Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

Summer 2008

2008-10-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

Sadtimes summer 2008 is officially over back to the cold weather. Here is a quick recap of my summer vacation just in case anyone was interested. I got my private pilots license on June 24th, 2008 super excited about that. I also saw a lot of live music. I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jack Johnson, Maroon 5, Counting Crows and Creed. Overall pretty eventful. Oh and my little cousin(sister) graduated highschool, so proud. I also had the opportunity to cruise onboard the M/S Westerdam for a week up in Alaska. One month later I went to Hawaii with my mom and Leif. I have to say it was a great summer and looking forward to what the school year brings me. I am continuing school and working done cruising the high seas, but I am getting ahead at least I would like to believe that I am:)

Here I am after passing my checkride, I am offically a pilot now, yeah.

At Sams graduation. The whole family is very proud.
Here I am with Nicole at the Jack Johnson concert. This was Nicoles first concert. It was great weather and a great concert.

Katie and I ziplining in Juneau, Alaska. I had way too much fun as a guest onboard the M/S Westerdam. I was able to be a guest and a crewmember, now that was a weird feeling that I liked very much.

My mom and I in Hawaii. My mom doesn't allow me to take many pictures of her, but I got mom's approval on this one.
It was Leif, mom and I in Hawaii and we did pretty much nothing all week and it was great. I came back with a lovely tan and great dresses, thanks Leif.

Golden Birthday

2008-05-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

What a great birthday and great weekend. Leif and Katie decorated their condo for me in my favorite colors black and pink. They even made me a birthday brownie cake, how sweet.

Oh how we love brownie cake. Frank, Katie and me

It was a night full of drinking and friends. Here we are at R Place on Capital hill. Leif, Frank, Brian, Katie and I

Even Roxy made an appearance I couldn't have asked for anything else.Roxy, me, and Katie

The best part of the night I made it home in one piece.

The next day I went out with Diana and Nicole and we got pampered and relaxed...a golden birthday indeed.

Flight Benefits

2008-05-19T21:25:00.000-07:00

So working for the airlines definitely is turning out to be better than I thought. Not only do I get to go traveling still, (not that I really have time), but I have that option and that makes me happy.

Below: Prakash and I outside the Wynn. I slept on the couch and it was even amazing.

The first opportunity I got I went to Vegas twice. The first time I went I saw Prakash and the second time I went with Nicole. Meet up with Bobby and saw Stomp Out Loud and while I was down there found out my friend Christian from the cruise ships is in Jubilee. So we got to see that for free in the lighting booth now that was pretty neato. Other than that awesome news I have been keeping busy flying and working. Oh Leif and Katie came back after five months so the party is most def on. I also passed another stage check today which now means I can fly by myself more than 50 nautical miles, awhh scary.

Workin girl..

2008-03-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

I am finally working again and this time it is on land. I am quite jealous of all my ship friends going to awesome places, but I have to realize that what I am doing right now is really for the best. I am trying to think of the big picture and realize that in 5 years I will be in a really good situation.

Here I am at our launch party, you can tell I am super excited. (I am the one in the white and black)

The picture above was in the Seattle P.I. newspaper.

It was also Nicole's 25th birthday this past weekend. We had a really good time we ate at the Rock Pizza and then went to the Swiss. The Swiss was pretty damn cool there was a rock cover band and hot guys what more could I ask for?

From left to right: Diana, me, Nicole, Robby, Karen, Candice and Dan.

Look ma I can fly!

2008-03-14T22:28:00.001-07:00

Okay so I wanted to post this a week ago, but I needed pictures. So yes it is true I flew in a plane all by myself it was so amazing and so scary at the same time.

So here is how it went down. It happened March 2ND 2008. I had a little feeling that I might be able to go up by myself, but I didn't want to ask because I was scared and I was thinking it will happen when it happens. Helen (my flight instructor) and I go up oh and I had a high school boy job shadow in the back. I ask Helen where are we flying today and she is like oh lets practice some landings and takeoffs, so I am like okay you are the boss sure. So we do this a couple of times and then she tells me to go park the plane and I am thinking what we just started flying why does she want me to park it? She starts to give me a safety briefing and her and the high school student get out of the plane. At this point I am like Oh My God it is happening this is some scary stuff. I did it though my first landing was really bad I came in taxing like a mad woman and I was like "oh damn maybe I can't do this." The second landing was really good Helen even said it was awesome she was like "whatever you did for the second one just keep doing it." I had to do a total of three takeoffs and landings to make it official and I did and it was awesome. I am so happy I love flying.

For all you non-pilots out there including me, my flight instructor keeps saying "well make a pilot out of you." I don't have my license yet, so please don't ask me to fly you anywhere because I can't and that would be scary. I am however able to fly by myself within 25 nautical miles of the airport. A little scary that I could possibly die ahhh, you don't realize that until you look over and there is no one there.

Here I am after my solo flight, yep still alive.On other news I started a new job, so I have missed a week of flying, but that is okay because hey I need money to fly. 2008 is my year and I ain't going to let anyone stop me for once I feel like I have some sort of direction in my life.

I love my cousin

2008-02-25T21:46:00.000-08:00

I just got back from California, it was great fun. Anytime I can hang with my cousin is a good time. We really didn't do much all week, but sometimes that is the kind of vacation that I enjoy the most. Checking out Hollywood Boulevard. We decided to get our picture together with Hilary Swank since she is originally from Washington State.

2008: Year of Improvement

2008-02-09T21:47:00.001-08:00

The past is over.
The future hasn't happened yet.
The only time is now.
You must work hard to ensure that your thinking and your self-perception are not continually poisoned by faulty thinking.

Halloween 2007

2008-01-29T18:08:00.000-08:00

Okay so I know this is way out of order, but I have to tell everyone about my Halloween. First off I got my costume from the Goodwill, which I love don't knock the Goodwill. I also got Spark dogs costume there as well. Here I am with the whole team, minus Adam (he was a giant ballerina)

Now I could have went the sexy approach, but remember folks I work for a family oriented cruise line and you know play it safe. Safety first:)
Here I am with Lindi she was a GOB (girlfriend on board) yeah I need to work that angle, just joking. You can't tell in this picture, but she went the sexy approach we did have a crew party as well as a guest party, but come on clowns can be sexy.

Here is Spark dog having a rough time. I got this costume at the Goodwill and it looked big enough but really the costume is meant to fit an eleven year old. We had a tough time getting it on him and as you can see in the picture he had a tough night wearing it. In the guest areas he wore shorts to cover his Sparky balls. And no that isn't poo on his face they are suppose to be spots, come on people.

Life: it isn't a race

2008-01-25T21:59:00.000-08:00

Okay here it is I have started taking flying lessons and I love it. It is such a feeling to be that high up in the air and actually flying it, not just watching out the window as a passenger.

It will take me awhile to get all of my certificates, but I might just make this a career, why not? My first step is a private pilots license then an instrument rating then a commercial certificate. When I get my commercial I can start getting paid to fly. I can even instruct others, now that is a scary thought. Here we are flying over Seattle on our way to Bremerton. It was great we landed a couple of times and then headed back to Auburn. After all of this I am going to want to fly everywhere.

This Ain't Seattle, this is hickville...

2008-01-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

I have been home a little over a month now and my life has been hectic and crazier than ever. As soon as I got home my buds Leif and Katie left for South America for three months. They had a going away party and we partied it up in Belltown. They get back in March, I miss you guys!!!! Here I am with Leif at his going away party.

Then I get a phone call from my best friend since third grade. She says to me "I will pick you up and drop you off if you come see my new baby girl." Danielle by the way lives three hours away and I hate going over the pass in the winter and all by myself, so a deal like that was hard to turn down. Danielle lives in Moses Lake, it is the equivalent of any small hick town in America. Danielle: You hate where I live, I hate where you live. Needless to say I had a good time. Here I am with Danielle who is looking "very sober."

Friday night she drags me out to the local tavern. That's right it is called the Saucy Hog.

It was prime example of hick, but we had fun. It was the first time the two of us drank together. Girls night out in Moses Lake.

Oh and here is Danielle's precious little girl Zoey. A very good weekend in hick town, I mean Moses Lake.

In other news we had some excitement when I got home. I was just about to go to bed at 11pm at night when I hear a loud bang I got up thinking oh my god someone broke in. I don't see anyone or hear anything else and figure it is nothing. Five minutes later I hear a bang and I see lights out of my window. I look outside and there is a car in our front yard. Right away I run downstairs and call the police. My dad and I rush outside to make sure the people in the car are alright. We get to the car and their is a pregnant woman holding a baby in her lap. She seems disoriented and I take her baby from her so she can relax and make sure everything is all right. She gets out of the car and starts saying random stuff that doesn't make sense. She then comes over to me, I by the way am still holding her baby and I am thinking she is coming over because she wants her baby, no she comes over and smacks him upside the head. Of course he starts to cry now and I can't calm him down I mean I would cry to if I got smacked upside the head. She then goes over to my dad and starts hitting him for no reason. It was the weirdest thing ever. We found out a couple of days later that she had bipolar and went off her medication. The initial report they gave her was a DUI because a witness saw her swerving all over the road. She is lucky to be alive it could have been way worse.

pink panther ball

2007-12-31T20:38:00.000-08:00

We had four elegant balls on the 64 day cruise this was the last one of them all and definitely the most outrageous one. We got to wear awesome pink wigs (thanks to Jacky and Rosanna). It was a great night. The best part was a big diamond got stolen on stage and Adam, Amanda, Sparky and I had to go on stage and explain why we didn't steal the diamond. My alibi was that I was studying questions for my team trivia because hello I am the trivia queen. We each had a different alibi that Bruce made up for us. It was quite amusing when Adam claimed he was in the lido and "accidentally" dropped silverware from his pockets. While Sparks claimed he couldn't have stole the diamond because he is too short. Here I am with the whole pink panther gang.

