Thank God For Trip Insurance; Our Merry Land/Sea! (Two new updates October 3)

It's good to see you back on here! All the changes you guys are making sound really exciting. What a great goal to be working towards -- homes in Colorado AND Florida! I'm excited to see how the rest of your trip went :)
 

A few updates of changes in my personal life:

And, DH and I have made some serious changes to our financial future! With my income increasing in the Fall we sat down and seriously discussed our finances. It's sooo tempting to go buy a bigger house or plan more vacations. Instead we've buckled down and are on a mission to become debt free! We've refinanced our home on a 15 year mortgage at a ridiculously low interest rate with plans to actually pay it off in 9 years. So, while we still love Disney and can't wait for our next trip we decided that 4 disney trips plus a cruise in under 3 years was enough. The tickers on my signature are no longer correct because we've decided not to take a huge trip this coming school year and instead focus on building our wealth! I couldn't be happier! We now have a very realistic goal to live in both Florida and Colorado once the girls are in college. (Just 12 years). If all goes well we'll probably be heading to a 7 night Disney cruise (paid for upfront in cash) spring 2012.


Once you become debt free, you will be amazed at the freedom it gives you. Not having a credit card bill or a car note to pay each month is amazing. When others dread their statement from VISA/MC after Christmas, you'll be thankful in the knowledge that yours is already paid. When something breaks down (and something ALWAYS breaks down), you'll have that emergency fund to take care of it. And when you discover a sweet deal like DVC, you can pay cash for it and take those vacations each year. Good for you and your husband for making this decision. It will change your life in so many ways. And in the mean time, while you are taking a break from WDW, you can enjoy other DISboard members TR's! Congratulations!!!
 
Brooke--it's sooo good to see you posting again!! I've missed you! Congrats on the new job and on getting your Masters degree!! I got my Masters degree in Education right before Ally was born and I'm so glad I did!! It sounds like you have some wonderful financial goals and that you are having a great summer!! :goodvibes
 
Glad to see you posting again.:goodvibes

Sounds like you will have a busy summer. Congrats on going back to school. I finished my MBA before the kids were born, so I can only imagine how much more energy it will take. One thing I always liked, was making a list of all my classes and crossing out each one as I finished it.

But I am still curious...why the trip insurance (but I can wait patiently:rotfl:)
 

Great to have you back Brooke!:goodvibes Looking forward to hearing about the end of your trip!

Sounds like you have a great plan with the money makeover...I wish I could get disciplined enough to do that myself! It is good I think that you got those Disney trips in because now you can focus on other things. I think you mentioned that the more recent trips weren't bringing you as much enjoyment as the initial trips you first took as a family, so now you won't feel like you are missing out as much if you divert the money to other things!;)

There are a lot of people lately who keep signing the praises of Dave Ramsey. I know nothing about his program, but I think I might investigate his plan further myself!;)
 
Hello! I just read your entire trip report tonight. You have a beautiful family and your girls are always dressed so adorable. Looking forward to reading more. Congrats on your life plans!
 
Okay,

Three months ago I so rudely left you all aboard the Disney Wonder in Nassau.:sunny: Well I wish that's where I'd been hanging for three months. Wouldn't that be great.

So we had a fabulous morning with the girls on the ship playing in the pools and the getting hair braided. The girls were off the the Ratatouille Cooking School and DH and I got off to walk around Nassau. It wasn't even a month past the event that happened in Nassau over the winter when several DCL and RCI travelors on a tour were held at gun point and robbed. So, we felt much better leaving the girls safely on the ship while we ventured out for some adult time. And we had a great time!:thumbsup2

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As we were walking toward Senior Frogs we saw the Oasis of the Seas sail in. It was only it's second time sailing into Nassau. We were amazed at the size and all the locals and tourist stopped to stare and take pictures.

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Senior Frogs was in easy walking distance. I did not find the locals to be near as aggresive or intimidating as I'd heard at all. Boy the drinks were strong here. I couldn't drink all mine and it was half the size of DHs.
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Once they started calling poor unsuspecting people up on the bar to sing my husband was out of there. So we headed out to do some shopping.


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My husband tells stories about how I almost got us ran over or mugged just to find the Del Sol store. Not true by the way.;) There are no sidewalks on some of the roads so we had to walk down a street but it was not busy. And like I said the people were kind and not overbearing at all. I got the girls some great color changing nail polish and unknowingly started our new addiction to finding Del Sols along the Caribbean. Boy we spent a lot more in March when we found Del Sol in Jamaica. Love that store!

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For fun, here's Faith outside Del Sol in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in March.
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We stopped at a couple more stores then made our way back. We found these cute little preschoolers doing a Michael Jackson tribute. Too cute.
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As we made our way back to the ship we were passing THOUSDANDS and THOUSANDS of Oasis of the Seas cruisers. It really was overwhelming and amazing to see just how many people that ship could hold. We were glad we took our pictures by the Bahamas sign before they arrived. In our happy, giddy mood (due to Senior Frogs):tongue: we decided to try to take a picture of the two of us in front of the Bahamas sign. But rather than wait in a long line and ask someone to take a picture we got up on a stone railing and took a self portrait. This was not the first one. It took us a while to angle it just right. You can see the huge Royal Caribbean crowd behind us. I had just bought the sunglasses I have on and apparently was a little too happy to realize that the sticker was still on the front.:lmao:
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We came back to find the girls happy and engaged in the kids club. They were not ready to leave so DH and I went up to have a late lunch since they'd eaten in the club.
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Up Next: Princess and the Frog newly released and Pirate Night!!
 
Good to see you back with another update!

That's such a horrible story about what happened in the Bahamas before and you guys were really smart to decide to leave your daughters on the ship.

Looking forward to hearing more:goodvibes
 
Yeah another update:cool1:

Looks like DH and you were having a great time. Sometimes it's nice to go out with just your DH and no kids (or so I heard :rotfl:)
 
Love the update. We had a stop to Bahamas many years ago on a cruise and we went to Senior Frogs as well. Also the Del Sol store. We were on Norwegian and if you showed your card you could get a free color changing bag. I still use it too.
 
Yay! A new update! I'm glad you got to have some "adult time" in Nassau. Looks like you had fun :thumbsup2
 
Hooray, an update!! And it's a great one! How nice to have a morning alone, knowing the kids were happy at the kids' club.
 
Yes, I was actually thinking about it the other day too. Yes I know I'm strange. LOL!
 












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