Our First Thanksgiving!!

You're cordially invited to:

Thanksgiving (Dominican-style) with the Morgans!

This Thanksgiving was one we are sure we will never forget! Not only was it far from our "normal" celebrations with our families, but there were plenty of memorable moments as we prepared to have our friends over. So sit back, and enjoy!

I had been getting ready for Thanksgiving for several weeks, which included making the invitations, going shopping in Roseau, cleaning our apartment, and making place settings. I was very thankful to have plenty to do - it all kept me very busy! Kyle and I borrowed a table and chairs from Ryan and Ashley (Kyle was walking down Moo Cow Trail with the table on his head - he's picked up on some of the Dominican ways!) I collected recipes from my mom and Greg, as well as family recipes from Kyle's mom. RCF provided us with a turkey, which was great! It was a good ol' Butterball turkey! I was even able to find a can of pumpkin puree here for pumpkin pie. I bought it at the end of October, and apparently it was a hot item, because everyone was looking for pumpkin all over the island and couldn't find any. I probably could have made some nice money by making extra pies! Anything that reminds us of the comforts of home means so much down here!

Yet even though I made all my shopping lists, checked them twice, and had Kyle helping me get the apartment ready (he was cleaning the bathroom for a good hour!), there's no way we could have been fully prepared for what Dominica had in store for us.

The day before, I started making some of the food. I made my deviled eggs. started the fruit salad (one of Kyle's favorites that his mom always makes - he was very thankful to be able to have that all the way down here!), and then it was on to the pies... I made my crusts, put the pumpkin pie in the oven, and when I went to check on it 15 minutes later, I noticed there was no fire in there...

My heart dropped. Just a few days ago, my friend Ralna ran out of propane (and she was having 75 people over for Thanksgiving!) She went to refill her tank, and found out there was a shortage of propane on the island... I was hoping ours would make it until after that Thursday, but our oven had other plans! I immediately called Ashley, and she told me to come over anytime, and said I'd be able to just camp out at her house and use her oven all day Thursday. Then, our friend Ryan lives a floor below us. We planned on cooking the turkey there, so at 9:30 Wednesday night, we went knocking on his door to finish the pie. Thank goodness for our amazing friends (and their full propane tanks!)

So though are plans were changed a bit, it wasn't too bad. Actually, we counted it as a blessing - our apartment wouldn't be hot when we were eating dinner from cooking in it all day! Thursday morning Kyle headed off to class, I baked another pie at Ryan's, all the while continuing to thaw the turkey out in the sink. Now, at one point, the water just turned off. (This is totally normal here. Actually the last time I cut Kyle's hair, we were all finished, covered in his hair, and I went to hop in the shower, and wouldn't you know... no water!) So I had a minor freak-out, but realized it was about time I started cooking at Ashley's, so I packed up my many bags and basket, prayed she had water and was off!

Finally with an oven that had gas, and Kyle at home in charge of the turkey and getting the tables set up, things seemed to be going smoothly. First I started making the rolls (well, I had prepared them earlier, considering they took about 3 hours to rise. No store-made rolls here!) Then, I started the process of baking Greg's famous baked beans, which is supposed to take 4 hours! (my family has them every year, and I'm the only one with recipe besides Greg!). Next, I made one of my favorites (and now Kyle's too!), my mom's corn casserole. Ashley and I just hung out and relaxed for a bit, which was so nice in the middle of all such a hectic day!

I text messaged Kyle to make sure he was doing alright with the turkey, and he texted me back: "Oh I'm just on cloud nine." At the time, I was a little nervous because I thought he was being sarcastic, and started imagining turkey disasters. Little did I know, he had a blast buttering up that turkey, taking out the giblets, and getting it ready for the oven. In fact, he had such a great time, he even made a video. Enjoy!

Though there was the usual Thanksgiving-day stress, and a slight crisis when I figured out the beans only needed to cook 2 hours down here instead of the normal 4 (they were just little burnt), it was smooth sailing! I left Ashley's, came home and had just enough time to get ready and give my family a quick call (sorry it wasn't longer!). But soon, we were all set up and ready to go!

Our Thanksgiving Menu:

• Deviled Eggs
• Fruit Salad (thanks Kyle's Mom!)
• Crescent Rolls
• Baked Beans (thanks Greg - Andrea's Stepdad!)
• Corn Casserole (thanks Andrea's Mom!)
• Mashed Potatoes (thanks Greg!)
• Stuffing - stove top, though you would have thought it was homemade:) (thanks Ryan!)
• Kyle's AMAZING turkey! (it may not look the greatest here, but that's because it was so good, it was falling right off the bone!)

And then for dessert...

• Two Pumpkin Pies - and of course, you can't have pie without the Cool Whip (and one of the stores had it down here!)
• Chocolate Chip Pie - thanks for the inspiration Ashley! :)
• No-Bake Cookies
• Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Roll (Thanks Justin and Ashley!)
  

