Forget the Boys, this one's for the Men

Finally someone got it right! Our ward held an "Anything Goes Pinewood Derby Race" for the men. Because lets be honest the pinewood derby has always been about the dads anyway. The rules for the race were, other then explosives, anything else goes, and believe me this event was nothing short of a dream come true for Paul.

He was so excited, Paul immediately started researching propulsion ideas. This picture documents a truly significant event in my life...The longest I have EVER seen Paul wear his church clothes after getting home from church. He probably kept them on for 20 minutes. (He averages about 16.5 seconds.)


Sadly we were stuck at the hospital the weekend of the race and Paul wasn't able to finish his car or attend the event. He had drilled out a large hole in the back and planned to install a CO2 cartridge that would be set off using a mousetrap. It's really too bad that he couldn't have raced his car because he surely would have won!

Better Late than Never Halloween Post

Our past 2 Halloweens have been spent in tropical areas so it was fun to spend this Halloween in a real Fall atmosphere. We decided at the last minute to carve pumpkins. Unfortunately because we waited until the last minute, pumpkin places were all sold out and the only thing we could find was this single, sad little "pie" pumpkin. We literally drove all over town. So we each carved a face on different sides of it. One side was happy, the other was angry/crazy.


After carving pumpkins we got a big bowl of candy ready for the trick-or-treaters and turned on a scary movie. No trick-or-treaters came so we had to eat all the candy by ourselves.
Since we didn't get dressed up this year we thought we would post pictures of our cute nephews in their Halloween costumes!

Grant was a turtle.
Jordan was the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.
My favorite picture ever.

Home Sweet Home

We had originally planned to just drive out here to MI, stay in a hotel for the first night, and then go apartment hunting. Four days before we left Utah I decided to make one quick phone call to an apartment complex that I knew lots of students have been living in. The landlord was great and a few minutes later we had a fully furnished apartment lined up for us. All we had to do was pack our clothes and school stuff and we were set!

This is the largest apartment we have ever lived in. (We have lived in 5 so far.) In fact we have so much room that we really don't know what to do with it. The apartment definitely has an old lady feel to it and seems like it really needs a cat.

We know you have all been dying to see what our Michigan apartment looks like, so before we move out of here next week we will give you the photo tour!

Looking in from the front entryway:

The bathroom's at the end of the hall, just past the kitchen.

To the right you find the living room:
Yes that's right, an entire room just for the couch, TV, and sweet fake fireplace. (Notice the carpet and rugs? They are so beautiful! I missed those while we were on the island.)

Next we have the dining room:
This is the second furnished apartment we have rented in the states and BOTH of them came with glass kitchen tables. We hate them. They are not very comfortable to eat on and they make the room look so cluttered. Maybe landlords think it makes the space look bigger and more enticing to renters?

Next is the kitchen:
It is so much fun to cook in here. The refrigerator and stove are HUGE!! (Actually, everything is regular sized, I'm comparing to Dominica.) When I have more then one thing to bake in the oven for dinner I often find myself trying to decide the best order to stick them in. Paul rolls his eyes and reminds me that I can stick everything in at the same time. It's very exciting!

Next is the bathroom:
Awesome matching old-lady pink toilet, sink, and tub!

(Chelsie, the last picture's for you. I'm 23 weeks along in the shot.)

Hallways:
How cool is this? We've never had a hallway before and now we have 2! The long hallway leads to the front door and the short hallway leads to the bedroom. Notice all the closets? There is so much closet space here. We have one for our sweatshirts and jackets, one for our books and school stuff, and one for our shoes. (Even with all our stuff in them they are still practically empty.)

The bedroom:

Think we have enough pillows on the bed? There are 5 more stacked in the closet! Speaking of closets again, we have shirts and dresses taking up about half of 1 of the 2 bedroom closets, and the other closet only has those pillows. The one time in our lives that we have more storage space then ever, we hardly have any of our stuff with us.

