Day 5 Last Day at Sea!

This is the last day on the ship for us. Our last day at sea! I'm sure by then I will be eager to get back home to the rest of my family. It will be the first trip that I have ever taken where I could not speak with Marc everyday (I'm sad, I know)! Somehow all of my outfits have echoed each other throughout the week. It was not deliberate and I did not notice until mid week that it was happening. How funny is that? The aqua top is again a purchase from Catos (told you I loved that shop). I know I have had the skirt at least 10 yrs (WalMart). The casual tank and crinkled skirt I picked up a few days ago from Roses (who knew you could find such cute items in Roses). Both the platform shoes (Burlington) and sandals (Avon) are old (can't you tell)? If you have not figured out by now, blue is my favorite color other then lime green which I am surprised is not more prominent on this trip! My traveling outfit for our return trip home can be found here. I have really enjoyed Fashion Week, but I'm so ready for this cruise to start. Only one more week to go!

Day 4 Halifax, Nova Scotia

We will be sailing overnight to our next port which is Halifax, Nova Scotia. From what I hear the weather in Canada can go two ways. It can be rainy and foggy, or the day can be beautiful and sunny. Keeping that in mind I have ways I can make adjustments in my wardrobe just by switching out a few items. The key is to be prepared and flexible as this is not like your typical Caribbean cruise. The multi color top (another of my many purchases from Catos) is lightweight (and its stretchy), and the black linen capri's are one of my favorite most comfortable pair of pants. They cost me nothing, because they were a hand me down gift from a few years ago (a really good friend handed me almost an entire summer wardrobe one year that she had outgrown). Talk about blessed! As you can see I have the exact same flats as in the picture yesterday, just in a different color. If I find a pair of shoes I love in different colors (that are comfortable) I tend to pick up more then one pair. Both pair of shoes match my purse to a tee, so I don't have to change out bags on this trip. The black polka dot dress which I plan to wear to dinner cost me $20.00 (from Roses of all places)! I wore it a few weeks ago and loved it. The sandals have taken a bit of a beating because I wear them a lot. I find that platform heels are a lot more comfortable to walk around in for a long period of time then regular heels. Jewelry is kept at a minimum because my outfits can't hold their own sort of speak! HAHA Tomorrow I will post my last day of the cruise (another day at sea) outfits along with travel attire for the return trip home. I may even post some packing tips on my travel blog (akadisney website). Thanks for all of the great comments on twitter. I'm so glad you are enjoying it!

Day 3 Sightseeing in Saint John, New Brunswick Canada

Good Morning folks! Anyone still out there (besides Brandi and Veronica...lol)? The third day on the Carnival Glory we will be anchoring port in Saint John, New Brunswick Canada! How sad is it that I have put more thought into my wardrobe then where we will sight see that day ? I went back and forth on which top I would wear in the morning and which one I would wear at night. Both of the tops are courtesy of Catos (my favorite store) and I don't think I paid more then $15.00 each for them. And even that is unusual for me, because I can usually find tops and bottoms in their clearance section for $7.00 to $9.00! I wore the pink top during our women's day weekend with the white skirt (also from Catos). Because the coral top has long sleeves I thought it would be good for dinner that evening (sidenote: my mom called last night and said she realized she would need two outfits each day. The problem is most of her clothing is in storage. I see shopping in her future). The tan shorts I have had for years. One of my favorite fashion tips for refreshing your old wardrobe is to add a new bottom or top to the mix. Once again my jewelry will hold double duty, add in a pair of flats (JCPenney) for sightseeing and my flower sandals (Cato's again) for dinner, and voila we are done! My shoes hold up pretty well because I keep them in plastic shoe boxes instead of just throwing them in the back of my closet. I wore these exact same sandals to Hawaii a few years ago, put them back in the box and forgot about them! Now it feels like I have a brand new pair (or maybe that's a sign I have too many shoes)! Tomorrow we head to Halifax, Nova Scotia!

My Top for Elegant Dinner!

Found the top on the Dress Barn website!

