Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a wonderful four day holiday. Our church had a Good Friday service at Dart Park Friday evening. It was a very special hour with singing and scripture readings, all set to an amazing sunset backdrop.


There's something about the ocean that makes you feel very small and insignificant. Looking across the water, surrounded by God's immense creation, I was once again reminded how incredible it is that a God so mighty gave up His life for someone as unworthy as me.

The shot below is from our friend Rob Arthur. I love the silhouette!

After church on Sunday, our friends Brad and Alyssa hosted a traditional Easter lunch. Check out this beautiful ham!


The spread. Adorable Easter basket cupcakes made by Alyssa. The sticky toffee pudding on the end was amazing!


On Monday Brent and I headed to Sunshine Grill for dinner. We both ordered something new which was exciting. This shot was taken while we waited for our table. I never mind an extra ten minutes by the pool - it gave me more time to deliberate on the menu!


The weekend was full of friends, games, good food, and fun times. I'm really looking forward to another long weekend starting tomorrow! The Royal Wedding is a public holiday in Grand Cayman - no work for us! I can't wait to watch the ceremony with a big plate of scones in front of me :)

Agave and Random

Two weekends ago Brent and I had dinner at Agave. I wasn't expecting much from a Mexican restaurant in Grand Cayman, but it was actually incredibly charming. And the food was delicious too.

Brent's pork burrito


My vegetarian quesadillas


Random #1: The humidity in Grand Cayman is something else, and it's not even "summer" yet. If you think it's bad outside, you should feel our apartment :) Since we got back in January, Brent and I have been pretty much just using the ceiling fans and not turning on the AC. The last couple weeks, I've been occasionally turning on the air when we have people over or when I am trying to get ready but can't stop sweating. I admit it's somewhat "balmy." I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised when I looked in the closet and saw this:


My dear old Rainbows. I haven't been wearing them much since we got all our Havaianas, but I wore them pretty much every day for the last five summers. I've had my Rainbows since October of 2005, when Brent and I unknowingly bought identical pairs for each other's birthday. Needless to say, my Rainbows weren't the only ones that ended up in the trash.


They were brought into this world together, and the leave this world together.

Random #2: I woke up at 4:00 am one night to go to the bathroom and when I came back, I saw this sight. Not the best picture, but I had to share. Check out Walter the bed hog! Poor Brent is squished into a tiny ball, and Walter has all that space in front of him. Note to self - Walter gets his own room again when we move back to Cincinnati.

I Heart Faces: Pets

When I read that this week's I Heart Faces challenge was "pets," I couldn't resist entering a shot of our sweet pup. We love having Walter in Grand Cayman with us. He gives us new reasons to laugh each day.

This is one of my favorite Walter pictures. I took this shot soon after returning from Seven Mile Beach. Walks on the beach = one very tired dog! I love the ring of sand left around his eye.

Linking up here:

Friday Fun

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Brent and I are richly blessed with amazing friends. Not a day goes by when I don't miss our midwest buddies (I'm including Cincinnati and Indy in that :), but the people we've met here are an answer to prayer. I never thought we would meet such good, fun people so quickly, or that within 6 months I would feel like I've known them for years. As my mom (and Girl Scout leader) used to sing, "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold."

Last Friday evening, like most Friday evenings, started with a walk on Seven Mile Beach with Jeremy and Sheena.

Shot taken at Lime Tree Bay before we left - Brent said "you're wearing a lot of colors today." What can I say? I was born in the 80's. I will forever love neon.

Sheena, Jeremy, Brent, and Walter

Another glorious beach sunset. Of course, I haven't seen one yet where I say, "eh, that was just ok..."


After our walk we headed to Jenn and Nate's. Nate had the brilliant idea to do breakfast for dinner. Music to my ears (and stomach).

Since we were already doing breakfast for dinner, we decided to make it a pj party. One of the many reasons I love Jenn - she ironed her pajama pants for the dinner.


The quality of this next picture isn't great, but it makes me laugh. Sheena was worried that my picture-taking would capture her just sitting and watching, so she started looking "busy" at the counter. I love that she is pouring the juice with the cap on!


Ladies - this is how you do it. Jeremy on pancake duty, Brent making scrambled eggs, and Nate handling the bacon.


The pancakes were cooked to perfection - including the blueberry and chocolate chip variations.


My fellow photographer


Cute, cute


The perfect evening ended with a lively game of taboo. Of course, the girls whooped the boys :)

Beach Bay Road

We ran into a friend at the grocery a few weeks ago (a common occurrence on this small island). As we were chatting, he mentioned a public beach that he and his wife love to visit. He said it was uber-private and that only the "locals" know about it. That was enough to entice me!

So last Saturday, Brent and I packed some snacks and drinks and headed towards Savannah. The beach was a pretty decent drive, about 25 minutes from our apartment. We were told that the road was clearly labeled "Beach Bay" and you couldn't miss it (of course, we did miss it, but at least I saw the sign as we were flying by). We drove down this little dirt road for so long, I was skeptical that we were in the right place. But lo and behold, you hit a dead end and the beach is before you!


There were three other people lounging about, but within 30 minutes we were the only ones there. The beach has a nice lagoon that was very still and shallow. Walter actually didn't mind this water since he could touch at any point!


We parked our chair and towel and did some hard core relaxing.


I started reading the Harry Potter series a few weeks ago. Not something I ever thought I would do, but the Lime Tree Bay Library has a limited selection. Basically, it's just a couple shelves with books that residents no longer want. But they have 6 out of the 7 Harry Potter books, so I figured I might as well!

There were a couple palm trees, but not a whole lot of shade. Walter made due with what he could find :)


Brent and I had a great time exploring. Even though we live 4 minutes from Seven Mile Beach and Governor's Beach, I still like to find new corners of the island. Overall, I think we prefer Spotts Beach if we are headed East, but this was a nice change of scenery.


Saturday night we headed back to our home-sweet-home Seven Mile Beach for a sunset picnic. When you're from Ohio, there's really no such thing as "too much ocean" :)

Beach Volleyball

Yesterday was Brent's second week of beach volleyball. He joined a league that plays every Sunday at Public Beach (half the teams play 12-3pm and the other half play 3-6pm). There are four on the court at a time, and at least one player has to be a girl. Brent's team started out as a PwC thing, but they've added a couple non-accountant ladies.

These pictures are all from the first week when he was playing the later games. Walter and I walked down at 5pm and watched the last hour and 45 minutes (it went a little long that first week). It was really nice to sit and watch once the temperature got a little cooler.


Nate and Brent - friends on rival teams


Jenn watching the games


I don't know what he's smiling about. Looks like the other team is celebrating...


Walter rims his lips with sand


In between his fifth and sixth game, Brent came over to sit with us. Perfect timing for a beautiful beach sunset.


Believe it or not, the sunset got even MORE amazing as the evening progressed. Ah, that does my soul good :)


I didn't go to the games yesterday. Brent played 12-3pm, so I stayed back to make granola bars, work out and read a little Harry Potter in the water hammock.

All and all, it was a wonderful weekend. We got to play Acquire with Jeremy, Sheena and Wes on Friday. Brent and I explored Beach Bay on Saturday afternoon (those pictures coming next), and did another picnic on Seven Mile Beach for dinner. Last but not least, Brent ran his second 5K race Sunday morning (before I even woke up). I'm so proud of him, even if he says that one's his last :) It's two more than I've done!