In the end all the guests find out that the thief was Spark dog. Here he is with Grace a guest on board.

I had to DJ after the main event, but luckily everyone was all tuckered out after the ball, so I got to go to bed early. Yeah I know I am pretty lame oh well. I am okay with that.

Home and Jobless, that's RIDONKULUS!!!

2007-12-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

Awwhh, so yes it is true I am home in the rain and cold and I have no job. Oh well something big is about to happen in my life and by big I mean HUGE!!!! Can't let in on the details yet, but I am super excited to start this new chapter in my life. I really feel that this is what I am meant to do and the opportunities are going to be endless. One of these days I will get to posting Asia Pacific pictures.

the countdown has begun, a quick recap of escapades

2007-12-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

Alright here is a mini recap of my last 2 months out at sea. Right now life is not so bad just got done ziplinning in Costa Rica before i have to head back to work. Days like today make me thankful.

While in Asia i was able to escort tours for free, it rocked. I lucked out and got to spend the night in Beijing in a fancy hotel it was so cool. Here I am with the other escorts in Tianmen Square at night. We ate Peking duck in Peking and I climbed the Great Wall of China, so neato.

When in Hong Kong do what the locals do, get crazy! This picture was taken right before a big night of partying. I am the one in blue and white.

I loved Australia!!! For some reason I had this feeling I would. In Cairns I went snorkeling and in Sydney I meet up with Woodsy and we drank all day long. It was a blast, Woodsy made a great tour guide. Of course Halloween on a ship is always great. We had a guest party and a crew party. I had a great time being a clown and Adam loved being a fat ballerina a little too much. The best costume however had to definitly be Sparky he was our little Spark dog. I bought his costume for $6 at the Goodwill, best $6 I ever spent. It was meant for a 12 year old, but we made it work.

I will post more pics when I get back, but for now I must say hasta la vista, baby.

Goodbye Alaska, Hello Asia

2007-09-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

It is my last week in Alaska. I am off to Asia starting the 21st of September. Six sea days right in a row that is going to be rough.

Queens, otters and Bears oh my!!

2007-09-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Just because I am a woman on this ship this week does not make me a lesbian, but it probably doesn't help that for the costume party I decided to go as Ryan and Ryan decided to go as me. You see we are a team and we had to go as a family. From Left to right: My wife Rachelle, me the husband Ryan, our daughter Beath and our pet rabbit Nicole.

Budi and Bagus with Ryan and myself. They thought as do I that I was an ugly looking man. Ryan on the other hand...well who knows how far he could go with it. Even though he didn't walk like a girl at all.

We also got to dress up for the Lumber Jock T-dance. That was alot of fun as well. For an hour we got free rum and coke. Really though I just liked dressing up.

From left to right: Lindi, me, Beath and Ryan.

Inspiration charter ends..back to the regular clientel

2007-09-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting week for me. It has been full of many highs and lows. It started off pretty good. We had just finished our Gaither cruise. Which was lots of fun because well lets just say I had no idea who the Gaithers were, but I got extra sleep so that was nice. It was a weird cruise there was no dancing allowed and alcohol couldn’t be shown in any of the bars. All they came for was to watch the Gaithers. If you are like me and don’t know who the Gaithers are they are a gospel singing family and they have a huge following. I treated them like every other guest, well because I didn’t know who they were, so I couldn’t tell them apart. I was in the elevator with Kayla and they walked in and I said “you guys going to come up and party in the Crows Nest tonight?” Mrs. Gaiter replies, “Where is the party at?” I said “wherever you want it to be.” They got out and Kayla shook her head at me and was like I can’t believe you just asked the Gaithers to party. Hey even Christians can party….just don’t be dancing, now.

The start of this cruise my daddy took me out to lunch and I got to see my Leif while in Seattle. So here I am thinking this is going to be a great cruise…umm yeah first formal night comes around and I meet Mr. Creepo. I know girls can be bitches sometimes I have been one myself, but when creepos act creepy you have to be mean. First off he isn’t a bad looking guy maybe just socially awkward, but rule number one pick up lines are not attractive. I was wearing a blue dress and he said you been floating around like a blue angel, will you be my blue angel? No biggie I can let that one go, but it got worse. Later in the Crows Nest we were talking because at this point I still didn’t know what type of guy he was. You know my job is to entertain the guests. So we start talking, I of course bought him a drink, duh so I can drink as well. The conversation went like this; Creepo: So your job is to make me happy? Me: Yes I am here to entertain. Creepo: Oh I should start making a list. Me: Sure I guess you could do that, but I did just buy you a drink that should be good for now right? Creepo: Well, I could have used you earlier. Me: Yeah, why is that? Creepo: Well, I was in the hot tub and I needed a back massage. Me (disgusted face): okay well I wouldn’t have done that. Creepo: yeah I asked my mom and she wouldn’t either. EWWWWHHH! Then a slow song comes on, of course perfect timing yeah not really. He of course wants to dance and he kept creeping around and trying to move my hands as I kept moving back. At this point I was done and told him I had to go do other duties. The next night I was greeting people at doors and there is a thirteen year old on board that has been pretty bored and has been bugging me and the others. Kids I can handle, creepy guys on the other hand, ewhh gross. Anyways the kid sees creepo and yells at him “hey I know you.” Creepo comes over and says “is this your boyfriend?” Ha, that is so funny, not really. Then Creepo says you should practice pickup lines on Rachelle she loves it. I say real quickly no, not so much. Then he tells the kid, “use pickup lines on her then I can slide right in.” Then I say the show is starting you better go, thank god. Anyway that was the first 3 nights in a nutshell ever since I have been avoiding him like the plague. I think he has finally gotten the hint.

Then the fourth day happened to fall on Ryan’s Birthday September 3rd. I got up at 7:30am and decorated his door with lots of balloons and I spelt out Happy B-day with condoms. It was quite amusing. Then that night Ryan and I decided to go bar hoping around the ship. We started in the Crows Nest were we had 2 raspberry margaritas. Then we went to the Lido Bar and had a chocolate cake and a long island iced tea. Our next stop was the piano bar; there we had a tequila sunrise. Then we worked a little bit and had a few more drinks. By the time country night got going it was a little rough. I have the hardest and last dance of the night to teach. This is of course on a microphone and in front of lots of guests. I started my dance by saying now lets grapevine to the right, clap, clap and then lets grapevine to the right, clap, clap. I mean your other right which would be your left. Then the next part I don’t remember, but everyone told me the next day what I did. There is a part in my dance were you rock forward and rock back. Well during the rock forward part I rocked a little too forward and said in the mic “whoa” and almost lost my balance. Then country night was officially over, but I took Shelley and Ryan to one more place. We went to the lido bar and had another chocolate cake each. Ryan and I both felt it the next morning we woke up with pounding headaches.

Seaotter Quest

2007-08-26T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sitka, Alaska yeah! This past week I was able to go on a seaotter quest. That just meant that I got to go on a little boat and watch for wildlife. It was pretty neat though. I saw some bald eagles, sea otters, whales and seals.

Beautiful wildlife

Check this sucker out!!!!!

Independence Day for Indonesia

2007-08-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

Independence Day=Crew Party.

Oh man I love crew parties they are always so much fun because I get to party with people who I normally wouldn't be able to and of course free alcohol and a live band it can't get better than that. However this crew party was a little different than most.

Trouble was a brewing. Somehow a guest found this area and I noticed as did other people that he was not crew. Ryan and I both talked to him I even said "you have guts to come in here." I didn't want to get involved, but another guy asked him to leave and the guest wouldn't. The guest got physical and started fighting with the crew and flat out just refused to leave. It was really pathetic. I mean come on ha, you got in cool, but when you are asked to leave, just leave. Here I am with Jose and Felipe. Felipe was on the Zuiderdam with me and Jose is just cool.

Woohoo Cruise staff! Cruise staff! Whats up? Whats up? Ryan, myself and Beath.

So many rumors went around the ship as to how Beath hurt herself, but the truth of the matter was she slipped and fell simple as that. She was not drunk she just fell. One such rumor was the guest knocked her down. Another was he flung a glass at her, but nope she just fell and blood started gushing everywhere it was pretty gross.

Beath getting checked out by the nurse on board. I feel real bad, can you tell? She was okay, it looked worse than it really was.