And here are our awesome friends who came over to celebrate with us!

Our Guests: (from the front left of the table around to the front right)

• Andy (sorry only half of you is in there!) - Andy goes to RCF and he was Kyle's peer tutor partner last semester
• Kahroba- Andy's girlfriend
• Greg- One of Kyle's good friends down here!
• Kyle & I
• Ryan - Our friend who lives below us, who graciously let us borrow his kitchen!
• Jamie - Good friend of Kahroba, Andy & Ryan
• Dave - goes to RCF with us, and is one of Kyle's good friends
• Dan - you guessed it, that's Jazz-Hands Dan!

All the food was great and reminded everyone of being home for the holidays! It was just what we needed to get us through these last few weeks! And of course, we ate so much food, and then hit the desserts. We were all very happily full :)

And it wouldn't be a gathering with the Morgans without some games! We started out with garbage of course, and then played a game of Catch Phrase. Justin and Ashley, our friends, stopped by later and joined us for games. Soon, it was already 11pm and seeing as everyone (but me!) had classes at 8am the next day, everyone started leaving.

Kyle and I took sometime to clean up and then sat back and realized what a great time we had, and how blessed we are by our friends down here! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Future Dr. Kyle!

There he is, ready for action! Last week, Kyle had a Behavioral Science Oral, as well as an ICM practical. This was his first time being tested as he actually interacted with a real, living patient! I couldn't help it, so I had to take a picture of him all dressed up :) Slowly but surely, he really will be Dr. Kyle. He definitely looks the part!

And not only does he look good, but he's got the smarts, too! He did GREAT on his oral and practical that week. (maybe because he had such a wonderful patient to practice all his interview and test skills on haha!) Now, he's done with classes for the semester, but still has plenty of exams before we get to hop on that plane and enjoy almost 4 weeks of relaxation and seeing family and friends (can you tell I'm excited??) Just so you can keep up, here is his exam schedule:
Monday, December 3rd: Pathology Lab Final @ 1pm
Wednesday, December 6th: Behavioral Science Shelf Exam @ 8am
Tuesday, December 11th: Mini 3 @ 1pm
Thursday, December 13th: Final Exam @ 8am
(our flight leaves around 4pm on that Thursday - we can't wait for winter break!)

So please keep Kyle and his studying in your prayers! One verse I've really been praying for him is Proverbs 16:3, which says "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Every day I get an update of Kyle's (very detailed, planned-out) study schedule, so I just pray God uses that for his success here at Ross, and one day, as a doctor!

Secret Beach

Kyle had been talking about Secret Beach ever since first semester, and finally, last weekend we got to go! Lucky for me, Kyle took a break from studying so I had him all to myself the whole day :) Well, he did sneak in a little studying in the morning, but we were off my noon.


We headed off to rent some kayaks, because there is no way to walk to the beach, it's totally secluded. A lot of people take a small boat, but of course we decided to tough it out and row all the way there. Now Kyle has been kayaking several times, and we even went on our honeymoon. Even with my little past experience, I was struggling in the beginning. I would zig-zag back and forth around Kyle as he paddling in a straight path. He joked that I probably went double the distance I really had to making my crazy path in the water. But after about 20 minutes, we turn around a corner and it was amazing! All the paddling was worth seeing how beautiful Secret Beach was! And we soon realized we had the whole beach to ourselves!

We kayaked through an arch formed off of the cliffs, and even the view looking out onto the bay was stunning. Kyle gave me a "tour" of the beach, which took about five minutes, but it was absolutely beautiful! The beach is enclosed by towering cliffs, and there are small coves on either side of the beach, perfect for snorkeling! We took in the view, and then we were off to explore the beach and soon we were ready for some snorkeling. Though it wasn't as clear as Scott's Head, I did see a snake sitting on the bottom of the bay, which I know was staring right at me (Kyle had swam away from me, so I quickly got away from the snake...I was a little freaked out.) We swam through school of fish, which was amazing. There had to be thousands of fish! Kyle even saw some eels. Some friends down here have underwater cameras and their pictures are amazing - I'll have to borrow some and post them on here so you can see a little bit of the "Nature Island" at its best!

So I know I've used the word "beautiful" so many times, but I trully don't know how else to desribe Secret Beach! So, to help out, we made a video! Check it out by clicking the link at the bottom of this post and you'll be able to see both of us paddling through the arch, spot some wildlife, and catch a glimpse of Secret Beach. Hopefully this will also warm all of you up who are starting to get cold weather and snow!

It was such a great day, and I'm so thankful when Kyle gets a break to study, and we spend time together. All I have to say is married life is great! :)

All our Love-

Kyle and Andrea

Our Video Website (just click on the picture and it will start to play once you get to the website): http://www.vimeo.com/399895

Aisle E featuring Jazz-Hands Dan...

