Christmas in the Caribbean

What can I say - I missed home a lot this year being our second christmas away from home and in St Kitts, but we had a great holiday with the two of us and our pets and extra pets!

Season of Giving - Our karma here should be SO high, that we should be getting nothing but good.. I wonder when it will start happening?!  Anyways, it is not about Karma, it is about our love of giving.  This year we made a HUGE tray of cookies (ranger cookies, raspberry bars, oatmeal butterscotch cookies, banana muffins and hershey kiss peanut butter cookies) and gave them to those people who have been really important to us here!  We gave one batch to Sylvester - our loyal gardener and friend!  He has been great to us!  We will miss him!  We also gave a batch to Avan - our property manager who has also been extremely good to us!  Our final batch went to the neighbors and they too were here for Christmas with just the two of them and they had given us a small christmas gift as well!

As you all know - I am not the best baker, although I AM getting better!  Here is some evidence of our baking =)

Cookies!

Banana Muffins (with choc. chips of course!)

All the 'wrapped' platters in the fridge to prevent melting!

and the clean up! 

Christmas Eve - Since moving to St. Kitts, I am a Sushi FANATIC!  I  crave it!  We spent the day laying by the pool and relaxing in the sun.  Sylvester (our gardener) even came up and have some drinks with us to celebrate Christmas!  Brayton and I headed to Rituals Sushi for Christmas Eve Dinner - mmmmm, soooo goood!!!  When we got home, Brayton humored me and helped do a little christmas photo shoot with us and our animals!  It was great!  I am so grateful for my amazing husband and our awesome animals!  I would truly be lost without them!  As  you can see, we all had a rough day!!

Brinley the sun-bathing beauty <3

B and Sylvester enjoying a nice refreshing beer! 

Lazy bones! 

Its not a day by the pool without some jumping
and swimming done by the Nev! 

Precious girl!

Our little christmas tree! 

Joli

Duke!

Merry Christmas! 

Our little family (minus Koala..she's not so good at sitting still and taking photos!)

My pups <3

They are SUCH good posers!  Love them! 

The Duke man! 

Puppy Roommates! 

The 4 pups! 

Christmas Day - Up and at it early on, we headed over to the SNAPPER farm to fetch Brimmie(Hawksbills Sea Turtle) and Frodo(Green Sea Turtle) who were to be released into the wide open Caribbean Sea that morning after two years in captivity.  They were rescued as babies, bottle fed every two hours, and for the past two years have been raised with special care from the St Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network.  You can read more about them here! It was an amazing experience.  We were able to go to Ross with Dr. Stewart and assist in getting radiographs of the two turtles, we were the transporter of the turtles to the release location, and Brayton got to carry Frodo down to the sea and be the one to release him.  I was taking pictures throughout the whole process which you can see here on FB or some here!

Putting the turtles into the car to head to campus for radiographs

Arriving at the beach with the turtles - waiting to release! 

Brayton carrying Frodo down to the release spot

Brayton and Dr. Stewart with Frodo and Brimmie giving explanations to the crowd

The beautiful Brimmie! 

The gorgeous Frodo! 

Ready...Set...GO! 

After turtle releasing, we headed home and let the dogs open their Christmas presents - which they did exceptionally well!  They were great and loved all their new toys!

Brinley LOVED presents! 

What is inside?!!??  It squeaks...We must get it out!!!! 

Nevi with the toy...Brinley with the paper!! 

"WE LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!"

Not sure if he liked chewing on paper, or what was inside!  

In the Caribbean - who doesn't spend Christmas at the beach?  We headed over to ShipWreck with our bottle of Champagne, jug of orange juice, and BIG Fat Tuesday cups, and spent a few hours drinking Mimosa's and laying on the beach - what a Christmas Day!!

We also spent some QT with the pups and took them to the beach to run and play!  What fun we had!!

Surprise wave for Brayt and Brinley! 

LOOK!  A Palm Tree is growing out of this coconut! 

Jumping for water splashes! 

The things dogs will do for some water being flung in the air! 

