Back from the Beautiful Country of St. Lucia

We have returned from vacation and Laura's wedding. I would highly recommend vacation in St. Lucia to anyone (especially if they are going to a Sandals resort). It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever had! While on vacation, I kept a journal with the plan to post it on this blog. So, here is our vacation...

Monday, March 24 - Day 1 of our trip

(12:55)

I am exhausted. We have been awake since 2:30a.m. Jeromy and I picked up my mom around 3:30 and headed to the Detroit airport. (Mom dropped us off and took my van back. She will return on Wednesday and leave to join us in St. Lucia).

The first leg of our flight took off at 6:30a.m. in Detroit and landed around 8:30 in Atlanta. We left Atlanta around 9:50 and are still in the air. We should arrive in St. Lucia in about an hour.

Not only am I tired, but bored as well. Jeromy has been sleeping since before we took off in Atlanta. I've tried to sleep, but can't get comfortable.

Tuesday, March 25 - Day 2

(7:30 a.m.)

We finally arrived at the resort yesterday around 5:00p.m. After a whirlwind check-in, we were shown to our room. We actually had the surprise of having an upgrade to our upgrade (We later found out that we were only two doors down from Andy and Laura).

While waiting for our luggage we wandered around the resort and found Andy and Laura. They were headed back to their room so they gave us a tour.

After our luggage arrived we decided to go to "Pirate Night" for dinner. It was buffet style and very tasty. Andy and Laura found us and joined us. There was a steel drum band and they were awesome! That about sums up our first day! It's raining now, but looks like is clearing up. We are going snorkeling this afternoon with Andy and Laura.

Views from our room:

(10:00 p.m.)

We did not go snorkeling. It was already booked up. So, Jeromy and I hung out at the pool all day. Jeromy competed in a billiards tournament (he did well, but did not win).

For dinner, we joined Andy and Laura in traveling to another Sandals resort. The restaurant was called The Pier and served seafood. It was delicious!

On a side note...I slammed my knee this afternoon getting out of the pool. It hurts really badly which is the main reason we are already back in our room.

Wednesday, March 26 - Day 3

(8:30 a.m.)
We saw a complete rainbow from beginning to end at breakfast. We have never seen that before. Jeromy and I are going horseback riding today and Mom and Kathy are arriving. More later!

(5:30 p.m.)

Mom, Kelly, and the Ebrights have arrived. Jeromy and I are taking them out to dinner (Laura and Andy have reservations elsewhere).

We went horseback riding and it was a blast! We rode for about a half hour to the beach (Atlantic side of the island). WE then changed and was able to ride the horse bareback into the ocean. It was very weird and awesome at the same time. It was surprisingly difficult to do as well. After that, they served us a great chicken barbecue (YUMMY!) Then, we rode back.

My horse (Bubba) was very hungry and kept trying to snack. Whenever I couldn't get him under control Yellow, our guide, would come and save the day. Also, Jeromy's horse (Prospect) must not like my horse. At one point he nipped at Bubba and he started to run out of control! I was scared for a moment. But, then, Yellow came and got Bubba under control. All in all it was a great day!

Thursday, March 27 - Day 4

(4:00 p.m.)

Today has been a relaxing day. We have been hanging out at the pool ALL day. I am officially burnt.

Jeromy is off deep-sea fishing with Andy, Carl (Andy's dad), and Chris (Andy's brother). I hope they have fun and catch something.

We are going to dinner tonight at a French restaurant with everyone.

Friday, March 28 - Day 5

(6:00 p.m.)

Today was Laura and Andy's wedding. It was beautiful! Instead of writing about it, I'll simply post pictures. The pictures can tell what happened much better then I can.

Saturday, March 29 - Day 6 & Final Day at St. Lucia

(3:00 p.m.)

This morning Jeromy and I went snorkeling. We were joined by Carl, Chris, and Mary (Chris' wife). The guides took us out to a coral reef where we all jumped off the boat. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, towards the end I got a little sick. So I swam back to the boat and climbed on. I felt bad because Jeromy insisted on going with me and I didn't want him to miss out. However, once we were on the boat I began to feel better. I didn't feel totally myself until after I ate lunch when we returned.

