B & E

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T06:54:00.001-08:00

So this year for Thanksgiving we went to Grand Rapids, MI to visit my Grandpa aka Papa. We went out to eat at a restaurant and had a pretty good time. This is the 2nd time Evie has meet her Great Grandpa. He is 90 years old and still going strong. His mom lived till she was 98 and his Grandma till she was 97. (Don't quote me on the exact years, but approximately). Who knew that drinking, smoking, and no exercise is key to living long, proven by Papa. I'm pretty sure his mom and grandma didn't live that lifestyle. I wonder if those genes of steel will carry down to me.
I was excited for Evie to spend time with Papa. Papa is he opposite of emotional, or showing any emotion. He doesn't fit into the sweet old man category where you would climb up on his knee. I was actually kind of scared of him when I was young... and older. These are the words I typically heard Papa say, "Come here, Sit (pointing to the chair), read". And then maybe I would get an occasional chuckle or smile at the end if I commented correctly on what I was reading.

The only time you would know he is enjoying something is if he smiles. Which rarely happens. I first realized this when Mema, my Grandpa, pointed this out while buying a leaf blower machine. " Papa is one happy man, that's the biggest grin I've seen all week." And he was.

Although, if you asked specific questions he would definitely talk about them. Even though he never showed much expression I know he loved me growing up. He always made us something out of wood from his workshop. He spent time with us. And occasionally I get a smile.

I'm glad Evie got one.

5 Months Old

2011-11-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

Evie has been growing so fast we can hardly keep up. She is a bright, funny, happy little girl who likes going for walks in the cool Michigan air and loves her Jackie licking her toes.

We went for a little photo shoot around Cranbrook this fall. As usual the leaves were amazing.

Those big eyes are definitely from her Mama. But the blue...probably from Gammy Prince!

My favorite picture of Evie.

We can't wait to see what she will be doing next! Hopefully we will post before the next 5 months!

One Month!!!

2011-07-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that one month has gone by. Since all I have done is feed, change, walk, kiss, and put Evie to sleep. Or at least my 3 weeks of helpers did while I caught up on sleep. It's crazy how much she has already changed. She is sooo cute! We love her. Instead of doing a bunch of posts we are just going to do her one month post. So get ready to look at a lot of pictures.

Dad caught her by surprise!

And now we are both trying to run away!!

A typical pose you can find Evie in after eating. She loves having her hands up by her face.

We were really lucky to have Ben's mom Julie come out for a whole week. I love this picture of them. It was so great to spend time with Julie and to have her help out with Evie. Thanks Julie! We miss having you here.

Evie spending quality time with Gammy.

Evie is not quite sure about her friend.

The day after Gammy Julie left we put Evie on her stomach to see what she would do. She didn't like it very much and before I knew what was going on she was rolling over!!!! I started snapping pictures like crazy. I think it was a fluke because she hasn't done it since.

Sad face.

A little smirk.

Who me?

SO CUTE!!!

Getting ready for bath time. She loves staring at her puppy Jackie who insists on helping with every bath.

So glad that daddy is home from school.

A typical scene of night time diaper changing. She is pretty zonked out.

Good night!

Little Miss Prince

2011-06-19T10:52:00.001-07:00

Little Miss Prince has finally arrived!! After taking 5 days and having a mini melt down (me not Ben) we settled on a name:

Evelyn "Evie" Thiele Prince
8 pounds 18.5 inches
Born: June 10th, 2011
10:31am

Evie came right on time via C-section. She was pretty stubborn and would not flip. They tried pulling her out head first, but she wouldn't budge so out butt first she came. The C-section was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Although the recovery is definitely taking a while. Because of all the pressure I ended up throwing up for the next 4 minutes after she came out. I thought maybe I would cry, or be emotional...throwing up was nothing I had thought of.

Mom and Evelyn in the hospital room. We stayed a total of 4 days.

Her first sponge bath in the hospital. She did not like it at all.

Feeling much better. She is so cute!

Evie lost some weight in the hospital, but after a strict 2 hour feeding schedule she gained it all back and then some by day 5. She is so little, but at the same time I can't believe she was in me just a week ago.

We had lots of visitors in the hospital. Ben's dad had a meeting for work in Minnesota and was able to take the 1 hour flight over to Michigan. He got to see Evie just hours after she was born and was able to stay for 3 days. We were so happy he was able to make it!

Grandpa Prince

Grandma Skidmore

Uncle Jordan

Grandpa Skidmore

Uncle Jonny

And Reba! My best friend from high school got back just in time, after spending a year in Vietnam teaching. I was so glad she was able to come see me and the baby!

Finally home. Reality hit when I put Evie in her going home outfit. Which is when I had my breakdown. No more nurses, no more room service, no more help at the push of a button.
But after being home for a day it was so much better.

Our first diaper explosion. Ben was changing Evie's diaper when all the sudden I heard him yell. I came in the nursery and saw 2 darts of poo explode onto the wall. It was so funny, but also extremely painful because of my scar.

First bath time. I can only pick up things that weigh as much as Evie, and I can't bend over/ sit/stand very well. Ben has been AMAZING with helping. He is an awesome dad. Below is Evie's first bath at home.

We call her Eve when she is naked. Modest Evie.

Jackie has to be at Ben's side helping.

We finally went for a walk 8 days after surgery. What usually takes me 10 minutes took us 40 minutes. It was so nice to get outside, even though it was warm and Evelyn loved the stroller.

CUTEST BABY EVER!!!

She has the biggest eyes and was already lifting her head on day one.

Evelyn has been wonderful. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful baby. Ben and I decided that we make pretty good babies.

A Pretty Dang Cute Nursery

2011-06-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

We have less than a week and this baby is coming out via C-section on June 10th. She has been growing a lot (95th percentile) and is stubborn and won't flip. So because she is breech I'm going under the knife... and a needle. I'm more freaked out about the needle. Anyways, I've been working on this nursery for a while and decided to take pictures before it gets used and is never the same again. We got a new camera for our anniversary and I went a little picture crazy. I'm kind of proud of myself.

Since we live in a historical building we can't really change much. Luckily the carpet, walls and trim work. This is a full shot of the room when you walk through the door. The door behind the chair is a full bathroom. This room has 4 doors in it....it's a little crazy.

A mobile that I got on sale from BlaBlaKids. They're kind of expensive, but I really wanted it.

Friends waiting for her arrival.

A print we bought from an artist on Etsy.

Canvas bucket container....right now it's holding blankets. But will probably hold toys in the future.

Dresser/changing table. We bought the cubby-bookshelf at Ikea, flipped it on it's side, put legs on it, and put on knobs from Anthropologie.

A different view.

Containers to hold bum cream and bows.

The cool rocking chair we got at an estate sale. It smelled like a dusty old grandma's house for a week.

A cute frog bank. I bought it a long time ago before we found out we were pregnant. I thought it was cute because it's a"frog prince".

Pictures of the crib.

We have a twin bed in the room. I have a bedspread cover that my great grandmother made (there might be another great in there) it has colors that match and I figure it was time to put it out. Even thought it's vintage.

And here is cute Jackie who hung out with me as I hopped around the room taking pictures.

Baby Bump Update

2011-05-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to post lots of pictures of me. But I think I look pretty good in this one so I'm not hesitant to post it. Ben and I were at IKEA getting a floor lamp for the nursery, when Ben decided to take a picture of me in the elevator. So here I am at 34 weeks! Excited, nervous, happy, and scared.
Oh, and here is the awesome new stroller we got. Thanks Bill and Julie! Last big item.

Tigers Game!!

2011-04-25T11:21:00.000-07:00

I don't like watching baseball, but I do like going to baseball games....especially the Tigers. I was really excited that Ben and I went to a Tigers game on Saturday in Detroit. I love taking Ben downtown and showing him all the fun stuff Detroit has to offer. This Saturday the weather was perfect (70 degrees!) and we had nothing to do. Our seats were at the very very top...so I got my exercise for the day. We ate hot dogs and actually watched a pretty good game. The Tigers were winning 8-0 to the White Sox. Or at least that was the score when we left the 8th inning. I always show up late to baseball games and leave early.

Detroit Skyline. In the summer they usually have fireworks after the game.

Ford Field (the Lions) is right next door. Obviously you can see how high we are.

Fun!

Oh My Goodness! an update!

2011-04-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

A while ago I bought a gift for a friend and her new baby. It was wrapped and ready to go. Unfortunately I left it on our coffee table and Jackie got a hold of it. It was not a pretty sight......
me and the gift. Let's just say Jackie went into time out.

Then back in March Ben had his birthday. He got some pretty cool gifts. We went out to Five Guys even though I said we could go anywhere. I think hamburgers are a treat for us though, because we don't eat them that often.

And then we went home for dessert where we ate some amazing homemade pie. Ben was pretty happy.

