More than Just Turkey.

The other morning as I got ready for work I began to think about the idea behind Thanksgiving as I’d been feeling a real sense of peace with the upcoming holiday as well as a sense of excitement for the Christmas holiday to follow. I admit, I’ve had a great life. I grew up with a set of loving (but crazy) parents who taught me values that I’m hoping to pass on someday. I learned the benefits of hard work. I did not want for anything and even when my mother recalls times of financial hardship, I can’t remember them because I always had what I needed. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished personally and now when I look back at how my life has changed in the past 5 years, it’s a little overwhelming. I’m thankful for so many things; it’s actually pretty amazing that I don’t even know where to start. I’m thankful for Matt. I’m thankful for Matt and I and even when we disagree, I know it’s not something that will change what we have. I’m thankful for our health and our beautiful home. I’m thankful for our pets with the personalities that continue to show through (TonyDanza chasing his tail, Lola burrowing under blankets, or Nike smothering Matt). I’m thankful for the family I have and the love and support that they continue to give me and now show my husband. I’m thankful for the family that I’ve acquired and the more that I get to know them, the more that I keep falling in love with who they are (Kevin…this is where I hear a Carly Simon song…:P and Sara, you are so humble that you may not realize this includes you!). I’m thankful for my job and for Matt’s continued challenges in his job. I’m thankful for the great friends that I have. I’m thankful that it doesn’t matter how many miles are between some of my friendships, they are only a thought and a call away. I’m thankful for some of my experiences with these friends, I can’t describe the feelings I have when I think back to my wedding and the wave of emotion, love, and just plain ol’thankfulness that rushes through me. I could go on and on….and that morning while standing in the bathroom with a straightner in my hand, I did. No matter where I turned and what I looked at, the feeling continued to hit me.

I have a facebook friend that has a word of the year, it’s a feeling that she uses to describe the entire year and this year’s for me is Thankful. I’ve actually had more time to be introspective on my thoughts of how my life has settled as of late. Sure, there are some slight changes but they are shattering and bold as they have been in the past. I know there will be changes in the future too, maybe a move, maybe a family, different pets, but it’s a year like this that reminds me that no matter what shaking out may happen there is a calming of the seas at some point, you just have to wait for it.

Thanksgiving was spent at my mother’s house. Matt got to throw on a little orange and go out with one of his groomsmen, Jayme. He even managed to bag a couple birds. It was a wonderful meal. As I grow older, I appreciate certain things more and more. I like the turkey dinner, with cranberries, with stuffing, with mashed potatoes, with gravy and then to end in a pumpkin pie…..wonderful. Yes, the prep time is enormous and I’m not quite sure if some people realize that or the amount of dishes that are created, but it’s wonderful to make the plate and sit down to enjoy it. There were 23 people at the house. And we had three tables. I did something right this go around…I handed Denise my camera, and off she went to capture the day. Loved some of the pics that she captured.

Matt and Payton

             

Me and the reason behind why the meal was so wonderful

Best Part of the Meal: The stuffing...it was my favorite. Even the left overs were amazing, was so glad mom sent them home with me.

Scene: Carsteyn (Ambour's oldest, who was a program attendent in our wedding) cruises down the hallway with Barbie car.
Tyler (Wes's oldest) cruises after with a Barbie doll in hand! Frantic.
Carsteyn comes back heading east with Barbie car.
Tyler in hot pursuit with Barbie doll, aggitated.
Carsteyn back west again, still with car.
Tyler bring up the rear, still with doll.
We finally got Carsteyn to stop the car and Tyler plunked Barbie in the seat, and all is right with the world.
MJR to Kristy, Tyler's mom: "We've got a rule follower! See all he wanted to do was ensure that the car had a driver, order is restored! He'll be a police man when he grows up!

Our first Thanksgiving, sadly, this is the only pic of the two of us.

Pheasants and Pharming

Another weekend come and gone, but this one was a bit different. We finally made it back to the farm. We hadn’t been there since before the wedding and the time during the wedding really didn’t count. I’ve known that Mom and Dad have been working their tails off, with the combining and the cattle, and the place. It doesn’t help that the corn this year is still up and they are going crazy to get it off, the only consolation, they are not the only ones with it still on the stalk.



Blue jays are considered lucky, unless
you are my mom, who doesn't like
them eating her dog food.

We arrived Friday night and stayed until early evening on Sunday. It was great to catch up and while Matt enjoyed the outdoors, I stayed inside to warm and cleaned house for mom. Ironically that’s always been my favorite deal, if she goes outside and works with Dad and I get to stay inside, I’ll clean or cook or anything. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve put my hours in wearing coveralls but I will take preference points in the warm. I’m a fair-weather farmer.

Matt enjoyed the farm and was finally able to get out and get some birds down. He loved it even more when Bruce, a family friend, showed up with Gunner, his dog. Matt was able to take out his grandfather’s 16 gauge double barrel shotgun, which had been given to us as a wedding present. He was able to grab 4 birds over the weekend, not quite a limit out but a nice showing still. He would have limited out if he’d have had Gunner the next day too to follow the down birds. Was glad to see him enjoy himself in orange again.

