One Year Anniversary!

Today is my and Andee's One Year Anniversary!  Yay!  My gift to the Hubby?  Four Final Exams next week!  What a great wife I have become!  Just kidding!  However, with limited resources, lack of free time due to Andee's exam schedule, lack of a car, lack of money, and a severe lack of food in the apartment (getting rid of anything fresh before leaving for 2 weeks), the best I could do was bake a batch of chocolate chip muffins, provide a brand new package of goldfish crackers for studying snacks, make a cute pop-up card, and promise a delicious dinner at The Keg when finals are over with and we arrive back in Canada!  For our "Paper Anniversary" (the first year of marriage), Andee took the time to made me a collage of pictures of the two of us with lyrics to a beautiful song.  I appreciated the time taken out of studying to make me such a cute present!  So with a day full of intense studying ahead, and in true St. Kitts fashion, we decided (for now) that this was "good enough!"

They say (who is they?) that the first year of marriage is the hardest, and that's without the added craziness of St. Kitts and Medical School!  There are a lot of words I could use to describe this first year of our adventure together - amazing, crazy, exciting, scary, fun, fulfilling, perfect!  Why perfect?  Because God has a perfect plan for us, so that even when life seems crazy and impossible (aka Medical School and life in the Caribbean), thank goodness Jesus promises that “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” - Matthew 19:26.  PTL!

Tomorrow, August 15th, marks another interesting phenomenon - only 4 more months left in St. Kitts!  And with our nearly 3 week vacation coming up very soon, it is really more like 3 months left on our little Island!  Where did the time go??  In honor of our very limited tropical time left, some recent Island pictures!

Canada Countdown:  4 days!  If this blog is neglected for the next few weeks, it is because Andee and I will be living it up Canada style with some much needed Family Fun!  Canadians - see you very soon!  Honorary Kitittians - We'll be back!

Birthdays and Goodbyes

In the past couple of months, I'm pretty sure that I have attended more toddler birthday parties than I have in my entire adult life!  Strange?  Even more so that I have enjoyed every one!  It turns out that, contrary to my past beliefs, kids really aren't little monsters waiting to annoy me.  It turns out that I might actially like *gasp* hanging out with them!  CRAZY!  Andee couldn't be happier with my new outlook on children, and I'm pretty sure God is softening my heart towards kids to pave the way for the (distant) future in which Andee and I may want to have our own.  Don't believe me?  I don't blame you!  You will just have to see it for yourself!

On the weekend, Andee and I attended a birthday party for our neighbor Cortney, who turned four!  A pool party of course, filled with lots of hot dogs, kiddos, cupcakes, and friends!  A great morning indeed!

It is getting to that time again, the time when we must say goodbye to those whose St. Kitts adventure has come to a close.  Although it is difficult to say goodbye, it is encouraging to know that these people are onto the next step of their journey, and that they will be able to enjoy McDonalds anytime they choose!  Haha!  Next semester will be my and Andee's last on the Island, and I will most likely go through a season of mourning for the friends that I have made that I will miss terribly.  And also for the gorgeous year round tropical weather!  But until then, I am both saddened and excited for those that are moving on, and hope for them a smooth transition into the future!

On Saturday, we celebrated a good friend Karen and her son Issiah, as they leave the Island in just over a week.  It was sad to say goodbye, but exciting to see God work in her life as she takes the next step on her journey.  Karen, you will be missed!

Canada Countdown:  10 days! 

We are so excited for all the fun activities we have planned for our two week vacation, and to engage in these activities with our family and friends!  It has been a long time since we have seen our Canadian loves, (ok, so it has only been three and a half months, but that still feels like a long time) and we are so looking forward to seeing them!  I hope I will not be disappointed in expecting an embarrassing/amazing airport greeting! 

Vagabond Wife

In honor of my friend Janae, a short-but-sweet blog about venturing into the unknown!

Vagabond defined:  "A person without a permanent home who moves from place to place"

Sound familiar?

