I cannot even begin to wrap my brain around this last week. It was amazing and crazy and hot and itchy and beautiful and exciting and wow.

Just wow.

St John is a beautiful place. The city part (which is smaller than Sutton) is dirty and crowded and full of tiny one way streets. But the other 80 percent is national park land. So the views of the mountains and the ocean are just overwhelming.

I'll post pics at the end, don't you worry.

Our trip in took forever it felt like. Plane after plane and then a crazy taxi and then a ferry and then a scarier taxi (that my luggage flew out of at one point) and then finally got to maho bay camp. It's all stairs and wooden paths. My leg muscles got a ridiculous work out this weekend.

Out treehouse was tiny. Screen windows. One box fan. Bathhouse up the hill with cold water showers. We really were camping. But to wake up to the ocean.. It makes my heart explode.

We spent most days on the beAch, either at maho, hawks nest, or Francis key. It's all little cove beaches with either soft sand or lots of coral. The water really is as calm and turquoise as it looks in photos. I wish I ha a good camera and could have photographed everything.

For my bday we went up to the ruins of a 1780s dutch sugar plantation and mill that overlooks the British VI. That was just jaw dropping to see, all the history. We learned later in the week tht where we were staying was the main port in and out of the islands and that the tiny island with a barricade looking crumbly structure outside our window was the weigh station of sorts, where all traffic in and out had to stop.

There were a shit ton of sand fleas that big spray didn't deter. I look like I have some sort of pox with my tan. I still itch and woke myself up scratching last night.

When it rains it RAINS, but never for very long. We played a lot of cards and read a lot of books, which would have happened regardless of whether the sun was out or not.

I'm thankful for having had the opportunity to take this trip, but I'm also thankful for being home in my own bed and have access to hot showers.

The most amazing part was snorkeling/swimming with all the creatures. Including a sea turtle, sting ray, and schools and schools of fish. I felt like my own version of finding nemo.

Maho also has an art studio where you can do glass work and pottery. I took the glass class and it was amazing. Also hot.

I would absolutely go back again and can't recommend it enough.





















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I've been thinkin about blogging about this for most of the week now but just haven't wanted to really. But. When things are on your mind this is a good outlet.

My great uncle passed away on Sunday. I hadnt visited with him in probably a couple years now. His wife is pappaw ware's older sister. They were the family members who always came in for Christmas and family reunions it didn't see much more than that. It's not that I don't love them, bc I do, but I dont feel overwhelming grief at his passing bc he was very elderly and unwell at this point and he wouldn't have known me etc. I'm still sad, don't get me wrong. He was a good man and always fun to be around when they were around. But I didn't really know anything about him.

While Mammaw was making my birthday lunch on Sunday she was in the mood to talk and remember and so I sat there in the kitchen with her while she cooked bc I love hearing stories from when she and pappaw were younger. And i learned so much abt uncle Russ and aunt freda that I just had no idea about. They lived such interesting lives. They got married out of high school and he traveled often for work and she would just go with him. They saw so many places this way. You could probably count the number of days they've been apart, up until he got sick anyway, on one hand. Mammaw says she figures aunt Freda won't last long bc she doesn't know how to exist without him.

And that's just amazing to me. You don't hear about that anymore. That's what I want out of my life someday. Maybe not necessarily being inseparable, but someone I can be with for the long haul. I'm not looking anymore for someone to complete me, but rather someone to join me on this crazy journey.

Uncle Russ had a good long and interesting life. I can only hope someday to be as lucky.

But please keep my great aunt in your thoughts. She isn't well herself and this is understandably very hard.

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After a whirlwind weekend in Richmond, sitting at my desk all day was nearly painful.

It really was a good trip. I'm so glad we got to spend time with Laura and Mark in their new hometown, got to explore the city, got to do a crazy fun race, and that I got to have time on the car ride to spend with lish, since I haven't gotten to spend much time with her in awhile.

The race had 8,000 participants. I'm so so proud of Laura for doing this with us, it's not really her thing. Here are some photos:






































I also got to introduce the family to the wonders of the Segway, in Richmond and Braxton.










They all enjoyed it so much, especially dad, that I left it in Braxton for them to play with while I'm going on vacation. Haha.

What else. Richmond is a really pretty old town.



















Above is the White house of the confederacy. Home of jefferson Davis during the civil war. Which is now surrounded on three sides by a mega hospital. It makes me ill.






















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This defines my weekend.



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Today I'm thankful that I have a job (and bc of said job was able to take a day off!).

No but really. Sometimes I think it's crazy how I've gotten where I am. Sure I bitch about morgantown all the time, but I've been incredibly lucky/blessed/whathaveyou to get where I am. I told mom the other day that I'm grateful they pushed me to do well in school all while letting me make mistakes and fall on my ass and learn from it. I don't think this is my forever home or job, not by a long shot, but it's very good for now.

It kills me that my genius brother is wasting his degree and working retail. I've tried to bribe him
Into moving back here with free rent until he gets on his feet again, but he's content where he is. I don't feel content unless I've applied for jobs near the beach. Sadly there doesn't seem to be many opportunities in tech writing
Near the ocean. Maybe I'm meant to always be a mountain girl.

This morning I slept in and went to the outlets with lish and Jason, which is alway fun but dangerous for my paycheck. Then foster called when I got home and wanted me to go to the mall with him to pick him out some dress clothes bc they reprimanded him at law school for rolling in like a hobo in sweatpants. It's nice having him back in town after all these years and i am so proud of him for going to law school though I'd never admit it to him. And now he's got some new clothes and looks mighty fine if I say so myself.

It's going to be a busy week. Less than three weeks til vacation and basically three til my birthday. This has been a pretty life changing year for me. I hope to continue the positive trend.

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I meant to write this earlier but forgot. My friend Jess, for those that don't know her, is currently doing her fellowship in Chicago. Her husband is currently working in New Jersey somewhere. They hadn't seen each other in nearly two months. Jess is a lot like me in the sense that at the end of the day you just feel better when you've got someone to come home too. So needless to say she has been sad.

Last week Jacob called me asking for a favor. He was going to drive overnight and come surprise her before Steff's wedding, and could I get Jess to the cafe early. Yes. Yes I could. It was so hard to keep a secret and come up with some excuse to be there early that I wanted to throw up.

I stayed long enough to snap a few photos for them. If you ever want to know what real love looks like, it's this. It makes my heart happy and even this ol grinch shed a tear or two.





























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