Does the title look familiar? I used the same for 2013! Yeah well, I guess it may just become an annual thing. This year... I can scarcely believe it's nearly done, didn't it just start?

 In 2014 Graham and I: went zipling, 

threw Graham a surprise birthday party, 

Graham was given a permanent position at Merrill Lynch, 

went on our first plane trip to Arizona together, 

took my siblings to Miami/ Ft Laud, 

celebrated our first anniversary, 

flew to Washington DC, 

found out Listi was serving a mission, 

celebrated multiple weddings,

Graham was called to be the Elder's Qorum Pres,

relived my childhood by vacationing in Fernandina, 

learned we would become an Aunt& Uncle,

I joined Mama in taking Listi to the Provo,UT MTC,

I was called to be a counselor in Young Women 

we visited Disney 10 times before our season passes expired,

traveled to the Keys with friends, snorkeled on said Keys,

visited Graham's personal utopia up on the Blue Ridge Parkway,

I quit my job to focus on school, we welcomed many babies, 

we lost a special Grandma and another great friend, 

we survived our first international trip in Italy and

we've had the best year yet.

http://flipagram.com/f/OS1F5dvh4C

^

The following is a quick picture recap of this past year.

    Our family has been blessed, our own small one and our extended ones, I am so grateful for that! Every year I can't help but marvel and think: Wow! What a year! We've grew so much, we've traveled more than I thought possible and I love Graham more now than ever.& I truly, truly adore our teeny, small, 2 person family- we're all we've got and I have cherished our first full year from start to finish together. I am so often reminded that he is the one for me.

    I have a few goals for 2015- finish my Bachelor's degree, fulfill my calling to the highest extent, do laundry quicker, gossip less, find peace with all that irks me and bring more joy to those who surround me. I hope to do all of those things, but I know if I can just learn a little bit more and do a little bit better, I'll be alright.

    Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this year better. I'm engulfed in gratitude. 

Observations on being a Tourist in Italy

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MONEY

~The money used here is the Euro (€). The Euro is worth 1.2 to 1 US Dollar. So in other words, just changing money is expensive! Not to mention unless you find ATM's that are in associate with your bank, you have to be a standard service fee (around $10).

-Using a typical foreign credit card racks up fees for every use, while a travel credit card does not require a conversion fee. 

-Everything here is pricy. Water is never free at restaurants, a typical Sprite bottle averages 3 € and even knock-off purses are sold at 45 Euro.

-To go to a public restroom, whether at McDonald's or a train station, can cost .60-1€!! Talk about culture shock.

-There are no sales taxes, if listed at a price it is guaranteed, which is a nice change.

-We only found one location, a Venetian supermarket, who used .01 or .02 coins, everyone else rounds to the nearest .50.

RESTAURANTS 

-Most cafe shops require extra if you wish to sit down. For instance, a cannoli was sold for 4 Euro to go or either 8 Euro to sit.

-Never tip at restaurants, the receipt will show a "coperto/service" charge which will automatically pay the waiter. We have averaged 2-3 Euro per person at mid-sized restaurants.

-They refer to "to go" as "take away," most shops have lots of signs written in English saying that phrase. 

-Music in most Italian shops are the Top 20 ones, sung entirely in English.

-Fettuccine Alfredo is strictly American :(  But we did find one place in Venice who served it! 

 -There are just as many gelato shops as there are restaurants! They generally don't allow taste testing. 

TRANSPORTATION

-There is a wide variety of great transport here! Trains, Metro, Buses, Trams, Watertaxis.

-Beware, if you're relying entirely on your English you need to prepare for the inevitable: most workers know FEW English words in the Metro. The majority is a lot of hand motions and slow Italian pronunciations. 

-There are a few classes of trains, super slow regional ones or very efficient slightly-less-than-luxury ones, depending on a budget, the latter is so much more spacious.

-To buy Metro tickets you must either have no more than 6€ in change or buy a pass from a Tobacco shop. Our 20€ and 50€ kept spitting out until someone finally translated. And if you go to a Tobacco shop, they require an additional purchase before selling the Metro pass! It's jumping through hoops for sure.

-I would never suggest renting a car. The lanes are very difficult to understand, and it isn't necessary with so many other cheaper options. Also, we have seen approximately 0 gas stations! 

-Trains are absolutely on time! If it says it's pulling out at 1:32, it will depart precisely then. Arrive with plenty of time to find which platform and to see if there are any changes. 