And for those of you that don't know. I'm 32 weeks prego with a baby girl! It's probably time to let some people know so that the next time you see us you're not surprised by a us with a child. I'm due June 12th. I haven't really been showing until maybe a few weeks ago. I had two people this week say "you're pregnant?!". I'm not the biggest fan of taking pictures of myself. I've had this problem since childhood. But here are a few. The top one is the most recent.

Dirty from working out and cleaning. But I think it shows my bump the best.

Jackie and I are bored so we thought we would take some pictures.
Ben is going to be out numbered.

.....AND THEN THERE WAS THREE!

2011-01-20T11:30:00.000-08:00

Meet Jackie-O!!
She is the newest addition in our family and we LOVE her! We had been planning on getting a dog, but got her on impulse while we were in Salt Lake during Thanksgiving. She was so dang cute we couldn't pass her up. So this little post is about Jackie and how big she has gotten.

She quickly became a Daddy's girl and is all over Ben. Yesterday when Ben came home she was so excited that she peed on the floor. Obviously,we are still a puppy.

So so little.

Jackie has a weird eating habit. She grabs a mouth full of food and then spills it on the kitchen rug to eat one piece at a time. (Sounds like her uncle Jack, Bens' family dog)

First bath.

It has gotten really cold in Michigan, but Jackie LOVES the snow and being outside. We got her this jacket and she knows that when we pull it out it's time for a walk!

So that's our new Jackie and we thought you would like to know.

Michigan Summer to Indian Summer

2010-10-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

We finally made it "Up North", or so the Michiganders like to call it. We drove up to Glen Arbor to camp at Sleeping Bear Dunes with some of Liz's family. It is a beautiful place on Lake Michigan with white sand and crystal clear water. This small town explodes with people during the summer but the lake is so big there was plenty of room at the beach.

Below is a picture of our sister-in-law Chelsea out on the paddle surf board. Petey the dog waits patiently at the shore for her return.
Liz out on the board, the water was clear but cold.

Liz's brother Nathan and his wife Chelsea.
The boy's school at Cranbrook.
The girl's school at Kingswood. We live on the 3rd floor on the left side of the chimney.
All the pictures below are of Cranbrook-Kingswood Campus where we live. It is a large campus with tons of trees that turn amazing colors during the fall.
The Kingswood Lake that separates the girl's school from the boy's side of campus. We have a view of this lake from our living room windows.
We live in the girl's dorm behind us.

The Oriental Garden next to our building.

Welcome to Hogwarts....I mean Cranbrook

2010-09-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Since it has been about 5 months, seems like time to update the blog...we would hate to break with tradition. So we are now living at Cranbrook in the second floor girls dorm adviser's apartment. Cranbrook is a private school in Detroit that sits on about about 300 acres. It is a huge campus that houses an elementary, middle and high school. Being a teacher/coach allows us to live on campus rent/utilities free plus we get free food!

This is where Ben lives as he studies for the STEP.

Temporary Summer Home.......and new car!

2010-06-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

It has obviously been a while since our last post. Ben and I are now in America and enjoying every minute of it. I know people have been curious about where we live and things...so this post is just for that. We've made big improvements to our living conditions....take a peek.

Our new car!!!! I'm loving it. Luckily while we were figuring out how to purchase this my brother let us borrow his car during his honeymoon. Ben and I both commute to work and after a week of driving stick shift I swore it off forever. It didn't help that I was driving in Detroit traffic, pot holes, hadn't driven in a year and wasn't a pro at stick shift in the first place.
Great rear view!
Townhouse. Unfortunately only for the summer.
Kitchen....with dishwasher.
Living room with our new T.V.

Another angle of our living room.

Another angle of our kitchen with our own washer and dryer....people in Dominica will appreciate this!

Den on the left (more like storage). And our bedroom straight ahead.

Bedroom.
Walk-in closet.

We also have 1 1/2 bathrooms and a dinning room. But we had to put the kitchen table together so more to come.

Ben's Birthday!!!!!!!

2010-03-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

Ben had a very special birthday this year! He turned 30 and I think it ended up being a lot better than he thought. A week before his birthday we rented a car (long story) and drove around the island. A good half of the island. It ended up being about 4 hours of driving!!! But we had a lot of fun. We were able to catch up on some places Ben hasn't seen.

My Babe!

Here we are on a hike. This guy ended up walking with us and would not leave us alone. We would be 15 feet in front of him and his was still having a conversation! Ben was not happy. Luckily, we found an awesome patch of raspberries.....they supposedly grow only in the mountains.

Red Rock.

Look! We're in southern Utah.

I'm trying to be funny or cute?

A cute picture of us!
On Ben's actual birthday we had a little dinner with some friends. We went to Ben's favorite Chinese place called Tulips. It was pretty yummy. Here is Ben blowing out his giant birthday cookie!

After we went up to De Champs for his surprise party!! Ben had no idea that I had planned it until we started walking up there. It ended up being a lot of fun.

The awesome pinata that my friend Chelsea and I made. It was indestructible! I've considered making and selling them on the island....if it didn't take more than 2 hours.

The awesome shirt I ordered and wore around all day. Ben laughed when he saw it at lunch. I think he liked it!

My Lover! I hope you had a great birthday!

LIZ'S BIRTHDAY

2010-03-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

So in addition to an awesome month of fun it was also my birthday!!!! Woot-woot. Look who's 23!! Which is probably why it was so fun....for me. And probably not so much for Ben, because I was reminding him everyday for 18 days. lol.

Ben made my birthday awesome and did an amazing job at surprising me. I would tell him throughout the year of things I specifically wanted for my birthday. And once February hit I completely forgot about everything I wanted. So I'm glad he was paying attention. So when I woke up I had a table full of presents and yummy chocolate chip banana pancakes! Then later that day he threw me a party with tin foil dinner and friends over for dessert! It was so much fun!! Yay for birthdays!!!

Ben ordered an amazing chocolate cake with chocolate frosting from a girl on campus who is doing a little business. It was so good. Here I am blowing out the candles!

All my cute little girl friends waiting for some cake.

Some of the boys helping with tin foil dinner.

We decided to decorate and went a little crazy. I told Ben to write Happy Birthday Liz. He suggested Liz and big star instead. We still have it up. It's pretty cool.

After my birthday Ben and I desperately both needed a haircut. I've been wanting to cut it for two years. And I finally couldn't take it anymore. So last week I finally cut off 10+ inches. It's so much better. I love it! And after Ben's mini heart attack and two days of thinking about it he does too.

Us cute before church.

The back.
The front.... the camera is a little too close for my liking.

The back again.
And a pose.

February Fun!!!

2010-02-24T12:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been a while. Ben was doing so good at the Patagonia post, it was hard to beat. lol. However, we have been having a ton of fun this past month. Here are a few things that we have been up to- in no particular order.

Ben and I decided after his test (two weeks ago) to go for a hike up the river near our house. We've been up this river, but decided to go all the way to the top, in attempt to get more of a workout. We didn't end up making it the rest of the way....and you'll find out why.

Cool vines that have crisscrossed over a rock. They climb up tress too. Ben loves taking pictures of them.

Me not wanting to go very far off the beaten path. But being an awesome wife and following Ben into the jungle about 50 ft.

Getting a quick pic of Ben.

And the main reason why we couldn't go any farther. There was a river dam that ended the trail. And there was a sign that said it was prohibited to go any farther. We thought about going farther....and we only made it 50 ft like I mentioned above.

Later that week we went to the beach with some friends. We went to Batibou Beach....which has become one of my favorites. The water is clear, the sand is nice, and it was just amazing. It was cloudy the whole time, yet Ben still got a little burnt. But it ended up being perfect weather and we got back to the van right before it started pouring.
The hike down to the beach.
Chelsea, Sarah, Me and Liz. Such fun friends. I love hanging out with them. Thanks Chelsea for the pics!
Ben climbing a palm tree. I keep telling him that I don't like it, but he continues to do it every time we are at the beach.

Me and my lover! I think we are pretty dang cute!
Us again.
Liz and Jason's baby Emmy. She is so cute. I love it whenever she pays attention to me.

Jason, Emmy, Liz, Ben and Me. Here we are squished in a car. It was a major holiday down here, called Carnival. So a small van was all we could get. Somehow we got 12 adults and children in there, not including the driver.

JULIE PRINCE FLOWERS

2010-01-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

www.julieprinceflowers.com

I'm going to follow my sister-in-laws lead and let you all know about my wonderful mother-in-laws new website. She has been doing flowers for a few years and is amazing!!! Her work is so beautiful. Check it out and tell your friends! She did my bouquet pictured above.

