Our Beloved Jeeno

Dog Walking

When we came to Grand Cayman we had to leave our adorable black Labrador, Jeeno behind.  I am still deciding if we should go through the extensive process to bring our puppy from the United States here.  It will cost us nearly $1000 (OUCH!) and he will not be able to come for about 6 months after the process is started.  This means that our friends that have been so gracious to watch Jeeno for us would have him longer than we have had him.  I am starting to feel leaving him with our friends will be the best decision.

In the mean time, we are walking dogs from the Humane Society.  The first time we walked 3 puppies which the children named Cloey, Rocket, and Daisy.  Cloey has since been adopted out!  I didn't bring my camera the first time, but I will be sure to bring it from now on.

Just yesterday we walked 2 dogs...

Mayetee (May-ye-tee)

Pauli

We took them to Governors Beach.  They didn't like the water, didn't mind the sand, but preferred the shade much better.  It has been a great opportunity to love dogs that live in kennels and help the Humane Society.  We also get our puppy fix.  Once we get a car we will be able to foster a dog for a weekend.  Joie is really excited about this.  However, I think she is looking for a water loving dog so I don't think we will be fostering these two.

Joie, Ally, and Leanne

Joie and Alley with Mayetee and Pauli

Everyone but me;)

Enough dog walking, let's bury Jayden!

Snorkeling 12-29-11

 I finally saw the Green Moray Eel that many snorkelers were seeing off the Treasure Island Resort beach.  He is probably about 5.5 ft long.  Although his face is a bit scary and he moves like a snake I didn't get scared until he appeared to look straight at me.  Then it dawned on me that I was wearing striped shorts that probably looked like a fish even though they were zebra print.  I won't be snorkeling with those anymore even though the Green Moray's gaze quickly shifted away from me.

 I love when you can see the sun's rays shining down on Earth and you can even see them in this underwater picture; it's like God is pouring out His love on His creation.

 Here are the Sergeant Majors and a Bluehead Wrasse that were swimming right next to me.  I think they were waiting for me to feed them, but I didn't have any food.

 I can't remember the name of this fish, but it's known by the black dot found on both sides near it's tail.

 

These little blue guys can be seen all over. 

Christmas Morning 2011

 In their stockings I put a cute little Santa's note to appease Jayden's imagination and 20CI for ice cream ONLY.  We all love ice cream, but our freezer is too small to keep it on hand.  I didn't want to purchase junk and I knew they would love having the freedom to buy ice cream when they wanted it.  This has temporarily taken the pressure off me to decide when or when not to have ice cream.  They ask every night and if you buy the ice cream individually like we have to it gets expensive, so I feel the need to limit it.  

 Jayden also got some Littlest Pet Shop Animals.  Since we arrived in Grand Cayman he stopped playing with his WWE fighter guys and has been enjoying playing LPS with his sister, so why not have his very own.

 Yay, presents!  Only one present each this year.

 Joie loved her new Littlest Pet Shop...

Jayden wasn't thrilled with his Battleship game at first, but after playing it he enjoys it a bit more.  It's a great game for increasing his patience.  He has always been a "right now" type of person.

Christmas...

Why do we have Christmas trees, stockings, decorations, and feel forced to give gifts to everyone we know?  Over the last few years the enjoyment of the "typical" Christmas celebrations have lost their glamour.  I find that I am a big scrooge and stressed out about buying gifts for people.  I want to give gifts that the receiver will love and use, but when people are so blessed why and what do you give.   Why do my children need to be showered with toys and things that they may never use and why oh why does Santa exist?  My daughter of course,  knows mommy and daddy are the gift givers, but my son is adamant that Santa is the one that gives the gifts.  I tried to tell him last year that Santa wasn't real but he wouldn't believe and this year I allowed him to keep believing his beliefs.  As Christmas has come and gone I think I should have told him who fills his stocking.

It's a bit of a challenge to step out and go against what the norm is, but as I read this blog post by Anne Elliott I began to think...is it really that hard?  They took down their Christmas tree before Christmas!  I love the idea, but at the same time, it's been a tradition and for so many years I looked forward to it.  I don't look forward to it anymore.  Will my husband or children miss it if we start a new tradition?  Or will they embrace the new.  I think it's time for a change.  I read in Keeping Life Simple by Karen Levine that if you no longer enjoy a tradition STOP DOING IT!  Pretty simple.

