Olive You :: May

Going along with everyone else in bloggerland, I decided it was time for a change. Well, the truth is my husband asked me if I would try going back more blonde. (I had very blonde hair when we first started dating, then the past few years I have kept it my natural color.) I told him I would get some highlights - he’s paying anyways, so why not?! lol. I also decided it was time to get a “big girl haircut.” I cut off almost 10 inches of hair. My hair was down to my waist - yes, that college look. Now, it’s more professional and managable. I have to say, sometimes I miss it (like in the shower and when I’m brushing it). However, other times I think it’s so much better to have this length of hair (like when I’m blowing it dry). The layers are a lot of fun to mess around with, too. Overall, I’m glad you blogging girls gave me the courage to follow my hubby’s request. Here are the requisite before and after pictures:

Before - Me with my family on the set of Will Ferrell’s new movie “Semi Pro” (a post about that coming soon)

After:

Take a moment to watch this video. It’s in honor of our troops, who we celebrate today.

Sometimes we take Memorial Day for granted. It’s a day off from work or school to most. Today we should take a minute to remember the people fighting for our freedoms and those lost.

Not that kind of seasons greetings, we’re still 7 months away from snow, caroles, decorations and gift giving… I’m talking about a different type of season!

Hurricane Season is officially here! It started May 15th and lasts until November 30th!

It’s been hot, with dark clouds and rain everyday for the past week or
so. It’s a strange type of storm, too. It blows in and out quickly,
but the clouds hang really low and don’t blow away. It’s pretty
amazing to watch from our porch because you can literally see the wave
of rain moving across the water as the wind blows it. Here is picture
I shot the other day.

This one was after the sun was breaking through. You can’t tell
really well, but there was a big rainbow that was diving straight into
the water out front.

Here are the names chosen for any storms/hurricanes that occur this season:

Alvin
Barbara
Cosme
Dalila
Erick
Flossie
Gil
Henriette
Ivo
Juliette
Kiko
Lorena
Manuel
Narda
Octave
Priscilla
Raymond
Sonia
Tico
Velma
Wallis
Xina
York
Zelda

Where do they come up with these names? That’d be a cake job,wouldn’t it? Maybe in my next lifetime I will be a hurricane namer oreven better, a nailpolish namer…. Anyways, we’re hoping not to meet any of these lovely folks! Wish us luck…

For our two year anniversary, Frank and I celebrated by getting all dressed up and going out to dinner at the Lobster Pot. He surprised me with pink flowers (which of course made me very happy - in memory of our wedding - PINK)! Frank also gave me a lovely card with nice sentiments - but, the best part is always the notes he writes himself in the bottom. (Even if they are chicken scratch handwriting and he has to interpret parts of them, it’s always so sweet to get them.)

I wore a new outfit, black dress and accessories and Frank wore a Caribbean style outfit, Black Hawaiian shirt and khakis. We took the obligatory pictures - one of us enjoyed that more than the other! Then, we headed to dinner.

At the Lobster Pot, we had a bottle of Champagne and started with the soup du jour, Pumpkin Spice. Sounds interesting, right? That’s what we thought and boy were we glad we took the risk! It was delicious! I’m still thinking about it today.

For dinner, Frank ordered “the Pot.” He felt a little guilty, but I told him, “it’s our anniversary! We deserve to celebrate!” His dinner came with a HUGE, jumbo shrimp, King Crab Legs and a Lobster Tail. I had Lobster Fettucini, which came in a garlic, herb, mushroom, lemon sauce. Complex right?! It tasted that good, too!

The best part about dinner was watching the sun set over the Caribbean Sea while the Tarpon swam beneath us. One of the restuarant workers fed the Tarpon at the end of our dinner. They chuck out scraps of fish and the Tarpon fly out of the water like silver streaks to catch the treats! It is amazing to see.

After dinner we headed over to Haagen Dazs for some yummy dessert! Frank got coffee flavored and I got Carmel Cone Explosion… my favorite! When we got home, I gave Frank his gift - tickets to see the NFL Quarterback Challenge. It’s being filmed here on the island this weekend. It’s a pretty big deal around here lately. The tickets sold out, but somehow I managed to get my hands on two of them. Should be fun! For the grand finale, we watched our wedding video. Yes, the entire wedding video. The entire ceremony and reception. Now I know most people think, wow - Frank must really love you to get through that …. but, it was really cool to see it all again! We hadn’t watched it in awhile and it was good to see everyone, remember all the well wishes and love of the day.

