Crab Sighting

On Tuesday, I went on my weekly sea turtle trip to Keys Beach in hopes of discovering new tracks.

While my partner and I did not see anything new, we did spot this little guy.

The end.

La Belle Vie

I have been intensely obsessing about this little French restaurant in Frigate Bay, called, La Belle Vie. All of my friends have been raving about how fabulous it is, and I was really looking forward to going sometime to see if the rumors were true. Since going out to eat isn't a priority while we're down here, and much less cost-efficient than grocery shopping, I figured we'd have to wait until a special occasion.

Lucky for me, Jacob's parents are in town and they generously offered to treat us to dinner last night at...guess where? HA—you know it. LA BELLE VIE, baby.

The restaurant was adorably quaint with wooden tables and chairs, lit candles, modern table settings, and crystal clear wine glasses. We dined outside on the patio under twinkling indoor/outdoor lights that were strung around the room. My meal was...for lack of a better term, delicious, and I ate every single thing on my plate. Leftovers? Yeah, right. 

A big thank you goes to Jacob and his parents for the special treat. We were surrounded by good people and good food---can't get much better than that. 

Here's my appetizer: Tomato Bavarian Mousse with a savory side salad. :)

Reality Show

There is a group of female VIPs on this island, both from Ross and UMHS, who feel we should be on a reality show. I mean—why not? Our spouses/significant others go to school all day, and we're left to fend for ourselves...in a foreign country...on a tropical island. Why wouldn't people want to see the shenanigans we get ourselves into? Sounds like the makings of a great television show if you ask me.

Two titles came to mind: 

A) Real Housewives of St. Kitts

B) True Life: I live on a tropical island 

I've decided to blog once a week about each girl in our group, so you can get a feel for each character. Most of the girls I'll be introducing to you are in the photos below. Check back soon for updates.

It's No Meijer

You would think that since I live on a tropical island, I would be stuffing my face with exotic fruits on a daily basis. Well, that is so not the case. Since being in St. Kitts, I could probably count on my little hand how many items I've consumed fruit. Crazy, I know. The reasoning for this is listed below.

A) Insanely high prices: In Michigan, I could go to Meijer and pay $5 US for two packs of strawberries or $1 US for a cucumber. 

B) Freshness of produce: Even if I were to find something "on sale," the condition of the produce is usually questionable. 

However, thanks to another VIP, Jessie Heller, I feel like I've just won the lottery. She informed me of a fruit/veggie market that is open on Mondays and Saturdays only. They have produce that has been imported from Dominica. HOORAY!!! Our first trip involved purchasing a papaya, a coconut, three grapefruits and one cucumber. How much did we spend? LET ME TELL YOU: $11EC = $4US 

SCORE!!

Market 

There's Matthew, perusing someone's produce.

Thong Spotting at Shipwreck Beach

St. Kitts is a tourist hot spot, and people from all over the world visit this tropical island. Who can blame them? The beaches and scenery are beautiful, the history of the island is very interesting, and the weather is fabulous. However, my poor eyes are sometimes traumatized due to daring tourists...

Male beach goers spotted at Shipwreck Beach.

What Happens in the Kitchen When Matthew Cooks

As most of you may know, Matthew is the one with the cooking skills. However, I'm great at discovering and picking out yummy recipes. I also happen to be very good at quality checks and inventory control.

Meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato "frosting." 

The biggest heart-shaped pancake ever.

Pool Party

Yesterday, Sami, Diana, and I paid a visit to Emily and her pool. Unfortunately, Emily is leaving us for about a month beginning on Thursday, so we wanted to spend time with her (and the pool) before she left.

Thus, a pool party. Crank that music! Pass the sunscreen!

Beachin' it with the Puppies

On Sunday, March 20th, we took the Miz & Triz duo to the beach. Usually we bring them to North Friar's on Sundays, but we decided to try out a different area. We settled for a stretch of beach down past the Marriott and Royal St. Kitts Golf Course.

One interesting thing about my dogs, is that they aren't huge fans of swimming or being near large bodies of water. They would much rather mountaineer, run through the woods, jump in creeks, hunt for squirrels, and roll in mud. This is probably due to the fact that in Michigan, it was rare for a beach visit---but only because we lived inland and the beach was 45 minutes away. Instead, we took them to this wonderful park about five miles from our home in Hudsonville, called Hager Park. It was set on about sixty acres of land and had trails galore. Milo and Trooper loved it. However, we now live on an island, and the beach is really the only place we can bring them to romp around and get some exercise.

