Today has been one of the best days in Dominica!! I got to play softball this morning! Ross has their own little version of intermurals. They have football – which is the most popular – and softball. I think they might even have volleyball too – Im not sure. Anyway so one of the spouses plays on her husbands team and they asked me to join!! There are only three teams – so we just play each other all semester but I wouldn’t care if their were only two teams!! This morning I was the only girl on the team because Krista – the other spouse - was sick with an upper respiratory infection. I played first base and did pretty good. I was a little rusty I have to admit. But it was just so much fun! The bat they have is pretty horrible and we all have to share gloves – and the balls are weird. Its like they’ve all been soaked in water or something. Again – it was still fun! My team WON!!! I think the score was like 8-4 or something like that.

While we were playing there were a lot of little Dominican kids watching us and hanging out with us. They were so sweet. One little girl was very outgoing and she asked me my name. I told her Liz – which is a very weird name to them so I always have to explain to them that its short for Elizabeth. So when I said Elizabeth she said “oh – like the name in the Bible!!”. It was so cute. And then after rounding the bases one time I came in and sat beside her and told her I was out of shape. I asked her if she knew what that meant and she said “Yes – it means that your big – like me!! I weigh 115 lbs.!!” I tried to explain to her that she was not big and then I told her how much I weighed (which was A LOT more than her) and that made her happy.

The top picture is of Justin in our new “hammock seat”. We found it under our house (we have a small storage room under there). As you can see from the picture below it – its probably not the safest thing to sit in. The hook that its on has cracks all on the sides – like the roof is fixing to fall in our something. He said its pretty comfortable but Im not brave enough to try it out.   

Don’t forget – Justin speaks tomorrow in our church service!! It is at 11:00 am – which is 10:00 am central time.

The cruise was fun. It was a smaller boat and we just “cruised” to a beach called Secret Beach. It is called Secret Beach because you can only get to it by boat. The boat couldn’t go all the way to the shore so it stopped a little ways out into the ocean and we jumped off and swam to the beach. We hung out there for a little bit then headed back. We were gone for about 2.5 hours. Another girl took lots of pictures but hasn’t emailed them to anyone yet – but I will post them when I get them (well – if I look ok in them). 

Today we had our first meeting for HOPE Dominica - the organization that I am in that does hospice work. The goal of the organization is to befriend elderly people who are in hospice, find out their basic needs and try to help them. We also raise money to help with their hospital bills. Last semester they raised enough money to buy a morphine pump for the hospital in Roseau!! I am excited to get started!! 

Tonight we had game night out on the Subway Deck. I won PHASE 10!! I have to admit Im pretty good at that game. One of the girls that was there had her 1 year old daughter with her. She was on the floor beside me playing in my purse. Her mom was like “Im sorry” and I said jokingly “oh its ok as long as she doesn’t puke on it”. And then she was like – oh she doesn’t do that – ever. Not one minute later – she puked on my purse!! Not a lot though. It was funny. 
27 days till Im in the states!!!!!!!!!

Our cable has been out for about three days now so my nights have been pretty boring. Justin stays at school till about 11:00 pmish and I usually clean up from dinner during that time and watch tv. Well – now I can only clean due to the horrible system of getting things fixed around here.  

This week Im actually somewhat busy (not what yall consider busy – what I consider busy) Which means I have at least one thing planned during the day.
The organization that I am Secretary for is kicking off this week with two meetings! The point of the organization is to raise money for older people who have cancer and to go and visit them and get to know them. Im excited!
Bible Study is tomorrow night. We just started last week and that group consists of eight girls – all spouses. RSO (Ross Spouses Organization) is having game night Wednesday night and I LOVE to play games. Tomorrow afternoon some spouses are going on a “cruise” around the island. We will be on a catamaran type boat. I think it might be a sailboat – Im not sure. But that will be fun – to lay on the boat all afternoon. And there is a Bake Sale Thursday – which the spouses do. I am baking Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. Probably some of the best cookies ever. And then Friday night is movie night which is my favorite because those are the two hours I get to be with Justin – like our date night I guess!!  

 Also - don’t forget that Justin is speaking at RCF this Sunday!! Please pray that God will speak through him and that he will not be nervous. Also pray that he finds time to prepare for it!

