The Hogan 2 week $1800 Voyage to the Southern Caribbean

I like to consider myself a saavy traveler. Matt & I, obviously, love to travel. Matt & I, being in our early 20s, just out of college and with no trust funds or internet start up fortunes to our name, are budget travelers. But this does not mean we're taking trips to the Mississippi River and going south for us is not going to mean Missouri. We do our research, we wait patiently, and we fall upon a sweet little (big) vacation such as this: I'm surfing the internet last November looking around at travel options when I decide to check out Royal Caribbean's website. I'm not usually on the hunt for cruises because we usually like to actually stay in the place we're visiting but I decided to go out on a limb and check it out anyway. And suddenly the heavens seperate and a golden light is shining down on my laptop. Royal Caribbean is selling one of their small ships to a European company and are practically giving away the last 2 of it's voyages. A 12 day Southern Caribbean cruise. $600 a person. This means that I'm going to be sleeping, eating all I want, and being dropped off in exotic locations for $50 a day. I can't even go on a vacation to the Mississippi River for less than that!

We quickly scoop this puppy up departing in late January (2 months away) and are granted another lovely moment when I find out that we can fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico from Iowa for the low low price of $900/person but pat myself on the back for all those frequent flier miles we've banked from our 6 years of long distance love and pay $10/ticket in taxes and 35,000 miles each. So glad I didn't use those miles on a $300 flight like I almost did!

Now I've been on cruises before and I know well enough that you only buy excursions from the cruise if you're desperate or they have something amazing. We found 1 such excursion and did our own planning for the 8 other islands. We brought $400 in cash and ended up not having to go to an ATM once. Yes, ladies and gents, we were in the Southern Caribbean for 13 days for a whopping grand total of $1800 including 1 night in San Juan before our early morning departure. If you have researched into vacations recently you'll know that this is a ridiculous deal. And what an amazing vacation it was!

The cruise ship was definitely smaller than any I've been on and our stateroom was pretty tiny but we couldn't have cared less. We were there to enjoy the islands and for the 2 days at sea there was still plenty of room and plenty of things to do. Considering the length and time of this cruise we were definitely about the only people under 30 in existence and we had to turn back to port in the middle of the night atleast 3 times to let people off for medical emergencies (I believe 3 people died on our voyage and atleast 3 others had heart attacks or other similar emergencies). It was great to see all the older folks living it up and we enjoyed being the babies of the group! This meant no screaming kids on the pool deck 24/7. I can definitely deal with that! Retirement didn't seem so bad :)

First Stop: St. Maarten (we took a short boat ride over to Pinel Island & it was gorgeous. This island has a great European flair with half of the island belonging to the Dutch and half to the French.) Second Stop: St. Kitts (we took a taxi to Cockleshell Beach where there was an amazing view of the island of Nevis and hundreds of starfish everywhere! St. Kitts was a suprise to us, absolutely exceeding our expectations) Third Stop: Antigua (pronounced "Ann-tee-gah" here is where we splurged on the cruise ship excursion which was well worth it. We took a catamaran cruise around the entire island, which boasts 365 beaches, and we even had a BBQ on this lovely little gem, Green Island. Antigua is a sailing mecca and Matt was in love)
Fourth Stop: St. Lucia (here was where meeting people on the cruise ship really paid off. We had been sharing a taxi with a few couples on the previous islands to save $$ and one of the couples had been to St. Lucia on a previous cruise and hired a local to take them out on his boat to snorkel near the famous Pitons, see a waterfall, go to the volcano, hang out at the beach. Well after getting on off the cruise ship we ended up finding this guy's mom who called him on her cell phone and he showed up to take us all out! It was awesome and in St. Lucia going by boat saves you hours of driving through the windy mountainous jungle, this place is gorgeous!) Fifth Stop: Barbados (Here was our only semi-disappointment on the cruise. I had been to Barbados previously to shoot a wedding and did not care for the island as an American (they don't like us very much). I've heard of people loving Barbados but my two times on the island have left me not quite in love. We did swim out and found some sea turtles which was fun. Other than that, the Caribbean has much better to offer in our opinion.)
Sixth Stop: Margarita Island, Venezuela (we pretty much just hung out in the dock/beach area as this location takes a bit of a jaunt to reach the neater areas. The market was fun and Matt enjoyed walking out atleast 100 yards into the ocean and it was still only to his ankles finding lots of shells.)
Seventh Stop: Curacao (this was our favorite stop. Matt found this awesome little secluded beach BlaauwBai "Blue Bay" where we found the best snorkeling we had ever experienced, enjoyed relaxing under the palm trees, as well as the amazing view. Later in the afternoon we went into Pondi, their downtown. The colors and authentic Dutch flair is so much fun and we can't wait to get back to this little island.)
Eighth Stop: Aruba (We took a "pirate" cruise on Aruba which was fun. They stopped in a few places to snorkel and use the rope swing. Aruba is a beautiful island which was confirmed by my most recent visit there last week. It is a very upscale island with tons to do and beautiful beaches).
It is possible to see the world without having money coming out your ears and this vacation definitely proved that to us. We have chosen to make travel a priority in our life and have chosen careers that allow us flexibility to take advantage of opportunities such as this Hogan Voyage to the Southern Caribbean. It was a vacation that we'll never forget, except at the bank :)