I am not sure what Christmas will be like next year, but I am going to take this to prayer and allow the Holy Spirit to lead my heart.  He has obviously been trying to get my attention in this matter and I am finally starting to see.

What does this mean for all the other pagan holidays we celebrate??

Our Christmas tree

 

Our Christmas tree this year was given to us, totally AWESOME! We didn't have to purchase any decorations this year; we made our own.  We were also given stockings just in time for Christmas.  Some friends we had made were moving back to Colorado and didn't need them.  We were very sad to see them leave but thankful for the stockings and marker board they left behind.  Jayden wanted a stocking soooo bad!  

Christmas ornament

Jayden made this one at a church we attended..

Another one

Our homemade Caribbean ornament

Christmas 2011

Christmas was so different this year. No family. A new friend, Anya, came over for a bit. And Morgan, the animal whisperer, stopped by to say "Merry Christmas". Jacob had to work at 4 so by 3:30 the children and I were all alone.

I managed to finish a very nice meal in time for Jacob to enjoy it; however he wasn't really hungry. His work changed his schedule 3 times this week, so it was hard to plan our meal, especially since we only have a mini oven and a two burner stove. I roasted turkey breast with gravy, made eggplant parmesan, a green bean dish, Italian salad, and cheesy chicken and green chili dip. I stuffed dates with cream cheese and Jacob helped me stuff peppers with anchovies( I know it sounds gross to many, but you just have to try it. I like them with cheese). We were intending on having others join us for dinner, but it didn't pan out.

After our early dinner, I enjoyed a cup of eggnog. So creamy and delicious with cinnamon and nutmeg. I was lucky to get this winter treat on sale for 5.99CI. All things on this island are more expensive than in the states. Because of this I feel very frugal, like I'm not to buy anything but the necessities. It's an icky uncomfortable feeling to have to penny pinch. We have always been very blessed financially, never having to go to stores with a calculator to stay within our budget. We never really had to budget and I am feeling like I must now. Oops I went off on a tangent...anyways to finish my tangent the Lord is providing for us perfectly, it's only because I pay some ridiculous prices for things that I feel this way. I think anyone would feel the same if they had to pay over $5.00 for a package of oreos.

Back to Christmas...I really wanted I start today off with church, but we haven't found a church we really love yet and...is that really acceptable??? So I don't feel like we celebrate Christ's birth at all. I wasn't excited for Christmas at all. I felt like scrooge. Bahumbug, eeewwww!

My two little j's and myself didn't have any plans for the evening so I coaxed them outside. I wasn't convincing enough to have them snorkel, so I had to do it alone.
Lately, it seem like my children and I are moving in two different directions. They are like little hermits that want to be indoors playing video games and watching TV and complain when they have to go outside. And If they are not complaining they look miserable. I think my children have been away from me too long at a very crucial time and I am not sure we'll ever be on the same page.
While I was snorkeling I saw a few fish. I'll post some pictures as soon as I remember my underwater camera and I can get some good shots. I also freaked myself out because we watched Jaws the other day. There was a guy snorkeling at the same time and he got to see a small sea turtle! If I wouldn't have gotten scared I would have seen it to:( I'm a little bummed. That stupid movie; I dot think I will ever watch it again. I am pretty sure it's the reason why I have always been afraid of the ocean.

We got to see a beautiful sunset. The sun looked gigantic and was bright pink. The clouds didnt illuminate much but it was still cool. Afterwards we retreated to our little hotel-room style home and veged out playing games. And then I wrote this post, haha.

I am very thankful Chritmas is over. I hope next year is better. If anyone has any advice for me with my children please share.

My toasted walnuts..

My toasted walnuts were a success!  Not exactly the texture I was going for, but they were very tasty with the spinach salad topped with blue cheese crumbles, Craisins.  When I made the candied walnuts, i first toasted them for approximately 5 minutes at 450 degrees in my mini oven.  While doing so I started to heat white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a sauce pan.  A few minutes into the process I discovered that brown sugar has a higher melting point so I was likely to burn the white sugar before the brown sugar even started to melt so I added some corn syrup because I saw it in another recipe.  It immediately melted so I added the toasted nuts to coat.  I was sure to separate them quickly after coating so they didn't stick together.
 
  Next time I try this I will put the brown sugar in first, melt, and THEN add the white sugar.  I used 1 cup sugar total.  No, I didn't measure the vanilla or cinnamon. 