PATAGONIA-Tierra del Fuego

2010-01-13T11:32:00.000-08:00

Once you get to Ushuaia, it doesn't seem like you can get any farther south...but we did. We rented a car and drove south, following the peninsula as it hooks into the Atlantic. Aside from having "tea" at the Buenos Aires hotel, the other activity Liz had her heart set on was seeing the penguins. This was actually much harder to accomplish than it would seem. There is one island in Tierra del Fuego that has a colony of penguins who come to breed and rest during the summer months. This island is a protected wildlife habitat and so only 18 people are allowed onto the island each day. If you can get on it is great because you can walk around with them...if not you can get on a boat that circles the island and you take pictures from the boat...which is lame. We rented to car because the harbor you leave from is about two hours away from Ushuaia and due to annoying circumstances there was only one spot on the bus but two on the boat...so we drove, which ended up being much better. The drive winds through the heard of the Tierra del Fuego wilderness, which is full of dense forests and dozens of beautiful trout streams. If we had more time down there I would have spent 2 days just fishing. As with all Patagonian weather, the wind can be intense...below is a "flag tree". There are not many in the area, but they are all bunched together on a bluff. That is one tree that only clears the ground by about 2 inches in a few places.

More "flag trees".
This is the after driving through the mountains, we began to descend down to the harbor.

These are whale ribs and vertebrae...when Europeans first came here, it is rumored that the beaches were littered with whale bones.

We got to Harborton Estancia and took a small boat out to the island...it was a rubber boat that we slowly beached so as to not scare the penguins away.

There are two species of penguins here. I have forgotten their names but one has orange feet, wings and beak. This one builds a small rock nest on top of the ground and then sits on the eggs. This one is more endangered because the eggs are easier to get.Here you can see both species of penguins found in Tierra del Fuego. The smaller ones to the right are the other specie an they are only black and white and much smaller. They dig burrows and hatch their eggs underground. Almost all of the penguins you will see are of this kind.

The penguins here only have one natural predator...it is this bird below called a SKUA. It eats the eggs. This one was being nice because it had its baby on the log.

The species that burrow are only about 2 feet at the tallest.
This is an adolescent "black and white" penguin. You can tell because they are mostly gray for a month or so.

Mother and baby.
If you ever got close they would lower their head and turn it for some reason.

As usual the area is amazing.
Liz likes this picture....I don't know why.

They are very noisy...it was actually pretty loud with all of them in this field.

There is a new baby.

Our boat driver was wearing this full body, water proof Helly Hanson jump suit when we got in the boat...which made me a little nervous initially.
This is Harborton Estancia where we left from...that boat was not the one we took. That is the one for the losers who don't get to walk on the island...haha.

PATAGONIA-Ushuaia

2010-01-12T14:53:00.000-08:00

We left the glaciers in El Calafate and flew down to the most southern city in the world...Ushuaia. This city sits ocean side at the bottom of South America as Argentina trickles into a peninsula. As you can see below, the Andes continue all the way down and the city sits between them and the Beagle Channel. This area of the world is very interesting because the Chilean peninsula runs right along side and from one island to the next the boards change. The continent breaks up down here into a series of islands all surrounded with channels of water coming from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. As such the oceans and weather change ever five minutes....it was windy and it was cold. This is obviously a port city with a big fishing industry as well as your chance to jump onto an expedition boat to Antarctica. These trips can run for two weeks and upwards of 30,000 dollars a person. Everything here was so green, a nice change from the deserts in upper Patagonia. Ushuaia is right in the middle of the region called Tierra Del Fuego (Land of Fire). Below is a picture we took while on a boat going out into the channel.

We took a boat out into the channel to visit some of the islands where the (now extinct) local tribes used to live. There are many islands out in the channel between two big sets of mountains...one belonging to Argentina and one to Chile.

These islands have been uninhabited for almost a hundred years now and due to the extremely low pollution in this part of the world, they are very pristine.
Behind us is the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia is sitting at the base of the mountains.

Liz was cold...as usual. But it was really cold so its okay.
The colors were so amazing, it was almost surreal. The sun doesn't set down here until almost 11:30pm so there is tons of time for taking great pictures in this light. This was about 10:00pm.

A colony of sea lions.
The lighthouse that sits out on the farthest island out in the channel.
The boat also took us to see some other sea lion colonies in the area.
Lots of cormorants and a seal.

The one in the middle with the big head is the male and these are all his females. They all lay on top of him to keep him warm....haha.

Ushuaia

They have a ski resort up there in the winter.

PATAGONIA-El Calafate

2010-01-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

The main attraction for people going to El Calafate lies about 50 miles outside the town at the Pietro Moreno Glacier. Next to the polar ice caps, this is the longest continuous glacier in the world. It is part of the Great Southern Ice Field that extends west of the Andes along the Patagonian Santa Cruz region. It is also located within Glacier National Park. It is the third largest reserve of fresh water in the world. I have put a lot of pictures up of this glacier and many of them look the same but it was only to emphasize how enormous this thing it. You truly cannot comprehend how massive it is until you are next to it.

If you follow the glacier into the distance you can barely see it split into two frozen rivers running to the left and right.
The glacier is draining into Lake Argentinio on it's far left and right sides. But the middle section of the glacier actually extends over onto the land and it is at that contact point that you are continually hearing the cracking and seeing ice fall.
The next two pictures are of the glacier's contact point with the land. We were standing here because the cracking noises were the loudest and ice kept of breaking off as the day heated up. If you look at the next two pictures in succession you can see a piece of ice missing in the second picture...this missing chunk doesn't look that big but it was about the size of a suburban or two. In the picture below, the piece of ice that is still there is actually falling...i got the picture while in the air.
It you look at the dark indigo blue section of ice below...that is where the ice broke off. You can't image how great the colors are with the newly uncovered ice. As the ice continued to break off, we kept on hoping that we would see a frozen caveman or woolly mammoth stuck in the ice...perfectly preserved.

When you stare at this glacier and think about just how long it took for this to form, carve this valley and begin to melt...it makes you understand how we are just a speck in the time line of the world when compared to things like this.

We got in a boat that took us down to within 200 feet of the glacier itself. They won't get much closer than that because from the surface of the water the glacier rises to between 200-250 feet. If pieces break off and fall they can create enormous waves that can capsize the boat.

PATAGONIA-El Calafate

2010-01-09T08:27:00.001-08:00

After 3 days in El Chalten we caught a bus back to El Calafate which is the only town in Patagonia with an airport. We flew in there days before but never saw the town, so now we have come back. We spend our time in the area between hiking around a lake called Lago Roca and going to the Perito Moreno Glacier. All the pictures in this post are of our day spend at Lago Roca. This lake is fed by the Perito Moreno Glacier and is an hour outside of the town. It seemed pretty remote when we got there in the morning but as the day went on many Argentinians came with their families to picnic. It really was a pretty place to go and take a rest day. We don't have any good pictures of them but the shoreline on one side of the lake was completely pink because it was full of flamingos which come here during the summer.

We hiked around the lake and then up a hillside to a meadow out of the wind for a picnic. We ate a bunch then ended up falling asleep in the sun for two hours. We both sun burned our faces which peeled until we got back to the humidity of Dominica.
We wandered through this forest which had green mossy stuff hanging from every branch. They all swayed in the wind which kind of made it seem eerie, I think it made Liz nervous.

The snow covered peak in the distance is where the glacier ends in a lake that feeds into this one.

I saw this rock while we were walking along the lake shore. It looked like a hard boiled egg that had been cracked but not opened. We looked at it for a while and debated whether or not to touch it. I barely touched my finger to the top of it and the entire rock collapsed into a hundred pieces. It scared me for a second as if I had acquired a some new power to destroy things with the touch of my finger. As I looked at the pile of uniform pieces it seemed as if the rock had made the decision to die, as if it's time had come. Maybe all these rocks had silent lives that were all destine to end at some time

PATAGONIA-El Chalten 2

2010-01-07T14:30:00.001-08:00

So this first paragraph of the post is going to be underlined because I can't figure out how to turn it off and I have no idea how it got turned on in the first place. We were still in El Chalten come Christmas and so that morning we went on a hike up to Laguna Torre. It is a 6-7 hour hike that leaves to the west of the town up to a glacier fed lake to the west of the Cerro Peaks. I does look cold out but the temperature was great and we were moving fast which kept us warm. This hike had three large valleys that you cross separated by ridges. The valley below had some swamp areas so the trail skirts the valley through the trees on the right.
The trail moves in and out of these great beech forests that block all the wind and are so quiet. These forests are very old and haven't had a fire in so long that huge dead trees lay everywhere with plants and moss growing all over them.
This is the third of the valleys we needed to cross during this hike. It is nothing but rock rubble left behind from the glaciers that moved through this valley. The geology in this area is so diverse, between the granite, shale and lava rocks it only added to the uniqueness of this place.
As usual the clouds were covering up the Cerro Peaks when we got to the lake but within 10 minutes a window of clouds opened up and we were able to see the peaks from the west. You can walk around the left side of the lake and cross the glacier to approach Cerro Torre.
Up by the lake the wind was blowing pretty hard and it got much colder. There were pieces of the glacier that were floating in the lake which had blown over to our side. Some other idiots at the lake were pulling the ice out and trying to take it with them because it was thousands of years old.

