Cute Little Tiny Thing March 18, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Family, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba , add a commentWe washed the car. This is the third time our car has been washed in 28 months. Disgusting, I know. We decided it might help us sell our WHITE car if it wasn’t sporting a layer of brown filth and tiny little paw prints from the neighbor’s cat. There is NO CAR WASH HERE. This might come as a surprise because this island offers so many conveniences like a full service gas station that has one pump, and grocery stores that close at 7:00 PM. 
Since I am incubating a baby, and not that interested in dirty work that involves elbow grease, the lovely job of beautifying the car was delegated to David.
This is the man in action. Now, I must make a comment about his shirt, BECAUSE EVERYONE DOES. This is probably HIS FAVORITE SHIRT.
- Locals usually say, “Hey David! I like your Hawaiian shirt!” (just a interesting note: this shirt was purchased on Sint Maarten, which is in the Caribbean, which is like half way around the world from Hawaii, but whatever)
- Students ask, “Hey, is there a luau later?”
- One friend calls him “Magnum P.I.” in this shirt
- Hannah smiles her biggest grin when he puts this shirt on because this is the shirt he wore when she was born
- I have this insane desire to grab his shirt by the front and scream, “ONE CHILD!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? WE ARE HAVING ONE CHILD!” I looked at this all-too-colorful shirt for more than 30 painful labor hours.
With that said, he still loves this shirt and really, where else in the world can you get away wearing a shirt like this year round? When you’re not even on vacation? ‘Nuff said. HE WEARS IT BECAUSE HE CAN.
Now, our car was truly nasty. My job was to sit on the side of the road, on the wall, with Hannah. I had to bake a baby, and hold a baby at the same time. Pretty big job if you ask me. Hannah couldn’t stop talking about the big “MESS!” her dad was making, until she saw the bubbles. You know what? She LOVES bubbles. That was all she talked about for the next 10 hours.
The car is now for sale. It is amazing how sad we are to sell this little gem. I think I’m even more amazed at how much either I have changed, or how much the car has grown on me in the short 28 months we’ve been here. When I first arrived on Saba, there we THREE, count them THREE cars for sale on the entire island. This may come as a surprise to you, but there isn’t a car dealership here either. I was more than completely repulsed at the thought of sitting in this car, let alone driving it, or heaven forbid, BUYING IT. This little beauty has been my ticket to freedom and saved me from hiking all over this island. I swear, I’ll never make fun of it again. Cute little tiny thing.
I Still Really Want . . . March 17, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Family, Little Man Dallin, My Handsome Husband, Projects, Saba , add a commentI still want a Nikon D80. In case any of you were wondering. It’s not that I don’t like our camera, (a Cannon S2 IS) it’s just that I know how amazing the Nikon camera is. Both David and I want this camera and when we get hooked on something, (especially an electronic/gadget which probably puts me in the geek category) it is almost all we can think about. If anyone out there would like to gift a Nikon D80 to me, seriously, I swear I will send you a Christmas card every year and make you an awesome treat. Hey, it doesn’t hurt to mention what you like because in a previous post, I mentioned how much I LOVED HI-CHEW candy, and a friend of mine (who is from Japan, but lives on Saba now) brought back some HI-CHEW for me from Japan! I almost didn’t tell David about the candy, because then I’d have to share it with him. YEAH, IT’S THAT GOOD.
While we are still very excited to one day be the proud new owners of a Nikon D80, we are happy with our current camera because we are now utilizing Photoshop Elements. We have had this program for a while, but never fully understood how to do cool things with it. We have been reading tutorials online and here are a couple of photos we have edited:
This photo was taken by our friend Daniel, who used a regular “point and shoot” camera (not the Nikon D80, which have I mentioned we’re obsessed with?) This is a great photo, but check out the how much better it looks after some tweaking in Photoshop:
Doesn’t that look amazing? Just a few little enhancements here and there and viola!
I have always like this photo of my younger sister Allison and me. There are a few things that I wish were different, like having EXTRA WHITE TEETH, (because I am a huge proponent of straight white teeth) and fewer wrinkles, but hey, I realize I’m 30 . . .
