More photos coming soon...

I still have some more shots I want to post of our trip.  I hope we can back there in the next year or two.  I think about it everyday.  The lifestyle there is just so chill....like we like.  Anyway, not much riding has been done by me or Smap lately due to home projects (I insisted on having two colors of purple in our pantry, which is taking FOREVER) and weather.  I have clocked a lot of time in my health club pool along with the spin bike....super boring.  I can't wait to get back outside and riding my single speed again.  

Smap informed me the other day that Trek is behind on getting their single speed carbon fibers out...bummer.  I just can't wait to float up some trails on that thing.  I just can't wait to get back on the trails for that matter.  Smap probably feels the same as me.  He has been running some and riding our spin bike here at the house.   BORING!

The one good thing about being in the house is more time with my boys...Ippon and Fisher.  They are the best dog and cat.  My brother has also been in Knoxville farm-sitting for my dad while he is out of the country (Josh also stayed at our house while we were gone).  Josh came over the other night and taught us how to make some really good fresh homemade pizza.  I can't wait to make it again.  

That is about it....still teaching....got the word that I will be tenured after this school year, which is good considering the NASTY economy and teaching is HOPEFULLY still a stable job in this country.  Who knows though....there is no telling.  We can only hope things turn around and we all survive this downward spiral...FINGERS CROSSED. 

I didn't mean to get all negative...my blog is suppose to be a happy positive blog... So, in that case....we are going to have a nice meal with Smap's bro and his wife (Alex and Kate)....

Namaste

One last Christmas Eve post

Here I am again...happy to be on the beach on Christmas Eve!

Tim taking a bath...I mean getting refreshed by the cool water. It was a perfect temperature...not really warm, but not cold.

Smap watching over Vessel making sure he is okay out on his boat. Vessel took us to the cove, then took us back to our place...the next day on Christmas day we were hanging out in our front yard watching the fishing boats checking their lobster traps...we noticed Vessel's boat drifting out there....Yogi and Vessel walked up and said that it was Vessel's uncle out there and the prop had fallen off......man, good thing the water wasn't like it was when we were out there on Christmas Eve....Vessel's uncle got rescued, but they did not recover the prop...of course not... Smap did try to go find it while snorkeling...yeah right...

Chuck and Jeff watching us swim, while Lindsay hangs with Vessel in the shade.

Below is Peggy and me swimming... I swam until lunch was ready, then went back out and swam afterwards.

So, that was our Christmas Eve.....fun fun fun. Yah mon.

Again....Half Moon..

Vessel on the small vessel...he ended up having to anchor his boat out in the cove due to the waves bothering it on the shore....

These dogs loved to fetch...just like Chuck and Peg's dogs...Chuck's Macey looks a lot like this dog, but skinnier...

I guess the dogs were the protectors of the bar....


The one rule for the bar...

The bar....

We had to order our lunch right when we got there because we were told it takes a very long time to get your food. Poor Tim really needed food...he survived though. Besides Yogi's food, this was one of the better meals we had when we had to eat out.

Christmas Eve again...

Here we go again...Tim in the back of the boat...on the rough water....We finally got down the coast to the Half Moon Bey....the water is so nice here...

Oh look, Nicole has found some friends.


Here is the resting place for our boat while we play...what a pretty view...

Jamaica again....#4 Christmas Eve

Okay, so on Christmas eve, we hired our adventure guide and now friend, Vessel, to take us to Half Moon Bey...I called it cove in a previous post, but it is Bey I think.. Anyway, something is wrong with my computer, so I may have to do multiple posts on this one. I am having trouble uploading photos again.

So, here we are getting into the fishing boat. Vessel is steadying the boat for us all to get in. Chuck is trying to help.


Smap

Vessel, Tim and Lindsay. In the previous post I talked about Tim having a little trouble with something he ate...well, he saw it all again on this little boat trip. As you can see in the photo, he doesn't look well and there were some huge swells. He felt fine after it "all" came out on the way to the bey...coming back was probably the hardest I have laughed in years because we got so wet hit the waves back to Cousin's Cove....

