07/18//13

These trees were my FAVORITE in St. Lucia.  They are called "Flamboyant" trees and I can so understand why.  

I could have photographed them forever.

Their color popped out of everywhere on the island.

I was able to get some up close pics of it on Pigeon Island, our last day in St. Lucia.  The wind was blowing so hard I was afraid I wouldn't get a great pic, but I did manage a couple.

So... sad to say, but my summer is flying by...

What have I been doing?

I haven't been on here much, that is for sure.  A complete difference from years past when I never wanted to miss a day.

I have been:

.... enjoying being with my sweet ones.  I never mind being home with them.

...... had some fun lunch dates with friends.  It is nice to get out and chat without worrying that you have been sitting in the same booth for 3... or 4 hours.  :)

....working on the St. Lucia pics as you can see.  Got them done and have ordered many prints from them.

..... taking an online class for school.  We are beginning the use of Mimio's in our classrooms this fall.  It turns your regular white board into an interactive board.  I have been in school almost a month and will start another class with it in the fall.  It is neat to see what can be created for the kids.

..... finishing up my Powerpoints of the countries.  I also re-did the states because they needed some pepping.  :)  With re-doing the 50 states, I also did the 53 African countries.  (With the help of my wonderful brother..).  In the last two years I have done 249 Powerpoints just on countries/states.  I am glad I could put the check in THAT box.

.... cleaning this house.  DEEP.  
I could not believe how bad this house had gotten.............. but, wait... yes, I could.  It had been neglected far too long.  We pulled out furniture and moved things around.  I'll be showing some of that on here soon.  The kids even did their rooms themselves.  I was quite proud of them.  The office is the only room that didn't get touched... and it will..... eventually..... maybe next summer....

..... reading books!  I have read around 8 books already this summer!  I made a choice to read more and it has been great.  Having the Kindle has also been wonderful because I can find different books so quickly from the comfort of my couch or bed.  haha.

.... doing my Bible study.  This may be last but it certainly does not mean to be... just where it landed.  I will be talking more on this in the coming days, too.


I truly have had many thoughts swirling around in my head to write.  I honestly have not had the brain time to get it all sorted so that it would make sense.  I have missed it and hope to be getting back into more writing soon. 

What have YOU been doing this summer?

07/10/13

I can't believe today marks a month since we returned from our trip.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get these blogs finished.  I have been knee-deep in cleaning my house as well as an online class for school.

On Thursday of that week we went to see the volcano in Soufriere.  On the way, we got to see the Pitons.... their very popular mountains on the coast, although not the highest.

While viewing the Pitons from here we were "attacked" (ha!) by a woman selling her wares.  We got five mahogany necklaces and a bracelet for $20.  She said she needed money for her kids to go to school.  She also "cussed out" our tour guide in Creole because she was showing us something from another guy selling necklaces.  All our tour guide was doing was showing me things that interested me because she knew I was a teacher.  Not sure what I am going to do with five of those necklaces, but it surely makes a great story.

The volcano.... the town of Soufriere is actually IN the volcano.  It hasn't erupted since the 1700's.  Soufriere means "Sulphur in the air."  They say as long as you smell rotten eggs you are good.  Well, we were good because we smelled some serious rotten eggs.

The people in St. Lucia have a saying "No pressure, No problem"... it means if you don't have pressure under the earth from the volcano you have no problem of it erupting.  Just know, I would hate to be around if it did.... Talk about Pompei all over again!

The teacher in me was so excited to be there and experience it even though it wasn't that much there.  We were not allowed to walk down among the magma spewing forth and bubbling.  I didn't think I wanted to die that day.

On the way back to the resort I asked if we could stop in a small fishing village so I could photograph some things up close.  They obliged, kindly, but were nervous the whole time.  haha.  This too trusting teacher who is writing this blog started walking about as if I was in Apex, NC.  They soon trailed after me.  Oh the things I take for granted...

Here is my chicken picture.  I tried to get more close and a better shot, but its owner came out of nowhere, drunk, and began to fuss at me for taking at picture of his chicken.  Apparently, the locals think that you should pay them if you take their picture.  Thank goodness I just got the chicken!

That night we had the best sunset for the entire week.  It was breathtaking.

Me and Sweet Man after supper that night.

On Friday we went shopping downtown.  I would have liked to have spent more time in this market but we only had about 15 minutes.  If I had it to do all over again I would have told Steve for us to stay here longer and catch a cab back to the resort.  Still a great time, though.

 

This is definitely not something you see in our area!

 

Here is the calabash.  This is a gourd that was used for pottery before they started using clay.  They look like huge apples.  I was able to get some earrings made out of it to take home.  Neat stuff.

