A new favorite...

The last few months here in Grenada have technically been the rainy season, but the lack of rain was making us think that we'd never get one. Well, these past few days have been extremely overcast and rainy, and at times, a little bit chilly...by chilly I mean that were not in a constant state of sweating! It hasn't exactly been sweater weather, but the chill just put me in the best mood:) All my life I've been a huge fan of summer and thought that I'd live somewhere like California so I chould have that all year round. But after living here for almost two years I realized that this is not an ideal weather situation! I love summer in summer, not in spring, fall or winter...gets old. So as I sit and listen to the rain outside I can't help but feel glee! I love these days, can't get enough of them. I wish it would rain here for the next month...and I used to HATE the rain. My how different life experiences can change your whole take on life. Grenada has been that for me, it's made me realize what I love and what I know I cannot live without, seasons!

Just add us to the growing list...

Well, I'm sure that most of you already know, but I figured that I'd make an official announcement on the blog. Zach and I are expecting our first baby in April! On the 18th of April to be exact(well, for the time being anyway...I hear that the date can change at anytime and it already has for us once:)). That makes me 3 1/2 months along, just over fourteen weeks. We are incredibly excited and, yes, it was planned. We are having it in Abbotsford and with the help of my sister in law, Linda(Ed's), we were able to get in with the midwives there. This is something that I know a lot of people have been having a tough time with and we are so thankful for! Anyway, I figured I'd finally share our news with the blog world and get it out there. I'm starting to get a bit of a belly and thought that I'd share a classic shot of it. No blog would be complete without:) Enjoy...




Sorry, it's a self taken shot, so my head didn't make it in!

England...

Well, I'm back in Grenada now and I'm sure that you can all tell that my time in England was a blast from the lack of posting! No time to post when you're having fun:) Like I said, the trip was amazing and we did and saw so much. But within all the sight seeing, we relaxed a lot and that was great too. I loved being able to just...be! The weather was so beautiful, sunny and crisp most days and the rainy ones didn't bother me at all, I welcomed the cooler weather. Aside from being an Asher-hog and playing with Jacob, which were the highlights for me:), my time was filled with some great things. We went to a little lake nearby for a walk called Taklin Tarn, we went to Newcastle for an afternoon of shopping(!!!)...where we had Starbucks as well(!!!!), we went for a walk with Jo's parents in the Lake District(which is one of the most picturesque areas in the world), had coffee, went shopping, hit up the local McDonald's(that was for me:)) too often to count, and went on local walks along the river behind Jo and Astrid's house. There was much more stuff that we did, but it would take too much time to write it all down!
It was just great to be around family and Astrid and Jo were so hospitable(even when I got sick and in turn go Jo sick and his respiratory issues came back...again). I loved playing with the kids and just spending time with Astrid, which we don't get to do often. We both live away from home, so if we happen to both be in Canada at the same time, we don't end up spending that much time together because of other commitments. So times when it can be us, and just us, don't come often. Needless to say we got a lot of that this trip(hopefully not too much on Astrid's end:)) and it was awesome.
So now I'm back in Grenada and I'm so happy to be able to see Zach again! Two weeks is a long time not to see each other, but we've kind of gotten used to it since we have had to be apart for longer than that a few times since we've been married.
Zach's trip to St.Vincent went amazing. He was so happy being able to spend time in the hospital, putting into practice a bit of what they've been learning so far. The Doctors there were really great in that they let the students have more hands on work then usual and Zach got to watch a few surgeries, and even got to suture a machete wound on a man's arm! Needless to say, he was on cloud nine! He hasn't got his pictures from the trip downloaded yet, but when he does, I'll post them. He was also able to visit this Pathology museum...not quite sure what it was all about, but he could not stop talking about it for days afterwards...guess you have to be in the medical field to really appreciate that one:) I think it had something to do with this one Doctor that went to school in the UK and practiced all his life in St.Vincent and he kept meticulous notes on all his work and had this museum of, for examle, a jar full of something like 26 worms that he pulled out of some guys stomach...mmmmm! Stuff like that, oh and I'm pretty sure there were body parts there as well. That kinda fun thing...right up Zach's alley! Anyway, I'll get on with the pictures and I'll go more in detail about Zach's trip when there are pictures to post! Enjoy!!





Asher, he started making tons of weird noises while I was there...loved the ooooo sound!


Jo's parents and Astrid and Jo after our walk in the Lake District. We're at a cafe called Chesters...such a cute place!


The local pub, the Stag, in Jo and Astrid's village.


Me and Jacob


Jacob watching TV...can't tear his eyes away!


