Last and First

Wow, serious flashback to this post, describing our last days in the States and our first days in Grand Cayman.  And here we are again, this time with the reverse.  Don't you love when things come full circle?

Our second to last day in Cayman we went to Spotts Beach with Walter.  We put our chairs in the shade, ate a picnic and took a little nap.  It was so nice.  I'm really glad we had time for some relaxation and fun that last week, in addition to the crazy to-do list!

I'm already missing these blue, blue waters...

That night we went to Ragazzi for dinner.  I love dinner dates with this guy.

We spent our final full day in Grand Cayman with Jenn and Nate, hanging out at their pool and eating a few meals together.  It was still so hard to believe that this was the last time we'd get to do that for a while.

The final day was a frenzy of chores, errands, and general running around.  Jenn drove us to the airport and Nate met us there to say goodbye.  I must admit a few tears were shed.  Oh how I love these people.  Thank goodness we kept it short and sweet, otherwise I would have been a real mess (and we would have missed our flight  - we made check in with literally one minute to spare).

We flew into Greenville, SC to surprise Brent's family.  His dad knew we were coming for 4th of July but no one else did.  It was so much fun to get to see everyone and meet our newest niece.  I wish the visit could have been longer, but we were also anxious to get home and start setting up the house.

Here's sweet Ellison - four months old

Girl's got good taste in watches

It was the perfect traditional 4th of July - hanging out by the pool, grilling burgers and hotdogs, watching fireworks from the driveway.

The many faces of Kru

Brent got sprayed in the eye with a water gun, which is why it looks a little funny here...

Can't wait to spend a whole week with the gang in Myrtle Beach this September!

We drove to Ohio with Brent's parents.  This was waiting at our house when we got there.  We have the best family!

Ohio did its best to make us feel like home - 100+ degree weather all week.  Our renter had turned off the power on her last day, and due to damage across the area from thunderstorms the week before, we weren't able to get it turned on for 5 days.  Oops.  Man oh man, not my favorite week.  But despite the heat, we got a lot done.  Some inside unpacking and A LOT of outside landscaping.

Now it's been almost a month since we returned.  Still some unpacking to do, but things are looking much more "settled."  Brent and I are adjusting well - some days it feels like we never left and the whole island adventure was just a dream.  I miss it incredibly, but we've also been so busy here I haven't had too much time to dwell on it.  When we tell people we just moved back from two years in Grand Cayman, the general response is "Why?!"  Haha, I really don't blame them.  I spent a lot of time wondering that too before the move.  But I think Brent and I are both feeling peace that this was the right thing for this time in our lives.  The future...who knows what it may hold :)

I don't plan to keep the blog going now that we are back in the States.  I realized that I pretty much put all the same pictures on Facebook, and my blog text was mostly just a few captions here and there.  It seemed a little redundant.  But you never know, maybe I'll stop by every now and then with some pictures and updates.  After all, life is still "grand," even in Cincinnati.

Sunsets and More

Another "this and that" post. As promised, more sunsets - starting with a particularly special one.

In Remembrance

My beautiful grandma, Isabel Bongey, passed away on March 8th. I don't really have the words to express how wonderful she was or how much I miss her, so I won't try to fit it into the sphere of this blog. On the evening she left us, I escaped to the beach to watch the sunset alone. To think of her and picture her looking down on this same sunset from heaven, with her precious Savior, her beloved husband, and all the others who had been eagerly awaiting her arrival.


You are deeply missed, Maw Maw, but we celebrate your life and rejoice at your homecoming. Well done, good and faithful servant.

Sunset and Chicken

Last Friday Brent and I decided to do a little dinner on the beach after work. The plan was to be all healthy and get salads from the grocery salad bar, but one look at that and we quickly changed our minds. Plan B - rotisserie chicken which came highly recommended by the lady in the meat department. No side dishes, no forks...just chicken.


Hey, I didn't say this would be pretty.


Luckily we had this big body of water nearby to wash our hands.


This white cloud hung above the sunset. Brent said it looked like a shell, later we agreed it resembled fish bones.


