Jando's Baby Adventures

Baby's First Christmas

2009-01-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

Well I think baby's first christmas is really her second christmas because this year she didn't know the difference! we had a lot of fun though... the great-grandkids are expanding and it was fun to get them all together although pretty chaotic. i imagine it will just be crazier next year as they are all able to move! Jaydon is 2, Emmit is 1 and Neveah is 4 months... it will be nice for Diem to have cousins so close in age!

Diem came home with her first cold... her nose is all stuffy and there is snot running out of it, but she's as happy as can be and thinks the snot sucker is a game! She contiues to be a super fun baby... she is understanding her toys more and finding that she can spin things and make things make noise. She loves watching her parents drink water with ice in it and watching the dog play fetch.

We just booked our tickets to new york so she will be getting her first plane ride pretty soon! I feel like there is no point to writing anything and that i should just put up a bunch of pictures because those are much more fun!

The December edition

2008-12-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

So I kept feeling guilty about not keeping this blog up to date more, but i've since realized that a once a month goal is reasonable! We started this blog when we were living in St. Thomas... but interesting things were happening every day! Now our interesting things revolve around nap times, diapers and smiles that melt your heart -none of which we can capture to post!

Anyway... for Thanksgiving we went out to the Black hills to visit Linda, Al, Cole and Dillon. Diem got to meet her cousin Isaiah... they were super cute together... she actually looks like she enjoy's hanging out with him!

In my efforts to catch a good smile i often take sets of random pictures... this winter hat that she has is so cute... and now she actually likes wearing it.

And since everyone gives you a million Babies first Christmas outfits, we had to take some of those pictures... She's such a good baby and puts up with my picture marathons so well!

Grandma Janet just left to go back to New York... i'll have to post those pictures later because i don't have any on my camera... we took them all on my mom's new camera...she was using an ancient box with a 1/2 inch screen that you couldn't even see... Grandma's need a good camera! :-) More to come... hopefully in January!

The past two months

2008-11-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

So we have been REALLY bad at updating this blog! Sorry to those of you who check it. If you are interested, we have a snapfish account that we upload all our pictures too, so i can email you the link to the albums and you can see pictures. She is growing and changing so much!

Now she smiles, laughs and talks to you in her own baby talk. She'll prop herself up on her arms and is now to the point when she will roll over. It won't be long until we are chasing her around the house.

We had two pumpkin outfits that were given to Diem, so we dressed her up in both (she spit up all over the first one so that gave me an excuse to put the other one on her!).

Neither one of them fit, but they will be too small next year... baby clothes are impossible to fit!

I have been playing dress up with her a lot recently.
These are some pictures of Diem in an outfit that i had worn when i was a baby. Not too practical for a baby to really wear, but now we can compare our Baby pictures!

These last pictures are of Diem and Isaiah... i guess you could say they are "God siblings?"
We are Isaiah's Godparents and his parents are Diem's God parents.

It's crazy to look back at pictures of Diem just after she was born... she seems so tiny then!

Football takes over town!

2008-09-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

So we live in a small town outside of Sioux Falls - about 3,900 people.... They just finished the new Harrisburg high school football stadium across the street that seats about 3,500 people. Last friday night was the first game and seriously it was like the movie "Field of Dreams"... the cars were lined up as far as you could see.

Stanek came in for the big event and he sat in L.A. like traffic... he could see our house for 15 minutes and couldn't get there (okay, so not as bad as L.A. where we sat for 2 hours looking at the LAX airport and couldn't get there - therefore missing our flight home for X-mas). Lando, Stanek and Jake walked over for the game... people were parked all the way down by our house, so there was quite a crowd walking over. By the time they got there, there were no more seats left so they were standing - which was fine by them.

On the baby front...
Grandma Janet and Grandpa Ed left on Wednesday... sad to see them go.
You can tell by Diem's yawns that she was quite upset as well :-) This weekend we head to Rosholt for a baby shower and introduce Diem to the town! Other than that... we are settling into life once again... stay tuned for more...

Diem's Baptism ~ 08/30/08

2008-08-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Diem with her parents and grandparents.

Phil, Robin, and Isaiah...Diem's Godparents and future husband!

Mom, Dad, and Diem.

Can you say "Baptism Party?!"

Diem Hazel in the baptismal gown first worn by her Great-Great-Grandma Hazel in 1911...also worn by Great-Grandma Marlene, Grandma Jill, and Lando among many others. The blanket she is laying on was made for her Grandpa Leon on his baptism by Diem's Great-Great Grandma Westby from a parachute her Great-Grandpa Harold brought back from WWII...also used at Lando's baptism.

Trip to the lake and the "Big City" of Rosholt, SD

2008-08-31T15:19:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Ed and Grandma Janet arrive in Sioux Falls!

Getting ready for Diem's first boat ride!

Janet getting a chance to ride while at Grandma Jill and Grandpa Leon's house.

Great-Grandma Marlene

Great-Grandma Doris

Coming home

2008-08-09T14:37:00.001-07:00

So the hospital birthing suites at Avera in Sioux Falls are SUPER nice! Better than a hotel room even. But it was nice to go home... there is nothing like your own bed for a good nights sleep. This is Lando and Diem during an early morning nap. I probably should have been sleeping, but like any first time parent i was a little camera happy.

Diem was 6 1bs. 14 oz. She's a little one and all the clothes we have are quite big. However we are learning that sizes on baby clothes really mean nothing. This was Diem in her car seat on the way to her first doctors appointment. The car seat just swallows her whole - she is so tiny! She is becoming more alert and awake every day and it is super fun to see her open her eyes up big. They were quite bruised after delivery so she had a little trouble the first few days.

Yesterday a crew of Lando's family came down for the day to visit. It was really great to see everyone and this picture is of 4 generations... Great-Grandma Marlene, Grandma Jil, Lando & I and Diem. We will keep posting pics because i can't stop taking them! Many are also up on Facebook so you can find us there too!

Labor & Delivery

2008-08-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

So here i am in front of our house... the last "pregnant" picture. Fast forward about a week and we get to my due date August 4th. I go in to the doctor for a routine appointment, and everything looked good, but I was put on the non-stress test to watch the baby's heartbeat, and there was a wierd little drop (which in hindsight was probably a machine malfunction), but the doctor didn't want to take any chances and said she would like to induce labor.

So we walked across the street to the hospital and a few hours later, this was me modeling the portable fetal monitor after they induced labor. It didn't really work... i was having contractions according to the machine, but i didn't feel anything. So then they broke my water and BAM... 12 hours of INTENSE labor followed.... the last 2 1/2 or so of pushing.

At 3:50am on Tuesday August 5th, we were finally blessed with the greatest cone-head baby... she was perfect. He name is Diem Hazel Anderson. She is named after two very important people in our lives. Diem is the Latin version of Day, my grandmothers maiden name, and Hazel is Lando's great-grandmother's name.

Jill and Leon had been sitting outside the room since about 9pm monday night, my mom was sweating it out in New York not having any real access to updates. I think they were all probably more stressed than i was! in the end the delivery was a success and mom and baby were both healthy. We received a delivery of some very special flowers. They were in a vase that was given to my grandma when my mom was born. Someday, Diem can pass them on to her daughter when she has her first grandchild and the cycle will continue. Stay tuned for more baby news!

4th of July

2008-07-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

So we've been meaning to do another post, but we've found we update facebook much more easily than this blog... it's much easier (and faster to upload photos), but we are still going to keep this going, cuz not everyone has facebook.

The weekend of the 4th was awesome. All of Lando's family gets together at the family cabin on Pickerel Lake. Lando and i lived there for a summer right after we moved back from St. Thomas and before we moved to California. It's so nice to be able to go away for a holiday weekend, to have 2 or 3 days off in a row (in the summer!) and to just be able to spend it with family.

9 months pregnant and i was still able to get in and out of that kayak... i've been missing physical activity, so that was fun.

Valerie, Lando's cousin, is due 1 month after me. We are both having girls which is cool because right now the only two family grandchildren (Emmit & Jaydon) are both boys.

Now we are a week and a half from baby due date and so we are just hanging out and waiting... HOPING that she is at least on time if not early. Late would make things much more complicated, but i guess we really don't have much say. The goal is to get the fence done before she's here, but even that is looking less and less likely... we'll see! Stay tuned for baby pics!

camps, cribs & charlie

2008-06-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

So we just got back from spending two weeks at NeSoDak with our confirmation kids. We have 20 the first week and the weather was super rainy and cold. Then we had 13 the next week and the weather was beautiful! Surprisingly, the attached picuture is from the one nice afternoon we had during week 1!

Now we are back home and settling in again. Back to more work on the lawn (well for Lando anyway). I can help with seeding the lawn, but that's about it. As the belly gets bigger, i find that i'm slowing down a bit.

It's nice to be home though. Here is a shot of the sunsets that we see every night out our dining room doors.
I love the wide open spaces and we are enjoying every bit of it because as Sioux Falls continues to grow, Harrisburg will continue to develop and this view will soon likely be filled with new homes. Sad but true.

So when we got back, Lando decided that Charlie needed a bath and a trim. The bath i agreed with (she smells like a nice citrus dog now); however the trim has taken our cute-old-man-like looking dog and turned her into something i don't recognize.
As he tried to even out his work the beard got shorter and shorter until there was nothing left! Oh well, hopefully it will grow back.

6 weeks till BABY!

Tornadoes & Broken Cars

2008-05-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

So we went up to Rosholt (about 2 1/2 hours north) to help Lando's parents move. Jill & Leon just sold their house in town and are moving out to a house in the country. Well, actually they are moving into the garage of the house in the country cuz the house isn't quite ready yet. They are doing a lot of fix-it-up work to it. It's SO nice out there though, it will be worth it!