-There are WAY more mopeds than cars here, with fearless drivers. They have perplexed us since we arrived. They weave between cars (as in like 3 feet of space), then they jet out in front of buses. These drivers seem follow both pedestrian AND vehicle rules, but won't hesitate to break them either. They do not think twice to slam on their small horns.

-Some of the best views come from the trains! Try to books a window seat and have the camera ready.

-Gondola rides are very expensive, but gondoliers are willing to bargain during low seasons. It's also a great way to travel through the smaller canals and see the Grand Canal.

WALKING 

-If you're walking, go straight to the Tobacco shop in the station and BUY A MAP. I (stupidly) thought step by step directions would suffice but nope! Get a map the moment you arrive. 

-Streets are set up much differently than in the US. Some may be 6 lanes and bustling with traffic, others are small enough to only allow a single car.

-Street signs are put on marble plaques on one side of the wall. The frustrating part is that it isn't always located at the beginning of every street. Sometimes you have to walk to the end of that street or the next street over to find where you are.

-An iPhone GPS won't work in Venice! The streets are way too small and connected. Plan on getting lost here several times a day! 

-Also, big point of references! The conjunction of streets that forms a 

big square are called "Piazzale" and streets are signified by the first term being "Via" or "Calle." Unless you're in Venice where "Donte" refers to the bridge, "Sestiere" is a neighborhood and "Rio" a river.

SCAM ARTISTS

-Pickpockets are notorious here, many locals and other tourists warned us to be aware, particularly at train stations/metros.

-There are many people who will try to sell you a free ticket to speak with Information (there are usually waits though) or used Metro passes- remember you are responsible for looking out for your own best interest, not everyone else.

-Outside of EVERY tourist location there is a large amount of people trying to sell: extended camera holders, umbrellas (when raining), enlarged pictures, caricatures, books or flowers. There are usually about 10 people competing within each item at every location. It can be so overwhelmingly annoying to repeatedly reject each person when trying to enjoy yourself.

-The streets are full of beggars who definitely are working the system. Generally they are located in the tourist spots, very near churches. We offered an old man with 2 small coins in his hat just a little bit of our change, walked by him an hour later with just the 2 small coins still in there, so he had been pocketing all of the gains he had made, and was still showing his original 2 coins.

-Also if you innocently try to take your picture beware of people offering to "help." We thought it was another kind tourist taking our picture by the Grand Canal but no! About two photos in I realized he wanted money. Oh well, that well-spent.

BUILDINGS

-The number of apartments far outweighs the number of homes. For an entire week we didn't see any noticeable houses until we passed through the countryside.

-The people have great views because they build many places on upward hills and mountains. These are always exceptionally beautiful!

-The main color on buildings is a mixture between a cream and a yellow, but some coastal areas are filled with color! One of the reasons we loved Cinque Terre so much is because all of the buildings touching were painted a different shade of yellow, pink, red, orange, green and blue.

-Once again, Venice needs a category all on its own because it is just so unique. There are so many buildings crammed together, the streets may be spacious and long or five feet wide alleyways. 

U.S. CONVENIENCES

-Some days we just wanted to snack instead of buying big meals, where back home we would have just relied on gas stations to purchase things. Here, the best places to stop are Tobacco shops, for smaller priced items.

-The only fast-food chains we have seen are McDonald's (sans dollar menu), found in every main train station, and an occasional Burger King. Instead, they have a variety of sandwich shops. 

-Police and Ambulances are heard ALL the time with a very high pitch wailing, a siren, the sound is much different from America's.

-After going up thousands (!!!) of steps, we only took 1 elevator the entire trip! There is a big shortage of those things.

PEOPLE

-The younger generation speak either very good or broken English, as it is a requirement in school. In need we have used them! Although, be prepared, all know the F word! 

-There is a lot of turmoil and unrest between the government and the people. We arrived in Milan during a large protest and in Cinque Terre we stayed during a train strike. The causes were due to the lack of jobs, according to those we asked.

-The same as anywhere, there are some very helpful individuals and very rude ones. The more they try to sell to you, the more complementary they become! "Bella! Bella!"

-Again, if asking for directions, don't expect everyone to respond in English. It's just ain't happening. Use a map and expect hand signals, as well as minimal understanding. 

-Smokers are everywhere! Outside, in shops, standing exceptionally close to your face. No Surgeon General warnings here, there must be some sort of ties from the government to Tobacco shops, which are a hub for many things. 

