She's Just Being Maile

We also wanted you to meet a new friend we made this past semester: Maile, the little girl I baby sat for! She left the island last week, and both Kyle and I already miss her! Since I normally woke up early to take her to school, ate lunch with her, and sometimes picked her up from school, I feel like a big part of my day is missing! We had a lot of fun together, but now she's back in the states as her mom, Kristina, is about to take Step 1 and then start rotations!


Meet Maile

I went on a field trip with Maile and the rest of the Day School to Savanne Paille, the Dominican school I tutored at last semester (while I was there, I saw Aaliyah!) It was a really fun day! I have no idea what's going on in the second picture, but her face cracks me up!

To be honest, I think Maile liked Kyle more than she liked me! :) They had a lot of fun together when Kyle would join us for lunch. And my last day watching Maile, we went to the pool after school and Kyle took a study break to join us. We had a blast!

Kyle tried to sneak in a little nap, but Maile caught him!

My beautiful pink, red, sparkle and glow in the dark pedicure, compliments of Maile :) And please check out my tan line from my flip flops - I don't know if it will ever go away!!

Let's hear it for the boys!

I'm not the only one who has been blessed by great friendships down here. Kyle has made some friends down here who have provided so much encouragement, support, and good memories. From time spent in class, to RCF, to football, he has been surrounded by solid guys who he has grown close too. We'd love for you to meet a few :)

Aisle E & Dan: Dodgeball Champs Yet Again

You may remember me writing about this group of guys last semester, but it's true - though they may not look like the most ferocious dodgeball team, Aisle E won it all again!

The Champs: Dave, Greg, Kyle, Dan, and Justin. Everyone except for Justin will be staying in Dominica for 5th semester! Justin & his wife Ashley will definitely be missed, but he will have the comforts of grocery stores, carpeted floors, and cows that actually live on farms instead of your backyard to get him by :)

Just this past week, the guys got together for a little reunion before 4th semester came to an end. Ashley and I made them dinner, and we all headed over to Justin & Ashley's for a fun night of food and games. We even got to play a few games of Garbage!

Then last Friday, the guys planned one last poker night before their final rolled around and Justin left the island. And guess who won the whole thing? You guessed it... Mr. Kyle Morgan!

The Thundercats: 4-Time Champs!

That's right! This is the first time in Ross University history that a semester has won 4 consecutive championships! The game was 4th semester vs. 2nd semester, and it wouldn't have been complete without arguing and a few close calls, but in the end, 4th semester ending up winning it all!

And though Kyle didn't get to play, he stood on the sidelines videotaping the game, and calling out plays. He was bummed to have to sit this one out, but he was so pumped they won! Kyle will definitely miss football next semester. If only everyone would stay for fifth so they could play one more semester...

This one's for the girls...

I have been SO blessed to have met such amazing women down here who have become some of my best friends! God definitely answered prayers that I wouldn't just be sitting at home all alone while Kyle studies. So I'd like you to meet some of them and take a look at some of the adventures we've had on the island!

Our visit to Titou Gorge, Trafalgar Falls & Screw's Sulphur Springs

Ashley's mom came to visit, so a group of us got together to show to island off to her. We had a day of island adventure and then relaxation at the sulphur springs (our closest thing to a spa!)

Me, Ashley, Sara, Liz & Ralna at Titou Gorge. It was one of the coolest places we had been on the island, but also one of the coldest! You have to swim through the water to get through the gorge!

Ralna, me, Sara, and Liz taking the very easy hike to Trafalgar Falls. Multiple cruise ships were in that day, so we had plenty of tourists to share our hike and view with, but it was still beautiful!

Ashley and I in front of the "Momma Falls" at Trafalgar.

Finally, we get to relax at Screw's Sulphur Springs! (We have no idea why they call it that. And in case you were wondering, yes I am wearing a bathing suit! It's just strapless...)

They even served us fresh fruit! (Well, this is after we ate it all!)

Game Night with the Girls!

Liz, Ashley, me and Sara

One night, Alia, another spouse down here, invited us all over to her house for a game night. Kyle had to study all night so I was in! I was having one of those days where everything I started to cook or bake just went wrong, so with 5 minutes before we were supposed to go, I grabbed some candy corn mammaw & pampaw brought us and I was out the door. Well, the candy corn was a huge hit! And so were the games! We played MadGab and Cranium. Ashley and I were partners to Cranium, and we ended up winning the whole game!