While we were up there, there were all kinds of tornado watches down here in Sioux Falls, so we watched the news to see if our new house would be there when we got back. As luck would have it the tornados stayed south of us so we were fine.

Lando and I were driving Leon's pickup back home so we could take back a couch and some other stuff that Lando had up there. We got about 40 miles from home and the truck broke down. So Lando, Charlie and I hung out in the grass on the side of the road for awhile waiting for a tow truck. And here's the cool thing about the midwest. Everyone is SO nice and helpful. The sheriff came by and gave us a card for a REALLY helpful towing company that took us all the way down to sioux falls, a random girl came by on her tractor to see if we needed help and once we got to the Dodge dealer, there was a van there to take us home. Today we got a rental car and even though they were closing about 10 minutes after i called, they still brought the rental car right to our house!

We now have official South Dakota license's (which is more cool for me than for Lando), but get this... the DMV is a very pleasant place to go. We waited about 10 minutes, didn't have to take our drivers written test again like in California, got our picture taken and then they printed the license right there - no temporary paper thing with a 2-3 week wait like in NY & CA. Plus the fees to do that an register our car was about 4 times cheaper!

Lando is outside working on our fence. He got up at the crack of dawn to seed our lawn and has been working on the fence ever since. It's about 5 pm and he's got 4 posts and two panels up. We have a big yard so it's going to be quite the process. Meanwhile, the pregnant pile that i am feels useless so i've spent the afternoon reseaching cloth diapers! Man it's funny the things that suddenly become interesting! More pictures later!

Settling in South Dakota

2008-05-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

So the journey began on a Friday morning.

We rigged up our moving truck and car trailer in the LG parking lot, Lando of course had to arrange the outside furniture one last time for the group coming in that weekend, then we headed off to a final doctor's appointment (no gestational diabetes here!) and then hit the road for Vegas! Stayed in Vegas with my cousin Jenny - where Charlie had a blast playing with her 2-year-old son William - looks like Charlie will pass the "kid" test!

Saturday we headed off at 4am to put in a 22 hour driving day all the way to Sturgis, SD. It was that day I experienced my first real pregnancy symptom - swollen ankles :-) It was long, but definitely worth it because we got to spend all day Sunday at Lando's aunt's house. They have chickens, goats, horses, cats, dogs, a turkey and a llama - Charlie didn't know what to do with herself!

Monday morning we headed off again to Sioux Falls. Made it to town just in time to do a walk through of the house before heading off to our closing. We've been working with some great people out here - our realtor Gregg and mortgage person, Norma - and they were both their at the closing so it was really nice. We are official first time homebuyers!!!

We've spent the last few days unpacking - which has sort of come to a standstill because we don't have a lot of basic furniture pieces, but we LOVE IT HERE! It's so nice to have space. Charlie and Chloe just chase each other around the house and it's hysterical when they get to the wood floor cuz they just slide and don't actually go anywhere!

Today Lando went to Lowe's and spent more money at one time that I think we have ever spent in our lives. So now we have a washer, dryer (we bought the same ones we had at camp!) and materials to fence in and seed our lawn. We decided to take care of the outside first, then the inside.

We are heading to Rosholt next week for a few days to help out Lando's parents cuz they just sold their house and they are moving out to a house in the country that they are redoing. Then we start work on Friday! We are really excited about that. This down time has been nice to get settled, but we are anxious to get started! Our first two weeks on the job... we are taking kids to CONFIRMATION CAMP! What a way to start!

I don't think it has set in yet that we aren't going back to California anytime soon. I am still expecting to see all the amazing people we left behind. Leaving our Wednesday night bible study was probably one of the hardest things we had to do! Here's a pic from our final night.

I guess we should rename this blog - we haven't used it in over a year! I guess we'll get to that eventually! Comment away! We would love to hear from you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-28T14:47:00.000-08:00

a view traveling down from Oak Glen

Our super-cute yet attention-starved furry friends

Well by this point we haven’t updated this blog in SO long that you’ve all probably stopped checking back and no one will read this entry. But we will update is anyway none the less. There is hope that we may be able to ditch AOL for DSL very soon! We may even have it in our apartment which would make blogging much easier!!!

So I have no idea were we last left things, so I’ll start from today and work backwords. This was our first weekend at home all month so we were pretty excited to stay put for thanksgiving. Lando cooked a turkey, which was fantastic (mom – he loves being up to his elbows in turkey so you should plan to do Thanksgiving with us next year!), Kevin and Priscilla cooked some pies and we topped the whole evening off with watching Curious George!

The next day, for the first (AND LAST) time in my life, we got up at 5am to do some Black Friday shopping. The computer in our office was stolen (along with some other stuff) so we REALLY needed a new one. Circuit City had the best deal and we waited in line outside the store, then inside the store, then Lando left to do some other shopping, came back and I was still in line, but WE GOT IT!

Today we decorated for Christmas… it’s about the only free time we are going to have until we get back from our CRUISE!!! That’s right, we are homesick for St. Thomas, so we are going back on an Eastern Caribbean cruise! Living on camp it can be kind of hard to REALLY take time off, so we are excited for this much needed break.

Having said that however, last weekend we were staffing a junior high gathering at Disneyland! Pretty rough, eh?

We will be heading to AZ to spend X-mas with my family there. In February we will be heading to the Midwest for a summer staff recruiting some trip and some vacation time to visit Lando’s family.

I just realized this year is going to be my 10 year-high-school re-union, which I have little interest in actually attending, but I’, freaking out that it’s been 10 WHOLE YEARS!!!!

Other random thoughts... we were in Gettysburg, PA for the annual Outdoor Ministries conference in October which was great! We got to see a lot of people we haven't seen in over a year and reconnect with them. It was cool being at the conference in a "director" capacity... we just had a whole new approach to things. We got to see Jamie and Olivia which was great (Olivia is embarking on one of the most depressing careers in the world, but she is going to be the BEST death counselor in the world!). Then we went to New York City for three days! Anthony on a whim decided to drive us there which was great cuz we got more time. We saw some shows, hung out with my brother and Beth which was great.... good times all around. Then we had a direct flight back into Ontario - jet blue is the greatest!

Okay that’s all I’ve got for now. I’m hoping to do X-mas cards this year, we’ll see how that goes…. Until next time! (which we will really try to make that before next year!)

Lando Broke Our Car!!!

2006-09-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how he did it... he just didn't turn the wheel, backed right into a tree! Only broke our tail light cover-but geez! Our moving truck still isn't here... recent update is the truck is broke down somewhere east of Kansas? Hopfully next weekend we'll get it, but in the meantime we just hang out in the puppy crate when we aren't working!

Thought we would put up some pictures from my brothers wedding... it was so great and planned in two weeks.... My brother and sister-in-law (that's so wierd i have one of those!) are SUPER TROOPERS!!! The amount of stuff they had to go through to get to this event was out-of-control... nor did it slow down for them afterward... they moved to NYC the same day we put everything we own in the BLASTED MOVING TRUCK!

Breathe.... okay, so what else.... last week we went for a staff retreat at El Camino Pines, that is the other camp in our organization... we have the greatest team of people to work with! It was a great time to learn about stuff and get to know the other people at that camp. Their cook is amazing! His name is Fernando and he cooks the most amazing food ever! We are currently working on the food situation at our camp.

We saw our first wild fire on the drive up... they closed the highway soon after we passed... we were almost consumed by one last night as we slept.... it was about 10 miles away... but we had no way of knowing cuz we have no TV, or radio cuz they are all in that GIANT WASTE OF SPACE MOVING TRUCK!!! Oh well, at least we have Alpacas for neighbors!

Oh, BE ON GUARD.... there is a movement in the works that my be hitting a mailbox near you.... it's the YOLIJWA TREASURE EXPLOSION! ... as we clean through years and years of just "special" TREASURES that have accumulated over the years... we have to get rid of it.. so what better way to get rid of it than to send it to the people we care about most - YOU!!!! The first items will be hitting the mail system this week, so be on guard! If you want to request to be hit by this explosion, feel free to email either of us and we will get you on the list! This is something NOT TO BE MISSESD!

K, battery is going to die on the laptop that is being operated on wireless internet at the White Rabbit coffee shop on Yucaipa Blvd. Until next time, watch those mailboxes - the first attack may just be on YOU!!!!

Yolijwa-Livin'

2006-09-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Since we’ve had many requests from foreign dictators, former first ladies, and Insert Your Name Here to end the blogging holdout, once again we’ll hop on the blog-train. Enjoy the ride. (By the way, we're having technical diffuculties with picture posting--we'll try to do better next time!)

As the missus sits next to me cranking out a Sudoku puzzle, I’ll attempt to recall the highlights of our last month or so. From here on out, we should be frequent visitors to the blogging party.

We are in California and have been for about a week and a half now. It was tough to leave South Dakota after a summer that went by much too quickly. Of course, it’s always difficult to leave things you love—in our case, family, friends, and Taco Johns.

We stayed long enough to catch the annual Rosholt Threshing Bee. If you have a fascination with tractors and glimpses of yesteryear, the Bee is for you. I suggest you hop on a flight to Fargo next August to experience how the Bee can bring you a more full and happy life.

We then made a stop in Pierre (pronounced peer…not because it should be, but because South Dakotans are stubborn and want to pronounce words—including French names—the way they want to, says my friend and Lando-proclaimed South Dakota historian Nurse Ann Skoglund…who by the way, gave us the best state capitol tour on the planet earth). My brother was riding in the state rodeo. It’s the most interesting, fun, exciting, horrifying, and prayer-ful eight seconds I know of.

