Friday, October 21, 2011

Jamaica Paradise

As a treat to ourselves, or rather, as a retreat from the everyday surroundings of home and country, we took a "honeymoon" trip to Jamaica shortly after Tim returned from deployment. We spent a week at an all-inclusive hotel in Negril, a place known for it's peaceful and delightful beaches. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and felt as though we spent a week in paradise. The weather was perfect -not too hot, not too cold, a bit rainy some afternoons, lovely in the mornings, and mostly sunny at the "just right" temperature. The water in the bay was just as complimentary as the weather -not too cold, just cool enough to be the refreshing interruption to our beach sunbathing. The natural life was just what you would expect of paradise -tall palm trees, short ferns, tropical flowers of all shapes and colors, birds singing in the trees, crickets chirping at night, crabs scampering across your path, lizards zipping here and there, and breathtaking sunsets that arrayed the evening in glory.

We decided to make the goal of our trip: refreshment. So we didn't max out the schedule, we simply did what we wanted to do and took one day at a time. We spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach or in the water, enjoying the delicious food that was made for us (and some mornings delivered to our room!), and catching up on lost sleep. One day we took kayaks out into the bay, rowing ourselves around the shore to see the neighboring sights. Another day we went snorkeling and took a ride in a glass-bottom boat. Tim thoroughly enjoyed the snorkeling, but I was scarred the entire time, though I tried to enjoy it too. When I stuck my head in the water and saw schools of fish swimming toward me, I would feel my heart starting to race, and had to remind myself, "They are just little fish and they aren't going to hurt you." (Seriously, I frequent the dog park where the animals are much bigger and have much more potential of injuring me, but for some reason, I was scarred of the little fish in the sea.) After our day snorkeling excursion, we decide that night snorkeling was out. We took a Catamaran cruise one afternoon that took us along part of the 7-mile beach. We stopped at a few rock caves, and got to go exploring for a little while. We tried to go sailing on a Hobie-Cat, but there wasn't any wind, so we couldn't go anywhere.

We spent a week in Jamaica and didn't want to come home when the week was over! If you want a great vacation sometime, we recommend visiting Jamaica.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Jamaica Slideshow

Early morning airport arrival...waiting for our flight.

Here we come!

Tim caught some Z's on the flight.

Necessary documents.

Jamaica coastline.

This is the stop we made on the way to the resort.

A famous Jamaican legend. 

Painting on the side of the building.

As stated, the national dish -we got to try ackee with saltfish while we were there, but didn't get to try the breadfruit. 

On the way to the resort.

Our resort room...tropical and clean!

My favorite part of the trip: breakfast in bed!

Beautiful beach.

Dinner out...there were several restaurants at the resort and they all served delicious food!

Tim going out for a night swim in the bay.

Spending a day at the beach.

Tropical flowers and ferns.

Another tropical flower.

Sunset.

Tropical sunset along the beach.
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Jamaica Slideshow Continued


Beautiful sunset...I couldn't get enough pictures of the beauty!

Sunset on the beach.

Beach sunset.

Going snorkeling. 

An island we passed long our cruise. 

Catamaran Cruise boat. 

On the Catamaran Cruise...relaxing and enjoyable. 

Sights along the cruise. 

We're just getting ready to dive into the water to explore the caves (below). 

The caves we explored.

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A fancy dinner at the French restaurant at the resort -it was delicious!

Tim trying a new sport: stand-up paddle surfing...he was awesome!

Waiting to go out on the Hobie-Cat...we never got to because the wind didn't pick up.

Goodbye Jamaica!
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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Time Together

After coming home from deployment, Tim got several weeks off of work to recover, recouperate, and reintegrate. We spent the time chilling out! We visited some of our favorite places in the Black Hills, took some hikes, and got together with friends.
A visit to Bear Country proved to be very entertaining...the cubs were climbing the tree and playing "king of the mountain (or tree)" and trying to be the one to fight to stay at the top!

 A drive on Needles Highway through the 1-way rock tunnel.
 We hiked up to Cascade Falls...it was short and steep, but a beautiful day for hiking!


