First of all, I just want to thank Liz for letting me be a “guest” blogger here. It’s going to be very hard to beat the great job she does on here keeping every one updated! I thought all semester about what I would write about when I got a chance, but all I can think of is thank you (especially Liz, and to every one else too). As you can see from the picture above, I’m ready to relax. It’s very difficult though because I feel like I have to keep going, and there is no stopping to relax.

It’s not really revealed on this blog, but Liz takes care of me very well here. She has been such a great support! I hardly have to worry about anything, unlike a lot of my classmates. I go to school, study, come home and there is a clean house and meal ready to eat. The cycle repeats day after day. She does all of the shopping, and so many unseen things and makes sacrifices that I never see. I can’t thank her enough. She hasn’t tired or given up! I’m so proud of her, and to be honest, never imagined she would have such a rough life. Yes, to those of you who say: “But you’re in the Caribbean, how much easier can it get? You’re living the life” Well… Dominica is different… This is a very beautiful island, but there is a lot of hardship here too. We don’t get a lot, and everything is very expensive!

Secondly, I would like to thank our families and friends who support us from afar. Getting packages down to us is not easy, and can be quite an expense. Also, we still have a lot of business to take care of back home and our families are taking care of that for us. That’s huge to us! We’ve only been here one semester (4 months) and we have been so blessed. Thank you for to the people who do not even know us but pray for us and school! School is definitely very hard, and I really need the prayers. As much as I love learning about the body and medicine, some days I just get frustrated. I know that prayer works, keep it up, please!

Faith… Little did I know that my perfect life back in NLR would be turned upside down and rocked by God! He does some crazy things to us some days. We were newly married, built a new house, had new vehicles, great dogs (and places to take care of them), great church, great friends, and modern conveniences. We were doing so well, and when we stopped living “our” lives and started living for God, he hit us w/ a sledge-hammer! As much as I was confused and disappointed to be leaving the States, I know that God has great things for us in the future. So ultimately, I should thank Him. We rely on God by our faith, and some days are more challenging than others, but the end reward is sweet. It's so hard to describe. I am learning more about my wife, and we are growing closer. Med school alone is a growing experience. Try doing it in another country! Also, I am learning more about God than I ever thought I would. I want to encourage any one who reads this to try it some time.

I hope I am not leaving anything out, and every one knows how much we appreciate them. Thank you for your support, and to anyone who is an incoming student to Ross that could use some advice about this place, just let me know. It may take a bit to get back to you sometimes, but I will do my best. Thanks again!!
-Justin

So Justins FINAL test of the semester is Tuesday!! Im so excited! He has been studying so hard – as always! We are almost done with Semester 1! Our time here so far has gone by so fast.

Last week RCF (Ross Christian Fellowship – the church we go to on campus) asked Justin to be a leader next semester. They asked three guys including him. The duties basically include helping with the RCF cookout at the beginning of the semester (a HUGE cookout for all of the students), go to two RCF functions a week, give a couple sermons, and to be available to students when needed. The current leaders say that someone will come up to talk to them about a problem and something they think might take a couple of minutes will take a couple of hours!! As he was very flattered that they asked him to do this we weren’t really sure if this was God’s plan for him. Next semester is said to be the hardest and we wanted him to be able to spend all of his time studying. So we prayed all week for God to show us what His plan was. And as with a lot of things – Gods plan is not our plans!! He showed us both through scripture and devotions that Justin is supposed to do this!! So Justin confirmed it with the pastor over the church this morning that yes he would do it and the pastor was excited!! So God has confirmed one of His reasons for us being here! Thank you LORD!!

Well tonight something happened to me that I have been waiting on to happen for a long time. My gas tank went out. And I cook with gas. I had worked really hard on this new pasta casserole type dish that we were going to try for the first time tonight. And it was in there maybe 5 minutes and the gas goes out. Oh I was so upset. I had had a great day and this new dish was going to be a great ending. Justin had laid down for a nap and was asleep when this happened. Well let me just tell you that this is an emotional time of the month for me – so tonight was not a good night for this to happen. So I woke him up and he knew what to do – thank goodness (Justin is very good at damage control). It was actually a very easy process. We just called the taxi company and they came and picked up our empty tank and went and exchanged it at Tinas – one of the local grocery stores down the road. And even though my dinner set out for a good 30 minutes – with 5 minutes worth of cooking – I stuck it back in the oven and it was wonderful!!!

