Life Just Got Away......

Well.....no new pics to upload this week. Would've had some great ones from our trip to Chicago last weekend, but Kyle and I both forgot our cameras! Go figure.

I had a business trip in Naperville, IL last week and some good friends of ours (The Johnson's or Mirabelli's, depending on who you ask) live in the area. So, Friday I took the train to Jen's house. We were able to hang out for a few hours before Kyle and Olivia made it in. Kyle got to experience his first flight alone with Olivia, along with a few delays, courtesy of weather in Chicago. They made it just fine and seemed to be having a good time. Kyle, on the other hand, has declared he no longer likes American Airlines. Which is bad luck for him, considering we're moving from one AA hub (Dallas) to another (Miami). Not too many choices....

The weekend was great!! Scott and Jen have a little boy, Griffin, who will be 2 in August. They also have a full size jump house in their family room (Chicago winters) and Olivia and Griff were in heaven!! Olivia is now asking every day when we're going to get a jump house!! Friday we grilled out at their house and just took it easy. Saturday morning, we got up and drove downtown to the aquarium. The kids had a great time. As well as the adults. Fortunately, the kids couldn't read...the aquarium was undergoing renovations and the sharks, dolphins and penguins were not there. The parents, bummed! Afterwards, it was time for Griff's nap, so Jen, Scott and Griff headed home. Kyle, Olivia and I headed down to the Navy Pier. It was a beautiful Chicago day!! We took the trolley down to Michigan Avenue. Olivia also got to experience her FIRST taxi ride. We asked the cab driver if she could ride without a car seat. His response - 'Sure - no rules in Chicago!' We were only going to the train station, so we let her experience. Between the taxi ride and the train, Olivia was beside herself.

Saturday night, Griff's nanny came over and watched the kids while we had an 'adult' dinner at a great Italian place. It was Olivia's first time with someone other than family or Baba (Sara) and she did great!! Back home on Sunday after an afternoon at the park and good Chicago pizza.

This week, I was in Miami and back to the Dominican Republic for a quick trip. We also have some news on the Miami house, but we're waiting on one more thing and I don't want to jinx it.....so.....stay tuned!! I stayed around Miami for an extra day to look at preschools. Found two good ones. One feels like I'm sending her to Notre Dame between the tuition and the set up, but it has some really cool things like a Discovery Barn with live goats, kittens, parrots and a science teacher) that she could not get in most preschools. And, computer class. Very cool for 3 year olds. So, we'll decide soon.

Our friends are throwing us a pool party tomorrow as a 'last get together' of sorts. It will be great to see everyone as I feel like we're partly removed from life here a bit! If I actually stop to think about it, I get sad. So, I hope tomorrow, I can just enjoy the day. Olivia can't wait to see all her friends. She keeps asking if it's her birthday!

Next week.....St Kitts and San Juan, so more pictures to come!!

The First 'Market Visit'

I'm going on my 5th week at 'the job' and I finally made it out to see the market! Last wseek consisted of visits to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic and St Thomas. Here are some pics and a few details describing the joys of too much travel crammed into one week!!!

Sunday - head from DFW to Miami....following a 7 hour delay last week, didn't think it could get worse. But, 2 hour delay getting out of Dallas, putting me into Miami at 1am! Not bad, except I had an 8am flight to the Bahamas.

Monday - 1st flight cancelled....go to Admiral's Club and work....2nd flight cancelled....realize we would be in Bahamas for 1 hour before returning flight from Bahamas to the DR via Miami. So, make executive decision to bag Bahamas altogether in fear of missing connecting flight somehow. With final boarding being announced and new gate 3 miles away, we decide to get on earlier flight to the Dominican. We make it!!!

The Dominican Repulic - we flew into the capitol, Santo Domingo. 3 million people strong. Lowest GDP in all of the Caribbean. And, all spanish speaking. Thank goodness for my traveling companions!! The people there are hands down the craziest drivers I have ever come across in my life (and if you know me, I'm a bad driver, so that's saying A LOT!!). It's a near-accident every 2 minutes...no exaggeration. A red light just means that you slow down in the intersection. There are NO rules. There are also these convience store-turned-sports-watching-dive bar things on every corner.

This is the 'dive' one.

Above is the 'nice' one. We stayed here and had a beer. They give it to you sooooo cold that it's wrapped in a paper bag with a napkin on the lip. If you touch it within 5 minutes, you'll turn into the kid from 'A Christmas Story' and your lips will be stuck to a beer bottle the rest your life.

Our 3rd flight cancellation occured in San Juan. Missed our connection to St Thomas as a result. But, we got to have dinner in Old San Juan and see the sights a bit. And, with the 20 min flight, we still landed by 9am the next day and all was good.....that is until we got to the rental car counter and discovered that you drive on the left hand side of the road. So, the bad driver - me! - got nominated to drive. Wasn't as bad as I expected and no near-collisions, so can't complain.

Some meat 'a la carte' option at the colmado (spanish word for what these bars are).

Lunch in St Thomas....they have a giant 3-legged iguana as a pet that roams around.

The view from where we ate dinner in St Thomas.


Hotel view in St Thomas before the rain came in (above)!

Olivia's interpretation

Well, so far so good, as Amy S said last night!!

Will post more later on my first trip last week. Was quite the adventure! Some fun, some headache worthy....too many flights and too many opportunities to not go as planned!

But, had to share a funny moment with Olivia before I forget. We've been trying to talk to her quite a bit about the move and explain in 3-year old terms what this will mean to her...i.e. new house, yes - we are taking our furniture, no- the walls and the stairs stay here, but - we promise a new swing set in the new house - ALL is good!!

I've been telling her that we'll be close to the beach and that the name of our new city will be 'Miami'. The other day we were driving down the road, and as usual, many questions came out of the blue about 'the move'. All of a sudden, she asked what it was like in 'Your-ami'! Never in a million years did I put it together that 'My-ami' was how it sounded to her. Brilliant if you ask me!! So, now we are officially moving to 'Your-ami'! Even though I've tried to explain it again and again, it's still 'Your-ami'. Call the chamber of commerce. great advertising campaign.

Welcome to my blog!!!

Hello Friends and Family -

I am now entering into the world of 'blogging'! I didn't think I'd ever be one of 'those' people with much to say...or even more so - enough to say that people actually needed to hear about! :)

But...as many of you know, Kyle, me, Olivia, Jake (hopefully!) and Sam will soon be making our way to warm, sunny Florida for the new job. Due to what you hear about nowadays and people saying too much online, I won't be talking about 'the job' too much. Rather, the journey and the travels that we will be encountering along the way. My new job will take me to the islands of the Caribbean and S. America. I can't wait to experience new cultures and see new sights! 'And, as we get Olivia a passport, we hope to get many more 'stamps' on all of our passports. So, stay tuned for stories of the travel and many pics to follow!!

We are excited to have visitors and welcome anyone...although we need to find a home first! We have put an offer down, but after much going back and forth and the crazy market situation in Miami, not sure if it will come through or not. Fingers crossed. We should hear something this week. One way or the other.

Hope to get the hang of this as it goes on.....feels a bit weird!