It was a good start to our journey, but from there we still had nearly thirty hours of driving before reaching our destination of Oak Glen, California. We broke it up by staying with my friend Todd in Cheyenne, WY. He got married on the same day as Jessica’s brother, so it was our first chance to meet his wife and new family—It was so great to connect with them.

Then came the highs and lows of our journey. The highs were seeing the beauty of states like Wyoming and Utah (especially Utah). The lows were realizing that once the beauty factor wears off, you still have six more hours of driving through the exact same landscape until you reach the next state. It’s a bit like listening to a James Taylor CD that has a skip for 360 minutes. It could be much worse; it could be Air Supply.

We arrived in Cali all safe and sound—surrounded by the beauty of the mountains, peacocks, and bear poop. The only thing missing was our stuff. We are of the nomadic tribe that acquires too much stuff to take with on every move, so must store said stuff at a parents’ dwelling. Since October of last year, ninety percent of our personal items have been stored in Syracuse with Jaca’s parents. (In case you weren’t a geography major or graduate of the fifth grade, NY and CA aren’t near each other.)

Our 600 cubic feet of items left New York safely, but by the time we arrived on the West Coast, was no where to be found. It was supposed to be here over a week ago and then later guaranteed to be here this week. At this point, I’d think about placing a bet that I’ll find Jimmy Hoffa before I find my television, but they are now guaranteeing we’ll have everything here at the end of next week.

Right now all we have are some things we brought from South Dakota and a bed we purchased at Ikea. It’s pretty cool. It’s round—a bit Austin Powers meets Martha Stewart. If you visit, we’ll be happy to show it off, as there really is nothing else to show you.

We’ve spent the last week painting with the help of Jaca’s mom who flew out to assist us in the unpacking of our nonexistent boxes. We’ve begun to explore the area around here a little bit when we aren’t mopping bathroom floors because of flooding toilets and looking for reasons our ceiling is leaking on us. Most of all, we are excited to be settled again and jump into the rushing current of camp life.

We’ve plenty of room—you’re welcome anytime (well, most of you anyway.)

Life at Pickerel

2006-07-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well it's been over a month since our last post and we really have no excuse... we have all the time in the world.... or at least we should... we don't work that much yet our calendar is full!

So what is new.... as of may 31st, Life was good... up until June 17th.... that was the day Gus was hit by a car - exactly a year and a half after our dog Kayla had been hit by a car while we were visiting my parents for Christmas. It doesn't make sense...

A couple weeks later (Monday) we were down in Watertown and decided to stop by the SPCA.... Chloe had just been crying ALL the time and we thought maybe she was lonely... so we decided to THINK about getting another cat.... we just went to LOOK... Well we looked and then we went back outside to our car which just happened to be where the Dogs were.... we in less than two minutes we feel in love with a mangy mut (cross between a German wire hair and a Cocker Spaniel). We thought about it for a day and decided we just couldn't leave her there.

So Wednesday we went back to get her. We renamed her Charlie and she's six months old and SO GOOD!!! She's in heat now which is a pain, we are getting her fixed once she is out of it. Charlie was not Chloe's idea of a new friend, but they are getting much better. Chloe is usually cranky and hissing, Charlie just wants to play... but we are making progress!

Other adventures...

we went to Mount Rushmore,

and climbed Nicollet tower (it's a tower that was made for this guy who made maps - you can see three states from up top-SD, MN, ND)

We went to Minneapolis and saw Singing in the Rain at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre (SO COOL!), went to the Mall of America (SO HUGE!), saw Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest (lame... it's just a set up for the next movie), then went to the Basillica Block Party and saw Guster (Great Show!)

We also went to Sturgis to visit some of Lando's family - it's so cool in the Black Hills! I think we are going to go back for a couple days in august while my uncles are up the week before the Motorcycle Rally. It was in Sturgis where Lando found his new calling - he has decided to join the South Dakota circus with their new pole throwing act.

That's all for now i think.... Lando and I are flying out to Southern California next week to check out a camp job, so we are excited about that... and soon after that we will be heading to New York for my brothers wedding which i'm super excited about - i haven't gotten to spend much time with my family in the past year. Unfortunatly we won't be making it to camp :-( but i hope to see you all soon!

Welcome to South Dakota!!!

2006-05-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well we did it! The Caribbean Adventures are over for now (hmmm, maybe I should figure out how to change the title on the blog?) and the Pickerel Lake, South Dakota Adventures are just beginning!!!

It’s been quite the trip though! We packed up our 250 pounds of stuff and our cats and caught a flight to New York City. We then drove to Syracuse, NY to spend two days with my parents, then headed to Buffalo for a Sunday night Lost and Found concert and got a chance to catch up with some of the most amazing people in the world!!! Monday morning we headed to LCLC to load up the kayaks – it took us an hour! And we were FREEZING!!!

After securing the kayaks to the tiny little roof of our GTI and catching up with the camp folk we hit the open road!!!

… Well not quite… we made a stop about a half hour down the road cuz our cell phone wasn’t working and we realized that I had forgotten to tighten the saddles to the roof rack so one of the kayaks was not on so well (don’ t worry Olivia…. It wasn’t yours, he was nice and snug!)

We drove all night and after about 22 hours we pulled up to Lando’s family cabin. It’s so beautiful here! There is no one around! People in St. Thomas think that life is slow paced in the islands…. But they have no clue! … they have never been to rural South Dakota!

Our jobs are great! It’s so awesome working with cool friendly people who don’t treat you like you are a simple-minded 4-year-old!!! We are only working part time at the Pickerel Lake lodge… so we have plenty of time to kayak, exercise, eat healthy, and best of all, hang out with family (which yesterday included watching Lando’s brother, Dillon – who’s a real cowboy – ride a BULL!!! I was pretty excited and scared to death!

So life is good, but Internet access is limited, so we may not be posting stuff too often. But our adventures for the summer look something like this.

June 22-26th: Heading to the Black Hills to visit family and Mt. Rushmore (I’ve never been)

July 7th/8th: Heading to Minneapolis to see a play, a Guster concert and visit the Mall of America (again, I’ve never been)

August 12th & random surrounding dates: A visit back to New York to include hopefully a visit to LCLC, a Counting Crows concert in PA and my brother’s wedding!

After that, who knows????? We have a job interview on the 10th of J
une for a gig in Arizona… and we’ll be exploring during the summer, so who knows where the next adventure will be, but we’ll keep you posted!

Final Adventures in St. Croix

2006-05-16T04:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday. As I type, our quest to fly toward the cooler temperatures is down to three days. This will most definitely be the last blog entry ‘till we are landlocked in the Midwest. Because of this, I’ll do my best to catch you up on our past few weeks as quickly as possible.

We officially have two days of work left, but it’s basically gonna end up being two half-days for me. Tomorrow morning, I’m attending a luncheon aboard the Caribbean Princess. Apparently the St. John tour that I’m the guide for is the highest grossing tour of the year for Princess. This basically means I get to ditch out of my morning tour (which I’ll gladly welcome as it means one less time to turn on the auto pilot as I point out all the sites between STT and STJ). I’ll still have my afternoon tour tomorrow, and then we are officially done after my Wednesday morning tour with Disney.

(Speaking of Disney, here’s a pic of Jaca and Minnie…Minnie is the one on the left with big ears and sailor hat)

We went to St. Croix last week. We have now been to all four U.S. islands. We caught a sea plane in the morning, rented a car, and set out on a tour of the largest island (almost three times the size of STT). The seaplane was crazy small. It felt like we were sitting in seats made for 5-year-olds. It was such a cool ride though--much better than parasailing! The nose dive for the water right before the landing was a little sketchy, but we made it.

In St. Croix they actually have roads with a speed limit of 55mph! On a similar theme, my vote for worst song ever written is Sammy Hagar’s I Can’t Drive 55. You may not agree. You are entitled to your opinion.

The start of our day was slightly altered by a triathlon that closed half of the roads on the island and the end of our day was cut short by an all-out downpour. As a whole it was a pretty decent day. However, just as we took the rental back, we got a call telling us our flight was cancelled. It worked out well though, because we still had fifteen minutes to catch the fast ferry back home. When we arrived at the terminal we realized you had to pay CASH for the tickets! PANIC!!! Between the two of us, we scrambled up $89 in cash…$1 to spare… PHEW!

We were soon on our way back to St. Thomas on a ferry ride that took about and hour and forty-five minutes on some of the roughest seas. Many stomachs were left in knots as the boat dropped five feet over each wave. Lots of green faces, heads-in-the-hands and barf bags.

Other recent noteworthy events:
1) Doug Flutie was on my tour last week. I challenged him to a coconut throwing contest and we re-enacted his 1984 Orange Bowl hail mary. Seemed like a nice guy, but it was a little weird that he carries his Heisman Trophy in a man-purse wherever he goes.

2)Our car is officially sold…they have the title, we have a check! It’s sad though, we really liked our little Wrangler.

3) Gus is officially stressed as can be seen by the matching patches on his back legs where he has licked off all the hair. It’s going to be a rough week for him and when we get to SD he’ll hide under the bed for a week cuz he’s pissed…that’s what he did when we arrived here.

To all of you near Western New York….Lost and Found Concert, Zion Lutheran Church, 6pm Sunday – BE THERE!!!

See you then!

Homeward Bound

2006-05-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

The end is near! It's now May, and we only have a little over two weeks left before we return to the homeland. Usually when life experiences near the end, a person tends to feel some extra attachment and nostalgia that comes along with savoring each final moment as he/she progresses toward the last hurrah. Yeah, that’s not happenin’ here. We can’t wait to be back and see people we care about…and the thought of stepping outside for more than two minutes without the risk of sweat running down my crack is quite heavenly as well. Sorry, you probably didn’t need that image, did you? In other words, the Caribbean is beautiful, but we’re excited to be back home (and by home, I mean any place we happen to be at any given moment in our gypsy-esque life style).

