Mom's Raspberry Almond Cookies

These are my mom's awesome Raspberry Almond Cookies! They are my favorite Christmas treat. I could eat a million of these. Your welcome!

Ingredients:

        1c. margarine

        1/4c. sugar

        1t. almond extract

        1t. salt

        2c. flour

        raspberry jam

Directions:

     1. Cream margarine and sugar together until creamy. 

     2. Add extract, salt, flour, and flour. Stir. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

     3. Roll dough into balls, place on cookie sheet, and fill with jam.

     4. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.

Coal for Christmas

 I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It is so yummy and they were SO easy to make. I'm putting them in everyone's stockings for Christmas as coal for all the time they were naughty through the year, cause no one is perfect.

Ingredients:

• One 16 oz package of Oreo Cookies
• 5 cups large marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. Butter an 8X8 inch baking pan. Line the baking pan with parchment paper letting the paper extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. Butter paper; set pan aside.
2. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse Oreos  until ground.
3. In a large, microwave safe bowl, melt butter and marshmallows in the microwave until puffed, about 1½ – 2 minutes. Stir in ground Oreo Cookies until combined. Transfer to prepared baking pan. Using a piece of wax paper, press rice mixture evenly into prepared pan.
4. Let set up for at least 10 minutes. Cut into bars and serve.

Yields: 16 bars

5 months and a ton of snow

Well we got a whole bunch of snow. It took me awhile to dig through all our boxes and find my winter clothes but once I did I was out in it. I thought it was going to be hard to adjust to the cold, but it has been fine. Even Daphne has adjusted well.  

Speaking of Daphne, she turned 5 months old on Thursday. She is growing up so fast. She is still being stubborn about rolling over. She knows how to do it both ways, but refuses to turn over by herself. She is still a happy happy baby. We have started her on solids and she loves it! I'm making her food and I don't know why people don't make their own baby food. It is so simple and tastes SO much better. She is loving all the attention she is getting from her aunt, uncles and Nana. She still hasn't adjusted to the new time zone so I get to wake up with her at 3 am, not cool. I am still amazed how much your love grows and grows. You think you can't love someone anymore and then they smile at you or learn something new and you can't help, but love them for it. 

I hope everyone has a happy holiday season this next week!

Merry Christmas

Two days of bad luck.

Traveling went well, if well means getting milked for all your worth. It seemed like any way they could get more money from us they did. Other than that the flying was smooth. Daphne was so good. It was such a long day and it was nice to get off that last flight and know we were done for the day. We were planning on going all the way to Lamar that night, but It would have been horrible to do that. So we stayed the night at a hotel so we could get some shopping and other things done. 

The next morning we got all our shopping done. All morning Johnny's parents were calling us and telling us we needed to come home because there was a storm, but we wanted to make sure everything got done so we didn't have to head back to Denver before the new year. On our way home all the roads were really clear........and then we hit Eads and things changed dramatically. All of a sudden there was a blizzard between us and our final destination. When his parents said there was a storm I was not picturing what was before us. Johnny was driving very carefully, but hit some black ice and the next two seconds of my life felt like an hour. He lost control and we slid across the road, spun 180 degrees and ran into a barbed wire fence. While we were spinning I just grabbed Daphne's seat and braced myself, I was just waiting for us to flip. Don't worry no one was harmed in any way. The car did get pretty banged up though. When we ran into the fence we hit a post and it bent and lodged itself under the car so we couldn't get out.

We called the cops and Johnny's parents.The cop came and said he had another wreck that was priority because it was a flip so he left and we waited for a tow truck to pick us up. While we were waiting two snow plows stopped and then the cop came back and they got us out. So we got back on the road and headed home. Well 45 seconds after starting out we hit another patch of ice. It was not bad that time we just spun around 180 again, but stayed on the road. We decided the smart thing to do was to sit where we were and wait for the tow truck. 

It took forever for the tow truck to get us home, but it was such a relief to walk in the door and have a hot chocolate and a warm bed waiting for us. So leaving Dominica was a pretty eventful undergoing. It will be a trip I will never forget.

P.S. Johnny passed!

Our last day

I knew we had a couple extra days after Johnny got done with school that we could use to see some sights around the island. I asked Johnny what he wanted to see and he replied with, "Lets go to Roseau". Now to me this sounded like a pretty lame idea. In my mind Roseau is synonymous with shopping, one of my favorite things to do..........NOT.

But to Roseau we went. I think Johnny wanted to go because wanted to see this Catholic Church. I must say it was fun to go take pictures there. The stained glass was beautiful as was the big mural of Jesus entering Jerusalem. The church is over 100 years old and is a big part of Dominica history. 

