Caribbean cruise!

We are back from our cruise, and it was amazing. I didn't get horribly sunburned, we met some adorable dolphins, the cruise boat didn't sink, I did a couple workouts, the weather was incredible, no sharks were sighted, we swam in crystal clear blue water, I won some money at the casino, and overall we had a really great time.

On the first day, getting up at 2:45am for our flight wasn't fun but the flight itself was uneventful, and soon we found ourselves in sunny Florida. Side note: I am seriously questioning why I live where I do now. Researchers say that temperature doesn't actually affect your level of true happiness, but I beg to differ.

The first night on the cruise ship there was a lot of exploring, hanging out by the pool in the sun, dancing, and trying fun drinks. Every night they had a different "signature" drink - I didn't try all of them, but the rum punch was pretty good.

Fun drink is fun

The other days we did a few different excursions, including snorkeling, hanging out with stingrays, and swimming with dolphins. Each day we got to hang out on the beach, swim, frolic, and enjoy life in general.

The stingray excursion was both terrifying and awesome. They were HUGE - like, almost the size of the top of your car huge. I kept telling myself they are just puppies of the sea. Sea puppies. Harmless. Killed Steve Irwin, but otherwise harmless. We fed them these small squid and they went nuts - splashing around and jumping up on us. It was cool and I'm glad we did it, but I don't think I'll do it again.

Swimming with dolphins - by far my most favorite part of the trip.

Pretty lady dolphin!

I've always been a little obsessed with dolphins ever since I read A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle. When I was little I wanted to grow up to be a marine biologist. So this was really, really cool for me. I was fan-girling out like nuts. Our dolphin's name was Fiona and she was adorable.

As for eating and working out - I did a mile along with jogging track on Tuesday, and 2 miles on Thursday. We did a lot of swimming on most days, and I got in some planks on Friday. So, nothing too crazy, but I at least made an effort to get out there and do something. Food-wise, I would say I did so-so. I opted for veggies whenever they were available, but I also nommed on my fair share of fried chicken and french fries at the buffet, ha. And room service at midnight or later definitely happened more nights than not. They had this mozzarella tomato pesto foccacia sandwich thing that was freakin amazing. NOM.

So now we're back in the snowy northeast, and it's back to the grind tomorrow. Weigh-in this morning: 153.2. Not too bad! I'm hoping most of that is retaining salt and water, and that in a week I'll be back down around 149-150. To quote my friend, cruise weight is fake weight. You're up when you get home, but it goes away sooner than later. I hope she's right!

I also just bought a new fancy scale (no, not one that does body fat composition, but fancy nonetheless) because the one we have here flucuates about 2 pounds one way or another. I'll step on it and it'll say 154, and then 152, and then 152.4, and then 153.8, and I'm like, really scale? Tell it to me straight. Don't play me like that. I usually take an average, but I'm sick of the guesswork.

Aaaaand I'm already thinking about our next vacation. Where to next? Suggestions welcome!