the ship Sarah Jane and I met up with one of our friends from our traditions group and his spa friends and ate out at Fiamo, a little italian restaurant with an outdoor patio that we took advantage of. It had a heat lamp which kept us perfectly warm as the night cooled down, and even heated toilet seats in the bathrooms. I was amused. There I sat at a table with someone from Ireland (Keira), Northern England (Emily) and Scotland (SJ).

Last night SJ and I took a quick walk after work to Tim Hortons and a gas station for some snacks since it was the only thing open at 9:45. She had never had it before and it wasn't really that life altering. Just for fun though. She was telling me about a place called Greg's in Scotland, where you can get good food for cheap (SK you should go, if you haven't already!) and how good their breakfasts are. As if I needed more reasons to want to make a trip across the pond.

Anyway, hope all is well across the country and I should be better at my updates now that I know where to find good internet. We have free wi-fi on the ship for a portion of the day but it is worse than dial up most of the time and I can't be bothered. I had some pictures to share but as always, it's taking forever to load. I think we're moving on from here to do a little browsing. Another update soon. xo

mickeyyyy

Me and the Mouse himself. Was walking in after being in port last week and there he came up the hallway. I had my camera in hand and he came to me waving and made a click click gesture with his hand. It really warms my heart the way the Disney characters interact with the guests. I turn into a mushy excited little kid.

Since I got off super early I had some time on my hands this evening. Claire and I went to see the Toy Story Musical they were putting off in the theatre. It was excellent. I love the dinosaur so much, whatever his name is. I'm glad I get to see full scale musical at almost any time I want to. Love!!

Stoneys in Vancouver!

I got to see my lovely CWJ friends, the Stoney twins, while in Vancouver on Tuesday (August 30^th)! Somehow the stars aligned and allowed this to happen. They actually live about 15 hours away from Vancouver but were going to be in town the day before I was in port. They picked me up and we spent what precious time I had left in Stanley Park before having to get back on board. We got some pictures by statues and totem poles and caught up a little bit. I’m so glad to have been in their province and get to explore a tiny part of it with them. It’s definitely a part of this trip that I will cherish.

sarah palin

I met Sarah Palin in Juneau on Saturday (27^th).

I was a thrilling experience, mostly because a few weeks before I left home, 

my uncle decided that I looked a lot like her and he started calling me Sarah instead. 

So, to travel all the way to Alaska and to 'meet' my twin? 

It kinda made my day.