TGIF!

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and that my illness has finally begun to diminish!  What a long week! I went to bed Sunday night not feeling well (sore throat) and woke up with a super swollen throat, couldn't swallow, hurt to eat..white spots...worked all day and came home and went to bed.. Woke up Tuesday in the same condition with a fever and body aches...worked all day, made a doctors apt and come home and slept!  Took Wednesday off to go to the doctors and woke up with the stomach bug and throwing up...not a good mixture...Managed to get a taxi to the doctors and get some meds!  I slept the rest of the day Wednesday.  Took Thursday off to recooperate, ate very little, layed in bed all day, took a 2-3 hour nap and look at 2,895 wedding pictures.  UGH!  I am going back to work tomorrow!!!

Brayton has been working hard all week!  He has two exams next week so he is a bit stressed, but will do great as always!

Not much else going on here!

Missing everyone!

"Blogging is not writing, it is simply graffiti with punctuation"

So the weekend has come and gone already!  I cannot believe it is 11 on a Sunday night and we are about to start our 4th week of school/work!  It really does not seem possible!!

Our weekend was nice though, and we were able to spend some good quality time doing non-school/work things..sort of =)

Friday night we hit off our long short week with beach volleyball.  A week ago, I was asked to join an A league team (A is real volleyball, B is get drunk and play volleyball) and play with them on Friday nights.  It was a blast!  There were two Ross students/VIP's and two local guys who play for National teams and me.  It was a pretty intense game of volleyball and SO NICE to play with people who really know how to play!  It was a workout though - my muscles still hurt!!!  Brayton and I came home from volleyball and decided to treat ourselves to dinner before heading to the movies with some friends.  We went to a restaurant called PJ's and we had the best food we have had yet on the island!  I ate homemade goat cheese ravioli (AMAZING!!) and Brayton had Chicken Rotitilli (I think) which was stuffed with cheeses and then fried with a pasta and garlic cream sauce.  It was amazing!  If you come visit, we will take you there =)

After dinner we met some friends at the movies to watch Contagion.  It was about an incurable virus and how it spread around the world and killed millions of people.  The only thing I really enjoyed about it was the quote at the start of this post!  The science people loved it though!!  We ended our night with a nice 12 hour nights sleep!!  MUCH NEEDED!!!

Saturday morning was supposed to be an 'early morning' which turned into 1030!  We went down to Port (that is where the cruise ships dock and people come into) and shopped around a bit.  There are some cool touristy shops down there!  We bought a cheap ($4) beach bag, and some coozies!  I also needed a wallet because mine was stretched out and things were falling out so as I was looking at this nice red Chanel wallet - I ask the guy working how much it is. . . His response was "$15, its a nice knock-off!"  I literally responded with "did you just say this is a nice knock-off?" And he politely said "yes, it is".  I laughed, out loud, standing there in the store!  I have never heard that from someone, usually its 'oh no, its real!  Anyways, I bought it and it works great - it truly was a 'nice knock-off!'  The best part is the Duty Free (Du Fe - thats how locals say it! - say it real fast!), liquor stores!!! We bought 4 bottles of wine and a bottle of local rum for $42 US dollars!!!!!!  Yah Mon!

Brayton has his first Microanatomy exam on Monday morning so we came back and he went to a TA (Teachers assistant) session for some review.  I picked him and Kate and Rob up there at 230 and we headed to the beach!  We all went snorkeling but there was nothing exciting out!!  Following the beach, we were all hungry so we hit up Pizza Boys and had some pizza and wings before heading back to start the long weekend of studying!

Sunday was spent studying for Brayton and lesson planning for me, that is when I wasn't making him flashcards.  Being the good wife that I am, I am always asking if there is anything I can do to help him out...so the other day he says 'you could take these questions and answers I am writing for review and copy and paste them and then print them and then cut them out and make me flash cards to study with...so that I did!  I copied and pasted every question and answer into another program, print them, cut them out, then tapped them onto index cards and labeled them by packet so he could study!  I think since Saturday night I have apx 250 index cards!  And planned my week and done other school work!

