Do you ever have days that are so rough that all you want to do is watch old episodes of "House Hunters" and play the original version of Roller Coaster Tycoon for hours at a time and never change out of your jammies and never check your e-mails? Do you ever have entire weeks like that, for really no valid reason? I do sometimes. But then there are things I can do that pull me out of those ruts so easily that it's just not even a big deal anymore. For me, running and hiking and getting outdoors with Jared is like the ultimate cure-all. I think I only went running one time during the months of August through December, and now that I've started up again I'm realizing how completely necessary it is for my happiness (and how I'm so out of shape that one mile is the maximum distance my body will allow me to run per day). I don't know if this is a good thing, but for me, exercising and eating healthily are way more about being happy than about being healthy (although I guess happiness is emotional health, so same thing?). I don't even care about abs anymore. I just want all that good running energy in my life!

And with that long and completely unnecessary opening paragraph out of the way, here are some pictures of when Jared and I hiked to Hog Island yesterday. Jared had just finished finals (yes, he's only been in this term for 2 weeks--med school makes me feel nauseated and I'm not even in it), and so we had the entire afternoon to just hang out. Unfortunately, our island car was having technical difficulties (we drove to church and back on Sunday with no power steering and barely-functional brakes. We're still alive. The church is true.), so we could only enjoy activities that were within walking distance. It was a long walk just to get to the trailhead, and then an even longer walk along the trail to get to Hog Island, but we didn't see a soul along the way and the weather was wonderful, so it was basically the best Tuesday I've ever heard of.
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^^ Jared will probably make me delete this picture the next time he reads my blog (each time he reads my blog he finds at least two pictures that I have to delete), so enjoy it while you can.

Edit: Jared did make me delete the picture that was there. So tragic.
^^The bridge from Grenada mainland over to Hog Island
^^Another picture that will surely be gone by tomorrow, even though it should definitely remain for posterity (I'll fight him for this one)
^^Soooo many Europeans come to Grenada in the winters and live on their sailboats. It's picturesque and also it makes me feel claustrophobic. I don't know if I'd ever want to live on a beautiful and tiny boat.

^^About how seriously we take ourselves on any given day

^^Once we crossed the bridge, we were supposed to take a little crab-ridden path to a tiny beach that has a conch-shell graveyard, but we took a wrong turn somewhere and wound up in this Utah-esque field! We were pleased. But next time we'll make the right turn so I can get some pictures of the conch-shell graveyard for you.
^^Our front yard. I didn't even realized this beautiful thang was there until we got home from our hike. Grenada surprises me every day. Like the time last week when it surprised us with our own personal sandy beach literally right around the corner from our house. We had no idea. I'll take pictures some day.


Today is the happiest day of the month because it is the day lil' brudda comes home from serving an LDS mission in New York! I realize that I won't be there to hug him, but my face will be on my dad's iPad screen on Skype, so next best thing? Second to next best thing? Gosh, I miss that kid.

Hog Island

Before we moved down to Grenada, Jared and I toured a couple of houses in Utah Valley's popular Parade of Homes. Mostly we just walked around with our mouths hanging open, guessing what each home owner did for a living. "CEO of McDonald's," "inventor of cell phones," "Michael Jordan," and "emperor of the world" were popular speculations. We did walk through one house, however, that seemed to be more on a normal scale and that seemed to be perfect for a family with five or six kids. We fell in love with the enormous kitchen and the naturally lit yoga/exercise studio. When we got back to our apartment, Jared had me find and bookmark the house on the Parade of Homes website, and we said, "One day, when we have our lives together in a dozen or so years, let's get one like that." The house was titled La Sagesse on the website.

In my head it was an in-our-dreams house, but when we moved to Grenada and discovered that our favorite beach around was also called La Sagesse, well . . . it's meant to be, right? Also, Google says that La Sagesse means wisdom in French, so there's also that.

I'm not sure how "wise" it is to drive half an hour to a remote beach when storm clouds are sweeping across the sky, but we did it anyway. Despite getting poured on after our picnic lunch, the water was warm and there were some awesome waves, so we spent last Saturday afternoon getting pounded and accidentally snorting down salt water and getting too-much-sun migraines. Those are always the best Saturdays though, so even though our legs still bear evidence of itchy sand-flea bites, I would go again without hesitation.