Crazy Random Week

2007-08-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

So it has been one of those weeks. I don't know what to expect anymore. I found out that my current roomate on the ship is my bestfriends cousin. They haven't seen each other in 10 years, so we all had lunch together on Friday.
From left to right: Mrs. Jump, Mr. Jump, Beath, me and Nicole.

Then on Juneau day it was Adams birthday. I unfortunatley couldn't get off the ship, but while greeting people at the doors I was able to switch with Beath so I could get off the ship in the eventing.

From left to right: Ryan, David, me and Adam

Of course more partying in the crew bar was to follow. I drank way too much this night and the next day was difficult. I was even having problems playing ring toss how bad is that? Top: Me, David. Bottom: Lori, Adam and Bradie.

So on country night the night right after Juneau I was feeling better by around 3 pm and my game was back on. We had a rockin' good time and partied it up some more.

Most of the time I do really love this job.

Party Crasher

2007-08-08T01:52:00.000-07:00

My first time in Victoria while on board the MS Amsterdam Tara invited me to go on a shore excursion with her. We ended up doing the wine and chocolate excursion. We wined and dined and I even got to try ice wine. It was a nice little tour for free, but I wouldn't pay for it that is for sure, he, he.

After the tour we went into town and had dinner at the noodle box and then meet up with Kat and David or should I say we crashed their pub crawl tour. By the time we got there everyone had quite a bit of alcohol and were more than happy to have Tara and I tag along. All of the guests of the group were really cool and on my night off I decided to go up to the Crows Nest just to hang out with them some more.

On another note I have 6 more weeks in Alaska. Woo Hoo!

Fire and Ice

2007-07-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

So it has been an interesting week for me. It has been full of some ups and downs for myself and our naked Holland cruisers. The day I arrived on the ship I was pleasantly surprised to know about 6 people of the crew. Also believe it or not I was happy to have the Bare Necessities group as my first cruise onboard the Amsterdam. A lot of the people on the cruise recognized me from the last naked cruise and welcomed me with enthusiasm. I was even asked to be a maid of honor of a couple on board. I didn’t know it, but on the last cruise I made a love connection at a table I hosted with the happy couple. I am sure it will be a naked wedding so luckily for me I don’t have to buy a dress. We actually played pool games with these people and it was pretty interesting. We had the good ol’ orange pass under your chin game, pass the inflatable ship between your legs and belly flop competitions. We also invented a game up in the Crows Nest called Dodge the Dick. Pretty much it consists of us dancing on the dance floor avoiding naked old men dancing. The other cruise staff girl Beth and I would frantically dance all over the dance floor while putting Ryan in the middle, he’s a guy he can handle it. This group was not nearly as crazy as before, but they definitely pushed their limits. Our d.j. onboard was asked to go to a swingers party while I spent the majority of the cruise avoiding a guest who invaded my personal space.

Here I am on top of Mount Roberts. I went up with Ryan he is my gay boyfriend for this contract.

The cruisers also had a Fire and Ice costume ball. The guy that won dressed up as a giant matchbox with his penis sticking out as a matchstick. He even painted it to look like a matchstick.

Here we are after the Fire and Ice ball. We got to wear these awesome red jackets.From left to right: Laura, Jordan, Beth, Conor, Kayla, Ryan and Me.

Don't go up my something nasty, inside joke

2007-07-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

Oh wow Vegas was unbelievable. We took a helicopter ride over Vegas, saw the Phantom of the Opera and partied all day and all night long. I mean come on look at this we got so crazy we danced with men who could be our grandparents. Okay I didn't but Roxy did, lol. I love this pic. it is a little scary but pretty funny.The second night in Vegas we went out and Roxy hooked it up. She got us free alcohol all night by being sneaky. I love being sneaky and having sneaky friends, lol. She befriended all the V.I.P'ers and we drank all their alcohol. It was pretty sweet since alcohol is crazy expensive in Vegas. We bought 4 shots of vodka it cost $50, unbelievable.
Yeah Roxy...we know you hooked it up, lol.

Here we are, I look like a deer in headlights, but believe I am having a good time.

Here we are after we saw the Phantom of the Opera. What an amazing show.

Leif and I were so excited because we made it all night. It was 5 am by the time we left

We have amazing stories from this trip and a few quotes that will go on the quote wall, yeah you are welcome guys someone has to be the stupid one in the group.

In the words of Danie "my family is retarded"

2007-07-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Yes it is true I have a retarded family, but I gotta love them. Sam, Dan, and myself are blaming our moms for this. We are also hoping that it skips a generation and that we will not succumb to the Robinson curse. So I can never have kids because they are doomed if I do. Yep it is starting to show. No really we are super cool. I mean come on gangster here...okay not really, but I swear it is going to skip a generation.It was great seeing the fam. I don't get to spend nearly enough time with them. We played dominoes for 3 hours. I lost to Danie, Sam and Clifton, but ha I beat my mom and my aunt Vanessa and that is what matters.

From Left to right: Sam, me, mom, Dan, and Clifton.

Cheree Ree

2007-07-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

My Vegas photos are M.I.A. I'll talk about Vegas later when the photos arrive. On other news my dear friend Cheree came to visit me this week. It was awesome we did so much we went to a Mariners game, Green lake, hiking Mt. Rainier and to a good ol' hick bar.

Here I am with Cheree and Cheyenne. How beautiful is this picture? So Cheree wasn't going to take this shot but the people sitting next to us literally made us. I got hit in the leg while the lady was like "look sunset take a picture, take a picture." Okay alright chill out already. Needless to say they were right, but still annoying. The Mariners won 3-2. It was Cheree's first baseball game ever. She especially loved it when we sang take me out to the ballgame during the seventh inning. Here we are hiking up Mt. Rainier. It was a great hike, but we got ate by mosquito's all over the place. Gotta love the great outdoors. Here we are at the Yellow Beak in good ol' Enumclaw. Yep that is right hick bar, hick town all the way. I had fun people watching at this place.

From left to right; me, Nicole, Cheyenne and Cheree.

I am heading to Vegas Baby!!!!

2007-06-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

What a great week I have had and it isn't even over yet. I may not be cruising anywhere exotic right now, but home is the best place ever at the moment. Not only did I get to go to two Mariner games, but I got to go to the Mariners game were Ken Griffey Jr. came back. It was really good to see him back here even if it wasn't in a Mariners uniform. Then I got to go golfing with Chad and Nick. We were going to go golfing for real which I hate to admit I am not the greatest golfer, but Chad got called in to work so we had to settle for mini-golf. Mini-golf is another matter. I beat Chad and Nick by two strokes, so really it was close all around. After mini-golf we hit some balls in the batting cages. Oh I haven't done that for ages it was so much fun. It makes me miss fast pitch. I have decided that when I am settled for awhile I am going to join a softball league.

Here I am with Nick, oh yeah we are super cool kids.
Then yesterday Roxy and I had the chance to go to a private Sonics Draft Party which wasn't even open to the public. We got hooked up with a bunch of free stuff and got to see first hand the first round pick of the Sonics. We also found out that our beloved Ray, Ray got traded, sad times.

My week isn't over yet, I am so excited I am heading to Vegas in two days with two of my bestest friends, Leif and Roxy. It is going to be CRAZY!!!!

Katie go to Vegas

2007-06-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

I have now been home a week and it has felt so good to see my friends and family. I know I will always have a good time with my friends back home and Saturday was no exception. I went with Katie and Leif to see Gwen Stefani in concert. We of course had the lawn which in turn means nose bleed section, but it was still fun. This is the best shot I could get, but if you look real close the lettering in red says wind it up. This is the end of her concert. No that isn't a bunch of ants it is Gwen with her dancers. Overall it was a good concert we probably spent more time in the car because of traffic, but we had fun yelling at people out the window and watching weird people outside the window waiting for traffic to move along. I guess you would have had to been there, but it was fun take my word for it. Oh and the coolest thing ever was they had this thing if you text messaged a message you could get it on the big screen. So I text "Katie go to Vegas" and it appeared on the big screen, it was pretty cool.

24 Reasons For 24

2007-05-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

Okay my birthday was insane. Cheree made me a shirt that had 24 dares on the back. Of course being the competitive person that I am I had to attempt all of them. On the front of the shirt there were 24 suckers that people had to suck off of me. I of course had to go around asking everyone if they wanted to suck me.

Here is a list of the dares: 1. Lead the bar in a song, standing on a chair 2. Start a conga line 3. Take a shot off of someone 4. Have someone take a shot off of you 5. Convince someone to take off his shirt (or her) 6. 60 second hot seat with 5 people your choice 7. Kiss a bald man on the head 8. Be serenaded by someone 9. Make a face on your stomach and make it talk 10. Make up a dance to a song that's playing 11. Get spanked by somebody 12. Someone asks you truth or dare #1 13. Rub noses with a person of your choice 14. Re-enact that famous When Harry Met Sally diner scene 15.lick your elbow 16. Have a guy write his cabin number somewhere on your body where no one else can see 17. Someone asks truth or dare #2 18. Staring contest-winner buys 19. Sing and act "little teapot"20. Without saying anything walk up and smell someones armpit 20. arm wrestle a person of your choice 22. someone asks truth or dare #3 23. perform your own version of the can-can 24. make sure you have all candies sucked off.