Productive weekend living on a Caribbean island..I wish my post said..."We went to the beach and sayt on the beach and swam in the ocean from Friday night till Sunday night.." But, we don't live that life, so anyone who is jealous of us, yes you should be!  But realize we dont have it THAT good =)

We do have it good though and we have each other, which makes anything good!


PS - we got our wedding pictures, there are 2,895 of them and I honestly can say I have not even looked at half of them!  If you would like to see them online, please email me or message me somewhere and I will tell you how ( my email is meesemay@gmail.com).  Hopefully our engagement session pictures will  be online soon as well!

Have a fabulous week everyone.  Miss and love you all <3

Time Flies!

It is hard to believe that it is already Thursday night, less than an hour away from being Friday...The weeks go so quickly here!  This week has been fairly quiet on our end - mostly studying and working!

Our day off Monday was much needed, and so great to be able to go visit the SNAPPER facility and have our first experience working with the turtles there! They are such cool creatures!  Pictures after this next Monday!!

Wednesday evening was my parents Citizen of the Year dinner at Sunny Banks.  My sisters were able to hook up a computer and skype with me so I could hear the whole thing!  Unfortunately, the camera was not working so I was not able to see anyone, but everyone could see me and I could hear everything and I was so glad I was able to be a semi-part of it!

Brayton has his first exam on Monday in micro-anatomy so he is getting very nervous, even though I know he will do great!!

Our car is still 'broken but driveable' and we are working on dealing with the parts drama...what a pain in the butt!!  OISK!!!

Hopefully we have more exciting stuff to share after the weekend, although I am not sure we will - looks like another tropical storm is heading our way!

PS MOM - I made chicken in a bag in the crockpot tonight =)  It was pretty good!  Miss you!

Paradise!

Well, we have officially made it through two weeks.  Things are going really well...We got 1 of our cars repairs done this weekend (steering column fixed) so it makes it much easier to drive now!  I am starting to feel a LITTLE BIT safer riding with my husband, although I do still have to remind him which side of the road he needs to be on =)

Friday night we attended Mr. RUSVM, its like a contest for one boy from each semester and they have to come up with acts for 4 categories...It was interesting to say the least!  It was primarily focused on 'sex parts' and, at times, was a bit on the extreme side!  None the less, it was a good laugh!  Saturday was the SCUBA clubs biggest fund raiser at Reggaee Beach and we spent the day there hanging out with friends, swimming, playing cornhole, etc. etc.!  We all came home with the intent to 1) Nap, 2) Eat, 3) Study (for those vet students anyways!) and Brayton and I layed down for our 'nap' at 7 ish, and didn't wake up till 9 am!  OOOPS!!!!  It was so needed after 4 hours of sleep every night last week!!  Sunday we made our second driving trip to the grocery store and got all stocked up!  Grocery shopping here is always an experience!  You either go to the store, get everything you need and leave satisfied...Or go, get a few things and wonder what you will cook with for the week!  This time, we did not do too bad - the date on the meats was a few days AHEAD of the date (rather than  a couple weeks old) and we were able to stock up and freeze some things!  YAY!

Today (Monday) is St Kitts Independence Day, so everything on the entire Island is shut down, which means we had a 3 day weekend - much needed!!  Today we are working on school stuff and doing our first turtle work!  Soon, we are headed to the SNAPPER facility to meet Dr. Stewart to learn how to feed, care for, clean, play with the rescued sea turtles there (they cannot be released due to disabilities so they are there forever) and we are also going over to a lab on campus to help with the rehabilitation of some babies that need to be fixed up so they can be released!  This is super exciting for us, and we will have some pictures later =)

Other than that - things are normal here...The sun shines, it downpour rains periodically with NO warning, its hot, the AC is cold, and love is all around us!  <3

Another week has come and, almost, gone!