In Dominica our bedroom served as our multipurpose room. If friends or missionaries came over we would all hang out in the bedroom. We even hosted dinner parties in the bedroom because the kitchen was too small! Now it's strange to have a whole big room in our apartment that we only ever go into at night.

Life is a Highway

At the beginning of September we began our third cross-country trip to Saginaw, Michigan. Here are a few pictures documenting the trip:






Finally arriving in Michigan!

The trip went pretty smoothly. We took our time and spread it out over 3 days. (Two longer days and one half day of driving.) It was nice to arrive to our new apartment in the afternoon. The night before we left on our trip we mapped out our route and selected 2 cities to overnight in, then we used Priceline and booked cheap hotel rooms. Each morning of the trip we would set our GPS to take us to the next hotel. It was SO nice to have everything planned out in advance! Hopefully, if the weather holds up, we can do the same thing for our trip back home in a few weeks.

We only had one minor scary event. (At least it was for me!) I was driving behind a semi-truck our first night when all of the sudden I saw a writhing little creature in the road a few feet ahead of me. (We are guessing it was a raccoon.) The semi must have smacked it first then left him for me to finish off. It happened so fast that I had no choice but to try and straddle the raccoon between my tires and ignore the loud thump as we crushed the poor animal. When we stopped later that night Paul, being the gentleman that he is, checked out the car for fur balls and animal parts, and assured me that nothing stuck!

At the last minute we decided to listen to Harry Potter on our trip. We had each listened to the first Harry Potter book on previous road trips years ago, but neither of us were very hooked on the series. (Yes, we know. We probably are the last two people on the planet who have not read those books.) After listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets however, we are both very hooked! We have even been listening to the third book during our stay here in Michigan and are excited to listen to the fourth on our way home.

And no post is complete without a photo of us...so here is roadtriping Paul and Natalynn.

An Incredible Journey

I can hardly believe I am writing our last official Dominica post. It seems like the entire experience only just started. Time sure does fly. It is so sad for this chapter in our lives to come to a close, but hopefully our futures are still going to be filled with exciting adventures. Hopefully our blog can remain somewhat as unique and interesting as it has been for the past year and a half. Okay, enough stalling, it's time to say our final goodbyes to the island.

We were so sad to leave the island and we did not want to see things come to an end. On August 23rd I woke up at about 5:00 in morning crying because I was so sad that we had to leave later that morning. Paul and I got up and watched our last sunrise in our empty little apartment.

Our flight was not scheduled to leave until 3:00 so we were able to attend the first hour of church. It was actually a great way to end things because we were able to say our goodbyes to everyone all at once. (Rather than drag it out over a few days and probably still miss getting to say goodbye to a few people.)

April 29, 2008 -- Our first picture in Dominica

August 23, 2009-- Our last picture in Dominica

One of our first Sundays on the island

Our last Sunday on the island

April 29, 2008-- In Puerto Rico boarding our flight on our first trip to Dominica.

August 23, 2009--Arriving in Puerto Rico after our final trip from Dominica.

Farewell beautiful Dominica. Thank you so much for the many memories, learning experiences, and adventures. This has been the most incredible experience and we wouldn't trade it for the world.

For our next trick we will make 50 lbs disappear.

The planes that run from Dominica to Puerto Rico are small 60 passenger planes and are very limited on weight. This makes for an obnoxious 70 lb per person limit for checked luggage.

When we packed our bags in America we had a digital scale and we spent hours trying to get the weights within the acceptable limits. In Dominica however, we didn't have a scale, so we had no idea what our bags weighed before arriving at the airport.

When we checked in at the airport they carefully weighed each of our bags, added up the total weight, and rudely told us that we would have to call our driver and have him take one of our bags back because we were 50 lbs over. In fact she barked this order at us 3 times. Yeah...nope.

We moved our belongings to the back of the small airport and proceeded to open up our 6 pieces of luggage and backpacks and rearrange everything. Yep we were those people. For the next 45 minutes we shuffled things around between suitcases and carry-ons, weighing, shuffling, and reweighing our luggage. All the while the angry women stood glaring at us from behind the counter.