He worked with Dad on a few projects including the chains on the truck tires, unloading grain, moving the portable corrals, chainsawing wood, and working to unfrost the drinker. I had a pivotal role in last one, I was the official water boiler. Overall it was a great time to finally sit and visit with my parents. Mom and I even got a time away from them as we snuck off to town. Her and Alaina are really world travelers lately! Alaina’s in DC and Mom will be in Vegas for a conference next week.

Now if Matt can just get over being sick in time for Thanksgiving, that would be WONDERFUL! We are at my parents house so we’ll arrive Wednesday night and enjoy the festivities in time to head back so we can work on Friday. Next year, I’ll plan better and get BlackFriday off! *Note to self, make sure you take this off in advance.

Best meal: I love potato soup. It’s sad that for as much as I love it, Matt doesn’t but it’s still one of my top 5 meals.

Mom on the phone talking about a deceased grandchild of a friend.

MJR: “We really need to get our will together”

Mom gets off the phone

ALR: “I know, I know, where do you want your ashes spread?”

MJR: “I don’t! I want to be buried!”

ALR: “I know! I was talking to my Mother!!”

Mom: “Oh in the front yard, there’s a bucket there by the fireplace you can just leave them in for now.”

ALR (To herself): I have a feeling that she’s not thinking the same thing that I am.

Odds, Ends, and Head shots

You know…I’m feeling like blog hangover. For weeks and weeks, there was great things to post and big things that are happening, and suddenly it’s all over. The wedding, done. The honeymoon, done. The hype that was all there, over. We were on cloud 9 talking about snorkeling and beaches and sun and suddenly, I’m talking about baking a pumpkin. Serious? What happened here?

This week wasn’t too different than the last. Matt had a good chuckle at me on Monday night. New recipe night. Now, this is a “tradition” that I’ve taken from his mom, that his dad doesn’t like. For those that have been in our house, it’s always been, if it doesn’t work out, we’ll just order pizza. Monday was the most nervous I’d gotten and actually was debating what toppings I’d want. In an attempt to cut back some on my carbs, I made a lasagna with eggplant. I can just about hear the horror in my father’s voice at that idea. So I basically made it the same as the lasagna that I typically make with a few changes and modifications for the eggplant. When I took it out, I was concerned. Matt thought my nervousness was hilarious. I was not amused. I even waited to dish it up until he wasn’t around, who knew how it’d come out of the pan! Verdict: it wasn’t terrible, we didn’t have pizza, glad I only made a 8x8 pan, and I need to quit adding water to things thinking that will make it better. Will it make best meal of the week, no. Will I make it again anytime soon, probably not. However I haven’t given up on eggplant yet.

I did make a pumpkin bread with the cooked pumpkin that I prepared last week. Both of us really enjoyed that. It was so soft and wasn’t too pumpkin-y, we will be making that again. I really do like my bread machine. What a wonderful wedding gift!

We were busy on work levels too this week. Matt worked on efficiencies and goal setting and it was a week of training for me. I went to Bismarck on Wednesday for some Unemployment Insurance training and then had a Labor Market Information training on Thursday in Dickinson. This was my first BIG training session in Dickinson, I had an employer session last month but not as widespread as this option.

We had a bit of a scramble on Thursday night. Matt called me at 2.
MJR: I’ve been interviewed by a magazine, I need a head shot.
ALR: OK. Makes sense.
MJR: By tomorrow.

ALR: WHAT?

MJR: So can you take care of that?
ALR: WHAT?
So I did. Here I found myself on Thursday, helping him pic out his outfit, pulling lint rollers and the iron, and then talking with the photographer who I was able to line up at the last moment. For around our house as a last minute thing, I was very happy with how they turned out. We went with the local photographer that did our firefighter engagement shots, so they were familiar with the “creative process” that Matt has.
AND for those that thought the mustache was good, this pic and this look is SO much better. You can't deny that and those that will are LIARS!

The weather is changing still…colder at nights, a bit of snow on the ground. I’m not wild about it. I know the precip is needed for this coming year, but I hate to see Matt stress over it. I hate to think about it myself. We do have the association to shovel our driveways and I do get to park in the garage, so it does take some of the cold out. I’m not looking forward to the blizzards and dumps that are bound to happen. I keep thinking of Janice’s comment, “It never snows in Dickinson”. What a liar.

Best meal: BLT’s…there’s something wonderfully simple about a good BLT. I added avocado to mine and left out the dressing, and Matt made a SUPER BLT (double lettuce, double tomato, and triple bacon).

ALR (reading in bed): Hey, can you look at this? Would you recognize French?
MJR (rolls over): Yeah.
ALR hands book over
MJR: Yes that’s French.
ALR: I know it’s French, I want to know what was said!!
MJR: Oh I don’t know that.

Weekend At Home.