Ross Spouses Organization Spaghetti Dinner

Ralna, Ashley and I are all on the board for RSO and this semester, the organization planned a spaghetti dinner for the students right before one of the minis. Sometimes it's hard to know exactly how we can help out our husbands and other students since we can't even pronounce half the words in their study packets... but we learned quickly that cooking and making meals is such a big help. So we grabbed our spaghetti noodles and pots and got cooking & serving! The students loved it, and we had a fun time too!

Me, Katrina, and Courtney dishing out the noodles, sauce and green beans! Despite wearing a white shirt - i didn't get a bit of spaghetti sauce on me! (and knowing me, that's a miracle!)

Ashley gave us a ride home after the dinner, but forgot to mention she left the floats we use at the pool blown up in the back! So Courtney and I shared the back seat with an innertube!

Dinner at Blue Bay

While Ashley's mom was visiting, Kyle and I went out to dinner with Ryan, Ashley and her mom, Marta, at Blue Bay (as you can tell, one of our favorites on the island!) We had a great time, and I can't tell you how grateful I am to have Ashley down here!! She is definitely an answer to prayer!!

My AMAZING Bible Study

I have had the privilege of being in a Bible study with some amazing women for the past two semesters. I love how diverse our group is. Czarina, Katie, and Jamie are students, Ralna and Denise are spouses with children, and then there's Ashley and me. I have loved spending time with these ladies, who have been to open and encouraging. Czarina, Katie and Jamie are leaving to go to Miami for 5th semester. It just won't be the same without them!

Back row: Ralna, Jamie, Ashley, Katie, & me. Front row: Czarina & Denise

Yikes!

"What is that?" you might be asking. Perhaps it's a bowl of gravy, or maybe you're like Kyle and thought it was a new chocolate flavor of Jell-O. Well, keep guessing but I am sad to tell you that that lovely brown liquid came straight from our faucet. Yes ladies and gentleman, THAT is our water!

I've mentioned it before, but when it rains for several days our water tends to get a little murky. Well, it's been raining non-stop for the past few weeks, so we knew this was coming. I showered and just prayed we wouldn't get any diseases. We brush our teeth with bottled water. But I didn't quite realize how bad it was until I went to do the dishes and this is what came out. Yuck.

Needless to say, there is still a pile of dishes sitting in our kitchen...

Who says we're too old?

If you couldn't tell, we LOVE celebrating holidays! (Christmas and Valentine's Day are our favorites). So, we couldn't let Easter and April Fools Day pass without finding some unique ways to celebrate.

I mentioned in a previous post that on Easter, we went to RCF's Sunrise Service, which Kyle actually gave the message for. Then we were off to a brunch potluck with some of our friends. Well, we thought we were missing a little something... so, of course we hid baskets. We are fully aware Easter baskets have nothing to do with actually celebrating Jesus rising from the dead and triumphing death & sin so we can actually have life, and have it to the fullest (amen!), and sadly we found out long ago that the Easter bunny is not real, but we figured as long as we don't have kids of our own yet, we should still be allowed to partake in the fun. :)

We hid baskets for each other around our apartment and hunted for them. I've heard Kyle was quite good at basket-hunting when he was little, and was infamous for beating Keri. I'd say he probably beat me in finding his, too. I mean, our apartment is so spacious and there are just so many places to hide them! (note the sarcasm there. but I do love our apartment, don't get me wrong!)

Not there! Keep looking...

Found it!

Kyle's Easter Basket!

A little lost...

There it is!

My basket! (Kyle was a little sad because he was planning on getting more stuff for my basket, but he was stuck in bed all day Saturday when he got hurt. But he did give me "coupons" good for cookies from Subway, so I'm just fine with that!)


So, we had a great time celebrating Easter, and then one of my least-favorite holiday rolls around: April Fools Day. I spend the whole day being a nervous wreck just waiting for something to pop out or go wrong. (I think this is all due to my brothers - who probably loved this holiday and tormented me. They even put plastic wrap over the toilet seat!)


I spent the whole day thinking Kyle was secretly plotting something and I analyzed everything he did. (Like, Oh no, he had the bathroom sink on for a long time, he's got to be doing something!). Thankfully, he's so sweet to me and didn't try anything, but I wanted to do something so I got online and did a little research. And I found so many April Fools recipes, so I went to town! I made "Meatloaf Cupcakes" and then dirt dessert. I'm pretty sure Kyle thinks I'm a little crazy for trying to celebrate holidays so much, but it makes those days just a little less ordinary :)

"Andrea, what is this?"

They're Meatloaf Cupcakes!!

And they were actually pretty good!