We finally managed to get our half empty checked baggage to 70 lbs per person and our over-stuffed small carry on suitcases to 40 lbs each. We also had our backpacks that we were able to carry on and they easily weighed 40 lbs each. In addition to the "allowable" carry-ons we stuffed Paul's snorkeling bag and my beach bag with books, and we didn't have to leave anything behind.

HA!

We easily carried on double the weight that we checked. Sooo lame!
Here is a picture of just our carry-ons. (Luckily our flights from Puerto Rico to America allowed the normal 100 lbs of checked luggage per person so we would be able to stick 60 lbs from this carry-on pile back into our big suitcases!)

Here is Paul rolling our luggage to our hotel room in Puerto Rico. We were certainly a sight. On our way to Dominica last year I was kind of embarrassed by how much we were lugging around the airports. I felt like yelling to all the people staring at us "we are moving out of the country!" But on the way home I couldn't care less. In fact it was satisfying to watch expressions go from surprise to slight panic as they realized that no, we with our giant loads, were not slowing down for them, and yes, they better hurry and jump out of our way.

We got pretty good at maneuvering all our luggage. We would strap them together and take off. We would make it from baggage claim, to immigrations, through customs, and be in our taxi before most people could make it to the immigration counter. If there was a suitcase Olympics, we would surely win the gold medal.

The next morning in Puerto Rico we were able to play the luggage weight game again. I stood in the long snaking line pushing around our pile of luggage while Paul would come and go grabbing 2 suitcases at a time and taking them to an empty scale to weigh and reshuffle. We successfully got our 4 pieces of checked baggage to 50lbs exactly. The lady checking us in was blown away as each time she set a bag on the scale it weighed in at 50lbs on the dot. Yes, we are expert travelers and we are that awesome!

Friends

There are many things we miss about Dominica, but we miss all our good friends the most! During our last semester on the island we had a great group of friends who we were always getting together with for dinners, game nights, and just hanging out.

Being stranded out on that island so far from home, our friends became our family. It was such a unique experience to have so many friends who lived so close by, and were always up for spending time together. Meet our Dominican family!Chinese restaurant after mini 2.
My super cute primary with my Presidency and teachers.
Chelsie and I with the Bruners. They were so much fun to be around. We spent a lot of time doing ESL with them over the past year.
Us and the Taylors. Good friends who left the island about the same time as we did.
Me and Heather. Great friend and co-editor!
Paul and Michael. Forever studying and doing school stuff.
Me and Logan. I absolutely loved that baby, and was lucky to be able to spend so much time with him! One of the hardest adjustments to American church is not being able to have him or his older sister Lucy sitting with me.
Dinner with the Colemans and Dave. Such a fun group!
All the spouses at last semesters goodbye dinner.
The girls from the branch at the spouses goodbye dinner.
All the girls from the branch at our last big friends get together before Chelsie and I left the island. :( We totally didn't plan the red and pink thing; it just happened. Most of the guys were wearing red or orange as well. It was kind of bizarre.
Last afternoon on the island spent at the beach with friends.
Haha, kind of a weird picture, but I assure you they are all wearing shorts.

Believe it

Everyone's dying to see a picture of me pregnant. Here you go.

19 (1/2) weeks

New Diets -- Unwanted and Unpleasant

**Sorry. This one's long.

July 10, 2009 marked the beginning of our new five week diets. On the menu:

Natalynn: Bananas and Crix crackers.


Paul: Fend for yourself, go to KFC, or go without.

I'm sure this can go without saying to anyone who has lived on that crazy island, but spending the first trimester of your pregnancy on Dominica is absolutely no fun at all; especially during the summer. For the rest of you, and for documenting purposes, I will fill you in on what my first few weeks of pregnancy were like.

I actually consider myself pretty lucky. I was only nauseated for a few weeks and I never threw up!! For the most part I was also able to keep up with my 3 jobs, my ESL classes, and my church responsibilities.

