Goodbye Puerto Rico!

I've been putting off putting up a post with pictures about our departure from Puerto Rico. I guess I've done that because I was afraid it would make it real to me that we left - I was right! Katie put up a "final PR" post and that finally made it start to sink in so I guess I better get it over with. Our final week in Puerto Rico was really strange. The other teachers had a party for us on our last Monday and it was so much fun! They sure know how to party down there...and I like to think it's partly to do with us (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!). I do miss those people already. I can't wait to go back and visit...or have some of them up here in Kansas (hint, hint). Here are some pics from our final party:





















We then had to go to work on Tuesday which we were not happy about because we had to leave at 3:30 Wednesday morning. On Tuesday we worked, packed, said good-bye to everyone, and (of course) cried a lot. On our last night with the Dills, Katie said we should have put our mark on Casa Benny so my husband got the marker and did just that. I forgot to take a picture but Katie did it the next day. If you've kept up with our BLOG you know how true the saying is. I hope it's there forever!!!















Katie and I had been dreading our good-bye for 2 years. I don't know if anyone can truly understand the bond we have with the Dills. It goes beyond friendship. They truly are our brother and sister and we miss them terribly!! The chord is stretched and it hurts!!! (Katie will understand!) It is so strange to have gone from seeing them daily (several times a day) for 2 years to maybe we'll get to see them 2 or 3 times a year if we're lucky. I know that they will be a part of our lives forever and I know that we will see each other as often as we can. I can't wait to go to Texas for a Cowboys game!!!

Our time in Puerto Rico may be finished but we will visit and the memories we made there will last forever.

We bought a house!

After a few weeks of exhausting looks at houses and a few heartaches we finally found our home!! We had found what we thought was perfect a week ago (see the last post) but the people weren't very easy to work with. Long story short they countered by only taking $2,000.00 off the price....isn't that what you might do with a car?! We looked again and had 3 choices - in order. This was Friday and we couldn't get in to talk to our loan officer until Monday morning. We decided to take the weekend and not think about the houses until Monday. As we were driving to Minneapolis on Saturday our realtor called and said we had problems. Choice #3 went under contract, choice #2 has an offer in on it,and choice #1 had people looking at it. Uh oh!!!!!!! We talked about it and decided to offer choice #2 their asking price because we know we can afford it and choice #1 was the original house and we knew they wouldn't work with us. So it happened and we now have a house!!! We have an inspection set up for this Thursday at 9:00 am so I will be taking pictures of it empty to post. What a relief to finally have a place to call home! More info later and hopefully some pics. Hope you're having a great summer so far!

We're Home!!

Nothing real exciting right now I just thought I would let everyone know that yes we are home! We made it back to Kansas on Wednesday and began the search for our home on Thursday. We made an offer today so keep your fingers crossed!! We should know some time this week what's going on. I'll post lots more later - including pictures from our last party in PR...and what a party it was!

It's now or never!

First, I want to thank my wonderful wife for keeping this BLOG (and me) going for the past two years. I think all who read this would agree that she has done a wonderful job with both tasks.

So, I figure if I'm going to do this BLOG thing, I'd better do it now. I'm writing in first person singular because, while my wife may share these sentiments, they are my views, and not necessarily hers. The entire PR experience has taught me so many things, and I don't regret it for a second. I have learned to appreciate the innocence of children, the potential of humans, and the love of a good woman. I have learned that no matter what the challenge, it can be faced and conquered. I have learned that in this world there is no room for cowardice, and your destiny is what YOU make it. I have learned how much I love and miss my family, and how happy I am to be from somewhere where shit gets done. I have learned what it's like to be the immigrant and the minority, so be nice, many who read this will never understand what that's like. I have felt the other side of racism. I have learned that at the end of some days, there is no better remedy than a cold beer or a smooth rum. I have learned that my friends are the greatest a man could have, and don't even get pissed when I call them when I'm piss drunk and missing home. I have learned that PR is a beautiful place with limitless potential and limited ability. I have learned that the friends I have made here will never be too far away (yo soy boricua pa' que tu lo sepas cabrones!). I have learned that blood does not make family, and that I have a new brother and sister who I will cherish forever. I have learned my strengths, and been humbled by my weaknesses. I have learned how to lead, and when not to follow. I have learned the importance of sunscreen. I have learned that year-round summer ROCKS! That said, I still secretly miss snow. I have learned that only Americans can truly appreciate Johnny Cash. I have learned that I can live on less than I made in college. I have learned that it is difficult to teach a Russian how to play Uno. I have learned that there is nothing better than coming home to two wagging tails (that's even better than the rum). To sum up, I have now lived a long-time dream that sometimes seemed a nightmare, but has taught me so much more than is listed above. Thank you to everyone who has helped us throughout this journey, and followed it on Kelly's fantastic BLOG. I especially want to thank Kelly, her folks, my dad, my aunt Sharon, and everyone who came to visit us. What can I say about the last two years? The same thing I hope I will be able tlo say about all the years to come. I have learned...