Now I LOVE this photo. Not only do we have EXTRA WHITE TEETH, but the photo is soft and we have fewer wrinkles.
Still, can you imagine how great our family photos will be with Nikon D80 (have I made myself clear?) and Photoshop Elements? Yeah, we’re excited.
The Obsession of the Week March 16, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Family, Princess Hannah , 1 comment so far“Swinging?” has been the word of choice for the last week. “Swinging” doesn’t really mean “swinging,” as in as swinging at the park. It really means SWIMMING. I am positive Hannah thinks about swimming ALL DAY LONG, and then she dreams about it ALL NIGHT LONG.
I am a mom, and by definition, that means you have to make SACRIFICES for your kids. Yesterday was no exception. I braved the FREEZING COLD pool water to go swimming with her, because that is what mom’s do. They sacrifice their own comfort for their kids. Besides, how could I break her little heart when she asked so sincerely and sweetly to go “swinging?”
Now, I know it may not be obvious, but Hannah is actually counting to three here. She uses all ten fingers to do this.
She has successfully counted to three, and now she is anticipating being dunked in the water. I’d like to point out the great tan on her arms and her white belly. Just look at that cute BELLY! And check out the rolls on her legs! She was born with those! Too cute. WAY TOO CUTE. This is what makes her so kissable.
Hannah is actually squealing in excitement here. Please don’t confuse this happy face with her crying face, although they do look a lot alike at times. I would also like to point out that the water is FREEZING. What you can’t see in this photo, are all the INVISIBLE ICE CUBES FLOATING AROUND US. The sacrifices parents make for their kids . . .
Longing For Creature Comforts March 14, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Saba, Texas , add a commentOur time on this island comes to a close in seven weeks. Really, it’s sort of weird. This place feels like home. Our family expanded here, and honestly, I feel like a local. I have been quite nostalgic lately. Watching every plane land, enjoying every rain storm, smelling every flower, savoring the wonderful view from my patio and enjoying the mild temperature. It kind of makes me sad to think I won’t always be a stranded-housewife-of-a-medical-student-living-on-a-deserted-island-forever. To bring myself back to reality, I started a list of things I’m not going to miss on Saba, and things I look forward too in the states . . . just to keep my perspective real.
Not Going to Miss:
- Paying $5.50 a gallon for gasoline
- Paying $12.00 a gallon for milk
- Paying $80 a month for S-L-O-W internet
- Monthly grocery bill of $800 (for two adults and one little person)
- Paying to make local phone calls
- Walking up hill BOTH WAYS
- No access to a Vet
- Bathrooms that smell like pee (since you can only flush when it’s brown. True story.)
- Weekly power outages
- Hanging my laundry to dry
- Hand washing dishes
- Taking an “army shower” to conserve on water
- The very uncomfortable bed in this house
Looking Forward to:
- Paying a LOT less for groceries
- Sleeping in my OWN BED
- Living on MY OWN FURNITURE
- Shopping. Any kind
- Going out to eat at fast food places (they don’t exist here)
- Eating out at Posado’s in Texas
- Going to Michaels Craft and finding projects to do
- Taking Hannah for a walk on a FLAT SIDEWALK
- Seeing the American flag everywhere
- Driving my car (that currently lives in storage) that has AIR CONDITIONING and a STEREO (What a luxury, right?)
- Flushing the toilet every time I pee (Which is like 80 times a day now that I’m pregnant)
- Cooking in a kitchen that has more than three square feet of counter space.
- CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING
I truly don’t think I’m too demanding. I have missed a few creature comforts these last few years, and DANG IT, I CAN’T WAIT TO HAVE THEM AGAIN!
