Welcome Back!

My goodness! I didn’t realize that it had been so long since I had last written. Well it should come as no surprise that we got busy…Here’s the long and short of it. Andrew finished last semester well and has moved onto the next! Congrats baby! We went home for the holiday and had an amazing time with family and friends…oh and food…boy did we eat a lot! If it wasn’t nail downed, we ate it! Or at least I did. We had anice relaxing 3 weeks and really hated to leave. We both agreed though, that leaving this last time wasn't that hard. Maybe because we are now settled....

We are back on island now and have moved into our own home. It is just us and Duke! We love it. Though we enjoyed our roommates it really is nice to be by ourselves. I think Duke really likes being the only dog again. Though I do think he misses Koala!

Our new home is perfect. It’s small and quaint. It feels really homey and we are very comfortable in it. Duke has his own yard to romp around and play in. Sometimes monkeys sit on the wall or mongeese get in the yard and he has a field day with it.

It’s a one bed room one bath sweet little house. Oh and its ground level, which is great for Duke. He only has to deal with two steps! No big deal! It comes equipped with a stacked washer and dryer. A dryer yay! No dishwasher…bummer…at least I got good practice with washing dishes when we lived in the dorm. One of the best parts is that we have been bug free! Knock on wood! Some really hard wood! No centipeds or even little lizards. The windows do have bars, which is good. Oh and yes a security system! Awesome! I set the alarm every night and when I’m home by myself. Though Duke is best alarm system we’ve got it’s still good to have a backup.

We had to do a few things when we moved in, but the house is awesome. We absolutely love it here. Our landlord is amazing also. He is really friendly and very helpful. He is a lawyer on the island. I think it is good to know a lawyer….just in case.

Well enough about the house. Here are pictures! Enjoy (they are out of order, sorry)

Can you guess who's closet is who's? We had to add another one because someone has too many clothes....too many..no never!

We down sized to a queen! No more slumber parties with Duke. 

Andrew's Study corner. He gets a great breeze off of the Atlantic. 

Our bedroom view..Not too bad! well besides the container. My whale watching has started again. 

Little bathroom! By the way..Andrew broke the seat lid. He stood on it! 

View from the living room looking at the bathroom. The laundry closet is to the right and our room is to the left. 

Living room. 32 inch TV! 

more bathroom 

Living room. Duke has a bed but he prefers the couch....

Great kitchen! 

Dining Area 

Front porch 

I find it appropriate that our house is Wolfpack Red and White! 

Our Kittian Grill - no street meat though only IGA meat. 

Yard. 

Duke on the look out.

Happy Dog! 

House Guests

From time to time we get house guest, but they aren't your average house guest....

Living in the Caribbean I have the privileged of playing host to endangered species. Two of our roommates work and volunteer for the St Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network. And because of their involvement I have the extreme honor to be witness to their efforts to help such an incredible species.
There is nothing more humbling then being in the presence of an endangered species.

Here are a few photos of  our house guests....

A Baby Leatherback 

A Baby Green 

A Juvenile Green 

Katfish and Billfish Came to St. Kitts

Well Katfish and Billfish made it to St. Kitts! They came to visit and we had such a wonderful time! Mom and Dad were here for about 10 days and we kept them busy every day! Between zip-lining, snorkeling, tanning, eating, fishing, island touring, and exploring. We took them to our favorite places! And our not so favorite places. It was imperative that they visited our not so favorite places….They were even able to experience "Only in St. Kitts" moments too! 

Oh and I almost forgot! Duke was in HEAVEN all week with Billfish. I don’t think Duke left his side. We actually surprised Duke by letting him outside to go “potty” but really it was to surprise him with Billfish! And boy was he surprised to see his best friend. By the way it was my idea to surprise Duke! Mom was really cute before we surprised Duke though the exchange went something like this:

Katfish: Do you think Duke will remember me? I’m worried he won’t.

Me: Well I can’t promise he will remember you but he will remember Dad!

Love you Katfish!

I won’t bore you with the details of their visit. Just know that Katfish loves zip-lining and Billfish loves snorkeling! He was snorkeling machine! Oh and Dad has done a lot of out the country fishing and he has always been successful. So might be angry for me to tell you that he was skunked here in St. Kitts. Not one people! The man caught nothing! So I guess that means he will just have to come back and try again!
We enjoyed them so much and hated to see them leave. We had home cooked meals and a few surprises from home! Most importantly we had our family here with us. And we exposed them to every good, bad, and Jumanji like quality of St. Kitts.

So instead of details enjoy our pictures.....