Obviously Liz was cold.
There were these hawks that kept on flying around us catching the updrafts coming off the lake.
A log path leading through the swamp areas.

As you come out of the mountains the landscape and plants change quite drastically. The river splits and one cuts through the canyon below and the other runs high then waterfalls down the mountains.
Liz being the good woman she is made sure that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent out of our 6 person to a room hostel and in a nice private hotel room. The hotels are not big, they are the same size as the hostels but they are very nice inside with private rooms, big beds, nice bathrooms and continental breakfasts. This was Christmas morning after Santa came, luckily he brought mostly silver and dulce de leche.

PATAGONIA-El Chalten

2010-01-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

El Chalten is a very small town that is in the heart of Patagonia. We had to fly into the only airport within Patagonia in the town of El Calafate and then a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to El Chalten. It is the gateway for all climbers heading up to Mt. Fitzroy or the Cerro Torre range. The whole town is nothing but hostels, bars and climbing stores so it was a great place to hang out. Everyone is there to trek or climb, so there are lots of great people to meet while waiting out the weather to get up to the mountains.

This is a glacier valley we hiked out of as we left the town on the way up to the mountains.
The river is a great turquoise blue from the glacier and the wind was howling.

There are such great colors and textures throughout the Patagonia landscape.
This is a glacier coming down off the Cerro Torre range.
Here we are on our way up to a series of lakes called Laguna del los Tres.
Here are the amazing Torre Towers coming out of the clouds.
Here is Liz getting some great tasting water on our hike out.

The pictures cannot really do justice to how amazing these peaks really. According to most climbers, Cerro Torre (the tall peak to the left) although only about 10,500 feet is one of the most difficult mountains in the world.

These paths are carved out by the powerful winds down here.
This is an amazing landscape with the glacier in the background.
This is us stopping to eat while hiding from the wind behind some bushes.

El Chalten, the wind gets funneled down to that small opening in the distance. That is where the river the road and the wind all go. You can't imagine how loud the wind is through that break in the rock.

PATAGONIA-Buenos Aires

2010-01-05T14:37:00.000-08:00

It finally happened...we made it to Argentina. We have been planning this trip since before we were married so it has been a long time coming. It took about an hour to download the 600+ pictures and videos we took while traveling through Patagonia so each day there should be a new post with new pics and hopefully videos chronicling our trip as we moved south from Buenos Aires. Hope you enjoy.

Buenos Aires is a huge city that mixes the people and culture of Western Europe with indigenous South Americans. Thus every neighborhood's architecture seems to come from a different part of Europe, each with its own unique vibe. Below is a picture of us in La Boca. A neighborhood settled by Italian immigrants that sits at the edge of a small port. Walking through this part of the city, it looked very much like the small streets in Florence or parts of Rome. They sell a lot of Italian food at cafes with patios spilling into the street. This neighborhood is famous for its multicolored houses.

This is some sort of a crows nest that is bolted to the ground next to the harbor. There is a street market with different vendors circling below.

Our hostel in Buenos Aires sat on the corner of what I think is the biggest and widest street in the city. It is an 8 Lane street called Avienda de Mayo. It runs through the heart of the city and leads down to Plaza de Mayo which is shown below.

This is Plaza de Mayo which has many streets which converge on it and then circle around. With this city being so big this is about as close to a city center as you can get here.

At one end of Plaza de Mayo there is the "Pink House". This is basically the White House of Buenos Aires. I'm not sure if it is just for show or if anything still happens inside. There were a couple of big protests that happened in the city while we were there. They all started somewhere else and ended up outside the Pink House, so there is fence around it and we couldn't go inside or get close.

Liz has had her heart set on going to have tea at this famous hotel in Buenos Aires since she found it on the internet over a year ago. It was a very fancy place and we had to make a reservation. So fancy in fact that my shorts and Chacos were not appropriate and they offered me some black slacks to wear while we were there. We each got to pick a tea which was served in silver teapots by men in white gloves. Then this great tri-level server with great sandwiches and desserts came out. We weren't sure it was going to be enough food but everything was really rich and we barely finished it all. At the end we were offered each another dessert to take home. Of course we chose the ones with Dulce de Leche...our new favorite treat. Liz looks very pretty here as she enjoys luxuries not found in Dominica.
We went to the most famous cemetery in Buenos Aires in a "barrio" neighborhood called Recoleta. This cemetery is filled with some of the most impressive graves and mausoleums we have ever seen. Anyone who is anyone in Buenos Aires is buried here but securing yourself a spot can cost upwards of 1-3 million dollars. Each small mausoleum can hold one person or a bunch of family members within it.
Here is Liz in from of the most famous grave in Recoleta....EVITA PERON. Although the cemetery is a few blocks wide, it was easy to find her because there is a steady stream of people winding their way to her, all taking pictures and leaving flowers.
Another picture inside Recoleta's cemetery.This is from inside one of the coolest bookstores I have ever been inside. It is called El Ateneo and it is a former theater that used to have plays and operas performed. The place is huge and the stage is a coffee shop with great food and couches. Unfortunately there were no English books there but is was great none the less.

Pictures....of November

2009-12-07T17:18:00.001-08:00

There are a lot of pictures so I hope you enjoy them. Lately (all of November) it has been raining a lot. Some days I end up seeing 5 to 8 rainbows that include double rainbows. So far I think I have seen more rainbows on Dominica than I have my whole life!!!

A picture of a rainbow from our apartment. You can see the clouds coming over the mountains....and sometimes you can't even see the mountains like below. Days like this are when I cancel swim lessons. :)

Another rainbow.
A storms a comin'! The clouds here are so neat. I love looking at clouds and you encounter almost every type here on the island. The whole sky was pink so Ben had me pose for a picture. Cute.
When I was younger these were the types of clouds I thought angles lived on.

But if you look under it is rather scary!!! Look how low the clouds get!!! Run for cover! P.S we have also experiences two earthquakes!!! There have been more....like 100 within the last few months. But I have only felt two. I guess it's because we have 7 volcanoes on this island.

Ben presenting at a Wilderness Medicine lecture. He did a great job.
After Ben's mini 2 exam he had a day off to go to the beach. He really wanted to see #1 beach and it turned out to be an awesome day for it! When we arrived the waves were huge and the beach shrunk. It seemed like a totally different beach compared to when I went there earlier. We went with our friends Deb and Dylan, it ended up being so much fun!

Us! So cute!

Another rainbow and a small little cave.
Here we are again and the rainbow is shooting out of the palm tree.
The sand was extremely smooth and had no shells. It's mostly a black sand beach. Ben was laying down in it and I thought the pictures looked cool. So I had us take a picture together. I think this is one of my favorites.
Ben wading out towards the waves. They were so strong and I would only let us go up to our hips. It probably wasn't the safest thing to do. But again, so much fun!
I was attempting to cover Ben with sand. When I got back with the camera a wave had washed him away.

Me and Deb sitting on the beach, with a pile of coconut shells behind us and huge waves ahead!
Me walking back to the trail.
Now a quick change of scenery. This is a rare picture of Ben studying at home. He doesn't study at home because it's a distraction. Even though I go into the other room and watch t.v. Bummer.
This is a picture I took on my way into town. I took it because you can see the mountain of the other island in the distance.
The End!!! Hopefully we can get more up before Christmas. But if not, the next post will be of Argentina!!! Yay!!!! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Exploring the island....over a month ago.

2009-11-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I explored the island with some friends. It was super fun to get out and see more of what Dominica has to offer. Here they are:

Not too long into our journey I realized I had drank too much water. So we decided to pull off into a little town to use the bathroom, fill up on gas, and get directions. It ended up being a neat little place and the people were really nice. The houses looked especially colorful. We ended up using a bathroom at a laundry mat! Who knew they even existed down here!!! And to do one load it cost 2 ec, which is about 80 cents. Much cheaper compared to the 25 ec we have to pay to get a load of laundry done at home.
Random story that happened while we were stopping. A man in a car also pulled over to ask if I wanted to take his picture. I said no, but then I did. He asked if I was married or if I knew of any white girls that were looking for a husband. I told him I didn't know of any, but if I did I had his picture and would come back and tell him. Hahaha, we both laughed at that. Unfortunately the picture is too dark. So I didn't post it.

Houses.

A church and cemetery.

Driving up a mountain in Dominica.
The entrance to Emerald Pool. This is the first trip I have been on with a groomed trail, signs, and an entrance pavilion with food. It was a nice experience, but definitely more touristy, hence the groomed path.
A face on a tree.
Emerald Pool.

Here I am walking to the waterfall. The pool wasn't very deep, but I still had to swim over. Or you could go the other way and climb over some rocks.

Me and the waterfall. So cute.

