Quick Update!

The semester is underway!  We just began week 2 today, and so far so good!

We are really loving our new, cozy apartment with just us and our pets!  I cannot believe how much better our dogs are and the things they are learning!  They are getting to that point now where we are working on 'un-crate training' them!  So far in their short lives (Nevi = 11 months, Brinley = 4 months) they have been crated whenever we are not home and Brinley, up until recently, during the night too.  Now they are both out 100% of the time at night - and the best cuddlers and we have been leaving them out and about in the house while we are gone for anywhere up to 6 hours a day!  So far - they have been AWESOME!  I am so proud of my pups!  They play with their toys, keep each other entertained and thus far (SOMEONE KNOCK ON SOME WOOD!) have not chewed or eaten anything except their toys!  Brinley has had 1 or 2 small accidents, but I am pretty sure they happen when we walk in the door because he gets so excited he just cannot hold it anymore!  Go puppies!  =)

Brinley.. Sleeping on his back, head on the pillow, mouth open, tongue out, snoring, snuggling with Mom and Dad <3

On another note, Koala who lived outside 90% of the time at the villa, has a very routine in and out schedule which I really love!  She is in all night, out in the morning and evening and in for the afternoon!  *What A Life*

Brayton and I are working realllly hard on eating healthy now that we are back on our own.  We have eliminated pasta 100% from our home cooked meals; I am sure we will eat it out occasionally!  We have also eliminated bread from the majority of our diet.  We have the occasional sandwich or something - but no regular bagels for breakfast, toasts, bread with dinner, etc. etc!  We are also eating majority meats and fresh veggies!  Dan (friend from work) took me to the local St Kitts farmers market this weekend and I got MORE than enough FRESH St Kitts grown veggies to last me the week for $160 EC!  That is $60 USD!  At the grocery store here in St Kitts that same amount of food would have cost 400-500 EC!  I am so in love with the market!  It is all freshly picked that morning, the people are SO nice and its SO cheap!  I will continue to drag myself out of bed on Saturday mornings for that!  I will try to take pictures soon.  It is totally different from anything you'd ever expect and a bit intimidating (there are about 2 white people there) but soo awesome!

Homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu with a Dijon Parmesan Cream Sauce and market fresh steamed broccoli!  

AMAZING yellow watermelon from St Kitts Market!  SO GOOD!

He only had that face till he tried my food!  Then he was smiling =) 

Yummy pomegranates from the pomegranate tree in the yard! 

I also signed up and am helping with the St Kitts Special Olympics Swimming!  I will be working with them on Saturday's and am SO excited!  =)

So, I think that is about it in our lives right now.. Until next time!  

All the small things..

When you have lived in America (or another developed country) you often don't appreciate 'all the small things' like we have learned to do living in St Kitts.  

Today when I was recollecting on my days of living in America, I realized I really did not appreciate so many of the luxuries we have living there.  I don't think there were 'small things', like there are in St. Kitts, that I was SO thankful for.    Once leaving, the things I appreciated there become really obvious - smooth roads, working cars, Wal-Marts, Malls, stores, FRESH (not molded) food at the grocery store, bug-less pasta(and other food items), being able to drive to get 'out of town', affordable everything.. oh the list goes on! 

Since living in St. Kitts, there are so many small things that I am SO grateful for purchasing before moving here, and bringing with me, or purchasing on island.  

*Note - MOST of the things I purchased on island were USED and probably cost more than they would new in the states.  If it wasn't used, it is pretty much guaranteed it cost double here.  Most of the things from the states were purchased for dirt cheap at Christmas Tree Shop!*

Items from HOME!

Item # 1 

Light weight quilt from Christmas Tree Shop.  Fit easily into suitcases, is compatible with the warm caribbean temperatures and has been through the wash 100 times and is STILL in great shape =)

Item # 2 

Fleece blanket I made about a year prior to moving to St. Kitts.  Has been cut in half, re-tied and now belongs to the dogs!  Also been through the wash 100 times and in great shape.. And my dogs love these blankets like a baby loves its blanket! 