Yeah that is right I won the arm wrestling contest. I of course got to pick my competition, so I picked Charlene from the spa. She put up a good fight, but I took it in the end.

Another one of my dares was to have a conga line going through the bar. Oh my goodness it was hilarious. Conga line is not stopping anytime soon. It left the bar and even came back. Here I am trying to lick my own elbow. Unfortunately that was the one thing on the list that I really couldn't do, but believe me I tried and tried all night long. So this last picture is one of the ones towards the end of the night. Paulie is asking me what I have on my stomach and I wasn't able to answer him. Cheree of course always in the back just laughing.

It was a great birthday. Good friends, good times. Of course the party will of course continue in Seattle, can't wait. One more week and I go home!!!!!!!

It's My Birthday, kind of...

2007-05-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

So we celebrated my birthday a tad early. It technically isn't until tomorrow, May 25Th. However the ship has had some engine problems lately and we don't even know if we are going to stop in Bar Harbour, Maine. So we decided hey lets just celebrate in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Here I am with Charles in front of the giant violin.
Gotta have cake on your birthday. Of course they put sparklers on it, so I blew and blew and nothing happend...how rude:) The whole ship family showed up. It was a really fun. We even decided we are coming back to celebrate Randall and Paulie's birthday here.
Cheree, Chris, Paulie, Ian, Riva, 2 guests, Wendy, Dawnell, Randall, Charles, me, Doni, Laura and Albert.

Repositioning Cruise

2007-05-20T10:43:00.001-07:00

Cheree and I made a new friend in New London, Connecticut. New London I spent the day shopping. I bought a new project at a local craft store. I know really exciting.

Cheree and her new buddy

Me and my new buddy. He really likes Dr. Pepper. Here I am with Kathleen and Dennis waiting for the tender boat to go see Rhode Island.
This is my future house, yeah right. Rhode Island has beautiful mansions all over the place. Cherees friend Tim lives in the area and he took us to all the mansions. Cheree found pop its at a local magic shop and the 3 of us threw them out the window at people.

Here we are in Quebec City. I love this place it is the coolest. I just wish I knew more French. All I know is Bonjour and merci.

I love gunchpunch and daiquiris

2007-05-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

I hate to say it, but it was Becketts last daiquiri night, sad times. Here's to you buddy. During this long repositioning cruise we also introduced a new tradition that is gunchpunch night. Only Chris knows the secret recipe, but I think he told Paulie.

Laste, Cheree, me and Albert enjoying daiquiri night
Chris dumping his creation into the jug.

Gunchpunch also happened to be on the same night of black and white.

I don't know who this guy is, but whatever anything goes on gunchpunch night.

Savannah, Georgia

2007-05-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Savannah, Georgia is a really cool city. I spent the morning with Cheree and Randall. We ended up taking a city bike tour.

Here we are in front of the Mercer House. This house was the site where the plot takes off in the movie and book of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

After a little city tour a bunch of us went out to lunch at Paula Deans famous restaurant. It was all you can eat southern food. Oh boy it was good.
After lunch I did some shopping with Doni and Randall and somehow ended up in a gay bar. Yeah again I don't know how I end up in some of the places I do. Overall it was a damn good day.

Hooters

2007-05-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

It had to come to end sometime. This last cruise was amazing to say the least. I know this next cruise will be nothing like this one. Of course with everything that went on this last week I couldn't expect anything but craziness when saying goodbye. Cheree and I meet up with Woodsy, Bri, Schmidty, and Travis at Hooters on Ft. Lauder dale beach for what we thought would be an hour of drinks and lunch. What it turned into was 6 hours of craziness. Unfortunately Bri had to leave as soon as we got there.

Bye Bri!!!!!
Really don't ask I really don't know what happened, but it was fun. The guys bought these name tags off the girls for $20 it was insane. Here we are with the Hooter girls. Cheree and I ended up getting name tags as well, but we didn't have to pay for ours. I was Vanessa and she ended up being Aisa. We wore them the rest of the night and only answered to Vanessa and Aisa, it was fun.

Yep that is Woodsy wearing the whole Hooters attire.

After Hooters Woodsy, Aisa and Vanessa took a cab back. Woodsy had to catch his plane and Aisa and Vanessa went back to the ship. There was a crew barbecue going on and Aisa and Vanessa took a power nap and headed out for the evening. We meet up with our pal Alberto at the jazz club and we caught up with the rest of the family. We even saw a manatee, but you couldn't tell by the pictures I took, but take my word for it, it was a manatee.

Party Continues in Barbados

2007-05-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness Australia took the World Cup and the party continued all through the night. I didn't get back on the ship until 6 the next morning, thank goodness I didn't have to work right away. We ended up going to this place in Barbados called Harbour Lights it was great you paid $20 to get in and then it was free drinks all night long.

Here I am with Bri, Woodsy and Brett

Woodsy is definitely the crazy one of the group. He got on the roof of this place and just started dancing. The locals were just like "all right Mon' please be careful up there."

Woodsy somehow managed to get a jug of rum punch. Hey when you have so many people you got to be resourceful.

I just think this next picture is funny. All of us getting back at 6 am and it is light out.

World Cup Cricket, Aussies Take All

2007-05-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

Today was the final cricket game in Barbados. I somehow magically got the whole day off of work. Okay I switched my schedule around so I could go to the final game. Come on it was for the World Cup Cricket match. It’s like the super bowl of football or the World Series of Baseball. So of course I went with my cricket posse Cheree and Albert. When we got there it down poured for a good 2 hours. I loved the rain, but I guess you can’t play cricket in the rain. We bought tickets outside for 50 dollars again, but this time they were not in the party zone. Actually they were not bad seats besides the fact they were in between a ton of Sri Lankens. I was wearing Aussie apparel so I decided we were not going to sit there, but I was going to get us in the party zone.

Here I am with the Fanatics group. Yeah that's right I am a wannabe fanatic.

I somehow pulled it off I was able to get all three of us into the party zone, so that meant free drinks all day long. Which yeah was not good, but hey it didn't matter I didn't have to work all day so no biggie.

Here I am with Cheree, Albert and a friendly guy in the party zone. I have no idea why Cheree and I are wearing those ridiculous wigs. We probably thought they were cool at the time.

That's right the Aussies took it all. That's the team celebrating after winning the World Cup.

St. Vincent

2007-05-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Another Caribbean island checked off the list. St. Vincent is a really beautiful island yet I really was not that impressed. The highlight of the day was jumping from a 30 foot tower because really there isn't much else to do there. Brad and I swam from one beach to this beach pictured here. Cheree and Celestina said it couldn't be done in less than 30 minutes, ha we did it in 28 minutes.

Yep that is the elegant MS Maasdam in St. Vincent.

Here is the 30 foot tower, I jumped from the top platform.
Oh yeah there is the huge splash I made. Oh goodness the splash really hurt my butt. 30 foot tower accomplished, skydiving soon to follow.

St. Lucia Cricket and Nightlife

2007-04-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

St. Lucia I did not want to get out of bed, but Cheree called at 8am saying “all right it is time to go to cricket.” Of course I was like no I want to sleep and I don’t want to pay for a ticket, but I ended up going because I told her I would. Cheree and I meet up with Albert on the gangway at about 8:30 am and got shuttled on over to the cricket with no ticket in hopes it would be easy to get one on the grounds. We got there and got tickets no problem, not only did we get tickets, but they were in the party zone, so with the tickets came 8 drink tickets each and 1 lunch ticket. We partied all day long made some friends with the guys behind us and Australia won.

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I even got the hat I had wanted all along by getting this guy into the party zone. Of course I had to have cruise crafts thrown in the middle of the day, so I went back to the ship for that and yeah I wasn’t able to get back on because the ship was coming in. So I went back to the cricket match to see Australia beat South Africa. St. Lucia nightlife was off the hook. Shaggy was in town, so Celestina, Filip and I went to see how much it was, well while Filip and Celestina were buying tickets this lady came out and just gave me her ticket it was great. We got all the way to the front and he put on a really good show. After the concert we meet back up with Cheree and Albert and ran into not only a bunch of guests, but a bunch of crew as well. Celestina, Ti, Kenneth, Laste, and me.