Happy winter!

p.s. Jared's family is coming to party with us in Grenada April 3-10, so those who have mentioned that they might come visit this term, just pick some days that aren't those days and we should be good to go :)

La Sagesse Beach

We made it, and they were right--the dry season is way better than the wet season. Grenada is the perfect temperature with a perfect breeze at all times these days. But for it being "dry season," it has poured nonstop for the past three days and nights. This would be great, except I just started teaching early-morning seminary (we're talkin' up-at-5:15 early), so a more restful and less stormy sleep would be appreciated.

Our first evening back, we got all ready to go for a swim, but then when it was cool and windy outside we decided it would be much better to bust out the kites that Jared got me for Christmas. That guy is excellent at unique gifts. I made him a list, and he got me some things on the list, but my favorite Christmas gifts were the odd ones he came up with on his own: three bottles of Nair (umm?), legit dental hooks so I can scrape my teeth clean (last term I'd occasionally pick at my teeth mindlessly with a dull needle while editing, which scared Jared to death), and two good kites. We've never seen anyone fly kites here before, but the breeze on the coast is just irresistible, so now it's our thing. Also, the best kite-flying spot is a five-minute walk away from our new wonderful apartment.
^^These two were having a picnic dinner at the tide pools when we arrived, and it was possibly the most romantic thing ever. They watched, fascinated, as we flew our kites. On their way out we asked them it they'd like to try a kite, but they had to get somewhere. Next time!


Windy Days

Today is day two of our trek back to Grenada. It was supposed to be a one-day trek, but there were . . . complications. Our plane that was to take us from Dallas to Miami was delayed two-and-a-half hours for maintenance, which just so happened to be exactly how long our layover in Miami was supposed to be. Thus, we landed in Miami ten minutes before our next flight was to leave for Grenada. I sprinted to our next gate while Jared lagged behind to ask a flight attendant if she could radio the Grenada flight and ask them to hold on for just a sec. They couldn't.  

I did the Home Alone dash all the way from one side of the Miami airport (my least favorite airport) to the other in nine minutes flat. I arrived, panting, and asked the ticket checker guy if I had missed it. À la Home Alone, the ticket checker guy told me I had just made it, and I should get on now. He didn't look at me, and he didn't smile. Relieved, I said, "Ok, I have my husband's passport too and he's running right behind me. He'll be here in just a minute." The guy grunted, without looking up. 

I looked around, waiting for Jared to sprint around the corner, but after a mere 45 seconds the ticket guy said, "The plane just shut its doors. You can't get on anymore." Baffled, I told him that my husband would literally be 20 seconds, and right on cue Jared arrived, but they wouldn't let us on, and the guy still wouldn't look at us. Great customer service, American Airlines. THANKS A BUNCH. I think I wouldn't have been so frustrated if we had missed the flight by an hour and didn't stand a chance, but man, that whole 20 seconds thing had me seething. 25 people missed that flight because of delays in previous flights, and yet, no delay for the flight to Grenada, which runs on island time and where no one had a connecting flight to catch. Yes, I'm bitter. 

Generously (humph), we were put up in a hotel in Miami for the night and given meal vouchers for a nice dinner and breakfast. By the time we got to our hotel we had cooled down and realized that, hey, it was the exact day of our 18-month anniversary and so we might as well pretend we were on a free anniversary getaway for the night. Our room had a king-sized bed after all, and hey, one more day of American food for the win!
An elevator selfie in our Miami hotel
So here we are. In the Miami airport, once again. We'll head to the island St. Lucia in a bit, and then have a short layover there before hopping on over to Grenada. We'll arrive a little after 5:00 tonight (Grenada time). Hopefully our six giant duffle bags stuffed full of Costco goods make it! Man, these adventures. They certainly are unforgettable. Looks like 2015 will keep us on our toes after all.

And now, enjoy these completely unrelated pictures of the epic front-yard laser tag battle my husband and his siblings waged in Washington. They're a pretty rad bunch of humans.

Layovers and Layza Tagging

We are so happy Jared's parents invited us to visit them in Washington for a few days during our Christmas break!

Can you even believe that delicious baby? That little one made me Aunt Laura. She loves when Jared gives her raspberries on her tummy and she smiles big the second you point a camera at her. It's the best.

It's really nice to have a sweet second family. And sisters! My brothers don't talk to me, unless it's about bodily noises or how hot Taylor Swift is (and an array of other male topics). So the girl talk I get in Washington is refreshing.

Also refreshing--those trees! The whole atmosphere of that part of Washington immediately clears my head and makes me want to do something important, like go for a 20-mile bike ride or write a book. I'll let you know how that goes for me in the future. Spoiler: it probably won't.
Mr. & Mrs. Lambert go to Washington

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