Happy New Year!

A Christmas Cruise!!

I must say that I was pretty skeptical about going on a cruise during Christmas. After all, my family, like most families, has a Christmas Day ritual that happens without fail every year. However, let me go ahead and say that I had a great time. :) Let me also go ahead and say that I've uploaded a ton of photos on Facebook, which now allows all people to look at their members' photo albums. :) Just click here:

http://olemiss.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057551&l=c1468&id=6517120

Just to whet your whistle, here's one of the pics:




Now...onto the cruise. I was the only member of my family who had never been on a cruise before, so despite the eagerness of my parents and sister to prepare, I had no idea what to expect.

First of all, the ship has a Cruise Director. For our cruise, her name was Linda. The cruise director's job, in essence, is to announce activities and events all throughout the day. To the point that you begin to loathe her voice. Fortunate for us, Linda's voice was amusing. It was British, and it sounded a bit like a "late-night telephone operator." Amusing, yes.

What's next...oh, the food. Since a cruise ship works just like an all-inclusive resort, all the food was prepaid. So, at each meal, we ate appetizer and soup/salad and entree and dessert. I gained less weight than I thought I would...probably because of the walking we did during our on-shore excursions. But, I did gain a little. Now, something else about the food. It was hit-and-miss. The dishes themselves all sounded absolutely fantastic, when reading them on the menu. However, sometimes, when the dishes came up, something got lost in the execution.

Worse dish: shrimp-encrusted salmon. Listen carefully: SHRIMP SHOULD NEVER ENCRUST ANYTHING!!!! It became rubbery rubber crust. It also gave the salmon even more of a fishier taste than it would have had on its own.

Best dish: New York strip with green peppercorn sauce. So good!!!! And, the Potato Gratin that came with it was even better!!! It was a stellar meal.

Moving on to the entertainment, it was interesting. This cruise ship required most of its performers to do a variety of things...sing, dance, be acrobatic...and that led to none of them being outstanding at any one talent. Everyone was very talented, but none of the shows really showcased the talent well. It was a bit amateurish...of course, when the entertainment venue is called "The Stardust Lounge," you already working under a deficit.

Over the course of the week, I got tired of the ship itself. I mean, there's only so much you can explore, and I covered that on the first day. After that, it was repetitive. Where I really enjoyed the cruise was at the ports of call and on the shore excursions for each port. In that way, it was like 4 vacations in one, and I found that really appealing. I got to visit 2 Maya ruin sites, tour a working banana plantation, and explore a coral reef in a submarine. Very cool stuff. In addition, I got to see 4 unique towns. That whole aspect of the cruise was right up my alley.

So, now I'm back, on the verge of a new year. I hope everybody had a great Christmas, as well as a positive 2006 overall. Here's to hoping for a safe and happy 2007 for all of you!!!

Refocus

I love those moments when something catches me off-guard and instantaneously refocuses my spirit. Of course, it's too bad that things get so out of focus that I'm truly caught off-guard by such a thing, but at the same time, there's something very magical when it happens. In that instance, you know the moment is not something you have orchestrated, yet you're an integral part of it. I don't know, it's just very special.

Today, I got back from Monroeville, AL, where I was playing the piano in the wedding of Chris Allen, a friend of mine from Ole Miss. On the way back, since it was a 5.5-hour drive, I got to listen to lots of music that I hadn't listened too in a while. This is the song that was the catalyst for today's moment of refocusing.

"The Purest Place"
by Watermark

Paint me with Your purity
That I'd attract Your majesty
When others boast in fame and gold
The purest place is where I'll go

The purest place I will draw near
Do what it takes to keep me here
In the center of Your heart
The purest place is where You are

It's not with masses, not with kings
Not in these songs, or offerings
Not in this life, or what it brings
The purest place is You my King

The purest place I will draw near
Do what it takes to keep me here
In the center of Your heart
The purest place is where You are

If there's such thing as too beautiful
If there's such things as too wonderful
If there's such thing as too marvelous
Jesus it's You, Jesus it's You

The purest place I will draw near
Do what it takes to keep me here
In the center of Your heart
The purest place is where You are

Deck The House! Part 1

Hooray for Christmas!!! I finally get to decorate my own house for the holidays! Most of you have never seen my house, so I figured this was a good chance to upload some pics of it. 18 in all, so I'll post it in 4 parts. :) (Captions below each picture.)