Old Sugar Mill

Katfish

Katfish 

The helmets are awful....

Hey! 

Katfish and Billfish

Racing to the finish 

Brimstone Steps

Still going...

Finally at the top! 

Heading down

Family picture  - notice how Duke gets all of the love

Posing for a cooking picture...

Duke is a wolfpack fan! 

"Box" Turtles (hahah....)

Getting a lesson on turtles 

Billfish Limin'

Me and Katfish 

This might be first time Dad sees this picture..but we caught you in the act! We know who you love the most! 

We had such an amazing week. 

Fall on the Rock

As summer comes to an end and we head into Fall there are some things that I would like to address. There are several things that I believe I will love about Fall down in the Caribbean and other things that I will desperately miss about Fall back home.

Let’s start with what things I will like about Fall on the Rock.

• Firstly, I will be able to wear white after Labor Day! Hooray! White pants, white jeans, white skirts, white shorts, white dresses, white shoes! If it’s white and I own it, you can count on me wearing until I fly home for Christmas! I might even wear all white just to express my sheer pleasure in being able to wear white after Labor Day!
• I will be able to tan in November, outside! I have grown pretty accustom to tanning now and enjoy it on a regular basis. Having the opportunity to lay out, oh say maybe on Thanksgiving will brings me lots of joy. You can’t particular do this in North Carolina without catching a chill….Oh and I can do this from a float in my pool. Yay!  
• My toes have also enjoyed wearing flip flops and Jack Rogers and I would hate to deprive them of that come late November. By being on the Island my little does will stay nicely polished for all to see in their flip flops.
• Hurricane season will end around November 3^rd. Oh speaking of November 3^rd…that’s my birthday! And I for one have never celebrated a birthday on a Caribbean Island. And I’m even luckier because I get to celebrate Andrew’s birthday in September. That will be 2 birthdays on a Caribbean Island!
• I will actually be able to take Duke out and not complain about being cold. Andrew will hopefully appreciate this is. But then again he will tell you that I am the only person who is currently cold in the Caribbean, so I might still complain about being cold just not when I take Duke out.
• My whale watching might peak towards the end of Fall (fingers crossed) The research I have done says that whales winter down in warmer waters to breed and calve. Bingo! I might get to see a whale this Fall, because we all know the only one I have seen has been the pool float!

Now for things I will miss about Fall back home.

• Food. Shocking! I know you can’t believe that the first thing I would say would be food. Crazy, huh? Yes y’all I will miss good ole’ Fall foods. Sweet Potato Pie! My oh My! I love Sweet Potato Pie! Oh and Thanksgiving food! You are probably thinking how does a vegetarian love Thanksgiving food? Simple, I don’t eat the turkey, just everything else people!
• Fall shopping and clothing. I know I said I love flip flops, but I do love a good boot-cut jean and a clog with a sweater! Or a pair of skinny jeans and some tall boots! LOVE! Like my Mom said the stores will wait with open doors for when I return.
• The changing of the leaves. When I think of Fall in North Carolina I think about how the leaves change color! Vibrant hues of orange, red, and yellow! Perhaps a weekend drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway or even heading west to a little town called Lexington…
• Football. There I said it y’all! I will miss football…well kinda. I will miss tailgating with friends and purchasing more than enough potato salad for our tailgate. Football I could take or leave but tailgating with friends I will without a doubt miss. Oh yes and I will miss wearing Red and White to the games. Go Pack!
• Horseback riding in the fall. This one will be tough too. There is nothing like a good ride on a cool crisp Fall morning. Sigh. I love nuzzling the horses when they start to get their winter coat too! Breaches and a light sweater! Another sigh…
• Pumpkin Picking and Carving. The NC Farmers Market will just have to save a few pumpkins for me. I love picking out pumpkins and deciding whether or not they will make for a good carving. Boo! Oh and I love picking a few special little ones for the inside of our house. Oh and you must not forget some must go by the front door too! Ohhhh and the Mums! I love Mums. Yellow Mums look really nice with a few pumpkins next to them!
• Fall decorations. Autumn leaves, pumpkins, wreaths, turkeys! I truly love an Autumn Fall wreath hanging on a front door; it’s so warm and inviting! All of my wreaths are in storage and will one day hang on our front door again! 

No matter where I am in the world I welcome Fall with open arms. There are many many things that I will miss about Fall at home in North Carolina, but the Caribbean has some nice things to look forward to as well. So for now I look forward to Fall on the Rock I currently call home. 

note: this is not St. Kitts