Matt's Favorite Things

Now that we are in our fourth semester here, we finally have down this whole island-living thing. Well, for the most part anyway.

Since the last few posts seem to be focusing on my experience, I thought I'd share with you a few of Matt's favorite things. And because Matt's experience here is much different than mine, it is all school related. Big nerd alert.

iPad
This guy uses this thing all the time. He does everything electronically. Books, notes, question banks. And the occasional Netflix.

Noise Cancelling Headphones
I made sure to clarify I wasn't the 'noise' he was needing to cancel. He promised I wasn't.

External Hard Drive
Because being a doctor means billions of books, videos, lectures, notes, etc. And I'm not exaggerating. Plus, with this, he can back up all of his supplies on different platforms in case of the unspeakable.

Power Strip
In case you haven't noticed, electricity here is uber expensive. So when he's on campus, he'll take his power strip and plug in all of his electronics. Handy!

USMLE First Aid Book
This is the only hard copy book he uses on a regular basis.

Good Walking Shoes
Because having sidewalks everywhere would be boring. Mud hill? Check. Dodging cows on the way to class? Check. Sometimes, you just need a reliable pair of shoes to drudge through knee deep water.

Good Pens and #2 Pencils
I told you. Nerd alert.

Waterproof Backpack
We live in a tropical climate. Five minutes ago it was raining. Now, sunshine. Always prepared like a good Boy Scout that he is. (ahem, Eagle Scout)

Evernote Subscription
He uses Evernote and Noteability to annotate his notes. Apparently this is a big deal.

A Wife
Aw! I take back the nerd comments.

Back in Dominica

Well, we made it back to Dominica for our last trip to the island. It was very strange to think that it would be our last trip here - for now anyway. And I only say that because I've learned when you say things like never coming back, life seems to challenge you.

The trip was rather uneventful. We flew American out of O'Hare, stayed the night in San Juan, and then continued on to Dom via Seaborne. I have to say, Seaborne provided a much better experience than alternate airlines we've encountered. Everything was on time for the most part, which is really all you can ask for.

Our overnight in San Juan was too short. Is it such a lovely island, and we would both like to return and spend some more time exploring.

We got on the plane in Chicago in freezing temperatures and snow, to get off the plane welcomed by sunny skies and 85 degrees. Not too bad.

So then it was off to Dom. We enjoyed our last 'American territory' meal, and made our way.

These photos make Dominica look very eerie to fly into. But it's really not that bad.

Landing in the mid afternoon allowed us to enjoy the beautiful ride on the way home from the airport. The weather here has gotten much more mild than from when we left. We haven't even been running fans during the day. Crazy!

Matt started classes again on Monday. I think he was pretty ready to get back into a routine and get going on the semester. This semester has a bit of a different schedule, so that will take some getting used to, but I'm sure he will figure it out.

Now, the countdown is on! Next month, my mom will be visiting, and then the semester is over in April. I'm sure it will go come and go so quickly. But for now, it's just enjoying our views and relishing our time here on the island!

Christmas Break

Yes, believe it or not, I am still blogging. It's been a pitiful month of no posts, but I'm still here. I do have a pretty good excuse. I was home. In America. With family and friends. Blogging became my last priority. You can't blame a girl.

So instead of following up on the million things we've done in past month, I'll share a few highlights. Tomorrow morning, it's back to Dom.

Tons of family time
Perhaps the best part of being home. Family time. Woo. We made it back in time to get snowed in. Sheila and Landon came over and we hunkered down for snowstorm 1 of 15 while we were home. Playing games, relaxing and catching up. The perfect first weekend home. And then of course there were Christmas's galore. So blessed to be able to be home for the holidays.

Office Time
I headed back to the Indy office for a few days. It's always so wonderful seeing everyone again and so refreshing to back. Unfortunately, time is never long enough.

Catching Up with Indy Friends
In our short time in Indy, we still had some time to catch up with our dear friends we haven't seen in so long. Special thanks to all who were able to make it out. There's something so centering about being surrounded by the people who know you best. Matt and I both needed it.

Pomeroy/Dempsey Wedding
Matt and I traveled 2,000 miles to come home to keep traveling across the states. But what better reason to travel than to see our dear friends tie the knot! Congrats to Bryan and Tabby! It was so wonderful to be there and be a part of your day. And it was so wonderful to be reuinted with our island family. It's just good for your soul to be with 'your people' again. Plus, it was just fun to be together in America!

SNOW

Yes. We got snow. And cold weather. It was fantastic. The snow was so debilitating that I wasn't able to go to Target for the first three weeks we were home. Yes, I'm just as shocked as you are. But we loved every minute of it. Even when it got to -40 degrees. There's something about not sweating that is just awesome.

So in recap, our trip home was nothing short of amazing. It was just what we wanted it to be. Now, we have a flight to San Juan then an overnight there. We should be in Dominica on Friday. It's funny to think that last year at this time we had just arrived in Dom. Now, a year later, we are heading back to the island for our last trip. It doesn't seem possible that it has gone this fast!