So I am now having to write my blogs late at night. There have been numerous robberies on the road that we live on – Moo Cow Trail. There have 4 in about a month. This is VERY unusual. This many robberies doesn’t usually even happen in a year here! The locals that live around here around our town are so nice and they really do love us and care for us. If you talk to a local about what is happening they get really upset about it. They – as did we – considered this a pretty safe place. The spouses really get to know many locals. We are continually running errands, taking different transports and taxis, getting to know the drivers and other people we deal with daily. Unlike the students who don’t even realize they live in the Caribbean because they are stuck in classrooms and studying all day. The locals also take us on tours and shopping trips to Roseau. Most people here are so genuine and caring. Especially if you ask them a question about Dominica or the fruits that grow around here, etc.

Anyway – so I have been really impressed with how Ross has handled this situation of robberies. The robbers have been hiding in the bushes right on the trail so the school had the bushes cut all along the trail 12 feet back! They also had new lights installed all along the trail. And Ross security is sitting there 24/7. The robberies have actually been happening at the beginning of the trail and we live pretty much at the end. So they haven’t been near our house – just on our route home. Not that we ever walked home at night anyway. I mean – who walks alone at night with a backpack that has a laptop in it anyway? I sure as heck wouldn’t do that where we came from in Little Rock, Arkansas!!! So I think its partly the students fault for walking home at night alone (goobers). The school provides free transports (16 passenger vans) straight to your front door (from the school) every thirty minutes starting at dark and going all night. And if your not at school then it is only $6.50EC ($2.43 U.S.) to take a taxi home – which are very safe.

Also – our house and the apartments like 50 feet from us (we have the same landlord) have on foot security that walks around all night. And they really do – we see them often. They are very scared of Ellie. She can be pretty intimidating. When she goes outside to potty at night sometimes she spots them and freaks out and starts barking like crazy and they freak out too.

Anyway – so the reason I have to write my blogs at night is because Justin studies in one of the classrooms on campus till late at night – usually 11ish. So I have to sit beside him and think of stuff to do for about 4 hours. Because I don’t feel comfortable at our house that late at night by myself. Like tonight I made pictures with Skittles (one of the pictures is above), watched a movie on my computer, and wrote this blog. Fun stuff huh?

Above: The thing we rode in on the Aerial Tram

Above: the suspension bridge we had to walk over (yeah - i did it)

Above: the boat we went on to go Whale Watching

Above: One of the whales tail (is it called a tail or a fin?)

Sorry I havent written in so long (my blogs have started out like that a lot lately, huh?) Sorry!! I have had a crazy busy week! Sarahs Mom and little sister got here this past Easter Sunday and I have been “touring” the island with them all week. I had a lot of fun with them but in all truthfulness its so hard for me to hang out with someone and their mom because it makes me miss my mom sooo much. So I’m going to try and give yall a brief description of what we have done all week. Here it goes….

On Monday we went River Tubing down the Layou River. Dominica has something like 365 rivers!! It was one of the coolest things Ive done!! There were like 6 of us and 3 guides went down the river with us. We had to wear helmets and life jackets. The river is not deep whatsoever so I was confused about the lifejackets. But we had to wear helmets because we bumped into rocks a lot and went down little rapids. The tubes had bottoms in them so our butts wouldn’t get scraped. We also had a little paddle in case we got stuck – since some places in the rover were so shallow. Definitely something I will do again.

On Tuesday we went and did the Aerial Tram and went to Screws Sulphur Springs Spa. Now truthfully the Aerial Tram wasn’t that great in my opinion. We just went through the rainforest on this hanging gondola thing. There were 10 of us on it. It wasn’t very fun to me because I really am not interested in different trees and things. It was all green – so no flowers to look at. Well – I think we saw some little orchids or something. When Mom and Dad come I will probably take them on it (yes Dad you ARE coming to Dominica someday). There was a suspension bridge that we walked over – that was pretty cool.