- 

A tribute to Nicole Torpea

I don't even know where to begin. 

    Never, ever did I think that I would find myself in this particular situation. One of the scariest and most devastating phone calls a person can receive is hearing of the death of a loved one... But that happened late yesterday evening. In a quick instant, one of the closest friends I've ever had, tragically lost her life. A somber state of shock for all of us who knew and loved her.
     Nicole was a red headed fire pistol who'd speak her mind in an instant. She had a no-nonsense approach at life, coupled with sheer adoration for animals. She bore hard things with strength. She laughed loud and frequent. She was filled with intelligence, witty comebacks always at the ready. She worked and loved hard.
    It's hard to write a few lines on her countenance. What more should I say? How she spend every weekend with me from seventh grade until we were college students? How talented of a writer she was? How proud she was to earn her Medical Assistant degree? How loyal of a friend she was? How many of the craziest experiences in my life happened with her? How much she loved Mexican food? How we both cried pitifully to each other throughout her years? How much she shopped at Rue 21? How I told her every minute detail of my life? There are so many things that I want everyone to know about her, because she was a wonderful person.
    I'll never be able to sum her up in a little blog post. She was larger than life, and there is so much more that I wish she could have experienced. Her passing is far too early. The biggest comfort I heard was offered to me from her own brother, "I think she would of wanted us to remember the times we had together instead of focusing on the ones she didn't have."
   I think that's true. And her and I (usually with Miranda) shared many great times together. Hundreds, thousands! When you're together as much as we were growing up, you can't help but have anything but. When you've only got one shot at life, you better make it worthwhile.... and she did!



    I wanted to share a few pictures, but as I looked, we had far too many memories (accompanied by too much fun) to condense. And I have many memories of eye-rolling to her Tim McGraw tunes she loved. :)
    So with that I say: The earth lost a great, fun and caring person yesterday. Nicole will be so missed by so many people. I'm grateful for all of the fantastic and heart- wrenching times we shared together, they'll be imprinted upon my heart always. What a life she had! I know we will be reunited again one day. I am so grateful to know that there is a plan for us to overcome death. I love you Nicole!

North Carolina pt. 2

Another time of taking way too long to complete a thought :)

   So, here we go, my (with a little of Graham’s input) overall thoughts of North Carolina. When planning this trip, the most minimal planning of a lifetime, Graham decided to keep it simple by visiting: Chimney Rock, Asheville and Linville. These cities are rather close together, about 45 minutes from CR-Ashe and Ashe-Lin, so it kept us on a easy quest.

    We left late Wednesday, the 22^nd of October, so we could wake up the morning of my birthday in Columbia, South Carolina. The 4 hour drive didn't put us off in the least as we listened to the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. After waking the sleeping lobby-man, who apparently lives in the hotel, we were in for the night. Thursday morning Graham and I celebrated my birthday with my request to visit the Columbia LDS Temple! It was the first time either of us had ever seen it, and it was quite a surprise. Barely 10,000 feet, this is one of the smallest temples in the world  (but not the smallest). This little temple was nestled in a side street very close between a few homes. It was just so cute and tiny! Unfortunately, it was so small that we had a difficult time getting it into one picture, mostly due to the fact that if we stepped away we would be overtaken by trees. But still! Darling. (And one less temple off of our list!) 

    After we left the temple, we made a beeline for Chimney Rock, North Carolina. Since we had made our temple trip early enough, we had plenty of daylight when we arrived. We were given a map of all of the things to do and we selected 4 of the 5 walking trails and left. We really, really enjoyed our time here. At first we hiked up the rock and stared at the utterly magnificent view, seriously, check out the first picture below on the left, it was gorgeous! Then we followed the advice of a guide and walked to the most anticlimactic waterfall in all of existence, it took about 15 minutes of an uphill climb to get there and as right behind us a little boy reached the view of the waterfall and said incredulously, "this is it?" Kids, man, they're honest. The remainder of our time we trekked over everywhere else to enjoy the views provided by this place. In all, I would give it a solid 5/5 stars for having everything a good national park should: scenic destinations, wildlife and a variety of easy and more difficult trails.

