Is this what HE wants?

Monday Monday Monday... We reached 9,000 over the weekend!! 9,000!!! I can't believe it! It's still January and we already hit such a huge number of views!! It's so amazing!!!

Fundraiser updates! The Mary Kay fundraiser WILL be going on in March. The website link will be set up for anyone out of town to order, and if you're local you can order through Mandi if you'd like!

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite days of the year, and this year we will have a fundraiser during it! A cupcake fundraiser!! My friend Lynds will bake a bunch of cupcakes and I will post pics on Facebook. You can order through facebook, or if you'd like you can comment here and I can take your order a different way. They will be done in time for Valentine's Day, so you can have some yummy treats to celebrate with!

The Scentsy fundraiser is still ongoing!

I think that's all the updates I have today! ..................................................................................................


The tests were done, and the different things taken back up to the urologist's office. We just had to wait on the call that told us the results. And hope and pray the results were good.
"Dr Gilbaugh called..."
"He called? Himself? Or his nurse did?"
"He did." Doctors never call, this can't be good....
"Well??"
"He said he was right about which complication it was. And that surgery is necessary to remove the sperm."
"Okay..."
"I'm going to do it. It's the only way we'll be able to have kids, and it needs to be done before the treatments ruin our chances for ever..." Is this what HE wants?
"It's entirely up to you. It's your decision."
"It's our future, it's OUR decision. And it doesn't matter anyway, I'm doing it."
"But babe, we will have to have IVF when we want kids. And I don't see how we'll afford that."
"Yeah, and when that day comes we will figure out a way to do it." He sounds like he's thought this all through. He's on a mission.
"Okay. Well, I'm still saying it's your body and therefore your decision."
"Yeah, and I've already decided." Okayyyy.
Now it was time to wait. Wait for the insurance to decide if they would cover it. Wait to find out the amount of money we'd have to come up with if the insurance said no. And we had to wait on the scheduling of the surgery.

 In the meantime Danny had a CT scan scheduled through the cancer center.
BzzzzzBBBZzzzzzzzzz. That pager is so annoying.
"Daniel, I need to just see what flavor of drink you want for the CT scan. Vanilla or chocolate?"
"Chocolate."
The nurse walked off and was back pretty quickly with the drink. Danny drank it, and we joked about how nasty it was.
"Do you want to try it?" EWWW NO.
"No thanks, I can smell it from here, that's nasty."
"Are you sure?" Sluurp sluuuuurp "Yummmm."
"You are such a liar, I know that stuff doesn't taste good!"
"I know... It's actually really gross." Duh!
"Why can't they just give you an IV or something with the dye or whatever in it?"
"That would be a lot better than this...."
Danny finished the drink and then waited to get called back.
Bzzzzz BbbZZZZZZzzzz
"Have fun getting scanned babe!"
"Ha! Thanks"
He left and about five minutes later a lady went and locked the door. It was late, Danny made the appointment for after work so he wouldn't miss any more time than necessary. There were still a couple other people in the waiting area though.
I listened to some people who were talking loudly enough for people to hear down the hall. They were there for their mom, and weren't happy with how she was responding to the chemo. I then tuned out. Not something I wanted to hear!!
The door handle jiggled and then I seen Danny's head at the window. He couldn't get in because it was locked so I got up and headed to the door.
"Oh is he done with his CT already?" So she did realize I was still here and he would be back....
"I guess so... It's alright if I unlock the door?"
"Oh yeah, I just locked it out of habit. I'm sorry!"
"Not a problem...." I opened the door and Danny came in and asked if he was free to leave. He was, so we got out of there.
"So, do you have to wait on the results then? Or did they say anything after you were done?"
"They said before the scan even started that I would get the results at my next appointment with Dr Johnson. Which is in almost a month."
"Well, it's just a normal scan, right? Just to have something to compare to after chemo is over? I'm sure nothing is there. You just had a CT scan right before your surgery. It won't show anything new."
"I'm sure you're right." I AM right....

The next few days were uneventful. More of waiting waiting waiting. And then Danny got another call from Dr Gilbaugh himself. We were both at work, so he called me when he got off the phone.
"Okay, insurance won't cover it. They won't cover anything fertility related, even though this surgery is only necessary because of a complication from another surgery."
"Okay. So. Did he give you a number?"
"Yeah, and it all has to be paid for up front. The number is _____"
"Oh my God."

"I guess we can just wait and hope that your sperm production comes back after the treatments..."
"NO. We are NOT doing that. I'm going to figure this out. I told him that we would have to figure out a way to pay for it, and he said he would call me back."
"Why does he need to call you back? For what?"
"I have no idea." What the crap?!
"Oh, he's calling now. I will call you back."
I did what I always do... I went to my mom. I told her how much the surgery would cost.
"Mom, we don't have much left from wedding gifts... and we didn't get anywhere NEAR that much money anyway."
"Okay, well, I think you should call our bank. See if you can get a signature loan."
I had no idea what that was, so she explained it all to me.
"Okay, I think we could afford a payment on that..."
"I will just call the loan officer. We're friends, I can explain it a little and see what she says." I have the best mom in the world!!
I went back to work and she came out a few minutes later with a list of information I needed to call the lady back with. I still hadn't talked to Danny, so I figured I should call him and fill him in on my plan, and get the information I needed.
"Hey! I've got good news!"
"Okay... What news is that?" He doesn't sound excited... Booo on him!
"We can get a signature loan, to at least cover part of it. It'll cover the cost of the sperm shipment, the first year's storage fee, the testing, all of that. We will still have to come up with the other costs, but it's a start. I just need some of your info...."
I asked him for everything I needed and wrote down all the answers.  I called the loan officer.
"Okay Destiny, with all of that information plugged in, I can give you $____, and your payment will be $105 a month."
"That will work."
"Okay, when you come in to sign the papers, we can decide which day you'd like your payments to be taken from your account. Or if you'd like to transfer the money yourself we don't have to do automatic withdrawal."
"I'd rather do automatic, so I CAN'T forget."
"I completely understand that! Okay, just come in today or tomorrow with your pay stubs, and we will get your money into your account."
"Thanks so much!!"
I called Danny and we decided we would go after work with our pay stubs and get the money. We had pushed everything back long enough, it was time to get the ball rolling.
As we were pulling into the parking lot of the bank, Danny's phone rang. It was Dr Gilbaugh again. They chatted for a bit, and when Danny got off the phone, he had a big grin on his face.
"WHAT?!?!"
"He said he talked to the surgery center, They will accept payment later, instead of up front, for their fees. He said he will take payments once we get on our feet, and the anesthesiologist will just bill us. We only need enough money for the sperm bank stuff, which this loan will cover!"
"Ohmygosh Danny!! THAT'S GREAT!!!!"
"We still need to come up with the money to cover everything once the billing starts, but this is a great start!" It's better than great!
We went into the bank and signed everything we needed, and the loan amount was transferred to our account. We could FINALLY do this!!

The next day, Danny's mom came over while I was gone. When I came home, Danny told me she'd stopped by and seen the kittens and asked him why we were waiting so long to start chemo.
"She's mad you haven't started yet, right?"
"She isn't mad. She was trying to understand what was taking so long."
"Well?"
"I told her about the fertility stuff." Which most people don't understand...
"Okay. What did she say?"
"She said she would help us. And to come over tomorrow to get the help."
"Are you serious?! OUR MOMS ROCK! Seriously!"
"I know. That will help pay for the surgery center at least."
I was happy. Things were finally starting. We had hope for IVF in the future thanks to this procedure and thanks to the amazing doctors and our moms and the bank!
And then the guilt set it...
"Danny... Maybe we shouldn't do this. Maybe we've pushed the chemo back too long already. What if it causes a problem?"
"Destiny, don't. We still have almost a month before chemo HAS to start. That's plenty of time for the surgery to be done and me to heal. Dr Johnson wouldn't have said waiting was an option if it was a bad idea. He has my health as his priority. We have to trust that decision." He's probably right... This time...
"I just feel like people don't understand. Everyone we know that wants kids HAS them. They can't imagine how I feel, not having a child and wanting one someday. And that isn't an option without this surgery. I love Faith, I consider her mine. But I will never replace Wendy. I don't WANT to. But I want to be number ONE to my own child someday. I want to be the favorite. I want a baby. Not right now, but I want one."
"I know babe. You can't let this bother you. Some people don't understand, but that's their problem. The people that matter DO understand. And they are the ones that are willing to help." True..
"I'm glad our moms understand at least. I guess because they both have kids and grandkids. I mean, they probably can't imagine life without all of us in it, so they don't want that to be a reality for us. I can't imagine only having Faith. I want more. I want to see a baby that's a perfect mix of me and you."
"Babe, I know. Don't stress over this. The surgery is scheduled, the sperm fees are in our bank waiting for the day. Things are going to be fine." Ahhhh it's hard not to stress!!!
"Okay..."
"Everything is going to be better than okay..." And here he is, being the rock AGAIN. I'm supposed to be the strong one, right??


That's all for today!! Please remember to follow and SHARE SHARE SHARE!! :) Thanks for reading!!!!

He's talking to me?

Happy Friday!! I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. I was busy all day and then ended up going to a fundraiser quartermania for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. There was a pretty good turn out, I won some great stuff, and I hope they raised a lot of money!!

A quick update on the cut-a-thon!! It looks like we will be having this fundraiser on the first Sunday in March. That isn't completely official, but it looks like the best day for everyone working it. I will have bracelets there for sale if you haven't been able to order them. If you have ordered them, I promise I will get them out asap! There just aren't enough hours in the day lately.

I wrote an ACTUAL letter to Ellen Degeneres yesterday, and I'm mailing it out today along with a bracelet. I know a multiple people have written in to her online and I am so thankful! I don't want those entries to stop!! Keep writing! If you want to help but can't afford to donate anything or participate in any fundraisers, writing in to Ellen helps too! I hope she gets so many entries from so many people, that she can't help but come over to the blog and read it!!