Last Week in Puerto Rico!!!

I know people, I can't believe it either? Does it seem like we've been here for 2 years already? It sure doesn't to us! My how the time flies. From now until Wednesday will be a whirlwind of emotions. We're excited to come home and start our new lives but we will really miss our friends from here. At least none of them will be too far away and we can visit. Tomorrow the dogs fly home. We have to have them at the airport by 7am to fly to Houston where they will spend the day and then they get to KC tomorrow night. We leave San Juan at 9:00 am on Wednesday. Katie and Brent leave that afternoon so at least we're leaving on the same day. Anyway...

The last week has been a little crazy. Last weekend we spent a day at the beach with all of the dogs for a last time then Saturday night we drove to Fajardo to watch Matt in the All Star game. This week we had kids Monday - Wednesday until 11:00 and then work days in the afternoon. Pretty boring since we're already done with everything! Last night we drove to Ponce to get new tattoos and see Matt's team in the playoffs. Yep people, I said new tattoos! Katie and I each got one. Brent doesn't want one and Courtney couldn't decide what he wanted so he didn't get one. We both got a tribal sea turtle on our lower backs. They're so cute! A little sore today and a little red (I'm allergic to the adhesive on the tape they used afterwards) but they look nice! (Keep in mind that the pictures were taken during and minutes after the tattoo was done!) Here are some pics from our last week in PR. The next post will be a sad one....

















I almost forgot! We think we caught a Coqui last night!! We named him Tony. This morning when we got out we realized he escaped....darn you Tony! And Matt brought his dog Zoe over to meet the boys today. She's adorable!!

Beautiful Puerto Rico

I'm Sailing Away...

What a week! Last week Courtney bought some bananas and he was so excited about them. There was one peel that you could tell had a double banana in it...big excitement people! So he decided to check it out...















Students got out of school early on Thursday for "student's day" and then we didn't have school on Friday for "teacher's day". Katie's sister and her family arrived on Wednesday so we got to meet them on Thursday. Thursday night we had a party at Jorge's house on the beach. It was fun. Friday the Dills and company went out and about and Courtney & I did laundry and then went to see "Baby Mama" and watch Matt play for the Ponce Leones. He got traded to Ponce because they still have a shot at the playoffs and so Guayama wouldn't have to pay him all of his money. He did really well and we left in the 4th when Ponce was up by 35 points. Yesterday we drove to Isla Verde (right by the airport) for parasailing! Katie and I have been saying we wanted to parasail for months now and we finally got the nerve to do it. It really is not scary at all! We were freaked out in the beginning but once you're up it's nothing! They put our gear on us and had us "sit down". Well by the time they got me hooked up and I was trying to sit down we started taking off. My butt never hit the boat! We took Katie's camera on the boat and took a "before" shot and one of the guys on the boat took a few pictures. I took my underwater camera up with us and took an entire roll of film in pictures but they are geting developed now and we've already sent our scanner back so you'll have to wait for those pictures. Courtney got tons of pictures from land...we should have had the video camera!

The "before" shot on the boat...















Going up, up, up...





From the boat...















Aunt Katie and Braedon...
















And finally, the Tsunami Guard. We heard this funny noise so we looked around and saw this man making big circles with his arms and then screaming and posing. I thought it was funny so I took his picture. While doing that this other man came and told us that he does that every day and he's doing it to keep the tsunamis away. Thank you, oh thank you, keeper of the tsunamis. Because of you we have been tsunami free our 2 years down here. We could not have done it without you!!

Another Weekend...

