Weekending | Mentally Draining

Sorry I've been super MIA friends. I was planning on having my cruise recap up and going, but this weekend was something that definitely took priority. What seemed like a super normal weekend, ended up with us requesting all the prayers.

On Saturday night my father-in-law suffered a severe stroke that affected the left side of his brain, which is his main speech function side. He hasn't been able to speak or communicate and is currently in the Neuro ICU trying to recover. We are just praying for a good outcome and recovery for him. He has definitely gone through his fair share of health issues and overcome every single one of them with a huge smile on his face. This is really tough on my husband and seeing him like this is the toughest thing ever. 

If you pray to any God, please just keep my father-in-law in your prayers, he is such a strong fighter and I know he will overcome this hurdle, but it is very hard seeing him like this.

Unfortunately because of this, we didn't really get to celebrate Mother's Day with my mother-in-law, but it made me smile looking on Instagram and Snapchat seeing everyone with their loved ones. I hope you had a fantastic time celebrating with your mom's and loved ones. The person I turned to most during this hard time was definitely my mom. She is always my go to during tough situations and I know I needed to be a strong wife for my husband and our family. Thankful for mothers like her, my mother-in-law and all the strong mothers out there!

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Linking up with Biana.

2017 Travel Diaries: Western Caribbean Cruise {Part 1}

Phew finally I'm back posting (hopefully somewhat regularly) and I'm started it off with my cruise recap! I can't believe it was already a week since we've been back. 

The cruise started out leaving from Galveston on Saturday. It was kind of a doozy of a day since it was mostly checking in and getting acclimated with the ship.

Of course I had to document our delicious dessert from dinner that night.

On Sunday (sea day) was my momma's 60th birthday and the main reason for the big cruise! We started out with some coffee on our balcony, it felt amazing to just look out and see nothing but blue water.

Our stewardess was so great and decorated a little for my mom's birthday, the whole week they were so sweet giving her little gifts throughout! 

We decided to head up to the lido deck for some lunch, yummy tacos which I'm so craving again! 

Afterwards we hung by the pool and took advantage of a quieter pool area.

Afterwards we decided to get ready for our first formal night. Luckily for us it was dress up night and mom's birthday which was just extra special.

After another delicious dinner, the wait staff came out with a yummy cake for my mom.

The third day (2nd sea day) we woke up early and headed up for some yummy breakfast. 

After doing some walking around and grabbing a few of the activities, we decided to hang poolside again, this time with some yummy frozen drinks. 

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I think that's a good stopping point until next time where I'll go into more of the ports we stopped in during our cruise!

Friday Loves

Woohoo it's finally Friday guys! I cannot be more excited for today because in a few short hours (after a quick dental check up) I'm headed to the airport to pick up 2 of my favorite people ever, my momma and sissy!!!!

We have some errands and lots of catching up/packing to get done before we head out for our cruise tomorrow, but I'm so excited to be sharing this adventure with them. We also get to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday on Sunday while we're on the cruise and I can't wait to just celebrate her. She is such an amazing mother and I cannot express how much she means to me. Having moved hundreds of miles away from her has been awfully tough especially since starting this new chapter of my life without her being by my side. She has been there through everything in my life and she more than deserves this trip. She is as young as we are, at times younger than us with all she does in a day. She's an amazing chef, organizer and overall kind hearted soul. I hope to one day be just a fraction of the type of mother she is because she loves us through anything and would do anything in the world for my sister and I's happiness. Love you momma and hope you have the best time!!

This week has been the week of serious pampering just getting prepped for the cruise. On Monday I got my nails done at a new salon near work and I was in love, I almost didn't want to leave and drive home because of how relaxed I was. I also got dipped nails for the first time and think I found my new favorite nail technique. If you have a salon that offers it I highly recommend it, much safer than gel and lasts much longer!

And now because I have nothing else, I'll leave y'all with some funnies. (p.s. I am going to try to post on Instagram and possibly Snapchat if I'm able to while on the cruise. If you want to follow along, add me npat62 for both.)