Recently, my good friend Janae (who has since moved off the Island of St. Kitts and relocated to California...for now) has created a new blog entitled "Vagabond Mother".  From Arizona, to St. Kitts, to New York, to California, this girl has been everywhere!  Intriged?  Get to know her better by checking out her highly entertaining and unpredictably hilarious blog!

http://vagabondmother.blogspot.com

Medical school can certainly take us on a journey into the unknown, whether it be The Caribbean, Canada, America, or who knows where!  I am so excited for God to continue to take Andee and I on the adventure of a lifetime, acting with faith of an abundant life filled with love, grace, and hope.  I suppose there is a little vagabond in all of us!

Much love to my Amazing Vagabond St. Kitts Desperate Housewife Girlies!

Neighbors

Neighbors are great!  Especially when they become your instant friends because no one has a job.  Especially when they are Kittitian American and Kittitian Canadian and can easily adapt to the Island living lifestyle of lazy summer days and lazy customer service.  Especially when they live 5 seconds away and are available at any time to socialize when the husbands are hard at work studying.  And yes, even when they move away and watch me leave crying on the way to the airport.  But mostly, neighbors are great because they let me take 10-second timer pictures so that I can write a blog about them!  Enjoy!

This week the neighbors and I enjoyed some wonderful pool and beach time soaking up the sun and playing with the Kiddos!  Our backyard pool and the Marriott beach are a few popular hangouts for the residents of the Crackhouses!

What else are neighbors great for?  Fixing cars of course!  Our Med Student/Mechanic neighbor as well as Andee were able to help us this week working on our car Jamal in between their busy studying schedule!  What can I say, neighbors are great!

Today was a special day for one of our neighbors!  One of the tiniest neighbors we have, little Aliosha turned two this week, and today we celebrated her birthday!   Cupcakes, snacks, and lots of great company led to a great St. Kitts birthday!  When family isn't on Island to participate in the celebrations, neighbors make for great guests for a great party!

And lets not forget our neighbors down the street and a short car ride away.  Heck, St. Kitts is so small that is seems like everyone is our neighbor!  Oh St. Kitts, how I love you!

In other news, Hope and I organized a "Mexican Fiesta" Bible Study for the girls of Caribbean Christian Fellowship.  After almost an entire day of cooking, the food was quite a hit!  Who doesn't love hot, flavorful food smothered with cheese!?

In UMHS news, on Monday Andee wrote his Microbiology Final, and ended up receiving a 100% in the course!  PTL!  He started another short course the following day, and will be finishing up with the semester in under a month!

To be a little more specific, our arrival in Canada is a mere 26 days away!  PTL again!

Sunfest!

This Saturday Andee and I attended Sunfest, the mid-semester UMHS Beach Party at Cockleshell Beach!  Andee got to relax a little in between studying, and we were both (especially Andee) able to work on our tans!  A free lunch, sand, and the Caribbean Sea made for an excellent afternoon! 

Just a five minute walk from Cockleshell Beach is Reggae Beach - the home of Wilbur the Pig, and the caged Monkey and Goat!  Andee had never been to Reggae Beach (sad, yes), and so we ventured out to see the animals and snap a few pictures!

We also took advantage of the many kayaks that were available to the students to use for the duration of the beach party!  I never thought that Andee and I would be kayaking together in the Caribbean Sea!  It was so much fun!

When we arrived back home after our day at the beach, we were a little hungry from all the fun in the sun.  We then decided to head into our backyard and pick a 'few' bananas for dinner.  Just kidding!  A recent stormy day of rain and wind struck the banana tree in our backyard causing an entire bunch of bananas to fall, and so we brought them all inside for future consumption!  We are planning to divvy them up with some fellow islanders, that is of course if the monkeys don't get to them first! 

Today is as good as any other day to start the Canadian Vacation Countdown!  According to my cute cat day-planner that I received for Christmas, there are just 37 days (or 5 and a half weeks) until some much needed time up North!  I hope that everyone is enjoying the brief but beautiful Canadian Summer that we will be joining in August!  See you all soon!

