First Day of Limes After School Program

Yesterday was the first day of the Limes program. I have to say that it went quite well for the first day. There were roughly 30 kids there and 9 of us. The kids were very rowdy and energetic, so my thought was to let them run it out. So that's what we did. After an introduction at the beginning and making name tags (which we made as well), we sent them outside to play games and just run. We're hoping for a more structured day today. The plan is to help them with their homework, do reading circles, and then math circles. I love teaching math, so I'm really looking forward to that part. We have a great group of girls that will be helping each other get through this program for the next 2 1/2 months. This experience so far has confirmed my love for teaching. Even though not much teaching went on yesterday, I love being around kids in a learning environment. There is nothing more fulfilling and rewarding. These kids love to give love and be hugged. That is really the main goal of this program is to give them lots of love and just let them have fun and be kids with an educational twist. I am reminded of how lucky we are to be Americans and live in nice homes with good families, and to have everything that we need to live a good life. These kids are not so fortunate. The neighborhood that the program is in is a bit rough. These kids may or may not have 2 parents that look after them. They walk volunteerly to the Limes program, and no one is forced to come, so they are there because they want to be. Just please count your blessings for everything that you have, and remember that not everyone is as fortunate as you. Volunteering for this program is truly an eye opener that has made me realize not to take anything for granted, and to thank God for my amazing life and for all of the amazing people in it.

The instructors giving the introduction to the kids (I'm in the blue)

Playing relay races

The kids running

It's a New Day

I woke up this morning and felt extremely blessed for no particular reason. I have so many reasons to feel this way, but there was not one that outweighed another. I have just been in a very optimistic mood. My cleaning urge always hits me at night, so I spent a couple of hours last night in a cleaning frenzy...literally I get in a zone. Cody was studying, so not much conversation was going on in the house...maybe the occassional "whatcha doing" or "move your feet so I can sweep under them". I know that I talk about Macy a lot, but she is so funny. While I'm cleaning, she goes around the house and follows me to whatever room I'm cleaning in. She puts herself right in the middle of all the action so if I'm sweeping, I have to sweep around her, and she never moves a muscle. The inside joke that Cody and me have about her is that she's helping me clean. So after I had changed the sheets on the bed, I came walking in the dining room with Macy walking right behind me, and Cody says to her, "Macy...Did you help Momma change the sheets?" I couldn't help but laugh and thank God for my sweet, funny, little Macy girl, and of course for my sweet husband who shares the same love for her that I do. I never ask much of Cody as far as doing household chores. I feel that since I do not work, that I can at least cook and clean. The only thing that I ever ask him to do is to take out the trash. I have a thing against taking out the trash...it's a man's job...period. Well, we don't have anyone who picks up our trash over here (unless you count the crazy Grenadian that I call the "trash guy", but I don't trust him), so Cody has to get in the car and drive the trash a little ways down the road to dump it. Macy's new thing is that she thinks it is her "JOB" to take out the trash. So not only does she help me clean, but she helps Cody take out the trash...What a handy dog! As soon as she hears him rustling the trash bags, she goes running into the kitchen with her tail wagging. Then she follows him to the door and goes outside to get in the car with him. It takes them literally 2 minutes to take the trash and come back, but Macy comes prancing in the house like she's completed this hard task. I always ask her, "Did you help Daddy take out the trash?" She wags her tail and runs towards the kitchen because she thinks that she deserves a treat for this (I know...SPOILED!) I read this quote from somewhere the other day, and I've been trying to live by it. It says, "True faith in God means no worries." That is the best way that I have ever heard anyone put it. When I start to feel down, I say that quote in my head and know that God will take care of us. Even though I have Cody and Macy, sometimes I just need to be around another girl. That's where Ashley comes in. I don't know what I would do without my awesome neighbor. There are days when I don't want to get out of bed, and then I'll get her wake-up text asking me, "Ready to run?" I think God puts people in our lives at certain times for very specific reasons. When I get caught up in all of the stress of our situation, Ashley helps me see the light and bring me out of it. I am blessed to have someone like that in my life. I have so many great people in my life, and I'm going to continue to trust God and see what's next.

I love her!

Me and my pal Ash...I love her too!