       Leaving Chimney Rock we drove for, maybe, 40 minutes to get to Asheville, where we would be staying for two nights. As soon as we arrived we drove straight to the downtown area. There was no parking anywhere except for a parking garage, so we begrudgingly gave a man with a suit coat and camouflage shorts our $6 to actually get somewhere. We started off walking around for about 10 minutes until, at my insistence over the cold, we entered the Japanese steakhouse we planned to eat at. Our dinner was successful and as soon as it was finished Graham was just itching to see what was in downtown Asheville, so we wandered around for a little bit longer, but at this time we didn't have a jacket and the weather was about 50 degrees (keep in mind the night before we were in 80 degrees Florida weather). So we popped into a recommended French Broad Chocolates, after all it was my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY (23 on the 23rd), for a birthday treat! I snagged a caramel creme brulee and all was right with the world. After this delicious expedition we wrapped up our first day of vacation.

    Also, Listi sent me a message on my birthday, which I sadly didn't see until after my birthday! She just happened to have a training online for something to do with her missionary work, so she was slightly disobedient (she spelled it wrong in her message, ha) by emailing me!

That's it for now, time to wrap up some homework. :)

Honoring Cathy

    Yesterday, November 10^th, we laid Graham’s Grandma Cathy to rest. The past few days have felt so hectic, but have been filled with love and family. It wouldn't feel right to skip over the details in regards to one of the best Alexander's I know.

    On Thursday, the 6^th, I had the day off, so I drove Graham to his job and worked on some homework that was due. Within a few hours it was apparent that some changes had occurred in Cathy’s condition at the ICU and we were all asked to immediately come in. Graham’s immediate family members (the ones who live in town) joined us by her bedside in saying our goodbyes. It was my first experience of being with a person during such an important time, as such I was emotional and deeply saddened. But I can vouch for the spirit in the room that perceptibly changed as one by one we shared our favorite ‘Cathy story;’ everyone giggled or smiled and we all thought loving of the lady who had invested so much in each of us.

     In the following day more family came to town, there were more details shared about specific things in her life, more picture albums scoured through. To celebrate her life, we attended a really personal, detailed wake. Later, the funeral was a perfect homage to her life; Graham was the first of 3 speakers from the family. His talk, occasionally touched with overwhelming sentiment, gave example after example of her love for him. His beloved, so so beloved, Grandma Cathy was his true friend. We rounded out the service with one of my favorite hymns:

"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!"

     Visiting her house the first time after it happened, I found our Christmas gift we’d given her the year before… And it made me think about her last year, which we clearly didn't know it would be at the time, and how frequently it seemed we were able to do things as a family. What a magnificent blessing. At the end of everything, I told Granddad just how special everything was, truly how superb each part was. I couldn't help but weep when he responded, “I just really wanted to honor Cathy.”  And it just so happened, I think she was.

Oh Cathy, you will surely be missed.

Until we meet again.

We love you.

North Carolina pt. 1

    Ask Graham where he wants to live, just go on up one day and ask. The answer is always, always the same- North Carolina. I just ignore it and say Georgia/Florida are the only two places I'll ever call home. But he's adamant about so many of the things found in that surprising state. In truth, it's easy to see why now upon realizing his obsession began as a child, when he toured the Blue Ridge Parkway every other summer. His intriguing love of scenic views has only escalated since, and when we found out he had 3 unclaimed vacation days we decided to schedule it around my birthday up in the Asheville area.
    I'll sum it up with much more interesting words when I have time. In the meantime? Crank your volume up to hear a melody from Mr. Alexander himself whilst viewing all of the important parts of our escapade. And of course my audio is from my favorite band, Kings of Leon.




    I'll be honest, it's a pretty impressive place :)

Florida Gators 10/18

    That's my man. ;) Of course he isn't always a Quasimodo look-a-like but he certainly achieved it during a photo I took at the Florida Gator game. Yesterday we went with the biggest of all UF champion I know, a Mr. Ed Alexander, father-in-law. The grandiose arm chomps might have been for naught, since Missouri severely defeated them, but regardless I truly had a wonderful time.

    Many moons ago, the Gator games provided a fun and free date for the two of us. I'd go, with a limited knowledge of the pigskin, and ask relentless questions while yelling on as a good things happened for the team (and sometimes, on accident, bad things). But, not being a huge fan, wins and losses are both received fine. Fast forward, the same proves to be true!

    I knew buying these metallic orange britches would come in handy someday! 