A Game of Cricket Followed by a Night on the Town

2007-04-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

Today I got to experience my first game of cricket. I got a free ticket to the game from Brad, one of the guests. He even kitted me up, that is what they call wearing all the apparel of your team in Australia. I ended up not even sitting by him so I went over to the game with two other guests Brett and Ben also very nice Aussie boys. Probably by the end of the day they were both really annoyed with me asking everything there was to know about cricket. I lasted the whole game though and it was freaking 9am till 6pm. I can’t even imagine going to a baseball game for that long. England in the end took the game against the West Indies, but the game was really close England only won by one point. Instead of innings like in baseball cricket has overs, which one team has 50 overs then the next team bats their 50 overs. Of course there is more to this madness, but that is a start of why it is so confusing, but really I might get it by the end of this cruise.
Brett, Me and Ben

A perfect day is continued by a perfect night. So after the cricket match I had to go back to work for a little while. About 10 of us caught up in the O.B. at about midnight to go out for the night. We went to this place called St. Lawrence Gap which was the happening place to be. Chris, Brad, Cheree, Filip, Ray and I ended up going to this really cool bar that had an awesome band. It was great. After that we ended up cruising the streets and I ran into some of the guys at another place. I walked in like I knew what I was doing, but unfortunately the other guys got stopped, so I had to butter the guy up and have him let the others in. We stayed there for awhile and then decided to head back. Cheree, Ray and I got back to the ship and it was light out, gotta love it. I then went to work 3 hours later.
I just love this picture of Ray. This was at the first club. The band that played was amazing and Ray got inspired to jump on stage and dance with the lead girl. Believe it or not her name was Rachelle, pretty cool I thought.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!!!!!!

2007-04-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

So the cricket charter has started and oh goodness has it been good. This particular night I was up till 4am d.jing. It was great fun however. Cheree helped me out with Aussie music and Ian was around as well chatting it up with all the Aussies. They really now how to party and they are all really cool people. Today we are in Grenada, really I can't beat this life. Here I am with Cheree and an Aussie This guy is now known as Cheree because he stole her jacket and wore it around all night.

Here I am with Woodsy he stole my jacket and scarf and wore this all night. He actually still has my scarf. I was happy to give it up it gets hot wearing that thing.

3 Days in Florida without Guests

2007-04-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

We got really lucky this weekend we didn't have any guests on our ship for 3 days. So what do you think we did, we partied, oh yeah. All 5 of us rented a room at the Embassy Suites and it was a great time. We went shopping, drank and really just had fun without having to deal with work.

Here we are at happy hour. Free drinks for 2 hours, really you can't beat it.

Here I am with Cheree and Randall at the Jazz bar. Good music and great friends can't be beat.

Here I am with Ian and Laura, this is before I got cut off.

It's A-0kay! Yep that is me and my water. The waiter actually cut me off. I asked for one more margarita and the waiter goes "allright I will bring you water." Oh well it saved me some money since I probably drank and spent way too much this weekend.

Hey at least I didn't pass out like this guy....love you Paulie:) Look at all he had.

St. Lucia Wonders

2007-04-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

This was pretty much the shore excursion, riding in one of these big ass jeeps. We got to see a beautiful waterfall and a sugar cane factory. This is the driver of the big rig his name is Kim. Well this was the first stop. You can see our cruise ship in the background. Here I am with Kim, my coconut and Seon. Seon was the tour guide he also got me this coconut. Apparently women outnumber men on this island 1:5. These guys acted like they had never seen a girl in their life however.

This cliff side was in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.

All in all it was a pretty good day.

Virgin Gorda...Just Incredible

2007-04-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

Today I got to go to the Virgin Gorda with Michelle, Erin and Rene. It was awesome. It is about a 40 minute ferry ride over to the island and then you climb through a bunch of caves and go swimming on a crowded beach. The caves were really neat, but there were too many tourists. Here is a natural formation of the rock. It was one of 3 whales, this was the only one I saw.

Rene, Erin, Me, Michelle inside of one of the many caves.

All those people behind me thought you could go out that way, yeah well you can't.

The Maasdam meets the Zuiderdam in St.Thomas

2007-04-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Our last St. Thomas was really great. We were in port with the Zuiderdam and I got to see all my old peeps. I had lunch with Kate, Jon Tom, Goose, Leah, and Chad. I also got to see others who I wish I could have chatted longer with, but at least I got to hug them and tell them I miss them.

Daiquiri Night...we like to party

2007-04-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

So a new tradition has started on the Maasdam. Beckett got this great rum from St. Maarten and picked some strawberries from the strawberry patch upstairs, thus began daiquiri night. It has now become a weekly event. So our mission as cruise staff is to get the strawberries and of course the doctor that's Beckett is the host for the night. He loves it and so does everyone else. That's Beckett tasting his magic and Laste the real bartender figuring out who needs a drink.

Here I am with Vaselina, Cheree, Michelle and Phil. Michelle is sad because well come on look at her glass it is freaking empty, don't worry she took care of that quickly. The next day was pay day oh it was great seeing everyone at 10am looking oh so ever sober, yeah not really.

Swimming with dolphins

2007-03-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

I finally got to go swim with dolphins. Okay well just one dolphin, but hey that is enough for me. Here I am with the gang, from left to right; Susanna, me, Lucy, Kathleen, and Van. Oh Luna, you are so cute. Kathleen got to feed Luna while the rest of us posed for the camera.Van riding Luna. I also got to do this, but Van looks cooler doing it. For some reason Luna really liked Van. If he ever wants a job as a dolphin trainer I am sure it would be a good career move. Susanna, me, Kathleen and Van getting excited about riding dolphins.

Bye Luna. I will miss you. This is one of the coolest things ever. I highly recommend it.

Day two of three days of isolation

2007-03-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

I got sick the other night and I made the mistake of telling the doctor that I had thrown up. Well as soon as I said that word he freaked out on me and asked for my i.d. number right then I knew I shouldn’t have said anything, but it was already too late. The rule use to be that if you got sick you would have to be isolated for 24 hours. Well just this week the Captain sent out an email stating that if any crew member gets sick that crew member needs to be isolated for 72 hours. Since I have a roommate she had to be isolated along with me I guess just in case. So now being day two I still have only been able to eat soup, but really I could go back to work, but I am not allowed to. I am the second person in the entertainment department to get sick. One of the cast members was isolated as well and they had to cancel the show “On Track” because of it. Luckily I brought along with me season 3 of 24 and people have been bringing us lots of movies. The highlight of our day is ordering room service, even though I am not hungry and can only order soup. I do say though room service French onion soup is pretty damn good. I secretly feel guilty or bad like we are getting away with something. Normally we can’t order room service. I also finally finished Harry Potter #6 and I didn’t cry. I think the fact that everyone was telling me I would cry was probably the reason I did not. Anyway off to finish 24. Send me some loving please!!!!! I miss you all!!!!

Turtle, Turtle, in Barbados

2007-03-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

I love the water! "Look ma, I am a mermaid."I wasn't expecting to see turtles today, but one of the girls heard about this place in Barbados were there supposed to be lots of turtles. Really all I wanted to do today was lay on the beach, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this. Well it was true there were turtles and it was pretty damn cool. I wish the time in the water would have been longer, but it was pretty cool all in all. Here we are on the boat getting excited to see some turtles.Magnificent turtles. Oh it was so scary, but so much fun. The turtles were so close to us.

Oh my goodness it is a turtle. I love my new underwater camera.
Oh we were all so excited we got to see turtles. It was a beautiful day in Barbados.

Here I am with the gang. Oh yeah a day snorkeling with turtles can not be beat or can it????

Crew Party in the Crows Nest

2007-03-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

Crew Party yeah haws! After getting through a naked cruise and an audit the Captain and Hotel Manager decided to congratulate us all with a crew party up in the Crows Nest. The Crows Nest was closed off to all passengers and was open only to crew for the night. It was really fun. I was even the D.J. for a little while. One of the girls requested the electric slide and dumb me thinks “who doesn’t know the electric slide?” Well I put it on and the whole dance floor looks at me like “what the hell?” So I went out on the dance floor with the microphone and lead the electric slide and hey it was really fun. After that I then taught the Cha Cha Slide. The Captain and the Hotel Manager even bartended for the whole night.

Scott, me, Julia and Richard getting ready to party in the Crows Nest.

Marlon and me in the Crows Nest.

This is d.j. Rachelle playing all your favorite hits, lol.

Yeah I know how to get the party started. Jump, jump to the Cha Cha Slide.

Natural Wonders of Aruba

2007-02-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

I did a shore excursion this past week that included the Aloe Vera factory, natural bridge and butterfly farm in Aruba. It was one of those tours that was a little taste of everything, but also fit more for the older crowd, but it was nice. While on the tour I saw people on four wheelers, I think that is the type of tour I will try to go on next week.

This lady is demonstrating how to get aloe from the aloe plant. They said that if you drink aloe it will clear up acne, but it also causes major diarrhea.

I just have to say that I am a professional butterfly photographer part-time. Alright not really, but come on look how good that butterfly looks. I am very impressed with my new camera.Here I am with Jorge by the natural bridge. Jorge is a photographer on board and just happened to be on another tour taking pictures of guests. Jorge is cool, he used to be a t.v. reporter back in the Philippines.

Drama in the Hood

2007-02-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

Lots of drama has been happening on the ship lately. Well not really, but yea really. Our senior acd was sent home last cruise so we have had to pick up the extra work load. I am hoping that after this contract and my last one maybe Holland will notice, one can hope. Besides that everything has been pretty good. I got a new roomie on the 13th and she seems pretty cool so far. I am glad to see people walking around with clothes on this week. Even though last weeks cruise was definitely a wild ride.

When not on the ship I have been enjoying the ports. Here I am in Curacao with Kathleen and Rommel. We enjoyed lunch by the water and then we walked around town for a little bit.

