Fun (and cheap) home decorations

So I got sidetracked while searching online for the books I need for this upcoming semester and instead found myself looking up simple and fun decorations for around the house. I stumbled upon many different super fun and unique things that are so cute and yet cheap. Obviously, while living on the island we are going to be a wee bit strapped for cash, so in order to accessorize our home we are going to need to get creative! Check out all the fun ideas I found! I can’t wait to be able to post pictures of my own little creations :) Not to mention I will have a blast making all these fun things too! I can’t wait to be in Grenada!!!!

Soooooo, what is one thing that will for sure be plentiful and free in Grenada?! SEASHELLS! With that in mind I googled/pinterested creative things to do with shells. Ohmygoodness SO MANY GREAT IDEAS! Each project is so unique and turns out differently depending on the type of shells or the colors, etc. Here a few of my favorites that I found and absolutely fell in love with

(All images below come from Google or Pinterest).

This idea is so totally cool and simple! Any kind of jar or bottle would do. And I would think could easily be found around the island. Once you find that, ya just fill them with some sand and sweet shells and viola! An awesome house decoration is made! Cheap/free and cute =Win-win. Love.

How awesome of an idea is this?! To put little candles inside shells… LOVE IT! Whether the shells were actually this large or not (I think even smaller shells would do) it looks so cool, unique, and of course romantic!

And there are so many options for frames, or center pieces in bowls, or on fishing line etc! Need I say it?! …. SO fun!

I also heard that there is a lot of random wood pieces around the island. So I was thinking maybe something fun could be made out of that? Again, creative, and CHEAP. So I searched for a few ideas, and found more cool stuff! How fun is this? I am in love and would absolutely adore something like this. It’s so simple too. Different pieces of wood painted different colors with a picture simply glued on to it. ADORE IT. I will absolutely bring some paints with me and pray for stray wood on the island, I need to have something like this!!

Also, everyone knows how much I love quotes. So another cool idea I found is to paint wood and then paint a fun quote onto it. The wood can be any shape and really be a fun accessory to any room! Love it!

And yet another gem I found. TWINE. You can do something things with it and make almost anything look better or more fancy if you will. And… drum roll.. again, IT’S SO CHEAP! Yay! Plus I could easily just bring it down with me, if I so desired.

So maybe our home won’t be the most rich and luxurious place, but hey with some homemade decorations it will definitely be homey!! Plus, these little projects will be fun for me to do as well. And bonus, a lot of it will be done with random things found for free around the island, which will make looking for supplies an adventure also! Yay! Can’t wait to live on the island!

Home is where the heart is right? And my heart is already in Grenada! <3

“When you miss me just look up to the night sky and remember, I’m like a star; sometimes you can’t see me, but I’m always there.”

2 weeks has passed and seems like an eternity! Today has been one of those days where time seemed to stand still and I just really miss him. But I just ran out to my jeep and couldn’t help but to stop and look up at the beautiful, clear night sky. There was an odd sort of comfort in that…in knowing that way over in Grenada he looks at the same sky (but prettier, with more stars to be seen and heat lightening) as I do. However, that being said, tonight when I was outside, we also had heat lighting!! It is not very often we get it around here, so in that moment, I felt closer to him. We may be in different countries, yet we can still experience the same things at the same time :) Pretty cool! I am well aware of how cheesy that sounds, but hey, I’ve always been a hopeless romantic cheesy kind of gal!
So as usual, I found a picture on Google images to go with my post :)

Can’t wait to be looking up at the sky together again!!! It’s those simple, little moments that I miss the most :)

Hunting for a home

I received an email yesterday regarding housing in Grenada. It looks like there are some REALLY awesome places to live there, for a relatively decent price. That being said, the email informed me that most places are already filling up for January… what the heck.. already!? I won’t be visiting Grenada until the middle of October, and while I thought that would be a good time for me to look around and find a place, I am now thinking that will be too late. Sooo, that leaves this whole finding a place to live thing, in Nick’s hands.
Sigh. Nick is a guy. Enough said right? He does not exactly put “finding a place to live” at the top of his priorities. And yes, studying is much more important for him right now, and jumping off a cliff into the ocean is much more exhilarating and fun, but we need a place to live come January!! I really don’t want to get stuck scrambling last minute, or living in a cockroach invested apartment. I am not asking to be living in a castle with a walkout basement onto the ocean (not that I’d complain) but seriously, just a nice little place to call home for the next year or so. I wonder if the puppy face over skype is more effective than it is in real life? If so, maybe I can get him to throw me a bone and check into a few places!!!
Good thing I am pretty handy… this could be us in a few months!!! Hey, at least I would have the walkout onto the ocean part right? ;)