Panera Bread Posts

    Right now: I’m sitting in Panera Bread with a laptop, a bread bowl and my headphones. To catch up with me…

 4 weeks ago I had to let my employer know through a series of hectic, yet pretty expected events, I would no longer be able to continue nannying. The answer was the result of a lot of praying, discussing it with Graham and weighing all of the prons&cons. Inevitably, it felt like the right thing to do so, I’m working twice a month throughout October from here on out… then I’m going to focus on being a full- time student, wife, Young Women’s leader and anything else that pops up. It has been incredibly frustrating at times trying to juggle it all; my schooling and house work has certainly suffered, and I’m excited to realign my life, hopefully with more success. I’m sure I’ll pick up a little part- time gig but I am not going to begin to worry with that until I have all of my current classes have met the deadline of November 30^th.

    So anyway to motivate myself to pick up the pace I used my day off to wake up early , to take Graham to work and bring the laptop to a location with free Wifi. Plus it can be so awkward that I fell like “ugh better hurry to get out of here!” So with only 1 hour away from this dang place for an oil change, I’ve been reading, catching up on tasks and snacking on all their goodies. (Drawback, for sure, I’m going to try to bring a PB&Honey with a water bottle to cut down on costs, but I feel guilty taking up space without spending a dime.) But seriously though, you guys, I am really digging Panera Bread, it’s delicious, they don’t mind if I sit for hours on end in one chair, I can order a meal right from my cell phone, I’ve left my laptop for a few minutes and no one stole it, they gave me a free cookie, there isn’t a charge for their internet services (don’t act like you don’t want to slap the places that require you to pay) and they’re over-the-top friendly. I like ‘em a lot.

    I ended up putting on my Unchained Melody station, a favorite, and the nostalgia of home hit me simultaneously with a sense of appreciation. Yesterday when I had the chance to eat lunch with my Uncle Luke, Aunt Kelly and boys (who were all headed to Orlando) I was definitely impressed with my uncle, duh. To all who know me personally, he has been a role model for me since he left at 19 years old to the first missionary in an exorbitantly large family (“Mama, I think he’s good enough to be the Prophet one day!” “Well Lacey, I don’t know about Prophet, maybe a Bishop.” Then he checked that off at age 26ish, you never know what's next!) So anyways, my totally wonderful uncle was chatting and said, “you know Lacey I’m trying to teach these boys that our trip [a 4 night, 3 day stay at Disney World] isn’t because I’m so smart or because I’m so good- looking and it was just given to us …it’s because I’m blessed.” YES. Just yes, there it is. A blessing given to a family that has a great father who knows enough to remain humble. I hope to follow in suit of those good examples around me, and with that:

I’m grateful for the past 18 month of experiences as a nanny, it was such a growing time for me, I feel so much more confident in my ability to parent.

I’m grateful that my husband has a job that can support the two of us for a time, and that he is on board with the new changes.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to go to school, as slow as this process has been for me, I hope to be able to make my parents proud by fulfilling their dream to have a college graduate.

I’m grateful that though times have felt immensely hard lately, life has settled recently, and I pray that it continues to happen like that.

   So yep, there that is. I hope lots of awesome things will continue coming in the future. This weekend Graham and I are going on a Youth Temple Trip, I’m going to teach my first lesson in Young Women and I’m going home (but just for a day, long story). This post feels incredibly long, and nothing but ramblings compiled into one post, but

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   Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Choose your Love, Love your Choice

    3 years ago today Graham asked me to be his girlfriend. In 5 days we will celebrate 1 year and a half of marriage. 2 weeks after that will be 2 years from the day he proposed. In a whirlwind it happened, our own little love story fell into place.

    Graham, you're perfect for me. 

    Choose your love, love your choice. ~Pres. Thomas S Monson

When Life Gets You Down...

    The past two weeks have been one enormous vortex full of doom and gloom. My family, my own small one, has went through multiple things back to back that have been really strenuous! Seriously- uber demanding trials to try to trudge through... I'm not going to grocery list them, sometimes I feel that since I am blogging my life that I must too over-share. You know, lay out all the deets; but I definitely won't do that without feeling the consent of my loved ones, or my own for that matter.
    But it all seems to be laid on thick, all at once. And all locals know that when it rains in Jacksonville, it doesn't stop for days...
    It's been hard to try to feel, you know, happy while everything around us seems to feel moved from the careful crevices due to some unknown harsh storms (too much of this same analogy?) Writing it any differently can't change that though. I have thought and reworded and erased and retyped. But life seems to be somewhere deep in the pits, much farther than seems necessary.
    But my Sunday will come.To anyone with a difficult situation our Sunday will come.These rough days are hopefully setting sail with new, enjoyable adventures to embark on.
    If you're praying folk, I beseech you to think of those who are struggling with some formidable situations or tasks. Sometimes, faith is more necessary than breathing.