Jacob's pre-school...he loved it there. He's holding the door open for me, he does this often and it is so cute. He does it for complete strangers too!


Langley Castle, it's half way between Carlisle and Newcastle.


Me in front of Langley Castle


Just thought that this was a pretty shot!


In a town called Grasmere, in the Lake District. There was a little cottage where they made gingerbread and fudge...the ladies cracked me up!


At the Lakes where we stopped for a picnic that Jo's mom packed! There are sheep everywhere in that country...not helping the stereotype at all!


Jacob in the morning before he headed off for school...I love his glasses!!


A walk along the river behind Astrid's place.


More of the walk along the river


Talkin Tarn, the little lake near Jo and Astrid's.


Me and my beloved...back together again!


Asher and myself


Astrid at the coffee shop Costa, where we had coffee few times. They had some huge drinks, "I believe I ordered the LARGE cappuchino?!?"


Astrid, Jacob, Asher and Myself on a walk around Jo's parents place.


The Jansen's back porch...so beautiful. I love the red vines on the wall, they grow everywhere in England.


Asher in one of the cutest pictures ever!!

Ahhhhhh England!

Well I'm here and have been for almost a week. And wow, what an amazing country:) I can't get over how beautiful it is here. Every time I come, I'm amazed at it. The flight went really well, it was nice not to have to switch airports and planes about a hundred times! I'm running a bit short of time at the moment, but I wanted to let people know that I got here alright, not to mention alive:) I'll write more soon and post some pictures when I've bought a converter and have charged my camera battery.

Feeling the sand between his toes...

Earlier this week Zach was having a bit of a "been too long in Grenada" day. He was just feeling frustrated with dealing with the "easy going" locals. Life for them just runs at a very different pace, and it gets kinda old after a while. So he and I were talking about it in the afternoon and he decided that he needed to go for a run and try and clear his head. Well, he got outside to our porch to get his shoes(his brand new shoes he got in advance for his birthday, I might add) and they were not there. We looked everywhere in our apartment(which did not take long, it's small) and they were nowhere to be found. It dawned on us then that someone stole his shoes. Not good timing, let me tell you. Our porch is enclosed with bars and mesh and has a locked gate, that is ALWAYS locked(those of you who know Zach know that he would not have it any other way). Well, someone must have got a stick and fished them out through the bars on our front gate. Needless to say, Zach was NOT pleased. After that we decided to go for a walk to try and calm down(wearing our flip-flops. My shoes were still there, but I thought it best not to wear them...for obvious reasons). We brainstormed on the walk and decided to talk to his parents and see what we could come up with to get him new ones(he wasn't about to pay through the nose to buy ones here). Well, Zach's mom and her sister, Saralie who lives in California, got right on it. Within the next hour there were shoes being sent to Saralie's place in LA and then she was going to send them to our friends place in New York, Peter, so that he could bring them down when he came to visit his wife next. So until he gets his shoes in about a month, it's speed walks in flip flops with me and barefoot runs on the beach for him.

I'm off to the land of milk and honey...errrrrrr fish and chips!!

Zach and I found out that he'll be heading to another island for two weeks in the beginning of October for some in-hospital work. St. Vincent was the island that we were supposed to go to this term, but didn't end up going to due to many different(very scary) reasons. Students were given the option of heading there to do their hospital work for two weeks straight instead of doing them over the term here in Grenada. I'm pretty sure that they did this in a attempt to keep some of the jobs on that island and to not ruffle any feathers there. Well Zach and I decided that it would be beneficial for him to head out there, but not me. We also weren't comfortable with me staying home alone in Grenada, so off to England I go!! I'm pretty sure that I got the better end of the deal, but we won't tell Zach that:) I'm going to visit Astrid and Jo for two and a half weeks and I could not be more pumped about it. Cute kids, cool weather, long sleeves....ahhhh, that's the life! Now I just have to get through two weeks and two days of 40C weather.....

Felix is officially our first...

Well, Zach got his wish! We lived through our first category 1 hurricane. Hurricane Felix was just supposed to be a tropical storm, but it ended up gaining speed by the time it got to Grenada and just got worse. When Zach was going to bed at about 4am he noticed that the wind was getting a little crazy. At about 4:30am I woke up out of a dead sleep and was wondering what was going on. I turned to Zach and noticed that he was awake and asked him if he was sure that this was supposed to be just a storm and he reassured me it was. Well he was wrong. I could not believe how crazy those winds were, we found out today that they hit about 75miles and hour. Needless to say, I was freaked right out. Walking around today we noticed a lot of downed trees and debris. It was weird to think that we'd just lived through a hurricane, I think that we are still in shock... and Zach is happy beyond belief!!