vacationing!

I'm not sure if I've shared my hubby's and my wedding/honeymoon story, but it's kind of an interesting one. It's at least a little different than most peoples'...

We got married September 6, 2008 in Vegas. Not the "let's get married by Elvis in a drive-thru chapel" wedding, but at the Venetian with 25 of our closest friends and family members. Anyway, we made a long weekend of it and got home on Monday night. We had given ourselves a couple extra days of recuperation time before the honeymoon, and thank goodness we did! Upon returning home, we found out that a huge hurricane was headed straight toward us in less than 3 days. So, we got to work boarding up the house and stocking up on non-perishables and ice... and canceled the honeymoon. They were right, it was a HUGE storm and knocked out power lines, cars, houses, and even whole towns. We spent the next 12 days without electricity, playing monopoly by candlelight and eating whatever we could cook on the grill outside. It was fun and it was unique, and we will never forget it.

We tried rescheduling a couple of times, but things always came up and we just never got out. We finally found a trip that stuck, and scheduled a week cruise for the November after our first anniversary. Needless to say, we were totally stoked! We made the final arrangements, and received our cruise paperwork September 1st. Then... about 4 weeks later we found out we were pregnant. ;)

Luckily, being on the boat didn't bother me much, and while we may have once had plans of fruity drinks and crazy shore excursions, that just wasn't going to happen. We did have a blast, and got to see and do all kinds of fun stuff even if it was a honeymoon/babymoon. I wanted to post some pics we took, but will have to do it installments because there are so many.

I personally must say that I enjoyed cruising quite a bit. No airport security, no crowded planes, no endless driving in a car... it was nice! Plus we didn't have to worry about finding a good place to stay in a strange place, or worry about being able to find local food that wouldn't bother the hubby's Crohn's disease. Did I already say how nice it was? LOL

Sunset from the boat

docked in Nassau (our boat, the Conquest on the right)

Lido deck and water slide at night

The boat was French themed, so there was amazing artwork EVERYWHERE!

View down into the lobby from the Upper Deck

Anyway, it was a great way to spend our honeymoon/anniversary/last vacation before the baby comes. I have some fun pics from our destinations that I'll post later. :)

catching up - news!

So... my apologies for being on hiatus. I have sorely missed you all, and missed my weekly writing. I always have so much running around in my head, blogging has always been such a great outlet for me.

At the moment, there is only one big thing that I want to share with all of my blog friends, the people who know me through my writing, and are otherwise complete strangers... but sometimes my closest friends.

I would like to announce that my wonderful husband and I are expecting our very first baby in June 2010!

You guys know how much this has been on my mind over the course of the last 2 years, and how much the hubby and I have been praying and trying to get pregnant. Finally it happened, and we could not be happier! As of this week I am 12 weeks along, and the morning sickness finally seems to be fading.

2 weeks ago we got to see the baby for the first time. It was truly magical! Our little tiny tiny baby was doing flips and waving it's arms all around for the camera. And of course, we could hear the heartbeat... making it all finally feel so real! I can't wait to have actual ultrasound printouts to post, and we are really excited to find out the sex of the baby about a week after Christmas.

Anyway, just wanted to share the big news and let you know that I'm "back"! ;)

needing a kickstart.

I know I haven't been writing... it's not because I don't want to, or can't endlessly think of things to write about, I've just been feeling a little stifled I guess. Mostly from the invasion of my blog by an unwelcome source. But I've decided not to change the name of my blog after all. It's who I am, and I truly don't feel like I have anything to hide. Whether it's a friend who reads, a co-worker, employer, or even a stranger, what you see is what you get. If that's not good enough, then I guess that means it's time for "us" to part ways.

I'm sort of appalled about the state of society today in which employers especially feel that they can judge people based on their personal lives. If I am otherwise a private person, and yet still your star employee, then why would anything I write in my private life concern you in any way? It seems like these things are happening more and more every day to people everywhere. Does this mean that we should all be shut-ins and stifle our personalities in order to appease a judgmental person existing only in our outside lives? I say no.

Thanks to Nancy for giving me a little hope this morning with her message to me. I needed a kickstart, and I needed to get this off my chest. I refuse to be a by-product of a broken society. I can only be the person I am, and that is enough for me.

in regards to the future of my blog.

Recently I've had some problems with my blog. This time, it's not bloggers fault, but probably my own. The decision to name my blog "Rachael's Carrma" was an attempt to be as real and true to myself as possible, while also having a fun, clever name. Unfortunately, because I used my full name in the title of my blog, it has made it/me much too easy to find via google, etc. and has started causing me problems elsewhere.

SO, unfortunately I feel that I must change the name of my blog.

The only problem with that is that I am at a complete loss. I have no idea where to start, or what might work in conjunction with my style of blogging and the content that I post. I've really been struggling with this, and it has subsequently stunted my writing inspiration.

I guess it's because I feel somewhat violated, even though I know it's really my own fault for making it so accessible. I'm just trying to work past that, and probably will not be posting much until I can make this change. Since you all are the ones who read my blog, do you have any ideas for me?? I could use all the help I can get....

hey scarlethue!

Hey Scarlethue! Loving the new blog layout, but I think the reason you've seen a decline in comments is that (at least for me) the comment box disappears below the screen. When you type in the comment, it asks for word verification, and then the verification box drops below the screen and I can't get to it.

Looks great, but since I can't leave you a comment, I thought I would try this until it's fixed. :)

Have a great day!

wallowing in bed-land

This is not an inspirational post. This is not a though-provoking post. This is a post to clear my head so maybe I can be productive and not feel like a worthless loser.

I haven't written anything in a long time, I'm not sure why, but I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I've been feeling uninspired. I'm bored. I'm tired. I'm sick. And I'm sick of being sick.

Fantabulously Frugal: Review + Giveaway: Handbag Heaven

Fantabulously Frugal: Review + Giveaway: Handbag Heaven

I normally do not do this kind of thing, but after browsing the Handbag Heaven website, I am totally sold. Just wanted to share this giveaway opportunity with anyone who is interested! Click the link to enter!

This one is my fave! (and under 50 bucks!!)