Found out yesterday my mom and dad are coming to visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it and for 5 days!!?? If you know my parents you know my mom doesn't like boats and my dad doesn't like to fly. He claims he doesn't mind flying it's the crashing part he doesn't like, true for all of us I think. So, my parents with their fears of everything leave them stranded on land. For birthday's or anniversaries they go to the west coast of Florida to the beach, or up to Tennessee or Virginia, wherever their BFF's Jackie and Jeff live. After my wedding my parents got passports!!! So when they come to Nassau it will be their first passport stamp, and their in their 50's. They have been to Jamaica before, several years ago, but they never left the resort. So i'm counting THIS as their first out of country experience. While they're here, they'll be staying with us in our home, not at a resort. They'll experience the pawn shop and all it's wonderful Bahamians, be forced to eat conch, fight through the straw market, take a shot of tequila at senor frogs, ride in our right hand drive car, hit up the food store and all of it's glory, of course go to the beach and bake, so my dad and I can have our "who can get darker" competition. Usually it lasts through the summer, but we only have 5 days together, and I bet i'll win!! HA HA!!! We'll be plenty busy, and i'm happy to show them something different than the "American" way. It will be a complete eye opening experience I think, so i'll be sure to get lots of pictures of all the "firsts" while they're here. I CAN'T WAIT TILL YOU GET HERE!!!! ONLY 4 WEEKS!!!!
OMGosh!!
You ever feel like your bubble of personal space is invaded? I'm not sure if it's just the Bahamas, but in Freeport and Nassau it's the same way. Whether it's in Wendy's or the electric company it's always the same. Today I went downtown to the mall where BEC (bahamas electric company) is, and it's just one long line that reminds me of Disney. The line goes pretty quick here but looks like an hour wait. So the personal space....no matter where you are waiting in line, the person behind you is centimeters away, pretty much standing on your heals. I'd have to admit, it was really uncomfortable at first and now I think I've started doing it to people, ONLY because the person behind me is doing it. I stood in line today with a lady SO close, I had my arms crossed, and if I uncrossed my arms I would of pushed her over. She was chewing her gum, not even smacking it and I could hear everything, like she was purposely doing it to annoy me. I felt like her mouth was an inch from my ear. I had a lady tell me she thought I was in my late 30's.....hahahahhaa that's a first! I was a little caught off guard and told her "man I must look rough today", she saved herself by telling me that I just had a mature nature about me, like I was older and looked younger. Ok? Whatever I guess, I hope that doesn't happen again for a while. I found a cockroach the size of half a snickers bar crawling across my utensils in the drawer last night. Totally freaked me out, now I open drawers and cabinets with caution...these things are HUGE here! Hopefully they don't jump in a box and move with me and Darin to our new house.2 1/2 weeks till we move!!!!!!!!!Did you see that video of the girl texting and trip/fall into the fountain in the mall?!?! LOL....well if you did, and you go to spiritair.com you'll see one of their "deals" has a video of a girl texting and tripping over the "$29" sign into a fountain!! The poor girl has started and epidemic, the talk of late night talk shows and comedic advertisement use.