Here is the entrance to Trafalgar Falls. I haven't really explored the southern half of the island. Supposedly this is the desert side, and we live on the jungle side of the island. There was a noticeable change in the landscape and lushness, but it was still a jungle. I thought the cliffs were pretty cool.
One of the falls.
Me and both of the falls. This picture dosen't do them justice. They are huge!!! Like a 100 ft tall (maybe, I'm really bad at guessing distances/lengths). The waterfall on the left is hot, because it's a natural spring and has minerals in it. The right is cold. So the two come down and eventually form one river. But at the bottom of the falls is a bunch of rocks that create pools. So you sit in one hot and 5 feet away is freezing cold. And then there are a few in between. It was so much fun.
One of the hot pools that we sat in.
Unfortunately I didn't take more pictures, because we were climbing rocks and I didn't have Ben with me to hold the camera. I didn't trust myself. But hopefully you get the gist and I can take Ben there to get some more pics.

Some wedding photos.

2009-10-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend today about why is it when we have nothing to do we don't do anything. Maybe if my time down here were a few months I wouldn't be so lazy and sleep in till nine everyday. I often think of America and how amazing it is....we really had some doers when it came to developing our country. I think Dominicans became lucky....or somehow it just happen that they got their country.
But anyways....it's interesting that during all this free time (although I'm more busy this semester) I don't update my blog everyday, visiting teaching comes to the last day of the month, I don't read a book, finish my thank you notes for the wedding, or write in my journal (something I should work on). I have a ton of time to perfect myself with these little goals, but I don't. Or it takes me a while. It's interesting how when people are busy and it seem like there is no time things get done.
Who knows how I will survive once I get back to America. But in the meantime here are some wedding pictures. Obviously the engagement photo was a teaser, because it has taken me about a month to get these up. But, I'm having a little trouble downloading all my wedding pictures...so that's my excuse. Here are some "detail" pics. Enjoy.

Honey jars with peoples names and seating number.
Table arrangements.

The most beautiful bouquet ever! Ben's mom is amazing.
Top of the ice sculpture.
Me and some of my bridesmaids. Best friends from college.
The guys boutonniere.
Market Street Grill, the location of our Utah reception.
Ben with his brothers, my brothers, and groomsman.
My family. My favorite picture of me with my dad.
*more pictures to come. This is really all that was able to download.

#1 Beach

2009-10-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I went to #1 beach with some friends. It was so much fun and the perfect day. It's the beach that Johnny Depp is being chased by the Indians in the third movie...i think it's the third movie. Anyways it was pretty neat. There is the ocean and then right behind the beach is a river. So we took on the waves, and then played in the river with the kiddies. Actually, I should tell you this beach is beautiful!!! A must see spot.

View of the ocean from the river.
Another view. My favorite picture.

The river side. It's the perfect spot for kids...about a foot of water.
My friends Chelsea, Margo and Me!!!

View of the beach facing east.
View towards the west. This beach is wonderful because it's huge, flat and isn't black sand.
Some of the group heading down the trail towards the beach.

Mero Beach

2009-10-22T18:15:00.000-07:00

I achieved my goal this month. I went on a spouse trip for November. Yay! And I actually went on a few more trips as well (shortly to come). Mero Beach is located about half an hour south of campus. It was a nice trip because it was a short ride, but something different. And the beach was huge. There were also lawn chairs for rent....luxury item. A few friends from church came and I also met someone new. So it ended up being a really nice trip. The only downside is that it was a day the cruise ships came in. So instead of having the beach to ourselves we had to share it with about 40 other people. Dumb.

Beautiful beach.

Me and some of the other spouses on our lawn chairs.

Two of the super cute girls in nursery with me. It was time for a snack.

Me and my friend Chelsea. Not the best picture of me. But cute.

Treasures

2009-10-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

One day a few weeks ago I went for a run. Silly. I finished my exercise at the beach so that I could walk along it to cool down. I must have been rewarded for running because I found a ton of treasures! Maybe I should run more.....

Dried up reef.

A baby conch shell. We have about 20 of these in our house.

A giant conch shell that had a lot of wear and tear on it. It isn't super pretty, but I thought it was cool that I found one this big.

A baby sea urchin.
And the big prize! I found this sea urchin covered with spikes. It still had it's leathery beak-y mouth attached and smelled really bad. So I gave it a good wash and tried to get some of the spikes off. It's still on our porch outside, drying off and dying.

Here it is clean. Impressive! It's size is about the palm of my hand (5 in or so).

So I apparently I have moved on from crabs to shells. Yay.

One Engagement Photo

2009-09-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

Thought some people might like to see this. More to come.

Over a month of our life in...Michigan, Puerto Rico and Dominica

2009-09-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

So I know I'm behind. I admit it. This past month has been crazy and this post is crazy long so...Moving on.

Ben is done with his first year of medical school. Yay!!! The day after the test we finally hung out with our friends Liz, Jason and Emmy. Liz is such a wonderful friend, because she is so relaxed and fun. Plus she is the most positive, energetic and inspiring person ever. I hope one day when I have a baby I will strap him/her on my back and conquer the world like she does (and still have a smile on my face- hahaha). We have been trying to hangout all semester and three days before we head to the states we finally do. Yay for following through.

We all decided to go on a hike to the river I mentioned a few posts back. This time we took the quick trail up and cut through a ton of lemongrass. You can see Jason, Liz with Emmy and Me. It was a funny time except for all the lemongrass paper cuts I got.

Me and Ben.

Getting a head message?? It was fun.

On our way to MICHIGAN!!! Oh wait, we have a ridiculous delay at the Puerto Rico airport. Short version of the story is we get stuck outside the airport for 7 hours!! All because some idiot put mercury in a bottle, in his suitcase, and it broke. This event is known as a "mercury spill" which causes the whole airport to shut down, as well as gazillion police and firetrucks, EMT and us army to come to the scene. It also produces chaotic-ness! Once they started letting people enter the airport it became crazy. Everyone was trying to get through a sliding glass door through a bottleneck sidewalk that they then didn't let people through. Opps! False alarm- we are being annoying. It became a fiasco of screaming, crying, fainting sardines. It was one of those moments in life that you pause and look at what you are in the middle of and laugh at yourself thinking, "am I really experiencing this?". Nevertheless we made it home to Michigan after another layover in Baltimore Maryland. We also had problems on the way back- you'll have to ask for those details.

Us about two hours into our experience. We just got water and didn't know what was coming so we still have our ok/happy faces on.

Part of the mess outside the airport.

Ben getting a little more antsy. It doesn't look too packed, because this is taken about 30 minutes before we enter the catastrophe!

So now we are suddenly in Michigan! Yay. We went to Michigan over the break to have our second wedding reception for my side of the family. It was so much fun. My mom did an amazing job on the yard- we had a simple open house at my parents house. A tent, trillions of sunflowers, yummy ice cream, pies, sandwiches and great family and friends. Unfortunately we didn't catch any photos on our camera- so hopefully friends and family who did can send us a link. I want to thank my Mom and Dad for everything. And thank you to everyone who helped out. It was perfect and so much fun. Thank you tons.

While we were there, Ben's parents were able to come. I was super excited because they could finally put a face with all my stories. It was so great to show them Cranbrook, my home, Ann arbor, the farmers market, community fair, elephant ear wagon and parade. Thank you for coming it meant a ton to us!

Bill (Ben's dad), Ben and I next to the Jonas fountain at Cranbrook. The weather in Michigan was surprising cool, an early fall temp. of 65 degrees. But we loved it! We could finally put on some pants and a sweater.

My name is up on the wall at Cranbrook!!! Here I am pointing to it! Yay class of 2005!

At the parade with cousin Isaac. He has a pretty fun Mohawk haircut. I don't know if he was super happy to sit next to me, because I pancaked him to the ground to get some candy at the parade. It was funny, but also a little over dramatic. Sorry Isaac. I'm all about getting the most candy and don't even eat hardly any of it.

Nathan (my brother), Chelsea (his girlfriend), Pete (his dog) and me at the parade.

And now we are back to Dominica. Ben and I decided to go on a hike behind campus and up a hill. It has confirmed how much I need to get in shape for Patagonia come Christmas.

Me and lemongrass.

Ben stopping for a picture.

Banana tree.

While we were on the hike we found a place called the barbwire. While we were looking over the fence one of the people renting out the place came and talked with us. They were from Australia visiting for a month and were nice enough to show us around the retreat. It consisted of a manicured garden, patio area, cottages, bathtub with mineral spring water, etc. It was pretty cool and would be fun to rent out for a visit- if your up for rustic and eclectic living. Beautiful.

Entrance to the property.
View from the second floor bedroom.

Two guys live on the property and cook you breakfast and dinner. One of them lives in this blue house.

Another cottage on the property.

So now this is when pictures get a little more random. The picture below is of the main street running along campus. I though people might be interested to see what we walk along everyday. Campus is on the left. The grocery store and restaurants on the right.
Earlier this week we had a baptism at church. The girl who was baptised is named Lena. She is super sweet and friendly. Very exciting.