We have almost made it through our two week mark! Its been busy, fun, and at times, lonely and hard  I am quickly learning that Brayton will be, and needs to be(I mean that in all ways nice!!), studying hours on end every night, and I should be thankful for the 30-60 minutes a day I see him awake and not doing work...but it is a really hard adjustment..I guess I just need to be thankful that I have my job and something to do to keep my mind occupied!  We got our car yesterday (wed.) with no repairs done and have to drop it back off Fri night to 'hopefully' get the repairs done....OISK!

There have been some steady reminders this week of why I miss home...Sometimes it is really hard, and others I forget I'm really gone!

Learning about the loss of Vic Swenson this week really made me miss being close to friends and family and being able to celebrate an amazing CV persons life with everyone. . My thoughts and prayers have been with the family all week though...

Sarah Parker is getting married this weekend and I am so sad to be missing that, especially after all her and William did for Brayton and I. . I will also be thinking of you Saturday....

My parents got citizens of the year in  CV, and have a big celebratory dinner Wednesday, and I am so sad to be missing it. . I am hoping Lyndi has enough cell service to skype me in on anything they do to recognize them! I would really love to hug them both, I am so proud!! =)




Heading to bed...sleep and I have become very distance in the recent past and I need to develop a close bond with it again!

Car shopping

Car shopping on this island is like going to a junkyard and paying 6 times what you should for a car that probably won't work for long, will need constant repairs, but will be the best you can get.  Brayton and I have looked around at numerous cars, drove some, looked at some, the same old car shopping business, just with junkers!  So, we found one we liked, made an offer, didn't get the offer, but bought the car anyways...Its a Toyota Rav 4, an orangeish-brown color...and it runs!  Hopefully it will last us the entire two years we are here and we won't have to pay for major repairs....

here's the kicker....

when we bought the car, it was under the circumstances that it needed the A/C fixed (important), something in the steering column (important) and a new tire b/c one was bald(Also important!).  Last week on Tuesday/Wednesday when we finished the deal, we were told we would have the car by this Tuesday(today) and that the repairs would be done, the guy had all the parts...blah blah blah...

well, its not done, actually NONE of the repairs have been done yet - yup, NOT ONE!  So, here we are, having paid for the car (too much money, because thats what you have to do here), all the paperwork done....but no car...Apparently the guy who fixes the car, doesn't really have the tools/supplies to fix the cars so he has to go to another shop, but that guy is busy and the tropical storm we just had impacted the working on of the car...and blah blah blah!  So, we still have no car, no idea when we will have a car (hopefully by Saturday - but they said we could have it, with no repairs, drop it off Friday night they would do the repairs Sat, and we could have it back...)  OISK! (that means Only In St Kitts - and its a great phrase!!)  So, we are hoping for a car, a fixed, ready to drive safely with A/C car, SOON!

If you are confused by this post - good, I am confused at what I just wrote and the whole situation we are in!  Island Time was fun at home - when it only existed on the river, when you wanted it to exist - here: it is not so far!  When they say Island time, they mean it!  You may wait at a bar for the drink you ordered for 15 mins while they 'do other things', or may have to deal with car drama, for daysss on end!  I could probably give you more examples, but you get the point!

And, while I'm rampaging about this - here is another GREAT 'OISK' moment- cooked myself, off-brand of course, mac and cheese tonight, and as I was cooking the pasta, saw something black floating in it. . scooped it out and discovered it was as bug, in my pasta...No big deal, that is normal here!  You pick the bugs out, cook your pasta good and ENJOY =)   OISK!!!!!!!!!!!

did I mention I love it here (NO sarcasm intended, I REALLY do!!!)  =D

Week Two

After an eventful and fun weekend, Sunday kicked in in full gear!  We lolly-gaged (if that is really a word!) around all morning, and by about 3 I decided to step out into Tropical Storm Maria to walk to school and get some work done for the week.  I ended up leaving at 7, to come home and do another few hours of week, but was prepared for the week by the end of the night, or at least as prepared as I could be!  Starting up curriculum and more steady routine is a lot of work with youngsters!  It is a lot of fun though, and I am getting into the swing of things.  Luckily, I am not alone in my busy-ness, Brayton is putting in a lot of hours as well!