As we gear up for our 3,000 mile trip (north and west), I thought I’d share some pics of the Dakotas for the rest of the world to enjoy. Maybe they will even prompt you to hop on your scooter and come visit us this summer!

The first one is Dillon (my brother) riding a bull last weekend at a bull riding camp in the hills. (Note to easterners: Hills refers to The Black Hills located in Southwestern South Dakota. It’s where you’ll find Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, The Sturgis Bike Rally, and Rocky Raccoon…for those of you who didn’t write a 26 page high school research paper on John Lennon, that’s a Beatles reference—“somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota, there lived a young boy named Rocky Racoo-oon”) He (Dillon, not Rocky) set a world record by staying on for 143 consecutive hours. The bull eventually fell to his knees and wrote “Uncle” in the dirt with his nose. Have you ever said uncle in this way? I’ve only seen people use it in movies.

The family picture is one that we took while we were back last September. Apparently I was watching some O.J. classics on Court TV that morning…the Kaeto Kaelin look was going strong for me that day.

The sunset is from a window in my mom and dad’s house. It reminds me how excited I am to actually have windows again. We have shutters with slits that cover our windows down here. You can’t see through these shutters and if you stay inside long enough, it begins to feel like you are trapped in a bomb shelter. We can’t wait for real glass windows with a view of the lake!

The last picture may be my favorite. It’s of my brother’s horse Sparks checking us out over the fence. We’re planning on spending a lot of time on horseback this summer. It’s one of the things I’m most excited about.

Guess that’s all the time I have for now. See y’all soon.

Carnival!!!

2006-04-30T13:01:00.001-07:00

Well honestly... we were kind of let down by Carnival.....

Carnival is a festival that happens once a year and is basically a week-long party/cultural celebration. Every island has their own Carnival and they are at different times throughout the year. Kids have off from school almost the whole week, businesses close or just have wierd hours and traffic is insane! Carnival village was set up just down the hill from our house so we didn't have to go anywhere and we heard EVERYTHING that went on.

It kicked into gear Monday night when the village opened up. We went down a couple of nights, listened to some steel pan, ate some local food, which is really good (although we ran into a lady from church who wanted to share her snails or something or other with us - i braved it - barely!) They have about 4 rides that include a slide, tilt-a-whirl, merry-go-round and this kiddie motorcycle ride. They had a bunch of Carnival games which were SUPER expensive and the prizes were NOT worth it! They also had a bunch of stands selling wierd dollar store type toys. Each night they would have live music from about 7pm to around 2am (sometimes we had to close the hurricane shutters just to sleep).

Wednesday night the music was going all night long because Jouvert begins around 4am and goes until 10am. It's basically a parade through the streets where people just dance behind a truck. Needless to say we had to work Thursday morning so we missed it.

Luckily we had Friday and Saturday off because those are the days of the Children's and Adults parade. Friday morning we walked down to the main square at about 9:45 to catch the Children's parade which started at 10. This was the first of many discoveries that redefined what the concept of a "Parade" is. The "parade" got going about 10:45 (island time). And it wasn't a parade in that people march on through.... they stop before each "act" enters the square and prep for like 10 min. before the group comes through... The groups were basically just ten million versions of kings/queens/princes/princesses riding through on convertibles, girls twirling batons and about three steel pan bands.

The music never stopped thumping... when the parade ended the village bands began... we went out to dinner that night, just to go to the other side of the island to get a break and some quiet solidtude! Then saturday was the adult parade.

This was also supposed to start at 10am, but began more like 12! It went for 7 HOURS!!!! it was nuts... we watched part of it on TV cuz it was a lot of the same stuff as the day before, just bigger people. The commentators were so bad... they had nothing to say except "We're having such a wonderful time down here!" (cut to a shot of miserable people crowded under tents and umbrellas fanning themselves). I can't get over the fact that people hang out on this parade route for over 7 hours! They only got excited when the sun was setting and a truck came through with (superman, spider man and batman) standing on top of it along with "Jam Band" -the most popular Quelbe band down here singing their hit song "Spiderman". Take the words above in parentheses, add the word like in front of each one and you know all the words to the song. They played this song all day long - because everyone loves to listen to the same song for 7 hours straight, right?

Anyway, there was some cool costumes once they hit hour four and the best part was the Mocko Jumbies. I would have expected the commentators to add a little historty about each group as they came by, but the limit to their vocabulary was, "Those costumes are fabulous!"

So now that you have experienced Carnival with us, i would encourage you to head to Rio deJanero (sp? i'll figure it out later, i'm in a hurry) if you are still interested in seeing/learning more. Apparently that's where this stuff all began... But in all fairness, i'm sure we would have enjoyed Carnival much more if we were A: Big partiers who wanted to take advantage of all the Rum stands that were every other booth, or if we were West Indian and this was our culture.

until next time.... or we see you on the 18th/21st/72nd

Jando Sighting!!!

2006-04-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

There is rumor of a Jando sighting . . . . . .

at the Lost and Found Concert . . . . . . .

at Zion Lutheran Church . . . . . . . . . . . . .

in Clarence Center, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

on May 21st!!!!

Catch them if you can . . . .

. . . otherwise you may lose them forever to the vast no-man's-land of South Dakota!!!

Dakota Day Dreamin'

2006-04-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

Good (Insert time of day here)

It’s morning here. Side Note (but aren’t they all?): I once worked with a man who, when greeted with a toothy “Good morning!” from me would snap his head around to reveal crazy hair and mangy beard while replying,
“What’s so good about it? Just say mornin’!” At the same time, the cab of the pickup we were riding in would fill with his rancid breath that had a hint of 1952 left in it.

Gettin’ psyched about one more day of work before two days off. To make matters more splendid, we basically only have a half day of work today and will spend the rest of our afternoon in St. John. After the two days off over Easter, we don’t have a day off for another ten days. That may be a pain in the arse, but then Carnival (THE celebration of the year in the Caribbean) will be here, so all will hopefully be fine and dandy.

Oh yeah, the reason for this blog entry…not that anyone reads it…did you see how many people posted comments on the last blog entry after I pleaded for them to do so?….oh yeah, you didn’t read it…basically this is just a glorified diary…sorry I’m so cynical this morning…I just emailed my friend Ann Skoglund—you can blame her (she is the epitome of what it means to be a South Dakotan by the way)…did I have a point here?

That’s right—now I remember! We’re done with work in the ever so fulfilling cruising industry on May 17. We’ll then fly out on the 18th. The plan is to spend a few days in Syracuse before swinging through Clarence Center and Chautauqua on our way to the wide expanse of openness known as the Dakotas.

I don’t have any pics to put up today, but check back next week. Maybe we’ll do something fun this weekend.

Hope you all have blessed Easters wherever you may be. We’ll look forward to seeing you in a month or some other time throughout the summer!

Update from the Coconut Telegraph

2006-04-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

Peace In.

Since it seems that I haven’t added anything to the blog since the Reagan administration, here I am to hop on the blog-wagon once again.

First off, I’ll let you know about the pictures you see alongside my words. We have yet to figure out how to place the images where we want them, so once it’s uploaded it’s a crapshoot. Any chance any of you could tell me where the word crapshoot comes from? I’ve repeated it over and over for about 39 minutes, and now I’m not even certain it is a word. (Editor's note: Before the time of publishing, Lando used his limited computer skill to solve the picture problem.)

The two pics of the boats (one which lost it’s battle against a hurricane and the other that looks like a hurricane may do it some good by putting it out of its misery) are from our kayak adventure a few weeks ago. Jaca promised more pictures and rather than have you slander her name all over the place, here’s some eye candy.

My favorite picture is the one of Ms. Jessica on the famous 99 Steps (note to future St. Thomas visitors: Save your dignity! It’s a lie, there’s really 102!).

Here's one of me in our Jeep. We rolled down the top to let the wind blow back our hair as we cruised around the rock on Friday. And cruise we did…I topped out at a law-shattering 45mph! Speaking of hair, earlier in the day I got my semi-annual haircut…which explains why my look is somewhere between George from Grey’s Anatomy and Carol Brady.

Not quite sure what else there is to share, because it seems that we are on the treadmill of life these days in the Caribbean. You know, when you are constantly moving, but the world around you doesn’t quite seem to change as you move along. I don’t know what it is specifically. Life becoming routine? Working a job that I’m convinced could be completed by a chimpanzee after a week of training? Take your pick. It’s all good for the moment, but we are definitely getting excited about the opportunity to return home.

We are preparing for a move back to the states in the very near future. If everything plays out as planned (meaning: our current boss gives us the go ahead to leave STT in May with our contract completing bonus $$$ in hand), we’ll be flying back to New York a.s.a.p. We’ll then embark on the thousand plus mile journey from Syracuse to northeast SD with our cats, kayaks, guitars, exercise equipment (we’re so out of shape), and plenty of Caribbean memories in tow.

By the way, if there are any vets out there (the cat kind, not the war kind), I’d appreciate an answer to this question: Is it safe to travel two days and 25 hours of driving with cats secured in kayaks on the roof of a car? How ‘bout if we duct tape all the crevices shut?

Anyway, the summer plan is to live at a lake (in SD), work at the Pickerel Lake Lodge, and have plenty of time to spend with family and friends…not to mention the 493 weddings that are scheduled to happen this summer.