Leaving Governor's Beach, I turned around to snap one last shot...


The Definition of "Comfortable"

Whoa - I wish this is what Walter does when we say "play dead," but no, this is just a regular afternoon nap. He opened his eyes once I started taking pictures, but don't worry, he didn't feel the need to move an inch.


Sleep on, dog.


Island living can be exhausting.

Green Monster Smoothies

Time to do a quick camera dump before Brent's sister and brother-in-law get here tomorrow. I haven't been taking as many pictures recently...and though it's kind of been a nice break, I miss it too. So I'm glad we have Lorren and Cole here next week because visitors are always a great excuse to pull out the camera (and go to lots of yummy restaurants! Yippee!)

Walter has free rein of the couches and bed here in our Grand Cayman apartment. Not a rule we allowed in Cincinnati, but hey, this isn't our furniture :) So it always amuses me when he chooses to cozy up on the office chair. But isn't he cute with his little paws resting on the arm like that?


This weekend we made several batches of this Green Monster Smoothie. A while back I posted about my love for homemade Magic Bullet smoothies, and my friend Mary mentioned I should sneak some spinach in there. I was unsure, but tucked away the idea. Then I saw the recipe for Green Monster Smoothies on pinterest, found out there was a whole movement for them, and decided to give it a go.


My mix is frozen peaches and pineapple, spinach, banana, orange juice and flax seed. It was delicious. You really can't taste the spinach, and there's nothing I love more then getting a serving of veggies without having to eat them! And of course, spinach is one of the BEST SuperFoods. Cheers to that!


One last Walter picture to close the post. Walter snuggling with his BFF, orange ball. Man, he loves that thing.


Have a great weekend everyone!

Queens Birthday Weekend

A week ago we enjoyed a three day weekend in Grand Cayman, courtesy of the Queens Birthday public holiday on June 13th. It was a bit of a bummer for us since Brent ended up having to work every day, but we still got to squeeze in some fun times.

Beach Bonfire

It all started on Friday night when Jeremy said he had a craving for s'mores. Plans were made and a beach bonfire was scheduled for the next night. Jenn and Nate live next to Barker's Beach, which is a more remote part of the island. Nate had gone earlier in the day to dig a hole for the fire, so we were able to get it started as soon as the sun went down.


I was a little worried it would be too hot to sit anywhere near a fire, but the evening was relatively cool with a very nice breeze.


Brent had the task of picking up ingredients for the s'mores, but to our surprise, the grocery didn't carry Hershey's chocolate bars. Don't worry, we made due with Cadbury.


Such a perfect summer night.


Black Trumpet

Brent had to work while I went to church on Sunday, but we still got to do a nice lunch date. I was really excited to try Black Trumpet, a gourmet delicatessen in Camana Bay.

My Italian Stallion sandwich


Brent's Jerk Chicken Wrap


As we were picking out what to order, I couldn't help marveling at the case of desserts. We decided to split this hazelnut torte. It was AMAZING.


Cooking in the Kitchen with Katie

Speaking of food, I've been trying some new recipes recently that I thought I would share. This one is Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter. I didn't have any penne pasta so I used whole wheat rotini instead. I just LOVE roasted asparagus. I actually cut the rest of the recipe in half but used the whole pound of asparagus. This had great flavor and I would definitely make it again.


I made these Skinny Sloppy Joes last week and they were a big hit. You were supposed to chop the veggies really fine using a hand chopper or food processor, but since I don't have either I cut everything by hand as small as I could. Definitely a labor of love! So, if you compare the picture on the website with mine, you can see it's supposed to be a more blended, less "chunky" look. But the taste was still wonderful. And 1/2 a cup is only 2 Weight Watcher points. That's pretty good!


I also made this Baked Garlic Lemon Tilapia last week, and it was my favorite new recipe. Super easy and so yummy.

Wrestle Mania

Walter loves to wrestle, especially right before bed. One thing that really gets him riled up is when Brent does push ups. Walter just can't resist climbing on top.


Recovery

The dog slept hard once everyone went back to work. This was the view from my desk.


Close up on the "Lip Puddle"