Above: This is Crystal and I at the pool one day - waiting out the rain! Her and her husband, Jake, live right down the road from us. They are from Virginia and are a great couple!!

Above: Me and Sophia - quite possibly one of the most gorgeous little girls EVER!! She is Ralnas middle child. They are from Hattiesburg, Mississippi - where some of my family lives! I think we might be distantly related somehow. Dont you see the crazy resemblance??

Above: Just a Saturday at the pool! All the girls in the picture are also spouses (or girlfriends/significant others/etc.) We have so much fun!!

Above: Sarah, Me, and Ralna. LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!! They have gotten me through the past year! Im so glad God put them in my life. Unfortunately both of them will be gone next semester. Please pray for me!

Above: We were waiting on Sarah (for her 2nd surprise party). She took a little long so we got creative...

Above: David, Sarah, me, and Justin. This was the night of Sarahs (2nd) surprise party. Good Times!!!

Above: Eating at Perkys Pizza with our glass bottles of Coke (bottled in Dominica by the way). All these girls are first semester spouses. I love having friends that like to take fun pictures.

Above: Josh and Allison are from Louisiana and they had some couples over for Gumbo one night. It was really good! Very spicy though! This night us girls went crazy with the camera. We have some fun pictures... Below is just one of them.

We have also started playing Bunko on Wednesday nights. It is so fun!! There are 12 of us that play. Below are some pictures of Bunko night.

I had to substitute teach for a week. I taught pre k and kindergarten. They are in one class together. I had three kindergartners and eight pre k’s. The teacher left horrible plans so I had to make a lesson plan for the whole week. Luckily two of my friends teach at the prep school so they helped me out a lot – along with Google! I had so much fun!! The kids are so precious and they were really good. They are the same class I volunteer with three times a week so luckily they already knew me and respected me. Below are some pictures of some of the kids at Halloween and Creole Day (Dominicas "Independence Day"). 

Let me preface this blog by saying that the reason it has been so long since I have blogged is because my computer has been dead since last Friday – October 17th! I should be getting a new one sometime next week thanks to my awesome Dad!! So I have to use Justins computer whenever hes not on it. Which is basically midnight or later! Luckily, tonight hes mostly studying notes so I get the computer for a little while. The above picture is of Justin trying to fix it. He took it almost completely apart! After he did that it worked but then died just a couple days later. 

The week after the mini on Thursday Justin went with me and some other spouses to Victoria Falls. This was my third time to do this hike! This is one of my favorite things to do on this island! The only thing that stinks about it is that it is a 2 hour drive through curvy, steep, bumpy roads. During this hike you cross through three rivers, the rainforest, and then at the end you climb up some big boulders! There are times your foot is almost above your head! Justin had to stay in the back and help some of the girls (love ya Ralna!!).

I have been busy on the weekends playing intramural sports. Softball on Saturday – volleyball on Sunday. Ive already posted a picture of my volleyball team so below is a picture of my softball team. We are the “spouses” team and we have so much fun together!! Were pretty good too!

A guy that was a youth pastor in the states who is a first semester spouse has started a youth ministry in our town. It is called inLIGHTin and our first afternoon was this past Friday. It went great. Not as planned of course but great! Please pray that we will have an impact on the youth of this community and that God will continue to provide for this ministry.

Above: The ever so popular game Chubby Bunny. Ryan and I had to demonstrate to the kids how to play!

So today I am blogging about what probably every other spouse on this island is blogging about today!! The school is closed today!! The prime minister of Dominica closed EVERYTHING on the island due to the storm surge. Hurricane Omar is like over by San Juan somewhere but somehow were getting a little bit of the effects. We had a HUGE storm this morning. The biggest one weve had since Justin and I have lived here. So since the roads are so horrible here - when it rains this bad it really affects them. Meaning you cant drive on them. Not so much around where we live though. 

So I wake up this morning and think to myself – “I hope the waters not brown – I really need to take a shower”. Because as yall know – our water comes from the river. And if the river is crazy from the rain – our water is brown. So I go to turn on the faucet at the sink and the water is still clear. Im thinking – lucky me!!! So I hop in the shower and the water is MUD pretty much. I get out and Im flipping out. Ellies going crazy cause Im going crazy. I mean – yall – I was UNDER the faucet before I realized the water was muddy. Hair and all.

So I go to plan B. I think to myself “Calm down – you can just go to the school gym and take a shower”. So I pack up all my stuff and as Im headed out the door I check my phone and notice I have a text message from Justin. It says “Im coming home the school is shut down until tomorrow”. Not five seconds later he pulls up to our house and gets out of Kelsies car. I yell out – “I have to go up to school – I just got soaked with mud water”. He says – “Nope the whole campus is shut down!!”. Kelsie is cracking up because she can literally see the dirt on my face – like I had put on selfless tanner.  