Life...Lately

Well, nothing much has been going on lately. It has been just another day in paradise on the grand ole island of Grenada. Here are some things that we have done lately: Friday night Cody and me ate a Victory Bar & Grill. It was just the two of us..I didn't feel like cooking, and Cody sure wasn't going in the kitchen. Cody went fishing with some of the guys Saturday morning, and Saturday night we went over to the flats to celebrate two of the guys 30th birthdays. Sunday, after a long day of rain, we took little Macy for a walk and swim (of course) on the beach. Today has been a long day. Between running, swimming laps, doing laundry, cleaning, meeting with the Limes group girls, walking Macy, and Cody going to school and getting his haircut, let's just say that I'm exhausted. Macy got to sit in with the girls at our Limes Program meeting today...I always look for a reason to get her out of the house, plus she loves going on campus. The program starts up tomorrow afternoon, so I'm getting a little anxious to see how it goes after all of our meetings and planning. We have watched a lot of movies lately such as: Mall Cop, Seven Pounds, X-Men Orgins: Wolverine, and the Hitler movie with Brad Pitt. Cody's parents get here for their visit on Friday, so we should have a much more interesting week next week.

Cody and me at Victory Bar & Grill

Missing the UK???

For those of you who don't know, Cody and me lived in Newcastle, England for about 9 months so he could do his first year of medical school. I was not a huge fan of this place. It rained all of the time (which I usually love rain, but not when you have to be in it all of the time), the wind blew nonstop (I'm talking hard wind, like hurricane strength wind), and it is cold most of the time (I'm very cold-natured). So all of these things, plus the fact that my sweet little Macy had to stay behind because of the UK's stupid animal restrictions, made me not a happy camper. When we left that place, I said good riddance, hasta la vista, adios, or in other words...see ya! I thought I would leave and never look back...until last night. I was getting dressed to go to dance class, and I grabbed a pair of my comfy, stretchy grey and red pants. As I was unfolding the pants and sliding them on, I caught a whiff of a strong detergent smell. That's when the memories all came back to me. The laundry detergent that I used in the UK was the strongest smelling little tablets that I have ever smelled before. These particular pants had been shipped directly from the UK to Grenada, and this was the first time that I had put them on in months. Something clicked inside me and made me think of our cosy, English apartment. It was always so warm inside even though it was freezing outside. It was always so nice and clean, because you didn't have to worry about tracking in sand. It had two big beautiful windows in the den that let in so much light. You could also watch it rain or even snow on some occasions. It was located in the most peaceful little suburb of Newcastle called Gosforth, where there were all kinds of little shops, restaurants, and even a park. This is the place where we spent our first year of marriage. I never expected that something as simple as a detergent smell would bring back so many great memories. I guess there will always be a special place in my heart for that wonderful apartment or flat as the British call it.

Our flat:

The most peaceful little street that we lived on:

The happy newlyweds in front of our new home:

T.G.I...Monday!

I am really missing home today. Don't get me wrong, I really love living in Grenada, but sometimes I just miss being home. I think about all of the things that we left back home: our family, our friends, our house, our vehicles. It's funny what you really find yourself missing when you're away from home. I miss the strangest things like going to Wal-Mart or Target (I know that seems crazy, but try going without it for a while). I miss eating at all of our favorite restaurants like Trejos (man what I wouldn't give for some Trejos). I miss going for a late night treat at Marble Slab (the best ice cream ever). I miss being able to take Macy for a walk in our neighborhood where there are sidewalks and street lights at night. Sure I get to walk her on the beach over here, but then I have to come home and wash her to get all of the sand off of her. I miss our big flat screen tv that we sold before we came here (we do have a flat screen over here, but it's not nearly as big). I miss DVR where I can record all of my shows instead of having to plan my day around when Young and the Restless comes on. I miss having more than one tv in the house. I wanted to scream this weekend. Bless Cody's heart, he loves all sports...literally ALL SPORTS!!! And as for me, well let's just say that I occassionally wouldn't mind going to a Yankees game. After a hard week of studying, my husband decided to park his body on the couch all weekend and watch every game imaginable on tv, plus he had his laptop beside him watching the games on it that they didn't air on tv. So my weekend consisted of cleaning, napping, more cleaning, cooking, more napping, laundry, and hanging out with my Macy girl...Thank God for my Macy...I would be so lost without her and extremely bored. I did go to a baby shower for a couple of hours...Thank goodness for friends and their babies. So even though I usually don't like Mondays, today I am grateful that it's Monday...which means no more weekend sports!



