Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Key West Underwater





























Here we go again!  Eric & I had a fantastic time snuba diving in Key West!  We really wanted to see what Scuba diving was like.  Snuba was cool because there was a guide that took us and we were able to dive about 20 feet and have a mouthpiece and a belt.  We were connected to the boat, but it didn't feel like it to me.  I was really scared because I haven't spent much time in deep water.  Eric, of course, being a turtle, had no problem.  The boat was small and I experienced a little seasickness (probably from sitting sideways), but I just tried to breathe and bear it.  As soon as I was in the water, the motion-sickness passed and I felt great.  It was so amazing to be in the water.  I surprised myself at how much I liked it.  Honestly, it was a magical feeling.  It was beautiful, and once I got over how tight the goggles were, and having a strange thing pressing in my mouth, and the sound of the bubbles, I absolutely loved it.  I really think that was the most exciting thing I have ever experienced.  The peace that came over me was indescribable.  We were under water for almost an hour and we loved it.  We both are really excited to get our scuba diving license so that we can do more exploring.  I really surprised myself with how much I loved being under the sea!! Maybe I am the little mermaid afterall!  (Especially since I got to marry Prince Eric! :)  I love you all!  Just wanted to post some pics for you to see!! -Cheers!! -Monkey

P.S. Try as I may, I cannot get the layout right on this one!  Sorry about the mess, but hope you enjoy the pictures!

Monday, April 27, 2009

....it was lost




Hello again,
I just wanted to write about something that happened on Saturday night that was pretty amazing and has me reflecting quite a bit. I drag my little camera with me about everywhere. Saturday night, we went to a birthday party on an island at the lake. It was night time. There was a campfire, a guitar, etc. You all know where the restroom is on an island, right?? The woods. So as we are trying to leave, I feel empty! I have lost my camera. I start thinking, it has to be in the woods. It is completely dark at this point in time, and in the woods, you really can't see the ground. I began to pray for God to please lead me to it. That camera is very special to me and the memory card has so much on it that I did not want to lose!

I began walking through the woods, just asking God to lead me. I didn't see the camera. I moved to another tree by the water and was moving my feet around on the ground hoping to hit it. Finally, I saw it! I was so relieved and it really got me thinking. At times when I cannot see, God is my light and my vision. It is really hard to put into words how I felt about this experience, but in darkness, I saw the light! And thanks to this, I was able to rescue my pictures.

The photo below is of the birthday boy juggling fire....

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Here we go Again!


I thought I would write a little about our honeymoon! :)  We had such a great time.  Wedding pics will be up when I get the photo cd!   After spending a night at the beautiful Main Street Inn in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, we flew to Miami for an evening and then boarded Royal Carribean's Majesty of the Seas for a trip to Nassau, Coco Cay, and Key West.  Unfortunately, due to a storm, Coco Cay did not happen! :(  

Here's the lowdown on Nassau....

We were so excited getting off the ship to see the beautiful clear water.  I think now more than ever Eric and I both know that we will one day live beside the water.  It brings such a feeling of peace to the soul!  We immediately began to explore the island and saw gorgeous walkways such as the one below.

The night before, Eric had a dream that seemed to be a warning about our safety that day.  We had been walking down a long road in Nassau.  It was a cloudy, cool, and somewhat windy morning, and fairly gloomy out.  We were concerned that our adventure for the day would even be canceled.  As we were walking, the buildings began to look a little different.  There were some closed down, windows boarding up, etc.  One man across the road mumbled something to Eric and I heard him say something, but I wasn't sure what he was talking about as I couldn't decipher his thick Caribbean accent.  Eric said, Tori, he just looked at me and said, "only the strong survive past here."  The next intersection was Victoria Avenue.  We took that as our cue to head back the other direction.  I didn't want to find out if his warning dream was going to come true!!  

After spending a few hours of the morning strolling the streets of Nassau, Eric and I hopped on a boat to Paradise Island, the Island of Atlantis. 


Truly, the people that constructed Atlantis spared no expense in designing a magnificent playground for kids of all ages!  Everything was decorated in ways that we had never seen!  Even the chairs were ornate.  Huge glass chandeliers were hanging in the halls and they had a giant casino!  

Our tour guide led us through the halls of the mega-hotel through hallways of Prada and Fendi stores, a magnificent garden filled with beautiful flowers....


We finally arrived at Dolphin Cay for our adventure!! I wish we had pictures, however, the only one I have is this....