We are heading into winter. Cold days, watching the radar, checking the sky, and hoping that the plows don’t have to run. Matt had his first on-call weekend, which forced us to stay put and stay home this weekend. Despite being unable to get back to the farm, we did make the best of the situation and filled our time.

Saturday morning, we headed to the last DSU tailgating event. Matt had wanted to go to a game this year, but it never worked out. We did manage to make 2 tailgating events this year. Each one has a theme to give people inspiration for the grill. This week was wild game…we had a pheasant sandwich, elk chili, bison burger, and elk poppers. From there we went to the holiday craft show, there wasn’t much that I saw that I wanted, a few items, but nothing too badly. Matt wanted to get a rubber band gun rifle. I didn’t think it was necessary. We headed home to clean the basement. This has been on my mind for a couple months now and it’s been slow going. We actually made HUGE process. We had a constant audience to supervise our work, I suppose since they think it’s their domain. But it looked so nice when we had to quit for the day. There’s some work that still needs to be done, but it’s significantly better.

We had to quit because it was the spouse appreciation dinner at the fire hall. What a nice thing, the guys did a great job with the meat, as usual, and the wives all contributed sides. It was fun to socialize a bit but we had to cut it short because Matt had a hockey game. He looked so good out there with new equipment and sharpened skates. And after a few attempts at a goal, I was happy to see him get one in. He’ll get his jersey soon but he managed to get game MVP without it. I was pretty happy for him.

Sunday was a bit slower. Matt headed off to dive training and I played domestic goddess. I wrestled canning jars earlier this year…now it was time to take on the pumpkin. After discovering that one of the two was rotted, I opened up (with Matt’s assistance), the white pumpkin and cooked it and then later roasted the seeds. Matt was pretty happy with how they turned out.

The best part of the weekend….no snow, no plowing…and a clean basement. Oh…and the kitties got new cubes. Their old ones were demolished! But the best part of the week: Matt’s been mustache free for 7 days now.

Best meal of the week: The smoked brisket at the firehall with the great sides!

Because we left the fire hall and all noticed, they made a few comments about showing up to watch. And we shouldn't have been surprised when they were at the game!
Lindsay: “100% of the fan base is for Matt…oh shoot, that guy with those kids showed up….maybe we can convert them?”

ALR: (setting down the dish from the bedroom scentsy) “So I’m going to put this here on the counter to take up to the bedroom later, it has scentsy in it, don’t eat…”
MJR: “Shut it”

OH Deer!

Yes, it was that time again. Opening deer was this past weekend and with that was chilly “nature” walks, scanning the horizon, caring a firearm, and bullshitting each other at the 4th annual Remynse deer cull. This year there was less culling than normal as we struggled with the population numbers and the weather conditions a bit. So on Thursday, we headed up to Lansford just in time for Randy’s pizza…made especially for us, I won’t lie…that’s a helluva way to start the weekend out. Matt’s been itching to get home for a bit so it was good to see him relax a bit just by walking in the door. And with Kevin and his friend there…that’s just added bonus to seeing Randy, Michele, and Randy’s deep dish.

Friday started with modesty out the window and reputations on the line. See last year, Matt managed to get his deer within 4 hours and with one shot. And in true Remynse fashion, we can’t let people forget our attributes….ha! Much to our dismay, the first day didn’t go as planned. I was proud that at the end of our first walk, I was the one to spot the buck scampering into the tree row and I wish we could have taken him down. We didn’t get him or anything else on the first day.

Saturday finally delivered a few results…the boys headed out early while us girls kept warm and toasty as long as we could. When we headed out, we heard the big announcement. “One-Shot Matt and now we have Two-Shot Kevin”….Kevin obtained the first deer down. Kevin’s deer did bring a little attention from the Game and Fish Department. Two wardens showed up on site to check licenses, see the deer, and visit a bit. There was some concern about Kevin’s shooting abilities, obviously his reputation precedes him! But I like calling him Two-shot Kevin versus FillTheGroundWithLead Kevin!

By the end of the day, things hadn’t changed much from the morning. Kevin’s doe was awful lonely hanging.

On Sunday, things changed a bit. Brendan got his second doe. But we kept missing the bucks, which is what the 4 ND Remynses had. So that night, at dusk, I dropped Matt off and he went to go sit and watch the deer move across the field. He wasn’t able to get the 5x5 he locked eyes with, but he did drop a deer, a 2x2.

That left us, on Monday morning, with a Kevin knocking on the bedroom door at 6:30am…”Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy, Mandy.” I’m all for wake up calls, except on days off when I don’t want to go in the cold. But I got up. Put on layers and then more layers and Matt and I headed out, despite the fact that he reminded me that he had already gotten his deer. So there I was sitting, on the frost covered ground, watching my breath, and because I’d lost a contact, fogging up my own glasses, scanning for deer. I saw Matt’s beast go across the field but I knew the idea of me shooting 270 yards was a bit more optimism than I could handle. And that was the only buck I saw that morning, I’ve determined I’m not a good hunter. I didn’t even get a decent shot off at anything.