We are now in the room showering and getting ready for reception #2. The resort forgot that Andy and Laura had wanted a complete bar and hot hors d'oeuvres. So, today they are throwing a cocktail party for our group with food and a full bar.

It has been a great vacation! I am sad we must leave tomorrow.

I do have stories to tell about our trip home, but I am too tired to write about it tonight. I will share those experiences tomorrow.

A Little Bit of Relaxing!

This morning Laura made appointments for us to get pedicures before we left for St. Lucia. Here are some pictures of me, Laura, Mom and Elena as we enjoyed our pampering.

10% Target Reached!

Just a quick Weight Watchers update. Today at my weigh in I reached my 10% target (which means that I have lost 10% of my body weight). I have lost 22.4 pounds total! I hope it keeps going (of course, next week is St. Lucia. I may have some problems there).

Final Wedding Preparations

Let me begin by saying that I am feeling much better! My stomach illness was definitely something to do with food. On Monday I was simply drained because I was dehydrated and had not ate anything substantial since Saturday. By Tuesday I was fine (except for soreness in my stomach muscles from being sick). On Wednesday, I felt absolutely fine! No signs of sickness!

Now on to the purpose of this entry....wedding preparations. There is less than two weeks until Laura and Andy's wedding. I am simply amazed at how quickly time has flown. Today, my mom made a very healthy lunch for us all to enjoy and then we all worked together to create the favors for her reception (which is less then three weeks away). Here are a couple of pictures of us preparing the starfish.




Even though it doesn't look like it, there were a lot of people participating in this endeavor. Every time I went to take a picture everyone disappeared. On a funny note. Those starfish really stinked when we first took them out of the bags they had been shipped in. For all of you attending the reception, don't worry. By the time we had finished they had seemed to air out (or we were just use to the smell).

Sick....Again!

This morning around 3:30 I woke up to feeling nauseous. I woke up at least three separate times to get sick. Jeromy helped me out by being very comforting and bringing me a cup of water. I think either something I ate at Laura's party made me sick or my stomach is no longer use to the types of food I was eating (this is Jeromy's theory). Well, now it is about twelve hours since the first "episode" and I am still sick. However, I am feeling better. I'm hoping to feel well enough to go to school tomorrow.

Laura's Bachelorette Party

Tonight was Laura's bachelorette party. The original plan was for us all to head off to Cleveland where Julie had hooked us up with VIP passes to some great clubs. Well, that didn't happen. Toledo was hit with a lot of snow, but Cleveland got a lot more! At one point, Gail had heard that Cleveland was getting "Thunder Snow". We didn't know what that was, but we figured it couldn't be good. Julie was also snowed into her house with a two foot drift surrounding her Jeep.

So, we had to resort to Plan B which was eating pizza at Kelly's house and then they headed off to the Whiskey Ranch. I was not drinking and had drove Sarah (Laura's bestfriend who is nine months pregnant)to Kelly's. Before heading home we dropped them off at the club (they are getting a taxi to get back).

Tonight was fun. I can't wait to hear about what happened at the club.

Levy Update and Make-up Day #1

Last night was election night here in Ohio. The entire country was watching to see who would come out on top in the Hillary vs. Obama race. As you probably know by now, Hillary won Ohio. Just so you know...I didn't vote for either of them. Anyways, as the country was watching to see what would happen in the presidential race, we were waiting with bated breath to see if our school levy would pass. As some of you know, the original levy failed in November. Since then we have received notice a couple potential "cut" lists. Of course, the list they have given us is not finalized. They are trying to avoid cutting teachers, but five positions from the high school are listed. Since I was originally cut last May, I will not be surprised if I am cut again. Of course, there is also the possibility that I won't be cut but "bumped" instead. I guess we need to wait patiently and pray that God's will be done. I like to think that if I lose my job that that is a sign that we will be matched soon and I will need the time to take care of a new baby.

In other news, yesterday was a crazy weather day. We began the day with rain and by midafternoon it had turned to ice (actually, it felt like litte hail balls falling from the sky). This morning we awoke to about 3-4 iches of snow. Needless to say, we did not have school today. Since this is our sixth cancellation, we now need to go one extra day of school in June. Oh well. Hopefully, we will be able to make it through the last two weeks of school before Spring Break before losing another day.

