Storms a brewing, but we are good!

Right now they're just saying we will get a lot of rain, so we plan on staying put. If it turns into anything more we will definitely be driving north. Our marina is pretty well protected, during Ike there was only one boat slightly damaged and that was a hurricane. I think we will be alright, major issue will be flooding, but our boat floats so we're not terribly worried. The joke around here, is that our work commute will look something like this:

But in all seriousness, we have taken the necessary precautions and put some extra lines out to help secure the boat, if need be. We have floating docks here, so I really don't think it'll be a problem! And that's saying a lot coming from me....most of you who know me, know I'm the first one to freak out in the threat of severe weather.....but I am pretty calm, for now anyways! 

Here's a glimpse of our sunset from this evening....this view never gets old!!!

UPDATE: tropical disturbance 91L has now been upgraded to Tropical Storm Bill

.....and yes, I am still calm....mostly....somewhat....I'm starting to think about freaking out...I'll get back to you!!! ;) 

Max Capacity

A couple of weeks ago we were at max capacity on the boat! We had six people sleeping on the boat one night and it was a wee bit tight!!!

My brother & SIL had come in to pickup our nephews that had spent the week with us and they decided to stay the night, before driving back to their house in Louisiana. It was nice getting to visit with them a little, since we don't get to see them very often!

While we certainly have no intentions of purchasing our next boat with the mindset of who might come & stay with us on the boat, their overnight visit did help me to think of some things that could be helpful to have on our next boat, should we be at max capacity in the future. 

I still vote on having two, separate cabins, it's a must in my book! Mainly because I'm tired of sleeping in the vberth and I want a more normal shaped bed. Hubs on the other hand, goes back & forth, which makes me {go crazy, well that too, but no}, it makes me wonder if we should go with the dream boat or find a project boat for cheap?

We both really enjoy projects....hubs likes to build new things and I find pleasure in  decorating and redecorating. We both like to revamp the unvampable {is that even a word? doesn't sound right}. 

On the other hand, the dream boat would need little to no work, if any at all. Which can be a good thing, even for us projectiers....now that's definitely not a word! 

The above picture accurately describes my brain right now. I can't possibly decide which road sign is needed because I can't decide which job needs to be addressed first. I can see the benefits from both choices, but, for the life of me, I don't know if I should go left or right at the nearby fork in the road. 

Now, let's go back to boats: 

-The dream boat would prob not need any work, but would most likely cost $$$ and in turn take longer to pay for it, so, we would have to work/save longer before we could go cruising. 

-While the project boat would most likely cost $ need about $ this much more in work{for a total of $$} and most assuredly allow us to go cruising quicker. 

Seems like a no-brainer until I tell you that the dream boat comes with those 2 desperately desired separate cabins and the project boat.....not so much. 

I'm sure we will find the next boat soon enough, I just hope we both don't end up compromising too much. 

See, living on a boat is not all sunshine & roses! We have tough decisions to make, like, what we want....on our next boat!! ;)

Expect the unexpected

It's hard to believe we have been living on the boat for a year already....a whole year!!!! It really doesn't feel that long!  Even when I tell people, 'I have been living on a boat for a year.' That sentence doesn't seem real to me. It seems like something you would hear someone else say, not something you would actually say yourself!  Geez, I hope this is making sense. 

We absolutely love our life afloat and are planning on purchasing something bigger in the not so distant future! In the meantime we've been planning for the unknown. 

It's hard to plan for anything when you really don't know what's happening from one minute to the next. What am I talking about? Well....

Two weeks ago on a Friday night we stayed up super late....actually it would be more accurate to say we pulled an all-nighter. We had a movie night, which turned into "I'm not really sleepy, let's watch another movie"  and, the next thing we knew, it was five thirty....in the a.m.!!! I was game for just staying awake, but hubs was now tired. So, we set an alarm for 8:30am and went to sleep. I woke up when the alarm went off, but somebody stayed in bed. I made him get up 2 hours later so we could go look at a boat. The boat was okay, but we didn't get the 'our next boat' feeling from it {well hubs did, but me, not so much} so we went and talked to our broker. 