I think that's all the updates I have today.................................................................................................


Danny recovered well from his wisdom teeth removal. He had zero complications, and was a trooper! He was swollen the next day of course, but he said the pain wasn't even too bad! The dogs and cats got along well, and things were going great! Danny's follow up appointment at the oral surgeon went smoothly, and then it was time to mentally prepare for the appointment with the urologist.
We googled the place, to be sure we knew where we were going. Danny recognized it, and knew how to get there. We decided not to do any more research on the complication until we talked to this amazing doctor. I was hoping he would tell us that there was no problem and everything would be fine... The problem with being optimistic is that you tend to set yourself up for disappointment.
The day of the urologist appointment, I was nervous. I went with Danny, and sitting in that waiting room was awful.
"Danny, what are all those doors for over there?"
"Well, what do you think they do a lot of testing on here?" Ewwwww!
"Ohh.... Nevermind..."
"I could explain more if..." OH NO!!
"Shush it!! No more!"
He got a good laugh about it all, but I didn't. I didn't want to think about what all those men were doing inside those doors. I didn't want to think about ANYTHING really.
"Daniel Crabb?" Ahhhh it's time! We stood up and went over to the nurse who led us back to a small exam room. She asked Danny a few questions, and then left the room.
"Hey... the diagrams on these walls are not nearly as scary as the ones that show cancer at Dr Hyder's office..."
"Speak for yourself, some of those diseases are awful!" Ha... men...
Dr Gilbaugh walked in with a big smile on his face and Danny's chart in his hand. He introduced himself and we shook hands.
"Okay, I've talked to Dr Johnson and Dr Hyder, I've looked through your chart. I'd like to do an exam really quick..." I scanned through the paperwork they gave us when we checked in (MORE paperwork!!!!) while the doctor went through all of the tests or whatever it was he was doing. I wasn't looking. I wasn't even facing them. I had no idea what kind of tests and exams would be going on and I didn't WANT to know.
"Okay, we are done. Now I've got a few questions, just so I can pinpoint the exact problem..." He asked Danny questions, Danny answered. I was as red as a tomato. These were private questions and I'm just not used to talking about those types of things out loud. Thank goodness men aren't!
"Okay, after the exam and everything you've told me, I think you have a type of complication from the surgery. Your nerves were damaged, that's what's causing the issue. Sometimes when the nerves are damaged because of surgery, the nerves will repair themselves. It can take years, but it is possible for some. Then, in theory you would be able to have children naturally." WE CAN HAVE KIDS?!?!?! YES!!!!!!
"HOWEVER, since you will be doing radiation... I wouldn't suggeset waiting it out. The radiation will kill the sperm you have now, and you won't make healthy sperm again for another two years at least. Some people never do. It can take years for your nerves to repair themselves, if they do, so even after the two years after radiation, there may be no way to see if you're producing sperm. Without surgery anyway. So, I recommend going in for surgery. I will remove the sperm from the..." Blah blah blah, he shouldn't use big words. Maybe he's speaking Greek.
"Okay..."
"Since we will remove the sperm surgically, you'll only be able to have children through In Vitro Fertilization. IVF is...." OH MY GOSH. I know what IVF is dang it, but there's no WAY we can afford that!!!!!!!!!!
"Here locally it runs around 10-15 thousand dollars, depending on what else they have to do. Mrs Crabb, do you have a normal cycle?" What? He's talking to me?
"Oh ummm, yeah. Like clockwork. But I'm also on birth control so..."
"Okay, well you're young and as long as your cycle is normal once you're off birth control, I have no doubt that you could be successful with just one round. For some people it takes up to three. I think you really will only need one."
"So when can we set up the surgery?" What did Danny just say? He wants to do the surgery??
"Well, I will check with my scheduler, but we do have to do a few more tests just to be sure I'm right about the complication. If I am, then we will contact your insurance to see what they will cover. I will write a letter explaining that this surgery is needed because of a complication from your last surgery." Oh no, insurance won't cover this? Obviously they don't cover IVF, but they may not cover the surgery???
"So, let's go check out. I will get you set up with everything for the tests we need. And then you can just bring it all back and we will call you with the results.." I hope Danny has paid attention to all of this, I have no idea what he is talking about. Tests, at home? That he brings back? What?
We checked out and Danny got a whole packet full of I don't even know what.
Danny dropped me back off at work, where I did what became the norm... Threw myself on to the bench and bawled. I told my mom that we would have to have IVF if we want kids...
"Mom, we will NEVER be able to afford that! I will never ever be a mom!!"
"Destiny, where there is a will there is a way. If you want to be parents, you WILL be parents. You will find a way, and we will all help in any way we can."
"But do you know how much it costs?! $10,000!!! And UP TO $15,000!!!"
"I know, that's a lot. But if you set your mind to something, you succeed. And you will in this too."
I eventually calmed down. My dreams didn't go up in smoke, they just got pushed back. We could do this. We WOULD do this...


That's all I've got for you today.  It's another busy day, but I had to give you all a little piece of our story since I haven't since Tuesday! I will try to write this weekend sometime, to make up for not blogging as much this week!
Please remember to follow and SHARE the blog!! Thanks so much for reading!!!

Oh my, he is on some good stuff!!

I've gotten a few bracelets out!! I got some money in the mail today, so I will be sending more out tonight hopefully!

It sounds like the Silpada fundraiser will be a success, I've gotten quite a few messages about it already! Don't forget about the Scentsy fundraiser that's currently ongoing!!

AND!!!!! The photography mini session date looks to be March 25th!! Once Jennifer makes the flier, I will post it here and on Facebook! I can not say enough how much I LOVE every picture that Jennifer takes, and if you read my post about how understanding she was when we were in the hospital after Danny's surgery and hadn't paid her yet for our wedding pictures, you can see how caring and WONDERFUL she is. She has become so much more than just our wedding photographer and I couldn't be more thankful for her :)

I think that's all the updates I have for now. So, back to our story :) .........................................................


