Josh's Surprise Birthday Party!

I just had to smash cake in his face!

For two weeks, I planned a surprise party for Josh's birthday. Since Josh took a semester off for us to get married, he is a semester behind most of his friends he met in Miami. We don't get to see them nearly as often as we would like. So I thought a surprise party would be a great opportunity for everyone to get together. I started the arrangements by hacking into Josh's school account to get his friends email addresses. I spent two weeks tip-toeing around, secretly communicating with his friends, ordering a cake, arranging transportation for everyone, making reservations and in some cases "making up stories" so Josh's won't suspect anything! I hated telling Josh white lies but it was for a good cause, right!?!

I scheduled the party for last weekend because his actual birthday is the day before their second exam. I figured more people would be able to attend. In fact, I largely underestimated how loved Josh is and how many people would take time away from studying to celebrate his birthday. 26 people to be exact!

Everyone, except for Courtney, Andy, Josh and I, met at the school at 5:30pm. Our driver, Ren, piled everyone into two buses and began the 30 minute drive to the restaurant. I arrange for a taxi to take the four of us to the restaurant at 6:00pm. Josh knew we were going to the restaurant with Andy and Courtney, he just didn't know that most of his friends from Merp would be there too!!!

We arrived at the restaurant with no one in sight. For a minute, I was worried something happened along the way. A table for 20 was even set up in the restaurant but where was everyone? We sat at another table for a few minutes until a herd of cheerful people came running in. I thought Josh was going to have a heart attack! I was impressed how many people actually came. Josh has made some really great friends where ever he goes.

To make a long story short, it was a great evening. The food was nice, cake was great, and it was wonderful having everyone together for Josh's birthday. He said it was the nicest thing I have ever done for him. I thought getting married was pretty nice but what do I know!!! :)

4th of July!

Yesterday, we celebrated our nation's holiday in style! We had almost all of America's favorites for the 4th of July: hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, homemade roll, star shaped blue and red jello jigglers and star shaped sugar cookies. All that was missing were fireworks. One of our friends tried to sneak some into with her luggage but she was unsuccessful! Hope you guys had a great 4th of July too!

Oh here are some fun extras! Josh was playing around with a few new hairstyles. Though difficult to tell from the pictures, they were ridiculously funny!

... More later on the surprise birthday party I threw Josh last night!!!!

Silly Us!

Here are a few fun photos we took today. Just us being silly us!

Hope you all are well! We have less than 6 months to go and yes we are counting.

Rain and Lightning = No Water or Power

Last night was an interesting night! I woke up around 3am in a deep sweat. For a moment, I couldn't figure out why I was so hot. Did I have a bad dream? Menopause seems a little premature! Then I noticed our room was exceptionally quiet. Why did the fan stop working? Yes, the power was off. Then there was a huge flash of lightning. I thought someone was shining a spotlight into our bedroom until I heard the thunder. Our entire room lit up with every bolt. We have not had a thunder and lightning storm like this since first semester. I guess this is our first indication that hurricane season is in full swing.

Josh and I ended up sleeping at the foot of the bed because there was a wonderful breeze/rain coming through our window. At least we were cool. We stayed in bed until about 9am because the storm woke us up every half hour. The power remained off until around 10am. Now the water is off. Probably for the best since this is what our water looked like this morning: (And no Josh didn't forget to flush!!)

The Joys of Life in Dominica!

A Nice Dinner with Friends

Over the past few weeks, our friends (Dave, Dimesh, & Adriano) have regularly invited Josh and myself over for BBQs. We never object because freshly grilled foods are hard to come by in Dominica. You just can't go wrong with flame broiled burgers! We usually cook chicken, hamburgers, and fish. In fact, we are using the same man made pit that the boys dug just for the pig roasting!

Josh and I decided that we wanted to return the favor by cooking everyone dinner. So as soon as I woke up on Tuesday (7:30am) I was in the kitchen making baked ziti, french bread, salad, and chocolate delight. I literally never sat down. Luckily, Josh had just taken a test the day before so he could spare some time to help me. Because of our limited supplies here on the island, I sent Josh out to look for a pan large enough to fit all of the ziti. I figured with 5 strapping boys and myself, a 9 x 13 pan just wouldn't cut it! So after much searching, Josh comes back with a HUGE turkey roasting foil pan! Much to my surprise, I filled that pan full of delicious baked ziti! Josh thinks the pan weighed about 20- 30 lbs!

