I Challenge You...

… are you up for the Challenge? Last Sunday I was randomly talking about how Simply Acts can help to Make a BIG Difference. I believe in that from the bottom of my heart. I believe individuals strive for human contact and touch. Free 'gifts' are better then anything money could buy. One never knows what other individual is struggling with at the time so be kind.

My Challenge to all of my amazing readers is to simply greet a stranger with a 'Good Morning,' 'Good Day', ask the cashier how she/he, say extra Pleases and Thank Yous to your server or give a simply smile to a child. Take note of their reactions to your kindness. But do not forgot to take note of how you as an individual feels after a day of simplifying greeting strangers, smiling at children, or taking a moment to small talk.

My biggest joy (which I find I say that a lot), is how when someone enters a room, a building, the bus, or a store, they make a general greeting to everyone. It is amazing. My favorite is one an individual has a 'vexed' faced and I simply give a greeting directed at them full eye contacted and all and their face changes. It softens, they smile, and give me a greeting back.

Don't you worry, I will partake in the Challenge as well. I hope you are up for the challenge and share with me your amazing stories...

Pictures of the Party!

Words are great and all but for this Event we will just use Pictures to show the wonders of a Fourth of July Party- Dominica Style!

Joys from the Weekend!

I am still going to do a LONG list of Joys! They all happened this weekend, some run into each other, some I am not sure what day they happened, and it does not really matter when they happened. All that matters is that they caused me JOY!

1. An amazing view as I was hiking down to the river
2. A GREAT friend who held my backpack during the hike so I would have more balance
3. Seeing the Mist of the Rain in the Valley on the way down to he Hike!
4. Being in My Village
5. The Amazing Children that make me laugh until I cry in my Village
6. A Group of 4 Cousin (They are all kind boys, best friends with each other, and show the power of family)
7. Hanging out in the Cool river after the Hike Down
8. A Natural Cold Water Jacuzzi
9. Making Pizza and Cake with two fantastic Girls!
10. Fourth of July Party!
11. Laying on the Floor
12. Fresh,Hot,Homemade (by Me) "Creole Bread"- It is a sweeter, wheat and normal flour bread- really good!
13. Ice cream treat Surprise!
14. Doing Laundry in a Mini-Tropical Storm (My washing Machine is outside)
15. Meeting some PCVs in Town for Lunch!
16. The ability to Laugh!
17. One of the cats that went Hiking with us calming says "Are you stuck?" as my foot is SLIGHTLY wedge between two rocks (it was totally fine and no part of my foot/ankle was harmed)
18. The Power of Good Company!
19. Post Secret Sunday!(Two of my favorites are here from this week!)
20. Suprise Seeing of Austin Tonight- I Skyped my Mom only to HAPPILY see Austin and Jennifer!!

This Is Life....

Everyday life in Dominica is full of amazing, funny and unexpected moments that make me laugh out loud and just look at my life and smile. These moments remind me that I am on an island and I cannot run to Meijer when an issues comes up. I have found the longer I am in Dominica, the more I take a moment to smile at situations. There is no sense of panic because issues/concerns cannot be fixed as quickly as they can in the States, it is just a fact of life.

Let me paint you a beautiful picture of the event that made me smile from ear to ear. Today I had a Fourth of July Party (See Pictures on tomorrow Blog), it went FANASTIC! It was not as amazing as the days of going up north, fighting for candy at the parade, Dad yelling “Get it in the Hat” and Grandma giving us all bags to decorate to hold the candy. Or the Moments of two males (that will remain nameless- but I KNOW you know who you are) that would throw snappers that the walking by individuals while we were all waiting for the fireworks to start and the amazing ice cream we would fill ourselves up with. It went well- the girls enjoyed the food and the S mores we made.

Anyways, I am going to the river on Saturday so these girls were going to check me to make the pizza and the cake. But before they came over this thirteen year old boy came over and he simply CRACKED me up! He should be a stand up comedian. He has just a simply honesty to his voice, facial expressions to die for, and voices to make you smile ear to ear. We will hanging out on my porch simply enjoying life.

Then the girls come over, we first make an amazing cake and then we made a pizza. The cake finished, I took it out and replaced it with the pizza to cook for tomorrow. I am just hanging out and go to check on the pizza. When I check on the pizza I notice that the flame is no longer on. I was first checking, “I just ran out of Gas at 10:30PM at night- there is nothing I can do about this one.” I check the top burner just to find out the flame is not going on either- MY GAS IS OUT! Without even thinking, I take my half finished pizza upstairs (on top of all of this it is raining) to my Landlord in hopes she would finish cooking it for me. Her Gas is also about to finish, so as I am typing this there is a half finished pizza in my fridge that may get cooked tomorrow. I called one of my bus driver friends who told me, he will help me in the morning and get me gas tomorrow in Town. I am Thankful for my amazing bus drivers who are always looking out for me and the other individuals of my village.


