Pics from Jamaica

Scott's attempt at professional photography
Look closely at us in the mirror :) This is the only picture we got of us together
The resort view from across the street

Our day at the beach

Pics of our villa in Jamaica

Our yellow villa in Jamaica

The "sitting area" of our villa
The kitchen in our villa

The pool outside our villa
Our bed in our villa

Jamaica Baby!

The slums of Jamaica...the huts where we "shopped"

The actual shopping center on our shopping tour

The guy outside our villa painting
The view at the resort...the main pool

We're back! It's such a bittersweet day. I'm glad to be back to see all my friends that I missed so much, not to mention ROGER. I still haven't got to see him yet, he stayed with my mom. However, he was the first thing I asked about when I called my mom last night to let her know we were back in the states. It's funny how your dog becomes a part of your family, your life. Anyways, Jamaica was really good. It stayed in the 80-85 range most of the week with a few slight rain showers. That's really common there. The tour driver told us it comes and goes so often. It's God's way of watering the plants there. We stayed at Sandals in Ocho Rios. I learned from a bartender that Ocho Rios literally translates to 8 rivers. I never knew there were eight rivers there. Nor did we see them :) Everything was great. The food was good, our villa was good, and even the guy who stood outside our villa most of the week to paint was good. That's right...we had a painter from Wednesday on. That's when Scott decided he was ready to come home. I think I'm going to throw that little bit of information out to our travel agent and see if I can get a good deal on our next vacation. It's really annoying having someone outside your frenchdoors all week while you're trying to 1) change clothes 2) get ready to swim in your pool out back 3) need to go anywhere (you had to walk either around the ladder or under it). You can see him in the pictures I took just so I would have proof. :) We spent one whole day at the beach and the pier. It was just the right weather that day. Not too much wind but just enough that you weren't dying from the heat. We took a shopping tour into town one day. It was a little scary. The first two stops were at little shopping malls. The last stop, however, was at the slums where you were supposed to go inside these little huts and bargain with the ladies about what you would like to spend/buy. They wouldn't leave you alone. I seriously think they would have drained everyone's money. Finally, Scott told one lady he'd had enough and started walking back to the bus. There were people coming out of their huts yelling "come in here mon, come in here mon. You haven't been in my shop yet mon." Scott kept telling them he didn't care he was heading to the bus. It was humerous after the fact...but very scary going through it. We safely arrived back at Sandals and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon without breathing a word about it again. Every night we went to five star restaurants. They were delicious. We always stayed up late (mostly drinking dirty bananas...yummy) and slept in late. It was really nice just being in each other's company. I learned something from the Jamaican's that I brought back with me and I don't think I'll ever forget it. They live by the philosophy of "There are no such things as problems. That's why we always say no problem mon. There are only situations. Situations you handle one at a time. It just depends on how you handle those situations. You can choose to worry about them, or not. It's up to you. But if you don't let them ware you down, then you will lead a happy life." I think I'm going to start living my life that way.

George is here!!

I knew there was a reason why our flight was cancelled. Last night we hung out with our best friends Dan and Kim Slaven. I wanted to spend our last night home with them since she is due on Tuesday to have her baby. I must admit I was a little bummed out since I wasn't going to be around to visit her in the hospital and by the time we got back from vacation he would be 5 days old. So, last night when we left I said to her stomach, "What George, you don't want to come out and meet your Aunt Kristin?" I hugged Kim goodbye and wished her luck and told her I'd see her and the baby when we got back. Well, if you've read the previous entry, then you would know that we are not on our way to Jamaica. And, Kim's oldest daughter Marti called me this morning at 11:00 to tell me that in fact George has made his appearance. I'm pretty sure it's only to see me :) He knew how upset I was about not getting to see him before I left. God works in mysterious ways. Welcome to the world, George Hunter Slaven. 6 lbs 15 oz. 20 1/2 inches long. I can't wait to get to the hospital later and meet him. I'll have pictures to post after I meet him. Now, vacation will be that much better since I won't have missing seeing him on my mind. A cancelled flight has turned out to be not such a bad thing after all.

FLIGHT CANCELLED!!

Last night around 11:30 as Scott and I were trying to finish up packing, he decided to get on the computer and check to see if our flight was still arriving on time. It was supposed to be leaving around 6:00 this morning. As I was going through shorts etc. in the bedroom, I suddenly hear, "Babe, we have a problem!" Oh, no, I thought. I couldn't believe it. So, we called out travel agent through Beach Bums thinking that of course we would probably have to leave a message, etc. However, that was not the case. I was so excited when she answered the phone. I couldn't believe it! She reassurred me that they are on call 24/7. How awesome is that? Good to know for future reference. She called the airport and sure enough, it was cancelled. She tried to get us on the next flight going to Laguardia and then we would have to take a cab to the JFK across the street and then reboard another plane. The planes were not through the same company so we were a little worried about that. Scott was having a lot of doubts with the whole switching planes, getting a cab, losing our luggage scenario. So, Elise has now rebooked us for tomorrow. We are only going to be losing one day at Jamaica, so it's not that big of a deal. And, we are getting our money back for the day lost, and we might be bumped up a package at the resort due to it being the airports fault. So, Jamaica, here we come....one day later!

Four days and counting

I only have to work four more days this week before Spring Break! I can't wait! I took Friday off to get things in order (pack, get a much needed pedicure, take Roger to wherever, etc.) so I technically only have Monday, Tues, Wed, and Thurs! Scott and i started packing up our things today...we're half way there. If I don't have time between now and then to blog...then sianara. I'll try to post some pics while we're there. We are taking the laptop. I'll have to see how the Internet connection works there. If not, I'll have to post some pics from our awesome adventure when i return. Until then....

The BIG snow

I can't believe that we've gotten more snow! Just when you think the weather is finally going to warm up and head for spring, it takes another turn for the worse and another bunch of snow comes in. We were dismissed from school early on Friday at 1:30 just so everyone could head home and try to be safe. It was a long trip home, but I finally made it. Above are some pics of what it's like at our house. Crazy me did make it out to the mailbox to get the mail that the silly mailman delivered. I'm greatful that he risked his life to bring me my blockbuster movie I was waiting on. :) If you look closely in front of our vehicles in the driveway you can see the HUGE drift that is blocking our front door. We currently have to go out the back door to get outside. :)

*The first picture is of a truck that was trying to go down our road and got stuck. So, he called for backup and they got stuck too. So then, finally, another tahoe came and got both of them out but we were so busy laughing at them, we forgot to get a picture of that.

Happy Birthday Dad!

I just wanted to send out a happy birthday to my dad: CRAZY CARL!! Here's to 53 more great ones!!

Pampered Chef Rocks!

Last Thursday night I hosted a pampered chef party at my house. It was a blast! We made thirty minute power meals. That means that we make three meals, eat one, and freeze the other two. It's a great plan for people who are too busy to cook through the week (like us). 20 orders and 16 guests later, I'm getting $215 in free stuff, two half price items, and two 60% off items for having a party in Feb. Yah me!! I highly recommend this to anyone who is in need of some new (FREE) cookware.