Back in AZ!!!

Kyle and I finally made back to Arizona. It seems like it took us forever. In 48 hours we were in Dominica, Guadaloupe, Antigua, St. Martin, Charlotte, and Phoenix. Phew! It was a long trip, but we're finally here and so happy to have some time with friends and family (and maybe some time with malls, golf courses, restaurants, etc.) If you're in AZ, we hope to see you!

Thanks to Heidi

Ok all of you dedicated readers, I know that this blog is usually Heidi's thing and that she keeps all of you updated on the goings on in our lives, but what she doesn't tell you is all of the little things that she does around here to make my life so much better. This journey has been great and the majority of that is due to Heidi. I could not have asked for a better sidekick to bring to the jungle with me so I thought I'd take a moment to thank her. Somehow she keeps putting up with me and for many of you, you know that is not an easy task. So here is to a great semester and a wonderful wife and great family.

Kyle

Time to Party!!!

Well, today is the last day of the semester. The studying is done and Kyle takes his final at 1pm. In the meantime, we were able to sleep in, I made pancakes, and while he is reviewing some last minute notes, I am continuing to pack and organize. This day is so exciting for all of us. All of the wives feel like they will finally get their husbands back, who have been cheating on them with anatomy books, biochemistry lectures, and histology notes. We say bye bye to those things for almost 3 weeks. To celebrate after the exam, we will be going to a restaurant called West Central, about 40 minutes away, with 8 of our friends. Should be a great time! The both of us have been waiting for this day for over 3months now and both of us have butterflies...mine are for excitement and I believe Kyle's are nerves for the test he is about to take. Say a quick prayer and a wish of luck for all the students who are taking their final today, let me just say that some of them really need it. Thank God Kyle is not in that boat. He is such a smarty pants, don't tell him I told you all that...
For those of you in the "Valley of the Sun", see ya soon (just over 48 hours to be exact)!

Houston, We Have a Video!

Here is the video, as promised, just a few days later. Thank you Cole! What would I do without a tech-savvy brother-in-law?

No Video

Yes...I know there is not video for the last post. I don't know what else to say other than I am technologically challenged. Kyle's brother, Cole, said he would help me out, so give me some time and we'll get things figured out. Sorry about the promise of a video...for now you'll have to just imagine what our place looks like.

Bye Bye House in Dominica

As you all know, Kyle and I will be moving into a new place when we return for 2nd semester. I am very excited for many reasons...shorter walk to campus, less 4-legged (or more legged) friends, and more space to have friends over. This move makes our trip home a little more stressful. For one, we are not able to move in to our new place until after we get back and we are therefore putting all of our stuff in barrels. While Kyle is studying for his final, which he technically doesn't even need to take to pass (my smart little hubby), I am getting all of our belongings packed up for the move and for our trip home. Phew!!! It has been a long few days and we still have a few more to go. Anyway, I though it would be nice for you all to see not only our first place here in Dominica, but our first place together EVER! I am just learning how to put our videos on my computer and on the blog, so hopefully this works out. I would love to post more of our videos that we have taken here because, I think they capture more of our life here. That is what you all have to look forward to in the coming posts. For now, this is the video of our current place, Kootney, and although I am looking forward to moving, the both of us find the move bittersweet. It's the end of many firsts. Our first "home", Kyle's first semester here in Dominica, and first few months together as husband and wife. These last few months have been a roller coaster of emotions, with moving so far from home, but I wouldn't change anything. We are so blessed for so many reasons and best of all...we have each other.

Busy Weekend

Saturday was the Spring Festival for the children. I was in charge of "Pin the Tail on the Bunny". You can see the picture of what I came up with. I admit I am no artist, but I think it turned out pretty cute. The kids seemed to really like it too. I even blind folded them and spun them around a few times. The festival went great and the kids had a great time. Later that night we had 90's/Boy Band Night up at De Champs. I can't remember if I told you about this bar or not, but it is owned by a Dutch couple and it is a hotel as well. I like to think of De Champs as the Cheers of Dominica. It's the place where "everybody knows your name". It's also probably the worst place for guys to come looking for girls. About 90% of the time it is just the wives up there and obviously we are all taken. It's a really fun place to hang out. Anyway, back to 90's Night, we all dressed up and we had some girls that went for the grunge look, others did a Spice Girls look, and I went for the Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell look. We all had a lot of fun dancing and singing to songs we haven't heard in a while. To finish off the weekend I attended a baby shower for one of the 4th semester wives. It is amazing to see how creative people can be in a place like this when trying to host a nice event. We played games and chatted, as girls do, and it was a nice afternoon with some of my closest friends here on the island.

