Island Hygienist

Guess who just landed a part-time Dental Hygiene position in Nevis?  Why, that would be me!  After realizing that I'm not the greatest Dental Assistant (an understatement) and not accepting the Assisting position, a Dental Hygiene position has just opened up!  It is one day a week, Wednesday mornings from 9-1, and I will be taking the Ferry weekly to St. Kitts' Sister Island of Nevis!  So now I can tell people, "Oh yes, while my husband was in Medical School in the Caribbean, we lived on one Island and I traveled by boat to work on another Island."  God's plan gets more and more exciting by the day!  I start the job when we get back from our Canadian trip in May, and because it is only one day a week, it won't interfere with my rigorous beaching and tanning schedule - Ha!  God is Good!!

In my transition to becoming a good Wifey to my Hubby, I'm attempting "inexpensive and delicious" meals for dinner!  I went Ukrainian this week and made a cabbage roll casserole, and Andee wanted a picture of my efforts!   Nom nom nom!

As per usual, the DH's and I enjoyed lots of beach and pool time, soaking up the sun, and relaxing!  And as usual, it was tons of fun!

This week also involved 2 impromptu bonfires/cookouts!  The first, a Family Beach Cookout, involved spider wieners, marshmallows, and lots of friends!  St. Kitts weather is totally amazing, and it was indeed a great evening!  Oh, and Andee came too! *gasp!*  It was awesome to spend some time with the Hubs!

The second bonfire included lots of friends, lots of food, and lots of fun!  We made amazing smores, and ate way too much!  Sounds like a great night to me!

It is getting closer and closer to break time, which means that Canada has very limited time to get well above freezing for good!  I will not be pleased if I have to drag out the winter coats in late April!

Countdown:  23 days!  I have been craving a McChicken for weeks, and am planning on yet another McDonalds stop straight from the airport.  Perf.

Goodbye Block Two!

Up until Wednesday of last week, my poor Andee had been studying for almost a month straight for this set of Block 2 exams.  So to celebrate the completion of these exams, we spent the afternoon at the Marriott Beach soaking up the sun!   I have also seen a lot more of my hubby this week, and we have enjoyed some Blue Jays baseball, Shipwreck Beach, and just hanging out!  I love my husband!  Sometimes I miss him when he is right in front of me because of looming exams getting in the way!  But not this week!  This week we experienced a normal, newlywed marriage!  Well, normal for St. Kitts of course!

 

This week also involved Catherine's "25th" (again) birthday!  And in true St. Kitts fashion, the Wifeys celebrated in style!  Part One of the celebrations included some Desperate Housewives, Reggae Beach, a 600 pound pig, and tons of fun!  Oh, and Catherine is never without her camera - a must have quality for us bloggers!

Part Two of the Birthday Celebrations included Dinner at Spratnet, a cute Caribbean restaurant that is situated right along the ocean!  Jessie and I shared a "medium" vegetarian pizza (which was the size of a large), and Emily and Janae made Birthday Cupcakes just for the occasion!  It was a delicious and fun night!

On Sunday, I hosted Bible study, which was a lot of fun!  I really like having people over and cooking for them, especially when they are busy students!  I also love this Bible study - it is an amazing study of faith and belief in God, and we all had a great time learning!

Ready for an Only in St. Kitts moment?  While studying away, Andee noticed something moving on our ceiling.  Upon a closer look, he discovered that it was a tiny lizard that was hiding out in one of the grooves of the celing!  It was the cutest thing ever, and we even sniped a quick picture before returning him to his home!  So, "Only in St. Kitts!"

Countdown to Canada: 32 days!  That is just over a month!  Andee is starting Block 3 exams in a couple weeks, and then finals right after that!  A busy busy time for Andee - Thank goodness I will be here for him during finals to force feed him pie!

Back in the Same Time Zone!

I'm feeling quite content these days, which yes, can usually be attributed to warm weather and a lack of working, but more so because I have finally let go of my deep rooted anxiety related to major change.  And of course I will still start to sweat a little when major changes are about to take place, and will probably require a (lengthy) adjustment period, but I believe that through a newly acquired faith in the will and plan of God, I finally understand the necessity and wonder involved with these changes.  God has recently pushed me forward in a positive way and has increased my faith more than I have ever experienced before.  And the blessings he has poured out to us on this little Island are nothing less than incredible.  Our God is truly indescribable, full of power and wonder, and full of compassion and blessings.  He is patient when we fall, and encouraging when we persevere.  Basically I am just very joyful of the amazing work that God is doing in the lives of Andee and I.  So in a nutshell... "You can't take my Joy Devil!" - Kirk Franklin 

And now, for your amusement (ok, for my amusement), a collection of photos depicting the last couple weeks of the Real Housewives of St. Kitts!  Enjoy!