On Wednesday we went into Roseau and did a Whale Watching Tour. We saw two whales!! It was AWESOME!! I didn’t get any really good pictures because digital cameras don’t snap too fast but I did get one picture of each tail!! It was so cool. I felt so fortunate to get to do it. Its something you would do on a cruise trip excursion or something! But I LIVE here and can do it whenever I want!!!!! Well – not really its kinda expensive. Then we spent the night in a resort called Fort Young. That’s right – I said RESORT!! The hotel was very nice. We got an ocean view with a balcony. The room was equivalent to a nice Holiday Inn but the bathroom was almost as nice as a Ritz Carlton. It was almost as big as the room!! We all four stayed in one room with two double beds. The next day we shopped around Roseau a little back and were home by 3:00 pm.

Whew!! Makes me tired just writing about all this stuff! I was so exhausted by the end of the week! (I know yall feel so sorry for me huh?) I will try to get good again at writing almost every day! Love yall!!

Above: Easter cupcakes!!

Above: Blueberry muffins we had for our Easter breakfast!

Above: Waves that are much bigger than normal!

Above: Dinner at PBH on Friday night

Above: Hangin out in Roseau!

Above: Lunch at CocoRicos in Roseau

First of all, Happy Easter everybody! Cant say were really celebrating here but we hope that yall are having a great day with family! Enjoy them and don’t take this time for granted. Last year on Easter we were moving in to our house that we had just built. Both our parents were with us and it was actually a fun time! 

Yesterday was the BEST day on the island so far! Kelsies husband Billy is here from Idaho and we spent the day with them. He got in Friday afternoon while Kelsie and Justin were in PBL (problem based learning). Not sure what PBL is but they have it every Friday afternoon from 3-5. So I met him at her apartment while they were doing their thing at PBL and took him on a little tour. Then all 4 of us went to dinner at PBH (Portsmouth beach housing). PBH is a “hotel” kinda that is right beside campus and they have a restaurant on the beach with pretty good food. The waves right now are huge!! Well – they are huge compared to what they usually are. They usually are pretty non existent. So we oohed and ahhed over the waves most of the night. Above is a picture of one of the waves. But its hard to get a good picture of a wave – I think.

Saturday Billy and Kelsie rented a car (a 2 door Geo really). So we went into Roseau and ate lunch at a place called CocoRicos. It was pretty good – way overpriced. Do yall notice I say that a lot? Billy and I got the shrimp and Justin and Kelsie got the fish tortilla. Then we went up to Trafalger Falls (on accident – we got a little lost). We were trying to get to the Rainforest Aerial Tram. In the aerial tram you are in a hanging gondola that seats up to 8 people. You hang about 70 feet for about a mile looking at scenery pretty much. Well when we got to it we learned that it was closed on Saturdays!!! We were so disappointed! So instead we went up to Titou Gorge. The cave that you swim in (see below blog about Trafalger and Titou). I had already been there but the other three were so glad we went. It is such an AWESOME experience! Then we went to Brizees – a grocery store bigger than what were used to. Kelsie and Justin had never been there. It was cool to take Justin to all these places I had been. That was the best part of the whole day!

So Billy drove the whole time. And that was an experience in itself!! Here you drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right. Here in Dominica the curves are so sharp that you honk when youre coming up to them so that people coming the other way know youre coming. Well – Billy got good use out of our horn!! He would honk at EVERY curve (small or not) – it cracked me up. And then when they would honk back at him – because they thought he was just saying hi (since the some curves weren’t “honk worthy”) he would honk BACK at them. And when we were going up to Titou Gorge the roads are very narrow and only one car can fit on them. Well – we were going up the mountain on roads that we thought were narrow – and then we see a sign that says “Caution: Narrow Roads Ahead. We were like WHAT?!?! It was crazy….

Sarahs mom and sister are coming in today and they will be here all week. So tomorrow we are going river tubing and another day we are doing exactly what we did with Ashley and her mom (below blog). Another fun week ahead!! I cant wait till my mom (and hopefully DAD too) can come someday!!    