As for my diet, pretty much the only thing I could handle were bananas and Crix crackers (some Caribbean cracker that got old pretty quick.) One evening, towards the end of my being sick, Paul found a store that had some saltines and they pretty much saved my life!!

Being pregnant on the island was also hard because Dominica can sometimes smell pretty bad. I have always had a sensitivity to smells, but being pregnant heightened my sense of the stinks that were surrounding me. I thought I was going to die! Since the weather is so hot and humid, smells linger around longer. Paul was great about turning on the fan and airing out our kitchen first thing in the morning, and taking out the garbage on is way to school. I also got really good at learning the 20 places that I needed to hold my breath on my way to campus!
Although being sick and dealing with the island was no fun, the hardest part about those first few weeks of the pregnancy was feeling like I was abandoning my poor husband. The kitchen always smelled bad (I seriously couldn't get it to go away) and it was so so hot, making me never want to be in there. Paul got lots of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches and the occasional pasta dinner. I had no appetite so I always wound up bringing too little for his lunches to campus. He was very good natured about it and would go buy something on campus to supplement the scanty lunch I brought him.

Dinners were more difficult because I didn't feel well enough to cook or clean up the huge mess afterward, and Paul being so busy with school and studying, didn't really have time during the week to cook meals. In Dominica everything has to be made from scratch. Quick meals do not exist on the island. I would have given anything for microwavable, easy to make meals. Seriously, frozen chimichangas, frozen pizzas, and corndogs would have made a world of difference. I know Paul was really wishing they existed out there too!

Making meals was also difficult because I couldn't get to a grocery store to do any shopping. The stores were a long walk away, in the blazing heat, and they smelled so so so bad. Then, after shopping, I would have to haul everything home in my backpack. Sadly it was just too much for me to get to a store during those weeks. I think I made it maybe twice.

Tina's Grocery Store

Earlier this year they opened a KFC near our apartment so Paul had many meals there. I would go with him and nibble on my banana and a few of his french fries. (Now thinking about KFC or seeing one of the signs makes me gag.)

I did have a great neighbor, Paige, who would often bring us dinner and homemade treats. She is a fabulous cook and we loved those evenings when she brought us dinner! Paul also quickly learned that she would become a great source for homemade goodies and sometimes before he left to study he would ask me to call Paige and see if she made any cookies today!

Me with Paige and her cute kids. I miss them like crazy!

About a week and a half before we left the island we saw a miracle. My morning/all day/night sickness went away and I was able to help my stressed out, exhausted, husband get through the last round of final exams. I was also able to get new people hired and trained for the newspaper, spend lots of time with friends again, get all our stuff sold, and get us packed and ready to move back to America.

Since then I have been feeling fabulous. The jet lag combined with my constant tiredness was a little rough for the first few days back in Utah, but way better then being sick! My appetite came back stronger then ever and I have been packing on the pounds. (My doctor will be happy!)

Other those first few weeks, I've decided that this pregnancy thing is pretty great and we may even be able to do it again soon! (Haha, I know all you moms out there are laughing at me because I haven't experienced 3rd trimester yet!!)

Geronimo!!!

On July 11th, 2009 we went with our friends Chelsie and Keith on a campus club trip to Wacky Rollers ropes course. Since everyone who ever visits anywhere jungley goes zip lining, it only seemed appropriate that we give it a shot since we were living in the jungle.


The course was set up throughout a jungle of trees and you would swing, climb, or scoot your way from tree to tree. The course was surprisingly long with a lot of variety. The entire course took over an hour to complete. The stations included quite a few variations of walking across logs, ropes, nets, and tons of zip lines! (Our favorite part!)

I usually get nervous when I am up super high, but strap a harness on me, I'll go anywhere! I know it sounds weird, but I seriously love harnesses.

Paul had a blast. He pushed our little group right up to the front of the crowd and was the first person crawling up the ladder to begin the course.