If you zoom in, you can see a dolphin peeking his head out near the left corner.  I am so exited that I got to experience my dream!  Swimming with dolphins.  This was really such a fun adventure!  We were laughing and having so much fun, even though it was a pretty chilly day.  We were suited up in wetsuits and with a group of five others.  The first thing they did was have me take pictures with a dolphin.  I was squatting down and he laid in my lap like a 300 pound puppy!  It was so funny!  I was rubbing his side and he was turning a little because he liked it!  I couldn't believe it was happening.  It was so much fun!  Then they asked Eric to come around and take a picture with me and the dolphin didn't want another man getting near his woman!! :) Haha.  They asked me to kiss the dolphin, which I, of course did, and Eric shook his head no when they asked him to kiss the dolphin.  At that point, the dolphin spat water in Eric's face.  It was so funny!!!  The next adventure was with these really cool underwater motors. I can't think of what they are called, but you hold on to them and they pull you so you can dive further into the lagoons.  The dolphins swim with you.  The instructors kept telling Eric not to run away!  I think they all knew he was really a sea turtle and didn't want to be in a line!!!  Finally we did the dolphin push.  That was soooo incredible.  You lay on a boogie board and lock your legs and the dolphin pushes in the middle of your foot and you go up to 40mph across the lagoon until they stop!  It was such a rush!!!  When we went to buy pictures, the people would not sell individuals, you had to buy the entire package for $159.  I felt it was overpriced, so I just took the memory!

Atlantis was really fantastic!  They had beautiful beaches and a huge aquarium!  This is the manatee they show on TV when they are advertising Atlantis, and he swam right towards us!  That day was so exciting!

When we were leaving, it was very very important for us to visit the sea turtle habitat.  They were so cute!  We saw some climb over each other and two even kissed!  It was really beautiful.  They had their own beach where they could hang out and lay eggs.


I do not believe that I have ever met anyone that loves Turtles as much as my husband does!

After riding back to the island we still had some time to explore, 'yeah mon'...so we decided to take the horse carriage ride.  The driver was a young guy in college and said he would give us the "special tour."  So we are riding deeper and deeper into the island, of course having to be back at the boat in an hour!  We pass the high school and start getting into a neighborhood that is quite impoverished.  People are outside on their porches, you can tell that it isn't the kind of neighborhood you would want to be left alone in after dark.  In the height of it, the driver stops and says, whoops we have a flat tire!  I won't even tell you what I was thinking, but Eric, of course as usual stayed cool and just jumped out.  The funny thing was a flat tire to the carriage driver was a piece of rubber that had slipped off the rail.  What a relief!!!!  It is comic at this point but I was scared!  We finally got  back to the ship and were laughing about the situation!  

More honeymooon posts to come later!  Love you all!  Cheers-  Monkey....

Friday, April 24, 2009

Love, Love, Love

Wow!  What a day!  Today was really fantasic.  I had a wonderful day at work, have a weekend off and am looking forward to my grandmother and her brother and sister coming to visit and watch Eric play bass at church on Sunday!  Eric had the day off and I came home to quite a surprise!  I got off work a little early and went to the grocery store.  When I came home, I found.....


....beautiful pink rose petals coming up the stairs!!!  Princess Jasmine could not wait to show me what her daddy had done!  


Even the bed was covered in beautiful rose petals, and the house was clean and smelled so fresh!  


The funny thing is, most guys pull out all the romance to try to get a woman to fall in love with them.  Not in this relationship!! Eric did not buy me roses until we got married!  I even asked him to and he would not do it!  I wanted them so badly and I am so glad now that he waited.  It really made it special to wait until we got married to have all the special times!   This is a picture of the first roses he ever bought me in Miami, FL on April 5th, 2009!!  Night one of the honeymoon!


Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Wedding cuties




















Just wanted to put up some pictures of Eric's family and my new family!

Today's the Day - Turtle Monkey


Today turned out to be a really great day!  The weather was beautiful, I got to have lunch with Eric, and even had a minute to relax after a nice day at the office.  Life is really good about now (despite the fact I have A LOT of thank you letters to write!).  I woke up this morning with a phone call that Joe & Heather Radler had just given birth to a son, Joe Radler, Jr. and he was 18 inches long and 7 pounds, 7 ounces.  To top it off, it is the two year anniversary of my sister(in-law) and brother-in-law, and I got to talk to her this morning.  I love her like a sister, so it is easy to forget to put the in-law part after that!  She has an amazing blog that she updates regularly and posts great pictures to keep us updated on her family, so I figured I would follow suit and start one.  Today seemed like a great day to begin.  So here I am!  I am going to attempt to post a picture, just for fun, and hopefully my future blogs will have more rhyme or reason...or at least more rhyme!  Love!!  

Princess Jasmine & Eric & Tori Marshall