Overall it was a wonderful anniversary… and who gets to spend their 2nd anniversary in the Cayman Islands? We’re very lucky to be living our lives so happily together.

Frank,

I am so blessed to have you in my life. You bring laughter, support, love and adventure to my every day. I can’t believe we have been married two years already. It really did fly by! Guess that means we’re having fun! No surprise there - I never doubted that we would.

I feel so proud of what we’ve accomplished in the two years we’ve been married. I think it’s pretty unusual to have visited several countries, started a new job, started medical school and moved to a foreign country - all in just two years! Imagine what we’ll do in the next two! A trip to Europe, moving to the Big City, starting a new job, working in the hospital, buying a new car and having children - and that’s just what we’re planning for! It’s going to be even more exciting than these two have been - I wasn’t sure that was possible, but somehow you manage to make it keep getting better and better.

Thanks for being you, my best friend and my favorite person in the world. How did I get so lucky?

I love you.

So we’re back in Grand Cayman…

When we got back, we had a few issues. Long waits in customs, but luckily no taxes to pay. Then, on the way home we got stuck behind a guy who I swear was trying to go as slow as possible in his work truck. I think he just wanted to see how long it would take him to get home with his foot off the gas or something…. by the time we did get home, we were exhausted from traveling.

The first thing we noticed was the heat. It is hot here. I mean really hot. Like the middle of a Michigan summer hot. No big surprise there…. it is a tropical island and it’s the beginning of summer here. The next thing we noticed were all of the accents. You can not understand half the people here. Again, not a surprise… same ‘ol, same ‘ol. Surprisingly, driving on the "wrong side of the road" came back naturally. We didn’t even notice it really.

When we got in our apartment though, we noticed something not so familiar. NO AIR CONDITIONING! That’s right…. and we were BOILING, MELTING, EXHAUSTED and SWEATING! We called the maintenance people who gave us a run around about it and said they’d take care of it tomorrow. WHAT?! So, we spent the rest of the night roasting. We actually pulled our mattress off of our bed and to the living room and slept on the tile floor. (It was cooler out there.) It took them forever to call us to let us know if or when they were coming to fix it and we couldn’t deal with being stuck inside so hot.

We got in the car and drove around the island. It was nice to see everything… palm trees, blue waters, butterflies, flowers, chickens and lizards even looked good to us. Somehow we ended up at a condo complex in South Sound. We initially were looking at one that was for sale - dreaming of what a good investment it would be. Then, we found one for rent. For fun, we had someone walk us through it. WE LOVED IT!!! We called the owner and met up with him. To make a long story short, we’re moving as soon as we can get someone to take over our current lease. Shouldn’t take long with all the new students on the island. Pictures and more info to come!

SO THAT WAS GOOD … BUT THEN…

This morning when I got to school I was told we are moved to a new classroom. Apparently as you move along in your courses you move up a level in the school. Now, all of my classes are on the second floor. When I got in the new lecture, which everyone was buzzing and excited about (read: it symbolized moving "up" in the world), we suddenly realized something was wrong. What you ask?! What else?! THE AC WASN’T WORKING HERE EITHER! NO, I’M NOT KIDDING! 5 HOURS STRAIGHT OF LECTURE WITH NO AC AND OVER 100 PEOPLE SITTING IN CLOSE QUARTERS OF EACH OTHER!

Welcome back!

(I have so much stuff to talk about…. sorry I’ve been gone for awhile, but stay tuned I’m going to have a lot to catch up on)

May 30, 2007

Hair Cut [Randoms] — Christen @ 4:56 pm

May 28, 2007

Memorial Day [Holidays] — Christen @ 4:05 pm

May 26, 2007

Seasons Greetings [Island Life] — Christen @ 4:16 am

May 25, 2007

Anniversary Thoughts [Marriage] — Christen @ 12:07 am

May 14, 2007

Happy Anniversary [Marriage] — Christen @ 4:18 pm

May 10, 2007

AC Woes [Island Life] — Christen @ 7:02 pm