 That’s all Ive got for today. Sorry its not very entertaining. Hopefully I will take some pictures this week so yall can have something to look at!

Thursday morning I went snorkeling with nine other spouses. It was so much fun!! When I was 15 I went snorkeling in Hawaii with my family. We took a catamaran to the middle of the ocean and jumped off and snorkeled. I lasted for about 10 minutes – MAYBE. I saw a sting ray and flipped out and went back to the boat – and stayed there. So everytime during the last five months of being on this island, when someone asked me to go snorkeling, without hesitation I said NO!! Well – I finally gave in when Heather called me yesterday. Mainly because since Sarah left I have been bored out of my mind. So bored I even went to class with Justin a couple of times!! I almost chickened out this morning but I went!!

We snorkeled for 2 hours!!! The girls I went with said that we didn’t really see anything and that there are much better places to snorkel on the island. But I thought we saw a lot! We basically just saw a lot of pretty fish – nothing crazy. Well we did see a puffer fish! That was cool! And we saw some zebra fish, pencil (trumpet) fish, and neon blue fish. I think we are going to start going every Thursday – but to different places. Right now I am having to bum snorkel gear off other people – but Mom and Dad are sending some in our next package!!

I leave for Kristens wedding one month from today! Im so excited! Mom and I are throwing her bridal luncheon with two of her aunts. I will be getting there the Tuesday before the wedding so I will get to spend more time with Kristen and her family and the other bridesmaids. ALSO I have to get my dress fitted in three days!! Maybe it will fit? Yeah right – bridesmaids dresses never fit perfect.

THEN I will be going back to Fort Smith and will be leaving to go back to Dominica around the 14th of July. Mom and I hope to take a little road trip to go see some family. I hope it works out!! The timing that I will be gone will be so perfect. It will be the three weeks before Mini 2 and I will get home the day after its over. It was really a God thing how everything has worked out so far!

Also - the above picture has nothing to do with this post. Just a cute picture of Ellie in the river behind our house!!

The above video is of a new song by Steven Curtis Chapman called Cinderella. If your not at a place where you can bawl your eyes out – don’t watch it!! It is so precious.

Yesterday his youngest daughter – who they adopted from China – got hit by a car in their driveway driven by one of their teenage sons. After the video of his song Steven tells why he wrote Cinderella. If you listen to what it says you cant help but realize how awesome God is, realizing that God gave Steven the words to that song and the feelings he had because He knew what was going to happen to Stevens little girl yesterday. What a tragic time this must be for them. Please keep them in your prayers.

We had an EARTHQUAKE this morning!! It woke me up at about 7:45 – after Justin had left to go to school. My mom thinks Im crazy – but it was so cool!!!!

At first I just thought I was crazy. Because at the beginning of last semester I thought I had felt a very small shake and when I asked Justin about it he acted like I was crazy – because he didn’t feel it. So I really wasn’t planning on saying anything about this one – even though it was bigger than the one I “felt” last semester. Until my friend Kelsie and I were talking on the computer and she asked me if I felt it and I was like YES!!! IM NOT CRAZY!!!

Justin was on campus and said he didn’t feel it. Which is weird because the campus is in between our house and Kelsies house. I also asked Henry – who is a local that works for our landlord about the earthquake. He was like “yes – there was one this morning”! And he lives a village over. Im assuming it was just a “trimmer” because it lasted for like 30 seconds maybe?? I don’t know – it woke me up. It was the craziest thing. It felt like a giant grabbed each side of our house and shook it gently. 

Above pictures are of our car!! We are renting it from a guy named Lester who works in the library on campus. I LOVE having it. It has made life so much more convenient. The car has its “kinks” but as long as it runs Im happy with it! Well – there have been two times where I went to start and it and it was dead! Luckily – the first time it happened Justin was with me. The battery is corroded and so he showed me how to make it start. You just jiggle this little wire that goes to the battery and make it tighter. And then it starts!! Also – when its locked – you cant unlock it from the drivers side. So when Im alone – I have to unlock the passenger side, crawl through the car and unlock the driver side door. So I am extremely thankful for our White Nissan Sunny!!

So do you want the good news or bad news first??
 