Monday was a good day for both of us, we went to the SCUBA club meeting and learned about getting certified and such. We are both really anxious and excited to get in the water and learn and go explore the depths of the ocean!  If anyone wants to buy us a nice gift, we would LOVE a nice underwater camera =D!    

Tuesday also went great, and we went to another meeting with Dr. Stewart, who is the head of the Sea Turtle Monitoring and Rescue organization on the island and also a Ross Prof.  We have signed up, and learned tonight about, our new 'job'!  There is a place on the island where rescued turtles are housed that are injured and cannot be released back into the wild.  Brayton and I will be visiting them every Monday evening to feed, clean, play, etc. and are so excited about it!  We are also going to help care for some newborn turtles that Dr. Stewart has rescued from the beach during the recent storms, and get them prepared to be released into the wild again!!

Although we are very busy, we are making time for some fun, educational, things we love in our life!  I have updated the pictures page as well, with captions coming soon! 

I must go to bed-Brayton is off studying though, and as sad as it is, I haven't gone to bed without him around in monnnttthhhss!!  The joy of newlyweds <3  

Miss and love everyone!  

Week One

Well, we both made it through our first week.  It was spent doing many hours of work and studying at night, and school and classes during the day.  We also had the adventure of buying a car!  We test drove a few - with no legal St Kitts license - had to be reminded which side of the road to drive on - the opposite side - and decided on the Toyota Rav 4.  We should have it Tuesday and are so excited to be able to go places and not have to take a taxi!

Friday night we went to a mustache party - its a party held by 7th semester students for newbes!  It was a great opportunity to meet lots of people, relax from a stressful first week and have fun!!  We were expecting Tropical Storm Maria to hit Saturday, so we laid low all day and it never even rained!!  We were all excited to experience our first storm on the island..oh well, I am sure there will be more!

Saturday night we made chicken wing dip and salad and had some friends over.  We ate, played cards, and enjoyed the company of good friends!!

Week two is about to start and I am sure from here on out, we will not be doing much besides school and work and HW!

Congrats to my parents, who just received Citizens of the Year in Cape Vincent!  There is not two people who deserve it more than them and I am so happy for them!  They do sooooo much for the community, and it often goes unrecognized.  I could not be more proud to call them my parents!  Wish I was home to celebrate with them - we will have to make up for it in December!!

WHITE COAT!!!!!

Today was our first 'real' day of teaching and vet school at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine!  My day with my first and second graders went really well - they are super cute!!  We did lots of fun activities and they were sad to go home at the end of the day!  Brayton's first day of classes went well.  He is nervous, but so excited to get going and learn.  I told him that I am actually very jealous of him, and I would love to be learning all the ins and outs of animals, but really mostly only horses, and I'm not science smart enough!  Ill leave the hard work to him and just help him study, I am sure I will learn lots that way =)

Monday evening was his white coat ceremony!  Our family from home was able to watch it on TV via a live broadcast, which was great!  It was so exciting to see them in their first Doctor looking outfit and signified the start of a huge commitment in their lives!  I was so proud of him and so happy for him!  There is nothing I want more than to help his dreams come true <3.

There he is, the future Dr. Brayton Hill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 2 went well for both of us as well, and the workload kicked in hardcore for Brayton already!  His professors told him about 5 hours of reading per class, per day (thats 20 hours a day!).  Therefore, he has lotsss to do!  He worked at home for awhile and then ventured upstairs to study with Rob (Stephanie, Rob's wife, said they look/sound very doctorly and are adorable!).  I spent lots of time sprawled out working on curriculum!  Things are starting to come together!  Planning for 2 grades, in one classroom at the same time is a new and exciting challenge for me!