Living Room Pic #1. The 3 art pieces above the couch are called (from bottom to top) Earth, Wind, and Fire. :) The only Christmas adornment in this pic is the center green sphere on the coffee table; it's an ornament. Oh, and it's hard to see him, but that's Gingy from Shrek in the striped chair.

Living Room Pic #2. It took me FOREVER to find a credenza I liked; this one's perfect. The art on this wall came from eBay--nice and modern, just like the 2 "Christmas trees" in front of it. Oh, and yep, that's a classic SNES in the lower right hand corner. ;) I still play it.

Kitchen Pic #1. My kitchen is probably my favorite room in the house. I think it's the room that turned out most like I wanted it. I got to pull out fishing line to hang those glass ornaments from the light fixture above my island; I felt like MacGyver.

Kitchen Pic #2. Here's a close-up of the dining room table. Dishes, napkins, snowflakes...all from Wal-Mart! The snazzy things in the vase came from Pier One, though. [Notice: I know it's a bit much, but seriously, I do like girls.]

Kitchen Pic #3. Ah, the heart of the kitchen. Hmm...wonder where I put all the unattractive things that typically hang out around people's sinks? That's right: in the sink. I couldn't sacrifice a good picture. :)

Deck The House! Part 2

Kitchen Pic #4. For all you math fans out there, the 4 turquoise prints on the kitchen wall (you see two of them here) are fractal posters. And, as a bonus, there's the Abominable Snowman sitting on top of the turquoise sphere. Why do I have a big turquoise sphere sitting on top of a bench? Good Question!

Piano Room / Office Pic #1. Christmas trees never seem to photograph well, but nonetheless, I love my Christmas tree. This one would typically be a bit too big for the room; luckily, no one has to know that I left out all the back limbs. ;)

Piano Room / Office Pic #2. Man, I need to buy a printer to match my monitor. Then again, it's time to buy a flat panel monitor, too! Maybe next year. I really love the prints on the wall. Nice and calming...although they were murder to have framed. 3' x 3' isn't a standard frame size.

Piano Room / Office Pic #3. My favorite place to sit in the whole house. :) It's an old, twangy piano, but it's mine. And, yeah, that's Beethoven sitting up there. Some cliches are fun. ;)

Guest Bathroom Pic #1. It's a small room, so you only get one picture. It does look a bit like Barney exploded in here, but in person its less annoying. ;) The three art pieces here say "Insert," "Art," "Here." There's a silver Christmas tree on the other side of the sink; too bad you don't get to see it!

Deck The House! Part 3

Guest Bedroom Pic #1. It doesn't have a bed, but it has the best sleeping couch in the world! This is where much of my college stuff ended up. Colorful, isn't it? Note the Ole Miss Santa's on the table. Also note the James Bond posters. :)

Guest Bedroom Pic #2. Two more James Bond posters and the ultra-stylish football helmet lamp! ;) I figured I could have one room with schizophrenic style.

My Bedroom Pic #1. I'm gonna brag on myself about the thing over the bed. It's a floor screen from Target that I attached fabric to the back of. Out of all the crafty projects I've done, I like this one the best. Also, my comforter is fantastic!

My Bedroom Pic #2. Some people don't like faces looking at them when they sleep. I don't mind. These remind me of the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disney World. :)

Deck The House! Part 4

So, it all began back in August. I wanted the exterior of my house to be uniquely decorated for Christmas, and I wanted to make everything myself. This is the "doorflake," a.k.a. the prototype. If everything worked with this one, I would embark on the full-scale project...

...which brings us to snowflakes like these. Five different flake designs, three different sizes, 15 snowflakes in total...and none of them are the same! This one's probably my favorite. It's 4' tall. The one directly behind it is 3' tall.


And, here's the whole thing! I couldn't quite get all of them in the picture, but trust me, they're all there! Oh, and there's the outside of my house! Why is my Escape not in the garage? Because the garage is still covered in wood scraps and paint tarps from the project. ;)

Were you wondering what the yellow sign was all about? Well, I had an extra piece of plywood left over, and I wanted to do something fun with it. My favorite part, of course, is the image of the car. There's something very "Looney Tunes" about a big snowflake crashing on your vehicle. :D