As far as the fall is concerned, it’s all up in the air. As neither of us really knows what we want to do when we grow up, we’re open to suggestions. In fact, let’s make it a contest! If you have a suggestion for what we should do or where we should go, post your ideas on the blog. Whoever posts the winning entry will receive a jug of Pickerel Lake Iced Tea and a fresh pack of Swisher Sweets! (Disclaimer: If the winning entry is from a person under the age of 18, he/she will receive a year’s supply of Clorox Disenfecting Wipes) Kazawooiee poopaw! This deal is so sweet it deserves the coining of a new phrase.

Time for me to be on my way. Farewell.

Kayaking in the Mangrove Lagoon

2006-03-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

Hey there folks...

So Lando and I had Sunday and Monday off... it's so wonderful having two days off in a row! Well Sunday after church we headed out to do some kayaking in the Mangrove Lagoon. One of the companies we are agents for is called VI Eco tours and they do Kayak and snorkel tours. So we took out one of their two-person sit-on-top kayaks and headed out for our afternoon adventure.

The Mangrove Lagoon is so cool... it's so still and peaceful that you feel as if you are on a lake as opposed to the ocean. We'd often just stop and chill... as you can see Lando doing... he likes that picture cuz if you look in his sunglasses you can see me taking the picture... i don't know if it will come out on the internet, but see if you can see it.

I had gone out on the Cas Cay (pronounced "key") tour in october when we first got here and was so excited to show Lando the "Blow Hole." It's the hole in a rock formation that when the waves crash into it, the water spews out like the blow hole on a whale... pretty cool. Cas Cay is an island formed by the Mangrove trees. Mangroves are the only trees that can grow right in salt water. It's pretty cool to look down in the water and see all the roots.

The only bummer of the day was the awful sunburns we got... we remembered the sunscreen on our faces cuz we use it everyday... we just forgot the rest of our body... Lando isn't too bad cuz he's at the beach all the time, but my feet, stomach and shoulders don't see the sun much and are quite toasted... oops! I'll be puttin up another post with more pictures from this adventure... it was just too good a day to see only 4!

For Juliet

2006-03-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

Flashback...

So Juliet wanted to see wedding pictues... so i selected a couple - it takes FOREVER to upload them so only three for now. One is the giant house we rented on the ocean complete with ten bedrooms, a home theatre with the most comfortable chairs in the world, a game room, a pool with a waterfall in the back, a hot tub... and a really cool master suite complete with fire place, jacuzzi, the largest shower i've ever seen and a remote to do absolutely everything! Fun times having a week in that house!

Another photo is one that many of you have already seen in the vertical version (which is much better) that we used as our "Thank You" cards. And the last is my favorite - it has the stick that was used by Steve during the ceremony to draw our "foundation" in the sand. After the ceremony everyone was heading back towards the house and we turned around just in time to see a dog run over and pee on the stick still stuck in the sand. Way to christin the wedding!!! Needless to say my Dad thought we needed that stick so he went back out later and got the stick, hid it in his shower and on the day my parents were leaving said to my mom, "here, we need to pack this." Lando and i were later surprised with the stick a few weeks later at a surprise reception that Zion had for us... pretty darn cool.

Anyway there you go jules... if anyone wants more wedding photos or stories let us know... i'll have lando write them... he's much better at it! Unless of course you want to talk about the wedding cake... Lando will have NONE of that nonsense!

The Horse Track

2006-02-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

Well i told my dad i'd have this post up a week ago.... sorry Dad... with the boss back things are extra tense around the office these days so i limit my time here whenever possible... i guess a months vacatoin of skiing in Austria had to come to a close at some point.

Anyhow... when my parents were visiting my Dad saw in the paper that there was horse racing over the weekend. Now i knew we had a race track on the island, but i really forgot about it until my dad said something... and then i realized i had NEVER seen it! That was a pretty strange feeling considering how small the island is. Well we ran into Campbell, one of my favorite drivers, while we were up at Blackbeards castle, so i asked him where it was. He basically told me is was on a road that i have driven hunderds of times!

Still for weeks i never saw the track... and then FINALLY we saw it! We had to stop and take pictures so that i could post them so my dad could see the track we never could find!

Jen, who works in our office said she would never go there unless she was with a pack of men, at least one of them being West Indian... so with Lando and i being the little blond haired people that we are, we may not actually venture out there, but we'll see.

So anyway, there are the picks... it's not much... definitely blends in with the surroundings.

Hard Core Adventures

2006-02-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have those moments where you stop… and take a good long reflective look at where you are at that very moment of life… and does that moment ever look “picture perfect”?

THURSDAY NIGHT:
Lando and I were super excited because we had just had a very long week of work and Friday was our day off. To get ourselves started, we took the two minute walk from our house down to the waterfront and went to a restaurant called “Tavern on the Waterfront.” We had the most delicious food that included Cocunut Curry Mahi-Mahi and Sesame Pork. The manager spotted us as a couple of locals and we had a great time chatting with him. Then after dinner we decided to take an evening stroll along the waterfront under a clear blue sky full of stars (including Orion – the first constellation I ever saw), and we checked out all of the beautiful yachts that fill the harbour. I had to stop and realize – Holy Crap! This is my life!!!

FRIDAY:
We woke up and went out to Breakfast at the Delly Deck. Then we went parasailing. I had never been before and was actually a little nervous about being suspended up in the air by this gigantic chute that the guys had just thrown off the back of the boat. Luckily Lando was attached to the bar with me and before I knew it the two of us were in the air trying to take pictures of ourselves with our water camera.

As the boat traveled back into the dock, we got pelted with the largest raindrops EVER! By the time we got back, we were completely soaked…. But that didn’t stop us from our next adventure – the HELMET DIVE!!! We headed out to Coral World, which is this large marine park complete with stingray pools, a shark tank, sea turtles and a fish with purple lipstick! We both thought it was going to be really cheesy, but it was pretty cool and the location out there is just beautiful!

After we checked out the park, we went over to Sea Trek to do the Helmet Dive. Basically they put this 75lb. Helmet over your head as you climb down a 20 foot ladder where you grab this chain that will guide you on a walk along the ocean floor. It was so cool! There were fish swimming right in front of your face! I have never been scuba diving and this is like the first step (although it’s probably going to be my last cuz I’m even more scared of being under water than I am hanging above it). Great experience for sure.

SATURDAY:
We have now visited three out of the four Virgin Islands! On Saturday (actually a week ago Saturday – but it just fit well here) we went on a Mountain Bike tour on Water Island. The boat ride over was cool…. hadn’t seen our house from that view from the water before. The terrain on the bikes was kinda tricky in parts, but fun! We ended up at Honeymoom beach and then enjoyed a cool dip in the ocean after a hot ride.

Best part about all three of these adventures – we didn’t have to pay for a thing! The perks of being connected!

SUNDAY:
We went to church at Nazareth on St. John, walked around Mongoose Junction, found this Japanese Sushi Bar that we are going to go back and check out on Monday, had a superb breakfast at Chilly Billy’s and then headed back to St. Thomas on the public ferry.

We live for our days off here…. It’s those moments that I can’t believe this is my life… we are doing such cool stuff… but something is missing… I think our time here is winding to a close and we are seeking new random adventures for the summer that will bring us back, closer to our family and friends… so if anyone has some fun random ideas, let us know!

Oh... and for the pictures... none of them are actually of us... we just wanted to give you and idea of what we were talking about. And i couldn't get a good picture of the fish with purple lipstick... i have a few, but the lips are faded out cuz she kept swimming away from me! That's one fast fish!

2006-02-04T14:37:00.000-08:00

Greetings Friends.

Lando here, once again reporting for duty. And may I add that this is the first time I've thrown together two blogs in a row!

Since my last entry, we hiked a two mile trail on St. John and I celebrated my 39th birthday. Enjoy the pictures. They are from the Reef Bay Trail...except the one of Gus (the cat), that's our kitchen--he can't get enough of Simon Cowell.

Oh yeah, I may be in a J. Crew catalog shoot sometime soon. Apparently they're gonna be down here getting some shots of guys on a sailboat or two for the catalog. I got my picture taken by a lady today and she'll let me know if they need my services. I've got a good feeling that the'll be knocking on my door...she took my picture as I walked off the ferry with my Ellen Degeneres in a hurricane hair, three day dirty man stubble, and sweat marked back. Yep, that's just the look they're going for these days at J. Crew.

That's all for now. Please enjoy your weekend.

~Lando John Anderson

p.s. I heard Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow. Man, I don't known how much more of this weather I can take.

The adventure continues...

2006-01-27T02:22:00.000-08:00

Scone on?

Lando here, reporting from the Caribbean. I'm waiting for Jaca to finish up with some work while I type and stick my face into a bowl of popcorn to avoid the catastrophe of greasy fingers.

It appears to me that we haven't posted anything on this here blog for over two weeks. I'm sure my mom is the only person who actually noticed though. Likely, everyone else quit reading after the second or third post...if not then, for sure when Jaca devoted the whole screen to feline feces. Anyway, hi mom! I love you too.

As it's been so long, there should be many fascinating things to share. Where to begin?

Well, we made a trip to three of the British islands (Tortolla, Virgin Gorda, Norman Island) a few weeks ago. It was good stuff. We spent the morning in Virgin Gorda at the world-famous baths. Note to self: the words "world-famous" are better suited to describe things like vinegar museums than wonders of nature. Note to others: if you've never seen the Fish Philosophy video, please do...and soon. In it, you will learn the importance of "choosing your attitude" so you can be "world-famous." Sorry about the randomness that most of you don't follow...wait, there I go assuming someone other than my mom is reading...silly me.