When we arrived at the boys house, they had moved the dining room table outside and even picked a few flowers for the table. I was impressed! It was a really nice evening among friends. We, especially Josh, are really fortunate to meet great friends wherever we go. They just seem to gravitate towards Josh and I am grateful for that!

By the time Josh and I left and after a few random "grazers" ate some food, all that remains were a few servings of ziti and a few pieces of bread! I was extremely impressed how much ziti we ate!! I am glad my hard work was appreciated.

Picture: Me, Dimesh, Coulter, Josh, Adriano, and Dave

I thought I would post my recipe for baked ziti in case anyone was interested. (Kendall!)

Hope you enjoy!

BAKED ZITI

*

1 lb. hamburger

(I hear sweet sausage is nice in ziti too. I am going to try that when we get back to the states)

1 lb ziti noodles

*

The Tomato Sauce

2- 28oz cans of diced tomatoes

1-8oz can tomato sauce

1 or 2 cans tomato paste

Onion

3-6 cloves of garlic

2-3 TBS sugar (taste before adding the third TBS)

salt (1 TBS or more for taste)

Basil (2-3 tsp)

Parsley (2 tsp)

Rosemary (1-2 tsp)

Thyme (dash)

Oregano (dash)

Black Pepper (dash)

*

Ricotta Cheese (8 -16oz)

1 egg

2 tsp parsley

*

Parmesan Cheese (1 cup )

Mozzarella Cheese (LOTS- 2 cups+)

*

1. Brown meat. Drain Grease. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, paste, onion, garlic, salt, sugar, herbs, and spices to meat and heat to a boil. (Decrease or increase any of the ingredients to taste. This is just what I do) The longer you let the sauce simmer, the better. I try to cook the sauce for about 2 hours.

2. When sauce is ready, Cook the noodles. (Avoid overcooking because the noodles will continue cooking while baking

3. Combine the ricotta cheese with an egg and parsley. Mix ricotta cheese with noodles in a bowl. I sometimes as add a little parmesan and mozzarella to this mixture as well. (I love cheese!!!!)

4. In a large pan, (9x13 at least) begin layering the ziti. The first layer is sauce (just enough to cover the bottom: less than 1/3 of the sauce), then sprinkle 1/3 of the parmesan cheese over the sauce, then add half of the noodle mixture. On top of the noodles, add 1/3 of the moz. cheese. Then repeat the layers (sauce, parmesan, noodles, moz cheese) and end with the remaining sauce. On top of the sauce, place the remaining parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.

5. Cover the ziti (spray the foil with pam to prevent the cheese from sticking) and Bake for 30 -40 minutes at 350 degrees.

*I hope you enjoy!! Let me know if you try it.

**if you want to make your own ricotta cheese, let me know and I will give you the recipe!

Josh can fly!

Josh can fly ... ... and he can walk on water...
... I can build sandcastles!

OcToPuS!!

Ross students had today off so the boys decided to go hunting. Last week, Josh and Adriano went snorkeling / spear gun hunting around 5 pm. The ocean seemed to come alive at that time making the snorkeling incredible. While they were swimming around, Josh and Adriano spotted a giant octopus. The boys claim the tentacles would stretch wider than their arm span. They tried stabbing the octopus with the spear gun. The octopus was naturally angered by this intrusion and grabbed the spear gun. The sand colored creature instantly transformed its skin into a bright white and electric blue color... intimidation maybe? This octopus was not giving up without a fight. It took the boys tugging and fighting for over three minutes until the octopus finally released the gun.

Naturally, they became determined to find this octopus again. So today, about 10 minutes after they geared up, they had a present for me! This is not the same octopus but still impressive. (Especially since the gun isn't functional. The gun is just a spear until the part arrives.)GROSS!
The octopus would not let go of spear gun. They boys had to use a stick to get the octopus to release its tentacles from the gun. Poor guy!We finished the day by cooking the catch of the day. I even tried the octopus. Very chewy but I was able to keep it down!