An appointment was scheduled for meeting with the urologist, but first was Danny's wisdom teeth removal! He was more than ready, but first we had to pay the cost that wasn't covered by insurance. That was about $200, thank goodness we didn't spend all of our wedding gift money while on our honeymoon!! That was about he last of it though, and the stress was kicking in.
"That's $200 we could surely use elsewhere. Maybe I can wait on getting the teeth removed." No sir!
"What? No. You have needed them removed for YEARS. You DEFINITELY need them removed before chemo. They can get infected easily once chemo starts, and you do NOT need to deal that on top of all the stupid side effects that go along with it."
"That's still a lot of money." UGH!!!!
"Stop. We are spending it. It needs to be done, and done NOW."
"Fine." Stubborn man... I win, again.
Danny's appointment was on a Friday, and we showed up to the office early so we could pay and get all the paperwork done.
"Have you been on any medication recently and are you currently on any now?" HA!! What has he NOT been on?!
We listed everything he had been on and when the last time he had anything was. Then they took him back. I expected a long wait, but since he was the first one back, it wasn't really all that bad. When they were done, a nurse came and got me and took me to see him.
"Here are the instructions on caring for him today. He can't drive now, and won't be able to drive if he takes the pain medicine. If he isn't in too much pain, he can take Tylenol. Here is how to clean everything..." blah blah blah. They should make these talks more exciting. I've heard too many of them over the last month and a half...
"Any questions?"
"Nope, I think we're good."
"If  you need anything, call this number. If you want to go get your car and drive around back, I will have Daniel waiting for you at that door." What? They don't want him to walk through the waiting room and scare everyone with his face all wrapped up? Dang it... Would've been fun too...
I drove around to the back door and the nurse helped Danny into the car. She waved and I drove off.
"She slkdjf afkjn ehuie terie ri" (I swear that's really how it sounded..)
"What?"
"Hmm??"
"What did you say? All I heard was nonsense."
"I didn't see gnneriuepo n sijr"
"WHAT?!"
"What?" Oh my, he is on some good stuff!!
"Nothing, let's stop and drop off this prescription on our way home."
We made it the entire way without any more gibberish conversations, much to my disappointment. It was really rather fun! I dropped off his prescription at the pharmacy, where I was pretty sure they knew me by name after all the trips we'd made there since the wedding.
"Okay, we're home. I'm going to get my driver's license changed now. Will you be okay alone?"
"Going to sleep."
"That's probably a good idea. I will be back."
I kissed his forehead so I wouldn't hurt him (and his mouth was full of nasty gauze anyway, not very enticing in my opinion...). And I drove all the way to the dmv. I stood in line for about an hour. We had gone to the social security office the week before and my new card was on it's way, and all I needed was my new license, then I woule officially be a Crabb!
"We're sorry, we're having some computer problems. Everything is down for now. We hope to have this all taken care of in the next hour."
I sent Danny a text telling him I was on my way home, without my new last name, but would have to come back later. I had the day off so I NEEDED to get it all taken care of. I grabbed lunch and some jello and mashed potatoes for Danny in case he was hungry.
When I got home, Danny wasn't asleep. He was watching tv and looked like he was in pretty good shape considering. He ate some of the food I brought him, and we hung out for a while. I decided to head BACK up to the dmv after a couple of hours. It took me a little longer to get there, and I was already a bit annoyed that I'd wasted so much of the day on this. I walked in, and there was a sign on the inner door saying they were closed, because their system was down. ANOTHER WASTED TRIP!!!!! I was so irritated!!!! I got BACK in the car and turned the radio up loud. I was going to jam out on my way home and get happy! Some awesome music was on... and then a commercial. I was about to change the channel when the commercial registered in my head.
"Two for one on all cats and kittens at the Kansas Humane Society. Today only!" Ohhhh YEA!!!
We had talked for months about getting a cat and the week before I found one I LOVED at Petsmart, and it was a KHS kitten. I called the Humane Society and asked them if the kittens they have at Petsmart were included in the two for one fee. They were!! I couldn't get home fast enough!
"Danny!! Danny! Are you awake?"
"Yes, why did you RUN in here?" I didn't run... Did I?
"Because! Guess what?!?!"
"Umm, there's a sale somewhere and you want to go." Did he hear the commercial too?
"Well, it's not really a SALE... but..." I told him about the commercial, and that the humane society said the petsmart kittens qualified too.
"I know we don't really NEED kittens right now, with everything going on. But that one tortie was there last week and I want her! And you liked her a lot! If she's still there, and there's another kitten there that catches our eye, can we PLEASE get them? PLEASE?!"
"You were never a cat person, I can't believe you are talking me into this."
"Another thing... it's TODAY only. So, we would have to go tonight. Or, like, soon. Because what if she's gone?"
"Oh jeez Des. Fine. You win." WOOHOOOO!!!! "Did you get your new license?"
"CRAP!! I forgot how mad I was about that... NO! The system was still down."
"Well, it's okay. Let's have dinner then go up to petsmart. Does Bionic Burger sound okay?"
"You are going to eat A BURGER even though you just got your wisdom teeth out a few hours ago?"
"That's what I said..." Ooooo he's gonna regret that decision...
"Well, if that's what you want... I'll go get it and we will eat here. Then go."
I drove there and picked up our dinner, and went back home. We ate, and Danny did just fine, much to my surprise. I was prepared to go get more mashed potatoes!
"Okay, let's go get the kittens. We should take the truck though, because we will need to get some cat stuff." Ohhh, right. Whoops.
We headed to the pet store and I walked in and went directly back to the kitten area. The tortie was still there!!! I was in love!!! Danny finally caught up and looked around. The tortie had caught his eye the week before and he was the one that pointed her out. He looked pretty dang happy that she was still there. He pet her through the cage while I looked around at the other KHS kittens.
"Danny the only other one I see that I like is that one in the same cage... She looks so sweet. And she's pretty. And they share the same cage so they already get along"
"She looks scared..." She's just a tiny little thing, of course she's scared!
"Would you two like to get a kitten out and get to know him or her?"
"Actually, we know we want this little girl here." I pointed to the tortie. "And this one in her same cage, we would like to see her also, please."
The worker shut the door to the kitten area and opened the cage. The torie came right to me. So sweet!! She was curious and was sniffing around and started walking around and exploring. The white cat was SO SO SCARED. She went to Danny and it took her quite a while to warm up, but she did.
"I see, I pick out the white kitten, and she prefers you..."
"That's how it always happens. Look, the black one likes you better and she's the one I picked out last week!" True...
"Okay, we will take these two. They are included in the two for one fee through KHS, right?"
"Oh I don't know anything about that ma'am, let me go call and I will be right back."
"Danny! I hope she gets the same answer I got when I called earlier!! I want them both!! I can't choose which one to leave if the person she calls says no!!"
"Don't worry about it, it'll be fine." If  you say so...
The lady was gone for what seemed like forever, and I was falling more in love with both kittens.
"Okay, they said they are included! Let's get this paperwork filled out, you two can do any shopping you need to get done, and these two will be ready for you when you're done."
"Thank you so so much!!"
"Oh, and you can't pay with a debit card for the kittens. They will have to be paid for with a cash or check." Ohhh CRAP!!
I searched through my purse and found my checkbook. I had ONE check left!!! I told her that was fine, and we filled out the appropriate paperwork. I wrote the check and she took it all. We got a cart, and started to look for everything we needed for two kittens.
"Okay, we've got the litterbox here. Litter. A scooper. What kind of toys should we get?" We took our full cart into the next aisle and picked out a few small things, and then Danny walked off. When I found him, he was by the cat towers.
"Look babe, this one is on sale. And they will need a place where they can get away from the dogs. We need it."
"Well, okay... It's still kind of expensive... BUT, it is much cheaper than the normal price."
"I'm getting it. I'm paying for all of this. Don't worry about it." Well okay then!
We started to walk towards the check out area and ran into the dog trainer that we went to when Pixie went through her training classes. He asked how the wedding went, and the honeymoon. We stood and talked to him for quite a while about everything. He couldn't believe anything, and he REALLY couldn't believe Danny had had his wisdom teeth out that day and was in the store, adopting kittens!! He asked about the dogs, and told me not to worry about them causing a problem with the kittens.
We went to the front and the kittens were together and safe in a carrying tote. They were very vocal and I spent a few minutes talking to them through the holes. We paid for all of the kitten essentials, got the adoption paperwork, and headed home.
"Look Danny, one of them has a cute name already. Sora. Do you like that?"
"I do, that's good for the white one, don't you think?"
"Yeah... and let's call the tortie Dahlia. Is that okay with you?"
"That's perfect."
We got home and got everything set up, and then opened up the tote so they could come out on their own and explore. It took them a bit, but they both got curious. Sora was still more frightened than Dahlia, but she found the litterbox, and a special hiding place in the spare room... under the bed.
"Will she be okay under there? Should we move the bed and get her out?"
"No, that will just scare her more. She will come out when she's ready. Her food is in here, she knows where the litterbox is. She is fine. We should let her come out on her own."
So we did. We spent the evening playing with Dahlia, and eventually Sora came out and joined in. She still got spooked easily and would run to her hiding spot, but she was getting used to us and the dogs.
I couldn't take enough pictures!

Sora decided she liked our bed, under the covers. And Dahlia just liked EVERYTHING. She was curious and feisty and she was definitely MY kitten. Sora got attached to Danny and that was okay with me.
The dogs were curious but very gentle and it was better than I imagined it would be!
"Danny, thanks for letting me get the kittens... I know you were concerned about the money to pay for your wisdom teeth, and we just dropped the money on the kittens.. but they mean so much to me already."
"I know babe. This is different. We could've lived without kittens, but they will help make everything easier. They're just another thing for you to love and focus on." LOVE HIM!!!!!
Danny's appointment with the urologist was the next week and I decided we should forget about everything until the day of that appointment. We would focus on the new kittens, surprise Faith with them. We would enjoy the days left before chemo and everything else and not worry about any of it.


That's all I've got for today. I know the wisdom teeth and us getting kittens aren't a big part of the cancer story, but it's a part of our journey. A big part that was important to us, and it's nice to look back and fondly remember their first day with us. My next post will be about us meeting Dr Gilbaugh. I won't be posting tomorrow. I will be busy all day and then we are going to a hockey game where my niece will be singing the National Anthem with her choir. So, look for my new post on Thursday!!
As always, please remember to follow and SHARE!! Thanks for reading!!!

Stage 3b?!?! That sounds BAD

Well it's Monday, and I feel like I didn't get CRAP done all weekend. I haven't gotten a single bracelet delivered, and we were constantly on the go this weekend. I've decided that weekends are exhausting!!

I don't have any updates on other fundraisers that I've already mentioned on this blog, BUT I do have another fundraiser in the works!! Our wonderful friend Tonya, who is doing our Scentsy fundraiser, is going to do a Silpada fundraiser for us! She just signed up to be a consultant, so once she gets all of her stuff set up, we will start that fundraiser!! I'm super excited! I LOVE Silpada jewelry!!

I've gotten a few messages from people saying they wrote in to Ellen on our behalf! That makes me SUPER excited! I hope many more of you do the same, so she will be so overwhelmed with messages about us and this blog that she will just HAVE to have us on her show! Wouldn't that be amazing?!

Over the weekend I showed Faith where some of the people viewing this blog live. On our stats page I can see what countries have viewed and I thought Faith would enjoy it. She did! As we were stalking the page, a new country popped up on the list, Thailand! Faith was so excited!! And so was I!! Seeing my blog spread all over the world is a feeling I can't even explain. I love it!! And THANK YOU to everyone for sharing the link with others.

I think that's all I've got for now. So, back to our story :) ..........................................................................

