cant. sleep.

dreaming. of. snow.

Boat Feet VS. Aussie Feet.

Nearly one and the same...

These are Maria's Boat Feet after spending all day/week/month???? in the yard...


These are My feet and Jess's feet after partying in the dirt all day on Australia Day 2008...

I had to dig out the VHS tape of one of my old favorite movies...

Over the river and through the woods...

To Grandma and Grandpa's house we go! I love going to the G'parent's house. It has a smell that just reminds me of being little and chasing cats around the house, while grandma screams at the Cowboy's football game on the TV, (which used to make my brother cry when he was little, poor little feller). It reminds me of many Thanksgiving's and big breakfasts and Christmas, which are 3 of my favorite things! It reminds me of my cousins and how we used to see them about once a year, I can't tell you the last time I saw any of them. (on my dad's side) I also love the area of Texas they live in! They live in New Braunfels, which is south of Austin in the Hill Country area. It's beautiful down there, lakes and rivers and rolling hills everywhere. There are all sorts of small towns out there, most of them with a German name or influence as the first settlers in that area were, of course, German. There is a little town named Gruene, pronounced "green" that we like to visit when we get down that way. Gruene is full of little artisan shops and music. The famous Gruene Music Hall is there where the likes of George Strait and Robert Earl Keen played their first shows, they still come back to play homage to this place frequently, you never know who you may see strolling through the streets of Gruene.

What a beautiful weekend for a road trip! I love road trips! I will take pics and post them up as soon as I can!

Oh, and... I have a job interview with a ski resort in Alta, Utah on Tuesday... Wish me luck! Tee hee I am so excited!

Totally Awesome.

Click here to find out what this is...

I have realized that I travel quite a bit... I would love to have one of these to put in my carry on... tee hee!

When the going gets tough, the tough weigh their options.

After reading an interesting blog on Dockwalk.com, I have decided to take a long hard look at how I got here. "Here" being, "in the yachting industry". It all started way back in 2002... I was a high volume bartender in Houston, TX. I was really good at it, I was making a little money, working at the bar at night and at Sun N' Ski Sports during the day when I wasn't at class at Tomball College. To say the least, I was busy. It started to wear me down and I decided to do something different. I stood in the middle of Sun N' Ski sports, on one side there was the ski section, full of snowboards and warm fuzzy coats, on the other side was the Sun and Surf section, equipped with wake boards and swim suits. I closed my eyes and spun around. When I stopped I was looking at the snow board section as well as a very confused coworker. He was silent, I said "I'm deciding what to do next", he just smiled and walked off. I spent the next few weeks doing research on Aspen, Colorado because where else would one go if they wanted to move to the mountains to become a snow bunny??? I signed up on a website called Roommates.com and eventually found someone who was in the process of moving to Aspen as well. We decided to look for a place together and the search began. Not long after that someone gave me the bright idea to email a long lost relative who lived in Key West if I wanted to try something new. They thought it a better idea to go somewhere I actually knew someone than to go off into the wild blue yonder where I knew no one. This turned out to be a not so good idea in the end. I have learned my lesson in that area but we won't go into that. Needless to say I chose to couch surf in Key West instead of Ski Bum in Aspen. It's a decision I think about often. We all know what happened after that, I ended up being a boat girl instead of a ski bunny. Not so bad, I have skills now that not many people have and I wouldn't trade my experiences or friends for the world. But I do think about what I could have learned and the fun I could have had if I had gone ahead with my first choice and ran for the hills. This new Megayacht industry has really spoiled me in the salary area but I'm not so sure I need to be really worried about that right now. I think I might like to spend the winter season in the mountains just to see how it goes. I can always get back on a yacht for the spring/summer season in the Med come May. I'm just thinking out loud, but those of you who know how I am wont be surprised when I tell you that I have already sent my resume out to over 10 ski resorts across the US, anddddddddddd I just got an email from one! Gotta go check it! Wish me luck!

Whew! It's a miracle!

Click here to see how St. Thomas and the VI fared...

HURRICANE OMAR LOOKS TO HIT MY OLD HOME HEAD ON!