    Through all of the trials I must go through, at least I have you.

1 Day with Us

    We Alexander's pride ourselves on being productive. Ha ha, folks who truly know me understand I have to battle laziness daily. So any day we get many things accomplished brings joy to my soul. Today was a good day though, we made up for the date night we went on Monday (shopped around at Ross, ate at Maggiano's and watched The Maze Runner). Tonight we had a few things to do, so we took it easy and hung around the house to get things done, to relax in a different way. Want to know what we did all day?

*worked 9 hours (G+L)

*started cooking  (G)

*went visiting teaching  (L)

*washed dishes  (G)

*finished cooking  (L)

*ran to Publix  (G)

*cleaned the living room  (L)

*ate delicious chicken tacos (G+L)

*cleaned kitchen  (G+L)

*went to the gym  (G+L)

*filed a complain against Sonic  (G+L)

*worked on some homework (L)

    A wonderful night's sleep is all we need to wrap up this evening :)

    (This is a "grilled cheese" we picked up at Sonic. I can't fathom how anyone could feel it okay to serve such nonsense! It is so incredibly annoying. Understand the complaint part now?)

This Weekend I...

    At the last minute on Saturday at 10 am, I decided "what the heck- I should just go home." I downloaded an audiobook, packed a Sunday outfit and left my apartment. 

     Boy, am I glad I did! I managed to spend time with my parents, brothers, 6 Grandparents, all first cousins and nearly all aunts and uncles! I visited my cousin Henry Mizell, my neighbor all my life, in his home who has a pretty bad form of cancer. I made bouquets, bouteneers and played paparazzi for those destined for homecoming. I ate the most tasty fried pickles of all time. I delivered the outfit to Kellan I purchased for him. I snuggled all sorts of babies at church. I went and went and went. 30 hours in total, and they were so worth it. 

    Therapeutic. I love, love, love Douglas, Georgia and all that is there :)

That Time I Threw Up on the Coral Reef

    As we left our little bungalow in Key Largo. 

   Monday morning, Labor Day, was a day I was looking forwards to and dreaded simultaneously. The highlight of the day: snorkeling, a 4 hour trip of it! Considering Graham had only went once in 6th grade and I had never went, I was ready to go full blown Dora the Explorer mode. Unfortunately after snorkeling we had to make the 6 hour drive home, in order to be at work the next day, so it was like a give and take kind of thing.

    We had snacks prepared, a towel and oodles of energy. We stepped on the boat and things were good. It took an hour to get 5 miles from shore, all the while we stood at the front of the boat, eagerly letting the water splash all over our legs and, occasionally, faces. I sung songs from Celine Dion to Graham as we reenacted Titanic. It was glorious.  

    When time came to add on the gear, I was ready. We were given small life jackets, flippers, masks and snorkeling mouthpieces (whatever the heck those are called). When we were given access to leave the boat I was one of the first people off, Graham however was slow poking. As I watched everyone swim past me I couldn't believe there was a hold up, so I pleaded with him and then scolded him, ready to go. Finally we were off to the coral reef! As soon as we were there Graham kept hanging back, so I went off on my own as I scoured the reef for interesting fish and plant-life. Eventually Graham told me that water was seeping into his mask, so he couldn't enjoy a thing. I felt pretty guilty since I had been pretty selfish until then, so I tried to fix the mask, it broke! Woops. So we swam back to the all the way boat for a replacement. The distance wasn't exceptionally far, but enough to wear me out after making the trip. While he jumped aboard I just relaxed in the ocean, since the captain threw me a noodle to rest my feet on. After a minute or so Graham jumped in and we were off again. As we started to swim, I suddenly felt like the way back to the reef was so far away. Out of the blue (pun?), I began to feel incredibly nauseous. Graham, who had missed out of all previous adventures, was ready to make it up by searching now. I waved him on and couldn't fathom why I felt so miserable all of a sudden. He dove and inspected, having a great time. I slowly paddled over and took that stupid mouthpiece away from my face, it was making me more sick than anything. I explained how I felt to Graham, so he decided we should say a prayer. About 4 words into the prayer I couldn't hold back and retched all over. 

    Yup. You aren't legally allowed to touch the coral reef and I just threw up all over it. Yup, of course I did.

