A Day in the Life...

Oh, the things I have gotten accustomed to here on the island.  Sugar ants in my coffee...no problem, they make it sweeter, right?  Wake up at 5 in the morning because hey, the sun's up and so is the neighbor's bird...no big deal.  Pass up a truck full of people hanging over the sides, in a curve; I'm a pro...even Dolly, our nanny who is from here, holds on and breathes deeply!  I can't even explain to you what is at the bottom of the egg cartons...very scary; but yet, I still cook and eat the eggs.

Someone mentioned to me the other day that even this place has certain drawbacks, things that you have to accept and take for what it is; because in the end, its still paradise.  So, I started thinking about it this morning, as I picked a fly out of my coffee, and of course its true.  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence...  I suppose that I am so in love with warm weather and blue water that I don't even notice the negative; but eventually I suppose I will.  I guess most people would get fed up with sand on the floor, on the couch, in their bed.  Little bugs that you don't see that leave an annoying little dot on your skin that itches incessantly, probably don't appeal to many. No shopping malls, McDonalds, or true convenience stores does make life different; but unpleasant..not so much.  I personally am completely satisfied to never walk into another Wal-mart as long as I live; but I know the first stop after deplaning in the States will be to that dreaded place...or maybe not.

Our "vacation" here is about to come to an end and then we must go back to the States and continue on with our decision to move here permanently.  Sell stuff, sell stuff, sell stuff.  There is so much stuff that we collected over the years and now that we look upon it all, we realize that it took us to be here to know that it's just stuff and we truly don't need any of it...well maybe we'll keep the Henckels.  I spend nearly every day at the beach, so sad that I have to leave it for several months.  I truly love it here; quality has such a different meaning now.  Did I mention Chris does karaoke here...so embarrassing, but yet funny.

K, enough of that...got to get to bed; remember, 5 a.m.

Life Here in Roatan!

Things have been incredible here...both good and not so good; but never bad! It's amazing how God moves in our lives and it's also amazing how we as humans refuse to do the things that he has told us to do, denying ourselves his ultimate blessings.

First of all, I've finally become an official Roatanian by becoming Open Water Scuba Diving Certified.  Thanks to the wonderful people at Sueno del Mar: Chris, Stuart and Roger; I managed to get a certificate to strap on a scuba tank and explore the depths of the Caribbean or at least depths up to 60' that is.  Still exciting!   I look forward to seeing the amazing things that the water has to show me...I can only imagine it's extraordinary if it's anything like what’s on land!  

On my certification dives, I spent a lot of time on the bottom at 20' looking at the sand while others were completing the many tasks that you have to complete, but occasionally I would see what appeared to be the bottom moving and....it was a fish that camouflaged itself to the bottom. Also, I had the pleasure of seeing a spotted eel...not so pretty, but very interesting none the less.  (The pictures are examples, I couldn't bring a camera with me on my certification dives.) On my first dive, I saw two barracudas!  So, next week, more to come!

We moved here so that life could become simpler and it has.  With a simpler life should come dependence on each other and the members of your family.  This concept to me used to be, let me look up an appropriate word, inconceivable...that about sums it up.  To depend on someone else...whatever!  Well, God is amazing, and while being here he has shown me that he gives when you surrender.  For example, while becoming dependent on others I have also become so independent in ways that I can not explain!  I have taught myself to do so many things that I would never have dreamed of doing; because, well, someone always did them for me.  I have barbecued..not an amazing task in itself...but yet I never did it because, Chris always did it for me.  When I was younger, Dad always did it.  I had to take apart and reconnect the television and cable an DVD...not so fun; but had to do it...The Walking Dead was coming on!  Two days ago, I fried shrimp.  

I know you're laughing at me...but these are really big things for me.  My next task is removing and fixing the brake pads....just kidding! Or am I?  I'll keep you posted.  I have disconnected and connected gas tanks and filled water jugs when empty, I have tightened water valves and fixed shower heads, I have sprayed WD-40 in places that I won't even elaborate on, but most importantly I have been Supermom to three amazing little boys while Chris and Julianne have been away!

So, all apologies for not writing sooner...but as you can tell, I've been busy!  The weather here is unseasonably rainy.  So we haven't been to the beach much (except for my certification) and when we do go we all get sunburned because it's overcast or we just enjoy the sun beating down on us and forget to put sunscreen on.  Today, my baby girl returned and I couldn't be more happier!  Naturally, I missed her dearly; but, I didn't realize how much I really depend on her.  Let me tell you...those dishes have piled up in four weeks!  :)  People here are constantly asking me if I need anything because they know that Chris is gone, and the one thing I am always telling them is that I miss adult conversation and interaction.  I didn't realize that my 13 year old was the majority of my adult conversations...we have so much to catch up on!  

Okay, so enough for now...this time I promise I'll post sooner.