Here she is in the ocean getting baptised.

After the baptism we had a bonfire down the beach for the Wilderness Medicine Club that Ben is president of. It was a lot of fun and a great turnout. We got a few of our friends from church to join. Which will make it even more fun.

Hot dogs and s'mores. Yum. S'mores here are made of cookies, marshmallows and nutella.

Ben and I cooking hot dogs. We were sweating. And I'm only wearing a dress because I walked over straight from the baptism. But don't be fooled....I have a suit on underneath.

Sunset at the bonfire. Here I am talking with Liz and her baby.

Beautiful Dominica.
I know this is making you all want to visit!!!!

So we are both having super fun and are enjoying life. Hopefully the posts will be a little more frequent now that we are back in the saddle.
Loving life! Hahahaha!

Caterpillar Attack!!

2009-08-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

Slow yet again. I guess you are going to have to expect that from me (liz). Plan on a bi-weekly to weekly update on our lives. You would think I would have plenty of time to update the blog- which I do, but unfortunately I have become prone to island life and therefore have become lazy. Sad. Who knows if I will ever be able to adjust back. 10 hours of sleep has become a regular part of my routine- about 6 hours for Ben.

So this week we were attacked by caterpillars!! ARGH! Actually we weren't, but a tree down our road was. Earlier this week Ben and I were walking home from school when all the sudden Ben noticed a ton of leaves that fallen from the tree. Which was odd, because the caretaker had just cleaned the yard and there was no storm. It was when Ben looked up at the tree that we saw 60-80 caterpillars attacking the it!! It was crazy! Some of them were eating the stems and caused a ton of leaves to fall off. It was quite a site.

They were the big 5 inch long caterpillars that I had posted about earlier. Only some of these looked more like 6 or 7. They were huge, chubby, and fat. They have 8 stubby legs, some arms, and the red part is their head.

How many can you see? I think there are 9 in this picture.

This picture was taken at the end of the week. Notice how the tree doesn't have anymore leaves?! There's a few more still hanging out. I was hoping that they would make cocoons- but they all left.
Ben admiring the tree and caterpillars. I must have gotten bored.

Moving on.... Ben had his third exam last week and so after taking his test we were able to hangout for a bit. He still had to study because he has three more tests this week. Unfortunately, it seems like the days that Ben can play are the days when it rains. We decided to go outside anyways.

Indian Man.

We were waiting out the rain under a palm tree. Ben wasn't cooperating and letting me take his picture. But he did pose for this one. I like it. It looks like he could be on the cover of a book- like the Lord of the Flies or something.

Me in the rain. I don't know what to do in front of cameras- the peace signs seem to help. hahaha.

Now we are getting into some randoms. Above is a picture of the bay on our way to church. People were tearing down/burning a building on the way. While we were walking back it was completely gone. All in a days work.

Here are some of the girls in my nursery class at church. Fortunately one of us knows how to smile for the camera. And she's a cutie.

Me with some of the primary. I think about 5 more kids are missing. It turns out our branch is the second largest primary in our stake (which includes about 10 islands and some of Puerto Rico). We have about 20 kids.
And this is just a random pick I took today. I was walking along the beach and then walked up to campus. Ben and I sometimes take a secret route under the yoga deck and today I found this old fan. I wonder if it has been there every time I've used this path, and this was the first time I have noticed it. I thought it was pretty cool.

Randoms

2009-08-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little slow down here. Ben was sick a while ago, and then we were both kind of sick, and then I got really sick. So things are looking a lot better and it seems like July flew by. I can't believe we are almost done with second semester- roughly 20 more days! Crazy. We are excited to head up to Michigan over the break and enjoy busy life for a week- at least I am excited for the busyness. In the meantime, I have taken a few pictures during July. They are kind of random, but I think people will enjoy them, it's more crabs, bugs, and animals, along with other things. Enjoy!

Before I begin, here I am at the beginning of "not feeling too well". Ben and I think it's a funny picture. Maybe that's just us.

This is the university's swimming pool. It is where I go to for occasional tanning, swim lessons, and a place to catch up and chat with people. I thought it might be neat to see what the pool looks like.
The weekend that I got really sick was the weekend that Dominica was having it's first International Cricket game in a long time. Supposedly it was a pretty big deal. The game was West Indies vs. Bangladesh. The game was Sunday and Tuesday in the capital. But before the game, they had practice at the field in Portsmouth. So on Saturday a friend and I went to go watch them practice for an hour. We got there an hour late and the team just got on the field to warm up. Typical island life. So we just hung out for a while people watched. It ended up being a lot of fun. It would have been neat to see a real game.
The team warming up. I think it's the West Indies team.
Some of the locals watching them practice. It was kind of a big deal.
My friend and I bought some Seamoss from the guy in dreadlocks. Supposedly it's crushed seaweed with "spices" and is an excellent source of protein. Spices = nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. The green bottle has milk and to it and the orange is original flavor. The green was actually really good, the orange was gross and the consistency of slug slime. Maybe that's why I got sick.

This is a picture of Purple Turtle Beach. It was where our church had the Branch Social and was a huge success. I wish I had taken more pictures. I made really good sloppy joes from scratch. The rope on the right is attached to the palm tree and a people could swing on it. If you climb the tree high enough you could jump into the ocean- like Ben- which was super silly because it was shallow and he could have hurt himself.

Ben and I were able to get some sun in between his classes. Here he is playing with a sick crab that died once he flung it into the ocean. We saw it floating on the bottom later.
One day I was walking home from campus and saw this huge katydid, or as I would categorize it as cricket, on our porch. It was huge!!! We took tons of pictures, because it was pretty cool.

As big as Ben's hand.
And here is a picture of our cow in the field next to our apartment. The building behind it is campus where the gym is. But the cow has a white heron on it- so we took a picture. Fun!

Graduation

2009-07-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

So I realize that this is really late. But I have been wanting to put up my graduation photos. Being the fantastic person I am, I was able to graduate from the University of Utah in Economics and get married in the same week! So pretty much I am amazing.

My Dad, Me and Cousin Brandon. Outside of Cafe Trio- where we went for lunch after graduation with Ben's family.

Ben and me after the great event.

Me, Erin Anderson (Erin's sister in-law), Lauren and Erin (my sisters in-law). We all graduated at the same time, except Erin- who graduated the day before with a masters degree in social work. It made graduation more fun, especially since the three of us in black gowns graduated in the same school.

I killed a bug with my eyelid!!!!!

2009-07-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

So quick funny story- Ben and I were walking with some friends tonight when all of the sudden I see/feel a bug fly into my eye (There must of been a hatching this week because they are all over the place). At first I didn't panic, I just blinked my eye once or twice and thought it had maybe flew out. But in the process of blinking I killed it!!! And it was stuck in my eyeball. All the sudden I screamed, "BEN I KILLED A BUG WITH MY EYELID!". Luckily, being the doctor he is, he was able to get it out. Yay for Ben!

Ben has had a busy week studying for his test on Monday, which also meant he was using his computer more- which has all the photos. So tonight I actually had a chance to download some. After Ben's test we were able to hangout Monday and Tuesday, before classes started getting busy again. So the pictures below are of our recent adventures!

Tuesday Activity.

Ben had class in the morning, but afterward we decided to hike up one of the rivers that is a three minute walk from our house. Supposedly Dominica has 365 rivers, one for each day of the year. These rivers are also the local laundry and bathing location for many Dominicans. There is always a surprise when you look at the river from the bridge. However, the river was amazing and it's crazy to think that the jungle starts about 5 minutes from our house. We walked two hours up river, jumping over huge boulders. Of course it was Indian Man and Crazy Cat again. Ben's is extremely good at hiking up anything. I bumped my shin on a rock and ended up getting a golf ball size bruise. Then when we were done we decided to take the trail that follows the river back into town. We decided to create a shortcut back to the trail and when I finally got on flat ground I immediately slipped and fell forwards onto all fours. I ended up getting another huge golf ball bruise on my knee! It was ridiculous, but a lot of fun.

Above is a huge grandfather crab that is an awesome blue. He was tucked away in the roots of a tree that are behind us in the picture below. Ben was a good sport to take a picture of it for me. It is probably 12 inches wide!

Along the river we came across two pools that we were able to swim in.

Another crab that I found! There are so many different crabs- you have to take a picture.

US! So cute!
A very cool tree along the river. Ben had me go climb the roots to take a picture. But I thought it looked great without me.

Ben with another crab that he found. It has a red/Rosy pink top and at first Ben thought it was one of the many big red flowers that had fallen into the river.

Another lizard that fans it's neck out. It stopped once it realized we were there.

Me at the start of the river.

Monday Adventure.