Item # 3

Collapsible baskets from Christmas Tree Shop.  Easy to pack in suitcases, and great to store stuff in when you live in apartments with no storage, closet or dresser space!

  

Item # 4 

My LLBean bag that Mom bought me before we got married (love that my initials didn't change!).  I use it EVERYDAY as my school bag and its heavy duty and durable and does great in the washing machine! 

Item # 5

My towel head wrap for after showering!  I know, this seems like nothing, but its SO nice here!  Also a Christmas Tree Shop purchase and been through 1,000 bleach loads! 

Item # 6 

Bathroom Rugs.  Again, been through wash, all over, and still kicking *yes, i know its dirty!*

Item # 7

Our camera.  So glad to have that here!! 

Item # 8

Concrete walls and no tools = limited ways to hang things up.. 3M Hooks save the day.. Everyday! 

Items purchased in St. Kitts

Item # 1

Curtains we had made down here!  So worth the price - which I think was ACTUALLY reasonable!!  

Item # 2 and Item # 3 and Item # 4

Skillet, Crockpot and Toaster Oven - *Could not live without!*

Item # 5

Baby Gate - Keeps the dogs out of the cats 'stuff'!  Really sucks to step over in the middle of the night - but it does its job! 

Item # 6

Shower Head.  Hard water and cheap landlords = AWFUL shower heads.. Enough said! 

Item # 7

Caribbean = sand.  Caribbean = rain.  Caribbean = Dirt.  Caribbean = DUST... Leann and Brayton = TOO many pets...

Sand, Rain, Dirt, Dust, Pets =  a LOT of stuff to vacuum up!  Love me my ShopVac! 

Item # 8

LIFE in the Caribbean = MUST HAVE CHEAP WINE..  CHECK!   

Item # 9, Item # 10 and Item # 11

This doesn't really apply - but is by FAR the best thing we have 'bought' since being here - our animals.  They are awesome!  

Living here has taught me to appreciate, recognize and be grateful for the small things in life.. The small things that often go unnoticed!

2012.. A Year in Review..

Compared to 2011.. I do not have much to say about 2012, other than I hope 2013 turns out to be a little bit better..  

January – I honestly cannot think of anything exciting happening this month! 

February – I got suckered into helping cat trap Feral Cats on the island and feel in love with a feral cat.  In case you aren't aware - feral cats are wild cats.. They generally (unless really young) do not get adopted.. They get fixed and returned to the wild.. Well, I decided I was going to try to 'tame' this cat we trapped that I just loved..  That worked.. Until it broke through a screen and ran away!

March – Over the ONE long weekend we have in a 15 week trimester, we went Deep Sea Fishing with a group of friends.  It was a lot of fun!  We also completed the ChannelSwim and rescued Nevi and her litter of puppies.  Cannot imagine life without my girl now!  

April – Over April break we went HOME for the first time since arriving in August!  It was great and went by way to fast!    

May – We moved into a new house with the Cope's up on Fort Tyson rise and quickly discovered that we had moved into a centipede house.  It was INFESTED!!!!  Then we moved out!  Thank Goodness! Baby Eli was also born in May and missing out on that (and STILL not meeting him) has been tough!

June – Since we didn't stay in the centipede house, we moved into the villa with Cope’s and later Mattera's.  It also brought the end of my school year and the beginning of summer camp (yah...not summer vacation..summer camp... summer vacation doesn't exist here!)

July  - In July we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary!  

August – Finally, family came to St. Kitts in August.  It was a great time, and I was so glad my family got a chance to see the island and get a taste of some of my life experiences here!  

September – A new school year for me, and a new semester for Brayton!

October – Driving home one day, we ran into this adorable little homeless puppy on the side of the road.  We brought him home with the intention of getting him adopted.. and we did that.. He's sleeping next to me right now =) 

November – November brought another Thanksgiving on the island and away from home/family..  It was harder this year!  

December – And December.. Another xmas vacation on the island.. and another xmas away from home.  The first year wasn't bad..but this year was much more difficult.  

Now it is January.. Life is moving on.  Our time here is on the downward slope..  Let's hope for a better 2013..  So far, its not doing so well!! (blog to come later..)

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.