    After that I felt pretty horrible, my stomach wouldn't settle and I kept feeling the urge to gag, but we payed $40 bucks and I couldn't just swim back! So onward we looked, despite feeling super nauseated. When the horn blew signaling us to get back to the boat my heart rejoiced. While Graham wanted to slowly trudge back I was on "full steam ahead" mode, ready to get out of the lapping waves.

    Graham snorkeling near the statue of Jesus.

    Finally climbing on the boat was weird, the rocking, usually not an issue for me, must have paved the way for sea sickness because I spent the next bit traveling next to fellow ladies who didn't gain sea legs as we took turns leaning our heads over the boat to gag or whatever else. 

    And pretty much, that's what happened throughout the duration of the trip. I couldn't get the strength to jump off the boat so I stayed aboard for the remaining two expeditions. I really wanted to see the underwater statue of Jesus, but that was where the waves were the most rough and there was no way I was getting off. All in all, I was pretty disappointed (and even now wish I had of at least attempted to go) but I did manage to get sick at every stop, so who knows how miserable I would have been actually in the water. One time I figured maybe not having any food in my belly was the problem, so I bit into a cheezit and immediately threw it back up. It was a sad experience.

    Different people took turns staying on the boat during the excursions after everyone seemed to have little blips of headaches, blisters, sunburn, etc. At the same time, everyone also had a pretty enjoyable experience. The first two hours were awesome for me! Just the remaining ones were horrible. On the boat ride home Graham and I actually put our heads together and slept. The whole day was very exhausting. 

   I really hope I don't have perpetual sea sickness? Is that even a thing? My father said, "oh it's all in your mind!" Wrong, it was real, I definitely feel more compassionate towards people with motion sickness now. (By the way, I never have it and Graham constantly does, ironically he had a great time minus a little spurt of nausea.) So now I'm ready to try snorkeling again. After this hapless adventure... Let's just say I need to redeem myself!

     HA. This is what a long snorkeling excursion sans sunscreen and energy loos like. 

Pre- Labor Day Events

    Labor Day weekend was up for grabs. We discussed Atlanta for a but eventually picked the Florida Keys. It seems as if our street is bustling with active LDS members nowadays, most attend our ward and we see on a regular basis. We Alexander's joined forces l with another set of Alexander's and a set of Secrist's, all fellow neighbors for this voyage.

    Our game plan was fairly clear- Ft Lauderdale temple, Miami Beach, snorkeling in Key Largo. We Alexander's rode together and started the forsaken dang drive Friday afternoon, about 4.5 hours, to get to the first night to pit stop in Ft Lauderdale. Early enough we attended the newly built temple Saturday morning. Due to some strange scheduling we missed the endowment session but were able to fulfill other ordinances. 

    We were finished all were famished, so we decided to snag some food. Jared had a specific craving for a restaurant they tried before named Ally's; let me tell you: you ever get in that area get your bohonkus to that place! The omelettes! The grits! The bagels! All mouth wateringly delicious. Yum. Soon after, we made a beeline for South Beach in Miami. I'll be honest, I've visited it before (last April) and I knew I wasn't the biggest fan. Number one- too many folks, especially high number of speedo and thong wearers. But the water is always flawless, perfectly clear and spot- on temperatures for a blazing day. We met up with said Secrist's, who basically brought all you'll ever need on the beach (tent, water hug, a snack, inner tubes, chairs; a big ole braaavo you guys) and seemed to swim all day. Though, to be fair, I did shy away from being in the water exclusively due to a lack of sunscreen. Plus what if I get hit with a bad case of heat palpitations? No thank you. 

    Fairly late in the day we packed up to go towards hotel #2. It was here that Graham and I rinsed all of the gross sand from our hair, a must if I've been in the beach. We mosied on over to a restaurant called The Lime (I think) in one car, the two tallest fellas in the front, the remaining hombre and two preggo ladies in the back and I sat on the floor (pretty comfortably, surprisingly). This restaurant let me down biiig time- they carried the worse quesadilla ever :( It was served with cheddar cheese- come on now!, really? The queso was quite perfect, however. 

    Sunday Morning we dropped into an interesting Spanish and English combined branch (did anyone else know these existed? Apparently they do!) where they switch every other week to be able to be fair to everyone to attend. If you're not bilingual, 5 out of 6 of us traveling, they have headsets available with a translator to make it a spiritual experience. It turned out that we came on the English week, so only the prayers, every other song and 1 sacrament prayer was offered in Spanish. It was certainly a cool experience! I wish we had one locally so I could learn Spanish fluently. We ended up finding our way into a Sunday School class very reminiscent of one offered by a Travis Jewell, from my teenage years. 

