i love....facts.

Ok, so I'm just going to tell you the facts. If I don't stick to just the facts, I'm going to sound like a broken record and that might get annoying to you. Heaven forbid.

It's formal night on the boat. Which means that after a full day of sightseeing, you get to get all gussied up and eat, drink and if your my mom, dance. However, if you recently traveled across the globe, and you really like sleep, which you haven't partaken of in a few days.. your incredibly sleepy through the first formal night.. so you pray and hope the eat, drink, and be merry goes really fast, because your bed awaits.

Our dinner seating is at 9. That means by the time dessert is placed in front of you it's generally 10:30. So, when our waiter, Wilson, brings in my dessert on a covered plate, I think really nothing of it.  Remember, I'm exhausted??  

Fact #1 I'm totally spent. Sleeping in my pretty dress right there at the table. When Wilson brings out my dessert covered. 

I wish I could tell you the emotion that was in my heart when I realized what was under the cover of my dessert. Tears flooded my eyes, and I whispered to my lead singer, who was sitting right next to me taking it all in. 

It's hard to know exactly what to say during times of surprises. The planner of the surprise has such great expectations of the event that if you say even one thing that's "out of wack" you could ruin it for them.. so I said. "you can't afford this."   he nodded, and I knew he had worked it all out. 

On my finger today, is a wedding ring that the lead singer gave me that night at dinner. 

I still can't type that without tearing up. It means so much more than a wedding ring this time. This ring has been through a ceremony of it's own even before I met it. Thats why I love it. This ring was given to me by three people. The couple of the first ceremony, and the lead singer. The ring I wear on my left hand symbolizes love. A love that is crazy to even admit can happen between fallen humans. There is nothing I did to deserve this love. Nothing. In fact, quite the opposite. I'm an extremely sinful human being.

Fact#2 I am loved. 

Fact #3 I have no pictures of this event. Which is good for my memory.. cuz the way I remember it in my head is FAR better than the pictures could have been.. and that's a fact! 

a bit of france.

France... was well, very nice.  We took a tour to a very small town filled with artisans that had little shops in the streets. I think pictures best tell this place.. so here ya go! 

The view from the top of the city wall. 

The flowers, streets, balconies, small doors and shops oh man,  they were all very picturesque. I  loved every minute of this little corner of the world.. and was very sad we only had but a brief stay.  

After our stop at the medieval village, we drove through the countryside to a coastal town.

these  were in a window.. all made out of candy. 

we didn't tell him he was sporting those stickers.... until later, i think? 

After walking and site-seeing/shopping we headed back to the boat. It's the first formal night.. and boy was I not expecting the surprise the Lead Singer rigged up... I'll save that story for tomorrow..trust me it's worth it. 

boarding liberty.

Bright and early in the morning the coach bus picks us up at the hotel in Spain, and we drive through the streets to the port to our ship. When I saw where the ship was made, I immediately felt at home. Ok, honestly I felt a little sad.. knowing I can't even take an international holiday without thinking about my family back in the Bahamas.. oh how I miss them...  but what do you do?? Stay sad? Nope! 

I snapped an image and looked forward to boarding. 

Once on board, we found our way around the massive ship and played a little. 

There was a pre-dinner show with this guy.. who is balancing on top of two bottles with a rubber ball in between. I and the Lead Singer were in awe. 

and then, dinner. at 9pm.  

a short sleep and we will dock in France!! 

Steppin through.

Just a few more steps and it's exploration time of the great city of Barcelona, Spain.

Step 1. Check into the hotel at 8am. 

Step 2. Try to turn on the lights in our rooms.

Step 3 (for some) try to pull some weird concoction off the wall where the light switch should be

Step 3 (for others) ask the maids in the hallway in really bad Spanish... "donde' la luce?"  

Step 4. Watch said maid insert room key into the weird concoction on the wall immediately turning on ALL the room lights. 

Step 5. Collapse on the bed knowing you have a full day in a foreign country and you are waaaaay behind on the learning curve already. 

So, Spain... Here we come! and it was a lovely day full of stepping one foot in front of the other...

 walking...

and walking...

and then... sleeping. 

Barcelona, I liked you. Even if being super tired was the way I spent my day with you. 

35,000 feet up.

Two weeks ago, I boarded an airplane with the Lead Singer... and a few other folks. 

We stopped in Canada for a bit. 

Then, hit the air in the red eye across the Atlantic. 7 hours in a plane. Over the ocean. I originally thought it was going to be boring, but God surprised me by showing me His grace and glory, all wrapped up in one.  35,000 feet up I wrote these words.

______________

One would think that while on vacation blogging wouldn't be the first thing that comes to mind, Yes, it's true, if your keeping track, that this is the third huge trip in three months.  God is good is all I can say, Do I feel spoiled? Yes, but as a dear relative told me- that just means your loved.

So loved am I, that God painted a rainbow in the sky for me. Ok, so, I'm prolly a little narcissistic when I say that, but if He's my God then by golly I'm going to claim little victories over the prince of this world.

Many thoughts run through your head as you prepare for almost two years to spend a significant time away from the day to day. Most of all, it's the mommy in me who rears it's heart and struggles with just accepting a great gift and allowing God to be God.. even if something horrible happens and several babies are without mommies, daddies, and the best grandparents for the rest of their life. 

Dying to self on vacation is the hardest time to die, but I'm positive it can be done. He promises, and he wrote it in the sky. 35,000 feet up. Where He knew I'd see it.  He promises that He will never leave me or forsake me... ever. Dying is ok, in fact, it's encouraged. 

__________

If God allows I'll share a few short stories and images from our travels in the upcoming posts. 

It really was a trip of a lifetime... and God was all over it.