Our first consult appointment was with the oral surgeon, for Danny's wisdom teeth. He wanted them out as soon as possible, and definitely before his cancer treatments began. He feared they would get infected once the chemo drained his immune system, so it was good timing for them to act up on the honeymoon. They scheduled an appointment for about two weeks later.
Then it was time to meet with Dr Johnson, the oncologist. Before finding out who Danny's doctor would be, my brother talked to his friend at the cancer center. He asked who she recommended, since she works so closely with all of the doctors there. She said Dr Johnson, so that's who I wanted. I wasn't sure how to go about GETTING him as Danny's doctor, so I just hoped and prayed. Dr Hyder gave us the referral, and when he said we would be seeing Dr Johnson, I was ecstatic!!
The morning of the consult we had to get to the cancer center early, so we could fill out paperwork. We were shuffled into a small office where we had to hand over insurance cards and sign some forms.
"Okay Daniel, I need you to sign this and this. I will make a copy of your card and be right back." She looks familiar... where is her name plate? I know her... How do I know her?
"Danny, does she look familiar to you?"
"Nope. Never seen her before in my life." Well what the crap, who is she?
"Ok, I think we're all set... Oh, hey, are you Derek's little sister?" A-HA! That's how I know her!!
"I sure am... I thought you looked familiar!"
She explained who she was and told me her name and then it all clicked into place. She mentioned the friend that recommended Dr Johnson working in the scheduling area and I told her I knew she worked there because Derek had asked her opinion of the doctors. Such a small world! I'm pretty sure between all 3 of my brothers' friends and everyone that Danny knows (can't take him anywhere, I swear) we know just about everyone in this entire city and surrounding area. And we don't live in a small town!
Then we were sent out to the waiting area again, to wait to see the doctor.
"Danny, there's so many older people in here... And there's so many people, PERIOD in here. It's so sad."
"Would you feel better if there were children in here, waiting for chemo?" Ohhh no.
"Oh God, okay, you're right. I  hope I don't ever see that in here. I wouldn't be able to NOT cry."
"Look at it this way, there are a lot of people in this room, but if you look around, everyone here is WITH someone. There isn't anyone in here that looks to me like they're alone. So they don't need pity or sympathy, looks to me like everyone here has support. That's enough to make me happy." Good point.
"That's true... Still sucks though. With THIS many people, just in here TODAY, it really shows you how many people are effected by cancer..."
BZZZZzzzzzzzz BBBBZZZZzzzzzzz Danny's pager went off, which meant it was time to see Dr Johnson.
"Hi, Daniel?"
"That's me."
"Right this way and we will get you set up to meet with Dr Johnson." This nurse seems nice... I wonder if the nurses in the chemo area are just as nice...
We waited in a small room, Danny in the seat next to me instead of on the exam table. It was so quiet that I felt like we should be quiet too.... I fidgeted with Danny's pop bottle. Looked through some paperwork that they had given us. Read up on the info they had listed under Dr Johnson.
"Danny, look at all of this info! Dr Johnson seems like an AMAZING doctor... I'm so glad we got him!"
"Me too, now I just can't wait to see what he says."
"Hopefully he'll say you don't need much chemo, because only one node was effected... and hopefully no radiation!"
"Hopefully..."
We sat around for just a few more minutes before we heard Danny's chart get removed from the box outside of the room.
"Hello! Daniel Crabb?"
"Hello, that's me."
"And are you Mrs. Crabb?"
"Yes. Destiny. Nice to meet you."
"Pleased to meet you. Okay, now that I know who you are, let me take another look at all of your paperwork here..."
He flipped through page after page after page of Danny's chart. I tried to lean over to see what all the papers said, but it just looked like rubbish to me.
"Ok, up on the table you go Daniel. I just need to feel around and then see your incision. And then listen to you breathe. We will go through all of this every time you see me from here on out, and also go over at that time any side effects you are feeling from the chemo. I will be able to tell  you today what you will PROBABLY experience during your treatments, but I will need YOU to tell me, once they start, how you are feeling. If you are experiencing bad side effects, we can lower your dosage or try to find a different medicine that won't effect your day to day life as much."
"Okay. Sounds good."
They went through the deep breathing, he felt on Danny's stomach and looked at his healed incision.
"Okay, everything looks great. Now, you had one node effected, and since your tumor went entirely through the outer wall of the colon, but didn't spread to any organs or tissue, this is stage 3b colon cancer." WHAT?!?! Has anyone mentioned the stage before?! Stage 3b?!?! That sounds BAD. Ohmygosh. Oh no..... Oh NOOOO.
"Since the tumor was so low in your sigmoid colon, I think we should do radiation on top of the chemo. Normally we don't do radiation on colon cancer patients, but here is where your tumor was..." He pointed to a drawing he had just made on some paperwork...
"That part of your colon doesn't move. This other part of your colon moves around and never really stays in one place...." More pointing.... "Since that part of the colon moves, radiation isn't usually necessary. When the tumor is this low, I think radiation is a must. The likelihood of the cancer returning is higher, and radiation should help prevent that." It could come back?!?! I guess that's a given, that's what cancer can do... But, only one node was effected! And Dr Hyder worked his magic and he got it all. We shouldn't have to go through this again!! IT BETTER NOT COME BACK!!!!
"Okay, sounds good. Whatever I need to do to get rid of this, and make sure it doesn't come back, I will do it." Listen to him... He's got his mind set already...
"Okay, my plan for you is the max amount of chemo." MAX AMOUNT?!?!?! But nooooo! Dang it, he's too young, this didn't spread, they GOT IT ALL. Why?!?!?!?!
"You're young and healthy, so you can handle this just fine I'm sure. Remember to tell me how you're feeling at each appointment so we can keep the doses just right for you. Now, we will do twelve rounds of chemo, with a combinations of drugs that together form Folfox, but we will split those twelve rounds up. We will do six rounds, then break and do radiation, then you will have a break from everything for about a month, and then you will finish with your last six rounds... Now, while you are doing radiation, you will ALSO be on chemo at the same time, but you will only be on one drug during that time. Here is what folfox is..." Oh. My. God. Seriously? YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. Twelve rounds of these drugs... PLUS radiation, AND chemo DURING the radiation?! This is not happening...
Dr Johnson wrote down lots of information about the chemo drugs, then went on to explain the side effects.
"You shouldn't lose your hair. It might thin a little, but it shouldn't fall out. Your main side effect will be tingling and pain in your hands and feet. They may even go numb. Everyone is different, but that side effect is the one that usually causes us to cut chemo short or lower the doses. It all depends on the person though, so please BE SURE to tell me when you experience that side effect, how much it bothers you, and if it is causing problems at work and so on." Danny works on his feet, with his hands, all DANG DAY. That side effect is going to seriously screw things up... UGH!!
"Another side effect is cold intolerance. I don't mean you will FEEL cold. I mean you won't be able to HANDLE cold things. You will NEED to either not get ANYTHING out of the freezer, or use gloves. When you go outside in the winter and go to open your car door, WEAR GLOVES. You won't be able to eat and drink cold beverages and foods. Don't put ice in your drinks. All of the cold sensations will feel like BURNING sensations to you. If you grab something out of the freezer, it will feel like you stuck your hand into flames. Drinking cold beverages will sting like you can't imagine. After that side effect kicks in, you won't forget to take those precautions. Feeling those sensations will force those precautions into your mind." Danny always ALWAYS has a cold pop on hand. And winter is coming, how is this going to work?! I HATE CHEMO!!!!!!
"Now, do you two have kids?" Oh no... here it goes....
"Not together, no. I have one from my previous marriage."
"Are you planning on having kids together?"
"YES."
"Okay, well, this chemo drug itself doesn't prevent you from having kids. It won't cause infertility. It can cause birth defects, so they warn you not to get pregnant while on the drug. And, then there's the radiation. The radiation will kill all of your sperm for up to two years. And POSSIBLY forever. We recommend that everyone who will have radiation in that area go to a sperm bank..." and blah blah blah blah blah. It's probably time to tell him about the problem Danny found thanks to Dr Google.
Danny took that time (and read my mind?) and told him about the possible complication from the surgery.
"Okay, well then we will push back your chemo until you meet with a uroligist. If you want kids together, you HAVE to do this before chemo can start, otherwise the sperm may never come back and you won't have the opportunity again. Just a second, let me call up Dr Hyder." Push back chemo?? Is that even safe??
Dr Johnons got on the phone with his nurse, who transferred him to Dr Hyder. He talked to Dr Hyder for a few minutes, and it sounded like they both had the same urologist in mind.
"Okay, Dr Hyder agrees with me, you should see Dr Gilbaugh. I will call him now..." If Dr Hyder is one of the best in the state, and Dr Johnson is one of the best in the state, and they BOTH recommend this doctor... surely that means HE is one of the best in the state, too.... Right??
"Okay, I've got you all set up to meet with him to figure out what you can do about fertility preservation. They will send you the paperwork and call you to set up the actual appointment depending on your schedule. We need to get you in for a CT scan in a couple weeks, for a before chemo scan. So that way next year we will have a scan to compare with. Then, once you've got your future children frozen at the sperm bank, however that happens, you can start chemo." This is all happening so fast.... And should he really WAIT to start chemo???
"Is it okay to wait that long to start chemo?" I had to ask... I want kids, but I have to have A HUSBAND to help me raise our kids! Duh!
"Oh yes, there is plenty of time. They usually say to wait no longer than about 90 days from surgery to start chemo. So that's the end of September. It's the first week of August now, this will all be taken care quickly, and he can start the chemo in September and will be fine. I do want to make sure you know this chemo and radiation is just a preventative though. All the bloodwork looks great. These steps are just to be sure the cancer won't come back."  Right, because it's stage 3B cancer.... which sounds absolutely terrifying...
"Now, you're all set up to get your port put in for chemo, correct?"
"Yes, in a few weeks. I also have my wisdom teeth removed in two weeks."
"Wow, you're a busy guy. Well, just call our office and let us know when the urologist is done with you, and then we'll set up chemo appointments. Let's walk out and schedule your CT scan..."
We got to the scheduler's desk, and that's when I seen my brother's friend who recommended Dr Johnson in the beginning. I talked with her for a few minutes, and then it was time to go.
"I'm starving.... Let's go to lunch before you go back to work." Work? Oh, right. I have to go back to work... I'm not even hungry... Stage 3b cancer.... Urologist... Radiation will kill Danny's sperm... Stage 3b cancer... Stage 3b cancer... I NEED A COMPUTER SO I CAN LOOK ALL OF THIS  UP!!!!!!
We went to Taco Bell, and I picked at my food. My phone was going crazy with people texting, wanting to know what happened at the oncologist appointment... I told my mom that I would tell her when I got back to work. I told Wendy what the doctor said...
"He said since it went through the outer wall, and effected one node, that it's stage 3b."
"Oh no... I'm so sorry..." Uhhh... sorry? So it IS bad, then?!?!? I NEED TO GET TO MY COMPUTER!!! My phone's internet isn't fast enough!!
"Wait, I just looked it up... I know stage 3 for breast cancer is bad. Stage 3 for colon cancer still has a great survival rate. Don't freak out!!!" Oh thank you Dr Google. Finally a good answer!!!!
Danny and I didn't talk much at lunch, and then he dropped me off at work. My mom was outside on the bench and as soon as Danny pulled out of the parking lot, I started bawling. I couldn't hold it in anymore, I was overwhelmed and I just couldn't do it. I threw myself onto the bench next to my mom and I told her all about EVERYTHING. The stage 3b diagnosis. How he has to have ALL of this chemo AND radiation. How radiation will KILL our chances of having kids, and how because of this STUPID complication, we have to go see a urologist before we can even THINK about being able to have kids SOMEDAY with frozen sperm.
"Destiny, it will be okay. I promise you, it will all be fine. Listening to everything you've said, it all makes perfect sense. Yes, the staging is scary. But do some research on it before you get carried away because of the number. And the radiation MAY kill your chances of having kids, but you WILL bank sperm before this treatment starts. Your doctor said there's plenty of time for it. So, it's ALL going to be fine. Are you okay?" I just needed her to tell me it would all be okay. Because, magically, I was fine. I had to throw it all out there and break down, and now I could build myself back on up.
"Okay. Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go inside, it's hot out here and my head hurts now... And I need to get on the computer..." We went inside and my mom disappeared.
I did some research, and the survival rate of stage 3b colon cancer wasn't GREAT. But, the survival rate of stage 3b patients with only ONE node effected were MUCH better than those with 3 effected. Also, the tumor hadn't spread to nearby organs. The abscess prevented it from spreading to his bladder, so I slowly started REALLY believing that things would be okay. Dr Johnson's reminder that this was all PREVENTATIVE kept ringing in my head. I just had to keep reminding myself that's all this was. So it won't come back and we won't have to go through all of this again...
My mom came charging into my work area...
"Okay, I talked to Jake and he called his sister in law..." His sister in law is one of the BEST ob/gyn's in the state, she does high risk pregnancies and did I mention she's one of the best??
"Okay???"
"She said you HAVE to go to a Dr... Oh what's his name, I wrote it down.... Gilbaugh. She said he's the best of the best and so THAT is who you  need to go to. Who did your oncologist refer you to?"
"Dr Gilbaugh..."
"Oh!!! Well, PERFECT!! See, you just keep lucking out with all the best doctors don't you?"
"That's the truth!"
I was really starting to feel good about things. We were back from our honeymoon and things were getting serious and going fast... but it wasn't the end of the world. For every little bit of bad news, we got even more GOOD news. We could do this. We could do ALL of this, together. We had an amazing team of doctors and surgeons on our side, and so many friends and family members... Everything would be okay!!