It's been a long and interesting process to get them to swim in the water. They avoid the waves, and we often have to call them out of the vegetation and get them to stay near the shore. However, Milo is a bit more willing to get his paws wet than Trooper, so it's easier to persuade him. At first I would have to carry them to the water, place them down, and let them swim to shore. Talk about baby steps! I can now get Milo to fetch in the water, but with a lot of cheering, of course. Trooper...ehhh.

Anyway---back to our beach trip on Sunday. Matthew brought his fishing pole with him, and for whatever reason, it tempted the dogs to swim. LOL. I guess they thought he was casting something that was really cool.

Enjoy the pics...I did.

Basking in the sun. :)

I'm so proud!

Looks like the beach is growing on him. :)

Sensational Snorkeling = Seafood Bonanza at the Yaw Residence

On Saturday, March 19th, Matthew, Taylor, and I went snorkeling. We were lucky enough to catch three lobsters and a crab. They were of legal size, so we brought them home to Emily and made plans to dine on our little crustacean friends later that evening.

Take that Red Lobster!

Cooking up his lobster friends. Hilarious...muhahhahahaha!

Taylor and his King Crab.

Chefette Emily and her cooking show.

Checking in on his lobsters...

Tilapia and King Fish.

Shrimp!

Lobster Tails...sooooo delicious. :)

My plate full of deliciousness. :)

Chocolate cake for dessert. Sooo good. :)

Birthday*Lime

I have recently celebrated birthday # 25 (again). I suppose you could also call it the 1st anniversary of my 25th birthday. Either way, the celebrations, (yes there were more than one), were amazing. I was surrounded by good company, and the weather was fabulous. Might I also add that I have the best birthday in the entire world? Why, you ask? Well, it happens to fall on St. Patrick's Day. I don't think it's necessary to elaborate on that topic.

March 17th was on a Thursday this year, which means that it wasn't yet the weekend. Therefore, none of my student friends, (including my husband), were able to do anything fun during the day. No problem; I just spent the afternoon with my VIP girls. :)

At 11:00 a.m., Emily, Erin, Sami, and I headed out to Reggae Beach Bar & Grill. It was a bit of a drive to this particular beach, but it was worth it. Shortly after we arrived, Diana, Janae, and Kristen joined our little group. We spent the afternoon splashing around in the water and soaking up the rays. We also paid a visit to the beach pets: Wilbur the 600 + pound pig, the monkeys, and the goat. Diana was nice enough to feed one of the monkeys and the goat.

Eventually, Kristen, Janae, and Erin had to head out, but we were soon joined by Abby and Sarah. The more, the merrier!

From left to right: Janae, Kristen, Diana, BIRTHDAY GIRL, Erin, Emily, and Sami.

Just monkeying around. :)

From left to right: Sami, Sarah, Diana, BIRTHDAY GIRL, Emily, and Abby.

Nevis in the background. 

The Canadian and the Crasian!

Crasians!

"It's my birthday!!!"

At about 4:00 p.m., we called it a day, and headed back home. Birthday Celebration Part I was a success. Everyone had a great time, and it was very relaxing. It was a perfect beach day. :)


Later that night, some of us headed out to Bobsy's for a St. Patrick's Day party. It was packed, and a lot of my friends came to celebrate both my birthday and the holiday. Woot woot!

My little leprechaun!

Emily, BIRTHDAY GIRL, and Samantha.

The birthday tshirt in this photo is actually Kristen's. She showed up at Bobsy's with it on, and insisted we trade shirts. I said, "okay!."

Gotta love Tony. :)

We ran into Jonathan, our teammate from soccer on Sundays.

On Friday, I had a birthday dinner at Sprat Net which was deemed Birthday Celebration Part II. Sprat Net is a local restaurant that appears to be a tiny little shack from the outside, and it's probably not in the best part of town. However, it's really spacious on the inside and placed right on the coast. They also happen to serve really yummy food. Since it was Friday night, all of my vet student friends could participate. I had a great time mingling with everyone!

Diana and BIRTHDAY GIRL. 

Miss Emily baked cupcakes for me. Isn't she the best? Look how excited I am!!

NOM NOM NOM

BIRTHDAY GIRL and Mateo.

My generous friends joining me for my birthday dinner. :)

More friends... :)

And morrrrrrrrrrre friends... :)

Garbage Pizza = Supreme Pizza

Left side of table: Scott and Susan; Right side of table: Anna and Nicole.

BIRTHDAY GIRL and Nam.

BIRTHDAY GIRL with the Yaws. :) Love them!

BIRTHDAY GIRL and Kristen.

From left to right: Diana, Jessie, BIRTHDAY GIRL, Sami, and Rhiannon.

Janae had also baked cupcakes for me, so there were plenty to go around. :)