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!
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| 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.
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.
My family always spends Christmas Eve at my grandma's house with cousins. All of my mom's siblings live in Utah now, so for the first time in years, she and all four of her brothers were there.
We eat good food, admire Grandma's beautiful Christmas decorations, and laugh as we catch glimpses of A Christmas Story on TBS. We play chimes, Roper Christmas Jeopardy, and Christmas Bingo with coveted prizes such as gummy bears and duct tape.
At the end of the evening we do a gift exchange, where Grandma usually gives the grandchildren pajamas, and we take a few pictures. Then we all sit down by the fire and one of the Roper uncles will read the real Christmas story from the Bible.
On Christmas Day we wake up early and meet in my parents' room to say a Christmas prayer before heading out, youngest to oldest, to see our Santa presents. This year, Jared and I stuffed each other's stockings. Jared wrapped each little stocking stuffer before putting it in my stocking. He's a gem.
Christmas is a lazy day. We each get our favorite breakfast cereal as a Santa gift, and we have a cereal buffet for breakfast. Eventually we make our way downstairs to open family gifts by the Christmas tree. This year Timmy (my youngest brother) played Santa, and we opened gifts one by one.
My dad always wears his Christmas bears nightgown that my mom sewed for him when they were first married. We take a picture by the tree and enjoy playing together for the rest of the day. Grandma comes over for a late lunch/early dinner, and we eat the leftover food from the Christmas Eve feast.
This year I have two brothers serving LDS missions. We were able to Skype with Jordan and talk to Peter on the phone for a while. Peter was like, "I love you guys but exact obedience dictates that we can only talk for 7 more minutes. But hey, I hope Tim enjoys that caped Batman onesie I sent him." Jordan was like, "Hey guys, I haven't washed my hair in six months so let's talk about that together for half an hour because I'll see you in a month anyway and we can talk about more meaningful things then!" Man, I miss those brosefs.
This past year has been probably my hardest year yet.
That's not to say it's been my worst year yet. In fact, it's been one of my best years. It was my first full year married to that Jared of mine, and I've learned a lot of good stuff from our adventures. Maybe the whole "hardest but bestest" thing is something I'll be saying at the end of every year from now on. Maybe that's what being an adult is? I don't know. Probably not. I'll keep you posted on that next year though, if I remember.
It has been so nice to be home for the holidays. Both with my immediate family and with Jared's family over the past few days. It's been like a much-needed refresh button, and I'm finding that each day we spend in America brings me an awareness of one more random thing to be insanely grateful for that I haven't been in the past. Carpet. The smell of pine. Falling asleep to silence rather than screaming tree frogs. Frost on the ground. Little spiders (wayyy better than giant spiders and cockroaches). And of course, family, but that's not random and I've always been grateful for that. Each day here also leaves me grateful for little Grenada-isms, which I think has been insanely healthy and will make this next term on our island much easier than the last. Perfect mangoes. Always soft skin. A completely free schedule for days at a time. Half a dozen gorgeous beaches, each ten minutes away (although let's face it, I'll always be a mountains-and-evergreens girl if I have to choose).
^^A picture from my in-laws' neighborhood lake. Isn't that the best thing?
I think every neighborhood should have its very own lake.
In-laws, I love Washington. And your lake. And you!
The ground looks gray in the picture, but it was a beautiful sunset-pink in real life. I love that valley.
So anyway, it's been a nice year, but I'm ready for a new one. I'm not one to make a million resolutions, but I've got one or two up my sleeve, one of which involves this blog. In the past I've been caught between two blogging worlds. The first is a world of journal blogging and family updates, and the second is a world of "gaining a following" and "maybe making some pocket change off this thing some day." The latter isn't something I'm really interested in anymore, and I haven't been for a while. I want this to be a place where I can combine scrapbook and journal, where I can let my family know what's up and record the everyday events that may or may not be interesting to the world at large. For posterity--really though. Honestly, things will probably be pretty much the same as always around here, except that I'll make an effort to post more often, even if just a handful of pictures and a smattering of un-clever words. So anyway, that's just a head's up I guess. Or a public service announcement or something.
Mandatory Happy New Year's shoutout, everyone! I hope you all are attending lovely parties and sleeping in till noon tomorrow. I'll be recovering from a New Year's Eve cold, which I'm glad to be getting over with now rather than on our flight back to Grenada next week. Cheers to that!
We're in Utah! Have been for about a week now.
And clearly I busted into my new (refurbished) Macbook--which is working perfectly so far.
And clearly I discovered Photo Booth.
And clearly my husband and I spent an hour playing on it and laughing because we're ecstatic to finally have time for us and for enjoying such pointless activities!
Good life choices all around.