We visited family in Minnesota for a few days. It was a treat to see the area at the peak of summer -it was beautiful.


Homecoming: Voted "Summer's Best Event"

Homecomming was, by far, the most exciting event of my summer. I was glad to be busy in the weeks leading up to Tim's return, as all of the excitement of having him home would have driven me crazy if I hadn't had something to keep me occupied. The date for Tim's return was estimated, guestimated, and finally determined to be July 27th in the evening. Several days before his return, I reactivated Tim's phone so he could call me as soon as he got into the United States. So, on the afternoon of the 27th, I got a phone call and a text from him, letting me know that they were safely stateside and would be departing soon for the final flight of their journey home. We asked our friends the Roisums to be a part of our homecoming celebration by joining me at the base for the event. After finishing last-minute touches on the house, to make sure it looked great for Tim, I got all dolled up, and went to dinner with the Roisums at TGI Fridays; after that, we headed to the base. It took a minute to get Anne & Mark through the gate, but we were soon in the Pride Hanger, waiting on the edge of the runway in anticipation of the incoming flight. We didn't have to wait long. In the evening sky we soon saw a small light that grew bigger and bigger as it approached. The anticipation was high as the plane touched down on the runway, causing a series of applause from all of us watching. The plane taxied and soon stopped right in front of us. As the plane doors opened, another chorus of applause, hollers, and whistles was accompanied by the sirens of the fire trucks and police cars that were parked to welcome home the troops. The sun was beyond the horizon by now, and as the troops deboarded the plane, it was hard to see who was who...after all they were all in miliary uniforms of some sort. Anne was the first to spot Tim, then Mark. As Tim made his way through the crowd, Jack and Noah asked where he was, and I was on my tiptoes to try to spot him. Finally he came into view, and I ran forward to meet him, rushing into his arms for a hug and throwing mine around his neck. He was HOME, finally!


We spent a few minutes talking with Mark, Anne & the boys, and then the Roisums had to leave, to get the boys to bed. Mark, Anne, Noah & Jack, thank you for being a part of our "Summer's best event"! We are honored by your friendship and grateful for the homecoming videos and pictures we have from you!
Tim and I had to stick around the hanger until all of the luggage was unloaded. We had a good time walking around saying hello to old friends, giving and receiving hugs, and enjoying the reality that we were now together again.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Summer 2011

Since it's been so long since I've updated this blog, I figured I better do the summer months in one big chunk so that it doesn't take so long. I'll try to include some of the highlights and lowlights of the months, and maybe some of the details will explain why I haven't sat down to update!

May---
May was a busy month with school ending. We brought teaching new ideas to a conclusion, reviewed concepts the students learned throughout the year, did a bunch of end-of-the-year tests, and after it was all done, cleaned out our desks, drawers, and said a fond farewell to our fellow teachers, wishing each other a happy summer. I wanted to especially get a chance to say goodbye to all of the teachers that I taught with because I knew I would not be coming back to Knollwood. The end of May marked the conclusion of school and the beginning of summer for me. The weather even cooperated somewhat and began to warm up a bit. Below are some snapshots of things I enjoyed.

Our end-of-the-year school field trip to Mt. Rushmore. The two boys in the picture were my "buddies" for the day.

 Ellie & her friends, Gus & Daisy -ready for a ride to the dog park to play.

Ellie sat still, but didn't smile for the picture!
 Riding the 1880 train with Dane & Lisa Rumpf. It was a nice ride, but Dane wanted to walk around a lot.

Ellie babysitting Lucy O'Halloran! Ellie sat faithfully by Lucy while she played with her toys, and Lucy thought Ellie was very fun!

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June---
I thought the start of summer meant that I would have some time to relax, take my days easy, and get to some long-neglected projects. Uh...nope! I think time sped up with the onset of summer, or maybe it was just that I was packing my days with lots of little things. I spent a lot of time outdoors running with Ellie, biking, hiking, and getting as much sun-time as I could.