As is ritual in St Kitts on Christmas Night, we Skyped with family, made dinner and were in bed by about 8 pm with a 3:30 am start time for J'Ouvert!  We joined a different troupe this year - Red Devils, and didn't start until 4:30 (instead of midnight like last year), and when we got there the group was already marching into town so we missed out on the 'pre-party' part, and joined in the marching.  The 'bar' was a moving truck which made it difficult to get drinks and when we got our first Rum Punch and took one sip, it was PURE rum!  I couldn't even drink it!  So, this year we spent J'ouvert with no drinks, enjoying the people watching and the fun of J'ouvert from the 'outside'.  It definitely was not as much fun, but we did enjoy the experience! I really wish I had taken my camera so I could share some of the people watching experiences I had with all of you - but I didn't. I will post some pictures when they are up on the local websites!

J'Ouvert bags ready to go! 

We ran into some friends in the Xtreme Tribe downtown! 

Upon returning from J'Ouvert, we headed home and back to bed!  We stayed in bed most the day, made a great dinner, and headed back to bed!

In the next few days, we will be making our 5th move to our 'new' apartment in St. Kitts .. oh how I wish it was back to the states...  Hopefully we will be there for the remainder of our time here.. I'm realllly getting sick of moving!!!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with their family, friends, or whoever you may have been with and were all able to count each and every one of your blessings and give time to think of those who were less fortunate.

Winter Break

As the end of the semester rolled around, vacation seemed to be so far into the distance, that it was unachievable.  Now that we are actually ON vacation, its hard to believe we are already 10 days into it with only 2 weeks left!  PLEASE SLOW DOWN TIME!!  The past semester (and all the other behind it) have been extremely stressful for Brayton - so we have done a LOT of relaxing in the past 10 days.  Our daily schedule is something like this:

2-4 am - Let dogs out then go back to bed
7 -730 am - Let dogs out then go back to bed
8-10 am - Wake up, and eat breakfast
10 - 3 - A variety of: Lay by the pool, get back in bed and watch movies, take naps..eat a snack.. A couple times we have run some errands or gone grocery shopping.. Brayton has done some organizing.. but THAT is about it!
3 - 7 - Take dogs to the beach, give dogs baths, shower, make and eat dinner, clean up
7 - 9 - Get in bed, watch movies, go to sleep..

Needless to say - we have done about nothing!  But it has been SO needed and so rejuvenating!

Last week on Wednesday we did go to The Pavilion for dinner.  The Pavilion is owned by Christophe Harbor    which is a very wealthy, high end real estate company on the island.  The Pavilion is generally only opened to those who work for or have purchased from Christophe Harbor, but on Wednesday nights they are now doing Customer Appreciation night, so we took a stab at going for dinner.  It was a small menu, with wonderful food!  The steak Brayton and I got was the best I've had in a LONG TIME!  The appetizers and desserts, scenery, everything - was spectacular.  Check out the Pavilion website for a picture - and here are some of my pictures!

This is the bathroom.

Hard to see because it is dark - but this is the first level of the
pool.  Chairs in the water, then it goes into a beautiful pool that
looks right over the sea! 

Us!  In the dark! 

Since there is not much to buy for christmas presents down here - last week on Thursday, I made an appointment for a couples massage at the Spa at the Marriott.  It was so nice and super relaxing for both of us!  Merry Christmas to us!  Dinner at the Pavilion and a couples massage!  

In the next few days, we should be getting our keys to apartment # 5 while living on St Kitts.  We have been here for 16 months and have lived: 4 months on campus, 4 months in Villa #1, 1 month in Centipede House, 6 months in Villa #2 and HOPEFULLY the rest of our time in our new apartment.  We are going down to a much smaller, much more affordable place that is right next door to campus.  Hopefully we can stay there for the rest of our time in St Kitts.. I am so over moving!  

Here are some visuals of the roughness we have had since vacation began: 

We are dog sitting the boxer on the right - Joli, and our roomates dog Duke! 

Obviously our dogs have a rough life! 

Pre-dinner at the Pavilion

Sure sign of vacation and homesickness!  

Sometimes when you lay in the sun, you get chilly and the sun goes away.. 

Joli!  

After a hard day of laying around! 

We are also cat sitting - the one at the top..  Koala is not sure what that
species of thing is we have brought into the house.  Pretty sure she thought she was a dog..
But - this - it looks like me, and isn't a dog?! 

Our Caribbean Christmas tree.. 

The boys napping!  

Brinley..  Lazy bones! 

