WOW.

Oh my goodness! It's only been 3 weeks since I last posted but I don't even know where to begin with the updates!
First off, up until the 15th of August, things continued to be pretty lowkey. We had a great time celebrating Alanna's birthday, but sadly, she left unexpectedly 2 days ago- her grandfather is very ill and she decided she needed to go home to Australia to be with him. We will miss her (and already do!) so much! She was such a sweet girl. My thoughts and prayers are with her.
We had our traffic light party (you wear red if you're taken, yellow if you're not sure, and green if you're single) and last night had crew bingo. I didn't win, surprise, surprise. :) Tonight is our final big crew activity of the month, the Horror Party! Pictures to follow soon enough :)
Oh one funny thing that did happen though, was that Derrick got sick (that's not the funny part!) and was quarantined to his room for 24 hours, so for one of the performances on Fiesta a couple of weeks ago, Gaven had to step in and sing to Derrick's track! It was hilarious doing a romantic ballad with him, looking at him with Derrick's voice coming out of the mic and Gaven's mouth not exactly singing the right words. SO funny. I'm glad I got to experience that :) And Derrick's feeling fine now, so it's ok!
Now on to the really good stuff. VISITORS!!!!! On the 15th, Mom, Dad, Amy, JJ, Papa, Poppy, Jen, Abbie, Aunt Judy, and BRY came to visit! Quite the group :) We had SUCH a blast. Most of my time was spent with the "younger" crowd ;) but I was able to eat int he dinner room with everyone 4 out of the 5 nights, and Bry has officially become a Canasta player- we played with Mom and Dad a bunch of times up by the coffee shop on the ship. It was so much fun! I took Bry, Amy and Jen to crew bar, the disco, Treasure Island, and Bry got to experience No Name as well. It was so great to be with him, as quickly as it went. I don't think it could have been a better five days :) And of course, had an awesome time with the fam as well! They always make me smile :) It was so wonderful to be able to show them all what I do and where I hang out on the ship.
We spent our last day together at the FLorida Aquarium, which was worth watching Abbie's reaction to every single tank of fish with such excitement. :) I had a very tearful goodbye with Bry and the family, and then I got back on the ship to prepare for another cruise of visitors with Trish and her mom. Turns out, however, that I was in for a surprise. Trish was there, but her mom was not- in her place was Tim, Cory, Darcy and Jay! A great group of old and new friends :) They were so much fun to have on the ship too- very interested in the activities on board haha. We went to Paradise Beach in Cozumel, went to Deck Party, and spent lots of time laying out in the sun. They were some of the best audiences members we could ask for. For whatever reason, sometimes you just get cruises where the audiences are completely bored with the shows and have no interest in participating. Unfortunately, Trish and the others were on such a cruise. But they made up for EVERYONE else in the audience with their enthusiasm! They made it so much fun to perform to them :)
Needless to say, my last couple of days have been very very relaxing. Visitors sure can take a lot out of you! Totally worth it though :) I now have a month to recuperate before Chels comes on September 26th (all by herself!) and then is joined on October 1st by 4 more incredibly supportive friends :) Thank you God for all the amazing people in my life!
I come home in 82 days, then I'll be at Messiah 6 days later. We can do this... <3