One night, as our husbands were all busy studying, we quickly decided to have an impromptu Karaoke Night!  When it comes to karaoke, I have no shame, and so some embarrassingly hilarious songs and dancing were performed!  

On Friday, a few of the girls headed out to Bamboo Lounge for some chatting and dancing!  Mixed drinks are only $5 EC (about $2 US) which is perfect for cheapos like me!

In housewives news, I decided to attempt meatloaf only to discover that we do not own a loaf pan (oh St. Kitts) and so Andee and I had a brilliant idea to make meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato frosting!  They were both cute and delicious!  We enjoyed them so much that I told the other wives, who then made them for their husbands!  The hubby's were certainly eating well this week!

I also decided to make my first ever pie!  (And by I decided, I mean that Andee bought pie filling and pie crust mix and I took the hint)  It was a little interesting due to my lack of skills and our lack of a pie tin, but overall, not too bad!

Worship team has become a weekly occurrence, and so I decided to have Andee take a quick picture of us when it was my turn to host practice!

Recently, thanks to our new friend Catherine, some of the girls have started to learn the art of "crafting".  This week, Catherine (being extremely patient with us newbies) taught us to make a necklace and two flower hair clips!  They are perfect for the Caribbean and are a lot of fun to make!  I'm sure there will be much more crafting to come!

This Friday we celebrated Janae's Birthday in style with some games, cake, dance video games, and dancing at the Blue Martini!  In the words of Catherine: "Last night was fun/crazy/weird!"  Sounds like a good birthday to me!

This Saturday was Sunfest, the UMHS mid-semester beach party at Cockleshell Beach!  Unfortunately, Andee and most of the other Med 2's didn't make it out to the beach due to their looming Genetics Shelf and Final Exams on both Monday and Wednesday.  Not to worry, there were plenty of girls there for me to hang out with!  And Andee and I will be sure to make up our beach time when exams are finished!

Let's start the countdown until our return to Canada!  According to my calender, only 40 days left!  Time sure flies when you are having fun (or studying like a maniac!)

P.S.  Due to Daylight Savings today, we are now in the same time zone as our fellow Canadians!  See you all soon!

The Coveted Bottle of Rum!

So, as most of you by now know, I have been attending a weekly trivia night at Bamboo Lounge every Tuesday.  Our team, to put it nicely, while full of excited and energetic members, has never won a game....that is until last night!

With the arrival of Abby's guests, we beat the second place team by a long shot - something that has consistently been dreamed about, but has never came to reality!  Our little trivia team has finally won the coveted bottle of rum and "frog of knowledge" - and we have the pictures to prove it!

The rest of the time since my last blog has been very typical. (and so blogging will most likely become a little less consistent for a while, until something really exciting happens, such as trivia)

Sunday - Church and Bible study
Monday - Laundry and beach time
Tuesday - Trivia
Wednesday - Worship practice
Thursday - Laundry, pool day, and grocery shopping
Friday - Sometimes we go out
Saturday - Relax

The rest of the days are filled with tons of beach time and pool time, making lunches and dinners, practicing worship songs and reading Bible studies, hanging out with Andee (ha - just kidding; he is in medical school), hanging out with friends (there we go), and doing whatever else is required of a desperate housewife!

Andee has Block Exams on Monday, and also the following Monday.  And then consistently every couple weeks until the end of the semester.  I just calculated for the first time this semester the amount of days left until our visit back home, and only because I was curious how 3 sets of blocks could possibly fit into the remaining time left in the semester.  To compare, last semester I poured over my calender and could tell anyone at any time the exact number of days until my return flight back home.  In case you are wondering?  It's 50 days tomorrow.  Other fun facts about our flight?  We arrive home on Good Friday, and Andee is secretly hoping American Airlines messes up our flights and puts us up in a hotel so that we can attend the Rockies vs Marlins Baseball game in Miami.  It's a win-win I suppose!

Conclusion?  I love St. Kitts!  There, I said it!  I love wifely duties, I love tropical weather, I love my St. Kitts friends, I love the Crackhouses, I love Bible Study, I love Worship Team, I love trivia, I love the Marriott, I love the beach, I love Andee, and I love love love Jesus!

And the best part?  I love Canada too!