Our last LONG day in Ensenada Mexico

the final stretch

as kathleen has put on my facebook page... the FINAL STRETCH.

there are things i will miss. mostly people. but things too.
i think we are meant to live our lives in these little wrinkles. peaks and valleys. things seen and unseen. short term plans. long term dreams.

so tears or fears. joys and anxiety attacks... i'm going to enjoy the wrinkles of my final stretch!

Lists

Just outside of four weeks....SO READY!!

5 things I can't wait to leave behind:

1. Mystery meat dinners

2. Booze cruise guests. Lets face it. People going on 3 day cruises to Mexico aren't there for the travel...

3. Our bunk bed. I thought college was behind me...

4. Nit picky bosses

5. "Tequila" and "In the Mood". I only got to play them 500 times!

5 things I will miss:

1. Our new friends. In cruise ship life you have to except friends come fast and leave faster, but there has been some great people on this ship. The bonus? Most of them are internationals giving us great excuses to travel outside the US!

2. The hotel resort in Ensenada. Lately a huge gaggle of us entertainment folks have made that our second home and I've really enjoyed the comraderie, silly pool games, free internet, sun and hot tub.

3. Thinking....

4. Seriously, I'm trying....

5. No honestly, I think we're just so excited to see family and friends and take a vacay and spend nights away from this boat, that its hard to see what we could miss.

5 things I can't wait for:

1. Did I mention I can't wait to spend an evening on land? Its the small things folks...My plan is to spend the first evening with Kris on my parents deck, watching the sunset (If we get home in time) and sipping some good wine all the way into the night.

2. Family. I'm gonna give the little kids big blubber kisses!

3. Swedish pancakes. Seriously.

4. A bed that I can sit up in.

5. ROAD TRIP! WOOHOOO!! For that matter driving :) Hope I havent forgotten how...

4 weeks...we can do this.

-M

Note: Above picture is Kris with the captain at her Employee of the Month dinner. The below picture is me with, well, Shamu! :)

Its official. My wife is EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH!!

News came in last week from the office. I always thought it was a matter of time. She by far pulls the most weight in her department. So she gets her own picture in the marquee, a special nametag, a dinner with the captain and $100! BEEEAMM!
Enough to make a husband beam!

In other news, we are now 6 weeks out. The end really does feel touchable. And it needs to. We have managed to come into pretty good standing with our higher ups. My boss is still NO FUN AT ALL but I think THINK he trusts me enough in my playing, so I suppose I'd rather just finish strong and get out of here!

We'll be seeing some of you soon and others a little not as soon. Miss you all!!

Matty

looking back... looking forward

Matty and i are sitting in a starbucks in mexico (i know, shame shame) and were just thinking that a year from now we'd most likely be planning our return to Chicago and looking for places to live and work, etc... and yet... a year ago we LIVED and WORKED in chicago. how strange this 'halfway' point feels. We wanted to take a "year off" which is now turning into two years. I feel a sense of promise and i'm reminded that God is a great storyteller and that i've so enjoyed being a part of the story. I am excited to be 'home' for a while and take on the challenge of a new ocean and new american clientel come 2010. I am happy to say i'm happy. i'm grateful. i'm paused.

deep breath and continue.

much love from a place of contemplation.

kris

next contract... 10 more weeks to go on the Paradise

Matty and I have just been assigned our next ship contract.
the VALOR sailing out of Miami. We start january 10th and work till july 11th.
sun: miami, mon: at sea, tues: grand cayman, wed: Isla Roatan, thurs: Belize, Fri: Cozumel, sat: at sea, sun: miami.
we are excited to have better ports and be employed so soon after the holidays! we are also excited to have our american port on a SUNDAY so we can finally find a church! i think there is a Covenant church 7 miles away from the dock.

this will probably be our last contract since we are eager to get a dog in the near future... so jealous of jenn and charley with their new puppy, Cinder!!

kris
much love... and please join me on the ship in April for my 30th!!

Crossroads

Well here we are, just days more then 10 weeks left on our contract, and at the crossroads of our mentality on it all. This coming Monday also is the day a slew of our new good friends leave this boat, significantly depleting our social circle, which kinda sucks. We have been making inroads on gaining friendships with the new production cast that has come on for the new show, Xtreme Country. (That’s right folks! Trainbeats, yee-haws and all the processed nationalism you can devour! It even ends with “God Bless the USA”)
On the plus side to this mass exodus, it really allows us to see the end of the contract. We’ll be running into lots more people that will be on this ship longer then us, making us no longer feel like the people with a long time to go. Kris is getting 2 new team members who might actually kind of want to be here which could reap benefits for her. I am gaining a new bassist, which won’t promise better times, since the old one is a really cool guy, a kind of mixture of three of my very close friends, but I will hang tough and stay strong throughout the “In the moods” and “Tequilas” ☺.
Honestly, it may sound like our position is worse then it is. It’s not. Kris mentioned plenty of great positives in our last blog, and they are great points. It is just that this particular run (Long Beach, Catalina, Ensenada) does not lend itself to being a thoroughly enjoyable and fresh run over the long term. HOWEVER, we heard about our next option starting in January and it appears to lend itself to that enjoyment and fulfillment much more. We found out today from the main office that they would like us to start on the Valor from January 10th to July 11th. We are still waiting to make the ultimate decision in our heads if another contract with Carnival is what we want. But financially, it makes sense and its also harder to turn down a 6 month gig that does 7 day runs to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan and Belize. MUCH better then this one ☺. So its great to know that option is on the table for us. We have still have time to make the final call. Right now our heads are filled with plans for our 5-week vacation out west.
Our thoughts are with all of you. We do miss our friends and family here, but are grateful for the experience. As always, will continue to update with the latest.

M and K