After Ben's exam on Monday we decided to go to the beach on campus. Not only did we decided to go to the beach, but we rented a Hobie Cat. It's like a catamaran. It's a ton of fun, and we were able to go a ton faster than last time. Although the wind was fidgety and at one point we got stuck, until suddenly the owner of the boats flew towards us on his Hobie Cat. He gave us a few tips and then we were able to fly back to shore. And he followed us back for the next hour. Lame. It was a lot of fun and we went super far out to sea. The owner is really good and is able to tilt his boat up on one side. I told Ben that I wanted to do that- so maybe I'll take lessons. Later that night we were able to get dinner with some friends. It was a super fun day.
This is us at the restaurant. Well actually it's me- with two of the girls that I teach nursery to at church.
View of shore from our Hobie Cat. The white specks on shore is Portsmouth.

Ben steering us out to sea!

Super Cute! Us together.

One reason why I want to save Detroit.

2009-07-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

I know most of you are interested in seeing pictures and hearing news about our life in Dominica. However, overtime I have become blogging obsessed (sad to admit). It is through the many hours (so disappointing) of reading articles and looking at pictures that I have come to enjoy blogs that inspire, provoke questions ,and thoughts. Which is what I assume is the purpose of most blogs. What blogs inspire me? They are the ones that state current political issues, educational topics, recipes and areas of design: buildings, clothes, photography, etc. And while I interact with these things I think of what I want to become, how am I going to get there, what's the best path to take, how an item would look in my future house, and how I want my lifestyle from here on out to be viewed and enjoyed. It was through my escapade of perusing blogs I came across a website that I really enjoy, its called http://www.100abandonedhouses.com/. To most, it is obvious that my dream for the past few years has been to "save Detroit" (someone needs to do it). And I think these photos portray exactly what I want to do and why. I think these buildings are wonderful and have the potential to become communities, libraries, office spaces and homes. This link displays photos that sparks imagination, thought, wishes and desires about what I want to do in the future. I love buildings!! Old ones that can be rugged, weathered, dirty, and historical. Automatically I ask myself- who lived here, what were they like, and why are they gone. There is a history of curiosity. So who knows why I'm telling everyone this, maybe it's because it gives me something to do, but here is a little more knowledge about what goes on in the mind of Liz. And hopefully one day soon I will stop blogging and start doing.

Buildings and Animals, etc.

2009-06-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Before I begin- Happy Fathers Day! Thank you to both our dads out there. We love you both so so much and appreciate everything you have done for us.

This posting is going to be a mix of things, which equals randomness. It's been a while since I have posted so I'm going to catch up. I want you all to see what is going on down here!! Ben has been busy studying, he had another mini test this week. And I completely sold everything at the bake sale!!!! Yay! I made carrot cookies with cream cheese, along with the regulars (mango coffee cake, and banana bread). They were amazing!! Maybe every once in a while I will post a recipe. I will try to post the recipe for these later. I have also started to teach English every Tuesday and Thursday night at church to locals. They are 20-40 year olds and mostly men. It is so much fun and it's always fun to see them randomly in town. It's nice to hear them remember my name or shout out "Hi Teacher". Although this last class day I tried to have a conversation with a few of them and realized that they probably have no idea what I am saying half the time. It took us forever to understand each other and talk about where they are from and how long they have been here. But they are always excited to learn. On Tuesday there was a blackout during class throughout the town and instead of jumping up and leaving (which is probably what everyone in America would do with excitement) everyone pulled out there cell phones (which have flashlights on them-wonderful!) and stayed for twenty minutes. It was really wonderful to experience that.

But to continue with this posting I want to talk about the pictures! So I'm going to jump to that (like I said, randomness). The picture above is of a lizard that was on the fence around our apartment. It wasn't cooperating with us, because there is a fan that flares out under its neck and we couldn't catch it with the camera. But it is still cool. Then a few weeks ago I was leaving the pool with some friends and we came across this awesome Caterpillar!!! They are huge! The head is pointing down my arm and the tail is where the antenna is sticking out. You can't see it very well, but they have about 10 stubby legs, like soup cans. I wish I knew more about them, but the fact that they are not poisonous is all that matters sometimes. (Thanks Jacquelle for the photo)

Now I know that this is not a great picture of me. But you have to see what amazing superman eyesight I have! Ben and I were walking back from a lecture that he just gave about splinting for Ross EMS and Wilderness club. He did an awesome job and there was a great turnout. There is an old crumbling mill building on campus that we pass on our way home and sitting on one of the rock walls was an iguana! It was monstrous and pretty exciting.

Can you see it?

There it is!!! BIG!!
So now I'm shifting to buildings. A lot of the buildings here are hut-like. It's dirty and people live in what they can. Some are decent, but I doubt there are more than two room and it doesn't look like they would have a bathroom in them. But the houses and buildings are cool and should be documented.

House at Tocauri Bay.

Part of the main street in Portsmouth.

Cricket field next to church. The yellow building on the corner is a snackette- where people get food. While I was taking this picture, it turns out there is a old white man that lives on the other corner. He was like, "Let me take a picture with you in it". Smiling I replied "oh, that's OK, I've got it." But in my head I'm thinking, "Creepy, what's a strange white man doing in the middle of nowhere?" It makes one think that maybe he's hiding out from the government, from selling drugs or killing someone (that's my mind jumping to conclusions). It was weird, though because white people don't live in Portsmouth, but apparently one does.

This is our awesome green church building. We have sacrament and classes on the second floor, primary and nursery (in the kitchen) on the first floor, and I think there is a business on the top. This is also where we have our English classes.

So last weekend we went out to eat with some friends at Blue Bay Restaurant. It's down an alley and is a restaurant right on the beach. It was really good, the fish was amazing! Ben got grilled Mahi Mahi and I got King Fish in curry. They bring out an appetizer of fried something-dough? And then side dishes of rice, veggies, a different kind of banana cheese like bread for everyone to share. Definitely yummy.

View from the restaurant.
Us at the restaurant. I know it's not an amazing picture, but I like it.

And finally my purchase of the month (or semester). I was taking the transport back from the market yesterday and there was an old man selling mats he made. It's a woven mat made out of dried leaves (palm leaves that are stripped?). I got it for 15 EC- which turns into about 6 dollars. I took this picture and when I showed it to Ben, he automatically said, " Well that looks like a blog picture." It totally is, because I'm proud of my purchase and want to show everyone.

Toucari Bay

2009-06-15T10:39:00.000-07:00

So Monday Ben and I were able to spend some time together. It was great. He finished his exam around 11:00 in the morning- so we decided to go to a beach farther north on the island. It was called Toucari Bay and was really nice. We were the only people there, except for some locals working in the small town making some beach shacks and the fisherman. In the picture above you can see I'm eating some of the picnic I brought with us. It was some super yummy Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. We also went snorkeling for about 45 minutes. There were a lot of cool fish and I got stung yet again!!! Ridiculous. This time I booked it and left Ben behind after I got stung on the face. But we swam out pretty far- in the picture above we swam out to the tip of the bay. Then it kind of got to a drop off- and I freaked out and didn't want to swim any farther. Freaky- but Ben didn't think so.

Having fun. Notice Ben's sick mustache that I shaved earlier that day.

Fisherman with the fish they just caught. The owner of the boat got mad at Ben for taking pictures. Not happy at all- but we saw a member of the church there and him and I smoothed things over. It was pretty neat.

Crab on our front doorstep when we arrived home from the trip. Fun. We tried to catch it but it ran away.

SARI SARI FALLS/ Happy

2009-06-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy. I'm so happy that I am here with Ben, enjoying the island. That I can take time to relax, discover, nap, tan, have a simple routine, go to the beach, exercise, cook dinner with Ben, pretty much do whatever I want, etc. I thought I would post a picture with both of us- since I haven't put one up in a while. When Ben had a moment to breathe we decided to snorkel at our beach- a 20 second walk from our front door. It's kind of rocky so no one goes out there, but there is some really neat snorkeling and no urchins (for some reason I have become paranoid about these). We were able to find two starfish, hermit crabs, mating crabs, colorful fish and lots of sand dollars. It was a lot of fun. I love hanging out with Ben when we have the chance, but that will have to wait until next week because he has his first big test on monday!

Earlier this week I also went on a trip with the spouses group to Sari Sari falls. It was amazing!!! Sometimes I feels like I'm in a totally different world and maybe I am. The falls is on the other side of the island, the Atlantic side where there are huge waves. The water on our side is always super flat. The drive ended up taking two hours each way!! It was ridiculous, halfway through the drives I want to say, "Excuse me, I think I'm done with this, I don't want to drive anymore", because of all the hills and turns. I've never gotten car sick before- but i might become one who does. Luckily it was cool up in the mountains and I think it helped, plus the fall was totally worth it. The hike was took about an hour or more to get in. Everything is huge- these pictures don't do it justice because it's a jungle and the depth and height in the pictures gets ignored. It is just amazing! It's like your at Disney World, where they recreate the jungle at the animal kingdom- only astronomically better. (I feel slightly lame for even trying to compare this to Disney World, so if it is a lame comment ignore it)

Big tree on the ledge of some huge rocks covered in moss. This is one of the three rivers we had to cross. Pretty.