My sweet angel...She keeps me sane in this med school madness!

I guess Macy keeps Cody sane as well.

"Office" Party

Last night was the beginning of the new season of "The Office" so the girls decided to have a party. We're always looking for a reason to have a get together, so we all piled over at Lyndzee's house. We all wore our husbands' shirts and ties so we could have an "office" theme...well some of us did wear the shirts, others just wore ties. Cody's shirt looks more like a dress on me than a shirt since he's like 6' 1" and I'm like 5' 1", but it was still fun. We also all brought stuff to make yummy ice cream sundaes! I was in charge of bringing the whipped cream. There was some left over, so I brought it back home with me. Fortunately for me, my husband does not like whipped cream, so that just means more for me! We had a great time at our girls party while the poor guys were studying for exams. I'm already looking forward to our next party!

Rainy Days

I love rainy days in Grenada. It is usually quite hot here, but on days like these, it is so cool and breezy. What I really love most is curling up on the bed and taking a nap with Macy while Cody studies. It's great because when Cody is studying for exams, we come into the bedroom and turn on the AC. It's funny how we take something like air-conditioning for granted in the States. Most homes in Grenada only have AC in the bedrooms, which is hard to adjust to at first, but then it just becomes a way of life. There is something so calming about the rain. We have great rain storms back home, so listening to the rain makes Grenada feel a little more like home.

This is what we do on rainy days:

Cody studies...

and me and Macy nap

Hike to Mt. Carmel

Yesterday, I went on a hike to Mt. Carmel with the SO group. I have seen a few different waterfalls so far in Grenada, but I have to say that this was the prettiest one that I have seen yet. We had to ride in a hot, no air-conditioned taxi bus for around 45 minutes to get there. Needless to say, I was ready to get off that bus and start the hike. It was a very pretty day, but the trail was a little slippery due to the rain that we have had. There is one main waterfall that was breathtaking, and there is also a creek that connects it to a waterslide made of rocks that people can actually slide down. I did not slide for fear of snagging my new bathing suit, but it looked like fun. I did go for a dip in the pool of water that came off of the falls. It was another adventurous day in Grenada. I am so glad that we have such a great SO organization that plans all of these trips for us.

Daddy's Girl

Today is my amazing Dad's birthday. This is a picture of my Dad and me at one of my birthday parties when I was a kid. I have always loved this picture because it shows what a daddy's girl I really am. There is just something special about the relationship between a father and a daughter. I am so blessed to have this wonderful man as my Dad. He is the most affectionate man that I have ever known. My Dad has the most wonderful smell, and I am comforted to know that I can close my eyes at any time, even though I am so far away, and remember how it feels to embrace my Dad in a hug and breathe in his smell. My Mom reminds me of the time when I was little, and she jokingly said that we were going to find another daddy. My remark to her as a toddler was, "I don't want another daddy..I have a Daddy!" That is exactly the way I feel today as a grown woman. God broke the mold after my Dad was created, because there will never be another man on this earth like him. I just hope that one day that my daughter will be lucky enough to have a relationship with Cody like I have with my Dad. I am truly missing my Dad today. I love you Dad, have a happy birthday, and I'll see you soon!

Me, my Dad, and Macy-January 2009

A beautiful quote: Daddy, to the world you might be just one person, but to one person you might just be the world.

Living in Grenada

We are having a blast living in Grenada. The island is absolutely beautiful! This is the view that we wake up to see every morning, and I think to myself how truly lucky we are. I mean seriously..how many people can say that they live on a tropical island! My days are pretty great. I wake up around 7:00 am to go for a 4 mile run on the beach with my pal Ash. Then I come home and get my fun little dog Macy and take her for a walk on the beach and a swim. She won't let us go back home until she gets to take a dip in the ocean. I also get to do other great things such as volunteering at the orphange and hanging out with the other SOs (Significant Others). I am also really excited about the new Limes After School Program that I am going to help run with some of the other SOs. I might actually get to use some of my teaching skills that I went to school so long for. Cody's life is not quite as relaxed as mine and Mace's, but I guess that's the price to pay to be a medical student. One day all of his hard work will pay off. We are getting to experience so many great things, and will cherish the memories always.

My First Blog!

Well, I am officially a blogger! I have never blogged before, but it seems that all of our dear friends in Grenada do, so I wanted to join in on the fun. Hopefully it won't take me too long to figure this blog stuff out!