Back on track. So we checked out the baths, which were (insert word that emotes extreme pleasure here). Is "emotes" really a word? Sorry, I'm writing as my mind thinks today...kind of scary, huh? They are huge slabs of granite in the middle of the Caribbean (placed there by glaciers or aliens). We then had lunch in Tortolla and did some snorkeling by Norman Island. Basically, they dropped us off the boat in the middle of the ocean to snorkel in about 700 (read 50) feet of water with about 37 (read 5) foot waves while fish the size of an ice cream truck (read my arm) swam below us. It was grand.

Then the in-laws came down last weekend. Dude, I have in-laws. I'm old.

It was a lot of fun. The highlight for me was spending the day in St. John. We took our car over on the ferry and spent the day touring the island, doing little shopping, and hanging out at Cinnamon Bay (yes, the same Cinnamon Bay Kenny Chesney sings about). It was there that I demonstrated my survival skills by breaking open a coconut with my bare hands (and some very hard, pointy rocks). By the way, we've got a hankerin' to spend a night or two at the Cinnamon Bay Campground before we move north again. If there are any takers on that offer, come on down!

Oh yeah, our car was also broken into while Janet and Ed were here. Actually, "broken into" is to harsh. It was more like climbed into. We left the back window unzipped and in the morning found that our ash tray was pulled out. The thief made away with about 35 cents. Too bad he didn't show up to steal anything when we first bought the car. The first time I cleaned the car, I found a half-used joint in the ash tray. The fella also took a little blue Mag-lite flashlight out of the glove box. No worries, he probably uses it more than we ever did.

Well, I think that pretty much brings us up to date. I'll include some pics as well. Enjoy!

Just Kidding

2006-01-12T16:31:00.000-08:00

So i don't know if anyone other than Lando's mom caught the bit about the car..... that's not our car... if you remember i told you we had a jeep... that car is one that Lando, Alison and i found on the side of the road coming back from Estate Hope and Alison thought it was really cool, so i took a bunch of pictures. We have a white jeep that is super fun and only has a busted side view mirror and some wierd electrical wiring under the dash.

It's been a long three days of work, but tomorrow Lando and i are headed out on a Captain Nautica BVI trip... we're super excited cuz we haven't been to the British Virgin Islands yet and are anxious to explore!

Found out today that John Fahenstock died. Then got the privelage of reading one amazing D.O.G.'s devos by a girl who has inspired me SO much... and who i really look up to right now... she's got everything in the right perspective... and i feel like i can't keep anything in focus these days.

jessica

No Ship in Port

2006-01-11T16:31:00.000-08:00

So friday is our day off... there are no ships in port - NONE! Odd this time of year.. the past two days we've had 6 ships in port and it's been just mad! Lando got to stay at the beach all day today because he had three beach tours... which is really nice for him... i on the other hand worked ALL THREE SHIPS on the WICO dock... i'm so beat!

Cats are doing better but they are still resisting this medicine we are trying to give them... we keep trying tricks.. but they are acting more normal. Another fiasco though.... we had a rough accident with our car... we have no idea what could have happened... the picture is above... so we are on the search for buying a new vehicle.... not a fun process on the island.

Brownies didn't last too long... cuz we get the ant-like-bugs all over the counter recently and no matter how clean we keep it... they keep coming.... the brownies were completely covered and but on top of the toaster oven, but still the bugs got in... i was pretty sad!

The Costa Magica ship is in today... the Shore Ex staff is extremely high maintenance.. not fun... and on their last cruise, a 15 year-old Irish girl fell overboard and was lost at see... apparently it isn't really being covered in our media, but it's all over in England. Billie (one of the ladies who works here) told us that on a different ship (can't remember the name), but a crew member fell overboard and was in the water for 12 HOURS... IN THE DARK!!! But they found her alive... can you imagine?

Well the big dilema is what to do with our day off on friday... with no ships in port, many things shut down... after the past few days i just want to chill and do nothing... we watched "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" last night... crazy!!! I'm not sure what i think about the whole Demons thing... can they really posess people like that? Thoughts anyone?

The cats strike again!

2006-01-10T14:19:00.000-08:00

K, no pictures on this one cuz i'm on the work computer... but let's just say life has been sort of stressful recently... the cats are sick... AGAIN! This time it's both of them....

Chloe howls at the doors and windows constantly, as in whenever she isn't sleeping, licking herself or pooping... to mention pooping... it's more like brown liquid that stinks up the whole room. Gus has the brown liquid poop too as well as throwing up on the floor for us to clean... aren't you glad you read this blog???

Turns out they have a parasite... how do we know that you ask? Lando and i were poop stalkers.. we would listen for them to scratch around in the kitty box, sneak up on them and then grab them as soon as they were done unloading their brown pee-like-poop... then the other one of us would go in with a used paper towel cylinder and scoop the not-like-poop-at-all substance, plop it in a plastic bag, label it with their name and the date and stick it in the fridge (mmmm, who's hungry?).

Lando took it to the vet... we paid them $20 to play with it and whala(sp?)... PARASITE!!! SO now we have these pills that they won't eat... we tried dissolving them in water and shooting it down their throat... more throw up.... and Lando and i both have the battle scars to prove... this isn't working! (Mine are actually from the Keopectate trials with Chloe a couple days ago... Lando loves to point out how ugly my leg bruise is around my back-claw-puncture wound.

So hopefully this medicine thing will get easier once they get their appetites back... so you'd think we were on an upward swing... NOT SO FAST... did you forget about Chloe's howling at all the doors and windows???? That has NOTHING to do with the parasite...

Apparently it may seem that Chloe is in heat... how could that be... we adopted her from a shelter and had to get her spayed right away... hmmmm... turns out that when they spayed her, that good 'ol vet in Buffalo may have left some of her ovari in there! SO... once we get over this parasite thing, then the vet is going to stick a thermometer in her you-know-where and test things out... the whole thermometer thing seems wrong to me... Lando doesn't care... MEN!

well that's all for now.. must get back to work...

Final Note: We made brownies last night... they are SO good!

Alison's Visit

2006-01-04T17:26:00.000-08:00

Alison left yesterday.... she was here for a week which totally flew by! She was all about the beach, so we visited tons of those! She was baffled by the size of the Cruise Ships and only wanted to consume ice cream and frozen drinks. OH! SITUATION!

Just got back from wheeling a sick passenger to her ship... fun fun... but now I don't have much time, but i'll explain the pictures. One is Lando and Alison near the Cruise Ship Dock with Queen Mary 2 in the background. It's too big to come into the dock or the inner harbor, so the passengers have to tender in using the ship's lifeboats.

Another is of Alison at Estate Hope, one of the properties of the church that they are beginning to use as a retreat facility(that's the picture of the building). LCLC worked on this property during our last two servant trips. The There is one of Alison and I at Limetree... a beach at Blackbeards resort. Cool resort, big waves and the most perfect rocks to frame a sunset (too bad my camera battery died!)

K that's it for now... our address is P.O. Box 58 St. Thomas, VI 00804... if you want our phone number cuz you don't have it already, then email me... don't feel like putting that on the internet!

Delayed update

2005-12-29T14:21:00.000-08:00

So, it's been crazy... isn't that everyone's excuse during the holidays...

random updates
***Christmas was strange with no family and no snow.... but the area around us is SOOOO decorated with lights and the most random Christmas Ornaments you can imagine. We had a table of present set up that our family sent us and our sole decoration was and advent calendar my mom sent. Christmas Eve we went to the 7:00 Family Service with two of our friends form work (Brent & Joslyn) and 12 other people - LITERALLY! We were going to go back to 11:00 but fell asleep. Christmas morning we opened up presents (we got some cool stuff - including a K-mart Gift Card and Rosholt Raiders sweatshirts to wear to the movie theatre!). We went the the Christmas Day service with about 250 other people - it was two hours long because of the Christmas pagent... and did i mention HOT??? THat afternoon we went to Brent & Joslyn's, ate a bunch of great food, came home and slept!

***Two days ago our sideview mirror got smashed by someone driving too close to our car... we picked Alison up from the airport... Wednesday our cats got out... Alison got Chloe back right away, but Gus had a day out in St. Thomas... he's back home safe now... i'm just finishing up with work... Alison's at Megan's Bay and Lando's at Trunk Bay... man, why am i the only one not at the BEACH???!!!

until next time... (and i'll put more pictures up then...)

The followup....

2005-12-18T21:12:00.000-08:00

So I took a nap…

I slept like a rock for over two hours… very uncharacteristic, but it’s been a rough week… lets recap…

Like Lando said, we went to St. John where I attempted to lead Lando and Marcus on the Eco Hike tour our company does (minus all the really cool info. cuz I’m really bad at retaining that stuff.) Well as is very characteristic of me, we got lost… made several wrong turns… but in the end, we made it to honeymoon beach. On the Eco Hike tour we took a safari bus back to town, but not us… we walked the whole thing back! Great day, awesome food and beautiful ferry ride back to St. Thomas, but an exhausting day.

Marcus decided to move back home to Buffalo, so lost were all the efforts to help him get settled (by the way, that phone number I left is by now probably null and void so ignore).

The night before he left, we wound up taking Chloe to the vet for an emergency visit… she was howling all night the night before, we didn’t sleep much but we just thought it was those cat visitors they love so much. But by the time I got home that day she was acting really strange. We took her to the vet and determined that she was having a reaction to the flea medicine we gave her… so she got a shot in the butt, a bath and we were on our way back home.

NOT SO FAST!!! She was up howling the whole night! Which meant we were up the whole night… it was awful… she seemed like she was in so much pain. The next morning, Lando took Marcus to the airport at 7am and then we were back on the way to the vet. I dropped her off and went to work… later that day they told us she had some intestinal situation, probably also as a result of the flea stuff.