There are some pretty solid examples of my inability to hunt but I was not alone. You’d think I would have learned when I was 12 or 13 with my father (maybe it’s because of this experience that he laughed when I asked if I could borrow a gun). Yes, I did see the first deer, which gave me hope. So when I saw the second deer, a doe in the trees, I got hopeful. I told Michele to stop as she was right in front of us. At this particular moment, I’m going to question Michele’s scanning abilities as it took a long time to point out the deer to her. Once she saw them, we got a hunter over to us but we were concerned about spooking her. This was impossible as it was pointed out to us that the deer are concrete fakes. That’s a humbling feeling. We attempted to disguise our faux paus by saying that they ran off. Now, I will admit it’s bad that I was scared to spook a concrete deer and that I didn’t really see that it was concrete on my own. But there are others that may have been worse than me. Bill continued to stalk these deer even after we tried to throw them off. He was worried to take a shot at the doe as the two deer were too close and didn’t seem to be moving. AND later that day as we were prepping to walk another field, Brendan came up and asked why Matt didn’t take a shot of the deer on the road. Matt responded that he didn’t see the deer. Brendan suddenly had doubts in Matt’s abilities until the “deer” showed its face just a few feet off, it was a big dog. So thank you to Bill and Brendan, between the three of us, I’m not sure which person got the “hunter of the weekend” demotion!

I guess you could say that my favorite part of the weekend was the family and the food. It was good to see the BS sling throughout the weekend and the loving ribbing. Was good to catch up a bit on what’s happening with each and then enjoy some great meals like wings (bbq, jerk, and buffalo), pulled pork, Kevin’s Stromboli for breakfast and snacks, Michele’s spinach dip, and then the chili night. Matt’s batch of pheasant chili was the best that he’s made for the past couple years.

And now to the subject that brings me heartache/burn…..the bane of my existence, Matt had decided to grow a moustache. He is the most handsome and commanding man I’ve ever met in my life and suddenly you put some fluff on his face, and he is still good looking but he’s more park ranger than senator. He’s more school principal than savvy business leader. He’s more 70’s porn star than I can handle. My co-worker’s husband pegged it correctly…it doesn’t look bad if you don’t know Matt but if you know him or have met him before it’s not as complimentary as not having one. I don’t like it. One bit. He started growing it on our honeymoon…but only because he wasn’t shaving at all and suddenly when he did start shaving he took advantage of razor creativity and current growth. I told him a beard would have been more welcomed. His family loves it, but I know his true friends, the firehall guys are being honest and are concerned! He has informed me that it will be coming off and I’m counting the moments but the damage is done…it always seems that he does something dumb with his looks (shaved head, grows a beard, grows a moustache) and the news crew shows up on his front door with their cameras to capture all the glory so it lives on forever. Sigh.

 

Aside from Matt’s family, we also had a visit from a little of my family, my aunt, Merri, came for supper this past week. She was in town for a conference and we spent a bit of time with her catching up on her family and life in general.

Best meal: Randy’s pizza. Was hot, fresh, and so good….it’s probably a good thing that we don’t live closer because I didn’t have any guilt having two bit deep dish slices.

3 months ago: at my mother’s house

MJR: (Proudly displaying his newly printed off general wildlife license) I’m going to have the prettiest license around! (the license was printed on paper that was in the printer that had flowers all around the borders, beautiful daisies)

November 11: at our house

ALR: So, did you haftah show your game warden your tag?

MJR: yes.

ALR: (Giggling) ANNNNDDDD your license?

MJR: yes.

ALR: And what did he say?

MJR: Nice paper.

ALR: (Giggling)

It’s Sad How Fast a Tan Fades

So we are back and clothes are washed and mostly put away. We put the suit cases away. The cats no longer feel abandoned but ironically still stick pretty close. We have gone through pics and relived stories and feel a sadness for the finality of the event.

We are getting back into the swing of things. We spent some serious time on the house this past weekend. Matt’s guiding was cancelled and I suddenly had a helper to work on some house projects! Here’s a list of things that were accomplished:

• Leaves picked up on the patio (Much to TonyDanza’s dismay, who loved watching them through the sliding glass door)
• Yard cleaned up including flower beds, and some basic pruning. We started talking plans for Matt’s landscape renovation for next year but then he found out that they put 3” of gravel down. He was pretty disappointed.
• My car worked on….because of my battery “situation” Matt put a maintainer on and also repaired my headlight, which had gone out. We may start shopping for cars later this fall, but who really wants a payment!
• The guest bedroom painted. When we did the big renovation…we finally stopped when we got our heads above water and got the primer up in the room. It’s finally painted. It looks so nice. We did two tone it and we officially took the painters tape off the walls on Sunday.
• Hung pics in the guest room. I’m not in love with 1 wall but the others look so nice. It’s actually looking like a real room. We do have to paint the closet and it can get finalized even more…but we’ll take what we can get, maybe that will happen later this month.
• Laundry…boring…but this necessary evil.
• Brushed the cats. Only Lola was the non-naughty one.
• Made jerky. With the big deer hunt coming up…we decided to make some snacks to share at the event and also prep our freezer for the next one.