Under the Sea

2007-02-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

The naked people had there costume party last night. It was titled “Under the Sea.” We blocked off one side of the theater for the people in costumes and the whole time I was thinking “alright these people are silly, like they will fill up half of the theater.” Oh yeah I was hugely mistaken it was full of people in costumes and people in pieces of costumes. It was really fun and crazy. There were literally 50 people in costumes.

This is actually a tame picture. I don't think I can show anything else without getting in trouble.Here I am with the the hotel manager, the cruise director, the Captain of the ship, Kelly a woman from the Seattle office, a few mermaids and Beckett another assistant cruise director.

Bernie

2007-02-10T15:43:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you about a little old man named Bernie. He is one of the naked people and he is a dirty old man. I danced with him the first night (yes he was naked) and I was scared for my life, well not really but let’s just say I started on one end of the dance floor and by the time the song was over I was on the other side because I kept scooting away from him. He also asked me if he was too big. Ewwhhh gross I am not looking at your wiener. He then went to the shops and bought something. Celestina one of the shop girls gave him a receipt and he lifted his ball sack and said “oh nowhere to put it” I found out today that he has gotten a warning from the Captain because he has been harassing other women as well. Everyone time I see him walking anywhere near me I turn the other way. See what I have to put up, disgusting!!!!!!!

Bonaire

2007-02-07T13:08:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day. I had to work in the library for 3 hours, but not until 1:30pm so I slept in till about 11am it was very nice. I went out about 6pm for dinner with Celestina and Mya.

Mya, Celestina and me

We found a cute little place called Salsa. The food was super good even though it took forever for us to get it. By the time our food came out Bruce, Doni and Shelly stopped by and decided to eat there as well.

Doni, Bruce, Celestina, me, Mya and Shelly

I got a little taste of Bonaire, unfortunately we don’t stop there again, oh well.

Jeepers Creepers

2007-02-05T13:08:00.000-08:00

Where do I even start? This week has been too much, needless to say. Unfortunately it really has only been 2 days. I really thought I could handle this better than I have been. I haven’t been my usual helpful self; actually I have just felt uncomfortable since day one.

So for those that don’t know this week our ship has been rented out to a group called the Bare Necessities. They like to be free of all clothing. I have never in my life seen so many penises and vaginas. These people are not only out of shape, but old and wrinkly. The average age is 50. Granted there are a few people in really good shape and young, but I have observed over the past 2 days that those are not the ones that let it all hang out. These people say the reason they do this is for equality. They don’t want to be judged by the clothing they wear. Maybe that is true for some of them, but for some it is sexual.

So these are how the rules are going this week. In the dining room all guests must wear clothes. Everywhere else is fair game including the lido, the place where the staff eats. So for breakfast and lunch staff is able to eat in the dining room and for dinner there is one side that is blocked off for staff. Also since they are naked we have had to turn the a/c down. So we haven’t had to wear our blazers at night because we tried it the first night and we were all dying. Also we as staff do not have to be naked; they can’t pay me enough to do that. As it is I don’t get paid enough for the type of crap I am putting up with. Tonight we have the Captains reception I have this strange feeling there will not be a big turnout. The Captain said himself he will not take pictures with naked people all must be in formal for the reception, so most likely they will not go to it. Also while we are in port they have to have clothes on.

Oh and Superbowl Sunday was interesting. Picture 200 naked people jam packed in a theater watching football. Beckett one of the other acd’s decided to liven it up a little, not that it needed livening up. So during the halftime show we had a guy come up and do a beer bong and then we tossed out mini footballs with there logo on it. It was quite entertaining.

Master Chef, wow, what the hell?

2007-01-29T14:48:00.000-08:00

This ship is smaller than the last ship I was on by about 600 guests. On this ship they do this thing called Master Chef. Master Chef involves the whole cast of the ship and the cruise staff. We all have different sections of the dining room that we must cover while 5 of the dining crew follow you, so they are like your team. So what we have to do is during the guests’ dinner we prance around to music while doing different things. There are 3 sections the first section we have napkins and while dancing to music we must put the napkins in the guests laps. The second section involves us taking a big salad bowl to a certain spot and then your guys come and put different ingredients into the bowl. All this to music and dancing as your guys are putting the ingredients in the bowl. After this your guys will toss peppers to each other and then when the music stops you pose with the pepper shaker. The third section is dessert. During this section you must carry this heavy tray full of desserts while running through your section at the same time kicking one leg up to different parts of the song. Then at the very end you have to release this thing that looks like a sugar dispenser full of confetti.

Okay well that sounds not so bad right? Yeah right, I was a mess. So I had to get there early to learn from one of the cast what route to even take. Well it wasn’t her fault, but first off she showed me the wrong route. So then when it was time to do it with my guys they were yelling at me “no, no, go right, not that way.” So all right I went the wrong way no big deal, but then when I started giving napkins to people some people already had napkins because at the same time some of my guys were handing out napkins. Then it was time for salad. I did better at salad, but I still had my guys yelling behind me going “no, this way not that way” because of course for salad I had to go a different route. Then dessert is when it got ugly. On dessert you have to go to the rhythm of the song while kicking alternate legs. At the same time going pretty fast while holding a heavy dessert tray. Well I guess I was going to slow for my guys because all I could hear in my ear was “no, faster, kick, go, no that way.” Remind you this is all in front of guests. On the finale we let our confetti fly, yeah I didn’t pull my string the right way, so nothing came out. The guys thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen. One of them ran over to the other acd, Sonte and said “she didn’t even pull her string.” So I make through, the first dinner. We freaking have to do this twice. The next dinner all my guys go “you gotta pull the string” I swear about 20 people told me “it’s like this, you gotta pull the string.” Thanks guys I got the first time.

Yeah freaking Master Chef, what the hell? That is all I got to say. I really don’t get paid enough for this crap. Before I leave this ship I will get it recorded because it is one of things you just have to see for yourself.

First Time in Dominica

2007-01-28T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is Dominica. I got off the ship for a few hours today and I must say this place is beautiful. It definitly feels 3rd world however and I think I am going to try and take lots of shore excursions in the beautiful rainforest.

Here I am with my new roomate and new home for the next 4 months. I get a new roomate after next cruise. Next cruise we are having a charter. Not just any charter, but a naked charter. Oh yeah my roomate gets to leave with a bang. I get to start with a bang.

Atlantis

2007-01-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

This is the view from the ship of Atlantis. Atlantis is a casino resort in Nassau, Bahamas. Catherine and I sitting in the royal chair.

Here we are in front of the casino. This was right before I lost 2 dollars to the slots, that is why I don't gamble. Don't gamble it kills.

From L to R: Mandy, Melissa, me, Mandi, Kate, Katie.

Here we are inside the aquarium. The place was amazing. There were huge stingrays, eels, and sharks.

From L to R: Leah, Katie, Mandy, Kate, Catherine, me, and Nicole.

2007 Baby!!

2007-01-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years! New Years on a ship lets just say is quite fun. Open bar and good friends, can't beat it. The captain even came out for the occasion. Katie wearing someone elses 2007 glasses, oh well you gotta do what you gotta do.

Darin, Katie, Ryan, me, Jason and Kate getting ready to chime in the New Year.

Yep this is my friend Jeff. He is suppose to be baby New Year. He is such a ham he loved every minute of this. Everyone wanted a piece of him:)

Katie, me, Andrea, Leah, Kate, and Darin. Club Hal, Club Hal..What's up?, What's up?

Beautiful St. Thomas

2007-01-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

St. Thomas is one of my favorite Caribbean ports. St. Thomas is owned by the U.S., so technically some day I could move there. Everything in St. Thomas is cheap and it is just a nice port. Today Katie, Kate and I decided to take the Paradise tram cable car. Hey only $6 if you are crew. It was nice we had lunch and their famous Bushwacker up there.

Katie, me and Kate inside the cable car. Our ship the M/S Zuiderdam. This is the view we had from up top.

Oh yes this is paradise...this is why I love my job.

St. Thomas during Christmas. A little different no white snow, but that is cool with me.

Goodbye St. Thomas, I will be back.

Look I am an Elf.

2007-01-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning I was an elf. We spent the morning caroling and handing out presents to all the children on board the ship.
Here I am with my roomate Catherine and Santa. Even elves need to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. It was a close call, but Santa said we were on the good list. Christmas night was very nice. The ship had lobster and steak for the staff and of course an open bar. There was also a black and white ball, hence the black and white:)

Catherine, Mandy, Kate and I looking good.

The whole crew before dinner. Can you see our excited faces for lobster?

Christmas Eve

2007-01-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

This is how I spent my Christmas Eve; playing in paradise. Kate, me, Nicole, Mandy and Catherine...Club Halers!

Christmas Eve the crew caroled for the guests. I was part of the international choir. There was also an Indonesian choir and Fillipino choir.

Claudine and I. Claudine was part of the Fillipino choir, isn't she cute in her dress?

After singing our little hearts well we had to celebrate and you know celebrating always means drinking and dancing.