Mod Squad Goes Bowling

Tonight our small group decided to take a night off and have fun. So, we went bowling! I did pretty good for me. The first game I bowled a 98, and then I bowled a 104 in the second game, and then I just did horrible the third game. Here are some pictures from our night on the town. There are no action shots due to the lack of talent of the photographer (that's me).


Michelle and Dawn take a break from talking to smile for the camera (phone).


Jeromy did very well tonight. This is him looking proud after shooting a turkey!


Rowan was strapped into his stroller, but he seemed to have a good time. He was a very good boy tonight.


Awwww! Aren't we cute together?

The Lion King

Last night Jeromy, Michelle, my mom, and I all went to The Lion King musical at the Stranahan Theater. It was awesome! The costumes were incredible! The way they made the antelope look like they were jumping, elephants and rhinoceroses were walking down the aisles, giraffes walking across the stage, and everything else was just amazing! The music was also great! Of course, a lot of the music was from the music itself. But, some of the music was original for the musical itself.

If you ever have a chance to see it, I would definitely recommend it! Check out this video sneak peek of the Broadway show.

Snow Day #5

As you can guess from the title of this entry, we had our fifth and final snow day today. Overnight we received an incredible amount of snow. We may even have tomorrow off because they are expecting high winds tonight. Once again, we may be closed because of the area right on Lake Erie. If we do have tomorrow off, we will have to make it up in June. I am not happy with that.

Anyways, I kept busy even though it was my day off. I had to plow the driveway before I could even leave. I left the house around 10:00 and went to get my allergy shot. I then had to go to a doctor's appointment that was already scheduled (I guess a positive is that I didn't need to take a sick day). After that I went to my sister Kelly's house (which is near my doctor's office) and hung out with her and her friend, Cindy, for a couple of hours. Afterwards, I went grocery shopping and picked up my prescriptions.

It was a busy day (I didn't get home until four), but it was enjoyable. Maybe if we have tomorrow off I can relax a little bit.

Casting Crowns to Bridal Shower

As you can probably tell from the title of this post, it has been a very busy weekend. But, it has also been a lot of fun! On Friday night, Michelle, Tara, and I headed up to Ypsilanti, Michigan for a Casting Crowns concert at Eastern Michigan University. When we arrived we were very excited to discover that we had awesome seats. Here are a few pictures that I took with my phone (hence why they are blurry).




If you are not familiar with Casting Crowns, they are a Christian band which I have mentioned in a couple previous posts. Click here for the most recent. It was an awesome concert! This is the third Casting Crowns concert that I have gone to and I have greatly enjoyed each one. I would highly recommend that if you ever have the opportunity that you attend one.

Well, after a late night in Michigan, I had to wake up early Saturday morning for my sister, Laura's, bridal shower. Because we currently do not have a church building, we had her shower at Michael's Bar and Grill downtown. Kelly's husband, Monny's family owns the restaurant. They were very kind to let us use it. Many people commented on what a nice place it was. We had a good time (even though it was a lot of work) and Laura and Andy received a lot of great gifts. Here are some pictures I took. Once again, they were with my phone so they are not the best. I meant to take my camera and forgot it.






After all of that fun, Michelle came over on Saturday night and we all played games. I think I am now on a Dutch Blitz kick.

Update On All The Fun!

A while back we had a lot of snow. Actually, we had so much it caused us to have a day off of school. When I posted about that day I mentioned how Elena and I built a snowman at my Mom's house. Here are the pictures from that day.




As you can probably tell, I forgot the carrot for the nose and Mom didn't have any, so we used celery instead. We even used celery for the arms (Mom doesn't have any big trees with fallen branches). By the way, we built the snowman because Kelly had sent this picture of Alex and Makenzie and the snowman they had built (Elena felt left out).



I know...Kelly's snowman looked much better.

Also, just in case you think all of our fun is outside. Jeromy and I went bowling a couple weeks ago. It was so much fun! We need to do that more often. Here are a couple of pictures of us bowling. As you can tell, Jeromy has much better form then I do (actually, I almost fell when he took the picture).




