Sunday, March 6, 2011

Boat Dock Photo Adventure

Brent had to work late on Tuesday, so I headed to the boat docks for another photo adventure. I typically bring my point and shoot to potentially "treacherous" outings like the recent catamaran trip, so I've been missing my beloved Canon. Instead of waiting for a good photo op, I decided to take advantage the extra alone time and get some nice dusk shots.


I must say, I really dig palm leaves. Definitely something I will miss when we're back in Cincinnati.


Are you getting sick of Walter pictures? Anybody want to visit Grand Cayman and be my new muse?


I love how his paws sink right into the grass here. Lime Tree Bay has an extra cushy turf.


My ultimate goal is to be the kind of life photographer that captures beauty in every day scenes, and doesn't just wait for a special event or vacation to bust out the SLR. I should be better about taking shots during the day, but honestly there's nothing exciting about me staring at a computer and Walter sleeping on the couch. Is it sad that I want a baby just so I can have a new subject for my pictures? Don't answer that...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Catamaran Birthday Bash

Our friend Wes is turning 30 this July and wanted to do a big boat trip to celebrate. But summer is a tricky time in Grand Cayman as a lot of people plan trips home, and many of our teacher friends leave for months at a time. So he decided to do the outing a little early and throw a 29-and-a-half birthday bash. Any excuse for a party sounds good to me! We rented a private catamaran, which is basically a big sail boat with two hulls. The best part is the net at the front of the boat. The girls took over this prime sunning spot on the way out, but we graciously shared with the boys on the return trip.


I think there were about 23 people in total. It was a really fun 5 hours. I love cruising on the ocean (especially after taking my dramamine).


We headed for home right as the sun started to dip down, the perfect "golden hour."


Lucky us - we caught a beautiful sunset as well. It seems like the sun is usually blocked by clouds as it descends past the water, but it was peeking out this evening!


I had to smile at this circle of boys, chatting and chuckling. Happy times.


I'm so glad Wes planned this outing. It was our first time on a catamaran and we had a blast! Happy (early) b-day, buddy!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Vote for Maya!

You may remember my lovely London friend Maya. She is an amazing skier, kitesurfer, wakeboarder, surfer...you name it! She has a very cool blog all about her extreme sport adventures - I am majorly impressed with this girl!

Now she's entered a local radio station's photo contest and has a chance to win $1,000! It would be so exciting if she won, and it only takes two seconds to vote. Just click on the link below and vote for Maya Ogorzalek!


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Pasta, Passion & Pistols

It's no secret - I love murder mystery parties. I've done a total of five so far, and they never disappoint. Our good friend Sheena celebrated her birthday last week and decided to a host a murder mystery party to celebrate. The title was "Pasta, Passion & Pistols," and the night took place in Little Italy, New York City. Sheena and Jeremy did an amazing job setting the scene. It felt just like a charming Italian restaurant!


Jeremy made these delicious creamosas (Italian sodas with cream). I had two big glasses, but I could have gone back for ten more. Yum.


The best part of the party is arriving and seeing all the costumes. Everyone did such a great job getting into character (no comment on the quality of our Italian accents).

Sheena borrowed my wig from the 1920s Christmas party. Doesn't she look cute?


The whole group, from left to right: Marco Roni, Mama Rosa (I'm sad because it was my husband who was killed), Rocco Scarfazzi, Tara Misu, Angel Roni, Bo Jalais, Clair Voyant, and Father Al Fredo.


Brent drew that tattoo himself - pretty impressive!


I was playing the part of an Italian mother who cooked for the family restaurant. I figured she'd be packing on the pounds from all the yummy pasta, so I went to Red Cross, bought a big dress, and stuffed it with a pillow. This lasted through Round Two, then it got a little too toasty so Mama Rosa miraculously lost the bulge. Brent played the part of my only son.


Couple shots taken "in action"


The acting was good, but the food was AMAZING. Jeremy made all this himself. An Italian feast!


We had such a fun night! Happy, happy birthday, Sheena, and thanks for throwing such a great party!