We were feeling pretty accomplished with all that had happened! But a highlight of the weekend was what Matt bought before coming home. Crabs. From the back of a truck. In the Dickinson Tire Parking lot. From a guy! When he showed me them, they were still moving. So we took them home (in a Menard’s bucket) and cleaned them up with a sink brush.One of them grabbed on and wouldn’t let go. Nike was scared of them...wouldn't go near the bucket. We then let them take a slight nap in the freezer, prepped our love pot (which was a wedding gift) and when we had a good boil on, slipped them in for a good steam. They came out looking so good. We sat down, with a cutting board and our cracker set and gorged ourselves on crab.

That wasn’t our only good meal of the weekend, we had our first batch of the tomato soup that I made. I was so happy with it. I will do something a bit different next year but for the most part they turned out better than I planned. Both Matt and I enjoyed it. We also had the last of our steaks for this beef. We still have other odds and ends that will need to be used before we can have the next beef but the steaks were huge and so good.

ALR: (sleeves rolled up) Here I thought I had the best meal of the week for the blog before tonight.
MJR: (whole crab in his hand): What?
ALR: I love the fish from earlier with the spices that we bought in the market.
MJR: (half a crab in his hand): Yeah, that was a good meal.
ALR: (sucking the meat out of the leg): But 8 pounds of crab is WAY better.
an hour later
ALR: 8 Pounds is TOO much crab…too much…I don’t want to move!
MJR: I want Pie.
ALR: serious?

HM: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Now I didn’t continue with Saturday’s trip. We got into Atlanta as it was dark and in time to check out of customs, reenter security, recheck our bags, and have priority as we went past a ton of others to get through to our area in time to make the Minneapolis flight. This was not a meal flight, but only offered snacks. What a bummer. We got into Minneapolis and upon previous experience; we decided to get a room for the night.

We stayed at the Marriot for the night. Actually a pretty nice place. They shuttled us there and back the next day. We were running behind schedule according to Matt so we didn’t arrive at the airport as quick as he was hoping. Thanks to being priority, we got in quick but waited a bit for TSA. From there we did have an awesome breakfast despite the fact that service was about as slow as they come. Juice and Coffee from Dunn Brothers and Lox bagels from Einstein’s Bagels.

We got on our flight and got to listen to the special announcements from the flight attendant and then the pilot came out.
Pilot: Folks, has anyone been to Dickinson in the past 2 or 3 weeks?
(Heads nod)
Pilot: well, we have a real treat for you today, we’ve heard the ramp is open and we will get to use it finally…no more bus!
Passenger (who Matt knows as Terry): Be careful, the airport manager is on this flight!
Pilot (looks at where Terry is pointing): Really?
(Matt nods)
Pilot: nice.

So there we rode..wondering how we ever flew like this before…not first class. The seats were small, the leg room was cramped, the drinks weren’t free! How do people live like this?

We got back, got home and began the clean up and unpacking. We looked through our purchases, looked through handouts and stuff that we had taken. It was very bittersweet to be home and in the cold. We went from 80+ to 40 with a storm coming. Ugh.

But the trip wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for Kevin. And it wouldn’t have been as luxurious if it weren’t for the first class upgrade from Randy and Michele. And the money that we got from family for the honeymoon definitely made it possible to have the amazing meals and memorable activities that we did.

And a special shout out to Aimee and Landry….they babysat the kitties. They really only saw 2 of the three…but who is really shocked by that.

Best Meal: It was a dang good breakfast with the salted caramel latte and the lox bagels (they wanted to put cucumbers on it…EWWWW)…probably the second best breakfast of the week (right after Sarafine’s) and the best thing before heading back to the reality of life.

So there I sat at the MSP carousel waiting so we could go to the hotel….

MJR: So my bag came through?

ALR: Yes.
MJR: But yours hasn’t come?

ALR: Right.

watching the carousel

MJR: So, which one did you put the sand in?

ALR: Mine.

watching the carousel

ALR: I was hoping you wouldn’t ask that.

MJR: If you get arrested for bringing sand, I’m disowning you, Moser.

HM: How Do You Say Goodbye in Dutch?

Saturday….I did not want to wake Up. Waking up meant packing and leaving. I did not want to leave.

Matt finally convinced me that we could go down to the beach one more time, swim in the ocean, feel the sand, and say goodbye. As much as I didn’t like that last thing, I did want to spend just a bit more time on the beach. So we went down. The water was calm, warm, and still so clear. I had a nice tan by this time and was very comfortable on Eastern time.

We did say goodbye to the beach and packed up our bags and called the bellhop. We took a cab to SXM and sat down at the Plantation, the restaurant in the airport. WORST meal of the trip. Service was bad. The meal was missing pieces. And for being in an airport, they sure took their sweet time. For a club and a BLT, it took about an hour. It was a good thing we had the time.