The bad news is that my friend Sarah is going home Sunday and will be gone until September!!! She is a dental hygienist and the dentists office where her mom works has an opening due to a woman on maternity leave – so Sarah is going home to fill it. So the prayer begins again for God to send me friends.

Also – our friend Kelsies grandma passed away. Kelsie arrived back to the island this past Sunday and found out that night about her grandma. The funeral was Wednesday so she wasn’t able to go back home for it. Please pray for peace and comfort for her. 

Now some good news….

First off – WE GOT A CAR!!! We are renting it from semester to semester from a local that works on campus. The good thing about renting and not buying is that if anything happens to the car (that’s not our fault) – then he fixes it! It is a white Nissan Sunny. I will post a picture of it tomorrow. Its too late to get a good picture of it now. This will make my life so much better.

Second – Justin might be able to do his clinicals in Oklahoma City!!! The man in charge of clinicals was here yesterday and I went to the talk he had with Justins class. We asked him specifically about locations in the south and he said they were working on getting a hospital in OKC. He said the guy he is working with is his friend and he is like 99% positive that Ross will get it. They just haven’t had a time to get together – because of schedule conflicts.

Clinical rotations are when we come back to the states (After 5th semester – which is in Miami or Michigan) and Justin does like 6 weeks of each “field” (like general surgery, OBGYN, etc.) Well – with Ross not being a school in the states – there is a chance that we could do each rotation in a different place. As in each rotation being in a different state!!! Well – there are a few places that have all or almost all of the rotations in one hospital (or at least one city). Oklahoma City will be on of them!!!! He will be able to do 5 of the 6 rotations there – and in the same hospital. They will only be accepting 10 students per semester though. And it also depends on GPA and test scores. It is biblical that the Lord cares for the desires of our heart (Psalms 37:4) so please start praying NOW that the Lord will allow us to be in Oklahoma City. We want to start a family when we get back (besides just our dogs) and it will be pretty impossible to do that if were in a different place every 6-8 weeks! Also – OKC is close to family! My brother and sister-in-law LIVE there and it is only 3 hours from my parents and my dads side of the family. Unfortunately its not as close to Justins family – but closer than Chicago or New York!! Now don’t yall get your hopes up (I should be speaking to myself – Im already picking out places to live). This is still a little more than a year away but Im just glad it might be possible!

Justin starts his 2nd semester of school today!! I know I say this a lot – but this semester is going to be so challenging. During first semester they would generally not have classes in the afternoon (unless it was his groups turn to dissect). This semester they have classes in the afternoon almost every day!! They have all the same classes as last semester plus one more – Neuro. They have also have more tests this semester – LOTS MORE!! But all this just means even less time together and even more time studying (even though that feels humanly impossible).

Justin is also a leader in RCF (Ross Christian Fellowship). He has to “preach” two times this semester. June 1st and July 27th (the Sunday after our 2nd Wedding Anniversary). Please put these days on your calendar so that you can remember to pray for him. Im not real sure when he will have time to prepare for these talks but the Lord knows because Justin and I both prayed very hard about the RCF position and we both felt strongly that this is what Justin is supposed to do. For instance, I was worried about Justin speaking. I didn’t have the confidence that he could do it.  And then the Lord showed me this verse: 

 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12: 8-10

That is how I knew he was supposed to be a leader. God showed me that even though speaking is a weakness in Justin – that He actually delights in that so that HIS strength can be shown through Justin!!

God also showed Justin through different ways that he should take the position. God works in awesome ways right?? With God all things are possible!! (Just not easy!)

Also – we are trying to buy a car. We have been looking for about three weeks now for a dependable one. But we also want a cheap one!! I want to be able to pick up and go whenever I want to! For instance: the other night I wanted to make this dessert and I needed 5 bananas. Well – neither one of us wanted to walk 15 minutes there and 15 minutes back for 5 bananas. So I wasn’t able to make my dessert. That kind of thing happens all the time. Like Ill just be out of ONE thing for dinner but it will be too late to go get it because it gets dark here around 6:15ish and it takes so long to walk places you don’t have time to “run to the store” and pick up what you need. So please pray that God will provide a good dependable (not expensive) car!!