In Dominica there is really no such thing as a king size bed. Or a queen really. Some of my friends have two full size beds they push together, but that’s as “king size” as you get around here.

When Justin and I were engaged we bought a king sized bed together. We were only going to be in our first house for a couple of months because we were building a new one. So we decided to keep the king size bed in all its boxes so that it would be easier to move. So we attempted to sleep on a queen size bed that was already set up (I moved into the house Justin was already in). That lasted two weeks – maybe. We decided we didn’t care how hard the new bed would be to move – we had to set it up! We were so uncomfortable in that “little” bed. And anytime we would go to the lake and we slept in the room with two queen sized beds we would put them together because we just “couldn’t sleep in anything but a king sized bed”. Oh how spoiled we were!!!

So when we moved to Dominica we had a FULL size bed. That was our only option. I even asked our landlord before we moved down here if we could pay for a king sized bed to be put in our house. But she said the room wouldn’t fit a king. And when we got here we found out that she is right!! So we had to learn to adjust. We had no other option than to learn to be comfortable in that full size bed.

So the past couple of nights I have let Ellie – our 65 lb. dog sleep with us - in a bed that can barely fit the two of us. She doesn’t have a bed here – only a fleece blanket that we lay on the floor that we brought down here. So I have felt so sorry for her because she is getting spots on her elbows where she lays. Because even when she is outside she lays on our porch – which is obviously not sod which is what she is used too. Even my DOG is spoiled!!!

Justin does not like this new idea. He is not giving up any of his space for my precious dog. So Ellie basically sleeps on top of me. She really doesn’t last long up there. Sometime after I fall asleep she leaves. She is probably hot or uncomfortable – the girl likes her space. Seriously. Before we moved in with Justin and Fisher she slept with me and she liked to SPREAD OUT!! Anyway – so the above picture is of our little full size bed that we sleep in!!

Above: Carib Territory

Above: (from L to R) Andrea, Ashley, Sarah, Me, and Ralna. We were about to go into the cave at Titou Gorge.

Above: the bridge we had to cross to get to Titou Gorge

Above: (from L to R) Sarah, Andrea, Ralna, Ashley, Me. The waterfall behind us is one of the falls at Trafalger Falls

Above: One of the mineral "pools" at Screw Sulpher Springs

Well so far I have had a very fun week! My friend Ashleys mom is here all week and so she has planned stuff for her and her mom to do pretty much all week and invited some of us along! It has been fun! Her being here has made me miss my mom sooo much! I am actually very fortunate because it has turned out that I will see my parents about every other month. Most people go home only twice a year! Anyway – back to my week…..

On Monday (which was also “Mini” day) we went to the Carib Territory and Emerald Pool. The Carib Territory is a tourist attraction that is pretty much just a mock up of what the Carib village used to look like. The CaribTerritory is home to the Kalinago (Carib) Indians who once ruled the entire Eastern Caribbean. Emerald Pool is a small waterfall that has a small pool at the end of it. A small, very cold pool! There were a lot of tourists there because a cruise ship was here. So it was somewhat crowded. It is so weird NOT to be a tourist in this place!!! So I got home around 3:30ish and Justin got out of his test a little after. The only thing I am allowed to tell everyone is that he passed – he wont let me say if he did bad or good!! Which, actually passing is considered good around here!! So Monday night we went to a restaurant called “BlueBay”. The atmosphere was cool. It was on the beach – most restaurants are actually. Justin got Marlin and I got some kind of beef. I have now realized that you cannot get beef around here – no matter how nice the restaurant is. There quality of beef here (or whatever it is) is not “up to par” I guess you could say! We had a great night together! I had Justin all night with no studying! I love mini days!!

