Oh Hell

Last weekend, Brent and I decided to use our free Saturday to hit up a traditional Cayman tourist trap.  Yep, we can now say we've been to Hell and back.

The village of Hell basically consists of a post office, a tourist shop, and an interesting formation of short, black, limestone rocks.  It's a ten minute stop at most, but I am glad we checked it off our list.  Don't worry, it wasn't nearly as scary as it seems.

Gazing down into the depths of Hell

Unfortunately the gift store was closed so you won't be seeing us in any "I Went to Hell and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt" attire.  But we did find this humorous notice on the door.  Take note of the date.  On the island, four years fly by like a few minutes.

Ok, now we were really running out of things to do here.

While in the West Bay area, we decided to drive to Dolphin Discovery to take a look around.  This is the view from the parking lot.  That's right, even the parking lots are beautiful in Grand Cayman.

Dolphins must be the most friendly creatures on the planet.  How can you not love them?

I have to admit, I made a fool out of myself using my high-pitch, baby voice every time they came near.  But I really do think they liked it.  This one in particular stayed right by us and just kept tilting his head back and forth listening.   

Or maybe he was just trying to figure out why the crazy lady was talking to him like a two-year-old.  Oh well.

Two Years Ago / The Banks Visit

I was putting away notes from our small group last night, and decided to look up my prayer journal from this day two years ago.  Here's the first entry from May 7, 2010:

"Lord, Brent is accepting the Cayman Islands job today, and I am a little nervous/anxious.  Please help me to trust you.  Give me peace.  Help our families not to feel too sad when we tell them.  Help all the arrangements to work out smoothly - finding renters, finding an apartment, Brent's job, Walter, KruBooks."

It was such a random and divine thing that I picked up that journal to read today.  As we get (scary) close to the last day of Brent's contract, I once again need peace and reassurance that we are doing the right thing.  Leading up to that journal entry, I have days and days of prayers asking God to help us make the decision, that more than anything we desired to know and follow His will.  It's interesting that the last few months have been the same prayer, reversed.  Stay or leave, leave or stay.

My prayer journal continues to October 7, 2010 - 11 days before our move to Grand Cayman.  The pages are filled with prayers for this adventure.  That God would provide for us, that we would have safety traveling, that Brent would enjoy his work, that this would be a time of spiritual growth, that God would give us people to love and people who love us, that we would have wisdom and be open to His direction, that our marriage would be strengthened through the experience.  Oh how I want to go back to that Katie, doing her quiet time on the front porch with nervous butterflies and pages of worries, and whisper in her ear, "God will do all this, and so much more.  You have no idea how good our God is."

The last thing I have written in the journal is this verse from Psalm 143, which is quickly becoming a life verse for me: "I remembered the old days, went over all you've done, pondered the ways you've worked, stretched out my hands to you, as thirsty for you as a desert thirsty for rain.  Point out the road I must travel, I'm all ears, all eyes before you." (The Message translation)

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That was a long intro for an unrelated post :)  I've have these pictures from Emily and Steven's visit loaded for a while, and since I wanted to share that first bit I figured I would go ahead and add it here.  Our first night with the Banks, we did pizza on the beach with Jeremy and Sheena.  There's nothing like starting vacation with a beautiful sunset.

On their last night, we did another sunset dinner, this time at AlFresco.  This sunset was the prettiest, softest pink.  It was like being inside a cotton candy dome.

Steven and Emily were such fun guests.  Brent met Steven in Greenville, SC, way back in his high school days.  Even though I didn't know Emily that well before the visit, I quickly found how much we had in common.  I love instant friendships.

Our next guests will be my sister and brother-in-law.  Two more weeks - I can't wait!

Blue Cilantro Brunch

Last week our friends Steven and Emily came to visit.  It was sort of unfortunate timing because it happened to be one of Brent's busiest weeks at work.  The poor guy worked from 7am to 7pm, came home for an hour long dinner, then went back to work till midnight.  Luckily we got to spend lots of time with them over the weekend.  We decided to invite them to one of our favorite splurges on island - Sunday brunch.  In the past, we've always gone to Agua, but this time we decided to try a newer restaurant that just opened in December.  It was such a fun experience!  Most Sunday brunches are a big open buffet, but at Blue Cilantro you actually order from a menu.  You can order as many things as you like for one flat rate.  Fresh toast - yes, please.  Omelet - you bet.  Eggs Benedict - sure, why not?  Pancakes - keep them coming.  The service was amazing and the food presentation was beautiful.  After a three hour meal, we definitely got our money's worth!

Our wonderful guests

 

 Brace yourselves, there's a whole lot of food pictures coming up...

 

 Have you ever seen prettier little pancakes?

 Time for the main entrees

Dessert platter

More pictures from Steven and Emily's visit coming in the next post!

Photography Workshop

Around Christmas last year, Jenn, Sheena and I started talking about doing a photography workshop, and I mentioned that I have a good friend from college who is a professional photographer (check out her blog - she's seriously amazing). I was so excited when Holly said she would be willing to come and teach us a few things.  We organized a one-day session for a group of ten.  We got nine hours of Holly's brilliance and she got a vacation in Grand Cayman.  Win - win!

I especially enjoyed having Holly stay with us for a week.  She is such a fun girl, quick to laugh and full of wisdom on make-up, diet, skincare, photography, and all other kinds of great stuff.  In turn, I taught her how to relax and master the art of doing nothing.  There's nothing like learning from a pro :)

Here we are at Grand Old House's pasta night

The workshop was a success.  We had people with various levels of experience, but everyone took away something.  I'm proud to say that the rest of these pictures were taken in Manual, which was my big goal for the day (I had previously only shot in Av Mode).  They are nothing fancy, but at least the exposure is about right.  Now I just need lots and lots of practice!

Some of my fellow learners

During the practice part of the session, our friends Max and Angie agreed to be our models.  I don't think they knew what they were getting into!  It can't be easy to have ten people circled around you snapping pictures.  But they handled it like pros.  And how can you not get great shots when your model looks like this?

Practicing around the apartment.  Look at that face!

One afternoon Holly and I did a little photography walk around Lime Tree Bay.  It was fun to play with all her lenses!

LTB pool - a shot I could never get with my 50mm!

Thanks again to Holly for coming to visit and teaching us so much.  I love having you as my photography mentor and friend!