Last Wednesday, Kyle and some friends competed in an annual dodge ball tournament hosted by a group on campus. The team has actually been together since their first semester and has competed ever since. Actual they won the whole tournament first semester and cam pretty close second. So with their game faces on, they went in for another shot at winning it all.

Now I know you may be wondering what their team name "Aisle E feat. Jazz Hands Dan" actually means. Aisle E is the row where Kyle, Dave, Justin, Greg and Mike have sat in since their first semester. Now Dan normally sits somewhere else, and his name used to be "Killer Dan." There's really no story or reason why they switched the name to Jazz Hands, maybe just to add a little flair to their name...

Their team was the first up in the practice rounds and they totally dominated. Then in their first game, they faced the all-girl team. It was a little tough because 2 of our friends were on the team and one of them definitely had an arm on her! But eventually the guys won. And they kept on winning...until finally they were in the finals with no losses in their record!

They faced off against a pretty competitive team, and one of their teammates I'm pretty sure was 7 feet tall. He was huge! And on top of that, he would knock away or catch any ball flying toward him, and would peg people with such accurate throws! So Aisle E's strategy was to try and get this guy out first... and toward the beginning of the final game, he sent a ball flying at Kyle. And.... he caught it and got the giant out!! The game went on, and there were definitely some nail biting moments, but in the end the winners were:

AISLE E AND JAZZ-HANDS DAN! Congrats guys!

And for those of you who felt very strongly about the Carib baskets in one of the previous posts, you'll love this. At the tournament, they were raffling off prizes, and wouldn't you know one of them is a Carib basket. And not just any basket, one that was just like the picnic basket I liked!! So at about the 5th time of calling names, we hear Kyle Morgan, so Kyle runs to go get his prize. I was just waiting for that basket haha! But he walked back with a piece of paper in his hand... good for 2 movie tickets. So I was a little bummed, but I can live without the basket. But a few seconds later we find out Kyle's friend Lateef got the basket and he said he would trade. So after all that, I got my basket!! And Kyle even carried it all the way home... what an amazing husband I have :)

Bye Bye Mini 2

That's right... one more mini down! Kyle took Mini 2 last Tuesday, and as he walked out of the classroom I was a little nervous. The look on his face said it all: this was one of the hardest mini's he had taken so far at Ross. But I am so very happy to report that Kyle received awesome grades - once again, praise God!

So the day of the mini would not be complete without a trip to the beach. As we walked to the beach with Kyle's friend Greg, we couldn't help but notice an unfamiliar sound. We kept walking and were surprised to see huge waves crashing against the sand! The side of the island we're on touches the Caribbean Sea, which is normally very very calm, but every once and awhile the big waves come along. (We think it may be Tropical Storm Noel trying the sneak back. For all of you who were worried, it passed right by us only with heavy rains. Once the storm went passed Dominica, I guess that's when it really started to pick up.)

So, we found some friends, who are seated in the grass seeing as there was no place to sit on the actual beach because it was taken over by waves. We were there for probably a good 30 seconds, and Kyle already had his shirt off and jumped into the water with Greg and Justin to take on the waves.

In the picture above, that's actually Kyle riding in on a wave! And I think even in between waves, the guys were able to sneak in their usual talk about the mini - reviewing every single question they could remember.

Eventually I jumped into the water too, and though I did ride in on one wave, most of the time I ducked right under them. It really did feel like you were in a clothes washer, just being tumbled around every which way. There were actually some pretty big rocks, and a few guys walked away with some battle wounds, but thankfully, no one was hurt too bad.

After getting out of the water, we needed some recovery time to get the taste of salt water out of our mouths and try to shake all that water out of our ears (that took a few days!) Of course there was the usual mini talk as groups of people would come and go, and each person wanted to talk about a different question. All in all, it was a great afternoon and once again, I loved having a little quality time with my husband :)

Of course, we went to Perky's Pizza for dinner, one of Kyle's favorite places to eat on the island. After dinner, Greg and Dan came over for a little competitive Catch Phrase. It was Greg and Kyle against Dan and I, and eventually Dave came over to be the "designated guesser" for both teams. We got pretty into it, and by the end of the night, ended up playing 9 games... and guess who won? Well our unique style of giving clues that were very far from the actual phrase yet somehow still guessing correctly, the winners were Dan and I! Though Greg and Kyle were a little sad, it was a really fun night. And also, it was our first time to have guests over!

All in all, it was a great day to celebrate one more mini being done!

Leaving on a jet plane...

We have our tickets home!! Here are the dates of our flights, as well as where we'll be over break. We would love to see you, so let us know if you'll be close while we're home.

Thursday, December 13th: Leave Dominica, Arrive in Illinois
Friday, December 14th - Monday, December 17th: Naperville
Tuesday, December 18th - Monday, December 31st: Columbus
Monday, December 31st - Wednesday, January 9th: Naperville

We're already starting to pack :) Can't wait to see everyone!