Lots & lots of boat talk later & we were headed back to our boat to do a quick cleaning so another broker could show our boat to one of his clients. Yeah, you read that right! Our boat isn't even technically listed yet and someone wanted to look at it. Yikes! 

Since then we have had two more showings on our boat.....I hope we don't end up homeless. :] However, if the boat does sell before we buy the next one, we are prepared to go a little backwards to go forward {if we have to} and move into an apartment for a short time. 

But in the meantime, we are trying to expect the unexpected, plan for the unknown, live life and save for the future! So basically, what everyone else is doing! :)

Bolivar Peninsula & A Ferry Ride

We've had an awesome week, what with selling our house in Fort Worth {now we can buy the bigger boat} and me getting a job.....two things we've been waiting on for awhile now!!! So, we decided to take a celebratory mini mini road trip and go discover a new area!!! {I feel like the double mini clarifies that it wasn't really a true road trip even though we did drive to our destination} 

We drove down to Galveston, rode the ferry over to Bolivar Peninsula and walked Crystal Beach! By the way, this is the best beach for finding shells and bonus, you can even drive on the beach....so take a jeep or a truck!! I really don't understand why it's called crystal beach though, I didn't find any crystal, but I did find lots of shells....it should be Sandy's Seashell Beach! 

I can't believe in all twelve of our married years together & coming down to Galveston, this was the first time we have ever taken the ferry over to the peninsula....we even honeymooned in Galveston and had never been on it...cRaZy! Hubs hadn't been on the ferry since he was a kid. I may have been on it as a kid too, but I don't remember, I was a kid!! :)

Here's some pics of us boarding the ferry & going over towards Bolivar Peninsula...

7 mph....really? Why didn't they just say five? Oofta May!!

You can either drive on or walk on, but unless your goal is to only take the ferry back & forth, you're going to need a car  to get to the beach! 

One of the first things we came across was this cool looking lighthouse! Hard to believe I got such a great shot while we were driving down the road....going much faster than seven miles per hour, I might add! I love how it is framed between the houses!! So pretty :)

This was our setup! Our beautiful, seafoam Yeti stocked with ice cold drinks. A waterproof bluetooth speaker playing beachy music, baby powder to help get the sand off our feet & our cozy beach chairs!! 

And, this as our view....

I absolutely loved our little getaway!!!

I'm always telling hubs he needs to make friends & be sociable & he did good, however it backfired a wee bit with the 2nd couple. The first guy offered him yet another job....that man, I can't take him anywhere without him getting job offers. The second & very sketchy couple offered us drugs. We should've quit while we were ahead!  I then decided we might need to stick with making friends with this adorable little guy instead!!

All in all, this is the place to go if you're planning a trip to Galveston! I know this is probably going to sound weird, because it's not white sandy beaches and by no means, is the water any more blue here than on Galveston, but this is the best beach around!!! Softer sand, far less seaweed and shells....can't beat that!!

Oh, and did I mention, the ferry is free and runs 24 hours/day!

You never know what you'll see at the beach, but we thought this was pretty cool!!!

 

My cup runneth over....& boat shopping!!!

This week I went and spent time with 2 of my nieces!!! It was three days chocked full of fun times with two, super, sweet girlies!!! We went to the play place, played in the puddles, had a wagon ride to the lake, played in the sand {hence the picture above} saw family & friends and took a train ride through the park!!! So much fun.....I am going to miss these lil' misses when I leave!!! Love them so so much!!!! 

When the wife is away, the hubs buys a boat....well, not yet, but he's thinking about it! Today, I was talking to Joe on the phone and he asked, "remember when I bought our Catalina and you didn't know anything about it?" I said yes & asked if it was going to happen again and then there was a long pause......I then asked, if it has already happened? So far, he hasn't made any purchases!!! But, he's been looking and has us scheduled to see some boats as soon as I get back in town!!! It appears we have next boat fever and I bet it won't be long before we trade up to bigger & better!!!

I head back tomorrow and pick up 2 of my nephews on the way!!! They will be staying with us for the next few days!!! We are so blessed to have so many kiddos in our life....I like to think of us as a cool aunt & uncle, of course, I'm sure, it helps that we live on a boat!!! 

Now, if only the rest of our nieces & nephews can come stay with us...hint, hint!!! ; )