WHAT?!?!

I can not believe how fast time has flown by since I have been in Grenada! I leave on Thursday, less than a week!! Can you believe it!!?!? It has been an amazing month filled with lots of new adventures and time with my love! There is so much that we still have not done in Grenada so I am still so excited to come back in June so I can explore the Island more.

Everyone asks me, what do you do when Ty is in the library?

-Well, I have been lucky enough to work for a company that allows me to work from anywhere! All I need is my phone and Internet and I am good to go. Its actually quite perfect for my life situation right now! Once Ty is done with this portion of school and we move back to the U.S. I will probably have to go back to getting a real job, BUT for now I will appreciate this job that is less than 40 hours a week! AMAZING!! (I am actually going to start another job on the side starting next week too :)) Will keep me busy until Ty is back home on May 19th and add money to my wedding fund :)

We are so excited for the summer break back in Florida! We will be there for 6 weeks and it will be a very busy but VERY fun 6 weeks and then its back to the island! For now I will appreciate these little beauties and appreciate my time and experience here. (I am so excited for the mall and by favorite restaurants though :))

I'm Official!

So if you are married or in a committed relationship to a student at SGU you are consider a Significant Other or SO. You have to go into the office and sign paper work and then you get your official ID that gives you access to campus! Today we went to pick up my ID that was ready and it was so exciting!! I honestly felt like I was accepted into medical school today! (no laughing!) Side note I asked Ty should I put on make up just incase they take my picture? Tyler: No, they will use the picture from your drivers license. Kara: oh perfect! I walk out of the door with ZERO make up on! While we are standing in the office the lady pulls out a camera and says ok I need to take your picture. Tyler got the biggest death stare! I am no longer listening to Ty ever again!!

Anyways here is my ID, I am now officially an SO!

Simplicity

Having been blessed to live in the U.S. for the last 25 years can really skew your view on life. Don't get me wrong it has been AMAZING but you start to think that everything that isn't like the life back home is wrong or weird. In the last week I have really taken a very different view on a few things. Think about these the next time you are out running around, appreciate these little things we have because I have to say I didn't really think twice about them.

1. The IPHONE!!!!! So my phone for obvious reasons doesn't work here so I have been phone less. I do carry it with me just in case of emergency because I can still call or text but it cost about $4, 452 for a text. I am so accustom when waiting for an appointment to jump on my phone; when I can't sleep I jump on facebook; when I am waiting in line at the grocery store checking my email.....Here there is A LOT of waiting. It is island style and you have to have a lot of patience. So it has been a bit of shell shock when I am waiting to not either call someone or jump on my phone.

CHALLENGE: next time you are waiting don't immediately grab your phone to chat, text or surf! You are left alone to just think and look around. Quite nice...

2. Multiple items!!! At home my mom has several coffee cups, several plates, lots of cups like most Americans. Here Ty and I only have a handful of plates (5), a few more cups (7) and 1 coffee cup. At home when there is a dirty cup in the sink you reach for one in the cabinet or reach from the dishwasher for a clean cup. Here we do not have a dishwasher so if my one coffee cup is dirty before I can enjoy my morning cup I have to hand wash my cup :) Ty is so good about splitting chores.... I think he got this from his parents who have a super relationship and really split all duties. Tyler and I trade off on doing the dishes and it works really well.

CHALLENGE: Next time you are about to cook dinner or eat and you reach for a new cup look to see how many dirty cups or plates are in your sink or dishwasher. SHOCKING!!

3. NO CAR!!!! So this one anyone who lives in a big city can relate to but I have had a car since I was 17. So here anytime we need to go run an errand we have to go to the school bus stop. They have buses that are supposed to come every 20-30 min, but remember its Island style so patience. So if we need to be somewhere at exactly 7:00 we really have to make sure we are a good 20-30 min early at the bus stop just in case. You also have to really think trips out, I won't just run out to the store for ONE item but we keep a list so we go to the store maybe twice a week and only carry the grocery's that fit in our hands :)

CHALLENGE: Count how many times you jump in your car for errands a week. I used to run errands so many times a week and just add stops to my list while I'm driving.

4. STORES OPEN LATE!!! Grenada works on Island time, so there is NO Walgreens that is open 24 hours, no McDonalds open late if you need a snack, no Walmart for ANYTHING you could possibly imagine. Here everything closes at 9PM, which sounds late but think about how many times you ran out of bread, or feel sick and need meds, I have found myself cooking or cleaning and thinking about running out to grab something, then I remember where i am. Also Ty and I sometimes eat very late, and here that doesn't work as well if you want to pick something up fast. Sundays almost everything is closed except for the grocery store every other store is closed!!!