The girls and I partying in the Northern Lights.

Christmas Arrives Early

2006-12-21T12:38:00.000-08:00

I love my family because well we are a weird bunch, but we love each other and that is all that matters. My aunt Vanessa and Grandma gave Danie, Sam and I the same present for Christmas this year. Oh goodness we were excited. Sam opened hers first and she was trying to hide the excitment of the present...I guess it wasn't excitment it was more like a snicker.
Here we are ready to open the beautiful presents.
So this was the gift we got it was a framed picture of Jesus Christ. My aunt told us the reason we got it was because when she was growing up her and all the siblings grew up with this picture in the house. The picture means alot to my grandma and all the kids when they were growing up.
Well lets just say to 3 young woman it doesn't quite mean the same thing. Don't get me wrong we love Jesus, but I don't think we are ready to hang a picture of him up anytime soon. So being the dorks that we are we took pictures of ourselves and Jesus. You can tell we are taking our presents very seriously. Jesus is not a laughing matter.
This is a wonderful present because it came from the heart. I love my family and Jesus Christ (he is the reason for the season).

Drunken homecoming, it's on.

2006-12-19T12:38:00.000-08:00

My friend Leif comes home today, yeah! While I have been living it up on the ship he has been living it up in New York City. I meet Leif in college through one of my other really good friends, Roxy. Some of my craziest times have been with this guy. One story in particular is Mad Dog Friday. It is one of those stories that my other friend Nicole loves to tell and one day when I get married I am sure she will love to tell it. Lets just say that she took care of me, my phone ended up in the bathtub and I will never drink Mad Dog again.

Of all places, Leif happened to be vacationing in Ketchikan, Alaska with his family. It was awesome, I love when people visit me, hint.
Oh this was another crazy night with the gang. By the end of the night Leif locked Katie, Katie and Frank out of the house and Frank somehow ended up in the emergency room, don't worry he was okay.
Leif and I...I think he thinks my ear is beer.

Watch out Earls, here we come!

Storm thumps Pacific Northwest, but that doesn't stop the party

2006-12-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

Thursday night a huge storm thumped the Pacific Northwest. Millions of people were left without power and at least 4 people died from storm related injuries. Luckily we somehow didn't lose power, but my friend Nicole did, so I let her shower and crash at my place Friday and Saturday night.

Speaking of crashing, Nicole and I party crashed my old company Fox Sports Net on Friday night. The party was held at Qwest Field, home of the Seahawks. Open bar and good company made a pretty good party.
Here I am with Chad and Dave posing in front of the window overlooking the football field.
Also at the party was fake gambling. When we walked in the door they gave us a chip with a monetary value on it. They had roulette, blackjack, and poker. Andy REALLY enjoyed the roulette table. If you look close enough you can actually see his eyes popping out:)

Chad and I on the other hand had our own idea of fun. We took stupid pictures of ourselves all night. I even practiced my Zoolander look. I am not that good at it, thus I am not posting any pictures of it because they all turned out horrible. Chad on the other hand is a natural, I secretly think he practices every night in the mirror:)I think this next picture really needs no explanation...(insert funny caption here)

Lucky man that Dave he had Nicole and I on each arm:) One blonde and one formally blonde.Nicole was Campbells date for the company party. Campbell was taught that when you go on a date you should always bring your date something nice. Well Campbell got Nicole a grape blow pop and a traffic cone keychain that said "yield to the princess." Nicole and I both thought that was a very nice gesture and every man should be so kind.

What, an iguana with a sombrero?

2006-12-13T18:20:00.000-08:00

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. This was one of my favorite ports of the repositioning cruise. The city itself isn't what made me enjoy this port it is for the fact that I had really good company with me. This was the only port that all the assistant cruise directors were able to hang out in port.

Me, Jeff, Kelsey, Matt

Here is the southern most tip of Baja California. This is what Cabo San Lucas was named after.

So I spent 2 months in Alaska and I was really missing good Mexican food, but oh man Cabo was our first Mexican port and oh it was worth the wait. We all got giant margaritas and authentic Mexican food, yummy.

Kelsey was always the best dancer out of all of this. This nice man must have known that. The whole time I was thinking I really hope he doesn't ask me to dance with him.I chose for 2 dollars to have an iguana on my head. He was a cutie he had a sombrero on his head. I thought I was only going to have one on my head, but then the guy just kept bringing them out by the time he was done I had 3 on me.

Jammin' in Jamaica

2006-12-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

Dunn's River Falls in Jamaica was really fun. Anything that involves water is fun to me, but that is besides the point.

Here we are right before heading up the falls.
Oh yeah moving on up the falls. You notice we all love pictures, especially January (girl in red) she is kind of a ham.

Oh yeah we are still moving up the falls. For safety the tour guides recomended going in a line and holding hands. We kind of did that:)

I like this picture because it is capturing us in the moment of having fun. At least Carlo and Goldie realize they are being photographed.

Oh, hey someone is taking my picture. Kathy joins in the fun. You can see January has been stuck on the same rock (left side) for awhile now,lol.

This could be were I lost my sunglasses. It's a good thing I don't spend alot of money on things. I actually felt and saw them fall off my head, but all I could do was wave "bye, bye."

I was wearing a swimsuit under this outfit, but well really is there a point in taking my clothes off now. What a great way to spend the afternoon, swimming up a waterfall in Jamaica.

You Wanna know?

2006-12-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

Okay so many people ask "what exactly do you do on the ship?" Well my job is never the same, everyday I do something different. I mean some things are the same such as running ping pong tournaments, basketball, helping out with bingo. Ultimately it is dealing with the public and as many people know the public can be difficult at times.

This is our day uniform. I love the blue and white, not really. One guest actually asked me how much I would sell it for I thought he was joking, but sadly he was not. This is Matt and Jeff in the elevator. We are on our way to the Sail away Party. At this party we mingled with guests and gave away prizes. Here we are on Glacier Bay day. Up in Alaska we were able to wear the pretty blue sweaters as part as our day uniform. Glacier Bay is an amazing place if you haven't experienced it, it is a place everyone must go. Here I am with Kelsey and Jeff.

Here I am with two guests in the Northern Lights our dance club. This is my night uniform. I am actually suppose to be wearing a orange and blue scarf around my neck, but I hated it so I tried to get away with not wearing it as much as possible. Unfortunately my boss got mad at me and made me wear it. I made up a lie and told him in the comment cards guests were complaining about how ugly the orange and blue scarves were, he said "that's funny I didn't see those cards", thus he didn't believe me so I had to wear the ugly thing.Part of the job is to dress up in different theme attire. This was one of my favorite outfits because I was able to wear jeans. On Country night we taught country line dances, oh I was really bad at first, but now I can slapin' leather like the best of them.

Here I am with Jeri and Jeff.

Oh goodness I had a love/hate relationship with disco night. First off I felt like a moron in my huge wig and crew and guests would laugh at me every week. I secretly loved the wig though. Here I am with Matt, Jeri and Jonathon.

Here is a picture of my bathroom. It really wasn't that bad of a living situation. It really was like living in a dorm, not that I ever lived in a dorm, but if I had well you catch my drift.

Here is another view of my bedroom. I had a TV, phone, fridge and look Chad your postcard you sent me is right next to the phone. I had my own closet as well, so really not that bad.Here I am with Jeff and Nazarene on my last night on the ship. Nazarene is so sweet she brought me flowers to say goodbye. This is also our hallway, yeah baby party on the B-deck. I loved it when guests asked me where I lived because on all the elevators it only goes to A-deck. So I would say "well you see the A on the elevator well I am actually one below that on the B-deck."

Alcatraz Finally!

2006-12-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

I have been to San Francisco 3 times now. The first time I went I drove through it with the Collins on the way to a softball tournament. One highlight from that trip was when we stopped at an In and Out Burger I saw Jamie from the Real World New Orleans, (I know big deal). The second time I went was with my dad and the whole reason for that trip was to watch the Giants play. I actually said to him "hey dad lets go see Alcatraz." His response was "no this is strickly a baseball trip." Anyway third time is the charm.

Archie and I on the boat on the way to Alcatraz. Here I am looking at the watchtower the guards use to stand in watching over the place.
Al Capones cell, that is pretty unreal. This place really gave me the chills, but it was really interesting.Rodrick outside one of the cells. The thing around Rodricks neck is a head set that the park gave us so when you went around the prison you could listen to history about the place.
I don't know who this guy is in the middle, but Archie and Rodrick tell me he is famous in the Phillipines, so they were all star struck over him. He is probably a bigger star than Jamie from the Real World:)
Archie and I from the prison with the Golden Gate bridge in the background.
If it wasn't for Archie and Rodrick I wouldn't have been able to see Alcatraz. Alcatraz is a place that you must book days in advance. The only reason I was able to go was because Archie and Rodrick somehow sweet talked the guy who was selling the tickets into letting us in. The place was actually sold out for the day, so I thank those guys for seeing Alcatraz.

Jay drove the duck...I slapped it.

2006-12-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

I took Chad, Nick and Jay to the Sonics. The Sonics creamed the Atlanta Hawks. After the game we walked over to Sport and on the way over had some fun.

