Mermaid Money

I have a new obsession: sand dollars. At one of my favorite beaches, Shipwreck, these little sand dollars can often be found during low tide. And every time that I go, I hope for low tide, so I can begin my search. This past Tuesday, I went to Shipwreck with a few girlfriends, and I was lucky enough to find a few. Of course, you only want to bring home the dead sand dollars, and leave the living in their seaside environment. Oh, and I do have big plans for these babies. They won't just be collected into a jar for very few people to notice. Just you wait and see!

September Summary

BaCk To ThE GrInD:

When we arrived back home from our amazing vacation in Seattle, we had four or five days to ourselves. We spent that extra time going to the beach, snorkeling, hanging out with friends, and getting ready for the start of a new semester.

As usual, Semester Olympics occurred during the first week back to school, and this time, PINK, (5th Semester), took the cake! At the end of the week, we attended the Beginning of Semester Party, which had a theme: mustaches. It was pretty fun...until a monsoon decided to ensue. Normally rain doesn't bother me, but it was the cold that came along with it, that forced us to head back home. 

Beach*Fest which is hosted by the SCUBA club every semester, was held at Reggae Beach on September 17th. Matthew and I headed to Michaelene's for our annual Beach*Fest breakfast. Fortunately, we managed not to eat ourselves into food comas. Yay! We met our friend, Jackie, at Reggae when we arrived, played corn hole, and soaked up the sun. And then it rained, and we had a rather adventurous ride home! I feel very blessed that we both made it home safely. Whew!

Another fun event included celebrating Jessie's 30th birthday, and Diana's 24th. We went to dinner on their actual birthday at La Belle Vie, one of my favorite restaurants on the island. And later that week, we had a girls' night out for drinks and dancing. It was a lot of fun!

Lastly, we went to a goodbye dinner, for our friend and former Ross professor, Dr. Mark Freeman. The dinner was held at Formosa Garden Restaurant in Basseterre, and we had an amazing time. It was nice to see all of our friends come and wish Dr. Freeman well on his next adventure.

Beginning of Semester Party w/ MUSTACHES!

This photo just cracks me up. Bahahhahhaaaaa

Beach*Fest with my mustache...hehe.

Me with the birthday girls, Jessie and Diana. :)

We received free drinks at the Marriott. Woot woot!

Out at the Blue Martini dancing the night away. 

We'll miss you, Dr. Freeman!

Our group at Formosa Garden Restaurant

Pacific Northwest: Vacation Day 6

Monday was a fun day, even though we were leaving Seattle that night, and heading back to our island home.

Heather went back to work, so Corey kept us entertained during the day. :)

He chauffered us around the Seattle area to get breakfast and run errands. I needed to go to the Post Office, Target, and the mall to get my hair cut. By the time we made it back home, Heather arrived shortly afterwards. We made dinner, and spent the early part of the evening around the bonfire, reflecting on our vacation. We also took the canoe and kayak out on the lake by Heather's house for a ride. It was a great way to end our vacation. We feel very lucky to have been able to explore Heather and Corey's home, and we couldn't be more thankful for their generosity. They were fabulous hosts to us. :) And we can't wait to visit again!

Heather and Corey's backyard.

From left to right: Lucky, Bodie, and Dakota

Heather and Matthew totally tricked me into thinking this raccoon gnome was real.

The lake behind Heather's house. 

Corey, the professional kayaker. LOL.

Pink lily pads. :)

A little music to end the evening.

Pacific Northwest: Vacation Day 5

Seattle Sunday!!!

We headed back to Seattle on Sunday morning/early afternoon to do a bit more sight-seeing, and to check out the infamous Space Needle. After we took pictures of the immense landmark, we rode the monorail to do some shopping downtown. While there, we stopped for lunch at a delicious Mexican restaurant, called Guaymas Cantina. If an effort to burn off some recently gained vacation calories, we walked down to the waterfront to check out the views. While there, we strode past the Seattle Aquarium, and various restaurants and shops.

It was another great day spent in the city. Seattle is beautiful, and I love it. I cannot wait to visit it again...and hopefully move there someday. :)

While heading into the city, we couldn't help but notice the eerie fog. 

The Space Needle!

This was a very convenient way to travel. Not to mention, very clean.

This is where we ate our lunch. It was so yummy. :)

The beautiful waterfront.

Seattle Aquarium

Pacific Northwest: Vacation Day 4

SEATTLE SATURDAY!!!

At long last, we made our way to the city of Seattle. This part of the trip was what I was most looking forward to, mainly because I love buildings, shops, and the overall buzz of people coming and going.