     Anyways, to update you all on Nick… he is doing GREAT! Medical school is no joke. Not that we expected it to be, but man did they hit the ground running right from the very first day. The amount they learn in ONE day has been said to be equivalent to one WEEK in undergrad… yeah, that sounds horrible and is reason #8954875207 that this girl is not in medschool!
His days are pretty routine so far. He gets up early, around 7 ish and then the majority of the rest of his day is filled with labs, classes, and studying, with a few short breaks to eat, until he hits the hay around 12-12:30am. LONG DAYS! He has a good group of friends though who are a good combination of fun and “serious studiers” as well. That has been great because it allows them to study in groups, and to help keep each other sane through the mass amounts of studying they have to do each day! I am happy to say he has officially survived his first week of classes and so far, appears to be settling in and thriving!
     As time goes on, I don’t miss him any less, but I truly see that everything does happen for a reason. I can not imagine Nick going to school anywhere else. I said it before he left, but seeing him in action (via skype) and the people he has met and how much he has thrived, I REALLY mean it now. St. George’s is the perfect spot for him to grow as a person, get unique experience, meet awesome people, and of course, become Dr. Leo.
     Sidenote: his number 1 complaint right now is that they don’t have “normal milk” and it is killing him! Now, I am a milk lover also, so I sympathize with him, but still, life is going pretty well, when milk is a top complaint right? :)

White Coat Ceremony!!

As of today, we officially have a SGU medical school student on our hands :) Super bummed to have missed out on this big, and exciting day in his life, but he took several pictures for us! Take a look!

“Happiness does not come from doing easy work, but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded your best.” - Theodore Rubin

I’ve come to realize that these next 5 months are going to be filled with many lessons and opportunities to grow. Challenges and hard times that knock us on our butt are the times in which we learn so much about ourselves and that define us. That being said, it isn’t about how many times we fall or get knocked down, but about how we are able to get back on our feet, and push forward, and overcome.
This past week has been hard. Really hard. And in the past week, I have had more moments of weakness than can be counted on my fingers and my toes. However, even still, I have to say… I think I have done pretty well. Sounds funny right? To say I’ve complained, felt sorry for myself, gotten upset and jealous over what most would consider “something silly”… and yet, yes, I think I’ve done pretty damn well!
Here’s the thing. Despite all of that, I’ve gone to work, gone out to the bar, had movie nights with Lo, went shopping, finalized stuff for my last semester of school, done laundry, and well.. you get the point. Through it all, I have kept living, laughing, and pushing forward. I’ve had family and friends to lean on and entertain myself with, and over all I have found I am stronger than I thought. My best friend is in a different country. He’s the one I lean on and who gets me through the hard times normally. But, this past week, I haven’t been able to call him. We only talk when he is at his computer and even then, usually people are around and I am on speaker phone due to talking over the computer. So, yes, Nick knew I was upset many times, he saw me struggling, but reality is… right now, I have to get through a lot of this without his immediate support. And even still, here I am… doing just fine and learning a lot about myself. And.. actually, I am adjusting a bit, and hey… we are just about 1 week in, so it’s not like time is standing still! :)
Don’t get me wrong, I will be ecstatic when this long distance thing is over and I can have my rock and main man back. I love that I need him and I love that he is always there for me. As much as I am still struggling with the adjustment to less communication, I am thankful for all Nick has done to stay in contact with me the best that he can.  Also, I am sure this will come as a huge surprise to all, but Mr. Social has made many new friends already. I am glad he got to enjoy the past week because school is about to start and I think life on the island may get a little more stressful than beaches, scuba, and rum punch!!
Here are a few pics from his first week of adventures in Grenada! Isn’t he cute? And obviously, totally miserable there so far… psh, he’s lovin’ it! And as for the island… it’s breathtaking! Can’t freakin’ wait to visit!

“When I miss you, I don’t have to go far … I just have to look inside my heart because that’s where I’ll find you.”