Some budget travel sites we visit often:
kayak.com (for all of our airfare, this website pools all the major airlines as well as the discounters like Expedia, Travelocity, & Orbitz, it's the best way to check everything all at once.)

HobbitTravel.com (this website has lots of vacation packages that include airfare from Minneapolis. When you're looking at a European cruise that included airfare can make a big difference! They also have lots of deals on land vacations as well as airfare.)

WorryFreeVacations.com (this is where we go if we know we want to go to Cancun or some of the other fairly popular Caribbean destinations-Puerto Vallarta, Jamaica, etc. as they work with charter airlines to get the best last minute airfare & hotel deals out of Minneapolis, St. Louis, and a few other major hubs)

VacationsToGo.com (this is where Matt has been finding some pretty awesome cruise deals lately)

AirfareWatchdog.com (sign up for their e-mail alerts. They allow you to put in your home airport/s and they email you with deals from that airport)

Embracing Uncomfortable

It's midnight and I am back in the United States but not back at home. I say this with some uncertainty as to where my home really is. Matt & I joke that we are homeless. This is not necessarily true in the literal sense as we always have a roof over our heads yet that roof seems to be in a constant evolutionary state.

In our first year of marriage we have called many roofs home for a night, a week, or even a few months at a time. My parents house, our upstairs "apartment", various friend's couches in Tennessee, Matt's parent's house in DC, Matt's room in a house full of guys on Ricky Court and various hotels around the world. This nomadic lifestyle has not occurred because we enjoy living out of a suitcase or didn't have any other options, it's just simply become part of what I consider our transition phase into abundant life. What that life will entail, I truly have no idea. I can honestly say I have no idea what my life will be like a month from now.

And that simple sentence, I have learned, can have catastrophic effects on one's mind, body, and soul. It surely has in my case. I don't deal well with not knowing my future. This is where the growing process starts and where I have to dig out all my insides for some inspection. Learning to make my home not in physical places, in people, in things or in feelings. My home must become the space I make within myself where God dwells. When my longitude or latitude or ability to hold on to people, places, or things changes, my space with God remains my constant. My never changing home.

And if I'm being honest, this makes me extremely uncomfortable. So uncomfortable to the point where I would pretty much rather do anything in the world than this. To the point where I would do anything to get myself out of a situation not of my choosing. I am used to having things my way. And when they aren't going my way I want to kick and scream until the ball is back in my court. I want complete control and I don't want to have to explain why or how or when. I just want life my way.

So as I am talking myself through these times when I feel like my life is not following my very specific compass, I'm trying to figure out ways to put it on the correct course. How can I make my life more in line with the way I think it should be? And if I can't regain control over every decision in my life, how can I harness my emotional response to these things and force myself to be ecstatic about every little weed?

Fast forward through a few weeks of this conversation with myself to last night as I am sitting at the kitchen table with my mother-in-law, Sharon, in Northern Virginia. I've just arrived after 16 hours of traveling from work and we are discussing life and, to be quite honest, it hasn't been a good day. My nomadic lifestyle and lack of knowledge about my future has caught up with me and I'm feeling like I might lose it for the 100th time in a month. And suddenly Sharon mentions her own life and her plans for the upcoming months and how good it is going to be good for her to have such an uncomfortable year. It's like tunnel vision only with my ears and I am sucked out of a hole that I have been swimming in for the past month, even if only for a moment.

I don't have to feel perfect. I don't have to like the fact that my future is unknown to me. I don't have to rejoice in feeling overwhelmed or lonely. I don't have to feel guilty when I struggle with my own wants over what God knows I need. I could have an absolutely horrible year and in the end it's still going to be an amazing year because all of this is in God's plans for me. He knows where I've been and where He's taking me and if it takes being ripped from my convenient and comfortable roots to go on that journey, so be it. As uncomfortable as it may be, so be it.


"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:13

Aruba and 10,000 airports, it will be nice to see you again.