First Prayer March 13, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Family, My Handsome Husband, Pregnancy, Princess Hannah , 1 comment so farEveryone should have at least one kid. Seriously. If you don’t have one yet, you should put “Birthing, Buying, or Borrowing a Baby” at the top of your to-do list. Because when that kid turns 19 months old, IT MIGHT JUST SAY A PRAYER. You know what? During that 10 second prayer, you will forget about about all the poopie diapers, midnight feedings, and you might even possibly forget ABOUT ALL THOSE LABOR PAINS. In those 10 seconds, when they utter their first prayer, and say words you never knew they could say, you know you and your husband aren’t the only ones beaming with pride.
Hannah said her first prayer last night. It made both of our hearts melt.
Clearly the Preferred Parent March 12, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Family, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba , 1 comment so farApparently, we are still on Holiday. David stayed home from school today to study. (What is the point of going now? It’s all review from here on out.) Hannah could NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT GOING SWIMMING, so Hannah twisted David’s arm (Okay, not really. It doesn’t take much to convince him to go to the beach) by repeatedly asking him “swimming?” again and again. It was an absolutely beautiful day to be outside, doing anything, so off we went to the beach. Days like this make me sad because I know our days are numbered on this beautiful island and it would make it easier to leave if the weather was crappy.
We went down to Cove Bay, (which is really a glorified tide pool) to hang out in the ocean. Hannah enjoyed throwing rocks around and looking at the little fish swimming around her legs. She affectionately calls all of them “Nemo.” David planned to go snorkeling and when he got his gear together and started walking away from us to enter the water at the “special snorkeling spot,” Hannah had a little melt down that her daddy was leaving. She didn’t just cry, she sobbed. She sure does love her daddy. I had to reassure her again and again that he was going swimming and that he would be back.
While David had a wonderful 45 minute snorkel, Hannah and I had a the SAME CONVERSATION for 45 minutes. She would look at me with both her arms outstretched (like she was a fisherman describing the length of a fish she caught)and and say:
“Daddy, go?”
“Honey, Daddy when swimming. He’ll be back.”
“Mommy, Daddy, go?”
“Sweetie, Daddy went swimming with the fish. He’ll be right back.”
“Mommy, Daddy, go?”
This exact conversation was repeated, FOR 45 MINUTES. As much as I wanted to talk about other things, like rocks, or sand or all the little “Nemos” swimming around our feet, we only talked about Dave’s absence. She was elated to see him pop up out of the water, and walk toward us. All was right in her world.
David did have a good snorkel. He saw a stingray and some sea turtles. I asked him if he swam up to the stingray to give it a big bear hug like Steve Irwin. Fortunately, David enjoys wildlife at a distance. That means he’ll be sticking around for a little while.
The Beginning of the End March 11, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Family, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba , add a commentIs today a holiday? Because when I woke up this morning, I honestly wondered if it was Easter, or Christmas, or some other obscure holiday I was unaware of because it felt like a holiday. You see, We’re almost done. Yesterday, David took his last block exams. Ever. How can I even explain how excited we are? He has a few other exams to take before we leave the island, but he is no longer getting new information. Everything from now on is review. Kind of scary to think that he is actually DONE. DONE with lectures, new information, and block exams. DONE with his didactic career. FOREVER. I’m not sure we even know how to behave to be honest. David has been in school for a century, how are we supposed to live life now?
Well, let me tell ya, we started off by celebrating that’s for sure! He didn’t get home till 6:00 PM, (which is very late for him, but one of his exams was later in in the afternoon), so I kept Hannah awake just long enough to say “night night” to her daddy before putting her to bed. Hannah is sort of a party pooper because she LOVES, I repeat, LOVES to go bed at 6:00 PM, EVERY NIGHT. No exceptions. She loves to sleep as much as I do, and truthfully, THANK GOODNESS. This means David and I have every evening to ourselves. It almost feels like we never had a kid . . .
Dave cooked up some steaks and we had sparkling grape juice (the Mormon alternative to wine). We then made smores over the burning coals of the grill. The grill smelled like a campfire, and made both of us smell like one too. Not my favorite smell since I am not a fan of campfires or camping. However, making smores brought back memories of girls camp as a youth. I was never really a fan of them at the time, and last night I was reminded why. THEY ARE TOO SWEET. It is impossible for David to eat anything that is too sweet, but I have a very low threshold for sweet stuff. I am a salt-aholic. I would expound on my love for salty things, or just PLAIN ROCK SALT in general, but then I might reveal that I have issues. Trust me, I have salt issues.