Candied Walnuts

There are so many recipes for candied walnuts! Some with white sugar others with brown sugar or corn syrup and others that even have sour cream in them! I had no idea that it was that extensive. So as always when I'm looking up a recipe I will pick and chose what I like, creating my own. However, I typically don't measure it out because that would take more time. It's only when I'm baking that I measure. And this really isn't baking. It's only for a spinach, blue cheese, and craisin salad.
I'm thinking after i toast the Walnuts ill coat them with melted brown and white sugar with a dash of cinnamon and vanilla. What do u think? The overall consensus is to separate the nuts before they cool, otherwise the will be forever stuck together;) so I'll be sure to do that too!

Green iguana

The green iguana is far away but you can still see the black bands on it's tail...

Not so blue, blue iguana

Apparently, blue iguanas aren't always blue. I think...Like green iguanas, as they age they loose their vibrant colors and turn more brownish, gray or even black.
The easiest way to distinguish between the two is their cheeks, spikes, and tail. Blue iguanas have spikes on their cheeks, even, stiff spikes along there back, and no bands on their tail. Green iguanas, on the other hand, have a distinct circle on their cheeks with no spikes, long, uneven pliable spikes along their back, and bands on their tails.

Botanical Gardens

My little guy, Jayden

Botanical gardens pond

Joie(aka Joielin) and myself...

Lily pad and flower

I thought this was so pretty and just had to preserve the memory! We were at Queen Elizabeth's Botanical Garden when we saw this and 2 blue iguanas which are endemic to Grand Cayman, meaning they are only found here. We also learned about plants like Madden Plum, a highly poisonous plant resulting in fever and itchy blisters if you touch it.

Driving on the Left

Jacob and I rented a car today.  We decided to rent it because tomorrow Jacob has errands to run that will require a $30 taxi instead of a $2 bus fair.  The rental car will be about $40, but we get it for 24 hours.  It's really small, bright yellow and the steering wheel is on the right!  This was my 1st time driving on the left hand side of the road in a car with the driver seat on the right; it was crazy!  The turn signals are also on the right.  Both Jacob and I kept turning on the windshield washers instead of our turn signals.  It was strange to have to actually think about how to drive.  Having the steering wheel on the opposite side was the hardest part.  The depth perception on my left feels very unnatural so making turns and staying in the lines was weird.

I remember when I first got my driver's license I was so excited!  I have always enjoyed the peacefulness of the road, but traffic gets old after a while and then the joy of driving seems to fade.  It became more of a chore than a blessing.  I had so much fun driving today!  Now that I have been taking the bus or walking I can see that driving is a privilege.  However, it is a blessing that causes us to be impatient and lazy.  We have been looking for a vehicle, but I almost don't want one because I fear laziness in my children.  I pray that when we do get a car we will continue to appreciate our legs.  Thank you Lord for giving us 2 strong legs.

Bickering Siblings

My sweet young children have been in many disagreements lately and it is truly disrupting the peace of our home.  I have just started reading Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel and have found some pretty neat ideas for correcting this problem and scriptures to reference.  It's written very well and easy to pick up and browse for ideas whenever you run out.  I have tried a few of the suggestions for diffusing arguments and some have worked better than others.  Each child and scenario is different so you have to see which one works for you and your family.  A couple times I have asked my children in the midst of an argument to stand toe-to-toe facing each other.  The first time they did it their anger turned into giggles, but the next time they started wrestling...I  usually separate them when it gets out of control and then talk to them about what happened, but I don't think being the mediator is the answer.  They have to learn to respect each other, control their emotions and solve these issues on their own.  With my prayers and patience I shall eventually see the little seeds I am planting grow.

Every stage in raising children has it's own challenges and the first glimpse that your efforts are working is soooo awesome!  It will be nice to have Joie and Jayden getting along better, but I understand that they are both going through a stage of growth and finding a little more independence so it will take some time before our home is perfectly peaceful.  I have heard of many siblings fighting for years, I pray that there will not be that kind of separation in our home.  A happy, loving, peaceful home with Jesus at our focus is what I am striving for.

[Writer's Block]

I am sitting here at my computer trying to write and yet I can't.  I have ideas of things that I want to share; however, I can't seem to find the correct format in which to express them.  My essays and stories were well written when I was in high school and college, but as the years have gone by I haven't been utilizing those skills and I am now feeling very rusty with grammar, vocabulary and structure.  How do I convey my thoughts in a well formatted, interesting post?  Practice...

Funny, I was just explaining to Joie that she needs to practice her times tables in order to get quicker and better at math.