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Well folks, that's all I've got. I'm going to be pretty MIA from the blogging world until May 1st!

Linking up with Amanda!

Weekending | Celebrating Hubs

Happy Monday morning folks! I'm hoping and praying this week just breezes by because at the end of it my mom & sister await along with our looooong awaited Caribbean cruise!! I've been starring at this countdown timer since the day we booked the cruise and I can't believe in 5 short days we will be cruising away! My momma and sissy get here Friday morning so it'll be a day well spent, catching up and doing some last minute stuff.

Our weekend started out on Friday, since I didn't have the day off (boo!) we waiting until the evening to go to our friends place for a little craft beer & cider tasting. I wasn't a huge fan of the beers because I just don't like beer in general, but the ciders on the other hand! I definitely found some winners in there! I can't wait until our next tasting, we decided it'll have to be wine though!

It was fun to catch up and see some people we haven't seen since early January. Our hostess also had an amazing chocolate wine shaped cake for hubby's birthday! It was almost too pretty to eat, but I'm glad we did because it was delicious!! We were also celebrating hubs passing his work exam!!! I cannot begin to tell you how proud and relieved we both are that he passed! After 4-5 long months of studying and failing the first time, he finally has his Series 66 behind him!

After all the clean up was said and done, we headed home...exhausted! I fell asleep almost immediately and gladly so since I had an early morning the next day!

Saturday morning hubs and I both woke up and headed to get our hair cut. I was trying out a new salon after reading great reviews on Yelp and I'm so glad I did. If you are in the Sugar Land area and are in need of a new hair stylist or even a great blow out, check out Sugar Land Drybar, it is the only blow dry bar in the area and I hope Ashley branches out and becomes even bigger than she is right now. I'm actually headed back to her to get a Keratin express blowout treatment later this week! The rest of the late morning/early afternoon was spent getting some stuff done around the house before our night out.

I had asked hubs if we could stop at Kendra Scott before dinner since there was one in the area and use his birthday reward! Folks if you don't know about the 50% any one item at KS on your birthday (or your s/o if they comply) you are missing out! I picked myself up this gorgeous iridescent druzy necklace which goes perfectly which just about everything! 

Afterwards, we headed to one of my favorite restaurants, YardHouse for hubby's birthday dinner! If you have never been to a YardHouse and have one in your area, run don't walk there...and get their firecracker boneless wings, you won't regret it! A bunch of our family and friends came out to celebrate and it was so great having everyone in one place celebrating my favorite person! After dinner we headed to a little lounge in the City Centre area for some late night drinks and live music!

After staying out way past our bedtimes, we decided to call it a night and head home. I had such a blast celebrating A's birthday since it was his first married birthday!

Sunday we slept in much later than usual and paid for the late night of drinking the night before! When I did finally make it out of bed, it was chore time. Once everything was cleaned and tidy, we headed to the grocery store to grab stuff for the week. Since we don't celebrate Easter this was our way of celebrating I suppose. Luckily for us, Kroger was not only open, but unusually quiet!

Since it was our 9 month(!!!!) wedding anniversary, we decided to go out for dinner for some Indian yumminess! We ended the night with some SNL and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, now that's what I call a successful marriage!

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It was quite an eventful and busy weekend, but I wouldn't have changed a thing...besides having it last longer! I can only hope I can make it through this short 4 day work week ahead!

Linking up with Biana for some weekending!

Happy Birthday Hubs

Happy hump day loves! I'm just popping in because I wanted to dedicate today's post for my amazing hubby. It's his birthday today and even though he should be relaxing and enjoying the day he is prepping for his exam that's tomorrow. 

I'm so proud of him and to call him my husband because he is such a thoughtful, patient, caring and intelligent man that I love learning more and more about every day of this married adventure of ours. I can't wait to celebrate him even more this weekend with our loved ones, but today is for him!