But we got extremely lucky. I have heard horror stories about these gas tanks. Sometimes the whole area will be out for a couple of days!! Now none of my friends here feel real sorry for me. Because this has happened to all of them! Im sure they love hearing the “out of gas” stories of the newbies. But next semester I will no longer be a newbie and then I can enjoy someone elses out of gas story. But one tank has lasted me one week shy of a whole semester! And I cook pretty much every night – and occasionally at lunch. Above is a picture of our gas tank – which is underneath our house in a little storage room with the dog food.

This morning was the fourth semester sale. What it is is all the students who are leaving the island (mainly fourth semesters) set up a bunch of their stuff that they want to get rid of before they leave. It started at 8:00 am so I had to get up at 7:30 am to meet Sarah on campus. It was very interesting. I bought some Chef Boyardee, pasta, icing, and Pepto Bismol chewables. My friend even got some birth control!!! They mainly sell school stuff. Like books, binders, etc. – which we didn’t need any of so thankfully I went out of there not spending much at all! Then Sarah and I came back to my house and made cupcakes – well we made some cupcakes – we ate most of the batter. Then made lunch for our husbands and went to eat with them on campus (because that’s where both of them study) and then played PHASE 10 (thanks mom!) by the beach – which I BARELY lost by the way. Then we played fetch with Ellie, went to a local grocery store and then we parted ways and went home.

Mini 3 is tomorrow!! Then only one test left! YAY!! Today Justin actually went and studies by the pool. This was his first time to the pool since we have lived here!! As most of you know – most of my days consist of being at the pool – so it was so fun to have him there! We swam together for about 15 minutes and then he started studying. We were actually the only ones there for most of the time. It was great! He did get a little burnt (on one side only!). But at least now he wont look so pasty! It was fun to somewhat “spend the day” with him. He is getting lots of grades back from previous exams and practicals and all I am allowed to say is that he has passed them all!! He will not let me tell anyone if they are good or bad – only if he passed. But still – that is good news! Thanks so much for all the prayers.

Over the break we (as yall know) are going to Antigua. Well the break is two weeks long and we will only be in Antigua for the first week. So the second week we are going to be in Dominica. Sarah and David will also be here so Sarah and I plan on taking them out to “see the island” like we have gotten to do!! We are all 4 so excited. We are going to rent a car for a couple of days – so that will be very entertaining in itself. We have agreed that we all four would like to try driving here and we are all four very funny people – so we are going to have a blast!! David and Sarah enjoy the same sarcasm and humor that we do – I am so thankful for them!!

Also – I am trying to find something to occupy my time down here so please pray for that! There are basically two paying jobs available on the island to students/spouses. One is at the bookstore on campus (which pays $3/hr) and the other is at a local restaurant that is owned by some Canadians (which pays not a lot more). So basically I wouldn’t make much either way. They are also not very appealing jobs. Trust me – I know this because I have friends that work at both places. So please pray for something that either pays decent (very unlikely) or something that is worthwhile.

Oh! I did find out recently that I am the new Secretary of an organization on campus called Hope Dominica. It is a palliative and hospice organizationprovided to Dominica. Truthfully – I don’t know what all it entails – I just signed up for it because I figured it would occupy some of my time! Hopefully it will be entertaining!

Two weeks from today we will be in Antigua!! Yay!! Justin has two tests down and two to go. His classes were officially over yesterday. They allow him 5 days to study for Mini 3 and 4 days after the Mini to study for the Comprehensive Final.

Last night for supper I made homemade pizza. It was delicious! I have to say I was very impressed with myself. It was just good ol cheese pizza because we don’t have pepperoni, sausage, or canadian bacon here. Well – I might be able to find some pepperoni in Roseau – but that is an hour drive and I didn’t have time to drive an hour away when I decided Friday afternoon we were having pizza.

We do have pineapple down here though – but I couldn’t do pineapple only pizza – not without canadian bacon. The pineapple here is better than the pineapple in Hawaii by far in our opinion! It is very sweet. It also looks a little different from the pineapples back home. The bananas also look different here. They are very small. They are short and fat – and also a little sweeter than bananas back home.