The final station was a long zip line across the river and back. About a quarter of the way across the river there was a palm tree branch hanging next to the rope that you smack right into as you go sailing past. It's unexpected and a little bit scary. Wish I had that on video!

Such a fun trip. We are glad we could fit it in before we left the island. We totally recommend it!

Surprise Surprise!!

Time to find bows, headbands, dresses, tights, and everything else pink and brown because:

We are having a girl!!

We had an ultrasound this morning and the tech was 99.9 percent sure that it is a girl. What a shock! Originally we really wanted a girl. Then when they thought it was a boy we got pretty excited for a little boy. Now we are getting used to the idea of a girl again. It's a little overwhelming but we are super excited!

The baby had her legs crossed and they kept trying to get her to untuck them but she refused. I was pretty persistent in asking the tech to keep trying because I really really want to start preparing for the baby! She just said I'm pretty positive it's a girl, but you will come back for another ultrasound in 6-8 weeks and it should be very obvious. Six to eight weeks, arggh, that's a really long time! But for now, we are going to go ahead and start preparing for a girl!!

Yay!!

I Spy Something Green

One of our favorite things to do was eat dinner out on our tiny balcony. We would move our table and chairs outside and enjoy our pretty view and the nice breeze.

View South

View North

One time, Eagle Eye Paul spotted a baby iguana hanging out in one of the trees, in the small forest right across from our balcony. Here's how the conversation went:

Paul: Hey cool, there's an iguana in the tree. See him?
Natie: Oohh? Where?
Paul: He's right across from us. Can't you see him? He's green.
Natie: Oh he's green! Why didn't you just say that before...

We grabbed the binoculars and it took about 5 minutes before I found him but eventually I did. He was the smallest iguana I've seen. He was lounging on a very thin branch at the top of this tree, three stories high. I hope he was okay getting back down again!

(Zoomed Way in)

(Super zoomed in using a tripod.)

Island Musical

When Dominicans are not yelling at each other they are singing. They love soft rock and Beyonce. It is very common to hear them singing while they are working, as they walk past you, or as they are traveling in a transport with you. The following experiences, involving locals and music, are quite memorable to me and helped shape my experience with the island culture.

One very early morning on my way to the market, I flagged down a transport and hopped in the front seat next to the driver. I had only woken up about 10 minutes earlier so I was still a little bleary eyed and trying to fully wake up. The driver on other hand was wide awake and had the radio blasting the soft rock station. He greeted me, talked about what a beautiful day it was, and then Lady in Red came on. I think he may have turned the radio up louder and proceeded to serenade me at the top of his lungs as we went flying down the empty roads toward the market. When I think about or hear that song I am brought right back to that early morning when we were driving through the sleepy town along the Caribbean Sea on that crazy little island!

(The view that always comes to mind when I hear Lady in Red.)

Around lunchtime one afternoon I was preparing to go to campus to meet Paul when I heard a radio switch on loudly and Mr Big's To Be With You came blasting through the speaker. A construction worker from the building next to ours was taking his lunch break and relaxing in the shade. He was also singing his heart out! It was seriously the cutest thing ever, I wish I could have recorded it. He only knew the chorus but he would belt it out in his island accent, enunciating each word very carefully and taking a breath between each word.

One evening on our way to ESL, Chelsie, Kellie, and I squeezed into a full transport and were completely surrounded by big local women. Beyonce's new song Single Ladies came onto the radio and one by one every woman in the van, almost unconsciously, began singing along. The thought "if you can't beat them, join them" flashed through my mind but I chickened out. Let's be honest I was completely outnumbered and really, no white girl can pull off singing that song, especially given the circumstances.

I have decided that this last event was the most bizarre experience I had on the island. In fact, it was the inspiration for this post.

(Astaphan's Grocery store in Roseau. I tried to get better and more pictures, but they were not okay with me taking pictures.)

