Beautiful day

Yesterday I got a new bathroom rug. The old one seemed yucky and that was bothering me. I found one that was bright and soft. Squares of green, blue, pink, brown, yellow, and more. It would complement the shower curtain I bought in November and would match the colors of my towels. But I paused for quite a few minutes in the store, wondering if this purchase was really necessary, maybe there was a cheaper one, etc. I finally was tired of debating it, figured I should have something nicer since I'm having visitors, and I threw the rug in my cart.

I got home, rolled up the cruddy old rug, cut the tags off of the new one, placed it on the bathroom floor and I didn't think of it again. Last night I walked into the bathroom without turning the light on and a big smile crept across my face as my feet surprisingly landed on a soft, plush surface. Oh, yes... the new rug...

I'm taken aback by how happy it made me last night to have that new rug. Such a simple thing. I admired it every time I went in the bathroom, remarking to myself on the pretty colors and running my feet across the soft fibers. I walked around on it, feeling it squish between my toes. How those bright squares brought life to this bathroom with its gray-tiled floor.

I am reminded that on my first Sunday here in St. Thomas, the priest charged us with making each day of our lives beautiful. For each day on the calendar, he said, we have just 24 hours in which to make that day beautiful by doing something nice for ourselves. Funny how a 2 foot x 3 foot bath rug ended up making my day beautiful without my even trying. I will try today. We can make 2008 a great year by making each and every day of it beautiful.

Make your day beautiful. You deserve it and hopefully it will give you strength for your journey. Don't wait or expect for someone else to do it for you because yes, you may be disappointed, but more importantly because it's your life and your responsibility to make it good.

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to take a shower so that I can use my new rug while pondering how to make this 24-hour period beautiful. Go and do something nice for yourself.

Update on BVI

Hello! Thanks, Mel, for checking in after my vacation to BVI and I miss you too. You should have escaped the Indiana cold to spend some time in sunny BVI with us! We spent the first day on a charter boat going to Jost Van Dyke, Virgin Gorda, Norman Island, then Tortola. It was fabulous! The weather was perfect.

As I was laying in the sun on the boat, going through the water and feeling the wind and looking at the beautiful scenery, I felt like I wanted to stay just like that forever. Of course, though, we did get off the boat to drink, snorkel, explore, and lunch. And since I didn't buy the boat or get an offer from the captain, we had to leave it at the end of the day. By the way, if anybody wants to know what to get me for my birthday... :)

I am going to wait to post a complete accounting of the revelry once I have all the pictures (at times we just used Jen or Jennie's camera). Until then, I'll share these two pics. As you can see, a good time was had by all on the boat. These are all nursing friends from the hospital. And the second picture is another beautiful sunset, taken from the deck at our hotel on Tortola (Rhymer's).

Hope you are all doing great and I will be in touch again soon!

Time for Vacation

I now own snorkel gear! I can't believe it. I hope to put it to good use over the next two days as this girl is taking a vacation. That's right. All this work and running around and USVI scenery has overwhelmed me and I must take a break. A group of us are chartering a boat tomorrow and heading to Virgin Gorda (where we will see "The Baths" and "The Caves") and Tortola, both in the British Virgin Islands. We'll then stay overnight in Tortola and catch a ferry back Wednesday afternoon. It should be beautiful and I hope to have some pictures to share with you all from the adventure. I am a little tired after working all weekend (and, I must confess, after my bushwhacker) and am heading to bed. I hope that you are all well and I will be online again soon with new stories to share. Much love.

Ok, Peter

Peter, I think you were picking on me with that last comment. But, here are a couple pictures of me that I do think turned out pretty well. I don't know if they are great, but they are fun and a little less posed. These were taken on my latest trip to St. John.

Don't worry, everyone, more pictures of actual scenery are coming! :)

Random pics from St John Adventure

Margo and I had a great time driving around St John. I have been back 3 times since then and I like it more and more each time I go. I have some pictures from the other trips that I will post at a later time (I have to run and grab some dinner now and then will turn in early after these 3 days of work). But, I wanted to just show some other random pictures from that first trip to St. John.

This is a view from the ferry of the dock area in Red Hook, which is the great little area near where I live and where I spend a lot of my out & about time.




This is just me kicking back and enjoying the view from one of the scenic overlooks.




This is a view from atop a very high hill/mountain we came across as we made our way back to the ferry dock in St. John. There was a restaurant and a few shops up there and was a quaint little area.




This is a night-time view of home sweet home, St. Thomas, from the ferry on our return trip.

Peace Hill - the rest of the story...

So, Margo was ready to concede that all these paths led nowhere and that the beautiful tower we found (which, it turns out, is a sugar mill structure of some sort) was the destination for this stop. I had a hard time accepting this, as many of you can imagine I would, and wasn't willing to give up.

On the way back to the car, I noticed a piece of cloth hanging in a bush and saw the entrance to a small path. I ventured a little way and it seemed the path was long, so I went to get Margo to accompany me. We wandered down the path for a long time. We began to doubt if it led anywhere, but we had hope and pressed on. As we made our way along, we began to hear the sound of waves, which encouraged us along. Our perseverance paid off, as we found ourselves on a beautiful beach which is a sea turtle nesting area. What do you think? Not a bad find...




The beach had a lovely area of rocks that were fun to climb around on. Not the best picture of me, but you get the idea...



And here's the view from that area. Just gorgeous!



And look at this little guy that I found. I was so proud of this picture, which took a lot of patience to get, by the way. Isn't he handsome!



Margo and I agreed that this stop was the best of the day. I think it's because it truly was an adventure. We weren't sure what we were looking for when we set out. We didn't really have expectations, we just had open minds. There is a freedom in that.

She's back!

Howdy, folks! I apologize for the long silence and I thank you so much for getting in touch with me to check up on me and/or to request that I update the blog. It's so nice to know that you are reading (or trying to!) the blog and thinking of me. I have been a little down, but have also been busy working or creating new adventures to blog about. :)

So, let me just begin by telling you more about my pre-Christmas trip to St John with Margo. When last seen, your heroine was in a confused state on Peace Hill (the irony abounds)...