We also wandered around and shopped cause the vendors were out. Doing this makes me nervous because I don't like the locals bugging me to look at their stuff, but Johnny loves to shop. I enjoyed the day, but was so tired when we got home. Good thing we had packed the night before or I probably would not have got everything done. 

What time is it?

I woke up this morning and checked my phone. I couldn't believe it, it said it was 11:00am. I was so mad because I had so much I needed to do this morning and it meant we missed our trip to Batibou. One of the things I need to do was get a fan to Clare I figured I missed her, because she was going on a little trip. So I called to check if she had left or not. When I called she was still home and a little confused why I thought she would have left so early in the morning. It was only 8am! So I got to do all my errands and we didn't miss the trip, though we did miss out on some much need sleep.

We had an awesome time at Batibou. We got down the very muddy mountain and had lunch before we got to sandy. Then we headed into the beautiful ocean. Johnny thought the waves were to small, but I thought they were perfect. If they were any bigger I would not have let Daphne go in. She was tired, because I had woke her up early (oops), so she took a little nap on the beach. 

Now we are home and everything is sold and all we have to do is pack. Only one day left and then our time on the island is over. Well I better get started on the packing so we can relax and enjoy our last day on the island.

Sunset Bay

Oh our date night was so nice. It was fun to go out and just spend time together and relax. The meal wasn't to shabby either. A few weeks ago Ross had an art fair where they did a raffle. We won a $100 certificate for the Sunset Bay Restaurant. The lobster was great and they gave a big plate of them. The picture below is about half of what they give you per person. I forgot to take a picture until I was half way done. It was the perfect way to celebrate the end of the semester!

Well the semester is officially over. Johnny finished his test this morning, now we just have to pack up and head home. 

I spent the the last two and a half days with my awesome friends. The CAC was our hang out spot and we had a great time decorating Daphne's toes. I had gone to get my nails done by Kristen and we thought it would be fun to try it on Daphne. All the stickers fell off her little toes, but they stayed on her big toes, so when we got home we painted her nails for the first time. 

Last night Tanya and Kristen had a BBQ at their house and it was kind of like my last ha-rah with my friends. 

This morning Clare, Katie and I met up for our last Rituals break. I was good and I only teared up once(though I did get some crying out before I headed down there). I really am going to miss these girls. They are some of the sweetest girls in the world and have always made me feel loved. I love them and life is going to be very different without them. 

Now that Johnny is done with the semester I am going to try and get my fill of him before he starts studying for the Comp. We are kicking off our free time with a fancy dinner at Sunset Bay tonight, can't wait!

Life has gotten away from me. We have been so busy. This next week is going to fly by I know it!

While Johnny has been studying his life away Daphne and I have been selling our life away. We have sold all our stuff we are not taking back to the states with us. Our time not spent prepping for our departure has been spent with friends.

Thursday we went out with daddy to celebrate his last Mini. We met his friend Brian up at DeChamps and had a wonderful time. Its always a treat to get to do something with Johnny. After dinner I headed to a little Christmas party the RSO was having. We sat and talked and had a white elephant gift exchange. Some people were very creative with their gifts. 

The next night was spent at a friends house where we had a open house sale to sell all those little things that aren't worth posting on FB. It was a great time and I got to make a little money as well. 

Saturday I went to the pool with the girls. It was the first day in a while that it wasn't rainy, so it was a great change of scene. That night we had a dinner party at Kristens house. We ended up staying til very late, but we were having such a great time no one wanted to leave.

The end of the semester is so close and I am getting so excited to be home and for the next step of medical school. The only thing I'm not excited for is leaving my friends behind.

Guilt

I'm sorry that I have been missing from the blog world the last little while. I got sick and of course had stuff I needed to get done. No rest for the weary, right? Last week was spent getting stuff ready to sell and trying to spend time with friends. 

Daphne got her first cold and I feel so bad for being the one that gave it to her. I tried my hardest to not touch her to much. Even though I felt bad I only held her when I was feeding her and I didn't kiss her for three days and she STILL got my cold. Of course she is has it a lot worse than I did. I was just congested. She is congested, has a heart wrenching cough, and tonight she got a fever. Its not too high, but if it doesn't go away by morning I'm taking her to the doctor. Having a cold stinks, giving you cold to your baby is worse. A lot worse.

Just talking

Daphne has been "talking" for awhile but this weekend she stepped it up a notch. She spends the first half hour of her day telling us about all the things she dreamed about. Then she spends the rest of the day telling us everything she sees and thinks. It is so fun!

Food, Friends and Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great time. We spent the day over at Katie's cooking with Katie, Mary and Clare. It was great fun and I feel like I learned a lot about making Thanksgiving dinner. It actually made me really excited to do it all by myself one day. The turkey was the most beautiful turkey I'd ever seen. We made plenty of food cause we wanted there to be left overs for everyone to take home.