One of my favorite things when we first got here was the fact that we could walk right outside our door and pick numerous fruits and eat them! Our landlord has tons of fruit trees around our house and hers so we have “permission” to pick and eat them. But if you were to go to a random tree and pick their fruit – you would probably get your hand chopped off by a machete. Because that is how a lot of people make their money down here – selling fruit! Around our house there are grapefruits, oranges, limes, starfruit, and mangoes.

Ellie has found a new friend. He is a stray puppy that hangs around campus a lot. We named him Tyke. He is super sweet and cute with his big floppy ears. The fact that Ellie doesn’t attack him is a miracle. She usually doesn’t play well with others. Above is a short video of them playing! 

Above: Ellie SURROUNDED by presents!
Below: All of our packages!

This is a blog that has been past due! We received FIVE packages last Friday!!!  We were soooo excited! I was very impatient and just had to go get them that day! I couldn’t wait this time. We even almost rented a car I wanted to go so bad. So instead we choose to take a taxi into Roseau (about a 45 minute drive). It was more of a process than I thought it was going to be. We had to go into the middle of Roseau to DHL to get some kind of slips. Then we had to go to the airport (right outside of Roseau) to get the packages. We went into customs and there were three people ahead of us. So immediately I knew we would be there for a while. Well – when it was finally our turn – we gave them our package slips and the customs guy brought the boxes to us. He opened three out of the five boxes and we only got charged $25EC TOTAL for customs.

Now let me tell you how ridiculous this is. One time we received a large package that had pretty much the same exact stuff that these packages had in them. Food. And we were charged about $80EC – for the ONE package!! Please tell me how much sense that makes?? And the fact that they didn’t even OPEN all the packages?!?! What if we were smuggling something illegal in? They would’ve never known it!

Anyway – we (as yall know) love getting packages. This time the packages had food, shoes, clothes, and lots of treats for Ellie!! She also received a new pink portable dog bowl. Her other one was blue and it just wouldn’t do. She definitely is liking the pink one more!! Her picture is above with all her new presents. The other picture is of all of our boxes!

Justin has TWO exams tomorrow!! He hasn’t been going to bed as early as he was at the beginning of the semester. At first he was going to bed around 10:00 pm but now he is going to bed around midnight or later. So today he took a little 45 minute nap. He is starting to get WORN out! I cant wait for Antigua where he will get to sleep whenever he wants! April is seeming to go by so slow. I think it is because I am getting ancy about our break. Thank yall so much for praying for him. So far no hives!! Also – he seems to be budgeting his time very well – which was a prayer request at the beginning of the semester. Prayer WORKS!! Thank you!!

Justin has four tests from April 10th thru April 22nd. Please pray that his hives will not come back (since they seem to pop up around test times) and that he will be extremely focused during this time! After April 22nd Semester 1 will be over!! I cant believe it. It seemed like it went by so fast. Semester 2 is rumored to be the hardest. For example – between April 10 – April 24th – they are having to take NINE tests!! During 2nd semester Justin will have the same classes with one added – Neuroscience. The classes that are the same will be more in depth (which I cant imagine getting more in depth than he already is). His schedule for tests is as follows:

April 10th – Histology Lab 8:00 a.m.
April 10th – Anatomy Lab 1:00 p.m.
April 17th – Mini Exam     1:00 p.m.
April 22nd – Comp. Final Exam 1:00 p.m.

The exam on the 22nd is a test about the WHOLE semester!! How do you study for something like that?!?! Well – thankfully you and I don’t have to worry about that! So please pray that Justin studies everything he needs too. 

This morning my mom had her port taken out!! The port is about the size of a quarter, only thicker, and is in between her breast and collarbone. The port was used to put her chemo in. So from now on she will just have check ups!! Praise the Lord!! It has been a long journey! She found out she had breast cancer in November 2006.

So to celebrate this journey I got her a cake! It’s a picture of a womans “top” and underneath it it says “Glad you still got em”!! I ordered it last week and Nicole went and picked it up for me and took it to the house. It was my way of saying wish I was there! The picture of the cake is above. CONGRATS MOM!! I LOVE YOU!