On a more personal note.. today is December 23rd.. It is my second Christmas in a row away from home, with just me and my husband.  Don't get me wrong - there is NO ONE  I would rather spend Christmas with, but it is really tough to be away from family, for the second holiday in a row.  And its not just christmas we missed, we have missed every Holiday since we left..  I am finding it hard to get into  a Holiday Spirit and getting on Facebook (not sure why I turned it back on!) and seeing everyone in snow, with their families and friends, celebrating the Holidays, their festive houses, their children, cousins, nieces, nephews..  All the things I want to be doing..  I am not looking for pity - just expressing my sadness..  Although - I WILL be and AM grateful for my husband and my dogs and cats!  I will spend Christmas with them and be grateful for technology giving me the ability to skype and see my family..  And in my sadness, I feel grateful that my family is healthy and well, that we are not struck with loss - as the people in Conn. are.  My heart goes out to them this holiday season and anyone else who is going through the holidays dealing with the loss of a loved one.. <3

I hope each and every person has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with many more to come!

With love from the Caribbean - Brayton and Leann <3

The month of giving thanks

It has been a while since I have blogged..and I could blame being busy - I am busy... but not that busy.. It is pretty much because I don't really have anything exciting to blog about...

Our car's broke down, we spent a month apartment hunting, I work and come home and do things here, I don't really have a social life (neither does my husband unless you count studying in the union!), we don't get quality time together to do fun things, we live on a POS island.. and well, who wants to hear about that stuff!  To everyone outside of St Kitts- we live in paradise..  My question to you is - have you EVER LIVED here?  Try it.. then see if your idea of paradise changes!

So my real intent for this blog is to take a step outside of the negative aura we often fall into living here and be thankful for the good things that are in our lives!  Here it goes - I am sure I will miss things but I'll give it a shot..

1 - I am thankful for a loving, kind, SMART, and awesome husband who does so much to make our life easier even though he is in Vet School

2 - I am thankful for the experience of living in St. Kitts as it has changed my perspective on many things and helped me to learn a L O T about myself, my marriage and life

3 - I am thankful for my Mom who is ALWAYS there for me, no matter what!

4 - I am thankful for my family as a whole

5 - I am thankful for my in-laws

6 - I am thankful for the Cope's as they have been some of the best people I could have met down here!

7 - I am SO thankful for my dogs..they are so awesome..and we saved them <3

8 - I am thankful for my cat.. she rarely uses her litter box and that is the BEST kind of cat ever =)

9 - I am thankful for my sisters

10 - I am thankful for the friends I have at home, who I miss dearly

11 - I am thankful for a job in St Kitts

12 - I am thankful for great students at the prep school who have taught me SO much

13 - I am thankful for the amazing teacher blogs that I follow that have helped me as a teachers so much

14 - I am thankful for warmth everyday (even though sometimes I get reallly sick of sweating!)

15 - I am thankful for the beaches - when I get to use them!

16 - I am thankful for my co-workers who have been really great friends as well

17 - I am thankful my husband is getting to pursue his dreams and I get to be here with him

18 - I am thankful for Terminix and their ability to keep centipedes out of my house MOST of the time

19 - I am thankful for the Prep School 'lending' me a laptop while working there so I have a computer

20 - I am thankful for Skype and the ability to 'see' loved ones at home

21 - I am thankful that I wake up to a beautiful view every day

22 - I am super thankful for a working a/c in my bedroom and the ability to sleep with sweatpants on - because let's face it - I REALLY miss sweatpants!

23 - I am thankful for a cheap and nice movie theatre

24 - I am thankful for Rituals Sushi which has helped me to love and crave sushi

25 - I am thankful for having the ability to cook (most of the time when the grocery stores have what I need)

26 - I am thankful that my husband and I are both NEAT and CLEAN people.. I could never live any other way!!

27 - I am thankful to be moving to a smaller, MUCH cheaper apartment with JUST my hubby again!

28 - I am thankful that we only have one year left here in St Kitts

29 - I am thankful Brayton has worked so hard to pass all his semesters of vet school so far!

30 - I am thankful for the love my husband gives me

31 - I am thankful to wake up everyday next to my best friend, husband, and man of my dreams!

32 - I am thankful for the friends I have made here in St Kitts


From Brayton:
I am thankful for my wife, my marriage, my pets, the opportunity to be a vet.


SO, none the less, life is busy but boring (at least to all you people it'd be boring).

It's A Boy!

No, no, no...We are not having a baby....


