just thought i'd share...

One of our friends posted some pictures from Phil's birthday dinner before I got there, but I wanted to share this one because I thought it was a really cute picture of J :)  Don't tell him I called it "cute" ;)

Here it is:

Be praying for him!  He is feeling slightly overwhelmed right now, but wants to be fighting anxiety.

Much love to all!  9 weeks til I am HOME! :):):)

honors night.

Here are some pictures from Saturday night taken by the new found friends at our table :)

Our view :)

Chattin' while we wait for the ceremony and food :)  I look bored, but really, it was a really fun night and I was glad to get to spend some time with my man all fancy-like :)

 Oooohh...artsy :)

Dr. Brahim giving his speech

 J receiving his certificate :)

 Yay, boo! :)

 Saying his pledge :)

Not my plate, but a sampling just the same :)

SO glad someone thought to bring their camera and not be ashamed :) Thanks, Grace!!!

picture weekend.

The following pictures will tell of our crazy, jammed-packed weekend...

Well...I have no pictures of this, but Friday was an impromptu movie night since we found out that the second Sherlock Holmes movie came out and we had wanted to see it - and since Fridays are two-for-one deals, we seized the opportunity. We were glad we did - we really enjoyed it, and appreciated the fact that Sherlock Holmes has been pretty clean, but still action-and-suspense-packed :)  It was a good choice - and better to see on the big screen than on RedBox...although we would have survived :)

Saturday morning, HSO had a painting crew go to one of the more neglected elderly homes in the area. The home was rather heart-wrenching.  The "living" space was just a room full of beds separated by curtain partitions.  Many elderly seemed to have severe mental issues as well, and all they did was sit around.  The ones who came to see us painting seemed very excited about what we were doing, so we hope it brightens the place up a little bit...and we are looking to spend more time with the residents the second time around.

 We began to repaint their dining room.

 Eventually [after midterms are over], the bottom half will be red.

 The "after" shot [mostly].

The after effects :) 

That night, we attended J's Honor Society Induction Ceremony dinner at the University Club - one of the swankiest places in town.  I would put up more pictures, but alas, I decided to leave my camera on campus because I thought it might be too awkward to lug it around, and this is the only "good" picture we got - the rest were blurred since we were riding the bus. Another alas: my husband's choice of face.  HOWEVER, the dinner was amazing! Beef Wellington, fish, chicken, veggies, garlic rolls, rice, cheesecake, and free wine...along with a nice ceremony complete with speaches and certificates.  I am very proud of my hard working husband that was able to get into the Honor Society after his FIRST TERM of medical school!!!  We sat with the other married second termers [two other couples] and two other girls.  It was a great night, and needless to say, another amazing provision from the Lord of a great time, great meal, and great blessing to reward great work - all by His strength :)  One of the girls we sat with took pictures, so I will post those when I receive them :)

Today I went on an island tour with Marieke and her dad and sister.  Miss John, with whom Marieke volunteers at Grensave, took around the island....through Grand Etang National Park [a big crater-lake], to Belmont, and then back along the west coast.  It was beautiful, and a great reminder that Grenada is not just what we see day to day in St. George.  Here are some flora pictures to enjoy...we also had a great lunch courtesy of Marieke's dad, as well as some good ol' Belmont chocolate :)

 Marieke explaining chocolate to her sister.

 Recently bagged cocoa beans :)

 Baby goat that liked nibbling on Marieke's finger :)  SO cute!!!!

 We were cracking up at this one - doesn't it look like he has a wig???

 Baby baby baby gooooattss....sorry.  Had to.

 Look closely at the horizon....you can see the adjacent islands!!!

 Coming on sunset...

