Temporary Hiatus (excuses included)...

WOW.  It has been a crazy couple of weeks!

After Adam and I got back from Denver on Monday (the 30th), I left again on Friday (the 3rd) to go on a cruise with my family.   It was definitely a last minute deal; my parents had the vacation time and they called the travel agent 10 days before we set sail!  My brother will be a graduating from high school next May and I will be getting married next June, so they figured this could be our last big family vacation.  Adam, unfortunately, wasn't invited...but I wasn't about to turn down a free cruise despite that!

You can't turn down a view like that! (Cozumel, Mexico)

At Paradise Beach (Cozumel, MEX)

 (Cozumel, MEX)

Cozumel Port (Puerta Maya)

Getting ready for dinner!

 Salsa dancing lessons with Dad

 Uxmal Mayan Ruins

The Mayans were short people.

Almost back to Galveston, TX

Zur got a souvenir.

So, I got back on the next Thursday night (the 9th) and Adam and I proceeded directly to the bars for a goodbye party for one of his coworkers.  Then on Saturday we went car shopping for Adam.

  

Adam getting one last moment with his Ranger (he's had it the entire time I've known him)

...and saying hello to car payments...and reliability :)

Sunday we had my belated birthday gathering with my dad and grandparents.

ANDDD this week I've been spending some time trying to get my classroom back into shape.  Since I will only be TEACHING IN ONE BUILDING (!!!!!!), I am trying to combine two classrooms worth of crap teaching resources into one room with no storage. I'll post a picture for you guys when it is camera ready!

So those are my excuses!  I hope they adequate enough.

In wedding related news...we met with a pastor in between getting back from Denver and me leaving for the cruise.  Since we don't have a church home, we went through the university's Ecumenical Campus Ministries.  Our pastor (I think I can officially call him that!) mainly deals with college students, so I didn't feel so guilty about sharing that we've lived together for seven years and don't go to church.  He was incredibly understanding and willing to work with us in planning our wedding.

We each took a relationship survey this evening and whatever our "scores" indicate will be the topic of discussion during our pre-marital counseling.  After those 3-ish sessions, we can start planning out the ceremony!  Let's just hope we're not doomed!

Our First Vacation!

Adam and I have never had a real vacation.  We've gone away for a night or two, usually to a wedding, but it's always rushed and never leaves time to get out and do anything.  We've also never had the money to do it, or at least never put money aside so that we could take a trip.  Until now.

We had our first real vacation this past weekend.  It was still a very short trip, just 4 days, but it was wonderful.  We left last Friday for Denver, a 7-ish hour drive.  We had a friend move out there this summer so it was a nice excuse to get away for a few days, but to also meet up with him and visit a little.  Our hotel was in downtown Denver, so we were right by tons of restaurants and shopping.

Rather than narrate our entire trip, here are a few pictures to share:

View from Pedestrian Bridge, Downtown Denver

Playing cards...after our 2nd trip to Walgreens of the evening

  

Celebrating the eve of my birth

Adam checking out the prickly leaf

Keith and Adam getting educated about the Botanical Gardens

About to board the train to Pike's Peak

View from Pike's Peak

Garden of the Gods

At Seven Falls

Adam made me a heart

The sign that we're getting close to home!

Overall, we had a really nice time.  It went fast, but it was a great chance to get out of the house/videogames/tv/pinterest rut that we slip into.  Since school will be starting back up in a few weeks, it was one of our last opportunities to do so before work/projects start to take over our lives again.  

I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to agree on what we wanted to do.  Apparently I was overly-paranoid because everything went really smooth.  Not that Adam and I have a difficult time agreeing on things, it's just that when we're home Adam would rather stay at home and hang out while I would rather go out and do something. I was worried that this would be the case in Denver.  I came to realize that while Adam likes doing outdoor stuff, he really likes having lazy days and staying at home, but in this environment he was much willing to do more exploring because it was new and exciting (and we were spending the money to be there).

How did your first vacation with a significant other go?  I always remember the awful childhood vacations and assumed ours would be equally painful!