    Then we were destined to make it to Key Largo! Back in about '97 I used to put the Trolls sing-along VHS into the box tv found in room 110 at Amelia By the Sea, where I would chortle "Aruba, Jamaica, Ooh I wanna take you, Bermuda, Bahama! Come on pretty Mama! Key Largo, Montego! Baby why don't we go..." And now, me, going! Woohoo! So, Key Largo was a lot different from what I thought it would be.  There were zero waves, for starters, which gave it more a lake feel as opposed to an ocean. The water was clear but most portions weren't crystal, as I thought they would be like Miami. I think it just had a very different feel from an actual beach, which I had heard but refused to believe. But it was fairly nice, it even upped the ante by housing large iguanas, two of which we witnessed from a distance. 

    After trailing down to Islamorada, (another island down the Keys, see above) for an hour or so, we stopped at a beachfront restaurant. It was more picturesque than the actual place! It was darling, but we totally left it in the dust for DQ/Papa John's. Afterwards we crashed in our cute little bungalow, all the while our neighbor's dog went ballistic! Animals, man, yuck. My story for Labor Day is pretty decent, I'll touch on it later :)

Taking the Boys to Epcot

    After Utah, August just ran right on by. I blinked and it was over! 

    So my remaining siblings, Acey and Granger, are spoiled with a fine taste in all things Disney. Graham and I have annual passes, which expire this weekend, so we have been to Disney multiple times to get good use out of them. Eventually, I concocted a plan involving my bros, Epcot and myself- and called it good. August 22nd the two of them, with our cousin Blade in tow drove all the way to Callahan to meet me. (I mean, like, they hardly be called little brothers anymore, ugh, so weird.) They jumped in to join us and away to Orlando we went. They're good fun and were all in high spirits, so we had a fun trip driving. I demanded that we go drop by the Temple, since Blade hadn't seen it. It just makes my heart swell, knowing how great they are to our Heavenly Father's plan. 

    Onward we trudged: we had a room picked out at the Hawthorn, near Disney with free breakfast and a shuttle bus. So we whisked off to get ourselves situated for the following day. I originally wanted to book a place inside of Disney World, but for crying out loud, they're so colossally expensive, tacking on fees by claiming it's a resort and strict limitations regarding the numbers of individuals. I warned everyone not to be underwhelmed by the hotel, luckily the opposite occurred "Wow! This is so nice!! I thought this wasn't Disney?" The entire place was decorated in paraphernalia of Disney World, which was so perfectly set up, and it fooled them in an instant. Finally about 30 minutes after midnight we all crashed into our beds for a night's rest.

    By 7:30 we jerked out of bed, ran to get breakfast and pack everything up. Our shuttle bus was leaving at 8:30, with the park opening at 9, and I don't play any games when it comes to the happiest place on earth. 

     Finally we arrived, the boys bought a one day pass and we made a beeline for fast passes. We snagged Soarin', Spaceship Earth and Maelstrom, and then I began to relax. Up until then, Graham was just about ready to string me up by my toes because I can't help but feel obligated for everyone to have the best day ever, so I stress myself out in order for that to happen.

    Test track was a family favorite. 

    Granger, Blade and Acey riding in a clam at The Sea.

    Everyone loved the aquarium, filled with manatees, sharks, dolphins, sea turtles and sting rays.

    No biggie, 100 degrees outside.

    Mission to Mars, the only ride Graham can't enjoy. 

    Mexico! The boys did a mission with Perry the Platapus.

     Sombreros for all the boys. 

    Playing with all of fun things in China.

    All day we all laughed, rode, walked, purchased and had so much fun at Epcot. A general consensus decided the best rides were: Mission to Mars, Test Track and Soarin'. The favorite snack option was a chocolate& caramel apple, slushies and Mickey pretzels. Japan and Mexico were the most popular countries within the World Showcase. After riding all of the rides, they did begin to enjoy the countries! Surprisingly enough. We stood over a railing next to the water to watch the huge fireworks show, Illuminations. 

    It was such a fun day for all of us. Time and time again I say, but I am just grateful to be able to spend time with them. I love how close we are, how they want to do things with me :) I would gladly take them every weekend, if I could. They had a blast! We had a blast! And, like always, I am ready to go back ;)