While we were there we met this couple and another couple who were getting married that week. They both were married on Friday.  We got to see this couple get married as we hung out on the beach.

Another nice sunset, but it wasn't nearly as beautiful as the night before.

On Saturday we went Ziplining.  

I. LOVED. IT.

I was determined to LIVE while on this trip so this was definitely living!  The course had twelve lines so it was great to be able to do it over and over.

Don't mess with the pro newby.

This smile on my face was there the whole time.  It was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed every minute.

Sweet Man had moments of not being as sure, but overall he loved it, too!

Coming in for a landing.

Off I go again!

We are surviving!

On the way back our tour guide showed us the inside of cacao.  In case you don't know what that is, it is where we get our chocolate!  I knew what it was when  he asked and kept being the annoying student.  Others thought it was squash or something. haha.  We got to put the cocoa bean in our mouth to taste the covering.  It was interesting, but I must say I love the CHOCOLATE best.

We also got to try fresh coconut.  It was delectable!

Me and Sweet Man again... yes, I took a lot of pictures of us together.

06/29/13

St. Lucia - Day 3

Steve saw that the tours included a Segway tour and said we just had to do one of those.

I was all about making sure he got to do something he enjoyed so I consented.

Remember, I was trying to LIVE now and not regret that I never did anything exciting and new.

And I will never regret that day... it was awesome.

Here we are getting our cute little bike helmets on for safety.

Our tour guide took pics of us all around this area... I have a ton of them.  It was funny how he kept telling us to move to different spots on the decking.

Here is our guide - Lloyd.  He was a HOOT.  We had the best time with him!

We had to learn how to ride the Segways first.  That took some balancing, but once you get the hang of it, it is so cool!  

We left the area of practicing and went up the side of the mountain.  Let's just say riding the Segway was much easier than walking up that area!

One of our first stops was to overlook Rodney Bay... just beautiful.  That is Pigeon Island straight ahead in the photo.  You'll hear more about that later.

This is Noni fruit.  

I was ecstatic to see it!

Why, you ask?

I am a teacher and I have talked about this with my students.  I am sure the other people who were in our tour thought I was nuts photographing this fruit like it was a movie star.  Our tour guide was also laughing that I got so "into" seeing this fruit in person.  If I remember correctly, you do not want to eat this fruit... it is only used for medicinal purposes.

The mountain had bunkers and other areas built by the army in 1941.  I didn't realize that St. Lucia played a part in WWII!  It was really neat seeing that part of their history as well.

We are some wild things on those Segways.....

"Look, Ma, NO hands!"

Another Army bunker area.... the date 7/5/41 was carved into the cement on the bottom right of the picture.  The closeup of that is right below.

I can't remember the actual name of this area, but it was breath-taking!  I could not get enough of it.

I was shocked to see cactus growing there, but apparently they grow in many different areas of North America.  (Learned that from Kev...)

Yet another view from that high point.

It was so neat for me (again, being a teacher who teaches this stuff!) to walk on hardened lava.  St. Lucia was created by a volcano.

We were able to enjoy some different local fruits on our "rest stop" on the tour.  (Like we really needed to rest with riding the Segways.. lol)

Here Lloyd is cutting up an orange that was actually yellow.  We also enjoyed fresh bananas, mangoes, and coconut water.  The coconut water was like water, but not... hard to describe the taste.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't something I would want all of the time.  The bananas were so sweet.  The mangoes were my favorite.

Yep... that's me eating a mango!  We were told there were between 60-100 varieties of mangoes that grow on St. Lucia alone.  When a mango falls off the tree and hits you on the head, you are supposed to keep it and eat it.  haha

!

Steve loved the Segways... he really wanted to take his home with him.

Lloyd was doing all kinds of crazy things on his Segway.  He had the BEST personality.  Steve actually caught this shot.... I was proud of him!

Here I am looking as touristy as possible...

Down at the beach at Rodney Bay.  We got to ride our Segways on the beach, but I did not find it as relaxing.  haah!

After our tour we came back and enjoyed our virgin pina coladas and lunch by the beach.

(I actually had a virgin strawberry daiquiris here but it wasn't my fave)

This is what I had for lunch pretty much every day.... hummus and pita bread.  It was yummy.

Then, we hung out by the pool and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading my books.

Our view from supper that night.... Kelly's Dockside.... nice name for a restaurant, huh?

More virgin pina coladas... Hey, if you can get them for "free", enjoy as many as you can, right?!

I had the Mahi-Mahi and it was SO good.

Steve had the steak.. said it was the best he had ever had.

Me and Sweet Man after we ate.

Our dessert that night... Oh. Goodness.

Now you see it.....

Now you don't!

Happy to be with Sweet Man.  :)