That's all for today. Tomorrow I will talk about Danny's wisdom teeth removal and meeting with Dr Gilbaugh. Please remember to follow and SHARE!! Thanks so much for reading!!! :)

I'm FINALLY cool in her eyes!!

Happy Friday everyone!!!
I just want to share with those of you who aren't our friends on Facebook... When I was sitting here blogging last night, I was finding it hard to concentrate... Because I was being stared at. Want to see the culprit?

Ha!! That's my Pixie!!

I got some good news yesterday! I had booked a Pure Romance Party through a friend who is a consultant, and she's decided to donate a percentage of the sales to our IVF fund!! :) The party was booked long before this blog was even thought of, and donating it was her idea, and I am so excited!! :)

I also got some bad news yesterday. We weren't picked for one of the scholarship type things I signed up for from a really awesome foundation. I completely understand that they can't help everyone that needs it, and I'm okay with the decision. There are lots of people in our corner and we WILL raise and save enough money for our dreams to come true, I just know it!!

Last night I decided to post a link to our blog on our sperm bank's facebook page, thinking maybe someone else could be going through what we are and would like to read my side of it all. I never expected the company itself to see the post (so many companies on facebook pay no attention to the posts on their page from other people). This morning I was PLEASANTLY surprised to see their new status update was:
New blog by a young newlywed whose husband beat colon cancer. She shares their story, including their infertility struggle. Best wishes to the Crabbs, and thank you for sharing your story.
Followed by the link to our blog. I was ecstatic... and then I seen that they had commented on the post I had put on their wall last night:
Destiny, thank you so much for sharing your story/blog with RTL. You and Danny are inspiring, and we wish you the best. We'll be following your blog, and please keep us posted!
Now, I knew we were blessed with the BEST doctors possible, but I have realized now that we were also blessed with the BEST sperm bank (and they store much more than just sperm! Check out their website if you are in need of fertility preservation: http://reprotech.com/)!!

We get new followers and viewers every day and I cannot thank you all enough for sharing our blog!!

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Waking up in our own bed was marvelous, even if I was bombarded with thoughts of what all we needed to get done. We both had the day off and it was time to get busy!!
We started off calling the dentist, who referred Danny to an oral surgeon to take care of his widsom teeth. He needed a consult first, so we set that up.
Then, we headed to the mall!!! Danny was going to get his watch, since we couldn't find it on our cruise for the price Danny was happy with. I also needed to send my ring in for it to get fixed. I won't even get in to that whole fiasco, but I needed them to take my two bands apart, close a gap, and then solder the bands back together.
We went and seen our jewelry lady, who helped us when we were first shopping for rings and who Danny has bought everything for me from. She asked how we were doing, and we told her everything that was going on.
"Oh you guys... Well, what's the plan now? Chemo? Radiation? Did they get it all?"
"The surgeon said he felt like he got it all, but we haven't gotten any official word yet. We know he'll have chemo for sure, but radiation hasn't been mentioned yet."
"Well, I just finished up my chemo recently. My tip, eat RIGHT after the chemo, because after a while the medicine will all kick in and you won't be hungry and nothing will taste right. Eat on your way home from the clinic, so you can get something in your stomach before you start to feel like that."
We asked some questions about her chemo, she didn't have the same kind of cancer of course, but she didn't have it easy. She gave us some more tips, and then got out some watches for Danny to look at while she put my ring in the back.
Danny narrowed the watches down to two. They didn't have the original watch he wanted, but these were even better in his opinion. I told him the choice was entirely his, because it is his (late) wedding gift.
"Okay Shelly, I think we are going to get this one."
"Good choice. Let me get it put in the computer and box it up for you guys."
While she did that I browsed the wedding bands. I had one, but I liked the look of the double bands that surround the original band. My wedding band was a solitaire enhancer so it didn't look like we were MARRIED, it just looked like an engagement ring.
"I think for our first anniversary, you should buy me that double band set right there...."
"Don't you have enough diamonds?" NEVER!!!!!!
"Ummm, no. And I think that one would look really good..."
"I don't disagree. Write it down somewhere so I'll know what to look for next year." I have the BEST husband... no doubt about it.
Shelly came back with our bag.
"Here you go you two. Please PLEASE keep me updated on everything. I will see you in two weeks when your ring gets in, and you've got my email and phone number. Let me know if you need ANYTHING." Our jewelry lady rocks!
We left the mall, had lunch, and then went to see Danny's mom at her work. We showed her all the pictures from Florida and the cruise. We talked for a while about the trip, and then headed home.
When my brother got home from work, we went to pick up the puppies. Pixie and Zeus ran outside and met us at the truck. They were so excited to see us! I was in tears, I had missed them both so much! We went inside and talked all about the cruise. My nephews told us how good the dogs were. Evidently Pixie liked getting a bath outside with the hose, but Zeus wasn't having any part of it (which is odd, because Pixie is the one that hates baths!).  The dogs listened to the kids better than they listened to the adults, which was really no surprise. And my parents had come over and my mom had decided she liked Zeus and Pixie was annoying (again, complete opposite of the norm! Pixie isns't annoying!). We left there and took the puppies home, where they were excited to see Kira. Kira even surprised me and acted like she was happy to see them!

The next day was our day with Faith, and we picked her up from daycare after work. We had missed her SO much and couldn't wait to get her home to all of her gifts. We spent a while going through all of the items we had bought, and then we showed her the video of me swimming with the dolphin.
"That's YOU?! IN the water WITH that dolphin?!"
"Yep, his name is Ziggy, and he picked me to 'dance' with, too!"
"OH MY GOSH!!! How COOL!!" Ahhh I'm FINALLY cool in her eyes!! Ha!!
We showed her all the pictures we had, and the stuff we'd bought for ourselves. She was mostly just excited about her color changing necklace. Oh, the little things.
That day we also talked to the scheduler at the oncologist's office, and got a date for our initial consult with him. We would get paperwork in the mail, and needed to be sure to bring in a current insurance card.  We also needed to have all the important dates written down, like his colonoscopy, last CT scan, and surgery dates.
It was time to make lists, mark the calendars, and get back to our crazy cancer journey. The break was officially over. It was also time to take care of those wisdom teeth before Danny started chemo and would have a weakened immune system. We were as ready as we would ever be!!


That's all for today, and the weekend. On Monday I will talk about our consult with Dr Johnson (the oncologist) and the consult with the oral surgeon. Thanks, as always, for reading. Please continue to follow and SHARE! :) And, if you find yourself with some extra time on your hands and want to help but can't afford to do anything right now... Feel free to write in to Ellen about our story ;)
http://ellen.warnerbros.com/show/respond/?PlugID=433

Ha!! I win!!

We've reached 7,000 views!!! I can't believe this blog has been up for 19 days and already has so many views, from all over the world!! We have the most from the US, but Belgium takes second, followed by Japan and the UK, which are only 1 view apart... Maybe we should make this a contest? ;) No, just kidding. I appreciate all the views from ALL OVER though. So much!

More good news! THE BRACELETS ARE IN!!!! Woohoooo!!!!!!!!

Aren't they amazing?!!? I'm wearing mine right now :) I will get them out asap! If you are local, I can bring you yours this weekend or any time that's convenient for you. If you're not local, I need your address so I can put them in the mail :)

Some not so fabulous news... The game night fundraiser is currently postponed. The reasons don't need to be blasted here, but it's something I understand completely and am not upset about. We will figure out when we can reschedule it later, but right now my friend's focus needs to be elsewhere so we aren't going to fret over it now. No worries. I will update when that particular fundraiser is back on!

Our Scentsy fundraiser is still going, and going well!! Thanks to everyone that has ordered!

I think that's all the updates I have currently. I do want to add though, that our hearts go out to those who are suffering because of the awful Costa Concordia cruise ship accident. It's absolutely tragic, and I can't even put in to words how I feel about it, the whole thing just makes my stomach hurt. :( I am praying for everyone that was on board, and the family members of those who passed away or are still missing.