We then headed to Dodgy Dock where there was a surprise party going on for our friend, Phil.  People had already been there for about 2 hours, but we were glad to see him and celebrate a little before heading home :)

Happy Birthday, Phil! :)

I just made Pad Thai for dinner and J's lunch tomorrow [score! I love double meals :)] and he is currently studying and I think I am going to watch a movie for a bit before heading to bed - we were both pretty worn out, especially after yesterday.  But it has been another wonderful weekend, and we are so grateful for the experiences we are able to have here.  Tomorrow I am looking at a couple apartments for next term [possibly] and going to the SO Board Meeting.  Things should be a little calmer these next few weeks...well, not for J since his midterms are coming up, but SO things are a little more chill.  I am currently working on the Photo Fundraiser that is in the works :)  Miss everyone back home!  We are eagerly awaiting our return stateside :)  Much love.

how to steal a million.

Tonight I hosted a movie fundraiser in order to raise money for the LIMES Program that I have mentioned here before.  I made a bunch of popcorn, hung up posters around campus, succumbed to using Facebook to shamelessly promote and remind, and made Natalie come to campus early with me just to make sure everything would be ok and good to go with the AV tech guy [everything turned out fine - and actually, another thanks goes to Natalie and Jade who generously let me use their computer so the tech guy could go home - he was very happy].  Another SO made some wonderful baked goods to sell, and some people even showed up because they saw the posters hanging around campus.  However, even after all of this, there were only about 16 people total who came.  It was a bit of a let down, especially after the huge success of the first fundraiser I organized.  And who can say no to Audrey Hepburn?  Quite a few people, apparently.

ANYWAY, it's fine, really.  I was hoping to make some more for Limes, but I guess I can always throw another bake sale, eh?

Just wanted to share a bit of what has been going on this week - I haven't been able to keep my days straight this week at all [in fact, I'm STILL convinced that today is a weekend day...oh well.] 
Monday was a board meeting and errands/laundry.
Tuesday was the orphanage and a talk on adjusting to life in Grenada - most of it was old news to me ;) but still fun to hear/discuss.
Wednesday was Bible Study and Marieke's dad and sister came in town.
Today I woke up and ran 2 miles outside [OUTSIDE!!!] with some girls in prep for the 5K coming up in April.  For those of you who don't know, that is a huge feat for me.  I may be slow, but I am trying :)  Then I met up with one of my accountability partners at NY Bagels.  Then J and I had a lunch date on campus...with the Indian food :) :) Then I spent a good 3 hours editing/uploading photos for the photo fundraiser coming at the end of March. Then I came home, made dinner, made popcorn and headed back to campus.  This is truly the first time I've "sat down" all day...although I've sat down before, obviously...but I was PACKED today!!! It's been a full week like this, but it feels good. 

The midterm countdown has started...they are in two weeks!  Be praying for J - he has had a rough term being prez of HSO...I think we have decided he should not do this again :)  Saturday we will be painting an elderly home here, and as the First Lady of HSO, I am going to be there ;) Then Saturday night we have a wonderful free dinner at the University Club for J being in the Honors Club!  AWESOME!  Then Sunday is CSA and a party for a friend.  Busy, busy, busy.  However, I have felt very blessed to be in the Word and I've said this to many girlfriends here: it's been such a joy and blessing to lead a Bible study because it has opened the Word up even more to me!  Seeing all the glorious truths come together is just so amazing and I want it more and more :) 

Anyway, that is what is new.  Sorry these posts are still so sparse...hopefully I will get better again :) I'm going to get ready for bed now...sorry if this has been scattered...I'm tired ;)  Much love to all.

valentine's date night.

So we went to Dodgy Dock last night and used our wonderful gift of a free dinner for two!  We were so ecstatic to get a night away at a restaurant we would normally never eat at on our own [except for $1 wing night, haha] since the bill ended up being over $100US!!!  It was a huge praise to the Lord and a glorious display of His infinite kindness - ALL good things come from Him! :)  The meal was wonderful, and we sat at a little table for two right on the water's edge, able to take in the steel drum/dancer/singer group that was supposed to start at 6:30pm, but finally began at 8:30pm...so we enjoyed them for about a half hour.  I'm actually glad they started late because it was more difficult to talk while they were playing [loudly].  It was really a wonderful dinner with my husband, and we loved the food.  We were able to talk about a lot of things, praise the Lord for the many kindnesses He has shown us, and get full on a very delicious meal :)  This one will go down in the books :)  Here are some pictures of the night...sorry they are a bit out of focus - I didn't want to turn on my flash because flash bleaches everything out ;)

 Some left over flowers from J's HSO Valentine's Day flower sale to benefit repainting a local elderly home.

