We hope this blog finds everyone well satisfied by Santa's visit on Sunday! We celebrated Christmas in St. Croix the only way we knew how...on the beach! After waking up and exchanging gifts with each other we went to the beach to join our colleagues for a little gift exchange. The beach was packed which is unusual. People were wearing Santa hats and there were even a couple Christmas trees. The wether could not have been better and we essentially celebrated Christmas in 85 and sunny. We commented to each other that it was a cool way to celebrate. We may never have another Christmas at the beach...
Despite a great day, our thoughts were with our families whom we have never spent the holiday without. But we are looking forward to lots of visits in the coming months. We will be in St. Marteen two weeks from today!
Other than the holiday, business at work is picking up as we get into the high season. We should be pretty busy on the weeks to come.
We wish everyone a happy new year! We will be ringing in the new year working a party, but hopefully we will be off in time to celebrate.
Much love,
Drew and Jenn
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Long tome no blog...
So, it's been a while...forgive us, we're working 25 hours a week people! Life is hard for two people in love on a Caribbean island.
All kidding aside, we have really settled into a nice routine down here. We have Tuesday's and Fridays off and all days off. So, we continue to enjoy all the beaches and what amounts to a private pool. We attempted to go scuba diving last week but we got rained out. This should be an interesting adventure considering both of us are a little wary. But what better place to try? We work at Cane Bay beach which is next to a dive shop and a beautiful reef, famous among scuba divers. Anyone who wants to try when they visit is in for a treat. We are going to try to go again tomorrow but the weather is again looking ominous. I have also joined the golf club sown here and will probably be playing 2-3 days a week with my neighbor and friend.
Christmas is now 10 days away and it feels a little strange. We are definitely trying to get into the spirit despite the total antithesis in weather. We bought a real tree and decorated it on Tuesday. Jenn was considering not getting a tree but I know she is thrilled now that it's up. We won't be getting each other a whole lot this year because we are planning a trip to St. John for her birthday in march. We continue to hear amazing things about St. John and are looking forward to the chance to explore there.
Other than that, the next two months are shaping up to be really busy. Jenn's mom and sister Meghan will be our first visitors in January! They will be here the week after Jenn and I spend a few days in St. Marteen with my grandparents. Then my dad will be here the last few days of January. Some friends of ours, Jo and tim, will be visiting in February which is really exciting. Hopefully my brother and some other friends will be here in February as well...
Until next time, we hope you all have a great holiday season! Our Christmas card should be arriving to you all soon as well! We will miss everyone very much at Christmas but continue to remind ourselves that this is only temporary. We are enjoying it while it lasts!
Much love,
Drew and Jenn
All kidding aside, we have really settled into a nice routine down here. We have Tuesday's and Fridays off and all days off. So, we continue to enjoy all the beaches and what amounts to a private pool. We attempted to go scuba diving last week but we got rained out. This should be an interesting adventure considering both of us are a little wary. But what better place to try? We work at Cane Bay beach which is next to a dive shop and a beautiful reef, famous among scuba divers. Anyone who wants to try when they visit is in for a treat. We are going to try to go again tomorrow but the weather is again looking ominous. I have also joined the golf club sown here and will probably be playing 2-3 days a week with my neighbor and friend.
Christmas is now 10 days away and it feels a little strange. We are definitely trying to get into the spirit despite the total antithesis in weather. We bought a real tree and decorated it on Tuesday. Jenn was considering not getting a tree but I know she is thrilled now that it's up. We won't be getting each other a whole lot this year because we are planning a trip to St. John for her birthday in march. We continue to hear amazing things about St. John and are looking forward to the chance to explore there.
Other than that, the next two months are shaping up to be really busy. Jenn's mom and sister Meghan will be our first visitors in January! They will be here the week after Jenn and I spend a few days in St. Marteen with my grandparents. Then my dad will be here the last few days of January. Some friends of ours, Jo and tim, will be visiting in February which is really exciting. Hopefully my brother and some other friends will be here in February as well...
Until next time, we hope you all have a great holiday season! Our Christmas card should be arriving to you all soon as well! We will miss everyone very much at Christmas but continue to remind ourselves that this is only temporary. We are enjoying it while it lasts!
Much love,
Drew and Jenn
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Hunting Horses
There is this Irish man that lives on the north shore who everyone calls Cowboy. He has several horses and you often see him taking tourists out for a ride on the beach. Two of the girls I work with, Jill and Stephanie work for him and ride often. They both worked on a ranch in Colorado before their move to St Croix and have a lot of horse experience. I asked if I could come along sometime and was thrilled when they all invited me this passed Tuesday. Cowboy said I could ride for free as long as I tell my customers about him.