We ended the night falling asleep to “The Da Vinci Code” (a movie we had both seen before ) so neither one of us felt guilty about pooping out on the other one. My only regret? WE FELL ASLEEP SMELLING LIKE A CAMPFIRE. That means we have the smell of the grill embedded into our pillows and sheets, and clothing, and stuff. YUCK. We completely broke one of “Emily’s Carninal Rules of Life”, and that is “NEVER, EVER, EVER, GO TO BED STINKY. EVER.”
Like I said before, I have issues.
If Brides Only Knew March 10, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Asia, Family , 2commentsMy sister Jenn called asking for my “Professional Wedding Gown Advice”. This topic always seems to challenge my memory because part of me has tucked away those bad memories in a very, very, safe place, the other part of me feels like that was such a lifetime ago, (okay, like three years ago) do I really remember anything? Well, the mind is an amazing thing. Even after you have had a baby and been vacationing on a teeny tiny island in the middle of nowhere for the past two and half years, you can STILL REMEMBER STUFF.
Here’s the situation in a nutshell: Her friend bought a wedding gown. The wedding gown is dirty. How does she clean it? Well, the answer is very simple. You throw it in the washing machine. What? You’re gasping too? I forgot how sharing insider information about the bridal business can make someone have an instant brain aneurysm. YES, YOU TURN THE GOWN INSIDE OUT, AND WASH IT ON A DELICATE CYCLE IN COLD WATER WITH LIQUID DETERGENT.
Now I must make a disclaimer, this is for MOST wedding gowns. There are a few fabrics out there for which this would not work. Like silk-satin for one. However, if you paid less than $1,500 for your gown there is a 99.9% chance the tag on your wedding dress says POLYESTER, (regardless if it feels like Italian Matte Satin, or Satin, or whatever. Polyester is made to look and feel like a lot of fabrics. Again, don’t gasp when you find out you actually wore polyester to your wedding.) and it is safe to throw it in the washer. Now, this may be a shocker as well, but almost all Bridal Stores have a washer on site, in their back room. I know, this seems deceitful and wrong, but lets face it, do you really care how your dress was cleaned?
To prove the truthfulness of this crazy concept to my sister (who had a mild heart attack over the phone when I explained how to how clean the dress), I sent her some photos I took while visiting a major factory in China that produced most of our gowns. It shows them washing BRAND NEW WEDDING GOWNS IN A WASHER. How do you think we learned this great trick? From “the people in the know” of course! Here is a peek into what goes on in a Chinese factory:
The worker is hand washing one gown in a RUBBERMAID CONTAINER. Check out the washer and the other gowns just hanging out in their very own Rubbermaid containers.
Check out this worker’s handy work. All beads are hand sewn. Watching her, I thought she was in fast forward. Her hands were lighting fast.
This worker is also sewing on beads. Check out all the pins! An average dress is worked on by 13 different seamstresses. Each specializes in an area.
I can’t remember why they are intentionally making a mess on this fabric, but it has something to do with outlining a design. If brides only knew the beginning phases of their dress!
This is the initial process of making a dress. Cutting out the design.
There are entirely too many talented seamstresses in China. Check them out, going to town on wedding gowns!
These gowns are ready and waiting for final inspection. Notice the gown on the floor; it is being folded and wrapped up for shipping to the States. It passed the final inspection.
These are the hard workers going to dinner. Everyone wears the same outfit to work; men in dark blue, and women in the light blue. They are off to dinner. Each person puts in an average of 14 hours a day, with only two meal breaks for lunch and dinner. They all live on site at the “compound” in dorms, and only see their families a few times a year. Many of them send all of their earnings home to support extended family.
So there you have it.