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Saturday was our last full day on the ship. We had already packed up just about everything, and planned on trying to make the most of our day at sea. I personally was hoping that the sea sickness would stay away!
Breakfast was the buffet and on our way back to the room we seen a table set up with all kinds of gold and white gold chains. Faith needed a new necklace for her Family Medallion which we had given her at the wedding, it broke about a week after she got it. We picked out a pretty white gold chain and measured out the length we thought was best. Then Danny chose a beautiful white gold chain for a bracelet for me. We put them both on our room card and they said they would be ready later that night (they had to put the clasps on).
Back in our room we discussed what we should do next.
"You know, we've talked about going to sit in the hot tub this whole time and I've never felt up to it. Let's do it today. I'm still feeling okay, and maybe if I'm IN water, I won't feel the movement anyway!"
"That's a good idea. Then we can go up to the deck where the FlowRider is and we can watch all the fun up there." I wish he could try that dang surfing thing, he was really looking forward to it.... Stupid cancer...
We headed to the adults only hot tub, which we had a view of from our balcony.

I sat at the inside edge, so I didn't have to look out on that water when I looked behind me. It just didn't sit well with me. Danny liked the view so he sat with the window behind him. It was nice and relaxing, and I wasn't feeling sick at all.
After sitting for quite a while, we were ready to get something cool to drink and head out to the fun deck. Danny got a drink from a server walking around with yummy looking drinks... and I went for the soft serve ice cream!!!
"Okay, lead the way. I have no idea where we are..."
"Babe... you never do."
"Uhhh, so?? I don't NEED to know where we are, you always do."
"Well, yeah, that's true." Ha!! I win!!
We stood around watching people surf, seeing most of them face plant. Then decided to walk around and see what else there was to do.
"Danny!! Look!! Mini golf!!!"
"Oh, you wanna lose?!" Who is he kidding?!?!
"Me? LOSE?! Against YOU, at mini golf?! Have you lost your mind?? Come on, let's play!"

Playing on a ship that's moving is WEIRD. I PROBABLY would've gotten a few holes in one if the ship hadn't shifted and moved my ball away from the hole. ;) I still ended up winning though...
After lunch we went back to the room because I, of course, started feeling sick. I took some medicine and tried to just lay down and relax.
The tv in the rooms show you the weather conditions, including "apparent winds." Everything had been calm all day, until around the time I started feeling sick. According to the tv, the apparent winds at that time kicked up to 103mph. I'm not even sure how that's possible, or if the tv was just wrong. But it was crazy that I started feeling sick around the time the apparent wind fluctuated that much.
We spent most of the rest of that day in our room and on the balcony, and I was so thankful we had packed up the night before. No way could I pack everything while feeling like that!
We went to the pizza place to eat dinner, and then went to pick up our jewelry order. Everything seemed to be on sale in all the stores, so we ended up doing more shopping. We bought my dad a bottle of Crown Royal, since he loves it and it was so cheap. We went to the photo area and claimed and paid for all of the pictures that we liked that had been taken by the RC photographers. That took forever, since the pictures were spread out all over. One of the packages we had paid for with gift certificates included a picture frame, and we decided we would have our formal picture put in it.
We also went to the computer area and paid a few dollars to get online so we could check in for our flight the next day. The flights were both crowded but we were still seated together, and I had a window seat, so I was happy.
Going over the paperwork back in the room, we had to fill out a few things involving customs. We also were assigned to late check-out from the ship, which I was worried about. Our flight left in the early afternoon, and the airport was well over an hour away. I had no idea how long it would take to check out (the video on the tv said it could take quite a while) so I was in a bit of a panic.
"I'll go down to the reservations desk and see if they can give us the early time, don't worry. I'm sure we'll figure something out." My husband is THE best!!
"Thanks babe!"
I spent that time putting all of our luggage together, and packing up the stuff we had just purchased. We were ready to go, except for the stuff we would put up after getting ready in the morning.
Danny came back and said that we could check out at any time, with the "our time" option. We just wouldn't set out our luggage for the crew to pick up. In the morning we would have to lug it around ourselves, but that was fine with me if it meant we could make it to the airport on time.
We set our alarm so we would wake up in time to get ready and beat the crowd of passengers trying to get off the ship.

The next morning we got up and rushed to get ready. Our phones were going wild, we had texts that were all being delivered now that we were in range of a cell tower. We headed downstairs to the exit, and waited around until the official leave time. There were only about 15 other people waiting around, so I figured we could get off the boat in about an hour... HA!!!!
We lugged our hauled down to the customs area, and handed over our passports to the man at the desk.
"Honeymoon?"
"Yep!"
"Congrats. When did you guys get married?"
"In June."
"Why is your last name not the same?"
"I was told not to change it officially until after the cruise, because the new passport wouldn't get here in time."
"Okay, well, everything looks good. You can go on." That's it? That's as long as it took?! It hadn't even been five minutes!!!
"Danny, I don't even think our taxi will be here yet. We are SO early. I thought that would take at least an hour!"
"Well, if it's not then we can just wait. Or call them. It's not a problem."
Our transportation wasn't there, but when I called, the lady said she was pulling into the port then. I seen the van and waved and she pulled in right in front of us. Danny loaded our luggage into the back, and we headed to Orlando.
The trip seemed to go a lot faster than the ride from the airport to the hotel did. We talked to our driver and she told us about her family. She was a really nice lady. We didn't really talk about ourselves, other than mentioning we were on our honeymoon and going back to Kansas.
We got to the airport and checked our luggage. We had LOTS of time to sit around and wait before our flight, and I was so thankful for such a huge airport with so many things to do. We had breakfast. We browsed some stores. I bought a book. And we people watched. I also checked in on Pixie and Zeus, they were great. I asked my friend who had been going to take care of Kira how she was doing, she had been wonderful the whole time. She also mentioned she seen my dad mowing our lawn. I called my mom and talked her ear off, telling her all about the sea sickness, swimming with Ziggy the dolphin, the Mayan Ruins. I told her what time we were set to get home and she said she would be ready to pick us up. Since she lives so close to the airport, I could just text or call once we landed.
And then it hit... We were going home. To our life. Our REAL life. We couldn't just sit back and enjoy anymore. It was time to get serious, make appointments, start treatments. I couldn't concentrate on the book I had bought. I wasn't even interested in people watching. I just wanted to get home.
We boarded our plane and took off without encountering a rude flight attendant, which I was thankful for. We landed in Atlanta and decided to have lunch in the ESPN restaurant since we had a long enough layover, and again, our gates were right next to each other. The food was great and the service was better than expected considering the entire place was full, not a single seat was empty. After eating, we headed to check to be sure our next flight was still on time...
A storm had moved in and the lightning was crazy. All flights in and out had stopped, but our flight time hadn't changed. We watched the radar on the tv, and the storm outside the windows. I called my mom again, just to let her know we might be a little late. I usually enjoy the rain, but it wasn't a welcome sight for me. I was feeling down about going back to our reality. And it's like the storm was mocking me... or preparing me for what was to come?
The storm stuck around longer than they did in Florida, but it finally moved out and the flights were back on. We were delayed about 30 minutes. Our flight was also overbooked.
"We are currently overbooked for our flight. If anyone would like to volunteer for a later flight, you will be compensated for your time." Uhhhh NO. I want to go HOME.
"I wonder how well they compensate for that... My time is worth a lot of money." They couldn't pay me enough...
"I'm just so ready to get home... I'm tired, we've been in airports all day, I want to sleep in our bed. Can we board yet?" Danny hugged me.
"Not yet babe..." I guess he knows there's more on my mind than just getting back to our house...
Our plane was crowded, but we got to our seats and got settled. It was already dark and I was unsure how I would handle not being able to see out the window... Turns out flying at night is even better for me! The lights were beautiful and I just looked out and got lost in thought.
How rough will chemo be on Danny? Will he have to have radiation? Will his new doctors be as wonderful as Dr Hyder is? Did the cancer spread, because of that one lymph node? If we hadn't caught this... would I have been a widow at 22 years old? 23? Oh God, no. No no no no no.
"How much longer do you think it will be until we land?"
"Are you askng 'are we there yet?'" He was smiling, and that made me smile...
"Yeah, I guess I am..."
"We should be there soon."
Around that time we were told to head to our seats and buckle up, which meant we just needed to stay where we were.
We landed and I called my mom to come pick us up. We went to claim our luggage... and there was no luggage to claim. The other passengers were looking around too, confused. It was late and everything was pretty much shut down in the airport, but that didn't mean our luggage shouldn't be available!
An attendant finally came around and said most of our luggage had arrived much earlier, and he would send someone to go get it all. Our luggage was on one of those carts, so Danny grabbed both suitcases and we went outside to wait on my mom... who was already there, waiting on us!
Mom asked about our flight, our time in Cocoa Beach before the cruise. I told her we would come over the next day to show off all the pictures. She dropped us off at our house and I couldn't get inside fast enough.
Kira HOWLED her greeting at Danny. She jumped around and her eyes literally lit up. I left them in the living room and started unpacking our bags. I didn't get far before I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and I tossed our luggage in the spare room with the intent of finishing the next day. The next day... when all the phone calls would start, appointments would be made... ugh....


That's all for today, and I'm sorry again that the post was so late! It's been a crazy busy day! Tomorrow our story will continue. Please continue to follow and SHARE!!! Thanks for reading! :)

I'm starting to hate the color green

Quick update, the bracelets SHIIPED yesterday!! :) According to fedex tracking, they should be here tomorrow! I will get the ones that need mailed out asap, but I will need addresses. If you ordered, please message me with your address, and the number that you ordered so I can be sure I got it right on my list :) If you are local, I can bring them to you, no big deal!

Also, THANK you to everyone that has donated! I think I've thanked everyone personally but I just wanted to thank you all here. We are almost to $200 now!

That's all I've got for now! ........................................................................................................................

Thursday morning we woke up early again, and headed down to get breakfast. We needed to be off the ship asap so we could get to our excursion! We headed to the buffet again, and stuffed our faces with the delicious food. When we were done, we went to the exit to wait for the port to open.
Getting off the ship in Grand Cayman was perfect!