Our first item of business upon arriving in Utah (after Cafe Rio and walking through the mall) was to grab my favorite dog and go on my favorite Dry Canyon hike. This is where Jared and I took our first hike together and also where we got engaged and also the last hike we took before Grenada. So yes, you could say it's my favorite.
Realization #2: Family trumps Christmas. In the past, the Christmas season for me has been about lights and movies and snow and all that other good stuff. This year, however, my paper chain counted down to seeing my family. Now that we're here, I haven't really thought all that much about Christmas. (Which is in 2 days? How??) Instead, Jared and I have been thinking about what fun things we can do with our families and all that we can cram in with them during the next two weeks. I'm excited for Christmas mostly so we can talk to my two younger brothers who are serving LDS missions. Family time is another thing that I have taken for granted in the past, but is really special to me.
These past few months have been life-changing in hard but really good ways. We are so beyond happy to be home for Christmas, and I hope that all of you will be able to spend time with loved ones during this holiday season. Merry Christmas!
I have a friend named Emily (we're friends, right?) who I visit taught in the BYU couples ward that Jared and I moved into right after we got married. I didn't get to know her all that well at the time, since she and her husband moved to a different city after just a few months, but a while back I came across her blog and now I'm a lot more up to date on this cute girl with the amazing hair.
Emily frequently makes "Happy Lists" on her blog. These lists record the little moments that made her happy throughout the week. I love the idea and feel like I could definitely stand to pay more attention to the happy little details in my life, so I'm going to try to make happy lists here every so often. You all should try it, too!
A Happy List:
All my girlfriends who keep me sane in Grenada (most of them pictured above) ||| Seeing my dad sing Christmas music with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on my computer screen ||| Taking our little car for a Sunday evening joy ride to the airport and back ||| Slightly overcoming my fear of Facebook and checking my notifications three times in one day (I've had a quirky case of Facebook anxiety ever since we moved here) ||| Seeing a tiny blur of a mouse dash under our computer desk while we watched The Grinch, and then watching Jared chase the little guy all over our apartment with a broom ||| The adorable little boy at church who giggled loudly from the front row, "Mom, why did you talk like that?" after his Mom cried a little bit while bearing her testimony ||| Jared getting really good at braiding my hair each night before bed (a trick I taught him after I read that Emily's husband braids her hair every evening)
How are we at December 9 already? There are only two finals and one little apartment move left between us and our flight back to America for Christmas. Fingers crossed there will be snow!
Emily frequently makes "Happy Lists" on her blog. These lists record the little moments that made her happy throughout the week. I love the idea and feel like I could definitely stand to pay more attention to the happy little details in my life, so I'm going to try to make happy lists here every so often. You all should try it, too!
All my girlfriends who keep me sane in Grenada (most of them pictured above) ||| Seeing my dad sing Christmas music with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on my computer screen ||| Taking our little car for a Sunday evening joy ride to the airport and back ||| Slightly overcoming my fear of Facebook and checking my notifications three times in one day (I've had a quirky case of Facebook anxiety ever since we moved here) ||| Seeing a tiny blur of a mouse dash under our computer desk while we watched The Grinch, and then watching Jared chase the little guy all over our apartment with a broom ||| The adorable little boy at church who giggled loudly from the front row, "Mom, why did you talk like that?" after his Mom cried a little bit while bearing her testimony ||| Jared getting really good at braiding my hair each night before bed (a trick I taught him after I read that Emily's husband braids her hair every evening)
How are we at December 9 already? There are only two finals and one little apartment move left between us and our flight back to America for Christmas. Fingers crossed there will be snow!
Anyway, there comes a point each day, usually as evening approaches, when I can tell that Jared is slowing down and, if I play my cards right, I can talk him into a break. Two days ago, that resulted in Jared introducing my to the movie Jaws for the first time. Maybe not the very best movie choice for an island liver, but you know, it's fine. Yesterday I got him to break for 2-for-1 movie night at the Excel Plaza. We met up with some friends (all ladies--they were like, "Wait, you got your husband to come here how?") and watched Mockingjay while gorging ourselves on the inexpensive and delicious popcorn. Today I ordered him into our car (Oh! We got a car! Post to come, probably.) and took him to the Lance Aux Epines tide pools. I don't know when the ideal time to hit the tide pools is—we've never actually seen any sea life besides black crabs there—but it's a refreshing and beautiful place.
Walking back to the car after our lovely study break, we saw a family of giant, creepy, yet strangely beautiful black-and-white spiders resting between some cacti.
Jared, who thinks the sky is the most beautiful thing to look at (besides me, probably), couldn't help but capture the pink clouds beneath the full moon, all above that adorable blue island home. That guy would probably be an awesome nature photographer if he could ever find the time for it. Study breaks for the win!
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