I'm off to Aruba tomorrow morning with my mom to shoot a wedding this Wednesday. My husband & I took a pretty amazing vacation this last January/February to 9 different Caribbean islands and Aruba was one of them....it definitely doesn't disappoint. It will be quite a long day considering this lil gem is just north of South America (it's going to take us about 12 hours to get there) but we have Monday to relax before working Tuesday & Wednesday & flying back on Thursday so I'm looking forward to that. Here's a shot I took from Aruba on a little deserted part of the beach we stopped at. This next month is going to be a little crazy...July 13-17 in Aruba, July 17-23 in DC & Williamsburg for Relevant Church, come home for 4 days to shoot 2 weddings July 25 & 26, then a week in Nashville with the hubby July 27-Aug.1, then back here to shoot a wedding on Aug.2, and then off to Cancun to shoot another wedding Aug. 6-10. Whew. I'm not even sure what happens after Aug. 10. I think we've got about 5 million portrait shoots and weddings and somewhere at the end of August Matt & I really want to go on a vacation...Alaskan cruise, Banff, European cruise, last minute deal?

So next I really want to post about this amazing 9 island trip we took this winter because it was so amazing and I was just talking to Matt tonight about how ridiculous it was (we paid next to nothing for one of the best vacations we've ever been on..."and you can do it too" informercial voice). So stay tuned friends, now I'm off to the desert beach where last I checked the heat index was 104 and the water was feeling mighty fine :)

Saying "See You Later"

My mom taught me when I was younger never to say "goodbye" when you really meant "see you later." Today was another one of those "see you later" days. Matt is off again to Nashville and I am still here. It really should be no suprise to me that we're doing this considering we had a long distance relationship from the time we were 16. Like I said earlier, I assumed marrying the guy would be the end of that whole scene. Obviously I was dillusioned considering this guy is a pilot. Duh? So we've been doing this back and forth thing and usually I can handle it. I can see an end in sight and I can say, "I've got a plane ticket for this day and that's not really that far away." But the last few months haven't been quite that way and we haven't been able to really say when the next time is that we'll see each other. We bought his plane ticket for last week just a few days in advance. Before that we hadn't seen each other in over a month. And now I sit here again, not really sure when I'll get to hug my husband next. And, meanwhile, Matt got the pleasure of trying to comfort me as I cried my eyes out the moment we took the airport exit. Doing this for 6 years hasn't made it any easier. Let's just say this is a trial of life, marriage, and faith that I did not expect to be quite so hard. The pain of missing my best friend spills over into all areas of my life and my mind starts to feed on any negative thoughts it can come up with. So I trying (and struggling and working) on using this time in my life to reflect on what is important to me in my life and how I can work on relying on God when I sometimes feel like there is not much hope at all. Reflecting on how blessed I am to have the love of such an amazing man and how I can thank God for these blessings even when it hurts and I feel like a 2 year old telling Him that life isn't fair.

My point. Don't wait to cherish the love you've been blessed with in life. Hug your husband, wife, mom, dad, sister, brother, daughter, son, best friend, or do something to show them your love. And while you're at it, try to remember how much more God loves you than you can even love all these people combined. And I'll do my best to keep reminding myself.

Relevant Church

God answers my prayers when I don't even pray them.

I believe this whole-heartedly. When I was a senior in high school and deciding what I thought I wanted for my future I had a specific idea in mind of what I wanted for my life. I wanted to use my life to participate in God's kingdom in a very tangible way beyond just volunteering every once in a while. I wasn't exactly sure how I could or would do this and, as a result, debated between majoring in English, Psychology, & Graphic Design. I had good reasons for wanting to do all these things but in the end I felt most strongly that I could not ignore my passion for creating. I had a reckless abandon for art that I wasn't going to ignore and I was happy to be doing something that I felt predestined to do. But my desire at 18 to do something big with my life was quieted as I began college and got busy with a full time business that I was helping to build from the ground up. And then suddenly, 4 years later God not only reminded me of the desires of my heart that I had harbored the entire time but showed me His answer to my unspoken prayer and what I believe I had been truly preparing for. Relevant Church. Travis came into our lives a few years ago when he took a new position as youth pastor at Matt's home church in Northern Virginia. He and his family became very close to Matt's family and we ended up having he and his wife, Kathy, come down to Cancun to marry us. For that, and the time he spent beforehand guiding us through premarital counseling, he will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Fastforward to a few months ago when we get word that Travis is picking up his family and moving to wherever he feels God is calling him to start a completely out of this world truly relevant church. I'm not really sure how I even got involved but I believe, like alot of things in my life, God put it before me with a sort of "duh" smirk on his face..."Do I have to hold your hand as you take baby steps and give you water from a sippy cup?" I like to consider myself a pretty mature, responsible, independent woman. And here I am begging that someone might want to use my passions for something bigger. I want my life to have purpose and it looks like God has resorted to flashing neon signs in my face to show me the way. Whatever works.