We sat in the sterile area for so long, which was crowded because of the delayed Delta flights to JFK and the construction that was happening. In prepping to board, Matt got checked through security once again. He’d gotten extra checked leaving Dickinson but at SXM, they double went through his shoes, his carry on, and all. I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was him that got picked.

As we took off, sitting in first class again too, it was sad. We’d have to go back to reality. This flight to Atlanta, there was no champagne. It felt appropriate. But I did watch the island disappear beneath us as I prepped the list of things for our return visit.

Best meal: We had Chick-fil-a despite my irritation with the belief system of the company. I almost hate to admit that it was a dang good sandwich.

ALR: Goodbye Room.

   Goodbye Balcony.

   Goodbye Hill and other hill and other hill.

   Goodbye Lizards (They were fricken EVERYWHERE)

   Goodbye Beach

   Goodbye Divi Little Bay

   Goodbye guavaberries

   Goodbye cabs

   Goodbye St. Juliane

   Goodbye Ocean.

MJR: Are you done?

ALR: No. Goodbye golf couse.

MJR: Are you done now?

ALR: yeah, I guess so. (Sad face)

 

HM: Sandtraps and Lost Balls

 Final Full Day of the HM.


So to give you a little back story on this day…Matt had been riding me for the two weeks before we went on our honeymoon about golfing the course on the island. He had been saving money here and there and I really didn’t think it was necessary but finally because I wanted to ensure that he was happy, I said, yes, let’s go golfing.

We got the prices from Eugene but when Matt went to set up his tee time, she told him don’t bother. First red flag to me. So there we were on Friday, getting carted to the golf course. As we turned on the road that the course was one, I began seeing more and more red flags as the grounds were unkempt and the growth and landscaping was a bit more miss than hit. So we pulled up to the “clubbuilding” which had bars on the window. We went in and was surprised how uninviting it was…decoration was mostly concrete and piles. There weren’t really any apparel hung to display? There weren’t clubs for showing off or shoes for trying on and the lady that took our tee time wasn’t exactly what I would call a golf pro.

We got 2 bags and 1 cart rental and 2 rounds of 9. Matt then told her that we needed tees to which she grabbed a handful out of a drawer and handed to him. Matt then told her that we needed balls. She stated that she’d sell a bag of balls to us, used. I could barely contain my laughter watching him hold his bag o’balls and his handful of tees.

My laughter got stronger when we pulled up to the first tee box and also when we got to the first green. Here he was expecting this lush, plush, cushy course…and we got the island version of Lansford! I didn’t mind the course but I know he was disappointed. I might as well have stayed on the beach for the day for as much time as I spent in the sandtraps. First time I’d ever seen seashells in the sandtraps!

 After completing our round and being unsuccessfully in selling back our balls to the “pro” we headed back in our cab to only stop for lunch. We stopped at the Taste Factory Bakery and I had a salami sandwich with a gallon of water and Matt had a Tunefish sandwich.

When we got back to the resort, we stopped at the Resort office. Matt and I had decided that even though we weren’t going to take them up on their timeshares offer, we did want to take advantage of the comeback plan. We’d get to try them out another time in a beachfront studio at a discounted rate. Think of it as getting our feetwet with the idea of a timeshare. We were excited to try it out and when we signed they presented us with a bag and a bottle of champagne…can’t say no to those things.

With the bottle chilling in the fridge, we headed out to supper. We walked the boardwalk and picked a place, Talula Mango’s also known as the Blue Bitch Bar. We ordered a bucket of beer, an ice cream drink, and something as close as Matt could get to mozzarella sticks…Gouda sticks.

As the sun sank down on the Great Bay…we relived the time on the island. It was a great time and it was nice to have the two of us…no phones, no internet, no work…just us, the sand, the beach, and the occasional rain. While talking, I ordered the creole grouper and Matt had the ½ and 1/2, ½ ribs and ½ jerk chicken…was one of his favorite meals on the island. I was glad he ordered it because the mashed potatoes were amazing that came with them!

After arriving home, we spent the last night on the patio with a cigar and our bottle of champagne and toasted to the first of our many married vacations together.

Best meal: Matt’s meal at Blue Bitch was the best….I could have had ribs and those mashed potatoes over and over again.

MJR: Laugh all you want.

ALR: There were bars on the window.

MJR: Yes I saw them.

ALR (giggling)

MJR: Are you going to tee off already?

ALR: You didn’t wonder when they said, just show up?

ALR: (Giggling)

HM: Scuba, Spa, and Siesta

Day 6: Thursday
This day started out a bit off as the alarm didn’t go off and it was one of the few days we couldn’t miss the schedule. Matt headed off to the Scuba shop for a dive and I headed to the spa. We did this in Cabo as well…so it wasn’t that unique.

Matt’s water was a bit rougher than he was expecting but still got to do 2 dives. He dove a shipwreck and a reef. I’ll admit it did sound pretty cool, especially after 2 days of snorkeling where I could see so well. He liked the reef dive and saw a small shark and a ton of fish but I could tell he enjoyed the wreck better. I thought it was cool that he had seen a bunch of rings and when he asked what they were, it was the rum barrels’ rings..they were left over from the trade.