Our 5 year (dating) anniversary day started last weekend and Darin and I were sitting at work Saturday morning. We get on facebook promptly at 10:15am (shop opens at 10am). Our friend Preston's birthday was that night, and he'd already posted a picture of like 10 slabs of ribs and all this chicken on a HUGE cooker thing. Darin calls Preston to wish him a happy birthday, we told him wish we could be there, it looked like it was gonna be fun, and everyone was gonna be out there all day. We hang up all bummed out totally wish we were home. I (stupidly) mentioned to darin, "well we do have that voucher for spirit airlines". That was the end of that! So maybe we started looking at tickets online, JUST TO SEE! 12pm comes around, Darin says "have you found anything yet". Tickets weren't cheap and I couldn't book anything online it seemed like since the flight I was looking at left at 2pm. You can't b
uy a ticket if it's less than 4hrs of the the scheduled flight. So....Darin's idea, is "ok, lets call bahamas air and see if they have 2 more seats, if so then we go, if not then we don't". I'm thinking, seriously we're doing this? I called kinda hoping it would be a full flight but noooooo the lady says there's 2 more seats, and check in time was now. Holy crap!! It's 12:30pm flight is at 2pm, we have to go home and put warmer clothes on and hopefully be there by 1pm. So we grab our laptops, run out the door of the shop to the car, speed to the house, Darin puts pants on, I grab my jacket and throw on my boots, put some stuff in our backpacks and run out the door to speed on to the airport. We get there at 1:05pm, Darin drops me off so he can park the car, I get up to the counter get our tickets and realize we can't turn back now, I just paid for tickets to do one of the stupidest things ever, especially because we leave the next day! I'm such a planner and everything has a schedule and a place in my life so this was a little crazy for me. Security wasn't so bad but by the time we got through it was 1:30pm (flight leaves at 2). The line for US customs was soooo long, it had us worrying we would never make this flight, we have about an hour wait. We're freaking out, and Darin starts to get mad and telling me to go cut someone, i'm like look buddy, you wanna do this, you go up there. We're standing there arguing who's gonna be the hero today, and I finally give in and grrrrrr at Darin and go to the front of the line where I found a guy on cru
tches (go for the hurt fella, he'll let me in), I ask him and this group of girls behind him if we could cut, and our flight is in 15mins or I wouldn't be asking of such a huge favor. They let us cut!! PHEW!!! So now we're 3 people deep in line for customs. We get though at like 1:58, run up the stairs, through the airport, give the lady our tickets, run down the terminal to the plane, Darin gets on and they stop me to search me. UGH! Well at least I made it to the plane, i'm so out of breath and in desperate need of water! We get on the plane and it's the longest 1.5 hours ever. Darin gets so excited going to Orlando, he's like a little kid. My brother made up an excuse to leave the party, so he picked us up in Alan's truck. We didn't tell anyone, not even our parents. We're on our way to Preston's and I called Laura (from Craig's cell phone) who is in Colorado and freak her out, she thought Craig was in the Bahamas LOL....I wasn't going to see Laura this weekend since her flight got in late on Sunday night and we left during the day, but I had to call. I had my flip camera on me so when we pulled into Preston's property Craig gets out first with my flip. Darin and I were ducking in the back seat, gave Craig about 15 seconds and we stepped out of the truck like it was just another day, Darin yelled he brought beer, everyone looked and freaked out! It was all caught on camera so i'll put up a video of that later. It was so much fun surprising our friends, we had a great time and great food. We saw our parents the next day at breakfast, we couldn't come to Orlando with out seeing them....and the rest is history. We're back home in the Bahamas and it felt so good to take off my jacket and boots, and get into my flip flops and tank top. 
Thanks for my family's participation! We had a dance party and a family skate night. My family is so big, and this is only like a quarter of the people. Darin's family was there for skate night also. The music for the skate part I had my dad choose. Last time I posted a skating video he wanted the next one to be to disco music. So he picked this one, good job dad!! :) I love my families, you guys rock, we miss you so much!! ENJOY!!p.s. I hope someone tells Ginny & Jim to watch this because Logan's dancing skills are worth watching!!
AHHHHHH YES!!! We've signed a new lease for a new home here in Nassau. I can't wait!!! I'm just going to miss the backyard beach and the sound of waves at night. We're only a block away so we should get a good breeze. Wait till you see it, I love it!! Only 4 weeks till move in day, and it can't come any faster!!! Don't worry, I will blog pictures that day, unless i'm still unpacking, then the next day. I'll stay up for as long as I have to until everything has it's place, otherwise I won't be able to sleep. The thing i'm most excited about is my sheets and bedding. It was my favorite thing on the registry and my awesome, amazing aunt Cheryl and uncle Glenn got it for me, so i'll FINALLY get to use it!! Love you guys, thanks so so so much for it!!