Tuesday we went to Titou Gorge, TrafalgerFalls, and Screw Sulpher Springs. That was sooo fun! Titou Gorge is where part of Pirates of the Caribbean II was filmed! It is a cave that you swim through to get to a small waterfall at the end. The water is literally so cold it takes your breath away. Not exaggerating. My friend Sarah almost hyperventilated it was so cold. I was swimming behind her and I was so scared for her. We finally got to a point where we could touch and she could catch her breath. TrafalgerFalls is a small hike to two waterfalls next to each other – kinda. You can go to the bottom of the bigger waterfall but we decided not to because we knew if we climbed down then we would have to climb back UP! We were too tired. Screw Sulpher Springs is place just to relax. It was very cool. They have three little “pool” type places that are different temperatures. They also have small little waterfalls in them. I didn’t have my camera down at the pools so Ashley took all the pictures and she hasn’t had a chance to email em out yet so I don’t have pictures!! But the pools look like they have dirty water in them but they don’t. It is clear water with minerals in them. Like Sulpher. They have fresh fruit for you to munch on and it is soo good. The pineapple here is better than any pineapple I’ve had in Hawaii. It is very sweet – like candy almost.

That’s about it in – again, in a very small nutshell!! Thanks so much for everyones prayers during Justins test. We appreciate it so much!

Above: Down under she goes!! IN THE OCEAN! It was so cool!

Above: A close up of Brenda and the Pastor who baptized her

Above: all the people that were there (excluding me and Justin). The lady in the pink is her mom - Burnadette.

Today has been all about Jesus!! I know what youre thinking Mom – “Everyday should be all about Jesus!”. (Don’t deny it – that is sooo something you would say!!)

Well this morning we went to Brendas baptism which was in the ocean. We pictured it being like a revival you see on TV or something where like the whole congregation is there and tons of people are getting baptized. But is was so precious and intimate. There were like eight people there including me and Justin. We were late – of course – by like 10 minutes. Brenda called me at 10:05 asking where we were because they were fixing to start. I was just thinking – Oh it must almost be her turn!! But when we got there they were all waiting on us so that they could get started. They sang a song, prayed, and then a preacher talked about the meaning of being baptized. He talked about how being baptized does not give a person salvation and that it is merely a profession of your salvation. He quoted scripture from the good ol King James and then had Brenda give her testimony. It was so cool to see that Christianity actually EXISTED on this island. I was beginning to think all hope was lost!! Above are pictures of the baptism. Enjoy!!

After we went to our church service on campus we went to eat Chinese food (oh it was so gross) but Justin will eat practically anything if hes paying for it. And then Justin and I parted ways as he went to study on campus and I went home. Soon after I was home a Jehovahs Witness comes to my door. Now this was an experience……

She was here for about an hour with her grandson. I proceeded to ask her what was different about Jehovahs Witness than Christianity. She then told me some things that they believed and I somewhat tried to help her with the real Truth. I was so frustrated with myself about how little I knew about Scripture. Luckily my Bible has a concordance so I was somewhat able to ask her what she thought about certain verses. Like the fact that they don’t believe in Hell. So I would find different verses about Hell and would say – how can you believe “everything the Bible says” – yet you don’t believe in Hell? It was interesting the different answers she had to each of my questions. So she asked if she could come back and talk with me some more. I said – Sure!! I came back in my house and thought – am I in over my head here?? So I emailed my pastor from back home asking him for HELP!! He was a missionary and will be the perfect person to talk to about everything.

Although I don’t agree with everything the Jehovahs Witness believes I have to admire and respect their tenacity and the way they pursue people. This is the third time they have been to my house. I mean the lady had her grandson with her – having him look up verses for her and quoting scripture. When I said something about Hell – he knew what scripture to look up! He was just as into telling me about his religion as she was. How many Christian 10 year olds do you know like that? How many any age Christians do you know like that? That are so passionate about what they believe in that they want to go knocking door to door telling everyone about it. And who know EVERYTHING about what they believe in and why. I can promise you I am very guilty about not knowing my Bible like I should. Please pray for me that if this lady comes back God gives me the right words to say.

 I encourage everyone to take a step back and ask yourself – how strong is my witness?? Am I passionate about Jesus like every other religion is passionate about what they believe in? A while back there was not a synagogue in Dominica for the Muslims to go to however many times they go a day. The students threw such a fit that they got one built almost right beside campus!! Wow!! Would we do that if there wasn’t a church here to worship at? Now that is the kind of passion I want!