Cayman Library

Today, my children and I visited the Georgetown library in Grand Cayman.  It is a small library, but it will suffice.  In Las Vegas our home library is one of the smallest and oldest, but it is 4 times as large as the Georgetown library and with the internet it was very easy to reserve books and have them transferred to our library, reducing travel.  The libraries here are in the stone ages;  they are still manually stamping each book that is checked out!  It was pretty neat to have my children see how things used to be done everywhere.

Joie loves the Magic Tree House Books.  She recently finished the 10th or 11th book in the series and is eager to read the rest of them in order, however it may be a little more difficult now that we live here.  They had some of the books, but they are scattered between all the libraries on the island.  They don't transfer so easily.  I am pretty sure you have to go to that particular library and then return it there as well=( Oh well.  It's a great lesson for us.  It's opening our eyes to just how lucky and blessed American's are!  We did find one Magic Tree House book within their internet based catalog search(okay so I exaggerated a bit when I said they were in the stone age) but we never found the actual book.  The librarian explained this happens frequently, some books are taken without being checked out, they are filed incorrectly or their system is behind in updating the internet search.  We were unsuccessful in finding three books total, one for each of us.  Jayden was a bit disappointed that he wasn't getting his spider-man book, but I was happy that I was able to teach him the importance of putting a book from the library back in the correct place.  If it's not put back in its place it is very hard to find.  He then decided that he was checking out Transformers and Mommy was going to read it to him even though there were no pictures.  I'm not a big fan of Transformers and the book is 323 pages long!  I was insisting that he should find a book with pictures and much smaller, but his mind was set.  So I let him get it,  maybe he would really enjoy me reading this book to him and maybe it would spark a love and interest in reading that would last a lifetime.  Not only that we could cuddle.  But even as we were checking out I was cringing at the thought of reading a 300 paged book that I had no interest in.  It was reminding me of books I was forced to read in high school, yuck!  It's terrible to be forced to read something you don't really enjoy.   

I was able to show Joie a few other options for chapter books like The Box Car Kids and Nancy Drew.  She's not interested in Nancy Drew at all and even though I told her that I had read some of The Box Car Kids books she shunned them.  Finally, I came across the book, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket.  I didn't even know this was a book much less a series.  We had seen the movie and found it quite interesting and entertaining.  Jim Carey was in it so, however strange and slightly morbid it may have been, it was funny and captured our attention.  When I showed the series to Joie she instantly decided that was going to be one book she would check out.

As bedtime approached, Jayden asked me to read Transformers.  I only read 1 1/2 pages before he lost interest.  I am pretty sure the large words turned him off; he couldn't possible understand much of what I was saying.  Maybe tomorrow, he will want to read some more.  Either way, if he is enjoying it I will enjoy reading it to him.  Thank You Jesus for changing my heart.

We concluded our evening with the first chapter of A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Bad Beginning.  It was an easy read and we all are enjoying it.

I am so thankful for libraries!  It is such a wonderful way to introduce children to books.

Changing for the Better

My Husband is finally the provider of our home, eeeeeeeee!!!!  What a dramatic change in his persona and an amazing blessing from the Lord!  It is by His hands and His timing that Jacob is now providing.  It took a step in faith on our part to move to another country, trusting in the Lord, but we just kept praying for God to open the doors He wanted us to walk through and to close the ones we weren't to go through.  Every door swung wide open for the move to Grand Cayman and now we are here and boy, is it an adjustment!  A change that is bringing growth, humility, unity and increasing our patience, strength and faith. 

  In Las Vegas we lived in a single family home 4 bedrooms, giant big screen TV, king size pillow-top bed, 2 computers plus 3 gaming systems, 2 cars, and a kitchen filled with all sorts of gadgets.  One of my favorites: a tomato corer; every time I took it out to take off the top of my tomatoes I would exclaim,"I love this thing!"  We had snow gear, camping gear, golf clubs, bikes, books, tools, etc., etc., etc.  So much stuff!  I didn't want to part with any of it because we worked hard to get it and we enjoyed life with all our toys.  Surprisingly, at the Most perfect time God highlighted the story of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus how he might inherit eternal life.  Jesus replied, "You know the commandments...one thing you lack...sell what you have, give to the poor...take up your cross and follow Me", but the rich man went away sad because he had many possessions.  Jesus then goes on to say how hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God(Mark 10:17-25 also Matthew 19:16-22; Luke18:18-23)  Now the 4Js, my husband: Jacob, me: Jacqueline, our 10 year old daughter: Joie, and our 5 year old boy: Jayden, are living a much more humble lifestyle.  