Fastfastforward to now. Williamsburg, Virginia is the place and it's going to be amazing. And I get the amazing opportunity to help this place look as cool as it is. This is not going to be an ordinary church. And it's not even going to be an ordinary contemporary church. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for Relevant and for all of us who are a part of it. For now, Relevant church is pretty much my computer as I am a part of it from wherever I am at the moment, working to make it look relevant (and in the words of my husband "like a CD cover"...huh?) but regardless of if I am physically there, I can feel the imenseness of it and I can feel the gratitude and desperation that I feel. (I can feel my feelings, congratulations Kristyn!)

The point of all this. God knew my heart so much better than I knew my own. And day to day I have to live knowing that right this very moment He knows me better than I know myself. I really don't know it all. The abandon that is required of me to live my life not according to my own desires but according to the plans He has for me is difficult and lovely. Blood, bruises, and fresh air breathing.

Body For Life & Grandma's Bran Muffins

As you may have seen me mention, I am a "Body for Lifer" along with my husband. We started this program in February of this year. He, because he wanted to gain weight (gain muscle & be healthier), me, because I wanted to lose weight (tone muscle & be healthier). I'll be the first to admit that when we met a couple at the gym who recommended Body For Life to us, I was a little skeptical. At that time we were working out about 2 times a week and eating like any normal Americans. They were working out 6 times a week and eating very healthy. Ugh. But 5 months later I am a believer. This program has changed our life. For the better. Now I'm not saying it's a super easy quick fix do it and get it over with diet or something. This lifestyle is work and it's long term. But the rewards are worth the work.

Monday-Saturday we work out in the morning...Mon, Wed, Fri is about 45 minutes of lifting and Tues, Thurs, Sat is 20 minutes of interval cardio. And 6 times a day we eat 1 portion of lean protein (chicken, egg whites, lean hamburger/steak, cottage cheese, low-fat string cheese, etc.) & 1 portion of quality carbs (whole wheat bread, fruit, healthy cereal, whole wheat pasta, etc.). And as many vegetables and as much water as possible. And 1 free day a week (we chose Sunday) you can do whatever you want, pig out, lay around, it really doesn't matter (this usually involves Casey's taco pizza and ice cream for me :).

More than just the fact that we have met and exceeded our goals (me losing 30 lbs so far and actually finding my triceps and Matt looking quite buff) it goes beyond to emotional and physical well-being. The amount of energy I have now compared to 5 months ago is ridiculous. My mom used to give me crap because I would yawn literally every few minutes all throughout the day. I think I yawn about once every other week now. I used to hate carrots unless they were slathered in dip. I now call carrots my "new chips". I love them.

I think the best part about this program is that it is something that can be adapted to be a lifelong lifestyle. It's not a get-skinny in 5 days (and then gain all of it back and more a month later) kind of thing. And having 1 day a week to indulge in foods I love makes resisting those temptations throughout the week much easier.

Enough blabbing on, I'll devote some other posts to the working out, etc. because some of this stuff was really revolutionary to me. I had no idea how to really work out to optimize results and it was really a simple concept that all these fad-diets had washed away into basically starve yourself, don't eat carbs, and get a gym membership to use for 1 week before quitting. No thanks.

So anyways, on to the yummy part. I have been in love with these muffins ever since I was a kid. My grandma Jeanie always makes them and they are simply a part of me, I love them that much. But unlike what everyone says, I think they are better cold (store them in the fridge)...but considering my quirks, it is true that most people like them warmed up in the microwave so maybe it's just me that likes them cold. And P.S. I swear this isn't going to become a food blog, it just happens to be that I've been cooking alot this week and realized I could adapt these muffins to my healthy lifestyle! :)

Grandma Jeanie's Bran Muffins

*2 cups of non-instant oatmeal
*2 cups boiling water
*4 egg whites
*1 cup sugar
*1/4-1/2 cup of oil
*1/2 cup natural apple sauce
*1 qt. lowfat buttermilk (to make it even healthier I did 1 cup skim milk & 3 cups LF buttermilk)
*5 cups whole wheat flour
*5 tsp. baking soda
*1 tsp. salt
*4 cups All Bran cereal

-Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
-Combine oats & boiling water, let cool.
-Mix in eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce, & buttermilk/milk.
-Stir in sifted remaining dry ingredients until moist.
-Bake in muffin tins for 15 minutes.
-Makes 5-6 dozen muffins.
-Batter can keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks if you don't want to cook the whole batch at once.

-My advice is to freeze them in plastic bags for a day or so and then put them in the fridge to thaw before you eat them. This makes them moister :)