So she had some kitty Kaopectate, and has some pink liquid antibiotics we shoot down her throat with an eye dropper… she’s still acting strange, but she’s doing better, so we’ll see what happens… I just would love to have a full night of sleep!

Alison Strockowski (LCLC summer staffer) is on her way to visit just after Christmas which we are pretty excited about…. Unfortunately we have to work a lot, but she’ll have plenty to do! Today at Cost-U-Less we found Raspberry Lemonade Gatorade! I was super excited… Cat got me hooked on it this summer and I drink a lot of water during the day, so it’s nice to have a refreshing Gatorade to spice things up a little! THANKS CAT (anther LCLC summer staffer)!!!

I just finished reading the Poisenwood Bible… really good book… HIGHLY recommend it (so does Oprah). Grey’s Anatomy is a re-run tonite, so we can get to bed a little earlier tonite (although I’m alive and kickin’ cuz of that great nap!) Ah, so it goes…

Tomorrow is a slow day… I’m working the Carnival Destiny, which is full of people from Puerto Rico that just come over to shop and don’t want to do tours… not to mention the shore ex doesn’t really care about his job, so some days he doesn’t sell a single tour! Bottom line I’ll have plenty of time to pretend I’m busy or get sent on errands. Lando only has on St. John tour, so we should get out early….

Until next time……

2005-12-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings. My turn to share some bloggage once again.

I’m currently sitting on the couch flipping between football and a Charles Bronson shoot ‘em up movie while I wait for a load of laundry to dry and recover from the disinfectant inhalation that made me feel like I had emphysema while I cleaned the bathroom. Didn’t you get the memo that it’s National Run-On Sentence Day? Anyway, Jaca’s taking a nappy, so what better time to share my immense intellect via the World Wide Web (whatever that means). Do you ever fear that the rest of the world will not catch your sarcasm in print? Thought so, just me.

As you may have guessed, we have today off. We went to church this morning and then wandered around downtown. We ate breakfast at a place called Gladys’ or Glady’s, depending upon where in the café you read the name. That’s cool, sometimes when I write letters to myself, I write about Landos’ toys as if I am really seventeen three year-old boys living inside a twenty-five year-old man’s body. (Don’t worry, nobody else understood that either.)

It’s fun walking around all the shops on days off, especially if there are only one or two ships in. The only downfall is that the jewelry store folk assume we are from the ships and that our only goal in life is to buy diamonds in St. Thomas. I’ve found that all the tourists think I’m a real-deal born in St. Thomas local and all the West Indian locals think I’m a fresh off the ship tourist. Most tourists associate South Dakota with never-ending winter and assume the only way I come by my blonde hair is being born in the Caribbean.

Since last Jaca wrote (does that phrase really make sense?), not much has happened. I very well could end this entry here, but of course I won’t.

We went to St. John on our last day off. As we’ve received requests to include more pics of us on the site, I’ll include a few from our St. John adventure. It was great. We checked out a trail that led to a secluded beach (that took us twice as long to walk as it should because we kept getting lost), stopped by the Caneel Bay Resort, had dinner at a place called J.J.’s Texas Coast, and took a moonlight ferry back home.

By the way, the weather’s not too shabby down here. Didn’t know if you picked up on that yet.

We went upstairs to a Christmas party for the church a few days ago. Of course, after forty seconds of greeting the adults, we gravitated towards the kids. I threw a game of Monopoly Junior and Jaca watched part of a movie with the little girls.

Last Friday night was cool. They had this thing called Miracle on Main Street (about a block from our house). There were a few steel drum bands, lots of Christmas lights, and kids doing some kind of strange line dance that looked like something out of Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.

Jaca’s awake now, so I think I’ll end this now. Hope you have a great week leading into Christmas!

Everybody loves a cat fight!

2005-12-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

So the newest joy in our lives comes between 5 and 6 am each morning. It is then when Lando and I are awoken to the crashing, howling, and hissing of Gus and Chloe. They have found a friend who comes to visit them at various doors and windows… the only problem is Gus doesn’t take very kindly to these visits. Chloe then runs to find our what is going on and Gus gives her a piece of his mind… he’s very protective of Chloe.

So sleep has been something that I could really use more of… on the positive side of our two psycho cats is that they don’t let a single little critter, cockroach or lizard get very far. Yeah…. The other day we came home and found they caught their first lizard. Not only did they catch it, but they ate half of it… all we had to identify the body was the back two legs and the tail!

The other day we went to go see a play "It's a Wonderful Life" only we got there and it was all sold out, so we got tickets for Saturday night and went to see a movie instead... we went and saw "Walk the Line," which was REALLY good-and i don't even know that much about Johnny Cash (nor does anyone else on the island so we knew we had to see it quick, most movies don't last more than a week here.) The problem is that the Movie theater is literally like sitting in 30 degree weather... i was in long sleeves and jeans and i was still cold! i didn't bring warm enough clothes to enjoy a movie there, so i'm going to have to have my mom send us warm hoodies or something!

When we arrived at the movie theater to check the times, we had about an hour before the show, so we walked next door to the Kokopelli Cafe!!! I was super excited cuz i love Kokopelli's! They had a different explanation for what a Kokopelli is, which i thought was interesting... (Julie and Scott, when you guys come visit - we are SO going there!) It is a turly random place.. with an arcade, a pediatrician-like waiting room area for kids, a diner, bar and coffee house all in one.

Last night we got to see the play "It's a Wonderful Life," and it was really good - and i don't even know anything about the movie cuz i've never seen it! It was much better than this other play we went to see at the University of the Virgin Islands.... that theater was so warm and we were so unengaged in what was going on that Lando and i were both falling asleep.... so we left after the first half.... i felt really bad... i never do stuff like that.

Before "It's a Wonderful Life" we went to a place called "Jacks." Their slogan is, "If you haven't tried our wings, you don't know Jack." And they aren't kidding! Really good wings that totally rival Anchor Bar and Duffs - Steve or Jason Carrier will give the final verdict when they come visit.

The Christmas lights are up.... which is really cool since that is the way i'm used to seeing St. Thomas! Our LCLC trips would always begin the day after Christmas and while it is strange to see all the Christmas lights and decorations when it was 80 degrees, it is really pretty! It's made me really homesick for our LCLC trips - even trip three!

Tidbits: Gas is $2.87/gallon, we've had quite a bit of rain recently, Marcus got a cell phone (340) 344-1936-we all have the same kind, mine is pink, lando's is navy blue and Marcus has silver, our copy machine sounds like it's grinding a 5lb. bar of chocolate and my parents are coming to visit on the 19th of January! (My dad is super excited about the submarine ride! - remember that trip 3 folks!!!)

Guess that's it for now... we are off tomorrow and are hoping to go to St. John's to do some exploring, but Marcus is still job and apartment hunting, so we'll see.... until next time....

They are lighting a fake Christmas tree!

2005-12-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been awhile since i've been able to add to this.... it's cool to know so many people are reading it! Let's see, what happened since the last post?

Okay, so after Lando's day off, i had a day off... it worked out pretty well... i went to St. John's with him and got to see him do his thing as a tour guide - he's so cool - i can't believe i'm married to him sometimes! Anyway i left him once we got to St. John to go on the Eco Hike tour with a guy named Thunderhawk... interesting character that one... but the tour was really great! He took us along one of the many trails you can hike through because St. John's is mostly a National Park... he knows SO much information about every tree, bush and piece of history that goes along with it! The hike ends at Honeymoon beach witch is SO georgeous... all the tourists go to Trunk Bay cuz they don't know any better, but Honeymoom is really where you want to go to snorkel... Thunderhawk says all the tourists sunscreen has killed the reef over there.

What else... well Marcus moved here so the LCLC clan is slowly beginning to grow in number in the attempt to take over the island... (kidding)... but it's cool to have him here. We went up the Tram to Paradise Point to have lunch... great views... then we went to a beach by the airport to watch the sunset... the water was COLD! (We are so becoming locals).

Anyhow, i'm done with work... Marcus i watching me type... and Lando is on his way back from St. John's as we speak... Right here in Havensight (the area where my office is and the Cruise Ship Dock) are the Holiday festivities... all kinds of local bands, shops stay open late, all kinds of free food and drinks... SANTA is coming... and they are lighting the CHRISTMAS TREE!!! The thing of it is... IT'S FAKE!!! Oh well, i guess this is the island version of Rockefeller Center... what can you do.... later folks!

Jaca

Imagine a funny and witty title here...

2005-12-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Lando. So nice to make your acquaintance.

It seems that Jaca has already shared all of the “real” info concerning our life down here. However, I feel obligated to put some words down as well. I guess that leaves some leftover randomness for me to share.

Today I have a day off. It’s been quite eventful—I washed the car, ran some errands, hit the library, and went all Martha Stewart on a turkey breast.

As I was flipping through channels this morning (where I eventually found Magnum P.I. on Fox…as you surely know, any day that includes Thomas Magnum is special), I saw my name on the bottom of the screen of The Maury Povich Show. I did a double take and wasn’t quite sure my eyes were telling the truth. It turns out, there was a dude named Lando on Maury Povich! Yeah, and that’s not all…apparently the dude was born a girl named Beth! (Yeah, I agree—slightly creepy.) Anyway, Beth had an operation that altered her gender and chose Lando as her/his new name. It’s the first time I’ve ever been close to face to face with another person named Lando. It’s kind of weird, but I guess it’s cool that of all the names in the world, he/she chose the name we now share. By the way, I recommend that unless you see your name on the bottom of the screen, you refrain from watching Maury Povich at all costs.

On a similar topic, Jaca and I saw Harry Potter the other night. I don’t want to ruin the movie for you, but Harry dies of tuberculosis. Sad but true. Fortunately for the survivors, Dumbledore brought two extra wagon tongues, so it looks like there’s hope for a happy ending after all.