Even though he despises when I suggest we take a picture, more notably a selfie....we take some good selfies together and there's nobody I'd rather  selfie with than him!

Weekending | Catching Up

Happy Monday loves! Is it just me or did this weekend just fly right by us?? I felt a good catch up sesh was necessary for today so shall we?

I did absolutely nothing this weekend, the highlight of my weekend was going to Target and Sephora!

Yup that pretty much happened. I literally went in for a birthday card! I ended up with $75 worth of other things....as I was walking out to my car, totally forgot the birthday card! I had to run back in and grab that since that was basically the only reason why I was there. Luckily I don't go basket crazy at Sephora or else I would be under a pile of debt from that place alone! 

Once I came home and proceeded to hide all of the things I unnecessarily bought, I went into a Netflix daze. I saw some fellow bloggers posting about 13 Reasons Why and was suddenly intrigued. Between catching up on my daily shows, I totally have neglected Netflix. I'm so glad I heard about this because guys it's really a good show!! I even got my sissy hooked on it. I made it about 6 episodes before I had to cut myself off, also because it was past midnight! It's also a book so after binge-watching the season I'll grab it!  

Today is National Siblings Day, so shout out to my ride or die sissy!! Cannot wait to see her and my momma in 11 days! I have seriously missed them something fierce and NEED a week long cruise with my besties! 

Hubby's birthday is coming up this Wednesday and I cannot wait to give him his gift! He is usually always impossible to shop for and I end up just taking him to the mall and letting him pick out his gift...not this time! I knew I wanted to get him something that we could do because he honestly doesn't need anything at the moment. When I heard that Enrique & Pitbull were going on tour, I knew I had to get us tickets! We both love Enrique, our reception entrance song was Bailando after all! He has no idea what the gift is so I'm excited to be able to finally surprise him with a gift he'll love!! 

If you missed this nail color I posted last week on Instagram, go out and find this color y'all! I have gotten so many compliments and it is totally going to become my new go to for Spring! I got mine in my FabFitFun Spring box, but I'm sure you could find it online or at Sephora!

Finally, Sunday was spent cleaning out my closet and basically purging what I didn't need or wear anymore. I have a whole bag of goodies ready to go to Goodwill tonight. The purpose of this was to change out my closet to be spring/summer focused now that the heat and humidity have settled in, but also to set everything for my cruise aside. We don't leave for another 12 days, but next weekend is completely jam packed and between the craziness at work, I don't want it to be a rushed event. Also serious overpacking has happened! I managed to fit everything I need in 2 carry on bags (trying not to check in anything)!

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That's pretty much what's been going on with me and what our weekend consisted of! Linking up with Biana for weekending!

2017 Travel Diary | Waking Up In Vegas Part 2

Happy Monday loves! So I know you've had to wait a few days since I posted the part 1 of our Vegas trip, but since I dropped the ball for my part 2 to be ready it had to wait until today!

Anywho if you haven't read part 1 go ahead and do so, here's the rest of our weekend in Vegas.

Saturday:

We had breakfast plans with a friend who was staying at Caesar's Palace and since hubby loves their breakfast place there, we decided on that. I got the Captain Crunch French Toast and it was ah-mazing!!

We then decided to walk around the Forum Shops since the stores were just opening and the crowds weren't around. We made a reservation at the restaurant we were coming back to for dinner since it was there.

After doing some serious window shopping, we took a cab to Fremont Street. Now on the way we noticed some parts of the strip being blocked and I saw a sign for 'Special Event Ahead' so I assumed they were filming something or some hot shot celeb was around...we ignored it and we about our business. Hubs had never been to Fremont Street and I had so we decided we needed to make a trip there. Even though it was early in the day, before the main crazies come out to play, it was still a fun experience. We walked inside some of the older casinos and just got some great people watching in before heading back to our area.