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Nitty Gritty

There are a lot of glamorous shots on this blog. A lot of stunning beaches, fun outings, beautiful friends, amazing dates and yummy dishes. But to those of you feeling a tad bit jealous, this post is especially for you.

As a disclaimer, I truly love our life here. I love this adventure and how God is moving and growing me. We are blessed beyond words to have met incredible friends and plugged into an awesome church in such a short amount of time. But, like anywhere, there are still down times here. This weekend was a great example. We planned on having a very low key Friday night, grilling fish, walking to TCBY, and then watching a movie at home. The moon was gorgeous this night - did anyone else get to see that? I grabbed my camera but it was really too pretty to capture.


After eating dinner I asked Brent to quickly take a look at our washer. It hadn't been draining or spinning and I hoped it would be a simple fix. Brent actually did fix that problem (we googled it!), but in the process the hose connecting the washer to the water broke, and GALLONS of water starting spilling out. Within seconds, the kitchen floor was covered in water. Brent and I completely panicked. We have a neighbor next door who is a landlord so I ran over to ask how to shut off the water. It was probably only gushing for 5 minutes, but the entire apartment had several inches of water covering the floor. That was not a good feeling.

It took two hours, but we were able to get all the water out. I used the big broom from the tennis courts to sweep out large amounts, and Brent used a towel to soak up water in the bathroom and bedroom. What a night! We were actually really fortunate because hardly anything was damaged. We don't have carpet or hardwood floors, and the couch and chairs are on pedestals so the fabric didn't get wet. The Roomba was saved, and all my computer cords were moved before the water reached them. The only real causality was my collection of cookbooks - which dried under the fans for a couple days. I was very, very sad about this (I'm the type who doesn't even like to get a drop of oil on my cookbooks), but Brent correctly keeps reminding me that they are still usable.


We had someone reconnect the washer on Saturday. I was incredibly relieved that we didn't have to wait till Monday to turn the water back on!


So there you have it. There are bad days in Grand Cayman. They may not always make the blog (mostly because I don't think to take pictures during these times), but they are out there. There's the time our water heater broke, and the time a rat died in the back panel of our stove and it took us over a week to find it. (Too much information?) There's the day that I don't carefully examine produce prices and later realize that I just spent $15.66 on four tomatoes. Oops. But this post isn't to complain or elicit pity. It's more of a reality check that life remains "real" no matter where you live. For the most part, we can look back and laugh at the comedy of it all.

Don't worry, "The Grand Life" is still pretty darn grand.

(Peeping Tom caught looking though our living room window)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Beach Sunset and Barkers

After work last Friday, Brent and I took a quick walk on the beach before meeting Jenn and Nate for dinner at Sunshine Grill. Evenings on Seven Mile Beach are my favorite thing about living in Grand Cayman. I still can't believe how lucky I am to live four minutes from one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.


Walter showing off his pearly whites


The dog loves to watch sunsets too. Isn't he cute?


I almost didn't take the next picture. I had put the camera away and Brent and I were walking in front of the Ritz. I couldn't believe how many people had their cameras out! People were taking pictures of the view and of each other in front of the view. There were SLR cameras, point and shoots, ipods, cell phones...everyone clicking away. We were literally swerving around to avoid stepping in people's pictures. Eventually I succumbed to photography peer pressure. The result:


Not too shabby.

On Sunday afternoon we drove to Jenn and Nate's and then walked about a mile and a half to Barkers Beach. The picture below captures my view the entire way up. This is pretty close to perfection (for verification, please see #3 on Brent's List of Ten).


As far as I know, Barkers Beach is known for one thing - kitesurfing. It's at the north point of the island which is a nice windy spot. I'm not going to pretend I know what I'm talking about, but apparently this day was ideal wind for kiting. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to cheer on our buddy Nate!

Walking towards to Barkers - check out all the kites:


Nate started kitesurfing about a month ago and we were very impressed with his skills. He's the one with the blue kite in the picture below.


Brent checking out Nate's gear after he came in. I think he should take up kiting just because he looks so hot holding the board.


Did I mention it was super windy?


Ha - what a trooper!