While I was busy with all these things, Kyle has been studying. His last mid-term exam is tomorrow and his final is Tuesday, the 20th, the day before we leave to come home. While he studies for his final, I will begin to pack up our house since we are moving. We won't be able to move-in until after we get back so I will be shoving all of our stuff in barrels and storing it. That's our agenda for the next week or so. Wish Kyle luck on his exams and me luck on fitting our stuff into the 1 large and 2 small barrels we have. Okay, so his task is harder, but either way both of us are getting very excited for Arizona. See you all soon!

Shopping Withdrawals

I don't know if you all knew this, but I enjoy shopping, a lot.  This isn't just something I do when I absolutely need a new pair of black sandals because mine fell apart, it is an activity that I find very relaxing and it is almost like a high for me when I find a great deal.  As you can imagine being on this big rock, I haven't exactly had my needs met for retail therapy, and believe me there are days I need therapy. We have no mall, no Target, no department stores, no nothing! Let's just say I am a little scared for our return home in April to America...land of opportunity, land of freedom, land of anything you want at your fingertips. I have even been having shopping dreams lately. For example, last night I dreamed I was in Target and my cart was full to the brim with kitchen supplies. I don't necessarily remember needing all those gadgets; I believe I was buying them just because they were there and inexpensive. I am not going to lie, I have done some online shopping and had things sent to my mom and dad's to bring back with us, but it isn't the same feeling as trying something on in an air-conditioned dressing room where the sale clerks genuinely care about you, or at least pretend to. Customer service is rare around here. I always leave a place feeling like I am inconveniencing them for doing their job. My attitude is kill them with kindness, but so far it's a no-go. Anyway, that is my vent for today. Hopefully I can get a little sympathy from all of you in your big beautiful malls in the States. In less than 2 weeks we come home and here is my warning:  WATCH OUT SCOTTSDALE FASHION SQUARE, HERE I COME!!!

Easter...Dominican Style

Here's the whole gang, minus Kyle and I. In the back are Taylor and Meagan, then on the couches are Alli, Dani, Kyle, Emmet, and Kyle. Yes, we had 3 Kyles for Easter dinner!

The girls!

Here is our beautiful display of tasty treats.

As you can assume Easter was a little different this year for a few reasons. First, it was our first Easter together as a married couple, but it was also our first Easter spent in a foreign country, away from family. I knew it would be a hard day for both of us since we are so close with our families and love every moment we get to spend with them. I decided that we were going to have to make Easter as normal as possible in order for us to not be walking around depressed all day. I suggested to some of my friends that we have a potluck dinner and they all loved the idea. We ended up having the meal at Meagan's house, they live in the complex we will be moving to, and it didn't feel exactly the same as home, but this is our "family" in Dominica and we have all become very close. The food was wonderful, the company was great, and we are so lucky to have become friends with such great people. I don't know what I would do without these girls. As far as the food went, we tried to have some traditional items, but as you can imagine the Honey Baked Ham store is a few hundred decades from being built here so instead we had shepherd's pie, chicken cordon bleu, green bean casserole (I had to hand make the fried onions), salad, mashed potatoes, tropical fruit, banana bread, and carrot cake. Yummy! Well, that was our Easter, we hope you had a wonderful Easter as well, no matter who you spent it with or where in the world you were.

Happy Easter everyone!

p.s. We found out the Easter Bunny doesn't deliver to Dominica. Who knew?

Meet the Newest Board Member of the RSO

The RSO (Ross Spouses Organization) is a huge group here on campus that offers a great deal of support to spouses and families of the students. They organize trips around the island, grocery shopping days to Roseau, banquets, and special events for holidays. I have been so appreciative of all that they do that I decided it would be nice to be involved in a deeper way than just to be a member. So...I became the Activities Coordinator! I will officially start next semester. I have heard it can be a little time consuming and require a great deal of organization, but I think I can handle it. Plus, it's a great way to learn more about things to do on the island, as well as get on trips for free (sometimes).

In other news...
1. Kyle had an anatomy practical today, which means they are officially done with anatomy lab this semester! This also means the bodies should be out of here in no time. This is good because, they were looking pretty rough (as if dead isn't bad enough).
2. Kyle has 3 more exams until he is done with semester 1! He has a histology practical, Mini 3, and a final. I feel like this semester has flown by...he feels differently. I guess a day at the beach and a day in the library are a little different.
3. I have been doing some "garage" sale shopping. This past week and for the next couple of weeks the 4th and 5th semester students/spouses are getting rid of a lot of things which is great news for all of us newbies. I bought a Brita water filter, an ironing board, kitchen supplies, games, and office supplies all for under $40 US. Can't wait to see what other goodies I can snag. The best part about what we buy...I can resell it all when we leave for about the same price.

That's it from us around here. We come home in 20 days, but who's counting.