Bermuda Cruise

Hello everyone! Obvoiusly, we have been back for a while but FINALLY I am updating about what we have been up to! The cruise to bermuda was F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!!!! I LOVE cruising with Stampin' Up! Here is John with our Ship, the Ms. Noordam (Holland America Line) Our room would be just above John's head, about a half-inch to the left, on deck 6. We had an awesome verandah where we could go hang out and enjoy the solitude of being in the middle of the Atlantic! As we sailed out of NYC, Manhattan Harbor we all went out to enjoy the view of Lady Liberty. Very cool! Goodbye, USA...hello one week of paradise!
These are just a couple of the gifts I received from Stampin' Up! while on the cruise. It is so cool...each night when we come back to our room after a long day of fun, our covers would be turned down, a chocolate on our pillow, and a gift from Stampin' Up! They really make us feel appreciated.
Bermuda is a 21-mile island in the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic. The captain said you kind of have to pass by the general area if you are crossing the Atlantic, making it the middle of an ocean crossroad. That, combined with the fact that it is set on a huge craggy reef with sometimes volatile weather, makes it a common place for shipwrecks and other trouble. And so are born all the legends of the Bermuda triangle. One fun thing was all the multi-colored buildings. This is a common look for tropical island homes, but in Bermuda it is a law. Each neighborhood has a color palette, and the residents must choose one of the colors to paint their home. Also, it must not be the same as the building on either side. I thought that was pretty funny. I chatted with an old man on the bus one day, he told me he could only choose salmon, lavendar or canary yellow for his home. He had yellow but didn't like it so he had to move to another neighborhood so he could have blue! Funny.

Of course, everything is tropically green. There were a lot of pretty flowers too. We bought a 4-day bus pass and buzzed wherever we needed to go on the bus. It was an efficient and inexpensive way to travel! We also did a fair amount of walking, which could never offset all the yummy food we ate on the ship. We would have had to walk all the way home to do that! Some of the stuff we did in Bermuda: Checking out caves and old forts, beaches, shopping, a very cool glass factory, and a few museums. A very nice place to visit!!
Being on a Stampin' Up! cruise is different because we know a LOT of the other people on the boat. We get to see Shelli and the rest of the corporate team, plus so many Demonstrators we have made friends with over the years. But the best is my very own downline, friends and family who are also cruise achievers! Here is our group this year: (from left) John and I, Janice and Kevin Barlow, Melanie (her hubby was sick that night) and Jill and Landon Kirk.

After the cruise was over, John and I spent 2 more days in NYC. It was like another vacation! We explored a TON of Central Park, (in 3 different visits!) Spent 5 hours at the Museum of Natural History, saw 2 broadway shows, and so much more. We saw all the historical sights and ground zero and rockefeller center and the Empire State Building and so on...My favorite was seeing "Wicked". It was VERY good and we were on the second row all the way to one side. We were very up close and personal with the stage. We also saw Spam-a-lot which was very funny even though I am not a huge Monty Python fan. It was much funnier with all the spoofs and songs. Also, Clay Aiken played Sir Robin. He was so funny and obviously a good singer! We even saw him outside afterward. Fun. NYC pretty much rocks. It is one of my very favorite places. Here I am in front of Macy's by Herald Square, with a view of the Empire State Building behind me. Groovy.
* Sigh* Another fabulous vacation is now history!!! But good news...As of April 30 I have earned Stampin' Up!'s next trip--March 2009--to an all-inclusive resort in Kona, Hawaii! ALOHA!!! Thank you to all of my wonderful supportive customers and family who help me to keep doing well with my business!