There were tons of shops, including a Hard Rock. The weather was perfect, and the excursion was only going to take half of the time we were in port. We loaded up on a bus and headed to Dolphin Cove.
"DANNY!!! Did  you see that?!"
"The Dairy Queen we just drove by?"
"YES!!! I LOVE this place!!!"
We got to Dolphin Cove and got to walk through a mini "zoo," There were lizards and birds and our tour guide showed us the different kinds of flowers native to the area. It was all interesting but I was just ready to get to the dolphins!! We walked through the gift shop to get to the swimming area and I could see the dolphins jumping and swimming around.
"Oh my gosh Danny, look! They're amazing!!!"
"Yes they are. Have fun babe, I will be over here recording it all!"
The people out with the dolphins instructed them to do some tricks, and everyone was in awe.
After lots of instructions, putting on life jackets, and removing all jewelry, everyone in the group was ready. The instructor separated those who could swim well, those who could swim okay, and those that didn't want to get all the way in the water. I got put in the smallest group, the good swimmers. Our dolphin was Ziggy, so we went over to the big section, where he was.
First my group got to pet Ziggy as he swam in front of us. Then Ziggy "sang" to us. I was in heaven!!
"Okay everyone, swim out a few feet and tread water. Ziggy is going to pick someone to dance with."
ZIGGY PICKED ME!!!! He "stood up" and did circles right in front of me. My face was drenched, my mouth was full of salt water, and I couldn't wipe that smile off my face! It was FABULOUS!!!
Then it was time for everyone to get individual pictures taken with Ziggy by the Dolphin Cove photographers.

After everyone got their pictures done, the group was split up and it was time to actual swim WITH Ziggy. He would go to one group, one person would hold on to his fin, and he would swim back to where we originally were, pulling the swimmer with him. It's amazing how fast dolphins swim, when they aren't even trying to swim fast! I was shocked! I also wasn't ready for the swim to be over, but we'd been there for quite a while, learned a lot, and it was time to go. Besides, Ziggy had gotten so many fish treats, I think he was too full to do anything else...
We went inside and paid for one of the pictures the photographer had taken, along with a shirt for me and a bunch of stuff for Faith. A dolphin stuffed animal, a shirt, a headband. My shirt said "I swam with Ziggy!"
We loaded up on the bus and went back to the port, and Danny and I set off to do some shopping. The first stop was the jewelry store, to look for the watch Danny was wanting. The stores we went to there wanted even more than the store in Jamaica had wanted so Danny decided he would just wait to get his watch until we got home, and he would wait even longer if he needed to. I found an amazing pair of tanzanite earrings though, and Danny indulged me (only because he haggled the jeweler down to a great price!). We finished up at the jewelry stores and went out to get a few more things for Faith, needless to say she made out like a bandit once we finally piled up everything we'd bought her and realized we went a little overboard!
"Okay, I think I've stopped at every store that I wanted to... and I'm hungry."
"Of course you are!!!" Ha ha ha, so funny.
"Hard Rock good for you?"
"Let's shop in there first, then eat."
Danny found another Hard Rock shirt and then we got in line to be seated. I had never eaten in a Hard Rock before so I was in awe of everything all over all the walls and the ceiling. Danny pointed out different things and told me about them. The food was  great, and we got to keep our pop glasses.

 Afterwards we had to hurry back to the ship, we still had another hour left in port but we wanted to get back on the ship and get settled before we left.
That night was uneventful. We decided that we wouldn't try to eat in the dining room again, because I was THAT afraid it would make me sick to sit in there with all those other people and all those windows and it just wasn't going to happen. Besides, the pizza place and the buffet were both good for me.
Friday morning we went for our usual buffet breakfast, and then got ready for the excursion Danny was so excited about. The Mayan Ruins Tour and Beach Break!! After we got to the port, we had to take a "ferry" to Tulum. I say "ferry" because the dang thing was HUGE and was enclosed like a little mini cruise ship. We were shuffled down below, with WAY too many people for my comfort, and we took off on the water. The "ferry" was rocking and swaying and it was AWFUL!! I tried to focus on the video they had playing on the tv in the front, but even the video made me nauseous. Why? Because it was all creepy crawlies eating other creepy crawlies and I saw NO reason why they were showing something so disgusting.
"You okay babe?" Uhhhh NO!!!
"Shhh. I can't talk. I've got to concentrate on not throwing up."
"Fair enough...."
After what seemed like an hour, we finally reached the port in Tulum. We were all separated then depending on what excursion we were on, and then Danny and I got on a bus that was going to the ruins.
The entire way there, our tour guide told us about the Mayans. He was a really nice man and welcomed many questions from people. He told us, as we pulled up to the ruins area, what our schedule was, and it was pretty tight. We only had so much time at the ruins and so much time at the beach, and then we had to get back to the Tulum port, so we could get back to Cozumel.
Walking around the ruins was an incredible experience. To know that people lived there, so many years ago, and were so advanced for their time, it was all just a lot to take in. I wanted to reach out and touch everything, just to say I could. However, the most amazing structures were roped off so you couldn't get near.
"Sadly, you can no longer walk up these steps and see what is inside this building. A couple of years ago it was decided that this should no longer be allowed, after it was discovered that someone signed their name on original Mayan art. This ended the opportunity for others to share in this experience of seeing something so old still intact, and I'm so sorry you all don't get to see it, and everything else inside these buildings."
Seriously?! Some people!!! Ugh!!!
We walked around and learned how the Mayans saved rain water, about how they farmed the lands and traded with other civilizations. I couldn't take enough pictures, I wanted to remember it ALL.

Our time at the ruins ended too soon, but before we had gone in to the ruins area we had the chance to sign up to have our names and anniversary printed on wood paper, in Mayan. When we got back on the bus, it was ready for us.

"This isn't something I can read, and I'm not even sure it's CORRECT, but this is my favorite thing that we've bought on this entire trip Danny!!"
"Well, dang. I could've saved a lot of money on those earrings if I'd known a printing on wood paper would make you so happy." Oh whatever!!
"No, I love the earrings, just not as much as I love this is all."
We headed to the beach on the bus, and Danny was miserable. His wisdom tooth had been bothering him all day and it was getting considerably worse. I hadn't thought to bring any Advil, so we had no options. When we got to the beach, we asked our guide if there was any sort of pain medicine available to us.
"I'm sorry, we don't have anything. You said it's your tooth? I can get you some tequila to rub on it, that should take care of it real quick." Uhhh, no.
We declined and decided to just go eat and hope that it didn't get any worse. The beach had a restaurant which supplied us with fajitas and chips. Danny could barely eat, but he did decide to have a beer.
"So, since we're in Mexico, do they have like... Corona?"
"I don't think so babe. But I will find out." No Corona, in Mexico? I bet they've got it...
Danny came back and shook his head... but had a different kind of beer for himself. He offered to get me one too but I didn't want to try it, bottled water was just fine with me. Once we were done at the restaurant, we walked down the stairs to the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen!!!
"White sand beach... it doesn't even feel like sand Danny!!"
"This beach is my favorite... Good choice on this over shopping." Is he being sarcastic?
"Ha, thanks! I'm sorry you aren't feeling good though."
"I'll be fine. Let's just enjoy this beach time."
And we did. The water was the perfect temperature, the chairs were comfortable. I found myself wishing we had another whole day there.

We stayed until our tour guide said we had to load up, and even then we didn't WANT to leave. Aside from the pain pills Danny needed, we were content there on that beach.
We rode the bus back to the port in Tulum and had to load in to that dreadful "ferry" to get back to Cozumel. We were being rushed and I couldn't figure out why. Danny pulled out his cell phone (which we were using as a watch since the phone obviously didn't work there for calls and texts). We were late!! The ship was supposed to be sailing already!! The "ferry" was full of people from our ship, so evidently EVERY excursion ran over on time.
"They won't leave without us, right?"
"No, we were on their excursion, they won't. You just try not to get sick, you're turning green again." I'm starting to hate the color green.
We got back to Cozumel and walked as fast as we could to our ship. We didn't run, because there were a lot of us so those view extra seconds didn't matter. But we weren't going to just stroll along either.
We made it back to the ship, got to our room to unload everything, and Danny took his pain meds. We decided to go ahead and have dinner (the dinner on the beach wasn't very filling... don't judge me!) and then we would start packing so we didn't have to pack all day the next day.
We went out on the balcony shortly after we sailed away from Cozumel and had visitors!!!

There were four dolphins playing and jumping high in the water. I had counted on seeing dolphins from our balcony and it FINALLY happened!! I was one happy girl!!
Once Danny's toothache went away and we had dinner, we packed everything that we wouldn't need the next two days, and spent the rest of the evening on the balcony.


That's it for today, I'm sorry this post was so late, it was a busy day! Tomorrow I will tell about our last day on the ship, coming home from Florida, and then coming back to reality.
Please continue to read, follow and SHARE! Thanks for reading!! :)

Pizza!!!!!! YES!!!!!

I have a couple of updates today!!
The Scentsy fundraiser is going GREAT!! We are getting lots of orders! Everyone that has ordered online has gotten their products within just a couple of days!

ANNNNDDDDD The custom bracelets are NOW in production!!! I'm not sure how long it takes, I think it said something online like 7 days from the day you order. So they should be done soon and will then ship out! I can't wait to see them! We've gotten a TON of orders for them also. As a matter of fact, once I deliver/collect the money just for the ones that have been ordered as of today, I will have more than enough money to order ANOTHER 200. Maybe I will order 300 even, since these are going so fast, and I want to have plenty at each of the fundraisers :) They are $3, if you would like one before the fundraisers, let me know on here or on facebook!
****EDIT!!!**** The bracelets are DONE and are being inspected and cleaned before they are packed up to ship out! WOOHOO!!!!

