Christmas is here again!

I love Christmas.  I especially love it with 2 kids. They play so well together.  Every morning Violet jumps into Charlie's crib and plays with him before I wake up.  Brandon got a picture of the action one morning.

 And we finally put up the Christmas tree!  If there is one thing I never want to take for granted, it's how cute my kids look in their Christmas jammies in front of the tree.  I'm so excited for the season, and so is Violet.  Every day she asks me when we're going to the nutcracker. How cute.

One more Belize post!

I thought it would be appropriate this thanksgiving to be thankful for Lena, the best sister-in-law ever, who watched our kids while we went to Belize.  I'll also post some pictures from our underwater camera.

 

The snorkeling was amazing.  As you can see from the pictures, all the coral was right in your face.  I've never seen an ecosystem so full of life-- there were literally fish everywhere you looked.  And despite how it looks from our foggy blue photos, the water was so clear that all the colors were extremely vibrant.  It was the most informative trip I've ever been on.

And here's a list of all the animals we saw (that I can remember):
Fish (angelfish, parrotfish, damselfish, barracuda, triggerfish, flying fish, grunts, grouper, cowfish, and many more)
2 nurse sharks
octopus
rays (I didn't see any but Brandon saw a few)
sea cucumbers
tons of jellyfish
sea turtles!
dolphins
lobsters
starfish
seahorse
iguanas
and even howler monkeys!

Don't mind me, I'm just testing my blog width

Kissing frugality goodbye

Once upon a time, Brandon and I were cheap.  When we had first moved to Houston, we lived in a dingy little second-floor apartment and I had a part-time job to keep us out of debt.  And at that time, I kept telling myself that even after Brandon started doing internships every summer and making more money, we would stay frugal. 

Well, that first internship came and went and for the first time in our marriage, we were not living below the poverty line.  I thought we were really going overboard when I stopped working and we moved into a bigger place, bought a 42" TV, and a double jogging stroller.  We also had a baby that year and after all the medical costs, I thought, "We'll really have to be better about not spending money next year."

But lo and behold, we haven't.  We again moved into a nicer place (apparently bigger wasn't enough-- I also needed a garage) and bought a new camera, took a family trip to Utah, and went to Belize-- each of which cost a lot more than our TV and stroller combined.  But since we still have pretty cheap rent and no car payments, I still considered myself frugal.

And then we got smartphones.

That is one thing I have always considered a luxury.  Not to be judgemental, but if I heard someone bragging about how frugal they were and I knew they had a smart phone, I would silently laugh at them.  Face it; they're expensive. Brandon and I calculated that for the price of getting ourselves our new phones and plans, we could buy a new camera and all the accessories every year.

Well, that didn't stop us.  We got new Samsung Glaxy SIII's and think they're pretty awesome.  That standard guilty feeling that comes when we buy something expensive no longer comes to me.  I've gotten over it, and I love it.  I just cringe to think of what I will do when Brandon graduates and I am left unsupervised with a credit card.

The adventure of the baby sea turtles

 On the first day, right after a wonderful dinner of lobster tail and coconut rice, I was incredibly tired and planned on going straight to bed.  But as soon as I stepped off the deck, I found a baby sea turtle in the sand!  There were several of them, and I did my best to help guide them to the ocean. It wasn't working.  Soon our waiter came and told us that if we didn't pick them up and put them in the ocean, the hermit crabs would eat them.  At that point my maternal instincts kicked in and I simply could not let a baby be eaten.  So I picked up a turtle, headed to the shore, and released it.  I came back and joined the rest of the group-- they had found the nest and were rescuing the rest of the stragglers.  It was amazing.  I've heard that only 1 in a hundred sea turtle hatchlings survive to adolescence in the wild.  Maybe mine will beat the odds.

Belize-- on South Water Caye

Ahh, Belize.  I'm really not sure where to start in describing this place.  We stayed at South Water Caye-- a tiny island with no phone reception, weak internet connection, and rooms that have no glass in the windows and no air conditioning.  Perfect for people don't want the typical papmered tourist experience.  To say it was beautiful would be a gross understatement.  It was idyllic. 

 We spent the first day touring the island and taking pictures.  I was so happy just to be there.

 Someone found a conch shell and when he came to show it to me, a tentacle flew out of it and scared us both.  Apparently it had an octopus living in it!

 We had a beautiful sunset every night and were close enough to the mainland to see the outline of the Maya mountains.

Despite what you might think, this trip was exhausting.  We were up by 7 every morning and spent most of the day in the water.  We swam at least a half mile a day.  I had to catch up on sleep during lunch time one day.  But the work was so worth it.

We're back.

I'm back from Belize.  Everybody prepare yourselves to be bombarded by pictures and stories and bragging about how awesome it was. 

And just for now, one of my favorite moments from the trip:
Me: I don't drink.
Waiter: Oh, well you're not 21 yet, are you?
Me: I'm 24.
Waiter: Really? You must have a hard time getting into clubs!  I bet everyone thinks your ID is fake.
Me:  Oh, yes, you described my life perfectly...

Ahhhh.  Thank you, waiter, for thinking I'm 20, and not 30 like most people think when they see me with 2 kids.

This is just too entertaining.

I didn't vote.  I'm a convicted felon and have lost that right.

Just kidding.  I didn't vote because the electoral college and our bipartisan system have ruined the significance of the individual vote.  In a swing state, I would have been all over that ballot.  But I am a resident of Idaho. (I know, I live in Texas.  It's a long story.) And if I were the betting kind, I would bet the entire worth of our bank account that Romney would win Idaho.  He did, and he didn't need my help.

And now the election is almost over.  I know I should go to bed, but these apocalyptic facebook statuses are just too entertaining for me to stop reading.  And just in case you wanted it, or even if you didn't (beause this is my blog and I can post whatever the crap I want), here are my opinions on them.  Enjoy.
-- You know that electoral college that everyone wants to abolish right now?  That same electoral college put Bush in office instead of Gore.  Don't get me wrong; I hate the electoral college too, but I'm pretty sure that all the people who want Romney in office didn't want Al Gore there.  Heaven forbid we elect someone who cares about the environment.
-- There are a lot of people out there claiming that they can't handle another 4 years of Obama.  When I look back over the last 4 years and think of how my life has changed as a direct result of Obama, I come up blank.  I think I can handle another 4.
-- There are also a lot of people claiming, "The Mayans were right, the world is ending." First of all, I ask them to please take a course on archaeology.  If they're still convinced that the Mayans prophecied the end of the world-- well, my faucet is not spouting blood, my children have not tried to murder me since 6:00, when I drop things they still fall to the ground, and Chuck Norris still kicks butt.  So there.
-- For all of you who are threatening to move to Canada, great idea.  I'm sure you'll escape socialism there.
-- If I hear the word "secede" one more time, I'm going to puke. 
-- If you are going to compare Obama to Hitler, be prepared for me to ask you for a list of all the Jews that Obama has killed.

Calm down, everyone.  You should all breathe a sigh of relief knowing that America didn't elect a member of some "crazy cult," which I proudly belong to.

The reception... a little late.

 On our last day in Idaho we went to the reception.  The place was beautiful-- right on the Snake River and there was a beautiful sunset that night.  We took some family pictures before the reception started.

 Violet was delighted to find a chocolate fountain there.

 She even got to help decorate the getaway car, thanks to Brandon's doting cousins whom she followed around all night.