I enjoyed a manicure and pedicure and said goodbye to one of my last things from the wedding…my wedding nails. They had grown out significantly and had to be replaced and I thought it was appropriate that they be replaced with honeymoon nails.

We met up afterward to compare notes and had a lunch at the resort back at Gizmo’s. We had pizza with pineapple, shrimp, and capers and split an app plate with jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, and wings (which weren’t as good as Barefoot).

We actually had a slow afternoon, not sure if the waves were hard on Matt or being on the go for so many days caught up to us, but we actually just sat and watched a movie on TV. Ate cheetos, drank lemonade and ginger ale and relaxed. After awhile, I hopped in the shower to get ready to go out.

Whenever we asked people for recommendations of restaurants, we kept hearing the same one, Chesterfield’s. We almost were sick of hearing about this place since it came up in every recommendation. But how could we turn it down when everybody and their dog was suggesting it. So off we headed. It was a beautiful restaurant. We sat so close to the water I may have been able to put my feet in. I had a glass of Pinot Grigio and Matt had a Heineken (which is a uber popular beer there). We started off with a gi-normous bowl of lobster bisque which was amazing. I followed it with the crab stuffed shrimp and Matt had the combination plate: Mahi Mahi, grouper, pan fried calamari, and shrimp. There was so much food, I’m embarrassed to admit I had to leave some on the plate.

Best meal: For the day, it was Chesterfield’s…the soup…so good!

MJR: I told the scuba master that I thought it was odd that I used up all my air first and she said, “Of course, you a big boy!”

HM: French Living.

Day 5 of Honeymoon…it was a Wednesday.

Now we had planned to take a second tour to the French side. We arranged it with our concierge, Eugene to ensure we had a spot on the bus. We also asked her if we could take it over but then come back by cab later on. Her response, oh that will be enough time for you to be on the French side, it’s from 9-2. I’m sorry, Eugene, but we missed our bus!

We got on the bus and headed over. We arrived in Marigot around 9:30. Just in time for breakfast. I finally got to try the pastry shop that was closed on Monday, Sarafine’s. It was an absolutely wonderful meal. We started with a latte for me and a passion fruit juice for Matt. I can still taste it. Next came my smoked salmon crepe with mozzarella and tomato topped with an sunny side up egg. Matt had nutella crepes with a crossant. What an absolutely wonderful meal. We then ordered our lunch to take up to the beach.

We left Sarafine’s fat and happy (and I wonder why I gain weight on vacations). We headed over to the open air market. This market was a combination for the locals and the tourists. The locals section had fresh seafood, and when I say fresh, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I love my freezer of beef and the homestyle feeling I always get but seeing the availability of product made my jealousy twinge a bit. I did delay Matt and get 2 bags of seasoning...the fish and jerk. We also hopped over to the tourist side where Matt picked up a set of knock off Oakleys and a diving shirt. I was pretty content to take a look just checking out local product, picking out my magnet, and finally taking a look at the food vendors with their local flavor.

  From there, we took a cab to Orient Beach, a well known beach on the French side that has a reputation all its own. It’s a beautiful bay. We rented a spot 2 chairs and 1 umbrella for $20. It was wonderful. We sat there took in some sun, enjoyed the sand, even took a bit of a swim. Had a few beers and the only addition that we could have had was that we wish we had brought our kindles versus the snorkel gear…the water was a bit choppier than we expected to snorkel. But it was a wonderful afternoon and when we were ready we brought out our picnic lunch that we got at Sarafine’s, a salami and prosciutto sandwich served on a baguette and macaroons for dessert. It was absolutely wonderful until I handed the lemon macaroon over to Matt and he didn’t realize how delicate they are and it dropped into the sand at our feet. Saddest thing ever. The raspberry and vanilla were good but the lemon was heaven.

We enjoyed our time there and eventually grabbed a cab and headed back to the island. We got out the snorkel gear a final time and took it in again. This time we saw some of the same things but got close to a sting ray. Was so cool. I do know my husband is not the picture of romantic but snorkeling under the water we held each other’s hands so to not get too far from each other. It was like we were otters! It’s the sweet things that like that make me glad we have and are what we are. We did find a few more sand dollars in an attempt to recover the one the maid took…but they are so fragile.

That night we headed over to Simpson Bay, which was where the nightlife from Philipsburg moves after 6. We took in one of my favorite restaurants of the trip…Skipjack’s. It’s a fresh seafood market. You could pick your lobster (Caribbean or Maine) but we decided to go to more of what we knew. We started the meal off with a gin and tonic and a guaveberry colada with a dozen oysters in the half shell. For our meal, Matt had the blackened grouper and I had shrimp stuffed baked Mahi Mahi. I got the better shake of this meal.

After the meal, we took off and tried to walk around a bit. We had heard good things about Lee’s so stopped in there for a drink. The food looked good, but we were definitely finding out that the island liked serving ribs…and to think, we were all about the seafood.