 Our menu!!

 Mini beer stein!

 

J's starter: the fish taco :)  I started with the cream of corn soup...not as pretty, but oh-so-good!

 Guess J was in a seafood mood:  he got the Fisherman's Soup!

 Mmmm...this baked chicken was DELICIOUS!!!

 The band/dancers...slightly awkward, but talented none the less.

 My desert: Iced Black Chocolate cake with a Mini Rum Muffin - it was AMAZING!!!

 J's desert: Guava tart with Guava Ice Cream and glazed guava on the side :)  I liked mine better...

 

Happy and well fed patrons :)

What a great night :)  Much love to all.

free dinners, doctor appointments.

Well, this is a quick update as Marieke and I are going to start watching Meet Me In St. Louis [the first time for her!!!] but I wanted to quickly update people since my ability to call is still lacking...[right now I am on her computer :) ]

Today I went to the doctor and was met with a quizzical expression as to what is exactly wrong with me, so I was referred to another doctor who I will see on March 13th.  Please pray for me!
I also found out that the "heat rash" that I've had under my arms since last term is actually a fungus.  Awesome.  NOT.
I'm so glad I remembered to ask the doc about it [thank you, Lord] since I forgot to ask about it last time I went in December.  Anyway, I got some topical cream, but needless to say...I WANT TO COME HOME!!!!!

I think I also mentioned the free dinner that I won at Dodgy Dock.  Well, me and my boo have a reservation tomorrow night at 7pm and both of us are SO excited!  Dinner includes a starter, dinner AND desert!!! YES!!! I will bring my camera and post a blog post afterwards [hopefully].

Anyway, that is about the extent of what is going on.  I am playing phone tag with my littlest sister [sorry, Liv!] and I have two other people that I am due to call sometime in the next few days [K. Money and Beth - I haven't forgotten you!!!]

If you all could also be praying for job opportunities to open up for me and Marieke over the summer, or otherwise, a lot of other things that we can serve in to use our time well :)  J is also having a harder time this term in knowing exactly what to study in his classes...apparently they have a lot of scattered info and he feels scattered while he studies, too [we've heard this from many of our 2nd term friends as well...so...that's good??? Not really, but at least this isn't an isolated problem, I guess].  Please pray that he would focus well and be able to study and understand - he is such a hard worker :)  We really are doing well - I know these updates sometimes seem crazy, but it's just to note the "big things" I guess.  We both feel as though the Lord has given us much growth in marriage and in love for one another even in this crazy time.

Hope all is well state-side!  Much love to all :)

eager.

This has been one lonnnggg week. 
I don't think any week has felt so long in a long time...I hope this isn't how this semester is going to continue to go...this week I seem to have a lot more going on, so hopefully it will go faster :)

The Bake Sale that I wrote about is going to be on Tuesday [Happy Velentine's Day, by the way, just in case I don't get on here to write anything about it...] but we are no longer attempting to raise money for that little girl.  Turns out the doctor in Florid backed out of doing it for free - hence, there was no need to raise money for her to travel to Florida.  The good news, however, is that a fellow SO's mom came to visit and was able to fit the little girl with an eye and will be shipping it down to have it put in by another professional on the island.  Apparently, it wasn't the crazy procedures everyone was thinking she might need, which is a huge praise to the Lord.

Instead, we will be raising funds for a disabled home here on the island. They are always in dire need of adult diapers and other supplies, so I am just as happy to help them.  Sadly, 25 of the 35 current residents in that home were abandoned.  Grenada has yet to learn how to care for its disabled - this is a relatively new endeavor, and it is sad to know that so much misunderstanding still exists regarding disabilities. It is a hard thing.  The home also has no formal funding, so I am hoping that the bake sale will have a good turn out [which, from what I hear from random people talking about baking things, it should be good :) ] and we are able to help them a lot.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to go back to the health clinic on campus for an appointment, get the rest of our "new" [used] tires on the car, and help J pick up flowers that his organization is selling for V-day to benefit the local elderly home.  And then I need to bake all MY things for the bake sale :) BUSY!