Surgery---
There's always a first for everyone, and for me it was the first time to have surgery. I had my sinuses corrected so that I won't have sinusitis constantly, which has been my history. Even though the surgery was not major, it was still a bit unsettling for me. My good friend, Sydney Brueggeman, took excellent care of me since Tim was unable to be with me. She took me to the clinic, stayed on call while I went into surgery, greeted me with a smile, card, bear, flowers, and balloon when I was discharged, took me home, and spent the rest of the day and even stayed overnight to take care of me. And apparently, I'm quite the baby when I am anesthetized! She caught me saying some pretty incomprehensible things, and had to help me focus my thoughts. Lauren brought dinner for us, which was delicious, homemade mac-n-cheese. I'm SO grateful for caring friends!

This was me post-op...with the teddy bear Sydney bought me as a get well gift. I was still a bit groggy at the time.


House for sale: 3410 Bunker Drive---
Our home went up for sale with our pending move on the horizon. McKay Moore came over to help me make the house look beautiful ---and she ended up doing all the work! I was still under the influence of anesthesia, and couldn't hardly think straight. So McKay went through the house clearing off flat surfaces, boxing up personal trinkets, and situating furniture so that the house looked spectacular. Thankfully, the only thing I had to do to keep the house looking nice was clean it up and keep it clean. But it took a lot of brain power for me to keep it clean all summer long with my coming and going...and a dog who doesn't quite get the "clean" memo.

Yep, that's the house for sale. Nice, isn't it? Would you like to buy it?

Cali---
My summer also started with an amazing trip to California to visit my friend Shaylor Billings. It's been a few years since I've seen Shaylor, so it was a wonderful opportunity to take a week and visit her, and the California sun! She was graduating from Test Pilot School, and invited me, some friends, and her family to celebrate with her. While I was there I got to visit with some other friends, the Fergusons, meet Shaylor's "California Family", and, of course, soak up some sun. Shaylor took all of us land sailing, which was an AWESOME and FUN experience. If you have an ounce of adventure-hankerin', I strongly suggest land sailing should go on your bucket list.
 Shaylor and I at her TPS graduation. It was quite the formal (and fun) event!
While in Cali, I got to spend some time with the Fergusons -a family I met when we Wagners lived in Germany growing up. The Ferguson kids have grown up so fast -it makes me feel old!

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July---
July was a fun-packed month and went by quickly. I was very grateful to have friends to keep me company as I counted down the last weeks until Tim returned home. Here are some of the highlights: spending 4th of July with my friends, the Roisums, and experiencing my first hometown 4th of July parade! I took a trip down south, first to visit my family for a few days, and then on to San Antonio to look at houses. Our good friends, the Hollos live in San Antonio and let me stay at their place -it is SO nice to know that we will have friends once we move down there. I didn't find a house, but the trip gave me a good understanding of the local area. Finally, the best part about July was Tim's homecoming -but I'll detail that in a separate post!


 Noah, me & Jack at the 4th of July Parade -it was hot, but the boys got soaked by the fire trucks that came by with their super-soaker hoses!
Mark & Anne Roisum with me at the Parade -it was a fun time!
 Ellie and I spent a lot of time running along Rapid Creek...after running, we would stop and get a drink of water -yes, Ellie does drink out of a water bottle!
Sleepy Eli...no, he's not mine, but it sure was a treat to get to carry him on our M-Hill hike. I went with friends Tara & Amy, along with their little ones, Maggie, Zay, and Eli. Each of us gals had a kid on our back by the end of the hike!


 Dane and Ellie are good friends...they shared lunch and a nap together.

July is a month notorious in the Black Hills for it's precarious and varied weather...afternoon thunderstorms/hailstorms are somewhat common. On this July afternoon, my friend McKay came over to visit, and we put her car in the garage along with our 2 vehicles for a total of 3 cars in the garage. It's not technically a 3 car garage, but I guess it works in a pinch! Thankfully, we didn't get hail at our home, but many of the southern areas of Rapid City got a lot of hail damage.

 McKay and I went to visit Bear Country one busy afternoon...it was a fun time to see the animals, especially since McKay had never been to the park.
Yep, that's a bear in front of our car. We felt like calling, "Here Teddy, Teddy..." But we didn't!