CHALLENGE: Watch how many times you walk into a store past 8:55 to pick something up or grab some type of food! I was always running errands pretty late!!!

So This was a SUPER long post but I wanted to share all of the great things I have noticed being here in Grenada. The next time I am home I will now appreciate the little things a bit more now having lived here. Don't get me wrong its great being down here simplicity is key in Grenada and its a great change from the norm, but I sure do miss my Target :) I will post some Grenada pictures soon!!!

I'm a Natural

Hello from the Island!!!

Life has been so so great down here! It has been so nice to actually see my fiance face to face and not have to call him through skype every time I want to tell him something. It is also nice getting on a schedule with ty! It actually has been a super easy adjustment! Before I got down here I wasn't able to think about how I was going to feel so far from home without my lovely girlfriends! Granted I of course still miss my mom and my girlfriends but I have been an unusual calm since I saw Ty. This is Ty's little tiny ocean view out his front door :) Usually there are about 10 sailboats just hanging and it is such a fun sight to see every day.

Ty is a very protective fiance :) Which is very cute, but I wasn't quite sure if he was going to let me venture out alone on the big island. This morning I decided I was going to get up and go to the grocery store. When I walked in to tell Tyler his face said it all. He wasn't quite sure if he was comfortable with me doing this or why I even wanted to go alone! With much hesitation he agreed and walked me through the bus route and tips. He also tested my cell phone down here so just in case I got lost or scared I would for sure be able to reach him.

He is such an adorable fiance. I went to the grocery store alone and it was great!! I felt so comfortable and excited that I accomplished this on my own! I know it took a lot for Ty to let me be independent on this unknown island, but I thank him for it! I was so proud today!

When I was out of my little journey I saw something really exciting!!!

It was a Discovery Channel Truck...Which means they are here filming something!!! So exciting :) How often do you step outside of your house to see a large Discovery Channel truck passing you by! I was so excited to tell Ty!! I am not exactly sure why they are down here but I am going to find out!

It has been a great week and I am officially settled in. Our biggest question of the day is what we want to eat, what movie do we want to watch, gym or no gym!?!?! Its soooo amazing! I know Ty's schedule won't always be this great but I am going to take it right now!!!!

My embarrassing moments of Grenada so far:

1. I tripped pretty bad on campus and could have probably busted my face if I didn't catch myself. Thankfully I was not alone or I would have been super embarrassed.

2. When Ty and I went to the gym for the first time I asked him "are there any rules I should know?" I didn't want to look stupid, but of course he said no none. He always goes to the side with the weights so I should have figured. Anyways 5 minutes into my walk on the treadmill, I was tapped on the shoulder. "Excuse me mam, I am signed up for this treadmill at 7." I probably turned BRIGHT RED! I was so embarrassed and walked in 7 circles in the gym trying to find machines that you don't have to sign up for! I probably looked like the biggest idiot just pacing and pretending to look at my iphone. I totally made sure to let Ty know this as soon as I walked out!!!! I think he turned a little bit red for me :)

Welcome to Grenada!!!

Hello from the Island of Spices!!!

I arrived on Friday night without my bags! I was not a happy camper as I had never lost my bags before so I didn't even think about packing a bunch in my carry on! Anyways I now have all of my things and am starting to get very comfy here on the Island! There have been a few Internet issues that I am trying to work on, but I now have my phone set up and that really makes me happy!

Anyways I thought I would provide you all with a few stats on Grenada!

The main question.... Ummm Where is Grenada?????

Grenada is located in the British West Indies almost to Venezuela.

Grenada is one of the Worlds largest producers of nutmeg and mace hence the name Island of Spice!

Grenada is 133 square miles and has a population of 110,000!

Grenada is in the EST right now

The average yearly temperature is 76 degrees

Currency is Eastern Caribbean dollar or EC

St. George University the medical school Tyler goes to has about 5,000 students. Not all are Med Students. They offer masters programs, undergraduate courses for locals and then also a veterinarian school.

The campus is quite amazing! It so beautiful and they did a really great job with it!

Well that was my quick update on Grenada! I will fill you in on some great Grenada stories very soon!!!