We stopped at a couple more shops and headed home with a baguette, some pastries, and a couple cigars.

Best meal: Skipjack’s was probably one of my favorite restaurants of the trip. We sat on the water and even saw a boat that later one of the cab driver’s told us belonged to Steve Jobs. Was nice, great service, and great product.

MJR: I’m so glad you talked me into it.

Referring to coming to Orient Beach. 

HM: Snorkeling and Shopping and Snails

Tuesday morning started out a long time before Tuesday.


Enter Darlene. Now, I remember Darlene for a couple reasons. My grandmother’s name is Darlene, so as soon as she introduced herself, I remembered her name. The other reason I remember Darlene is because she wouldn’t let us forget her.

Scene: Matt and I walking along the line in front of the resort. Sunday.
Darlene: YOHOOOO! Sweeties (Sidenote, everyone on the island, especially women call everyone sweeties)….hello, I saw you come yesterday, we didn’t get to talk. My name is Darlene. Where are you going?
ALR: We were going to orientation. (Informational session that was held the first full day that they were there, talked about tours available, resort options, and then did a basic giveaway.
Darlene: Oh good, me too, walk with me. See I’m your timeshare concierge, I’m Darlene. Where is your timeshare at?
ALR: It was a gift, from a beloved, wonderful, giving, handsome man (some of this might not have been actually said, but was there in spirit) for our wedding.
Darlene: Oh a gift, very nice, sweeties. Walk with me. So you don’t own?
MJR: no. (He doesn’t do well with personalities like Darlene)
Darlene: Oh great, we’ll show you our resort, you love it. Here we’ll get you down to visit with Hank. You tell him that Darlene sent you. That’s me.

Scene: Monday. Matt and I looking at the tour bus with Mr. Thomas
Darlene: Sweeties!!! Are you going on the tour?
ALR: Yes, we are…just getting ready.
Darlene: Remember, me, Darlene?
MJR: of course.
Darlene: Got you down for an appointment right?
ALR: Yes, with Hank, tomorrow.
Darlene: Great!

Scene: Monday evening.
Darlene: Oh I see you two AGAIN! See I change clothes
MJR: we see that.
Darlene: And I came back!
ALR and MJR start walking away.
ALR: Have a good night, Darlene.
Darlene: Don’t forget your appointment tomorrow.
To ALR, MJR: I don’t think we could.

Scene: Tuesday morning, in our room. Phone rings.
MJR: Hello.
    Yes it is.
    Yes we are.
    Yes, we are leaving soon.
(Hangs up)
ALR: Darlene?
MJR sighs

So there we were walking up to the sales office. And who do we see…..DARLENE!
Darlene: Sweeties!! Did you get a phone call?
MJR: yes.
Darlene: That wasn’t me. I just got in a fight with the girl. See I told her that people are on vacation. They need their space. Walk with me. See I said, you can’t call them. So I am so sorry.
ALR smiling because she thinks Darlene is hilarious.

So there we were with Hank, our salesman. Now, Hank has just gotten back from a vacation. He has laryngitis. Which makes our questions and the sales presentation real fun and mostly about drawings. We tour a beautiful room and Hank explains some of the botany around the resort. Because of the situation and what’s going on, Matt and I decide to hold going through with a timeshare, despite the fact that we both are strongly considering it.

From there we had lunch poolside. Although the service had a lot to be desired, the meal was just fine. We started with nachos and Matt had the club sandwich, which he said was the best thing that he had at the resort. I had the fish tacos. We headed up the hill changed into our suit and went snorkeling.

This was my second time snorkeling. My first in Cabo wasn’t what I’d call a complete success. It was interesting and a great time and the sights were amazing….but I struggled to get started and was mentally aware of what I was doing the entire time because of all the people, all the boats, and the yucky waves. This time it was amazingly easy. It was beautiful too…the water was so clear and calm compared to Cabo. This first trip out we saw squid, coral, construction parts and pieces, an octopus, and oodles of fish. It was amazing how far out we got. Past the fishing boats almost out to where the big boats were docked at. I’d say it was ¼ of a mile at least out. On the way back, Matt and I searched for sand dollars and he dove for them. What made me sad is we found a good one and took it back to our room and the next day, we found it missing from our hotel room. Thanks, Maid.

After snorkeling, we headed back into Philipsburg for some shopping. I got Matt his birthday present which was a Breitling knockoff watch. Something he could wear when he wasn’t wearing his wedding watch…something that we could travel with and not fear breaking or missing. He loved it…gyroscope and all.

Best Meal, we had supper at the Greenhouse, which was on the edge of the boardwalk. Great little restaurant, where we were able to take advantage of happy hour 2 for 1 drinks (margaritas and painkillers). We also decided to indulge in the starters and then split a meal….worked out so well. We started with the escargot and the bang bang shrimp….both were so good! Was glad we went forward with the bang bang shrimp. We split the lobster thermidore.

Scene: Leaving the sales shop for the resort
Darlene: Sweeties!!! How was HanK? Did you have a good appointment?
MJR: yes, Darlene.