Temp Quarters Living

Hi all, sorry it has been so long since we've last blogged. Things are going really well here, we are enjoying many aspects of island living and are dealing well with those things which are strange!

Our house is great, and we are adjusting to life without air conditioning (although we do turn it on in our bedroom at night). We try to get in the pool or sit by the beach at some point during the day. We have an iguana who comes to the edge of the pool each day and takes a poo! We've been unsuccessfull on finding a way to keep it away! Since we are living in "temp quarters" we get extra money for meals...so we have been frequenting all the fine dining establishments on the island. Well, there are not that many, but H has been making a list of those worth returning to!

Our biggest news is that H has a job interview tomorrow! The Dr called today and asked if she could make it in tomorrow. We are both hopefull that something will come of it.

The other bit of news is that we received some of our personal belongings today. We had about 450 pounds of goods air shipped to us, mostly clothes...but also our MARGARITA MACHINE!!!

R has been getting settled at work. There is plenty of cases to be found, seems that most of the residents here are up to something, especially the local politicians! He had his first trip to Puerto Rico last week and has two more planned next month.

We are having a bunch of Rs coworkers from different agencies over tomorrow for dinner. We are hoping to meet some more friends. More on how the party goes on Sunday...

Getting Settled (Part 1 - Island Living)

On Sunday, we picked up a few groceries and realized just how expensive this place can be. Although we did buy many things that you need when your pantry is completely empty, we
didn't have nearly as many items as we should have....for a $380 bill!! It's funny because somethings are priced very comparable to the states, but then other items are way more. For instance, a regular box of mac-n-cheese, normally like $.75 at most, was over $2!!!

We also joined two of Rs coworkers and ventured out to the rain forest. Up in the middle of nowhere there is a really unique watering hole! Although there were only a dozen or so people there when we showed up, we've heard that they can have a couple hundred when they have a band on a weekend night. Their biggest attraction is the beer drinking pigs!! No really!! For a few dollars they will give you a non-alcoholic beer which you can take to a pen and give to a HUGE pig...and not a farm raised pig...a really wild pig with tusks!! Check these pics out...







We had a busy Monday, the first work day since arriving. We started by having Tropical Depression Ana visit in the middle of the night. Everyone on the island said it was not much of a storm, but R was up closing shutters and making sure our shack was still standing.

Then we ventured out. We opened a PO Box, then swapped our Texas drivers licenses for VIs. After these two surprisingly easy, and fast, stops (we had heard nightmare stories about how long it can take), we had lunch with R's coworker. We then picked up our library cards and opened a bank account!

As you can see, Sophie loves having our own pool!! We are trying to get her in the water once a day so she gets used to it (our permanent housing has a pool which she will have access to and we don't want her to fall in without knowing about the stairs)!

Getting Settled (Part 2 - Our Home)

It took us a day or two longer than we said, but here are some pics of our temporary quarters. We will be staying here for two months, and LOVE IT!!! Just when we thought the place was perfect we turned on the pool lights and discovered the lights change colors and really add to the atmosphere of the patio. Have we said, WE LOVE THIS PLACE!!! Check it out...

Main house

Living Room from Entry

Kitchen

Looking from Beach to House

View from Balcony

Private Beach

Guest House (as if we didn't have enough)!!

1st Wake-up in Paradise!!

After a long day, we turned in early last night, and we're glad we did. The sun starts shining well before 6am and by 7am you'd think it was noon!! I guess that is a good way to keep from being a bum and sleeping all day!

We organized our closet. R has the top row, with H on the bottom, but R is not sure H packed properly...can you tell what she thinks she'll be doing for two years...

We had a great evening with R's new coworker and his wife, we are both really looking forward to getting to know them better over the coming months, although they don't arrive permanently until October.

We'll get some pics of our house uploaded today - you've got to see this place!

Sounds like everyone is meeting up for lunch in the rain forest at a place where you can feed pigs beer!! What an island!!

We made it!!!

It has been a busy last few days. Movers spent three days at the house packing things up and moving us out. The movers definitely had their work cut out for them, but things went pretty smoothly over all. We are having just under 500 pounds air shipped to us, which should be here in about two weeks. We have more items being sent over on a boat that will arrive in a couple of months. Most of our things will be stored in Dallas in a storage unit until we return. We are shipping one vehicle that should arrive in two to three weeks. Until then, we have a rental car to get us around the island.