Last night my fb (facebook <--for my dad) status said "you know it's gonna be a good night when you're googleing (is that a word?), how to fix a vacuum toilet". Living in the Bahamas is so great, don't get me wrong, our backyard is to die for any given day, and it's such a laid back life who wouldn't love it. Our condo is very old, if it was new, or fixed, this place would be kickin!! In the last 2 weeks, we've had 3 toilets flood, the ceiling leak to the first floor from the second due to plumbing, the laundry basically exploded a flood out of it twice, last night we couldn't use the restroom, there was no pressure to flush, today I come home to a puddle in the living room, and throw my hands in the air WTH, ignoring that I go upstairs to hear a hissing noise, and MORE yep MORE water....towel washing tonight anyone, because I AM!! I clean the first bathroom head to the second and the smell of plumbing and what's in it hits me....who knows, I guess I had a rough enough few weeks but I break down and cry that I didn't sign up for this, maybe it's a sign I should go home until we've found a new place. Take a deep breath, clean THAT floor, only to head downstairs, clean that large puddle and make dinner. I did in fact sign up for this, it's apparently in small print on your wedding certificate that says "no matter what life throws at you...sign here!" Grrrrrrrr, so I did sign, need to find a peaceful place and accept things as they are, think positive and there's a plan for something better soon. Patience is hard to accept though, and i'm a patient person I thought. Well dinner's done, i'm venting with a straw in my beer so it goes down faster, and i'm PATIENTLY waiting for Darin to get home and share this new recipe i've tried. Tomorrow **fingers crossed** will be a much better day with NO surprises....Oh that recipe is mashed potato flakes on chicken instead of breadcrumbs. I threw a little salt, pepper and all seasoning in it too. Letcha know how it tastes.....
Enjoy the video!! Christmas day with our families was a long stressful day because we had to drive back and forth a lot, and felt like we didn't get enough time with either family, but we were home for Christmas and that's really all we wanted.p.s. the quality isn't the best because the file had to be so small, but it's still good enough to see everything....you'll see! :)
Some misc stuff, that doesn't all go into one blog together.......It's so windy and cold here today....so i've decided to stay home and do laundry since it's been broken and got fixed, so clean clothes here we come!!!! I've been flipping (videoing) stuff here, and at the pawn shop and I FINALLY got the homeless guy on the same corner everyday who comes up to your window and his belly is touching the car. I'll put that up on some video soon.The police were at the shop the other day because a guy stole Bobby's phone (an employee) off the shelf and though he deserved his phone being stolen, the guy still took it. He came in the next day and Bobby called him out, and the guy started yelling so Bobby asked him to go outside. Now, there's a magnet lock on the door for a reason. They got outside and the boy took off, our security went after him as well as Bobby and just some other guys that were watching. He got caught and brought back to the shop as 20 police showed up on bikes, on foot and in cars. Only 2 or 3 of them were handling the situation, while the other 15 or so just watched. I did get some of this on my flip as well, so it will all be on a video I post. Needless to say, he admitted taking the phone, we have him on camera and he got a BEAT DOWN by the police. I'm telling you, these police here cursed him out grabbed his shirt, kicked his legs out from under him, threw him on the floor, and slapped him. Wish I got that on video lol.I'm addicted to Dr. Oz lately. He had an episode about meditation and how the nerves get turned on and off by meditating and that you can basically do anything by meditating. I tried it with the show and actually felt what he was explaining, crazy. I got a new ring, that i'm totally in love with. Darin says when I get pretty stuff from the pawn shop, think of it as him bringing me home flowers. So I guess that means i'll never get flowers, but I can live with getting pretty stuff from the pawn shop :)I went on a mission for bathroom supplies and office supplies yesterday, leaving the food store I saw a sign that said "at the target" with a picture of a target on it, and I wondered what was "at the target". The office store is about a 30 min 2 mile drive, but I was persistent on seeing what this target thing was. It reminded me of home so I had to see.....amazingly it was an office store!! lol, I couldn't help but laugh because I was about to drive 30 mins to another office store, and this one was sitting right there! The store is actually called BOSS (bahamian office & school supplies) but the advertising just tells you "at the target". Thought that was pretty cool, now I don't have to go early as far for supplies! Well....my FAMILY CHRISTMAS video is ready....i'll try and post it today or tomorrow for you to come back and watch!!!!