Our first stop was at Pike Place Market, in the heart of downtown Seattle. It was packed with vendors, people, and food. We spent a lot of time drooling over all of the fresh produce. In St. Kitts, everything is imported which makes life down here very expensive. Not to mention that the produce is not-so-great-looking. Not only were the prices completely reasonable, but all of the food items looked so fresh and delectable! Annnnnnnd, I couldn't help but swoon over all of the fresh flowers. There were these big, beautiful bouquets offered for very little money. Completely unreal! I was in heaven...

We later stopped at Beecher's, which is a restaurant that makes their own cheese. And you can watch them do it while you eat! They had a huge vat of cheese being churned as we sat and ate our food. It was pretty cool. Another place we stopped at, was the very first Starbucks. I'm not a dedicated Starbucks person, and I actually didn't even know that the chain started in Seattle, but I still thought it was worth checking out.

After our fun trip to Seattle, we headed home to bask in the sun while the boys went to the grocery store. Heather and Corey hosted a bonfire that night, so we were able to meet quite a few of their friends. And guess what? One of Heather's friends is coming to visit a student who goes to UMHS, (here on the island), in November. Small world, eh?

Seattle Art Museum

Pike Place Market

Huge lobster tails...they aren't like this in St. Kitts!

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day 3

Friday's adventures included a trip to Mt. Rainier National Park. We did a little hiking and a lot of sight-seeing. The views of Mt. Rainier were amazing, and I loved all of the waterfalls. It was a very outdoorsy-kind-of-day, but also quite relaxing. In between hiking, we drove to different view points in the park to take photos of the natural beauty surrounding us. We saw some wildlife, enjoyed the sunshine, and ate lunch by Reflections Pond, a beautiful body of water inside of the park. It was a fabulous day followed by a relaxing evening. We later headed home to prepare dinner for the four of us. Lots of love, laughs, and food. No complaints. :)

View of Mt. Rainier

Another view of Mt. Rainier

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day 2

On Thursday, we hit the road and drove to Corvallis, Oregon. What's in OR, you ask? Why, Oregon State University, of course. Home of the Beavers. Yep, you certainly read that correctly.

Next August is when Matthew will be notified of what school he has been placed into for his clinical year, and OSU is one of his three choices. Since he has a chance of attending this school, we felt that we should probably visit it while in the nearby area.

Our alarms were set for 5:30 a.m. so we woke up bright and early. As soon as everyone was ready and the car was packed with sustenance, we started our little mini road trip. The drive to Corvallis was pretty uneventful since we took the freeway. Of course, being a victim of motion sickness, I took it easy and tried to sleep during the first leg of the journey.

When we arrived in Corvallis, we stopped at Block 15 Restaurant & Brewery for lunch. We walked around the little downtown area a bit, and tried to absorb details of the nearby neighborhoods. After all, we could very well end up living there, so it was good for us to imagine ourselves in that particular environment. While I felt Corvallis was nice enough, college-oriented, and had clean but modest homes, it was no Seattle. But, I could do it for a year, if needed. Overall, I felt like it was a small town on flat ground, known mostly for being the home of the university. And hey, there's nothing wrong with that. I went to Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, folks. I know what that environment is all about. ;)

We drove around the campus and familiarized ourselves with the layout. The main buildings were traditional red brick and very very tall. Reser Stadium was pretty impressive; I can't say that much about their mascot choice. Totally cracks me up.

After our pit stop at OSU, we started driving west, because we wanted to take the coastal way back home to WA. Upon reaching the coast, we drove into Newport, OR. We saw a beautiful view of the mighty Pacific Ocean, and had our pictures taken by old, washed up whale bones. When we left Newport, we continued driving north and stopping at different scenic turn-outs and beaches. At one spot, there was a huge rock/island right off the coast of the beach, and also a large sand dune that we climbed. Heather and Matthew made it up with no problem. Corey and I took our time because we're fatties. Another place we stopped, was at Tillamook Creamery. We tried their ice cream and bought a few blocks of cheese. And let me tell you---their huckleberry ice cream is sooooooooooo delicious.

It was a great drive back; very beautiful. By the time we arrived at home, it was nearly midnight. Everyone was pretty exhausted, but I stayed up to watch the movie, "Tangled." That's what happens when you get motion sickness and force yourself to sleep in the car. :) By the way, it was a cute movie.

At Block 15 for lunch and sangria. :)

In front of the washed up whale bones.

View of the Pacific Ocean from Newport, OR.

Heather and me.

There were seals sunbathing on some of the rock groupings.

This "beach" was covered in black pebbles. Not a grain of sand in sight!

At Mo's, you can get beer and/or wine, "to go." Sounds like St. Kitts!

 I wasn't the only one sleeping on the way back...

Huge rock island in the Pacific Ocean. 

Hello, sand dune!

View of the rock/island from the top of the sand dune.

This beach was at Oswald Park in Oregon. 

Pretty cool photo, right?

See the surfer behind me??