Well this has proved to be an awesome break!! We spent Wednesday and Thursday driving around the island in a rental car with our friends Sarah and David. We rented the car Wednesday morning and then drove to Roseau to pick them up (they spent the night there). We had a very interesting drive up to Victoria Falls. We didn’t have very good directions (there aren’t really street names here – well not street SIGNS). But Justin and David miraculously got us there!! There was one place on the map called steep road that we were supposed to go up (so we were told by the guy at a gas station). Well – like I said there are no street signs. So when we got to a road that was EXTEMELY steep – that’s how we knew we were on Steep Road!! Crazy – right? I felt so sorry for our poor car. Justin drove and when he had the pedal to the floor when we were going up the mountain it was barely putting. We hiked to Victoria Falls (a waterfall) and the guys were amazed – they loved it!! This was Sarah and I’s second time to do it. I have to say it was much easier with Justin (and Sarah and David) helping me cross the rivers and climb the rocks.

Justin and I decided to spend one night in Roseau at the Fort Young Hotel (Sarah and David were also staying there). So after hiking we drove back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel (kinda in the hotel – it is right beside it and is affiliated with it). Anyway – it was the best (and most expensive) meal we have had since weve been here!! I had steak and Justin had Mahi Mahi. Sarah had red snapper and David had kingfish. Then we all got dessert. We were there for 2 ½ hours!!! We had such a great time. Then at 10:00 we watched American Idol and Jason finally got voted off!! Yay!! It was nice to spend one last time in an air conditioned room in a king size bed.

So then Thursday we ate breakfast at a place a lot like Starbucks (really, it is!!). And after that went shopping around in Roseau. Then we ate at a pizza place in Roseau. The same pizza place “chain” is also in Picard (where we live) – but the one in Roseau is 10x better! Then we drove up to Titou Gorge (my third time there). David had never been and it is a must do when in Dominica. It is so cool! You swim through a cave like thing to get to a waterfall. It is where some of Pirates of the Caribbean II was filmed! Then we went to Screws Sulpher Spa (also Sarah and I’s third time there) but the guys first time. This is the place that isn’t really our type of spa – just a bunch of sulphur pools to sit in and some good fruit afterwards! The guys really enjoyed going and experiencing some of the things that we enjoy doing. Reality is coming back too fast!!!!

So Antigua was wonderful!! The ocean/beach was gorgeous! The water in Antigua is by far the most gorgeous that I have seen! It is about 4 colors of different blue. And the beach was very white sand!

While we were there it was some kind of sailing week and so there were lots of huge sailboats out on the water. Justin LOVES sailboats so Im so thankful he got to see them.

Every night we ate a different restaurant. It was an all inclusive resort (kind of like a cruise on land). The restaurants were pretty good. I had steak or shrimp every night and Justin had steak or fish every night! No chicken for us – were sick of chicken! Our favorite restaurant was this place by the name of OK Corral. It was tex-mex and had a stunning view of the water! They also played country music which we think might be another reason why it was our favorite!! One night we got all dressed up to go to this place called Kimonos – a hibachi grill. It was supposed to be the best place there but we thought it was the worst. But this blog is about the happy times…..

Mom and I went out on this thing called a barracuda (I cant believe we didn’t get a picture). It was interesting. We were very entertaining (to ourselves). It was this thing that set in the water and you pedaled it. Kind of like those big three wheel things that you pedal but smaller. We didn’t last very long. And mom wouldn’t let us get more than 10 feet past the shore – scared that we couldn’t make it back. So in the meantime Justin and Dad were out on a hobie cat (a small sailboat). So we went back in and got one of the Sandals workers to take us out on a hobie cat. But it was bigger than the one Justin and Dad took out so it went FAST!! Mom was freaking out. Yelling at our poor “sailor” Willis (the guy that was steering the boat). She kept saying “take us back” and “how old are you?” to Willis. We had a lot of fun!!!

Most of our days were spent at the pool though – under our cabana. We played PHASE 10 4 times and I won EVERY time!!! (I have had lots of free time to practice). The pool that we laid out at was the biggest pool on the resort (they had like 4). They provided rafts and it had a swim up pool bar!! I have always wanted to go to one of those! 

We had a great time doing nothing and being with mom and dad. It was hard to leave them but the countdown now begins for my best friends wedding on June 24th!! They will be there then so I will get to spend time with them in Tennessee.