Friday after school, Brayton and I headed over to SNAPPER to feed the sea turtles.  As we were driving home down the muddy dirt roads through Conaree, we spotted something making its way down the side of the road in the distance.  As we got closer, we realized that the 'thing' was a sickly puppy who was covered in mud, and very skinny.  We came to a stop and he cried at us.  I got out of the car and he ran over and pretty much jumped in my arms... We drove around and asked some locals if they knew who he belonged to and they told us to just leave him on the road, he'd survive...That was when we decided we would take him home, get him cleaned up and try to find him a good home!

Previous that week, I had seen a dog from a litter that was rescued in the same area and really began considering the idea of getting another dog so Nevi would have a playmate when we moved back on our own.  Little did I know, things would fall into place as they have!  The puppy I saw on FB was gorgeous, and I was really interested in her...but one day with this little fello, and I couldn't help but be in love and my AMAZING, supportive husband agreed to let me keep him! =)

So, our family has grown some more... We have a new little boy who we are guessing is somewhere between 4-7 weeks old.  He has a precious little black body with some brindle on his back legs, a big white chest and eyes that just melt your heart!  Nevi is feeling a little jealous, but I think once she accepts him and get used to a puppy - she will make a great big sister!  I am not sure if this happens with children, but I have felt like Nevi was still a puppy - until I brought a puppy home.  Now I feel like she is this big, grown up dog who I expect to be a perfect role model!

We have named our little bugger BRINLEY to keep up with the long vowel sound at the end of all of our animals names!  SO, we have a Nevi and a Brinley and a Charlie and a Bailey and a Marley (which I will never get Marley back from my Mom, but he WAS mine and I named him!) and a (a bit off, but) Koala...  and when I had a horse, she was a Meese (long e at the end).

I am excited to have another puppy and am ready for the late night/early morning wake up calls from a puppy!  Prepping for babies...real ones...someday...

Here he is!

Learning the NO KITCHEN rule quickly =) 

Nevi's fleece has been taken over by Brinley!  Going to have to cut it in half and 're-fab' it! 

Our boy! 

Snuggled right up! 

anddd the princess.  who rules this bed?  NEVI DOES! 

Precious boyyy! <3

Obviously, I have a LOT of room to sleep at night.. Please send me a California King Size bed! 

BRINLEY!

So there you have it - as much as I would LOVE children, I am making sacrifices as my husband attend vet school and just taking in puppies - and kitty - kids!  I'd include some pictures of Koala - but she doesn't come home for long!  She does what she wants - all the time!  


Time to sleep...Puppy will be up soon I'm sure!

Tropical Storm Rafael

Since living in St. Kitts, we have not had a big tropical storm - until this past weekend!  It began raining Thursday or Friday (I think?) and has not stopped yet!  Saturday and Sunday were completely rainy, REALLY windy, stormy and black.  Most places on the island were without power for the majority of the weekend - but we were very fortunate that we only lost it twice - once in the early morning on Sunday and again Monday afternoon/evening for a couple hours!  We were without internet and cable all weekend though - what is one to do?!?

Thats Us- the Red thing with the black dot..

Brayton had an exam today (Tuesday) another Friday and another the following Tuesday, so he was on campus all weekend, trekking back and forth in the nasty flooded road rain!  Now, that wouldn't be so bad - but considering we drive an island mobile - we, of COURSE, have NO FAN - at all!  So when it rains, and you close the window and continue to breathe, you fog up the windows and cannot see.  Therefore, when it rains, you must continue to drive with the windows open, get really wet, and most of the time - still not be able to really see!  I have begun comparing driving in St Kitts during a Tropical Storm similar to driving at home in the winter.  Yes, due to the bald tires that are on 90% of the cars here, the roads get slippery - but they also seem to fall through the bottom of the earth and pot holes the size of Texas suddenly 'appear' in the road... Unfortunately when you combine flooded roads, fogged windows and bald tires - you often find yourself falling into the bottomless pits of the pot holes - therefore, you must drive slow and maneuver your way carefully around them!  Here are some pictures to give you a better idea!

Flooded Roads! 

Pot Holes of unknown depth to the water being deceivingly held inside of them 

Now in St Kitts, when the roads flood its not just a small puddle, its more like a rushing rapid river!  

And a rushing rapid river filled with dirt, large rocks, and garbage...gross!

And sometimes the St Kitts Taxi Drivers decide to venture these roads and the next pictures summarizes about how well THAT worked! 

Oooopss!  Guess your taxi van is going to seeeeaaaaa!!!

When the storms start raging and the wind starts blowing, sometimes some crazy things happen.. like skeletons on the beach... or sailboats that get washed ashore!