Chelsie and I caught the school's transport to Roseau one Saturday morning to do some much needed grocery shopping. We had just finished purchasing our things at Astaphan's and we moved to one of the tables at the front of the store to begin the tedious task of trying to comfortably arrange everything we bought in our backpacks and freezer bags so that we could haul them across town to the next store. The store was celebrating something and had very large speakers set up near us blasting music. The song I Just Called to Say I Love You came on. After about a minute or so we noticed a woman walking past us singing along. A few seconds later we heard a few more women also singing. We looked up and noticed all the cashiers were bobbing their heads and joining in too. Then we heard deep men's voice on our right harmonizing with the women and the song. We looked over and saw the security guards, arms folded, swaying side to side singing along. The customers began tapping their feet and swaying as they joined in. Behind us, on the sidewalk outside the store, we heard a woman's voice get louder and then fade as she walked past the door also singing right along. Then another women, coming from the opposite direction, faded in and out as she passed too.

Chelsie and I were shocked. It was like a musical. The entire world around us was joined in song and moving together in perfect rhythm. It felt very much like we were dropped in the middle of a music video. Although no music video producer could have staged this situation any more perfectly. The whole thing ended as quickly as it began. When the song finished everyone just continued what they were doing as though they weren't all just locked in some crazy musical trance. And to be honest I doubt if a single one of them had any idea what just happened. It was so natural for them. Chelsie and I, on the other hand, looked at each other with pretty much a loss for words. "What just happened?"

General Conference

This weekend is a special weekend. Our church is holding it's semi-annual general conference. Twice a year members of the church from around the world come together to hear from the Prophet and church leaders. The conference is available through broadcast in just about every country and language. It is also available to stream online.

This past week in church our local leaders placed a lot of emphasis on how important this conference will be, and encouraged each of us to be sure to watch it! We are excited to receive guidance and hear the messages that our general church leaders and Prophet have prepared for us.

If you are not a member, or not familiar with our church, general conference is a great way to learn more about it! This link will take you to the site that streams the conference sessions. There are 2 sessions today, and 2 sessions tomorrow. Even if you miss the live broadcast you can still view the earlier sessions.

Link: General Conference Broadcast.

Champagne Bay

One of our final activities over the May semester break was a trip to Champagne Bay and Scotts Head with some friends.

Champagne Bay is probably one of the most unique and cool snorkeling spots on the island! You wonder how it got it's name? The bubbles of course! The volcanic activity under the ground causes warm bubbles to drift to the surface making you feel like you are swimming in a glass of champagne.

First glimpse of Champagne Bay:

We had to hike in a little bit:
Here we are posing on the beach in front of the bay. Notice the rocky beach--a lot of beaches in Dominica are rocky like this. Not so fun when you are trying to walk barefoot into the water to go snorkeling!
See why they call it Champagne Bay??
Paul feeling the bubbles. They are very warm, which was nice because it was kind of cold and overcast that day.
We saw a school of squid. Paul chased them around trying to get them to squirt ink at him. (He has been "inked" a few times. He thinks it's hilarious. In fact chasing and scaring all kinds of animals is pretty much his favorite thing.)
I imagine this is exactly what it would feel like to swim in a giant salt water fish tank.
Such a pretty place. Wish we could have made it back there again.
We took a lot of video during this snorkeling trip and made it into a super cool video. Enjoy!

After Champagne Bay we made our way to Scotts Head, the southern most tip of the island. This was actually our second trip there.
This time we hiked around a little bit. The little strip of land below us separates the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. The Caribbean side is the flat calm side and the Atlantic side is rougher and has waves.
From this angle you can see all the reefs. If you snorkel out far enough you will reach the end of the reef and the floor will drop off for hundreds of feet. They call it the "Finding Nemo drop-off." Paul and Nick went out for a quick snorkeling trip to find the reefs end. Paul said it was cool and a little scary to instantly be in such deep water.

This is pretty much what our island looks like. Very green with lots of steep mountains. They don't call it the nature island for nothing!
Us and our friends who came with us: Nick, Jesse, and Kenley.