So Justin was like – “Liz you’ve got to see how big these waves are”! (Not feeling sorry for me at all that I was literally covered in dirt (hair and all remember?). So we get in the car to go check out the waves. It wasn’t raining at this point thankfully! When we got there Justin said that the waves had already calmed down a little from earlier this morning when he saw them. But they were still huge to me!! It was awesome! Totally made up for my dirty hair. 

Above: A video of what our water looks like right now. This is what I took a 10 second shower in!!

Above: Some of the waves right down by the school.

Above: This one isnt the greatest of the waves but is a good one of Ellie! I screamed because the waves came over the "bank" and splashed me unexpectedly!! There is usually a beach where the water is coming up!

My mom is in Venezuela on a mission trip until Friday. She got there this past Friday and everyones luggage and all the trunks full of stuff got there just fine! A HUGE praise! She is there with a group called Pure Joy International. They are throwing a retreat for all the women missionaries over there. Mom is speaking one night at the retreat. So please pray for her safety, Gods peace when she speaks, etc, etc!!! 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. As most of you know – my mom HAD breast cancer. It feels so good to write had and not has in that sentence!! She felt a lump and got it checked. Thankfully they found it before it spread. So if you feel something don’t shrug it off. GO GET CHECKED!!! I am so thankful mom is cancer free!! The picture above is of her and dad during Race for the Cure last October. A walk for breast cancer in Little Rock. Doesn’t she look great??? 

Also - a reminder that Justins first mini exam of the semester is tomorrow at 1:00 pm (12:00 pm central time). So please keep him in your prayers A LOT tomorrow. His hives came back tonight. So I think that maybe – just maybe – he is starting to admit that his hives are from stress!!

Justin is taking ALL new classes this semester. So this semester is proving to be VERY hard so far!! I think he is just nervous about the test tomorrow because this is kind of like back to the unknown again. His new subjects are the following:

Behavioral Science (Intro to Clinical Medicine is integrated into this)
Pharmacology
Pathology
Microbiology (immunology is thrown into here too)

ABOVE: Justin and I at his birthday dinner.

ABOVE: The cake!! Arent yall impressed?

ABOVE: Craig, David, Ryan, Justin, Billy. Our friend Jake was also at dinner but had to leave before the picture to take a practice test.

ABOVE: Crystal, Sarah, Ashley, Me, Kelsie, Allison, Ralna

Justin spoke the day after at church. He spoke on Colossians 4:5-6 and did a great job!! We then had a volleyball game that afternoon and lost – again. I also started a spouses softball team. We played a double header Saturday and lost both games. Were actually not that bad. I think we might pull a few wins by the end of the semester! Just need to work out a few kinks. So I might be on losing intramural teams this semester but so far I have had a blast!!

I am volunteering with the prep school on campus this semester and I mostly hang out with the kindergartners. I love them!! The other day they each had a mini chalkboard to draw on. I was attempting to teach them how to write a two. Well pretty much when I was one on one with one student the other students were just playing on their chalkboards. So at one point I look up at one of the other kids whose name is Charlie and he had his face on his chalkboard (which he had covered in yellow chalk). I said “Charlie what are you doing???” And then he lifted up his head and there was chalk ALL over his face. It was so funny and I tried my hardest to act like he had done something wrong. But instead I took a picture of him. You cant really tell by the picture but there was chalk everywhere!! Also below are pictures of a few other kids on “chalk” day.

Above: Our attempt at watching a movie off the projector.

Above: Justin trying to help the girls figure out how to work the projector.

Above: Some of the spouses at our attempt at "movie night".

Pictures above are of tonight during a “get together” at a friends house to watch Sex and the City. She works at the prep school on campus so she brought home their projector so we could watch it on something besides a 20 inch tv. We got there at 7:00 and snacked on some GOOD food (ever had marinated cheese?) but by 9:30 the movie still wasn’t quite working. So Justin came over and fixed it. (That’s my man!!) Sarah and I went ahead and left since Justin was there with the car and as we were leaving there were termites EVERYWHERE outside her door. And I thought to myself “man Im glad we don’t have termites like that”. And then I came home to the below……

That is not dirt – all of that is termites! I killed them with a green off brand of 409 called “Fabulous”. It killed them instantly. I hope our house doesn’t collapse from all of the termites that are probably outside. Justin said its because of the weather. It literally has been raining non stop here. I haven’t been to the pool since weve been back! And man do my white legs show it!

Above: Us with my parents at a Razorback game - celebrating Justins birthday (i think this was like 3 years ago). But notice my shirt in the above picture and my shirt in the below pictures. How embarrasing.

Above: Sarah served the beans and I served the cinnamon rolls. We look a little sweaty huh?

Above: Brianna, me, and Allison cutting ALL the buns for the RCF cookout! (They come in one piece)

My volleyball team! Billy, me, Sarah, and David

Above: Party at our landlords with all their tenants!
Is anyone else noticing that we need a better camera?