I think I have so much to say since last time I wrote, that this is going to take me a few days. I went home for Christmas, and a 8 day trip turned into a 12 day trip because of delays. All I think about in my down time is "I gotta remember this for my blog", and by the time I write, I can't remember all the things I wanted to put in my blog. I thought of a way to write my ideas down to have them when I blog. I bought a notebook a while ago but when I write something down and I look at it later i'm like "why did I want to write about that"? So, I decided to write when i'm in front of the laptop and whatever comes is what I type. Over the Christmas break i've wanted to remember so many things, and now I can't remember, so i'm going to try and use the book idea again and write things down. Just thought you should know. :)Maureen came over to visit on the 16th and she left the 19th same as me just different airlines. While she was here I've fallen in love with Gyros at this Greek restaurant, bought a Coach clutch that I don't remember buying, found a bar on the water that is awesome, got offered a cash job at it too, discovered a Bahamian Christmas craft fair and bought the cutest ornament for my mom, and great postcards. Mo (Maureen) got to try Guave Duff, which is a local dessert and one of my personal favs. She also tried the Conch Salad and loved it, another one of mine and Darin's favs. Mo brought our suitcases back so Spirit wouldn't charge me (new policy), and she also brought my crockpot and griddle. Needless to say I made pancakes for 4 days in a row :) Darin and I were sooooo excited to come home for the holiday. I left Sunday before Christmas, and Darin came on the Wednesday night. I like to get there a few days before him so I can get some things done. The Christmas Eve service was one of the best i've ever been to I think. The food drive we usually do had already been done a few weeks before, so I was kinda bummed that we couldn't do that part of our Christmas Eve tradition. Christmas morning was fun I got to use my new Flip I bought and my mom took pictures. Got some good stuff and ate good food. My mom does mimosas and makes a potato cheese casserole, eggs, and sausage balls. We headed to Darin's sister's house and watched them eat a big breakfast, played with Jordis, and played the White Elephant gift exchange game. I ended up with a cool wine bottle that's wood and you can open it and all the little wine tools are in it, close it and put it back in you wine rack. Darin got a $25 gift card to Best Buy! Headed over to my grandmas house for a late lunch and saw my other bigger family and headed back to Darin's mom's house where I helped make dinner and made my own green bean casserole! Jared had a few mystery beers so we had our own beer tasting and watched a movie. Other than Christmas we saw our friends a lot and met people for lunch and dinner and wine nights, magic games, and downtown. There's always so much to do when we go home that I start to feel stressed out from driving place to place, and when you think you can have a down lazy day, someone calls and wakes you up to make lunch plans and it starts all over again. When we were leaving Tuesday and our flights got delayed till Friday....I thought this is the perfect way to stay home and do nothing for a few days. Darin got to leave on Tuesday afternoon and I stayed until Friday. The cold did catch up to me so I'm glad I got the time to stay in bed and watch tv for 2 days. Not many people knew I was home, to be honest, I didn't want the phone calls to make more plans and drive more places. Darin is right, I get to sit home and do nothing everyday anyway, but the feeling being in my old house is different then sitting at home here all day. After the insane airport day we had Tuesday with my poor dad's car going there 3 times in one day, we've both made it home to Nassau. I came home Friday, New Years Eve, to a house that was flooded downstairs from a toilet, broken toilets, and a funky smell. The flood make the couch covers wet on the bottom, so later that afternoon I went to wash those first then do my laundry. Darin and I started watching the Dexter series, and after the first episode Darin went to get a drink. You have to know our kitchen is also our laundry room. Darin called me downstairs where I find the laundry machine is broken and the kitchen is flooded and the sick must of got backed up because there was crap left in the sink with a funky smell coming from it. Something is SERIOUSLY wrong with this house. We've found a few places to move to but we couldn't pull ourselves from the porch and our view. After the last few days here and today finding the water pressure to be a trickle, I think we're both ready to give up the view for a functional living space. Chad comes next week so hopefully he'll be able to help us find a place. New years was good I guess, we just stayed at the house with our own cocktails because it was so expensive to go anywhere. No cover was less than $50, and most were at $100 or over. We had initially planned on going over to Abacco to hang out with Stacy and Todd but since I didn't come home till Friday afternoon we decided not to rush and get on another plane. The Sandals resort had great fireworks, as they always do. We were here for July 4th also and saw them. After the fireworks we headed to bed....stayed in bed all day, and now it's Sunday, and i'm still in bed and Darin's out on one of the pawned bikes making sure it's running and stuff still. He just called so i'm going to get ready so I can go for a leisure bike ride with him. See ya!!p.s. I opened the bag of bagels I bought yesterday and they're molded....guess I gotta return them! Grrrrrp.s.s. video and pictures to come of roller skating and Wii dancing!
OMGosh!!