See...you can have fun in the winter in Northwest Ohio!

Deep Thoughts in Music

I decided while working on my blog to include the lyrics of two songs that I find very powerful. Both of them convey God's love for us. The first is Casting Crowns "East to West."

Here are the lyrics:

Here I am, Lord, and I'm drowning in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don't want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight
I know You've cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned
But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

Jesus, can You show me just how far the east is from the west
'cause I can't bear to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other

I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in
Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

I know You've washed me white, turned my darkness into light
I need Your peace to get me through, to get me through this night
I can't live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals
I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me
You're holding on to me

Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west
I don't have to see the man I've been come rising up in me again
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest
'cause You know just how far the east is from the west
From one scarred hand to the other
One scarred hand to the other
From one scarred hand to the other

The other song is "Strong Tower" by the group Kutless. Here are the powerful lyrics expressing how God is always there for us:

When I wander through the desert
And I'm longing for my home
All my dreams have gone astray
When I'm stranded in the valley
And I'm tired and all alone
It seems like I've lost my way

I go running to Your moutain
Where your mercy sets me free

[chorus]
You are my strong tower
Shelter over me
Beautiful and mighty
Everlasting King
You are my strong tower
Fortress when I'm weak
Your name is true and holy
And Your face is all I seek

In the middle of my darkness
In the midst of all my fear
You're my refuge and my hope
When the storm of life is raging
And the thunder's all I hear
You speak softly to my soul

What I think I like about both of these songs is that no matter what we do, God is always there for us. He will pull us out of whatever mess we find ourselves in and carry us. Also, no matter what we have done in our lives He has flung far away. It is ancient history and no longer touches our lives. It is awesome to have such a God.

Still Sick, But Feeling Better

Well, I am still suffering from this flu/cold thing I have going on. I went to the doctor on Wednesday and discovered that I had three things: 1) sinus infection, 2) flu virus, and 3) an infection in the lining of my rib cage (there's a technical name for it, but I don't know it...too bad Jeromy's not home). To help my healing process, the doctor put me on three different medications. An antibiotic for my sinus infection, a steriod for my lungs (Jeromy says that's because I'm an asthmatic who is sick), and Tamiflu (he said it was a little late to go on this, but he was hoping it would speed up my healing process).

I also took Friday off work so that I could rest. Now it is Sunday and I do feel better. I still do not have my voice back 100%, but I plan on taking it easy with talking this week (as much as possible anyways). I also still have a horrible cough and major breathing issues (I am using my inhaler A LOT). Hopefully, I can kick this thing soon. It is beginning to frustrate me.

I'm Sick :(

On Thursday, I fell ill to the "deadly cold." Over the weekend my cold became steadily worse. But, then, on Monday morning I seemed to be getting better. However, I was mistaken. This afternoon in my fifth period class, I began to choke on mucus (disgusting I know). I left the methods student from UT in charge as I ran to the bathroom. I coughed twice. On the second cough I had a horrible excruciating pain erupt in my chest. I fell almost to the floor and remained there for about five minutes in pain. After the pain eased I went to back to my classroom. Within moments I felt fine. Weird, but I figured that I could survive three more periods.

Then, between periods I went down to the teacher's lunchroom for more water. On my way back upstairs I could not breathe. Then my chest began to hurt again. Now I was worried. So, of course, I called Dr. Jeromy. He told me to call him as soon as I got home. Then, he texted me that he wasn't going into work until 4:00.

When I finally arrived home a short time later, we talked about it and decided to go get my chest x-rayed. He said that if someone came into the ER with the same story I had he would order an x-ray because of the possibility that a hole may have developed in the lung (he had a technical medical term but I don't know it). So I went into work with him and he had one of the other doctors write an order for an x-ray. To make a long story short (I know...too late), everything was fine. Jeromy told me to take it easy and rest for the evening. Also, if I don't feel better tomorrow he wants me to call our family doctor and tell him what happened.

The really good news, four hours after the hospital, my chest is not hurting as much any more. I am planning on going to work tomorrow. Hopefully, I will not have any more issues.