Here we are with the Space Needle in the background. It has a Christmas tree on top for the holidays...awwh how festive.
From L to R: Chad, Nick and Me.
Here we are in front of Key Arena. The home of the Sonics for now, this week the media announces 3 future home possibilities for the Sonics, hopefully they stay in Washington State.
From L to R: Chad, Me and Jay.
This is what happens when you hang out with boys. That is Jay and Chad jumping the "very high barb-wire" fence.

Here they are being "very masculine." As Chad got off the duck he said "Jay drove the duck and I slapped it." Oh my goodness too much.

Oh yeah Chad and I cruising, looking for some trouble to get into. When you see the tongue you know I am looking for trouble.This is the money shot...boys being boys.

Okay after a few drinks I had to beat Chad and Jay in some free throw basketball. I creamed Ray Allen I mean Chad Allen. Sorry Chad, but you know it is true. The final score was 42-18.

Jay put up a better fight, I will admit I got a little scared I thought he had me, but I pulled through in the final seconds.

Good game, the final was 31-30. That's why I love playing with these guys because they don't mind losing to me:) In Jays' own words "I should be use to losing to Rachelle."

How about a kiss for that necklace?

2006-12-05T15:33:00.000-08:00

Costa Rica was amazing. All of us went horseback riding and ziplining through the Costa Rican rainforest. Here horseback riding up to the ziplining spot. Thats Ryan with the cheesy smile:)
Whilliam says "you really think you are going to strap that thing on me?" As I point and laugh in the background.

Oh yeah we are geared up and ready to go.

I made it! I ziplined my way through 22 ziplines. This one was different than Ketchikan because if you got scared in the middle it was too bad for you, you had to finish.

On our way back to have some authentic Costa Rican lunch. We are powerful we finished it and it was great.

After all of this fun I went with Nina and Ray to check out the local flea market. While at this market Nina found a necklace she liked well I thought the price was too high and I tried to bargain with the locals in Spanish. Somehow I ended up bargaining a kiss on the cheek for a dollar less on her necklace from me not from Nina the one who wanted the necklace. Well I went in to give the guy a kiss and he moved his head so it was on the lips. I got him back though I saw my friend Greg who knew Spanish better than I did and he told the guys he was my boyfriend and of course Greg played along and told the guys they better watch it or he might hurt them. It was too funny, so I guess Nina is my pimp however I did it to myself.

"Oh yeah I am a super cool kid"

2006-12-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

So here are some of the excursions I took while in Alaska.

The first one I took was canoeing in the lake right below Mendenhall glacier. As Roxy would say "look at me I am a super cool kid." Don't I look hot in my yellow rain suit? This pic is of my zipline group, we ziplined together, we died together. Well we were all scared as hell, but luckily we lived to tell about it. For those that don't know what ziplining is what you do is propell I guess would be the word from one tree to another hundreds of feet up in the air.

Oh my goodness, here I go. Thoughts going through my head were 1. please don't break and let me fall to my death and 2. I don't want to be the idiot who gets stuck in the middle and someone has to come rescue me. Luckily neither of these 2 things happened.

This excursion was a little more peaceful also dirtier, but come on aren't they cute little doggies. This was the mushers camp up in Skagway. It was fun, but not something I would pay money for luckily for me it was free:)

Oh but I did get to hold a puppy that made it all worth it. Apparently some pyscho lady tried to steal one of these little guys. Not when I was there, but a few years ago. She got all the way to the ship when someone caught her. People are such idiots.

Now this excursion was worth every penny. I had to pay half price which for me was $150, you do the math on what full price would be. I got to ride in a helicopter and then they dropped you off on top of Mendenhall glacier in Juneau, Alaska. You then trek for 1 hour, it was freaking amazing.

Oh yeah it was really cold up here. I was wearing lots of layers.

Your lover will eat it up!

2006-12-03T17:08:00.000-08:00

Hey I need a ride to Portland, come on someone pick me up. Nicole and her family go to Portland every year for Christmas goodies. Hey come on no sales tax, who wouldn't shop in Oregon? Us Washingtonians have to pay freaking 8.8% in sales tax.Oh good these nice people decided to take me to Portland on the train. No this is the whole holiday shoppers group.

Nicole and I on the train ready to head to Portland for some holiday shopping.Nicole and I with our little cosmos by the pretty tree.

I just really like this picture. There really is nothing signifigant about it, we just look good.

Nicole and I really enjoy cherries. I would also like to point out that I had to take 5 photos of Nicole with the cherry and I only got one photo. I do things right the first time:)As a group we had a $5 gift exchange being the sweet innocent person I am, I had a gift of soap and a picture frame. Well someone in the group has a dirty mind and of course I chose it. All the gifts are wrapped so I had no idea what I was choosing. The gift I am holding up is gummy ring things that you put on when you are pleasuring your man.

My pretty little dress

2006-11-29T15:55:00.000-08:00

Awwhh this was my last formal night on the M/S Zuiderdam. I bought the dress in St. Thomas, I love it.

Katie got her dress at the same place, we enjoy buying the same things. We just must have good taste.

Jon Tom and I looking hot, hot, hot. Jon Tom is actually a rigger by day, cadet officer by night.

I actually tower over Lawrence. Good thing for stairs.

Here are my pals from the front desk, Spencer aka Trainee, Kathy, and Carlo.

That's right I am with the band. Wannabe groupie.

My boys and I, goodness I miss them.

Brandon and I, dang we are on fire, lol.

HALLOWEEN 2006

2006-11-28T15:27:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2006 on the M/S Zuiderdam was really fun. Here we all are before the big Halloween bash.This guy was Aunt Jemima, he won the best costume award.

Jemma, Brandon and I looking cute for the camera.

Matt wore himself out dancing on stage, so he and Jeff had to take a breather. I don' t know why but I love this picture.
Here are some guests these guys went up on stage and the bowling ball would knock over all the pins, it was pretty funny.
These guests requested and danced to the "chicken dance."

It's Snowing!!!!

2006-11-27T16:00:00.000-08:00

It's snowing, yes! This is my pretty little truck in the snow. Maybe it will snow so much I will be able to drive around in a snowmobile, one can dream.

Here is my doggy in the snow.

Margaritaville

2006-11-25T17:16:00.000-08:00

This is a dedication to Margaritaville in Grand Turk. Oh how I miss the hot weather, the pool, the ocean, the drinks, the goodtimes partying.

The whole gang before alcohol sets in. Me, Katie, Bart, Mandi, Katie, Jeri and Jos.
The D.J. asked who knew the words to Margaritaville, duh of course Katie, Mandi and I knew the words, okay not really, but we gave it a good attempt.

My girls at the front desk always looking good. Even when they are paging me non-stop.

Oh yeah and it wouldn't be Margaritaville without double fisting of course.

I'ts a footrace

2006-11-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

Drunken racing yet again. Drunken racing you ask? I don't know how this madness came about, but about one year ago guys at FSN, place where I use to work thought hey wouldn't it be funny if 3 guys got really drunk and then raced down the street. One race led to another and another. The biggest turnout was probably for the ladies race which I was set to race in, but uh yeah 10 minutes before race time well I was ushered home. So last night was the 5th race we have had.

Here is a picture of the three contenders; Jay, Will and Chad.Well my money was on Chad I have seen him run he is quick. Andy put his money on Chad as well.Heres Cameron taking bets from Campbell and Tanya. It is a minimum of 5 dollars with a payout of almost 80 dollars. Big money!

Unfortunatley Chad did not win, Will actually creamed him, but in Chads defense Will didn't drink as much as everyone else. Here is all the people who bet on Will. Okay I didn't bet on Will, but come on everyone loves a winner, lol.

All in all it was a good night had by all even my girls Nicole and Roxy showed up for the race.

Back in town

2006-11-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness I am finally home after freaking all day of flying. I slept today until noon and oh did it feel heavenly. It of course wouldn't be Seattle if not for the rain and has been raining non stop since I got home. Anyway it has been an emotional few days I have left behind amazing friends and have been able to catch up on my peeps here at home. I didn't want to leave the ship, but now that I am home well like Dorothy said "there is no place like home."

Here is a picture of me in front of Key Arena. The Sonics decided to get out of a funk and win, the final was 99-87. Maybe I am just good luck, lol.

Here is a picture of Luke Ridnour, Rashard Lewis, Ray Allen and Jason Kidd. Oh yeah it feels good to watch real basketball.

Coming home in a week!

2006-11-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of one of my first weeks on board. The guy with the red pants is Adam, the guy in the yellow is Dwight and then Rob and Michelle. Norman is a guest in black. My job is so cool I actually get paid to dress up!

Oh my goodness what a whirlwind the last four months have been for me. I have been to Alaska, through the Panama Canal and now hanging out in the Caribbean. I have made amazing friends and I have grown so much through this experience. I have my next job assignment and that is on a smaller ship the Maasdam which I might stay on for four months, but at this point we will see. If I do stay on for 6 months I would be able to go to Greenland and Iceland and the New England area. When I get home I will post lots of pictures from the amazing places.