52 days

In 52 days from now I will be boarding the Crown Princess to begin our 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise! Less than 8 weeks! OMG! I can't believe it. I'm going on a cruise with my husband.

This is a dream. Pinch me!

All of this started when friends of our asked us about going south with them for a trip this winter. I love to travel, and haven't done nearly enough of it; Greg would rather stay home forever. This can be a problem, as you can imagine.

Unfortunately the timing didn't work out with our friends, but what Greg and I did realize is that we have a lot of reasons to celebrate this year. 2010 is going to be big for us! Greg and I both turn 30 this year, and we will celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. If that isn't enough of a reason to cruise to celebrate, than I don't know what is! But there's more...

2009 was a tough year for us. We had some extended family "stuff" that affected us - from all directions. We also decided for me to stay home with Asher and not return to my job. That meant a lot of adjusting, in many ways, but especially financially. Greg and I, while both responsible, have different ideas about priorities with money. That certainly caused a lot of arguments, and processing, and compromise this year. Trying to figure out how to balance family life, our own individual identities and interests, and our marriage has also been a focus - and one that we didn't always, and still don't, get right. We've been through a lot together this year and our marriage has certainly struggled, and grown, because of it.

So this cruise, while about celebrating the big events coming up in 2010, is also about reconnecting with each other. It's about having fun together, relaxing together, laughing together, being us together. I'm so excited about it, I can hardly wait.

Oh sure I can't wait for the amazing food (they super accommodate vegetarians!), to sleep in, to be on warm sandy beaches, to go on fun excursions (Mayan ruins, here we come!), to be entertained. I can't wait for that. Can't wait.

And, although I'm sure it will kill me, I know it will be good to have a break from caring for Asher for a week. He will be staying with my mom, who is nothing short of an angel for taking her vacation to stay home with him. We've already started talking about it, and whenever Asher sees a picture of a boat he says "Boat. Nana." It's super cute. So of course I'm excited to have a break from the high demands of life with a toddler. Wow, a week off... that is still unbelievable to me. Unbelievable.

But the highlight for me is definitely extended time with my husband. This is such a stretch for him to go, but you know, he's actually excited about it. Why shouldn't he be, really? I really thought it would require more convincing on my part to get him to agree to this, but he went with it so easily. Greg is Mr. Practicality, and the sheer fact that we don't have 100% of the cash up front and will have to work on paying it back, would have been more than enough to shut the door on this possibility in his books. (Hello income tax return).

I'm super proud of him, for stepping out of his comfort zone, and for realizing that this time, and our marriage, and celebrating our life together is way more important than anything else.

So Fort Lauderdale, Florida - here we come!

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands - here we come!

Roatan, Honduras - here we come!

Cozumel, Mexico - here we come!

Princess Cays, Bahamas (the cruise line's own private island) - here we come!

And the countdown begins!