We have had about one showing a day on our house since it went on the market Monday afternoon, and now need to decide between two offers. We are very thankful for that considering it has not even been on the market for a week.

We said goodbye to our car on Wednesday. The husband of the couple who bought it had a sweet Ferrari. He took R for a joyride and let us both sit in it and take a picture. It isn't every day that you will get the chance to sit in or ride in a Ferrari! It was pretty cool!

Talk about waiting until the last minute, about a half hour before the movers finished, and we went to the airport hotel for our flight out, R finally sold his motorcycle!! He was sad to see it go, but relieved that he got the deal wrapped up before we left.

We got a couple of memorable going away gifts. H's BFF's four year old wrote a sweet note to all of us. A few things he mentioned was that he hoped Sophie didn't poop in the sand, and that he hoped R didn't kick Sophie out =) So cute coming from a little guy. I think he is really concerned about Sophie! We also got one last going away meal from our neighbors...one of his famous steaks! They have been so helpful and we are so thankful to have them as neighbors. They also gave us a "contract" that said we had to return to our house in two years, so I guess we will be back in Allen in two years =)

So get this...last night as we are getting ready for bed at the airport hotel (turning in early as we had to be up at 5am to catch the flight) and had the news on the TV. The last bit of the show was the weatherman giving a hurricane update. Seems there is a tropical storm just east of, but heading westbound towards, St. Croix!!! The guy actually mentioned the Virgin Islands are in the storms' path!! What are the chances!! It is supposed to come through on Monday but at this point doesn't appear to be a major storm for us.

So today was the big day. As much as H has been worried about getting Sophie on the plane, it was no problem at all. They didn't as much look at her or ask a single question. She got to sleep in H's lap on both flights and she did so awesome! I'm not sure we want to try our luck again anytime soon, but we were so impressed at how smoothly things went.

We finally arrived at our tropical paradise. We had dinner with our new best friends for the next two years (the other new agent and his wife), and we have already found two hermit crabs crawling around near the house. They are fun because as you approach them they curl into their shell and fall over! Sophie wasn't sure what to think about those guys! Sophie has already taken a stroll along the shore at the house and gone for a dip in the pool! Now we are sitting here with the doors open and the ocean breeze blowing through the house listening to the waves crash on our private beach! We think we can handle this for two years...

Pre Move - 4 Days to Go

Another week closer to the big move, and a thousand more things to worry about!

We made some big steps closer to being ready. We sold our Acura (although they are letting us keep it until later this week). We may have R's Harley sold, but the buyer has been a bit skiddish. The movers came a few days ago to pick up the Rodeo (which we are having shipped to the island).

The biggest news is that our house is now on the market. It went on today around 3:30, and we had our first showing before 6pm!! You can see our listing at http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1432-Mckenzie-Court_Allen_TX_75013_1111681887

We are so thankful for our neighbors who have had us over for dinner and are grilling steaks the day before we leave as we will not have any cookware. However, they are also making us sign a contract promising to come back to Texas in two years!!

Movers start their packing in two days!! However, H being H, we started packing our bags tonight!! Then, of course, Sophie saw us get our suitcases out and now she is on alert! She's been wondering what's going on for a few days now. We are both still worried about getting her down there safe and sound, keep your fingers crossed that they let her chubby self on the plane!!

Pre Move - 12 Days to Go

Since arriving back on the mainland following our house hunting trip we have accomplished a lot, or so it seems. However, we have so much left to do.

We don't have the house on the market nor do we have the car or motorcycle sold. However, we had the movers to the house doing their "site survey". They seem to be a very professional outfit and will keep all of our belongings (which we are not taking with us) in climate controlled storage. We are now in the process of deciding what to take and what to put in storage, not an easy decision considering the two years until we have an opportunity to get at anything we place in storage.

R had a guys day on Saturday, playing golf and then poker with a bunch of work buddies. H has her last Bunko night tomorrow night (although they are not playing Bunko just having dinner and drinks)!

R's Mom and Dad, R's brother and family, along with one of H's friends have all already booked their flights to visit us in paradise!

Time to get back to worrying about things!!