Day 2 Day at Sea

Day 2 is a day at Sea, and that evening is our one "Elegant Dinner" for the entire 5 days. I went back and forth on what I would wear, but ended up going with a pair of Black Palazzo (sp) pants (they have an elastic waistband for comfort, and slide slits). I shouldn't have any problem stuffing my face at the dessert buffet line (just kidding)! My mom brought me a beautiful Aqua caftan top from the Dress Barn, so I don't have a picture of that yet (Ha, found one on the dress barn website). The strappy heels are from JCPenney (got them cheaper by going on-line then in the store where I originally saw them). The black evening bag I have had for yrs, and the earrings are costume jewelry (of course) from a local shop. I have several choices for wearing during the day, one of which is a Maxi dress that I paid like $14.00 for! I'm big on bargain shopping if I can find something I like (not so big on searching through a junky bin. TJ Maxx and Marshalls are a test for me ). The evening outfit is my one splurge for the entire cruise. You will notice I wear a lot of tanks under my clothing. Its not so much for modesty as much as to hide a scar I have from a surgery yrs ago. I hope you all are enjoying this frivolous side of me. Its been fun taking the pictures and its helped me figure out what to take and what to leave at home (not that I have actually done that yet...LOL)! By the way if you want to see more fashions you can check out my casual and poolside outfits on my Disney blog.

Day 1 (Travel Day)

Ok, after a bit of prompting from Brandi, I have decided to do "Fashion Week" (aka what cyndi is wearing on the cruise) on the old blog this week. You will soon find out, I'm no fashionista (lol)! Originally I planned to post pics of me in the outfits, but I'm thinking it would be more fun to actually show pics of me on the cruise wearing the outfits (and just in case I need to photoshop them....jk) when I return home! We depart on a Sunday night for the bus ride to New York (I'm off again on a church trip with my mom and cousins), then that evening we board the Carnival Glory for a 5 day cruise to Canada! The gray sweatsuit is for the bus trip (hence the jacket, just in case the bus gets cold) and the white sundress with the pink tank is for the dinner on board that evening (which is come as you are the first night). I'm on the look out for a little scarf to take along just in case I get cold in the diningroom that night. I'm packing the dress and shoes in with my carry on bag (more on packing later), so I'm using the same jewelry from travel for dinner that evening. Have you been on a cruise? If so, any tips you would like to share?

North Carolina Dinner Date

Friday we got the chance to have dinner with Pastor David and Cheryl (they were in North Carolina visiting their daughter so we met half way for dinner). It took us 2 1/2 hrs, but it was worth it just to say hi to our pastor and his wife! They are two of the most down to earth people I know and we are very proud to able to call them our friends. I still can't get over the fact that we have known each other for nearly 20 yrs, but I don't know what I would have done without these two people in my life. When we were stationed at Fort Riley Kansas and Marc was away during Desert Storm and Desert Shield they were my lifeline and the support system for my children and I. I am not sure that I would have survived the separation or the fears of war without them there to offer prayer, friendship and fellowship. This business of ministry can be a hard rode to travel. Its soo much easier when you have others around you who know what its like to be in the same boat! Do you have a support system?

So much for staying in the background!

Its a well known fact that I'm the behind the scenes person in this family (and I happily give up the spotlight to Marc and Nicki). Well, today I came out of hiding! Lori and the ladies at Leading and Loving It have caused me to come out of the closet sort of speak. Thanks to these ladies I am stretching and growing in ways I never imagined or dreamt of. Thankfully its a team I feel very blessed to be a part of! And if you think they are stretching me now. Well, wait until May 2011! Oh My!!!

Family Time

Hope you all had a great 4Th of July. I spent almost the entire time chilling. About the most I did was put up a flag out front and do a bit of shopping. I can't remember the last time I had this laid back of a weekend! In all honesty it was the first time I have ever regretted the fact that Marc is a pastor! He does a lot of his studying on the weekends (especially this weekend after our crazy week) so a trip to the beach or Busch Gardens for the day was out of the question. It didn't help that my goddaughters family were down in Orlando this week and kept sending updates. My other goddaughters parents informed us they are off to Hershey Park in a few weeks! Can you tell I need a vacation?

Honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted this life when my kids were younger. Granted we were in Youth Ministry almost their entire life it seems, but not being the Senior Pastor's family at the time had some advantages! Thank goodness for my church planter friends who have taught me the importance of vacation time. I hope when the time comes and we have additional staff that we will be able to pass on the importance of carving out family time.

Got to L-O-V-E Him!

How do you not love a man who colors in the coloring book? Or who is willing to step in and play Pizza Women's Dad when she is off on assighnment!

Junior Heroes

Today the theme for Hero Headquarters was "Heroes Save The Day". We talked about the young boy who gave his lunch to Jesus, and from that 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread Jesus feed thousands! We wanted the kids to imagine what it would be like to be on a hill with thousands, all closed in just to hear Jesus speak! So what better way to demonstrate this then put a bunch of people in a hoola hoop together. Can we say "in my private space"! Pizza Woman was feeling under the weather today (by the way, this was not an act), so our Director (AKA Mechanic Mac) asked for volunteer Junior Heroes to take her place. Before they took on their assignments they gathered around Pizza Women and prayed for healing! I just had to share that story!