For the time being we are living in a studio style apartment where the utilities are included in rent.   We decided to humble ourselves with this until we had a better idea of what our expenses would be with all of us living on one paycheck.  We heard that utilities here are extremely expensive and Jacob was feeling a bit nervous about that.  We don't have a car yet so we walk to and from the grocery store.  Ha!  I have a new appreciation for personal transportation.  I now understand the challenges of some of my friends back home that did not have cars.  I am so glad I was able to help them with rides to work, but now wish I would have offered to help more.  We can become so selfish and are unable to empathize when we ourselves have never been in the same situation.  That's the beauty of Christ; He opens our eyes so we may see.

Living in such close quarters and the move has stirred up emotion creating more arguments between my children so we are learning how to deal with our emotions in a more positive manner.  We are reading and illustrating scriptures to help ease the tension.  I am praying for God's word to be written on their hearts that they may never forget it.  Soon enough I am sure I will see some growth with the seeds I am trying to plant.  

Regardless, the struggles we are facing today I am praising Jesus because I know the fruit that is going to come from our trials.  I am excited!  I am entering a new season in my life!  

Moving to Grand Cayman

  August was a whirlwind for my husband and I.  Tension was building inside me from him not working; he was employed yet rarely working and I was left to carry the financial burden of our home even though my heart's deepest desire was to stay at home.  After a very intense conversation, Jacob was searching and applying for jobs like crazy!  Don't get me wrong, my husband was an excellent stay at home dad.  His cooking was superb!! and the house was kept very clean; however, not working was detrimental to our relationship.  He felt worthless and I was becoming bitter because he was doing what I wanted to do.
 During the time Jacob was not working consistently, he went to a couple job fairs and had many interviews, some even stating he was hired.  But nothing panned out until he applied for a bartender position at Agua in Grand Cayman, an itty-bitty island just South of Cuba in the Caribbean.  Living in Las Vegas we were drawn to the service industry and we were both bartenders and a bartender from Las Vegas is exactly what the managers at Agua, were looking for.  Imagine that!  No one other than God could have lined this up more perfectly.  Within just a few weeks Jacob was on a plane to Grand Cayman, a land foreign to us, not even part of the United States of America.
  On September 10, 2011 Joie, Jayden and I bid daddy farewell.  I thought life was tough with me working and Jacob being home, but my eyes were opened to a new appreciation for my husband because life got much harder with him gone.  By this time, Jacob and I had finally come to an agreement that the children would not be going to public school again this year.  So not only did I have to work, but I also had to take full responsibility for our home and the education of my children!  I was stressed out, but the peace of God and Missy helped me through this one.  How did we manage to accomplish school while I worked full time?  We got up really early and finished school before I went to work.  And Missy was gracious enough to feed my children and sometimes me, so we could get in bed earlier.  Thank you Missy =)
  October approached and we were settling into some sort of routine, however the stress from work was increasing and Jacob was already missing us so he purchased our airline tickets to move to Cayman. He said," quit your job and get down here!".
After giving proper resignation at Aria, I had just 3 short weeks to get everything together. I had a garage sale to get rid of most of our possessions. God led me to the story of the rich man who came to him stating how he did this and that and the other, but Jesus told him to sell everything he had. It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. We brought nothing into this world and we shall take nothing out...
Of course there were some things that I could not part with; those went into storage and my bed, oh my lovely king size super cozy bed that I miss, went to my mom's home. I plan on sleeping in it when I visit. I am really looking forward to visiting!
I had to finalize and close out all accounts and find a home for our puppy and clean out our rental home. Thank goodness we were only renting! Deciding what to bring and what to store and what to get rid of was such a headache, but as I reminisce on the experience it doesn't seem too bad. I couldn't have completed it without Missy or my mom. So many times I would be staring all around my home wondering where to begin. And then once I figured out where to start I would quickly get overwhelmed with that area and move to another area, never really accomplishing anything.  From the time Jacob booked our flights I was filled with a paralyzing anxiety even though I know Phillipians 4:6-7 by heart, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  I meditated on this verse but the anxiety never ceased.  Still God handled everything.  All the things I was worrying over He took care of; opening doors that I feared would not open.  Over and over again throughout this move God proved how Mighty He really Is.  In Him I find rest; knowing He will uphold my family.