Jeff and Chuck are holding down the bow and enjoying the ride. Chuck had Jeff's spot on the way back....Nicole and I were sitting behind Chuck...so funny and sooooo wet! Nicole and I were laughing so hard because we were just getting soaked...everyone was. I would have to say that was the best part of the trip for me...laughing so hard on that boat with everyone.

Peg and me doing my self-portrait thing.

Okay, so I will post more pics on the next post....dang computer....

Jamaica Part 3...Nicole's BIG 30!

So, Smap and I were so fortunate to be invited to Nicole's 30th Birthday Bash on Dec.23rd....only 6 people were invited...those of us who were in Jamaica!!!! For her big day, we hired Yogi to cook Nic's special feast. It was incredible once again....Yogi cooked the jerk chicken again along with some really good tuna. Below. Yogi is making the callalu...my favorite...actually every dish he made was my favorite.

Below is Yogi getting the Tuna ready. He used the outside kitchen and the inside one to cook our feasts.

Nicole, don't kill me for posting this shot, but I thought it was too funny not to....of both you and Jeff! Ha ha ha... Nicole is sporting her birthday capilene for us at her birthday dinner....who knows what Jeff was saying here. All I know is that we laughed a LOT that week.
Here is Smapola along with Peg...the birthday girl's proud mama! Peggy as usual has that beautiful smile.

Tim and Lindsay having some good chats at the dinner table. Unfortunately something Tim ate that night didn't cooperate with him...I will explain in the next post. ;)


So, we had Yogi cook 3 times for us while we were there. We all wish we had done it EVERY night...next time we go (and we have already booked another week to go down the road), we are going to have Yogi cook every night for us. It was just fun hanging out with him during and after the meal along with Vessel. Such FUN times. I hate being back in rainy ole' Tennessee.

Yah mon...Jamaica part 2...

So, here is another part to our Jamaican trip. Uploading the photos is taking FOREVER, so there will be SEVERAL more parts to my blogging here. We took a ton of shots and I enjoy talking about everything (almost) that we did etc... Above is a photo of the boat we got to ride in over to the Half Moon Cove where we sat out in the sun for the day and had a great lunch. I also swam quite a bit. I haven't ridden a lick since Thanksgiving...only swimming, so I was a fish the whole week...swimming and sitting in water when ever I got the chance.

Here is Vessel and Smap. Vessel was in charge of taking us on adventures. It was his uncle's fishing boat that he took us on to get to the Half Moon Cove. He came around every night to hang with us as well. We LOVED Vessel. We look forward to going back to see him and the others in a year or two.

Here are Tim and Lindsay lounging catching the sunset.

Here you go...self portrait of me very happy to be in Jamaica!

We walked just down the street to hang out at the "neighborhood bar". Vessel's uncle actually owns this place. Ice cold Red Stripe!

My little friend Danika who was hanging out at the bar with her auntie (her auntie was from Maryland). I asked Danika if she knew she was beautiful and she told me that she already knew it....Such a sweetie.

Lindsay and Sheron...Sheron owned a little quick stop/bar at the end of the road in Cousin's Cove. We walked down our road (which was about 2 miles long) a few times to hang at Sheron's. She was the sweetest gal who started her place from scratch. Lindsay and I hit it off with her instantly.

Octo...the old dude with the Sugar Cane...riding down the street with Timmy. I like this shot a lot because of our/Tim's background with bikes... Tim is a owner/manager at CBC...we were amazed at this bike Octo was riding...no grips, gears, breaks...the chain rusted to all get-out. He had a special spot for his machete (for cutting the sugar cane)....I'll post a picture of the bike later.

Here is ole' Octo peeling the cane for us to eat. We gave him $5 for his kindness....$5 to him is about $600 J...Jamolars (our made up name for Jamaican money). It was @ $78.50 J to $1.00 US...talk about confusing conversions...good thing they took US money and credit cards!

One last shot for the night....our next Wimbledon champion is......NOT SMAP. We attempted to play several times (we had our own tennis court along with our own pool). Everytime we played, it either started to rain, or we lost all of the balls over the fence. I started bragging the first day about my tennis abilities back when I was 14....yeah, I do not have those abilities anymore....nope....I sucked and Smap sucked even worse. Sorry Smap, but you know it is true.

SO, next time I will post more photos....using the lap top is just as slow as the computer in the computer room...oh well. See ya.