Dreaming of St. Maarten

In 10 days I will be packing up to go to St. Maarten! I am so stinking excited about this. This will be my first official "island hop" vacation, my first girls trip abroad, and my first real vacation since Christmas of 2009. I wish we were going tomorrow!

Here are some reasons why I'm stoked for this trip:

• watching The Hunger Games {they have movie theaters there!}
• shopping at a mall 
• attending Kristen's wedding
• good food
• swim-up bar
• white sand

I'm really proud of myself for earning the money for this trip through my design business. I can't think of a better way to reward myself for the hard work. Because whats the point of working if you don't get to spend some of your earnings on something nice for yourself?

And don't worry, I have some awesome guest posts lined up for you while I'm gone. Until then, I'm dreaming of St. Maarten.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles..

After several days of traveling, I've finally made it home to my mom's house! Let's take a second and review the legs of this particular journey:

• taxi to airport in Dominica
• flight to Puerto Rico
• flight to Miami
• shuttle to & from hotel
• flight to Los Angeles
• car to the Inland Empire
• bus to Bakersfield
• train to Merced

This is definitely a planes, trains, and automobiles Christmas. Thankfully, everything went just as planned. Pictures of graduation are coming soon!

Merry & Bright!

It's a Kate Spade inspired Christmas! I just finished up my Christmas card and had it printed at the local printing shack. And by printing shack, I literally mean a one room shack. 

Chris took his final today, and we are getting ready to head back to California tomorrow. Today has been full of packing, cleaning my closet, cooking the kitty food, etc. I am really looking forward to spending the night in a hotel tomorrow, and getting my first Starbucks in 6 months, and eating mexican food on Friday!

Speaking of Kate Spade, Fais over at aboutfais.com is having an awesome giveaway this week! You can enter to win this 2012 Kate Spade planner. Isn't it beautiful? 

Next time you hear from me, I'll be back on American soil!

Bye Bye Baby

The alarm sounded early this morning to wake up and help my husband get ready to fly from Dominica to America.  My body was really confused between "is it really late or really early?"  Don't you hate that feeling?

Flying back and forth to the states is not cheap, it averages us about $1000 round-trip per ticket.  This break, we decided that it was worth it for Chris to go back to take care of some legal business for us and to visit his mom because she's had a hard time since his dad passed away earlier this year.  

So, I've got the house to myself for the next 10 days.  I made this tour of our apartment a few weeks ago to help an incoming spouse decide if she wanted to move in here (she did!). 



I'm pretty sure that someday I will look back on our time in this little apartment fondly.  There is something to be said for the simplicity of life in a 500 square foot home: or at least that is what I keep telling myself. 

Back on the Rock

I'm back in good ole Dominica after just barely catching my flight from LAX as I sat at the gate listed on my ticket, not the actual gate the flight was leaving from.  When I was a kid, flying was so exciting.  As an adult, it's tolerable at best mostly due to red-eyes, screaming children, and overly crowded airports.

Homework is calling my name, but I thought I'd share this hilarious blog post from Brandi.  Everything she says is right on the money. 

Brandi and me at Pagua

Happy Birthday Kristen!!

Besides getting to see a friend that I've missed dearly, one of best things about having Kristen visit is that it makes me see Dominica with fresh eyes again.  It's easy to forget how beautiful it is here.

Pagua Bay was super accomodating and opened early for us to have some coffee and breakfast before lending us some of their floaties and boogie boards and sending us down to their beautiful beach.

We love this beach because you can get in the ocean and play, and then go over to the freshwater river to clean off.  It's a great combination of the warm ocean water and cold freshwater.  And boy did Kristen need to clean off after her mud bath adventure!

Our favorite driver, Bruno, came with us down to the beach for once!

After tiring out from all the water play, we all went back to Pagua for lunch and then to the airport to see Chris off.  He was on standby, so we hung out at a local bar until we were sure he was on the plane.

Like always, AA overbooked the flights.  Every room at Pagua was filled the night before with students who were told there were no seats left on the plane (even though they had a confirmed ticket).  Somehow, Chris made it on, and we headed back. 

Today is Kristen's birthday, and we are heading to my favorite island spot for drinks and sunbathing.

Semester 2

So begins Semester 2.  We are happy in our new apartment, and the weather has been fantastic.  I can even walk to school without sweating!  The kitties got a new a scratching tower, made by Bruno.

Portsmouth Harbor at Sunset

After all the traveling we did, it's really nice to be back here on the island.  Especially because my wonderful Mom bought me a ticket home for the month of June.  It makes the next year seem so much more manageable.  Now, back to school work.

The Countdowns

This weekend there was a party for the 4th semester spouses because they are in their last semester here and will move back to the states at Christmas.  They are counting down the days.

5 of these wonderful girls are leaving :(

It was pointed out to me today that I have 400+ days left on the island.  So I'm not exactly in countdown mode yet BUT it is only 41 days until I get to come back for a visit!  I can't wait for a Red Cup, Chipotle, and In-n-out.  Our tentative holiday plans look like this:

December 20: Overnight in Miami ((Starbucks at Airport))
December 21-24=3:  Los Angeles
December 24-29:  Atwater
December 30-January 2: San Diego
January 3-4: Upland
January 5: Los Angeles
January 6: Overnight in Puerto Rico ((One Last Starbucks))

I would love to see friendly faces if your Holiday plans mesh with ours!