Oh no! Magnum just put a dent in the Ferrari! (FYI, it’s now the afternoon, and this is a different episode…I know what you’re thinking—what a lucky duck I am! Two episodes of Magnum in one day!) He’s now stuck with a rental that is roughly the size of a golf cart…and Tom Selleck’s not a short fella. I’m sure you are rolling on the floor at the hilarity that is sure to ensue with this one! I know I am...or would be if this computer weren’t on my lappy.

Well, I’ve gotta run; time to put the turkey in the oven.

Later.

Let's try two pictures at once?

2005-11-29T07:52:00.000-08:00

It's 8am... 7pm east coast time... my first tour isn't until 9.... Lando has already gone to the ship to load up his first tour... yesterday was a good day... almost all the tours were cancelled cuz the Destiny (Carnival) never sells ANYTHING! We got out over an hour early... so GREAT!!!

I think tomorrown Lando and I are both working the Disney ship which is AWESOME!!! Plus the ship is in subbase so that gets me out of the office which is priceless! Although the last time i was in subbase, my bag got overrun with Red Ants! It was so like something out of a movie... they were crawling EVERYWHERE... i dropped my bag to the ground not knowing whether to run or fight back... i stood there paralyzed until another tour operator gave me this flyer of hers to kill them with... since there were thousands it wasn't working to well... so then, thinking a little more clearly, i took everything out of the bag, through the bag on the ground and started stomping on it... SUCCESS! They bit me everywhere, but I WON!!! The passengers had a great time watching me. So lesson learned.... when working in subbase, go it alone and leave the bag in the car!

Let's see.. the pictures i think are of the cats...they really have a tough life out here.... they sleep all day... eagerly wait our return from work so we can feed them... and then just as we are ready to go to sleep they wake up and run around the house, up and over our faces as we are trying to fall asleep and then take to attacking our feet - which HURTS considering you can only sleep with a sheet on you here... at most! This morning they were doing thier usual run-around and somehow they unplugged our fan!!! So with no more cool air we were forced to get up a little early and feed them!

The other picture is a sunset over Secret Harbour... we heard they had good sunsets there so we went to check it out one night... it wasn't too great because it was pretty cloudy that day, but i LOVE that beach... we'll definitly go back!

Going to church this weekend was awesome! I started to recognize more of the kids.... they have all gotten so old! The younger ones don't remember me, but more of the older ones do. It was nice to be present in that culture once again. Since it was the last sunday of the month is was their youth sunday (yes, they have one a month!), so Kymnisha was doing the sermon... she was like 10 the first time i met her! They had the steel drum band, a youth band, the music is so upbeat and cool while still being hyms... it's worship with style! I'm super excited for Christmas and New Years!!!

TIDBITS: Even though the traffic is awful here, people are so gracious... you always stop to let people in and out; the Pharmacy by our office doesn't accept health insurance (IT'S A PHARMACY! - What kind of Pharmacy doesn't take insurance!); Marcus is moving down to join us in Paradise-i pick him up on Saturday; milk never tastes cold; if you see something in a store one day you better buy it, cuz it may not be there tomorrow; i'm really starting to dislike Harry Potter and the radio station we listen to in our car plays Jack Johnson all the time - I love it!.

ATTENTION STEVE BIEGNER: If you see Steve tell him that he really needs to come down here for some continuing education... to see what the church can be!

Church with a sand floor

2005-11-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

So days off are SO the reason to live here! The other day we went over to a friends house - quite the adventure to get to - you just can't understand the terrain unless you've been here... but she lives tucked in the hill with a gorgeous view of Megans Bay...

Then we ventured off to find Hull Bay which is where everybody goes surfing and it's the only beach on the island where you can bring your dog... not that we have one, but if we did, we could bring it there. (Side note, Ruth who works is the accountant/bookkeeper here found the cutest puppy on the street on the way into work this morning! I so wish we could keep it... i don't think our cats would be too happy though!) Hull Bay is also where some of our friends keep their boats... i wish we had a boat!)

Anyhow, our next venture took us to Sapphire Beach... it's another hotel/resort beach and had some pretty cool views... we chilled out, read for awhile (some quality times with James Joyce and Louie L'Amour) took a tip, layed in the sun, then called it a day and headed home! So great... i love taking our wrangler apart and driving around... it's such a great island car!

Tonite we are going to an Ecumenical service at the Synagogue by our house... i'm super excited cuz it's the coolest place to worship... it has a sand floor (Steve it's how you wanted to do a service... just switch to Judiasm and you're in!) So i'm excited for the opportunity to worship there... Lando and i went and checked it out when we first got here so i'm excited to go back.

Lando's ferry should be getting in in a few minutes, so i have to jet, but keep posting your comments! I love reading them and it's nice to know somebody's listening to my rambling!

Tidbits: Lando and i didn't even realize it was Thanksgiving until a couple days ago! So strange with out the seasons!

Until next time...

Not an ideal Sunday

2005-11-20T08:10:00.000-08:00

So it's a Sunday morning.... we've been here a month now and we STILL haven't been able to go to church... it's kind of bumming me out. Our December schedule looks good though! I'm sitting here on a Sunday morning and am stuck in the office for no real reason... one of the inefficient ways they do things here. There are three ships in today and I would be much more useful on the dock (not to mention that's the part of my job I love!)

Oh well, life goes on. We got out a little early yesterday and went to check out Morning Star beach which is the Marriott beach. All the beaches here are public, so even if it's a hotel beach, anyone can go. I love it cuz each beach has it's own character and it's fun to check 'em all out! We have a day off tomorrow and it think we are going to go check out either this kayak tour through the mangroves or this bike tour over on Water Island-which just became the 4th US Virgin Island! These tours and many more are FREE to all those friends and family who want to come visit us!!!

We found the library on Thursday and got library cards.... which was a pretty exciting event because we had tried to go to the library three times before that and it was always closed. Just because a place lists hours, doesn't mean that's when they are ACTUALLY open.

We went to CUZZIN'S for dinner the other night. Trip #3 people would have had the pleasure of eating there - the conch (pronounced conk) fritters and the Johnny cakes - mmmmm!!! It's a local West Indian food restaurant and it's so good! Eating out is expensive here so we don't do it often, but it sure is a treat!

Tidbits:
They play four commercials here that really get on my nerves:
1. The "I wish I could go back" woman - who wishes she would have acted when she felt the first signs of a stroke

2 & 3. Two commercials about kids who are "under the influence" - they make it seem like they are on drugs, but then twist is to say they are under the influence of their teen volunteer

4. The one with all these kids asking their mom millions of questions about what they should do in case of a terrorist attack. The commercial says your kids are good reasons for a family to have a plan.

All these commercials are so uplifting and some of them will play twice in any given commercial break.

There is a Saturday/Sunday paper here; you drive on the left; newly discovered beverages are Ting (like carbonated grapefruit juice) and Elephant Beer (uh-it's Danish-see the connection?) The Green House down the street recently posted a "Help Wanted from Matt White" sign, the Disney Ship is AMAZING!!!, we figured out how to install a wireless card in our computer, and we went to sleep at 8:30 last night.

Thinkin' about ya:
I can't get the voice of Alison Stroczkowski out of my head... this whole "Jando" name has stuck and i can still here her excited discovery of the name on the Roberts Weslyan campus... i think that means, Alison, that you are supposed to move out here and work on one of our giant cattamarans!

I have a ship on tuesday that's all rich Germans! I don't speak German! We'll see what happens...

One month later...

2005-11-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

So it's one month later and i finally got internet access AND figured out how to re-enter this thing! Crazy... well i'm sitting in the office for another three hours with nothing much to do... but i can't really go home cuz i have to wait for Lando to get back from doing his afternoon St. John's tour - he takes people to the beach to go snorkling twice a day.

Here's the updates in a nut shell. We live at the Parsonage below Pastor Keinberger at Frederick Lutheran. It's got a great view of the Cruise Ship Harbor. We bought a white Jeep Wrangler which is really fun to drive around the island (wouldn't want one in the states though!) The cats have settled in, they've found their spots to sleep. Chloe caught her first cockroach the other day!

Tidbits: Traffic is horrible here, it's tough to find good fruits and vegatables, everything is expensive (except rum), the weather is wonderful, Iguanas and lizards are everywhere-i love it, the movie "Weatherman" is HORRIBLE-don't go see it, we have rockin carribbean music that poors into our windows every saturday night and I love having TWO DAYS OFF IN A ROW!!!

You meet a lot of random people here. You have the cruise ship passengers who seriously check their brains at the gangway when they board those ships for the first times, you have a bunch of young/not young but still act it tour operators who just run tours and drink all night and you have the West Indian people that i'm used to from doing trips down here. Unfortunatly since we've been working Sundays, i haven't gotten to see them a lot and i'm kinda home sick for that part of the island.

The other day Lando and I bought custom-made sandals and i came back from wandering around the store and found Lando talking to this old lady that works there talking about how she was mandated to go poop at least once a day when she was four and she met a nice boy who did it for her one day when she couldn't go-talk about kindness.

So this is pretty random, but so much has happened... i'll keep the rest short, simple and hopefully more entertaining... although i'll never quite reach the level of Matt White... he's an allstar!

Thinkin' about ya: Lando and I are really missing all the Chicago kids right now. You guys are traveling back today and we hope you had the GREATEST TRIP EVER. You guys are all so amazing! We miss being around people who are SO passionte about something the really matters (running tours to the beach just can't compare to working with you!)

Until next time...

Uhhhh

2005-10-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

This is a test. This is only a test. I just typed a bunch of stuff and it disappeared.... are you out there?