Hopefully more pictures this weekend!  Miss and love everyone <3

Last day before the REAL reality!

Today was our last day before work (with kids) and classes starting!  We had an amazing presenter - Dr. James Stronge, would wrote the book Qualities of Effective Teachers.  I would highly recommend it to anyone in the teaching profession and would even more highly recommend listening to him speak - and/or getting him to your school (especially admins!).  He is great and has SOO many great points and such about keeping good teachers, and diminishing not good ones (which, in my opinion, doesn't happen enough!).  We also had open house tonight and met many parents and students.  I am really excited to start tomorrow!!

Brayton went Ziplining through the rainforest today.  His response was "It was fun, but not as good as skydiving!"  Nothing will live up to skydiving for him!  He then spent the rest of his day building up the anxiety and nerves about starting vet school FOR REAL tomorrow!  He will do great - he is so smart and hardworking and dedicated!

Tomorrow evening is White Coat Ceremony!  I can't wait to see him in his 'Doctor' coat for the first time...I might cry!!!

Time for sleep - pictures will come soon, when I am less tired and have more time!

Miss everyone from home, and sorry we haven't talked to you more - been sooo busy!  We are still here and doing great!  Love you! <3

Friday/Saturday

Wish I had more time right now to sit here and type a nice blog, but I am exhausted!  My last two days have consisted of endless hours preparing for my upcoming adventures in First and Second grades!  It has been a new ball game, but a lot of fun and new learning!  I never ever realized the amount of work Elementary teachers had to do!

Friday our in-service got cancelled so Brayton dragged me from my work (thank god, I needed it!) and we went to the beach at the Marriott.  We hung out, snorkled (and saw a barracuda-like 3 feet long, 2 sting rays, a jelly fish, a lobster and tons of schools of different, beautiful fish!) then had to come back to reality! I worked all night long and Brayton hung out at home with me and did 'stuff'.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband!!!! <3

Saturday I had in-service again and Brayton went on the Catamaran trip.  They were supposed to go to Nevis but couldn't because of the large waves in between the islands(the Caribbean sea and Atlantic meet up there and its often rough for the little catamaran boats) so they stop at a ship wreck and snorkeled, went to Reggae beach and hung out and had a fun boat ride up the coast.  I am looking forward to doing the trip someday, the pictures looked great!

I'll add pictures soon when I have some more time!  :-)

The busy-ness begins!

So, the last two days have been very uneventful, with nothing major going on except orientation and preparing for teaching.  Brayton has had lectures and such on campus the past two days and I have been working in my classroom for hours on end.  I feel like I am there forever and ever and ever and am still not accomplishing enough!  I wish I could have gotten here a few weeks earlier to prepare...

All in all, things are good!  The weather is gorgeous, although you often forget when you are in 70 degree AC all day long, and the scenery never stops amazing me!  I sometimes have to stop and look around and remind myself of the beauty that surrounds us!  I can't imagine what life will be like when we are both putting in endless hours!

Wednesday night we went to Bobsy's, a local restaurant, for some karaoke.  Brayton got a great offer to get scuba certified in 3 days if he would sing, but he wouldn't!  I was not much fun because I knew a long 9 day stretch of work was about to start the next morning, so we headed home early!

Today was my first day of official orientation. We had a session this morning with Jane, our superintendent/principal about the Prep School life and learned lots of things!  Kids are very fortunate to attend this school!  This afternoon we went to the Caribbean Cinemas with the Orientation Groups and saw ' The Help'.  It was a phenomenal movie with many laugh and many more tears.  I would highly recommend watching it!

As life gets busier, the posts may get a little less frequent.  I will try my best to stay on top of them and remember to take pictures as often as I can!



P.S. - Feel free to become a follower and comment on our posts!  We would love to know people are reading!  =)