Yes - this is REALLLL..  It was found at Shipwreck beach - one of the popular tourist beaches on the Caribbean Sea!  

I guess leaving your sailboat anchored during a tropical storm isn't such a good idea (also note the *used to be* road to the right!)

 Well aside from the outside world - we have our house...Which leaks...everywhere.  I mean, we live in the Caribbean, it storms a lot - of COURSE you construct home with leak FRIENDLY roofs!  HA!  Let's just say our house has been plastered in buckets and towels and little wet dog footprints...and when you head to the basement - you will soon find that the water doesn't leak from the ceiling - but from....yup, you guess it - THE OUTLETS!  WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!!??!?!!??!?!  Pretty sure that is an electrical danger!

On Monday, everything on St Kitts and Nevis was closed....except Ross... Instead, they risked all of our lives, forced us out onto the roads (which as you can see were reallly safe and travel friendly!) and made us go to school in the worst of the storm....Oh, but wait - it gets better!  Than at 12:30, they decided to SHUT DOWN the campus at 1....When you work at the prep school - that means you have 30 minutes to call every parent, of every student, have them drive on the *SAFE* roads, to *QUICKLY* come retrieve their children by 1.... P L E A S E!!!!!!!!  (take me back to reality!)

View from campus -  LINK HERE



Non-the less, we did get all the kids out and home...with someone, somehow by about 1:30...and by about 3, it stopped rainy and was sunnny...Moral - we drove to school in SHIT, left in SHIT and got home safe, and it stopped rainy...Backwards I say?!?!

Well - today we were back at it, there are about 5,569 new pot holes in the 4 mile drive to campus that could easily eat your car, so its back to Mario Cart Real World St Kitts while you drive...and don't forget to watch out for the local 'Learner' drivers who think that 8 mph is the BEST speed limit to drive...anywhere and everywhere!  LEARN IN THE PARKING LOTS IF YOU WANNA DRIVE THAT SLOW!!!! YOUR A DANGER!!!

If you check the radar you will see there is another 'blurb' heading this way - who knows what will become of it - maybe another weekend of Tropical Storms!  At least this weekend is Mid-Semester Break so we have our 1 day off (the one and only that we get in the 15 week semester - yah..no Thanksgiving break, Columbus day Weekend, Labor Day...I don't even know what other holidays exist in America anymore) on Monday...WOO hoo.....

 Well - back to reality (leaky roof, rain, wind) of St Kitts....Did I tell you we're moving again? (Did I ever mention how much I HATE moving/living/looking for houses in St Kitts?)  They are all WAY to expensive, with furniture I would be embarrassed to have on my front porch in the winter as living room furniture and full sizes beds on wooden boxes that are about 158 years old?  Its really awesome...I'll let you know what we find...


421 more days in St Kitts.....

Half Way There...

Mid-October marks our HALF WAY point of living on St Kitts - we have been here for a year and 2 months, and have a year and 2 months left!  Time to really flying by!

Over the course of our time here, we have had so many great experiences, met some AMAZING friends, learned a lot about ourselves and especially about life.  While we appreciate and are thankful for that, we (well at least I!) am counting down the days till it is back to "normal" American (or even more civilized) living!  430 days to be exact till we will be parting ways with our current St Kitts home!

On a more positive note - Brayton is doing great in 4th semester, enjoying his classes and studying hard (he has an exam for the next 6 weeks straight, 2 weeks off, then finals!).  More test = more grades (at least that's how I look at it!)

Things with us are going great, I am busy with work (check out my teaching blog here!) and Brayton is studying all the time - as he should be!  Nevi is doing great - and growing fast!  Today she weight 38.8 pounds!  We never thought she would get that big!  She is such a good girl - we are so lucky!  Koala is a princess as always and does as she pleases, when she pleases - I don't think that will ever change!  Life is good!

We are looking forward to our December break on island - its a full 3 weeks of no school, no work, no stress, just US (and anyone who may be coming to visit.....?) and the beach and sleeping in late and living the TRUE island life!  I am super excited and it will be here SO soon!  Only 10 more weeks!

Well, aside from that boring stuff-  I have nothing new to report!

Koala LOVES Duke Dog!!  And sleeping on her back! 

Nevi too likes sleeping on her back!  Silly animals! <3

We are missing home and would love to hear from anyone!  Keep in touch!  We are still out here in our little world!