Tomorrow (September 24th) is Justins birthday!!!! He wont be home tomorrow (cause he'll be in class all day) so unfortunately you wont be able to talk to him if you call but please email him at justinvoris@gmail.com and wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 

Above are pictures of our “activities” that have been going on lately. The RCF (Ross Christian Fellowship) cookout was this past Friday night. We served about 450 people!! It went really well. I was there from 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm!! I was so tired but it was so worth it! I had the HONOR to serve Cindee’s homemade cinnamon rolls this year. She makes 400 cinnamon rolls for the cookout every semester! They are so wonderful!! Cindee serves the cinnamon rolls every semester but when I showed up to help she said “Your job tonight will be one that only a couple of people in the last 15 years have gotten”. Im thinking – oh great Im about to do something embarrassing Im sure. Then she said “You GET to serve the cinnamon rolls tonight!!!” This was because she was sick and didn’t want to be coughing on the rolls. So serving the cinnamon rolls entailed getting the cinnamon rolls out, putting them on the cookie sheet, and pouring the icing on them. It was so hard not to eat every one of them. Well – the line was moving so fast  I didn’t really have time to eat them! 

Volleyball Intramurals also started this past weekend. I play on a team with Sarah, her husband David, and Billy – Kelsies husband who just arrived on the island last Thursday. Were not very good but we have LOTS of fun. I actually had a little fall “going for the ball”. I really just fell because I was about to step on the grass and I wanted to stop before stepping on the grass because I had my cute new tennis shoes on. Justin said it looked like I was in a slow motion! We lost our first game. Probably the first of many. But like I said – we had lots of fun!!

Another picture is of our landlord and a big group of people. Our landlords have a “cocktail party” at the beginning of every semester that include all their residents. Its for new students to get to know their neighbors. It was super fun and we met a great new couple who we went out to eat with the next night and they are having us over for dinner Thursday night. 

So don’t forget my precious husband tomorrow on his 26th birthday!!! The past few years the new tradition for his birthday has been to celebrate it at the Razorback game with our friends and family the weekend before or after his birthday. Obviously that’s not the case this year! I think its been harder for me not to be home for his birthday than it has been for him! So above is a picture of us with my parents at a Razorback game on his birthday (see the balloons behind us?).

Above is a video of the creek behind our house. It is usually pretty calm but this is what happens when it rains a ton. And it is the reason our water turns brown.

We have been so busy since we’ve been back!!! The first week was filled with RSO (Ross Spouses Organization) things for the new members. I really like the new class of spouses that have come in. They seem to want to be really involved and are very nice. The Orientation that Sarah and I put on for the new spouses went well and the Social (for all the spouses – new and old) was a HUGE success!! It has been the biggest one since I have been here! Now its time to start planning for the huge spaghetti dinner which Sarah and I are in charge of that will be in mid November. It is for the whole campus so we feed a bunch of students!  I think I am really going to enjoy being on the RSO board this semester.

I also have started to volunteer with the Kindergarten class at the prep school on campus. There are 12 kids and they are FUN! I am doing that on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings. Fridays are there computer days. Can you believe that they start them on computers so early? I don’t remember – but I don’t think I was on a computer at school till like the third grade. 

Friday is the RCF (Ross Christian Fellowship) cookout. It is free so we feed about 500 people. I am cooking chocolate chip cookies for that and we have to start helping at 2:00 on Friday. We also have all the plates, napkins, etc, etc, stored at our house so our place is a mess!! We live in “studio” type house so its not like we have a lot of storage to even store our own stuff! Thankfully it will out be soon.

Justin signed up to be in charge of volleyball intramurals this semester. Well – really I signed him up because I figured it would give me something to do. And it has!!! There have been 22 teams to sign up and it has been crazy trying to figure out how to schedule everyone in just 7 weeks of playing time – and they can only play on Saturdays and Sundays. So late last night I had to have Justin help me. It took us two hours to get everything all organized. Thanks so much for your help JUSTIN!!!

I also have been making flyers like crazy. I love making flyers. It was a huge part of when I worked for my dad and so it brought back some good memories. I made flyers for all the intramural sports (7 sports) and also for the RCF cookout. 

Justin got accepted to be an Anatomy TA!!!! I am SOOOO proud of him! This will take up tons of his time but it will be good for him because it will help him to stay fresh on Anatomy (he doesn’t have the class this semester or next) and will look GREAT on his resume. So please pray that he uses exceptional time management! The Lord doesn’t give us more than we can handle right? That’s what we keep telling ourselves!

The weather here has been weird. Everyone here was complaining that there are no seasons in Dominica. Well – I am learning that Hurricane Season is definitely a huge change in the weather!! It has been so much cooler here and RAINY! Our water has been brown for four days straight now. And today it has been very windy. Everyone is loving it right now because its something different. I was hoping that come Christmas time I was going to be darker than everyone back home but so far it doesn’t look like I will be doing much tanning due to the rainy season! 

I know I promised skiing and wakeboarding videos but I haven’t had time to upload them. They are coming soon though!! Promise!