God has sent me here not only to support my husband but he is showing me that my faith needs to be stronger and that I need to know more about what I believe in. He had to take me out of my element from back home to make me realize that I need to be in the Word more. (Sorry Justin – its all my fault were here ;) ) There is a song called Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns. One line of the song says – “cause You are who You are, no matter where I am”. Oh how true that is!!!

I think Justin somewhat loves the weekend before the Mini because I go all out with the cookin. Well – as “all out” as I can go – considering my cooking skills aren’t the greatest! This morning we had blueberry muffins and I am cooking his favorite brownies this afternoon. Tonight we will probably have some kind of chicken. Sunday night we will have prime rib with mashed potatoes and green beans. Lots of dishes to clean up!! This past Thursday I forgot to tell yall that Justin had a Histology Lab Exam. I know some of you pray over his schedule and already knew (thank you as always for your prayers!). Anyway – he thinks he did really well!! We wont know how well he did until next week sometime when he receives his score. But don’t forget to pray for the big test on Monday!! I personally love Mini days because Justin (as well as everyone else on campus) takes the whole night off so we will get some much needed quality time together. We plan to catch up on some shows that we have missed the past couple of weeks and are going to dinner somewhere. I cant wait!!

The spaghetti dinner that the spouses put on was last night and it went much better than expected. I wasn’t on the committee but they did a really good job of organizing and cooking everything! I did help serve and that was actually kinda fun. We ended up serving almost 170 people. We had spaghetti (w/ meat or no meat sauce), green beans, a roll, and a drink. They also had a table set up selling dessert that some girls made for $2EC.

The above picture is of Ellie in the river behind our house. I mean RIGHT behind our house. It is the best part about where we live. It is very loud (in a good way). We talk all the time about how much we will miss the sound of the running water. Ellie obviously loves it too! She gets so excited when you ask her” You wanna go to the river?” She runs to the gate and then as soon as we open it she sprints to the river and plays by herself. She goes everyday.

Tomorrow morning our maid – Brenda is getting baptized!!! She invited us to come so we will be there at 10:00 am!! She is getting baptized in the beach – how cool is that? When I went back to the states Mom had bought a really cute Bible for her and had her name put on it – IN PINK!! It was so perfect. I got a free little tote bag from Bath and Body Works for spending so much money and so I put the Bible in that and gave it to her when I got back. She was so excited. She loved it and was really shocked someone who barely knew her would get her a present! She actually met Mom on the webcam one of the first weeks I was here. After that she always said “Tell your Mom I said HI!” So I think Brenda feels like she knows her since I talk about her all the time!

Above is a picture of my cousin Mollie at my wedding. I love this picture! Today is her 20th birthday!! Tonight my family is going out to eat for her birthday and I hate not being there for things like this! Happy Birthday Mollie – I love you!!!!!!!

Well I believe that the cooler months in Dominica are OVER. There is no breeze and my love I had for the island has flown out the window today. I ran errands this morning. Went to the bread lady (Ms. Tiny) – although she is not tiny. Why do people always nickname fat people Tiny? I think its kinda mean personally. Anyway – after I walked there I walked over to campus to get a package that was waiting on us – since customs was open – one of the few times they are open. The package had our Texas Rangers hats in them (I have a pink one and Justin has a navy blue one) (picture above), 2 devotional books, and two shirts from my Moms mission trip to Costa Rica. We LOVE getting packages!!! But I think everyone knows that since I express it almost every day! Anyway – so after that I went to pay our Cable and Wireless bill (internet). It was $129.95EC which in U.S. dollars is almost $50. Then I proceed to walk home. I arrive home and am literally dripping in sweat – as in I am having to wipe sweat off with a towel. When has that happened to ME?? Let me think about it… NEVER!!! I don’t sweat. Even in the hot summer months in Arkansas I don’t really sweat. Im just not a sweaty person. My friend Sarah – who has also expressed to me of her non sweatiness – sweats a lot here. It is so hot here even my dog – Ellie didn’t enjoy the walk to campus. Usually she is very excited to see everyone and loves to go on these walks. Nope – not today. And this is just the beginning. Everyone says it is just going to get worse.

