Tandem

When I came to Key West on my cruise,

(a couple years ago)

 me and Hadlee rented a tandem bike for the day.

Since the day I came here I wanted to rent a tandem bike again.

I remember having a really difficult time riding the bike with Hadlee and how long

it took us to get the hang of riding it.

When me and Jenessa went to go rent the bike, I had told her about how hard

it might be and how it took me and Hadlee a good 30 minutes to get used to it.

Lenny (the lady who worked there) had told us that many people have a really hard

time and that we definitely needed to trust each other.

We got on the bike...

sure enough we were a little wobbly like I had predicted.

But by the time we exited the bike shop, we were pros! haha

We rode around the back roads of Key West

and got to notice a lot of things we miss and pass by on our scooters.

Go girl, it's your birthday!

Today was my roomate Jenessa's 20th Birthday!

We have only known each other for one month but

I feel like I have known her for years :)

The other day we were sitting on the couch and

she turns to me and says, "You know at first I didn't think

me and you would be that good of friends...I mean...I thought

we would get along and all but I didn't think we would be way close."

hahahahaahahahaha

We laughed pretty hard after she said that.

I am grateful that I have gotten the opportunity to meet this sweet

girl and to celebrate her birthday with her!



We started off by going to breakfast at Key West's

famous La Creperie. It was sooo delicious!

Jenessa is OBSESSED with conch republic anything.

So we thought it would be appropriate to get her a conch

republic towel. We also got her a skirt she had been wanting.

After breakfast I had to go to work

but the girls went jet skiing around the island!

After work I got to take Jenessa out to dinner.

She chose to go to this cute Thai Sushi restaurant.

It was so cute and the food was crazy good.

I think I am going to need a wheelbarrel to get me back

to Utah. I have eaten out way too much!

We sat out on the deck and got to watch the beautiful sunset.

Little did Jenessa know that a surprise was waiting for her at home.

The girls decorated our apartment with streamers and 

music to welcome her home.

We had made a cake that is from this funny

youtube video that we watch frequently at the apartment.

Very fun day!

From Paddleboarding to Salsa

Almost everyday when i drive to work,

I see people paddle boarding out in the ocean.

Today me and Jenessa went to lazy dogs and rented ourselves some boards.

Can I just start off by saying I love locals discounts. We got

half off of the regular price. Score!

They let us go out into the open water

 by ourselves and we explored different canals, marinas,

got to see cool fish, and got a nice work out.

 We even got to lay out and relax for a bit on the boards.

 

Later in the day, I totally switched gears

and I got to go to a salsa class.

We met the lady who teaches the class, Lucy,

at a boutique a couple weeks ago

and she invited us to come and try her class that she does

with her husband every Friday.

Me and Joanna went and got our step on.

Lucy is such a sweet lady and we had a great time!



My Birthday Adventure

SURPRISE!

If you know my family, birthdays have always been a pretty big deal. I was lucky enough this year to get to celebrate mine here! My roomates outdid any of my expectations and started out by suprising me by decorating our apartment. I woke up to this...

I was like a young child on Christmas morning haha



My roomates bought be a tiara and other princess jewelry to wear throughout the day.

ALL DAY ADVENTURE

I was lucky to have the day off for my birthday and a few of the other girls had part of the day off. We went on an all day adventure excursion with fury. And the best part is on your birthday you get what is originally $160 for FREE. The adventure day includes snorkeling, parasailing, jet skiing, food and more! 

Snorkeling

The boat took 7 miles out into the ocean to the world's

3rd largest coral reef in the world!

We got on all of our scuba gear and jumped into the ocean.

Being out in the middle of the ocean and not being able to touch

the bottom kind of freaked me out but we had a great time.

Joanna could look at those dang fish all day long if she wanted...

she loves snorkeling



Parasailing

After snorkeling the boat took us to fury's water playground

to get seperated into groups to do the different activities.

Our group got to go parasailing first. Our group was so fun and we had a blast

dancing to the music on the boat. We met a cute family from New Orleans

who had the coolest accents.

 Me and Joanna went up together

and she had never gone parasailing before. She was hilarious screaming

and laughing the entire time. On our way back, our driver let me

drive since it was my birthday :)

Playground

In the middle of the ocean they had these giant blow up slides and climbing

walls. They also had this trampoline. We had to swim out to them and let's

just say that I am not a good swimmer at all. Doggy paddling is the best I can do.

