The family we're born with, and the family we choose

Long story short, I had an AMAZING cruise this last week. Mexico is gorgeous in November! If you get a chance to head down to Cabo San Lucas this time of year, I highly recommend it. When you make it down, have a Pacifico for me while you're at it. Mmm.

But as wonderful as relaxing on sunny beaches with a cold beer can be (and it is wonderful, seriously), one of the best parts of this trip was the company. (Try not to barf.)

I went on this cruise with the Helpful Baby, the hubs, and my sister. My sister has long been the peanut butter to my jelly in the grand scheme of life, but ever since I moved away over five years ago, most of our contact has been over the internet. Getting to have shenanigans -- real, in person shenanigans! -- is something we haven't done in waaaay too long.

Better yet, my son got to spend a whole week with his auntie. The Helpful Baby LOVES his aunt. He thinks she's the shizz. (You can tell because he doesn't slap her as hard as everyone else.)

And I also got to spend the whole week with my husband, who is just as much family as my sister and son, even if we don't share blood. He's the family I've chosen. We've only been married for three years, yet watching the way all of my cohorts interact with each other, it's like our lives have always been meant to be united.

Family is precious. It's so much better than delicious margaritas, sunny skies, and blue water. Even better than getting an expert hot stone massage from a cute girl (and that's pretty stiff competition, if you catch my drift, and I think you do).

If I went on a cruise every week, I would get bored of it pretty fast. If I spent every week in the company of  the family I've been born with and the family I've chosen, it would never get old. It would always be just as amazing next week as it was the week before. In a perfect world, we would always be having amazing experiences together like we did last week.

But while we're wishing, I wouldn't turn down perpetual cruises, either. Heh.

Cruise ship beds are really comfy.

I'm already planning my next vacation. (Disneyland, just so you know. And Hawai'i in 2013.) But while I'm totally looking forward to more adventures, mostly I'm excited to spend time with my family. Writing and publishing keeps me way too busy sometimes. I have to stop and appreciate the really good things in life--or what else would I be working for?