I arrived at 8am as told and was met by Stephanie, Cowboy, and Laura, another local rider. Much to my surprise, Cowboys horse were right beyond the road and were tied to the trees with a simple rope. Think a noose around a horses neck. It didn't seem all that secure to me. As I'm thinking this, Cowboy says, "we're missing a pirate!" Turns out Pirate is Cowboys favorite horse who sometimes escapes. (Not that difficult considering the ropes that secure them.) Cowboy jumps in his truck and asks us to come help find Pirate. Stephanie jumps in the back and I follow suite and join her. Now let me paint a picture of this truck bed. It is full of horse saddles, pads, bridles, and feed. There was not much room for me, let alone me and Steph. We start down the road and as we hit the first bump, I think, "What am I doing? This is so dangerous, I'm going to fall out before I even get on a horse!" I scoot down as far as I can and HOLD ON!!!
We drive through the hilly roads for about 15 minutes before we spot Pirate. He is with 2 female horses and a local guy who owns the two mares. Cowboy says, "Look at that mare shaking her ass. Shes in heat!!" Looks like Pirate was out looking for love overnight!!!! His red rocket was showing and he did not want to come home! Cowboy finally lured him away from the ladies and Steph jumped on bareback.
As I walked back with Steph and Pirate she began telling me about the horses on the island. She says that there used to be a guy close by that wound capture Pirate when he ran away and would blackmail Cowboy for money in exchange for the horse. Otherwise, he threatened to kill Pirate with a machete. (Only in St Croix!!) She says Cowboy was forced to pay him $100 on several occasions. He is since gone and that is no longer an issue. I asked her about the not so secure ropes and if Cowboys horses were marked. They aren't. Horse theft happens sometimes she says, but a threat to call the police or Dept of Ag usually ends that. Unless you are the machete wielding blackmailer! Steph says that Cowboy usually buys his horses from the locals. If he sees someone riding a horse he likes, he'll stop then and ask to buy it.
We finally get back to the other horses. We feed them all, saddle up the ones coming on the ride and are ready to go. I rode Blarney, an albino horse. I have not saddled a horse or been on one in years so it was quite the re-learning experiences. I was a little nervous in the beginning but by the end, it was awesome. We rode on the beach, in the water, through the rainforest and all around the north shore.
It was a really great morning and Cowboy says I can come ride anytime I want. I wonder if I'll ever get Drew on a horse?
I arrived at 8am as told and was met by Stephanie, Cowboy, and Laura, another local rider. Much to my surprise, Cowboys horse were right beyond the road and were tied to the trees with a simple rope. Think a noose around a horses neck. It didn't seem all that secure to me. As I'm thinking this, Cowboy says, "we're missing a pirate!" Turns out Pirate is Cowboys favorite horse who sometimes escapes. (Not that difficult considering the ropes that secure them.) Cowboy jumps in his truck and asks us to come help find Pirate. Stephanie jumps in the back and I follow suite and join her. Now let me paint a picture of this truck bed. It is full of horse saddles, pads, bridles, and feed. There was not much room for me, let alone me and Steph. We start down the road and as we hit the first bump, I think, "What am I doing? This is so dangerous, I'm going to fall out before I even get on a horse!" I scoot down as far as I can and HOLD ON!!!
We drive through the hilly roads for about 15 minutes before we spot Pirate. He is with 2 female horses and a local guy who owns the two mares. Cowboy says, "Look at that mare shaking her ass. Shes in heat!!" Looks like Pirate was out looking for love overnight!!!! His red rocket was showing and he did not want to come home! Cowboy finally lured him away from the ladies and Steph jumped on bareback.
As I walked back with Steph and Pirate she began telling me about the horses on the island. She says that there used to be a guy close by that wound capture Pirate when he ran away and would blackmail Cowboy for money in exchange for the horse. Otherwise, he threatened to kill Pirate with a machete. (Only in St Croix!!) She says Cowboy was forced to pay him $100 on several occasions. He is since gone and that is no longer an issue. I asked her about the not so secure ropes and if Cowboys horses were marked. They aren't. Horse theft happens sometimes she says, but a threat to call the police or Dept of Ag usually ends that. Unless you are the machete wielding blackmailer! Steph says that Cowboy usually buys his horses from the locals. If he sees someone riding a horse he likes, he'll stop then and ask to buy it.
We finally get back to the other horses. We feed them all, saddle up the ones coming on the ride and are ready to go. I rode Blarney, an albino horse. I have not saddled a horse or been on one in years so it was quite the re-learning experiences. I was a little nervous in the beginning but by the end, it was awesome. We rode on the beach, in the water, through the rainforest and all around the north shore.
It was a really great morning and Cowboy says I can come ride anytime I want. I wonder if I'll ever get Drew on a horse?
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