This is life, the lovely life I live and enjoy. I find each day little things change about me and I notice things about my self I enjoy and other characteristics I need to improve on. There was no panic in the situation, no stress, no urgency. There are less times I have to say to myself "Every will work out or it will be OK" This situation is simply, but it is truly out of my hands, at 10:30PM at night that is not a single things I could do. Tomorrow, there might not be any Gas in town (was there Gas in town- that is the question?) but why worry because we will cross that bridge when I get there. I am working on taking a more relaxed view on life and situations. Do not get me wrong, I still worry my little self but it is getting better. A dear friend of mine in Dominica told me something simply, “We will just take one day at a time.” I have been told that on numerous different occasions but it holds another meaning in Dominica. I truly have to take one day, one hour, one minute at a time. Things change too quickly and are too random to plan to far in advance. It is one amazing, unexpected, random, and beautiful journey I am on at the moment. I am learning the true meaning of rolling with the punches, taking a day at a time, and smiling when God is teaching his lessons.

Activity: "Arts and Expressions; Changing Lives"

Here is some information about my First BIG Activity! I love Summer Time and one of the BIGGEST reasons beside the sunshine is for SUMMER CAMP! So I was thrilled to find out that I was going to assist in the planning and running of the two week long Summer Camp! Below is details regarding the camp! Thank You to Delroy (the Director) who posted this on his blog and I just copy and pasted the information!



My Worksite is putting together a two-week summer camp for children between the ages of 5 and 13. The camp is expected to develop their creative juices and assist in the holistic development and social interaction of the kids.
The children will be exposed to a wide range of activities and programs including arts and craft, music, dancing, drama and some educational programs (spelling bee, reading, presentations, etc). We will also be going to the Gardens to do Sports and Rec, a Scavenger/Trivia Hunt,and have an English Group come in to do reading activities with the younger students. In addition to my self I will have 6 amazing young adults (College and Older High School Students) working with me to ensure the camp is fun and runs as smoothly as a camp can. We are hoping for 45 Children.

Faces of Dominica!

Joys of 6/30

Happy Last Day of JUNE! Man time is sure flying by when you are having FUN! I still cannot believe tomorrow will be JULY! Sorry to my Michigan People but JULY use to mean that there was only ONE more month of SUMMER and WARMTH but NOW it Means that there will be SUNSHINE SUNSHINE SUNSHINE but Hurricane Season is more strong in Middle of July to Early September. You take the good with the bad I guess!

Joys 6/30
1. TALKING To My Sister and AUSTIN! Lots of Smile, Giggles, and Chatter from Mr. Austin himself! My Lovely but Sassy sister thought I forgot about her, but I just did not get to today's JOYS yet! My sister is an amazing women though, she is strong, smart, lovely, organized, task focused and GREAT at whatever she does. She gives straight forward advice (which I needed at many moments of my life), has been there to calming help me out of many situation (ex: First person I called when I got into a car accident- 3 hours away from her- but before I knew it everything was taken care because of her). Most importantly she is there with me to celebrate my JOYS and comfort me in my stressors!
2. EATING FISH! Yes- I use to NOT touch fish with a Ten Foot Pole (and would agree with Dad when Mom wanted to order Fish but he claimed it would smell up the house and car), but today I went to a Fishing Village and had a piece of my friends steam fish and it was really good. I think I might get my own next time. This is a BIG Step for me! The restaurant we went to was very unique. Its structure is a Shack made out of Bamboo, with a Bar and a Restaurant, seating for about 10 inside and 5 outside. With standing for about another 8. It is located about 7 feet away from the Caribbean Sea. What happens is you go to the bar, you say you want Fish, the guy pulls out a bowl of cleaned and cut fish (from the Caribbean Sea you are looking at), you pick what one you want, they put it on a plate for you then you walk about 5steps go to the window where the cook is- she is this amazing women and she will cook the fish just how you want it. Talk about FRESH and Cooking to Order!
3. Since I did not have fish- it was late and no where was really open any more so I had Ice Cream For Dinner!
4. Seeing the Passion Parents have for their children. I went to a PTA meeting at the School I am attached to and it was amazing to see (almost sent goose bump throughout my body) the passion and love these Parents had for their Children. The Parents were the voices of the Children and they were voicing their opinions loud and strongly!
5. Finding a new place to buy Delicious Ice Pops (Even though I think they may of given me a tummy ache)
6. Cannot forget about talking to my Mom and Dad!