One month and many events later.....

It may appear as if I have abandoned by blog, but the fact is, I have just had zero desire to even look at my blog.  Why?  I'm not sure, I've just been really busy, our memory stick for our camera stopped working so pictures weren't a motivator, and when I get home I have 2 things on my mind: food and sleep.  My job working all day is over now though, and I'm at just 2 1/2 hours, so hopefully I will be more committed to blogging.  Quite a bit has happened in the past month, so here is a short update:

**Keith made it through 2nd semester, which is great.  It wasn't very fun.  He didn't do to badly either!  (Good Job Babe!)

**Keith's parents came to visit at the end of August.  We had a lot of fun touring the island with them and just being able to visit and enjoy their company.

**Keith and I decided it was time we had a break from this island and we headed to St. Lucia, which is 2 islands over.  We stayed at Coconut Bay Resort (which was all inclusive) and lived the life that many of you back home imagine us living:  Relaxing in hammocks on the beach or chairs by the pool, reading (or napping), and drinking pina coladas all day long.  For one awesome week we answered to no one, ate all of the food we wanted whenever we wanted, had unlimited food and drinks, received a free massage, and wore our swimming suits all day long.  It was awesome.  Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures because our memory card was screwed up.

**Now, we are back in the grind of everyday life on "The Rock" as our beautiful island is often times called.  We do enjoy it here, but Coconut Bay was more our style!

"You wear me out!"

As much as I have enjoyed my job this summer, I am starting to feel bad for the poor children who have to listen to me day in and day out. There are 4 children who have to listen to me not only Monday-Friday for 6+ hours, but also on Sunday for 1 1/2 hours during primary. 2 of those lucky girls happen to be my downstairs neighbors and I get the feeling that they are especially tired of me as I see them quite often, even when it's not at school or church. My hunch was proven right today as I talked with them during our lesson on Obedience. Of course, since 2/3rds of the kids in my primary class are also with me the rest of the week, when the lesson is "I can obey my Parents" I drop in the friendly reminder that we also need to obey our teachers at school and church. (Which is Me and Me) We talked a little bit about being respectful of each other. I explained that disrespect tends to lead to a crankier Miss Chelsie, who doesn't enjoy being cranky and it's not fun for anyone.  I said "I don't like to tell people to sit down during singing again and again, or to stop hitting, or get in line, or.......(you get the point) over and over again. It wears me out." (At this point my class was giggling) I continued, "I often times go home and take a nap after school. When you don't listen it wears me out!" My 7 yr old neighbor girl with her elbow on the desk plopped her head into her hand, sighed and said, "But sometimes Miss Chelsie,  YOU wear ME out!"

Fair enough I suppose.

Memory Game

Alright, by demand, I'm joining in on the game.......


Here are the rules...

! As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together( it can be for Chelsie, Keith or both). It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you! If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you!

Lets have fun!

2 Years of BLISS!

Engagement Pictures

Exactly two years ago today, Keith and I had the amazing experience of being married and sealed for time and all eternity in the Idaho Falls, Idaho, LDS Temple. I can't believe that we have already been married 2 years and yet it seems weird to think of my life "pre-Keith." The past 2 years have been amazing and I wouldn't trade them for anything. What an amazing thing to be married to my very best friend! Keith, you are my absolute world and I am grateful for such a kind, loving, strong, patient, persevering husband! Thank you for all that you do!


I LOVE YOU KEITH!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Nothing New

Well, nothing new has really been going on. Keith had his 2nd big test and he passed everything, which is good. He just studies all of the time but neither of us can believe how fast this semester is going! There are only 5 weeks left! I am still enjoying my job, the kids are great. They keep me laughing. I do often come home a take a 1-2 hour nap after work though, I can't believe how tired I get!

English as a Second Language (ESL) classes have started up again. It's a lot of fun, I just feel bad for the poor people I try to teach. My brain is fried by the time 6:30 rolls around, but luckily there's another teacher to explain my babblings to the class. I do have a lot of fun though.

Other than that, not much is new. We are just here, working, going to school, and living life one day at a time.

4th of July--Island Style

Although Keith was taking a test on the 4th and I was working all day, we still had the opportunity to celebrate our country's independence. I have always been proud to be an American, but this year things just really hit home. I have never been as grateful for my country before as I have been the past 6 months. We really missed our families, but we had a great time with our friends down here. Everyone contributed and we were able to come together and have an AWESOME BBQ! We had everything: hot dogs & hamburgers, baked beans, pasta salad, red and blue star shaped jello jigglers, fresh fruit, star shaped sugar cookies with red, white, and blue sprinkles, cupcakes, the whole 9 yards. It was quite the feast and everything from the cookies to the hotdog buns were homemade (We have made friends with some excellent cooks!) . Keith brought his baby (his football) and some of the guys threw it around while the grill was warming up. It was a great day and for not being in the states, it actually felt a lot like the 4th of July. The whole evening I felt so much gratitude for both our friends on the island and my country. The song "God Bless America" ran through my head multiple times. We are so blessed!

Keith getting the grill going. (We bought this grill from a student and haven't regretted it for a second)Everyone enjoying the food!


Feeling very full and very happy!
After the BBQ, we joined some of our friends for night swimming. It ended up raining at least 1/2 the time we were there, but we still had a lot of fun!

"Fun in the Sun"

As of Friday, June 27, 2008 I am officially employed! Hooray! There aren't a lot of job opportunities down here and luckily things fell into place for me. So far, I LOVE IT! I am working at the elementary prep school on Ross Campus , teaming up with 3 different teachers throughout the summer to do the summer program. Our theme for the summer is "Fun in the Sun" and so far, it has been. Here are a couple of pictures from our summer so far! We have some fun activities on the program and hopefully things will run smoothly the rest of the summer.


This is the sign that some of the other wives helped me make. ("helped me"= they pretty much did it all)Here's most of the little Hooligans that I get to run around with this summer. We had a field trip to the fire station, police station, and purple turtle beach today. They got to climb into the fire truck and explore a little bit.
A close up of some of them, giving me their "best" smiles. What characters!!!

As you can see, they are cute kids and since I don't have my own kids to blog about, prepare to get to know these kids better over the next 2 months!

p.s. For any of you Moms out there, www.4kraftykidz.com has some really fun things on it. Activities, coloring sheets, songs, educational things, etc. We pulled a few things off of there and the kids seemed to really like them.