Now, back to the CRUISE!!!! :)....................................................................................................

Tuesday morning we woke up in Haiti. Or rather, at the port in Haiti. I felt GREAT!! The ship wasn't moving and I was okay. We got ready for the day and went down to the dining room for breakfast.

The breakfast was delicious and we had some good conversation with some other passengers that we were seated with. We then went back to our room to get everything we needed for our day at the  beach!
We had to take a ferry from our ship to the actual port. And we had our choice of multiple beaches to enjoy. We picked one and a man set up two chairs for us. We thanked him and he disappeared. It was warm, the sun was shining, and the view was AMAZING! We had picked the beach that had the zip line going directly over it, without knowing it. Since Danny couldn't do the zip line, it was nice to watch other people enjoying it.

"That's so awesome" No, that's so scary...
"If you say so. I guess it's awesome from down HERE... but not up there."
We laughed about my extreme fear of heights, and then a creepy crawly decided to scare me on the beach... A sand crab came right over to us and dug himself into the sand underneath MY chair!!!

"It's not going to hurt you, it's just enjoying the shade." AHHHHHHHHHH Ewwwwwww
"It's GROSS!!!"
"It's not gross, it's just a crab..."
"The only crab I like in Haiti is the Crabb sitting next to me... with two b's that is..."
"Ha! Well, that Crabb likes you... but so does the sand crab... with one b."

We decided to go cool off in the water, and it was so clear I couldn't believe it! We couldn't go far out because it wasn't sandy and we hadn't brought our water shoes off the ship. But we splashed around and had some fun. The water was the perfect temperature!
After a couple hours, we noticed people walking by with plates of hamburgers and chips and other yummy food. We were starving!
"Where are they getting that food?"
"That building over there..."
"I wonder how much it costs."
"Ha. Probably like $10 per plate... So, are you ready to go back to the ship and eat there then?" My husband knows my cheap-o ways SO WELL :)
"Yeah, lets go find some FREE food!"
On our way back to the ship we decided to stop and have our picture taken by the cruise ship photographers.

We got back tot he ferry and were taken back to the ship, where we changed and then went through the maps and brochures for all the restaurants on the ship...
"You're going to be mad..." Me? Mad? What??
"Why? What?"
"This says that the food on the beach was free.... it was provided by the cruise ship." Gosh DANG it!!!
"So we could've enjoyed more of the beach, and eaten there for free TOO?"
"That's what this says... BUT... I just found the PIZZA restaurant!" Pizza!!!!!! YES!!!!!
"Is it free?"
"Yes it is." Free, there's nothing better!!
So we headed down to the pizza place and chowed down on the delicious food. Since we were still at the port, we decided we could walk around the inside of the ship and explore for a while before the sea sickness would kick in. And we were set on seeing everything there was to see before the ship started moving. We seen the casino, the theater, the stores. We went into the jewelry store and looked around, and I checked out a few sales and the kiosks.
We eventually went back to our room and watched TV. One channel told us what all there was to do at the next cruise port. We were heading to Jamaica, and we had no excursions planned, so that meant we could do some shopping! By the time dinner rolled around, I wasn't up for sitting in the dining room again. I was hungry though, so we went down to the buffet. We filled our plates and then found a place to sit. A server came around to ask if we needed any drink refills or anything else. We were fine so she said she would check on us in a bit. We finished eating and I helped myself to some ice cream for dessert. We were sailing and the ship was moving (but not as much as before) and I was still okay. I was eating and in a type of dining room and I wasn't feeling sick!!
"So have you two enjoyed the cruise so far?" The server was back and was so nice.
"Well, we enjoyed today because she wasn't sick." Ha ha ha that husband of mine thinks he's funny....
"Oh no!! Sea sick?!"
"Yep... I am a big baby I guess."
"No no no, it's the storms!!" HA!! I WAS RIGHT!!!!
"You mean the ship doesn't normally move this much?!"
"Not at ALL. I've been working on this ship for months. The first few weeks I got used to sailing and was okay. But the last two nights I've been more sick than I've ever been! The storms have made for some awful waves and my roommate is making fun of me, saying it's like my first week all over again!"
"Well, THANK YOU for making me not feel like such a baby anymore!"
"You're not a baby. Believe me. Hopefully the storms stay away, and you can enjoy the rest of your nights on board! I can see you are done here so I won't keep you, but feel free to come eat here in my section any time!" She's so nice! 
The rest of the night was okay. I didn't feel like I had the nights before, and we spent a lot of time on the balcony. We weren't going to try to go to the bars or clubs or anything, in case the sea sickness came back.  The weather was beautiful and the balcony is where we wanted to be anyway.

We went to sleep that night and woke up to such a FABULOUS view. We weren't to the port quite yet (we were up very early) and Jamaica was so pretty! We decided to hang out on the balcony and just take it all in.
I'm not sure how long we sat out there, but we eventually pulled right into the port and we headed down for breakfast. We went to the buffet again, so we could get in and out fast.
"Wow... That's the biggest breakfast buffet I've ever seen...."
"And you thought we would be in and out of here fast? I'm going to eat like three plates full!!"
We ate... and ate... and ate some more. And then when we were walking out, I seen the doughnuts!!
"Oh my gosh... Hold on... I need a cinnamon sugar!"
After I stuffed my face even more, we decided to grab some water and head out to do some shopping. We walked out of the ship and immediately got in line to get our picture taken in Jamaica.

We found a bunch of shops and got a few shirts, and used some coupons from the book that Danny got after sitting through the shopping meeting thing. And then we went after the one item that Danny wanted. A watch. It would be his wedding gift from me (only a little late) and he planned on getting a good deal on it. We had to walk away from the port shops to get to the big shopping center area where the jewelry stores were.
"Hey man, do you want to see the REAL Jamaica? Not what the cruise line wants you to see, but the REAL Jamaica?" What the heck?
"No thanks, we are just heading over there to shop."
"Oh don't shop there, that only benefits the cruise lines. Shop in the REAL Jamaica, so the Jamaicans will profit."
"No thanks, we are really just going to head right over there."
"If you come with me in my taxi I will even throw in some weed man." WHAT?!?! Is this guy SERIOUS?!?!
"Uhhh no thanks."
We walked away from that guy as fast as we could, and then ran into at least 3 other men repeating the same exact thing.
"Danny, walk faster. I hate this."
"I know, come on. Just ignore them when they talk to you, they aren't taking no for an answer."
We finally made it to the shopping area, and Danny did some haggling over the price of the watch he wanted. The jeweler went down in price, but he didn't get low enough for Danny to want to spend his money, so we decided not to buy. We did, however, find me a pair of beautiful pink sapphire earrings. Danny said I could get two pairs of earrings if we could get good deals, so we talked the jeweler down for my pink sapphires. I was a happy camper!!
"There's the Hard Rock... let's go there."
"Okay, I'm hungry anyway, so let's eat there after you find the shirt you want."
"Destiny, you're ALWAYS hungry." I would've given him a shove off the sidewalk if he hadn't been grinning so big when he said that.
The restaurant section of the Hard Rock was closed. Danny found a few things he wanted and we headed out to another store to find a few more things for Faith. Color changing nail polish, color changing sea shell necklace. Shirts for her and I. We had lots of bags and I was ready for lunch.
"Do we get to have pizza again today?"
"Yes, of course. I wouldn't try to keep you away from that place now." I LOVE HIM!!!
We went back to the ship, avoiding every taxi driver that tried to take us to the "real Jamaica." We put our bags through the screener, and then collected them and dropped them off in our room. The pizza was as delicious that day as it was the day before and after eating we decided to go hang out on the main deck.

Storms were brewing and it was almost time to sail off. I was crossing my fingers that we would get out of there ahead of the storm and it wouldn't catch up to us!
"It is now time to sail, however we are slightly delayed."
The speaker was loud and clear on the deck, instead of sounding muffled like it did from our room.
"We are waiting on a few people who were NOT on cruise sponsored excursions. We will wait ten more minutes, and then we are sailing. Please note that it is stated in your Cruise Compass and by all exits that we will not wait on you if you are late returning to the ship, unless of course you are on a Royal sponsored excursion. This is the last time we will wait on passengers."
"Babe, do you really think they'll leave without those people?"
"Yeah, they have to make up all this time tonight, by going faster. They have to get to the next port by a certain time because of all the excursions people have booked and paid for. I'm surprised they're waiting this long."
We headed to our room and stood on the balcony, we were right over the exit so we watched the four people who were late, finally boarding the boat. Three of them were running. The other was just strolling along like he had all the time in the world. I guess he didn't care about the few extra minutes that he was costing the rest of us.
That night we ate at the buffet again. I told our server that the night before was a great one and that I didn't get sick, and she said she was feeling better too. We seen some lightning in the distance and I was hoping that the storm was so far away that we wouldn't feel any effects.
After dinner we went back to our bedroom and made final decisions on our excursions.
"Okay, since we want to go to the Ruins... I need to swim with the dolphins in Grand Cayman. But, which of the Ruins tours do you think we should do?"
"Well, the Ruins tour plus beach time sounds nice. But the shopping is supposed to be really good in Cozumel, and I know that makes you happy. So, whichever you want to do." He spoils me rotten...
"Well, since we missed out on some beach time in Haiti because we didn't realize the food was free... let's do the the tour plus beach time. It says it includes food, so I will be happy." The smile on Danny's face sealed the deal. I had made the right decision with that one!
Danny went down to purchase the excursions at the Reservations Desk, and I settled in for the night. He was back just a few minutes later and it was all taken care of.

We fell asleep while watching the Newlywed Game, which was played the first or second night in one of the theaters. We were answering the questions ourselves, and were right, knowing each other's answers just like we knew our own. And then we both just slowly drifted off.

That's it for today! I will write tomorrow about our two FAVORITE port stops!! Grand Cayman and Cozumel!! :)
Please remember to follow and SHARE!! Thanks for reading!!