back and back again

I'm back from my first vacation and I'm back in school, all on the same day.

My family and I safely returned from our cruise yesterday afternoon. We took a 3-day adventure to the Bahamas in lieu of our usual 2 week cross country driving trip. We simply could not find 2 consecutive weeks for all of us to get together. So, we opted for a short trip. The goal was to bring us all together and we accomplished just that. I must say, I had a fantastic time. We all got along really well. My parents loved it! The food, the activities, the relaxtion -- it was all top notch!

The first day we were in Nassau. We did a segway excursion for about 2.5 hours. Nina's face in all of the pictures was sheer terror. It was all about balance and trusting the segway which Nina could not seem to grasp all at once. She said she had fun, but was just a bit nervous. Understandable. My sister-in-law (poor girl will never live it down) crashed her speeding segway into a flag pole and threw herself off. It took her awhile to feel steady on her feet again, but she was alright. All in all we had a blast. Pictures to follow once they've all been compiled.

The second day we walked around the beaches of Great Stirrup Cay. We played around on kayaks and did a little shopping at the market. It started to rain halfway through the day, but by that time we had had our fill and were ready to head back to the boat anyway.

Tropical storm Fay did little more than keep us cooled off throughout the whole trip. It was rainy, but not stormy, wet but not unbearable. Whenever the sun would beat down on us, the clouds would roll in and cool everything off. The rain never got in the way of anything we wanted to do and we couldn't have asked for better conditions. We all want to do it again next year and that's more than I can say for the usual driving trip. I am so thankful to my parents for working so hard to get us together every year, no matter what it takes. I took it for granted growing up. Now, I can see why it's so important. Every trip creates a cache of memories that will keep us together in the years to come.

Monday was the first day of school. It's weird to be enrolled in school again, after feeling so free when I finished the first time. I am looking forward to being a student again. I have a job interview tomorrow and I'm already working out how I'm going to get a good amount of studying time into my life combined with work, family, friends and me time.

Things are starting to line up neatly. It hasn't been easy getting to this point; patience and Ryan's help got me through.

P.S. On the drive to the cruise port, I finally had the opportunity to talk to my family about what happened with my aunt. My mother was furious that my aunt confronted me the way she did. My dad said that he never cried over it as my aunt claimed he did. They are in no way devestated by the way I live my life. My aunt had not even talked to my parents before talking to me, so there was no way for her to know what they were thinking or feeling about it all. They all (brother, sister, mom and pop), in their own way, told me that they loved me and that they know who I am and are proud of me as I am. I couldn't be any more thankful for my family's support.