Happy Canada Day!!

So, our first Canada Day celebrated outside of our beloved country!  Fortunately, there are quite a few Canadians scattered throughout the Island, and so the holiday was not neglected!  Andee and I celebrated Canada style by dressing in our patriotic red and whites, watching the Canada Day Blue Jays game at Home, and, of course, eating some delicious Canadian Kraft Dinner for lunch!  Perf!!

As for this and last week, mostly the usual activites took place - pool, beach, studying, etc.  Last night, we had a "Ladies Night" with a bunch of the VIP's and DH's.  A great way for us to get out of the house and leave our busy students alone!  We all had a great time!

And oh yes, on this wonderful Canada Day, Andee took a few hours (the entire day) to study for his six, yes six block exams that he has on Monday.  Six exams on one day?  Student Cruelty!  Pray for Andee, the Med 3's, and the rest of UMHS that are enduring the ridiculousness that is Medical School!

Block Exams aren't the only event happening on Monday, for Monday happens to be the 4th of July!  Looking forward to celebrating our neighboring country of America with the many Americans I have met in St. Kitts!

To all my Canadian Friends and my Canadian Family members that are celebrating up at the Aldridge Cottage today, we miss you so much, and wish that we were up there celebrating with you!  However, I am skyping with you all as we speak!  Oh the joys of technology!  Today marks 7 weeks until our Canadian visit in August, and we are incredibly excited to enjoy some much needed cottage and home time in Canada!  See you then!!!

Lobster-ing!

This past couple weeks I managed to get Andee out of the apartment on two separate occasions!  PTL!  Last Saturday we headed to the Marriott Beach to absorb some sun and swim in the ocean!  Andee even managed to get some slight tan lines in the process!

The following Saturday, yesterday, Andee and I, as well as a few friends, went Lobster-ing out at the Peninsula!  Complete with spear guns, snorkel gear, and nets, we managed to catch five lobster!  (and by "we", I mean Jess!)  We (Jess) then made some delicious Lobster Pasta for all of us!  What an amazing St. Kitts experience!

Since Jess was back in St. Kitts for a brief visit, we had to have her participate in our usual outings such as karaoke, pool and beaching, and other Desperate Housewife activities!  We missed Jess a lot, and it was great to have her back for a visit!

On Friday evening we held a Baby Shower with our Island Family for our friend Aga, who will be having her baby on Island very soon!  We played some baby trivia, cute games, Aga opened her shower gifts, and we all enjoyed some delicious treats! 

The weekends involved some kiddo birthday pool parties for Two-year-old Beau and One-year-old Mason!  Lots of swimming, food, kids and adults made for two excellent and fun-filled birthday parties!

Another great couple of weeks in St. Kitts!  And only 2 months until our visit back home!  Hello Cottage Season!

Welcome to Hurricane Season

So the beginning of June marks the start of hurricane season for the Caribbean, which spans from June 1st to November 30th each year.  So far, no hurricane or tropical storm watches in effect, but we would love for lots of love and prayer for us Honorary Kittitians as we go through our second hurricane season in St. Kitts! 

So my little 1-day-a-week Dental Hygiene volunteer position in Nevis has sure been a blessing for us!  It has definitely provided me with a productive and fun way to spend my Wednesdays, as well as keep up my Hygiene skills!  And also, who else can say that they take a Ferry to work on a neighboring Island?  What an adventure!

The rest of this week and last has involved some Trivia, Karaoke, Girls nights, beach and pool days....you know, the usual.  And a few pics were taken along the way!

Tonight we are celebrating the end of Block One exams with some Shiggity Shack fish burgers and some great neighbors!  What an excellent way to spend a Thursday!

And now...

Only In St. Kitts!

This segment of the blog has been in the making for over 7 months, which is how long it has taken for me to get up close and personal with these two elusive and familiar taxis.  Hope you enjoy this OISK moment as much as we did!

Have a great rest of the week!