I got a call from my best friend Meg in St. Thomas yesterday, she was busy running around tying up boats and stocking up on fresh water and bread. She said they predicted Omar to turn into a Hurricane and head northeast. I just checked the NOAA site and sure enough, Omar is now a cat 1 hurricane and is headed northeast, looks to hit St. Thomas dead center. Hopefully it wont gain too much strength before it gets there but you never know. It's traveling over warm water in the caribbean so the possibility for it to become a large storm is there. Meg works on big steel pirate ships that take people snorkeling and sailing, well one boat, Doubloon, is in the yard so as a precaution they welded her to the side of a metal building! Talk about sturdy. They took the other boat Bones into the mangroves and tied her down and set out a ton of anchors. Another worry is that miss Meg and her boyfriend Kilian live on a sailboat at the dock in Compass Point marina. Kilian says if it's a cat 1 or 2 they will stay on the boat but anything higher and they will go stay with someone on land. I am worried about them! Keep an eye on the weather.

Jeff is home!!!

He busted through the front door while we were cooking dinner! Perfect timing, I think he was hungry. He looks like a mountain man, smelled like one too. Mom has a pic of him right when he got home so check her blog for that. OUR WHOLE FAMILY IS BACK IN THE HOUSE!!! :)

After the wedding we got invited to a costume party!

It was amazing! We had so much fun, Josh and Loni dressed as Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain, hence his gunshot wound and her smeared lipstick... we had Wilma and Fred, and Willy Wonka who proposed to his gangster girlfriend later on into the night... She said yes! So our day consisted of a wedding, a proposal, a costume party, and a birthday! What a long day... well worth it.

Me and Amanda at Jessica's wedding yesterday.

My flight from Seattle to Dallas...

Im home!

I slept in my super comfy bed, and watched t.v., and now I am listening to Guns N' Roses while I get ready for Jessica's wedding!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Wedding Receptions!!! I'm gonna dance with old guys. I mean really old ones... cuz it's the most fun. I will post pics from my day of flying tonight, stay tuned!

Leaving On A Jet Plane...

Hope there is something to eat at the airport. I'm hungry. My flight leaves here at 11:20am and I fly to Arizona! Never been to Arizona! Pretty exciting. All I know is... I want mexican food. I haven't had ANY since I got here. I was gonna pull over and go to a Taqueria in the ghetto yesterday but Phillip changed my mind for me. I'm not scared of the barrio. I just needed a burrito. So, Mom, please, can I have taco bell on the way home? K THX BAI!

PBR has a calming effect.

WHEW! I am exhausted....

That was the most intense, in depth, thorough, interview I have ever been through. I am mentally exhausted. Usually I go into an interview KNOWING I will get the job. I have never interviewed for a job and NOT gotten it. Well, today was the first time in my life I have ever been nervous after getting off the phone, it's actually the first time I have ever hung up the phone without having a new job... He says " Great interview, I'm just going to check your references and get back to you on Monday." OH MY GOSH. He said I had spelling errors on my resume, and to watch out for that. I CALL BULLSHIT!!! Anyone who knows me knows I am a stickler for grammar and spelling so I knew he was just seeing how I reacted. Only a few mins prior to him telling me this he asked me how I reacted to "constructive criticism" and I told him I handled it just fine. When he said that about my resume I was a bit shocked but I just said "wow. I feel really silly, but thanks man I will take another look at it." Hope that's what he wanted. He went over every single line on my resume and asked every question you could think of. Wanted examples of situations, I can't even think of anything to end that sentence. I am totally exhausted. Amazing. I think I got a million brownie points because when he said "I'll make this quick, I bet you have some cocktails to get to, this being your last night in Seattle and all." and I replied with something about watching the red sox highlights and he just laughed and told me that he was from Boston, I said "well as long as you are a red sox fan we will get along just fine". He really liked that. One mistake I made.... He was asking me if I had my passport, allowed to travel overseas... blah blah blah... "What's your nationality?" without even thinking.... I replied, "Texas".... son of a bitch.... he just cracked up... I started laughing and corrected myself and he said, "no, no, you were right the first time." then went on to ask if I had any drug habits or strange diets, "no. no." He asked, "Do you eat meat?" I said... "were you listening? I said I was from Texas." HHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAAAA! I think at times like these, my uncle Michael is proudest. :)

Everyone keep wishing on stars and crossing fingers and legs.

))) DING! (((

I am now the proud owner of five, count em, five frequent flier cards!!! Woo hoo! Watch those drink tickets roll in.... ahhhhhhh!

BOOP BOOOOOOOOP! The Jolea Train is leaving the station!!!