Huge waterfall- maybe 100-150 feet!! It had rained earlier and so it was gushing! Where I'm taking the picture was where we left our packs, and were getting drizzled on. We had to then crawl over those huge rocks. It was like a tidal wave in the pool, a friend and I tried to swim under to the fall. We only got halfway though because the water is spraying so hard, there is a current, it's super loud, and it felt like chaos. I felt like I was in a hurricane. To swim halfway my friend went first and then I followed. But halfway through I was laughing so hard because I couldn't see, and was being pushed by the current and suddenly my friend yells, "Liz, your a swimmer....SWIM". I laughed so much and had to grab her hand. It was so funny. Hahahaha. I guess you had to be there. Notice the big rocks that the people are next to?

Me in front of the waterfall. So cute.

Another river we had to cross. Look at the rocks compared to people!

Jungle. Can you see the person?

Another river we had to cross. Coming back we ran into another group of people from a cruise. It made me realize how lucky I am. I am so lucky to be a local (sort of) and be part of the island and not some random visitors, traveling with 30-40 strangers. I get to experience this everyday! Luckily our groups are only about 8-10 spouses, along with a local who gets us where we need to go- sometimes dropping us off to explore on our own or joins us to show the way.

Guess what this! A cashew!!! No wonder they are so expensive. They grown individually on a tree. The top part is the cashew with the nut inside and then the yellow is fruit that you can eat. Our driver pulled over to show them to us. During lunch my friend and I cut one up and tried to eat it. The yellow fruit part is waxy and taste slightly of sugar- it was actually kinda gross. They are really juicy and I guess people make drinks with them. We also cut the cashew and the driver jumped out of his pants (not literally) and yelled at us to wash our hands. I guess the oil in the shell can cause your skin to peel off. I don't know why he didn't mention that earlier when he gave them to us.

And finally cows..... this picture was taken from our deck. Ben had to go back to study at school and had some trouble getting out our front gate because of the cows blocking it. There were a few more that aren't in the picture.

So it's a lot of fun right now. And I thought I would update from the last couple of days. Enjoy!

Eat More Fish!

2009-05-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

So this posting is a collection of things. The picture above is of some super cool clouds we saw while we were walking to get chinese food. It's kind of faint, but there is a huge white cloud that looks like a mountain, and then there are clouds behind it that are pink. This day turned out to be super nice in the afternoon because of the clouds. It was the first time I went to a grocery store and didn't come out sweating. None of the stores have air conditioning. There was a time when I hated grocery stores being too cold- and now I wish I had one. So in the end it was a good day.

The meat of this post has to do with the pictures below. We took these pictures on our way to church today. The water was an awesome blue and so Ben had me get into the picture. Church ends up being a 30 minute walk and so by the time we get there we are both sweating. That is all you do on this island- sweat. The real challenge we have right now is getting to church on time because I conduct during sacrament meeting. Yay.

This second picture is of one of the signs on our way to church. It is sooo funny. Ben and I always laugh at it. It makes them seem like they are savages and are attacking the fish. Argh!!!!! They could of had a picture of someone cutting a fish, or using a fork and knife. But instead it is someone eating it (probably raw) down to the bones. As if it's the last its the last fish ever. So moral of the board- Eat More Fish!

We got crabs!

2009-05-28T18:36:00.000-07:00

So earlier this week I was walking home from lunch with Ben and I saw a shell in the road moving! I knew it would be a hermit crab and it was!!! I quick snatched it up and ran home to take a picture. I dropped it a few times because it tried to bite my fingers with it's one claw. But they are so cool and colorful. Later that day I was walking home with Ben and we found another right outside our house! It was our lucky day because I haven't seen one since my last posting. The two top pictures are of the hermit crab we caught together and the bottom two by myself. I would have to say that the little one was way more feisty and was almost coming out of its shell to pinch Ben's finger! Anyways, it was a fun day.

Ben with the little pincher.

Cool Colors!

First Hike

2009-05-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

Me holding a hermit crab and snorkeling.

I know I am posting two things today, but 1. its because I have time and 2. I actually tried to post the other one but was having difficulties with the video downloading and it actually worked tonight. Before I continue though, I want to let you all know that I got stung by a jellyfish three times yesterday when I went snorkeling with some friends. Ouch! The water is amazingly clear and you can see all the way to the bottom I only went out about 20 feet deep. We also found a few more crabs in the brush and a hermit crab! It was so cool.

Anyways, today was my first activity/hike with the spouses club! There were 12 of us who went to Bence's Pool. It was a 30-40 minute ride from campus 2/3 of the way to the otherside of the island, high in the mountains. I don't get car sick but the drivers here are super fast, and it seems like they drive on both sides of the road, when really they drive on the left side (like in England). So when we got there we did a half an hour hike down to the pool where you could dive off the cliffs and do a water slide. It was gorgeous and a lot of fun. Then coming back we decided to take a shortcut that took only 10 minutes but was completely vertical- a great butt workout. So when you all come out to visit this a place that we will definately have to see! A ton of fun!

Bence's Pool. This was gorgeous!

Suprise! I bet you didn't think it was so high. The clif was around 15+ feet. You could also jump in on the otherside of the pool but that clif was around 25 feet.

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Great little butt workout to end the day. I was gasping for air from being so out of breath. And its a good view of the jungle.

Back at the top. Great view and picture with my friend Margo.

Catchin' Crab

2009-05-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I tried baking in my oven for the first time. It is really tiny, gas, and I have to light it with a match every time I use it. I tried to find a long lighter torch thingy, but they only had battery operated at the store across campus. Which I wasn't sure I trusted. I did find one in town, but the lady didn't sell it to me because she said she didn't know the price and it wasn't for sale. Rude. Anyways, I made chocolate chip cookies that turned out pretty good! They taste a little different because all the sugar here is grainy and the brown sugar looks/tastes like the white sugar has been dyed. But the cookies must of been good because I lost a bet today to our friend Dylan and so now I have to bake him some. I also made super yummy banana cinnamon rolls tonight!! They have whole wheat, banana, coconut and walnuts in them. They came out super moist and not burnt! So I think I might sell them on campus- and make some money- or break even. Either way it will give me something to do. Let me know if you are interested in the recipe!

So when I made the cookies our friends Deb and Dylan came over to try them. It turned out that while they were baking a huge land crab was away from it's hole and at the gate entrance to our apartment. Their holes are outside our window along the fence, and at first I thought they were big snake holes, but it turns out they are homes to land crabs. They are huge and supposedly eat grass and mango. So the boys decided to catch it with a stick and a pot. I tried video taping it outside but it was too dark. So I did when we were inside- contemplating if we should cook it or not. Ben decided it had a disease so he tossed it back onto the lawn- we found it in the yard this evening dead. The death could be a result of its disease, the 5 foot toss into the yard, or the extreme humidity we had today.

Where to begin?

2009-05-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

So where do I begin? Well, I hope that this blogging will be put to good use and that people will read/look at it occasionally to see what Ben and I are up to while down on the island. I know that you are all curious about the island, but it makes sense (to me) to start chronologically with the honeymoon. We have some pretty awesome pictures that I want everyone to see!! Then I will dive into island life and let you all know what goes on down here. I will also be posting videos occasionally with the super cool video camera Ben gave me for graduation. In the meantime here are some interesting details about our life so far on the island.

We live next to a small field with a cow (we call her Betsy-dumb) and her calf. And everyday about 8-10 other cows come to visit her.
We plugged our toaster into the outlet without a converter and it caught on fire! The toast actually came out perfect and not burnt. However, the toaster is busted and now we have to use the ugly one.
We made mac n' cheese tonight and both boxes had bugs in them! Gross! I should have took a picture.

Honeymoon (Lake Tahoe, NV):
So I'm actually trying to figure out how this thing works and can't get the top picture down here. But the picture above is from a hike we took at Eagles Nest near Lake Tahoe. Ben and I went off the beaten path and I quickly learned how good Ben is at hiking. We (or Ben) decided to climb up this cliff ledge thing that was steep and had tons of rock piled throughout. The picture above actually has a cliff about 10ft from the tree. I've decided to call Ben Indian Man on hikes because he never touches the ground with his hands. I, on the other hand, looked like a freaked out cat on all fours trying to look natural.

A waterfall/rapid near the path we hiked. It was gushing water and super windy while we were hiking.

Kissing. We got tired of looking at the camera obviously. Ben found two pairs of aviators on a ledge and got them for us to try on. They were pretty cool. I wanted to keep them, but Ben put them back for the missing hikers.

A closer look at the lake. It was freezing like Lake Michigan water. So we just walked along the beach and got some calamari at this really neat restaurant that was on the lake.

So I think this is a pretty good post. I'll make changes as we go along so it is more pleasing to the eye. But I thought I would get something up for now!