     Today I bid my love farewell at good ol’ metro airport. I am happy to report security did not need to be called to pry me off of him! That being said, let me just say that was so hard!!!!  Seriously, watching him slowly walk away from us and through the security line and out of sight was heartbreaking. I wanted to run after him and pull him back or instantly buy a ticket on my fabulous smart phone and jump on the plane with him. So what if I did not have any possesions what-so-ever, so what if I am supposed to be at work on Wednesday, and so what if I have one semester left of graduate school. My mind was racing, the temperature in the airport seemed to rise about 20 degrees, and my eyes burned with tears I was attempting to hold back. Nick was about to board his plane to Grenada without me…
     Okay, so that was my irrational side taking over. Finishing graduate school is important and him boarding a plane without me for 4-5 months is not the end of the world. But shoot, saying “seeing you later” really was as hard as I had imagined it would be.
     Since that time, Nick has successfully arrived in Miami and is currently in flight to Trinidad :) Excitinggg right?! I have to say I am proud of myself and the way I have been able to stay positive today. It really made me realize that despite the extreme sadness I feel in being so far away from him, the excitement I feel for him is able to help make this a tiny bit easier. I love this man so much, that even though I thought I was going to completely fall apart today I did not. And the reason I did not, is because of that amazing little thing called love! Even though I am sad and long to be close to him, I want this for him and that keeps me from being overwhelming depressed.
     The adventure has OFFICIALLY begun and this is the start to something new and wonderful. From the moment Nick stepped on that plane his life has forever changed. Our lives have forever changed. And changed for the better at that.
     Sidenote: Bought a new exercise ball today!!! Wooooooo!!! After a month of goodbye parties, eating, and drinking this girl needs to get back in shape! My body is very ready for a detox and I am ready to stop being such a pig! There is no better motivation to get in shape than visiting Grenada in October and moving there in January!! Hello insanity DVDs, workout ball, and healthy eating… it’s been awhile, but boy am I excited to get reacquainted with you <3




“I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart so long.  If we’re in each others dreams, we can play together all night.”  ~Bill Watterson

Remembering the bigger picture

As we speak, I am watching and (semi) helping Nick pack up the rest of his stuff. He has a plan, a method to his madness, and I just wait to be told how I can be helpful and play DJ in attempt to keep the mood light when all that is on our minds is his 3:30 pm flight tomorrow. TOMORROW. TO-MARR-OW. Yeah, no matter how it is said, it doesn’t sound any better and still stings a lot. It’s unreal really, the big day is finally here and 2 years in Grenada is officially beginning. His bags are almost packed full of his clothes, belongings, electronics, pillows… everything he needs for the next 5 months to 2 years. Someone pinch me.

To kick off our last day together we went to church at Orchard Lake St Marys. It was exactly what I needed. The mass, the homily, the songs, all hit home and gave a message and the comfort that I needed- more than I even realized. Throughout the mass, a common theme arose and I couldn’t help feeling like it was directed at me. Nick has ranted and raved about how awesome Fr. Tim’s homilies are, but until today I had not yet experienced one… and it could not have come at a better time (and yes, it was awesome and perfect.) During his homily, Fr. Tim spoke about how hectic, overwhelming, chaotic and unpredictable life can be sometimes. And how, sometimes, it is so easy to get caught up in everything that is going on and to forget what is really important. That it is easy to be a person of prayer when things are going well for us, but yet it is so easy to lose faith when things get hard. As Fr. Tim put it, we have to “keep our eyes on Jesus.” Now, that does not sound like something I would normally say or write about, but it fits my life right now. Nick leaving is really hard on me and it really helped me to refocus on the bigger picture. I know 5 months is not THAT long, but still, it is a big deal to me. That being said, it is important for me not to get caught up in the time that we are apart and rather to focus on how exciting of a time this is for Nick and what a big step it is for him. Obviously, I have realized that all along, but it was a good reminder and a reality check that I needed. I am so blessed to have such an amazing man, and I wouldn’t change him going away to Grenada for the world. We need good Doctors and Nick will without a doubt be a great Doctor and being apart for 5 months is a small price to pay for that :)

Okay, time to stop blogging and help him finish packing up his stuff. Sighhh.. So all that stuff about being strong and looking at the bigger picture… yeah… I’ll that attitude starts Tuesday or Wednesday. For now, my heart is breaking and if you hear of a security breach at the airport.. no worries it was just me running through the airport to tackle him and keep here a few extra hours, minutes, or seconds.

Best of luck Nicholas! We all love you very, very much! Safe travels and kick some major medical school butt! xoxo