Okay, here's the deal. Brett found out yesterday that he has a week of vacation that needs to be used by the end of the year. You're probably asking yourself "so what's the problem?". We are not ones to do the whole staycation thing... you know where you take a vacation but stay at home. That's just not how it's done in the Hertan house. We take full advantage of every vacation. So here was the dilema.
As a couple of DINK's (Double Income No Kids), we've been a bit spoiled. If we ever wanted to take a vacation, we would just do it, no questions asked. We are very frugal (ie. cheap) in other areas of our life. We have no problem going without cable, having cell phones that don't take pictures, using the library instead of buying the book, not going out to eat, buying clothes at Goodwill, etc., but when it comes to vacation, we don't hesitate.
The problem is that we made a pinky spit swear to each other a couple of months ago that we would not, under any circumstance, spend frivolously, until the Hummer is paid off. We have put off paying it off since it's a zero interest rate, but we want to not have that payment looming over us each month. We're getting oh so close to that day and here comes this vacation that must be taken.
Brett's family has their Christmas party that week and now we have the time off. Perfect timing. I checked ticket prices - ouch, maybe not so perfect. Next, I start playing on the internet just for fun and went to one of my favorite vacation sites and lo and behold I find a last minute 7 day cruise to the Bahamas for $199 per person!!! It's leaving out of Charleston, so it's within driving distance, which means no airfare! This cruise would be less than the flight to CA! I call to get more info. With taxes and fuel surcharge (don't they know gas prices went back down?) the rate ends up being $374 per person. Still WAY less expensive than just the flight to CA. Hmmm....should we do it? Do we break the pinky spit swear?
$374pp..that's crazy cheap when you think that it includes all your food. Of course, you have to pay for parking @ $15 day = $105. Charleston is a 9 hour drive, so add a room there and back and if you're lucky you can do that for another $150. Add the gas...$125. Of course, we'll want to attend the formal dinners....$100 clothes. We've got the TN honky white legs going on....$50 tanning. Excursions & food when in port @ $200 X 4 ports = $1000. We're now just under $2,000 and we haven't bought an alcoholic beverage or even played Bingo while waiting for a show to start (you cruisers know what I'm talking about).
In the end, the pinky spit swear wins out....we're going to try our first ever Staycation. Wish us luck that we're not bored out of our minds by Tuesday morning.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...
We love Christmas, but it is seems like we're always moving this time of year. Last year we had just moved in and the year before we were in Cabo so it's been 3 years since we went through our decorations. We collect ornaments during our travels and put a tag on each ornament so that the occassion and date do not get forgotten over the years. It's also fun when friends come by and can walk through our life by reading the tags on the tree. As you can see, we have lots of memories! There are way too many to show them all, but here's a glimpse of what you'll see on our memory tree.
One of the traditions we miss most is spending St. Patrick's Day in Lake Tahoe with the Gaudy's. This ornament is from 2000 and the Goleno's also joined us that year. What fun we had!
As you can see, this one is from Carlsbad, CA in May 2004 when we spent time with Brett's brother Brad and his family.
This is an ornament given to me by my good friend, Erin Wheeler (aka Erin Wilson for those who knew her back when) in 1983! I treasure that our friendship has lasted through the years.
One of our many Disneyland trips. This one is from 2003 when we spent the week with Brett's brother, Bryce and his family. Bryce's truck broke down on the way there so we extended the stay an extra day. We were all trying to save some money so we used hotel points and 6 of us stayed in a regular room at the Radison on that last night. We had to stack the table and chairs so that the boys had room to sleep on the floor:-)
National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas 2005.
And of course, one of our all time favorites....The Spam Museum in 2005! I had never eaten Spam before this trip and after returning home, I thought I should give it a try. I made some Spam and eggs and presented it as breakfast to our niece, Elizabeth, who was 2 at the time. She ate all the eggs and wouldn't touch the Spam!
This is an ornament given to me by my good friend, Erin Wheeler (aka Erin Wilson for those who knew her back when) in 1983! I treasure that our friendship has lasted through the years.
One of our many Disneyland trips. This one is from 2003 when we spent the week with Brett's brother, Bryce and his family. Bryce's truck broke down on the way there so we extended the stay an extra day. We were all trying to save some money so we used hotel points and 6 of us stayed in a regular room at the Radison on that last night. We had to stack the table and chairs so that the boys had room to sleep on the floor:-)
National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas 2005.
And of course, one of our all time favorites....The Spam Museum in 2005! I had never eaten Spam before this trip and after returning home, I thought I should give it a try. I made some Spam and eggs and presented it as breakfast to our niece, Elizabeth, who was 2 at the time. She ate all the eggs and wouldn't touch the Spam!
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