The picture to the left is of (half of) the gym here at Ross. I have a new “workout” plan. Since I have been coming to campus with Justin at night I figured during that time I could go to the gym for a little bit! Our new routine (since the robberies) is that we try to eat early – like 5:30 – and then we try to get to campus by dark. It gets dark here at like 6:30ish and it only takes us about 8 minutes to get to campus. And then we stay at campus in a classroom until 11:00ish. During that time I catch up on emails, blog, watch movies, and do whatever else I can think up of doing. Well – on Tuesdays and Wednesdays Sarah and I go over to our friend Ashleys apartment to watch American Idol in the middle of our “classroom time”. Sarah’s husband David studies in the same classroom that Justin does on most nights so we take the free transports over to Ashleys together. Justin has told me that we cant sit with Sarah and David in the classroom because Sarah and I would be a distraction to everyone else. So instead we just have to instant message each other – even though they might only be a couple rows away from us. Well – one time when Justin was in the anatomy lab we watched Napoleon Dynamite together and WERE NOT a distraction.

So tonight was my first night of working out. And I don’t really workout – I just do the elliptical for 30 minutes. And actually I have to take a little break after 15 minutes. Im so out of shape. Here is my issue with working out. First of all – I hate it. Its boring and it hurts. Second – when I get in my bi-yearly “workout mode” I have a tendency to think I can eat more because Im working out. I am actually sitting here thinking “I wonder what good stuff the bookstore has to munch on?” I know – it makes no sense – something is wrong with me. Thirdly – I cook all the time here – which most people would think that would help us lose weight. Well – I don’t know how to make things taste good without butter – and lots of it. So cooking does me no good. And don’t even think Im eating vegetables without butter – gross.  

But here are some good things about working out – First, I have nothing else to do. I am so bored sitting in this classroom I am starting to workout just for something to do. Also – I am in a bathing suit almost every day – so that is GREAT motivation. Especially when I have no fat friends. So when I am on the elliptical and I want to quit after about 0 minutes I look down at my legs and then Im like “oh yeah – that is why you are going to keep going”. I also want to get in shape before I have a baby. It is very unhealthy to be fat while you have a baby inside of you. And no – were not thinking of having a baby soon. Well – not in the next year anyway! =)

So we will see how long this lasts. Hopefully longer than it did in Little Rock. We worked out with our friends Brad and Erica for a little while and Justin was really the only one keeping us all going. (Don’t deny it Rice’s – yall know its true!) And after we worked out we were like “so – whats for supper – BBQ?” And then we would go eat BBQ – or pizza.

Our yummy hamburger dinner on Sunday night! LOOK!! Thats SWEET tea in my glass!

Justin had to put ice on his lips to try and make the swelling go down!

Justin had a test on Monday (yesterday) and he feels that he did very well on it!! Yay! It was in DPS (doctor patient society). He also had a quiz this morning that he said he did well on! I am so proud of him!! He has a lot of tests coming up in the next 3 weeks so please continue to pray for him! The 2nd semester students have it the worst though. They have like 10 tests or something crazy like that. I have a lot of 2nd semester friends that are spouses and it is almost just as stressful for the wives as it is for the husbands! I am NOT looking forward to that next semester!

Justins hives came back Sunday. And they came back BAD! His like whole face swelled up. Including his bottom lip – which was actually kinda funny. He looked like he was a “brotha”. I felt so sorry for him but truthfully it was so hard for me not to crack up everytime I turned the lights on during commercials to “check up on him”. I am thinking these are being caused by stress because they seem to pop up before a test. But Justin is in denial about my prognosis.

Sunday nights are like our “time” together. We watch Oprahs Big Give and Here Come the Newlyweds on ABC. And that is usually the night we eat PRIME RIB!! YUM! But Mr. Anderson not only sent us Prime Rib he also sent us hamburger patties! They are very good. Its so nice to see USDA on the side of your box of meat! We had them for the first time this past Sunday night. I of course took a picture of it! I have never taken so many pictures of my food until I came to Dominica. But it taste so good I just feel like I have to have a memory of it!

Only 25 days till we see my parents in Antigua!! I am counting down the days. We are so excited! This will be a LOOONG 3 weeks for Justin since he has so many tests but hopefully this time will FLY by for me! Justin will be in NEED for this vacation as will my parents! Me – not so much. I cant say I have too much stress down here.