Our Valentine's Day plans [other than the bake sale and Marieke and I going to see our girls at Bel Air] are another walk on the beach with ice cream - we love it :)  I actually won a dinner for two at a nice local restaurant called Dodgy Dock [Mom, Dad, Tim and Jessi have all been there...it's right on the water - great view, beautiful setting] but we aren't allowed to use it for holidays, so I think we are going to use it on Friday instead :)  What another wonderful provision from the Lord of a free experience that is fun for the two of us to share together :)


This Wednesday will be our 4th week of leading the women's Bible study on campus.  It has been an encouragement to me to be studying in 1 Peter, and it has been a great blessing to get to know women that I did not know last term.  I love it!

Thursday probably has something going on, but I can't remember at the moment ;)

I am still greatly looking forward to coming home in roughly 3 months.  It is safe to say that I am longing to be back with our Immanuel church family, even if it is only for a few short weeks.  I am so eager to be fed from the Word.  It has been a difficult time here with no formal teaching/anyone older and wiser to learn from.  J and I have listened to sermons and such, but we are both really really wanting to be in fellowship with our dear, dear church back home :)  We are so excited to be staying with TWO sets of wonderful friends, and being able to meet up/see face-to-face our other friends who live in the Ville :)  It will be a great joy to be back in town...and so weird that summer will have longer days!!!  I was commenting tonight on how strange it will feel if the sun goes down at 9pm+ in the states since sunset here is consistently 6pm ;)  Weird to think about.

Anyway, continue to pray for us and our plans for this week - there is a lot going on :)  We miss everyone!  Much love from Grenada.

surprise super bowl party.

Some of you may know [if you talked with me recently] that Marieke and I had been planning a surprise Super Bowl party since she came up with the idea over Christmas break as a surprise for Ryan for Valentine's Day.  As everyone knows, J loves football and the Super Bowl as well, so it seemed perfect...except for the fact that my husband is the hardest person to surprise ever! He is always asking clarifying questions, gets suspicious if I don't provide satisfactory answers, and usually figures out any surprises I have in store before they happen - arg!  But not this time!  Although it was all rather ridiculous the day of, and I felt horrible for leading him so astray - he had NO idea that we had a party up our sleeves :)  Here are some pictures with captions to explain it all :)  It was a ton of fun and both of the guys were so excited/appreciative that we pulled it off :)  All the girls involved ended up leaving and going to a new restaurant across the street until the after the Half Time Show, at which point we all ventured home.  Thanks to everyone for keeping this so secret and helping contribute to the goods we served up! :)

The spread!  LOTS of carrots, Devil's Food cake cupcakes, broccoli/celery, chips, ginger root beer, amazing stove top popcorn via our neighbors, and the best Buffalo Wing Dip ever, a-la my Aunt Trish :)  This is J's favorite snack food for football ;) 

 Super cute sign via Marieke

 See how it's being thrown?? Haha :)

Mini flags courtesy of Miss Becca :)

 1/2 of Party Planners Extraordinaire...

 Big flags, also courtesy of the talented Miss Becca :)

Wait for it... [this was hilarious to watch - everyone stands up at the same time]

 There it is!!!  [Fact: one of my neighbor friends asked me the next day if I had heard "all that yelling at the game last night"...I sheepishly admitted that it was our apartment.  Oops.]

 :) So happy he got a good guys' night :)

Fact: they didn't even notice the decorations until we pointed them out.  We figured that would happen, but almost doubted it would...never doubt ;)

 Almost GONE! [we froze the rest...]

It was a great time for the guys - great food [I forgot to take a picture of the AWESOME chili that Natalie made] and a lot of fun feeling like good ol' Americans for a while [although we could have done without most of the ads...what happened to the hilarious CLEAN ones?? Come on, media...be creative, not dumb.  Ok, I'm done :) ]  Thank you to all who made this a success!