My sunburn is peeeeeeeeeeeling.
I fell in love with Daytona Beach, Florida and am convinced that it's the best town in the US. The beach is beautiful, the water is warm (in the 80s when I was there), and everything is within walking distance. From the apartment I was staying at to the beach, to the clubs, to the pub, to the strip club, to the water park, all within a half mile. And it's one of those places where everyone knows each other. I love that small town feel.
The cruise itself was fun too. Mostly just a lot of drinking and dancing at night, and sometimes during the day. Key West is a cute little touristy island with a lot of US history and the BEST key lime pie ever ever ever. I wish we had more time there to visit the beaches, etc, and I wish a hurricane hadn't turned the water into what looked like chocolate milk. But the Keys are beautiful, and I would definitely want to go back.
Because of the hurricane, we didn't make it to Cozumel, which is okay since I was there last September. Instead we went to Nassau, Bahamas, which meant... ATLANTIS!!! I've been absolutely dying to go to Atlantis, and was actually planning on vacationing there next year. But luckily for me, I got to go on this trip instead! I cannot express how excited I was.
The best way to sum up Atlantis is to take my two favorite places in the world, (1) Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Mactan Philippines, and (2) Las Vegas, combine them, and magnify by ten. Atlantis is amazing.
Atlantis is located on Paradise Island, which is connected to Nassau by land bridges, and is the most amazing resort I could imagine. Casino, countless aquariums with fish, sharks, eels, jelly fish, starfish, etc, etc... There's lagoons where you can snorkel and dive, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen with the brightest blue waters you can imagine. There's a water park with lots and lots of slides that take you into underground caves with aquariums surrounding two of the walls, or into a lazy river that takes you through rapids and caves and loads you onto a conveyor belt to take you back up to the slides.
I spent pretty much all day at the water park, and even got separated from the group when I refused to go on the scariest slide that was practically a straight fall... so I went on a milder slide, assuming they both ended in the same area, but they didn't. So for two hours I circled the lazy river on my own before miraculously running in to the group again.
I could spent weeks at Atlantis and never get bored. I could vacation there every year for the rest of my life and never get sick of it... definitely my new favorite place to be.
By far the worst part of my 9-day vacation was that Russ wasn't with me. I knew I would miss him, but I didn't imagine it'd be as bad as it was. Luckily I had phone reception on most days, so we were able to talk, which made it way easier.
I guess we didn't realize how much time we'd spent together over the summer, and just sorta took each other for granted. We've also been taking the relationship very slowly, and we may have been denying, even to ourselves, how serious it's become. After all, three months of "dating" status is kinda unusual, especially for me, who tends to jump in headfirst and has been known to drop the L-bomb within a month.
So after I came back from Florida, we sorta unofficially transitioned into the boyfriend/girlfriend status. Makes me happy, but I'm still scared.
I don't really know Russ' reasoning for not wanting to jump into a relationship, but mine is definitely because I'm terrified. Too many times I have fallen hard, gotten my hopes up, and then been crushed. The most recent wasn't even six months ago, and although I'm over Thane, it's still scary how he was able to have such a huge impact on my life. I guess I learned not to let my guard down, no matter what a man tells me.
So with Russ, I'm happy we're together, and I'm happy when I'm with him, but I've spent the past three months trying not to fall for him. It isn't working. I'm so scared that I'll get hurt again, and I guess that's always the risk one takes with love.
Part of me wishes I could see how it would all turn out, so that I could avoid potential heartbreak, but looking back at my past decisions, I know I have learned from every experience, and that I wouldn't be the same Melanie if I had done things differently. So I guess I move blindly forward, and I just need to have faith that even if I get hurt, it will help me grow and become a better person.
As far as work goes, I'm still loving my job. Summer was spent planning, evaluating, and getting ready to implement the program for this school year. Things are starting to pick up, and I've found myself very busy and very excited with it all. It's a bit intimidating interviewing people with years and years of teaching experience, some with doctorates and many impressive resumes. Maybe one day I'll have an awesome resume too. :-) The best part of my job is that I'm encouraged to be creative and think outside of the norm, which I think you don't find too often out there in the real world.
The worst part of my job is the paycheck. I've been seriously struggling with my finances, and am still trying to figure out how it's all supposed to fit together. I guess that's what upsets me most at the end of the day. I'll figure it out... I always do. I've just been putting this off for a while.
Guard is going relatively well, at least as well as I could expect at CHS... we have 5 good strong members, and 2 who started late and ergo are having issues with the routine since they were never properly taught basics. Their first football game on Friday went well, if you ignore the fact that they didn't do drill... but other than that, good performance. I'm excited for the season. I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday night making belts and skirts for their costumes, and it was worth it. Very cute.
Went to the orthodontist last week. As soon as I get all my other dental work done (fillings, root canals, extractions, etc) I'm getting braces. For two years. Too bad insurance doesn't cover it... But it may take up to a year before I can get the braces on anyway, so I've got some time to save up I guess.
Going up to Phoenix this weekend because my cousin is visiting from San Francisco, and going to Vegas at the end of the month for my auntie's wedding. Hoping I don't have to travel much after that, because I'm honestly vacationed out.
This year alone, I've been to San Francisco, Vegas twice (and the third on the way), Florida, and the Bahamas. I don't want to see another airplane for a long, long time. Yuck. I hate flying.
Anyway, that's what's up with me. Is it bedtime now?