 We all made turkey hands and wrote what we were thankful for on them. I loved it and think it will be a family tradition, as long as I can get Johnny to join in with me.

See how beautiful everything turned out!?! Everything was totally from scratch except the cranberry sauce (and I think if there would have been cranberries on the island they would have been from scratch too). Mary brought decorations and made the table look amazing. 

So it goes without saying that it was a pretty successful holiday. It was a little bittersweet, because it is our last holiday on the island. We only have three weeks left here and I can't believe it. I think the thing I am most thankful for this year, besides my wonderful family, is the opportunity I had to come here and learn so much. It has been a wonderful adventure, and I'm going to miss it.

Four months full of love!

Daphne is four months old today. We had a doctors appointment today. She is getting so big, weighing 14.5lbs, she is 25 1/4 inches long, and her head is 16 inches around. She got two shots today and was not very happy with the doctor after them. She would calm down and then she would see the doctor again and would just cry. It was sad, but so funny. She is so smart and seems to learn a new "trick" everyday. She can roll over from belly to back, and I think back to belly is coming quickly. She has just started laughing.  I LOVE it. I finally found something that she got from me, her laugh. She loves to talk and make trumpet sounds. She is very good at grabbing her toys now. She loves to be able to see what is going on, which means I have to hold her up in a sitting/standing position. Everything goes directly in her mouth. She is so sweet and happy. Everyday I learn more from her and I love her more. I call her "my favorite girl" and it is the truth. She is the best and I love her!

She started the photo shoot off like this. Love the mad face.

She wanted to eat these flowers so bad.

I could eat her, those eyes are so beautiful.

My precious girl.

Taurus

We bought a car!!! This is our first official car. We used to use a car that Johnny's family gave us, but this one is all ours. It is a Ford Taurus. We got it from a Government Auction so it is in great condition even though it is almost ten years old. 

I love it. The moment I saw it I wanted it. You should have seen me during the auction, I was freaking out! It was nerve racking. I can't wait to see it in person. 

One more party

After three nights of going out I was pretty pooped, but Johnny couldn't miss the 4th Semester Banquet. It is known here as the Dominica Prom. I wasn't going to go because it was a whopping $125ec for a date to attend, but I had some good luck and my friend Katie did me a favor. She usually goes so she can write an article about it for the Ross newsletter, but she really didn't want to go. So I did it for her and she watched Daphne for us. I think we were both happy with the deal. 

I am no writer so I was nervous about the actual writing part. Katie is such a sweet heart and says I did a great job and suggested sharing the opening paragraph with you. So here it is, my first attempt at professional writing:

"As we got to the top of the Cabrits and came upon Fort Shirley my husband leaned to me and noted how the road has been long, hard and full of pot holes just like our road through medical school and that here at the end you could look back and see where we had started. How fitting on this night celebrating the end of a long hard road."

I feel like I spent most of the time taking pictures and taking notes for the article, but it was a fun night. It has been awhile since Johnny and I have had a night to ourselves. I did spend most of the time worrying about Daphne, but it was still a break. We had a nice dinner and had fun watching the videos some of Johnny's classmates made. 

Now the celebrations are over and we only have a few more weeks 'til we head back to the states. I can't believe how fast the time has gone.

Iguana Cafe

So I know from the name of this restaurant it doesn't sound very appetizing. I mean who would want to eat an iguana? But despite its name it was wonderful. We went with our good friends the Walpole's. Jamie was heading back to America so we had to go out with them. It was a fun night and we ended up staying at their house 'til way to late at night. We just couldn't stop talking. The lobster didn't hurt either!

Farewell

Tonight was the Farewell Banquet. My Farewell Banquet! It was so much fun even if the food took 2 1/2 hours to be served. My friends were there and we got to share in going back in time through pictures, laughing, singing, and looking to the future. I thought a lot about my time here tonight and I just can't believe its all coming to an end. I got the "Most likely to miss Dominica" award, and I think they got that right. I haven't always loved living here. Life gets hard here, but with all the negatives there are so many positives too. I miss America, and I'm so excited to get back, but Dominica is part of my life...a big part. I feel like I found myself here. As cheesy as that is, its true. We started our family here. I met people that changed my life here. In some ways I'm scared to go back. I'm scared I'll lose all the friends I've made, I'm scared I'll lose all I've learned here and lose myself in the hustle and bustle of American life. But life goes on right? Dominica will always be a part of my life I will look back on with joy and I will miss it, not some parts, but I WILL miss it.

Sophie

It is so amazing how quickly things can click with a baby. Daphne has never been interested in any of her toys (except her bouncy chair). Then last night she showed some interest in her Sophie, and then to day she is full on in LOVE. So now she plays with toys, just like that.

Loving my Sophie

Eating my Sophie

On to the next toy