Alas, the experience I will never forget...no not Nick Carter, yet! As we are sitting in our cab, we see SWAT trucks and police cars just zooming past us. After hearing something on the radio about a shooting at the Cosmopolitan we were a little freaked. We immediately got to googling what in the heck was going on. Turns out some guy decided to shoot up the Cosmo and ran out into a bus where he then proceeded to barricade himself for the next 4 hours. Mind you this was going on right in front of Cosmo and we were staying at Aria right next door. They had the entire strip on lock down basically and nobody could get anywhere past Bellagio going towards Aria, so we were stranded and exhausted. We hung around Caesar's Palace for a few hours until the shooter finally surrendered and everything was cleared up again. 

We then proceeded back to our hotel around 4pm and just laid in bed for an hour. We then had to start getting ready for our dinner that evening and felt much more refreshed after being able to be allowed in our hotel. Of course in true Vegas fashion, everything was business as usual after all the hoopla from the day. We then proceeded to have the absolute best dinner of our visit in Vegas. I never would have thought a restaurant that right smack dab in the middle of the Forum shops would be this good, but you guys it was!!

Once dinner was done we were waiting for our ride at the front entrance of Caesar's Palace we were just sitting by the fountain area, hubby on the phone with our ride and me just people watching. As I was people watching, I noticed a cute little pug dog and immediately stared at it, then looking up at it's owner. It was then that I realized it was NICK FRIGGIN' CARTER!! I nudged hubs, but he was not paying attention and just said in a normal voice "is that....." and I just said Nick Carter a bit louder and he actually turned around. Guys, he turned around and looked STRAIGHT at me!! I was immediately star struck because nobody else around us was noticing who he was, he was just a guy walking his dog. When he turned around he just waved and said hey to me and then proceeded to walk on, I was froze and just had no words...literally biggest regret was not immediately saying omg can I get a picture?! I kind of woke up from my dream state and walked behind him, but he was already too far way and I heard girls screaming so I figured they found him. I managed to get a quick blurry snap of the back of him, but literally no proof this actually happened! I had been upset that we weren't able to go to the BSB show in Vegas, but trust me meeting Nick Carter and having him say "hey" to me....so worth missing it! Oh and did I mention that a BSB song was playing as he walked by...literally out of a movie guys!

After just constant shaking and flying on cloud nine, we were in our car headed to Mandalay Bay to hang out at the SkyFall Lounge. Hubs was pretty excited this all happened to because he claims he made eye contact with Nick Carter and became bros right then and there...glad he didn't think I was nuts! Guys if you are ever in Vegas, you need to head to Mandalay bay to head to this lounge because it really is such a swanky and cool place. Never too crowded and their drinks are stellar!

Also the elevator ride claims to have the best view in Vegas, they also have a little balcony ledge that has couches and a little lounge feel to it where you have a pretty incredible view of the city as well.

After about an hour we headed out to The Mirage for a comedy show that we had tickets for. Nick Swardson, you may know him from Reno 911 and basically any Adam Sandler/David Spade movies. He was pretty hilarious and I was actually surprised at how packed the theater was. Overall we had a fun time watching his stand up routine. 

We decided to just head back to the hotel since we were beyond exhausted that night and had to be up fairly early the next morning. 

Sunday:

We woke up fairly early and started to get ready and pack up all of our stuff so we didn't have to rush later on. Afterwards we finally headed to Cosmopolitan to collect my winnings and then walked around the hotel a bit to catch the beauty one last time.

After heading back to our room to grab our bags and head down for our car to take us to the airport. Of course had to get a quick pic in front of the pretty flower wall at the Sky Suite entrance.

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Overall it was such a fabulous trip...minus the whole shooting incident! We got to meet up with a friend while he was in Vegas, I got to get some pampering done, hubby got to watch all the games when he wanted to (I even got in on the action a few times) and we overall just got to enjoy each other. Definitely much needed after all the stressors in our everyday lives. Now it's a few more weeks until I'm reunited with my momma and sissy for our week long cruise in the Western Caribbean!!

Linking up with B!