We are officially on our countdown of how many weeks, weekends, and days until we move home. Matt Freije came to the school on Friday to see our classes. Courtney took a picture of my class with him and it's so cute! He looked like a giant compared to them. All my little ones could do was laugh at how big he was. Several months ago one of the ceiling tiles in my room fell to the floor (and it's still leaning up against the wall - noone will fix it) so one of my girls came up and whispered to me, "He can fix the ceiling!" Friday after school we had a little Karaoke night with Courtney, Katie, and me. Leavenworth people: get ready for some Karaoke parties at our house!! We decided to make the most of time off when we have it so yesterday we spent the day at the beach with the Dills. We were going to go up north but Brent wanted to be back in time to watch the Nuggets in the playoffs so we set off to the east to find a new beach. We ended up going to Palmas Del Mar which is a swanky "community" all by itself. They have golf courses, shopping centers, restaurants, a bilingual school, and a nice public beach. We spent a few hours there until it started raining then we drove home. On the way we stopped at a restaurant with an outdoor bar to have a drink overlooking the ocean. It was nice to stop somewhere new. Today will be spent cleaning, doing a little packing, and getting ready for a 3 1/2 day week of school!! We have school Monday - Wednesday, Thursday we're out at 11:00 because it's "student's day", and Friday we're off for "teacher's day". Katie's sister, brother-in-law, and nephew get here on Wednesday so we're excited to meet them and maybe spend some time with them. There's been talk of parasailing on Saturday...we'll see!! The weekend after that is open so far but then the weekend after that will probably be one last hoorah at a beach and tattoos! The dogs come home in 2 1/2 weeks (May 16) so that means only 3 1/2 weeks for us. The time is going so fast! Here are a few pictures from the bar we stopped at on the way home. Hope everyone has a great week.

Ghetto Fabulous...

Ice pack at G.P.S...not kidding!

Fire is fun!

On Friday a bunch of us went to a beach and had a bonfire. We had a great time just sitting around talking, drinking, and taking lots of pictures. Then yesterday we got up and drove to a lake and river up in the middle of the island. We had heard of this lake from another teacher. We were told that there was a rope swing there and we were excited to find it...which we didn't. We got to the lake and looked at it and not much else. Then we drove a little farther and found a river with some waterfalls. It was really pretty and there were some crazy people diving and jumping from the cliffs. We would have joined in and swam around but Courtney felt uneasy being around the people because they were a little toasty. A group of them took us to another waterfall and we decided it was time to leave from there. The countdown to the end of school and moving home has begun. I can't believe how fast these 2 years have gone!! We are done with school in 3 1/2 weeks which means move home in 4 1/2!! Here are some pics from our bonfire and the waterfalls. Have a great week!

Welcome Alta Joy!

Our cousin Travis and his wife, Nicole, welcomed their baby girl, Alta Joy, to the world on Saturday! She weighed in at 7 lbs. and 19" long. We just heard tonight that they went home on Monday and everyone is doing great. We can't wait to meet the cutie in 5 weeks!! Hopefully we can give little Alta a cousin within the next year...

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

We had a relaxing and fun weekend. Friday after school we all went to Brandemar to unwind. We stayed until 7:30 when it was time to go to the baseball game. We left in the top of the 10th when it looked like the Brujos had given up. On the drive home we found the radio station with the game so we listened to them finally win! Yahoo! Then Saturday morning Katie and I got up and headed to Old San Juan to take some pictures. We figured it might be the last time we go to OSJ and we wanted to just walk around and take it all in. It was nice to have a girl's day out. We ate a HUGE lunch of appetizers. We had the biggest jalapeno poppers I'd ever seen! Then we just walked around taking lots of pictures. We found a bathroom that this old woman works at. (I know it sounds crazy - work with me people!) You pay her 50 cents and she lets you use the bathroom. We paid her and she followed us into the bathroom. I was walking into the stall with my purse and camera bag and she said, "Handbags on the floor." Okay, no problem, I was going to turn around and put it on the floor. Then she said, "No! Handbags on the floor!" She stood there watching until I put it on the floor! Then we walked along and came to this cool tree with a statue near it. On a bench was this old woman sleeping. We thought for a little while she might be dead but then we saw her breathing. Katie decided to lay down on the bench next to her so I could take a picture. We had to be very quiet so she didn't wake up - that would have been a bit embarrassing! We walked down the path a little ways and were taking pictures. This man was apparently trying to take pictures and we were in his way. Katie heard him say, "Okay girls!" and then we moved. We walked to where he had been to take a few pictures and he and his wife got up and moved to stand in front of us and would not move! Needless to say we didn't get any pictures because we are not as rude as he was. Oh, by the way, his wife had these 2 huge tattoos of pink bows on the backs of her legs. They were so gross! We decided we needed a free drink so we went to the Casa Don Q and got drinks. I bought my dad and Courtney the Don Q Grand Anejo and the guy let me try it. Not horrible but definitely not my favorite. We had to buy some because that is the only place you can get it. They don't sell Don Q rum in the states. After that we drove home and watched KU send Roy Williams and his team down in flames!!!! What an exciting day!! Today's been spent packing up some things, groccery shopping, and just relaxing. Hope everyone has a great week and be sure to watch KU become the National Champs tomorrow night! Here are some of my favorite pictures from yesterday's OSJ...excuse me, OJS, trip.