The Bikini is Now Hidden March 9, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Friends, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba , add a commentIt was FREEZING yesterday. Not literally, of course, but 73°F is DANG COLD to us near the equator! We had all the windows closed and thought (just a thought) about snuggling up in a blanket and drinking hot chocolate when Hannah started saying “OFF!!!” again and again. We weren’t really sure what her problem was until she started taking her shirt off. David insisted she wear her shirt (something about not raising an exhibitionist) and I insisted we let her take it off. I don’t care if she wants to run around the house in a diaper, or change her shirt, pants, or shoes 20 times a day. Hey, I did that as a kid and look at me! I’m a nice, normal contributor to society. Since I am prego, you can guess who won that disagreement.
You should have seen the look on Hannah’s face when she was stripped down to her diaper and shoes. Where was the DANG CAMERA? She was so cute. Take my word for it. After examining her darling belly in the full length mirror, she was pretty pleased with her new found nakedness. Still confused as to why this child would take off her clothing on such a COLD DAY, she started to say “SWING!”. However, I knew she couldn’t possibly mean “swing” as in the swing at the park because she wasn’t signing swing at the same time she was exclaiming her desire to “SWING!” She then pulled out her swimming suit from the closet and tried to put it on. Did you know that “swimming” and “swing” sound a lot alike? Because I never realized that until she so frantically tired to explain the desires of her heart.
We put her suit on and she walked to to the door and said “swing” again. Like we might have forgotten what she wanted to do in the last 10 seconds or something. We went next door to Shannon’s house (she has a pool) and asked to dip Hannah’s feet in the water. Since we knew Hannah would NOT WANT TO SWIM IN FREEZING COLD WATER, we thought this would do the trick. Now keep in mind, neither David or I have on bathing suits, because it was so cold. I was secretly wishing I had the forethought to put a jacket on when we went next door and Shannon came out to greet us all bundled up.
Here’s the deal. I don’t think kids have the ability to care about how cold water is when they are having a good time. The wind chill certainly did not stifle her desire to hop in and out and jump up and down in the water. David and I were both trying to lift our jaws up off the floor while she was frolicking in the pool in FREEZING COLD WEATHER. We would have grabbed our camera if we actually thought she was going to get in, but we certainly didn’t think our child was that determined to swim in crazy cold water.
We had to finally extract her from the pool when she was shivering with blue lips. You know, David mentioned something like “mild hypothermia” and I thought, “Hey yeah. That doesn’t sound good.” So out she came kicking and screaming. She was mostly mad at me because apparently I MUST HAVE BEEN THE BAD PARENT THAT INSISTED A LONG DOSE OF COLD WATER WASN’T GOOD. She was not happy.
We have since hidden her little bikini because I do not want to hear the disappointment in her little cry when I try to explain IT’S TOO COLD OUTSIDE.
Nice Find in the Garage March 8, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Family, My Handsome Husband, Princess Hannah, Saba , add a commentI have had this snow cone machine in our garage for over a year and a half. Don’t ask me how or why I have it, I just do. I sort of forgot about this little thing and the other day as I was cleaning out junk in the garage (in preparation to move in seven weeks) I found this little number in a box. At 91 ° F that day, it was certainly worthy of trying it out. Despite the fact I didn’t know if it worked, I still had five shaved ice syrups stored in my fridge, taking up VERY VALUABLE space. I was hoping this thing worked because WHAT KIND OF A PERSON STORES MISC. JUNK IN THEIR FRIDGE? Not me. I am way too organized and clean for that . . .
Well, let’s just say this machine did not disappoint! Not only does it work, it was so much fun for Hannah to help! She held on tight and watched as the “Door” (she calls it the “door” because it has a door on it. Probably the only thing she recognized on the contraption.) did its magic. You better believe we were the envy of our neighbors as we waked out onto the patio, basking in the bright Caribbean sun, enjoying our shaved ice. I haven’t had a shaved ice treat in honestly, like 20 years. Okay, maybe 15. We made enough for everyone, because we’re nice. Yup. Nice neighbors.