OK – so enough about my bad morning!! The above picture has been posted because those hats we are wearing in the picture are the hats we received in the mail today. The picture was taken at a Texas Rangers game. We LOVE baseball. Our goal is to go to a different stadium every year for our anniversary. Obviously not this year though!! So far we have been to the Texas Rangers stadium and the Kansas City Royals stadium. I know – we have a LOOONG way to go! Our love of baseball is one of the reasons God put us together we believe. It is something that we love going and doing together. In Little Rock they had a minor league team called the Travelers and we went to tons of their games. (Awww – that makes me think of our friends Brad and Erica who we miss sooooo much) (they used to go with us – LOVE YALL!!)

I would also like to give a shoutout to my cousin Lawrie. She is 40 today!! Happy Birthday Lawrie – love you!! Above is a picture of Lawrie crying in my wedding – she was a bridesmaid. Isnt that the sweetest picture? I love it.

The above picture is of me and three friends at a “get together” last Saturday at a spouses apartment. We played Cranium and Sarah and I got third place. We were in first place and everyone came from behind and beat us!! Well – one team dropped out to watch a football game. So I guess technically we were in last place. Oh well!! We had fun! Maybe this Saturday we will play Catch Phrase – my favorite!!

I received another package from Mom and Dad a couple days ago but haven’t been able to pick it up because of the jacked up hours. You can only pick up USPS packages when customs is open which is only Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. I thought they closed at 2 so I was too late yesterday when I went to pick it up. UGH!!

When I went back to the states I got us some new sheets. The ones we brought down here were only 250 thread count and were not very comfortable. I bought the cheap ones because we have a full size bed here and I thought that it didn’t really matter. I knew that we wouldn’t bring them home because we don’t have a full size at home so I was just going to sell them when we left. So the ones I brought back are 600 thread count. MAN what a difference they really do make!! We slept on them for the first time last night and we slept sooo good. They were so soft!

Justins second big test (the “Mini”) is Monday! He is very tired and doesn’t feel very good about this test. In my devotional this morning it had the following verses:

“Even youths will become exhausted and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” ISAIAH 40:28-31

“I have given rest to the weary.” JEREMIAH 31:25

Please pray that Justin will find the strength that only God can give him right now to keep studying and to retain all this stuff he is learning! He is so tired and has so much information to know for one test! 

OK - I need to clear a story up. My famous clothesline story. Above is a picture of the clothesline connected to our balcony and a tree across the yard. The first like week we were here I washed some towels. We are the only people I know that actually has a washer (no dryer unfortunately). Well – the only Ross people that is. As most of you know – we send our laundry out about every other week. I know what you are thinking – why do that when you have a washer? Well let me tell you. Because it costs so much electricity to run the washer and the washer is so small that it is pointless to use it really. It is cheaper to send the laundry out. (Darn huh?)

Above is a picture of our washer and deep freeze which are underneath our house. And yes – that sticker on the washer says “Made In Italy”.

So back to my clothesline story. I had washed some towels and put them on the clothesline. Like draped them over – know what I mean? Well they kept slipping off. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t stay!! So I called Justin out on the balcony and told him my issue. He didn’t say much – just looked at me like I was crazy. I guess I would say he was speechless?? So he goes inside and grabs some clothespins to help hold up the towels. How am I supposed to know these things when I didn’t have a clothesline growing up? I think Justin only knew because he was in Boy Scouts and they learn survival skills like that.  

The clearing up that I need to do is that somehow the story has been twisted and people think that I didn’t know what a clothespin was. I know what they are!!! I use them for my skirts – ON HANGERS!!! Not on clotheslines – with towels. Well – we use them to keep chips bags closed too. So now that that’s cleared up, yall (Josh and Dad) can quit teasing me about it!!