Once again I fly. I fly alot. I need to enroll in all the frequent flier programs. That's my homework for today! And on a great note, I got my paycheck stuff all sorted and everything has calmed down a great deal since I sent a very very overly nice letter to someone.... Anyway.... I will be rolling out of "Shattle" at 11:30 tomorrow morning and getting to DFW at 7:33pm! Seems like I just left! :) (cuz i did) AND.......... YALL WANNA HEAR SOME GOOD NEWS??? I have a phone interview tonight at 7pm!!! Tee hee hee!!! I love my life.... I guess it does pay to be a good person... and not a total douche bag. Good news for everyone... :) Can't wait till Justin gets home and I tell him the good news, the capt from this other yacht wants to interview both of us!!! :) I gotta stop talking about it! I don't wanna jinx it!!! :))))))

Jeffhenge.

Hmm?

In a whisky drinkin, Dropkick Murphy's jammin, slurrin, ipod blaring mood...

What a day.

The crew and I just got some bad news. Apparently our services are no longer needed. Yep. Just like that. Either I find a yacht here in Seattle, or I will be back home on Thursday. Damn. Hopefully I will get on one here. Whew.... Son of a bitch. I have had some shitty luck when it comes to jobs the past year. Should I just call it quits? Fuck.

Last night in Seattle!

The Supervillians played at a place called Studio Seven! The Supervillians are a band that played St. Thomas a lot when I lived there, and I had met a few of them before so I was excited to go, also, my friend George from St. Thomas just moved to Seattle and he was going!!! So I met up with him and his friend and we all ended up partying on the tour bus with the band till like 12:30am, too late on a school night, I know. But I was fine today and nobody even realized I was sleepy cuz i just kept myself busy. Good deal. Here is a video!!!

Since my life is a bit dull at the moment, Here are some candid shots from Jeff and Zach!

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7xwtpVkDuH6fZjWnem6EOo9R4rWYewWjFZtwbKU8_jmUvD1LjwWKROYGuZI8LIbubHww4CGyPsXiU1CGCZc_fj_o_Ob5jJNqdTaQ1Gr-JMhPyEkaWFgDxrjAj6m3tj_igeRUcheqgQc/s1600-h/n528105299_4251400_9781.jpg">

Never mind...

Not going out. My partner in crime feels like staying in tonight, so now I am making all the boys watch the movie The Notebook with me as punishment.... EVIL ROAR! (hi maria)

Bundle up!

Going out tonight! Its cold. I had to buy a coat with fur on it! I will post pics later! Everyone have a great Saturday! xo

Just a quick update on last night...

This has the possibility to end in disaster.... hahah!

His last name.... Jager....



My last name... Cruzan....




Oh my gosh.... how weird is this???

My cute brother in German/Italy/Sweden?

I have no idea, what language is that on his big cookie necklace???? Lol!

Update on Jeff and Zach!

They are in Venice! The city of rivers and sinking buildings... they are staying at a hostel. That's all I know!!! Things are good here! A bit boring during the week but I promise excitement this weekend, I found a new non-crew member boy to keep me company.... ;) He's totally cute... yessssssssssss..........

Quote of the Day!

"Quickly! Get to the choppah!!!" - Artur, our russian engineer.

We all about peed in our pants. Cuz he has zeez vonderful accent....

By the way...

I got dust in my eye today, and it totally hurts and I am trying to keep it shut. I took my contact out but damn it hurt this afternoon, which is no good because my crew mates are trying to make me wear an eye patch like a pirate which would be fine but i'm not wearing a pirate costume. Maybe if i had a patch like this I would wear it.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

"Are you saying that I have a planet for a head, and this is like an eclipse?"
- Justin

After Celine asked him to stand a little to the right to block the porch light from blinding us....

LOL!

P-otos you want? POTOS YOU GETS!!!

4 bottles of wine later..... The Mac computer (mine) comes in to play with the Photobooth program....
This is me and Justin and Celine! Enjoy... pee in your pants laughing... we almost did.

A lovely eveining in Seattle...

It's chilly, but nice. It's nice to leave the windows cracked at night and nestle down under the covers! The worst part about leaving the windows cracked: waking up in the morning and having to crawl out of the warm cocoon into the frozen tundra that is your room. Me and the crew are having a glass or 3 of red wine while we watch a movie. Things are going well with Celine, the new chief stew, she is getting along famously with everyone. Hope everyone is having a great week, it's halfway over now! Have a great Thursday and Friday!

Update on Jeff and Zach!

They were in France last I heard, on their way to Germany for OKTOBERFEST!!! I am so proud... :) I will post pics when I get them! For now here is a pic of what I imagine they are doing...