Good thing they gave us noodles or else I don't think I would have made it haha.

 

Jet Skiing

The final activity was jet skiing. Me an Jenessa

went out together and took turns driving. Adventure day

was a success!



Sunset Sail

The adventure day still went on...Fury included a free

Sunset Sail in the package to cruise over the water to watch

the beautiful Key West sunset. Me and Joanna  went out together

and met so many great couples. One couple from Brazil even

invited us to stay at their home if we ever wanted to go and visit Brazil.

There are so many amazing people

 out in the world and I am grateful

that I have gotten this experience to get to meet many of them from

all over the world.

 

Marisa...our new friend from Brazil


Dinner Party

For dinner we made reservations at The Bistro.
A restaurant right on Mallory Square.
My friend Robert who works there helped
us reserve a nice table outside.
Dinner was so good and they brought out
a key lime pie cheesecake for dessert.
The girls got me the perfect present...a dress
I had been wanting from a store near our work.
Happy times :). My birthday was so great and I was so
blessed to have such great family and friends to make my 19th
birthday the best day ever :)!



Hemingway House

Ernest Hemingway was a very famous American author and journalist. One of the houses he lived in throughout his life is located right here in Key West. The house is open for poeple to tour through. The best part is it was free for locals :). Hemingway used to own around fifty cats on the property. He loved what is called a polydactyl or gypsy cat (a cat that has six toes rather than five). The house still has around 60 cats which are decendants from Hemingway's polydactyl cats.



6 toed cat :)



Sunset Key

Me and Jenessa have had pretty much the same schedules for work. We both had Friday off so we decided to head over to the nearby island called Sunset Key. We scheduled reservations for lunch at the really nice restaurant called Latitudes.

We took the free ferry ride over and had the best food while overlooking the ocean. After lunch we spent the day at the beach in the ultra comfortable chairs and layed out for a bit.  My day was complete with my pina colada. We plan to go back soon :)

                                                                  Fish Tacos! Yum!



Cariloha! Stay cool. Wear Bamboo

Cariloha...where the style of the Caribbean meets the spirit of aloha. This is where I work :). Everything in the store is made out of bamboo-yes sheets, shirts, towels, and purses. It's a really cool product and I love selling the merchandise. Our store's location is right by the main cruise ship ports in Key West. We get a lot of customers coming in on cruise ship days and it is a lot of fun meeting all of the diverse customers and some not even English speaking. It's super funny trying to explain to people who can't even speak English how the product is made out of bamboo.

Feel the Difference....

Bamboo is....Soft: bamboo is twice as soft as cotton, Cool: bamboo is 3 degrees cooler than cotton and wicks away moisture, Clean: bamboo is naturally antibacterial, and Green: bamboo is one of the most renewable resources on the planet and can grow up to 4 feet a day! 

Mind, Body, HEAT

For the longest time, I have wanted to try out yoga. It has always seemed like a really fun and relaxing way to work out. There is a Bikram Yoga located her in Key West that we decided to go and try out. It is categorized as hot yoga and wow that is an understatement.

The class requires you to bring a large beach towel and water bottle. The room is heated around 105 degrees F with the humidity of 40%. There were about 6 thermostats in the room and the carpet floor was heated. The class was very relaxing and meditating, almost hypnotic. It was amazing that the instructor didn't show us the moves but just told us to focus on ourselves in the mirror as he explained what to do.

I have never sweat so much in my ENTIRE life. It was literally like I had just taken a step out of the shower- my clothes, hair, and skin were drenched. During some of the positions I felt like I could ring my skin out like a soaked towel. Thank goodness for the required beach towel. We had a great time and it was a great first time experience of yoga!

You may not be able to tell in this picture but we are soaking wet...

Better Than Sex...

Desserts have always been my most favorite food. In Key West there is a well known dessert restaurant called Better Than Sex. All of the girls went out to the dimly lit and romanticly themed restaurant.  The desserts were the best thing I had ever tasted and were so beautifully decorated. It was a hilarious time with the menu names and descriptions along with playing a would you rather game.  We had a lot of good laughs this night.

Between my red velvet sheets cheesecake

Tongue Bath Truffe

Jungle Fever

 

Cookie Nookie

Would you rather...