6 Months and Counting

Tom and I went diving this morning, a couple of wreck dives with a local dive shop, afterwards was having lunch at Schooner's and enjoying the amazing weather that we have had since a storm moved out yesterday afternoon, when we looked at each other and said 'We don't have to leave tomorrow' with a clinking of beer bottles to celebrate the moment!
This moment describes the last 6 months..... yes it has been 6 months... almost 7 since we landed in KW.

When we look back over these past months so much has happened we are still in amazement that we took the leap and did the move. It wasn't and still isn't always easy and we have learned a lot but definitely one of the best decisions of our life!

So here are a few observations about following our dream........

Stuff is just STUFF! Boy was this a large lesson for me to learn as you know from the blog when we were packing and moving. It is really amazing what little you need to live to be happy and that Internet shopping doesn't have to be a way of life (as many of you know it was for me). With only having 1000 square feet and too much stuff in it already (yes we are still getting rid of clothes and shoes) there is no need to shop. As part of the general population down here we too have little space and limited money to spend so we all do with what we have and share what we can.

Living on ONE income..... Yes this has been a transition! We knew that when we left we would be living on my income and that Tom would make some money but we referred to that as 'beer' money. Of course things don't play out as we plan and after the initial 2 months of Tom working on the Dare in dry dock he has spent most of his time logging sea days (non-paid of course) for his captains license and diving as an investor. So this has severely limited out disposable income and we are learning to budget. Now this is not an unusual position to be in here. It is expense to live here and we are lucky that we are not dependent on tourism for our income, as many are. It is not uncommon for a friend to say 'low on funds so we need to find the best happy hour for the money'. We all know we all live on tight budgets and are in it together.

Thank heavens for friends! We didn't realize how much our Mel Fisher friends would come into play with us getting settled in and calling KW home. It is interesting on how you get plugged into life in a new place when you don't work in a job where you make friendships through work since my job works out of the house and Tom doesn't have a full time one. We have had to meet and create friendships in a different way. Jan, Ray, Cliff and Susan have been there for us more than they will ever know in getting us connected and providing us support.

Island lifestyle. Such a difference!!!

• First of all I haven't driven on the island since we have arrived. No need to! We walk to almost everywhere and I can tell you it must have been a hoot today when Tom and I were both on the scooter along with 2 large dive bags. A tourist photo op if there ever was one.
• There is a market, drug store, hardware store, dive shop, liquor store, restaurants and of course bars all within walking distance. We do drive about 1 a month to the Publix grocery store to stock up on the large, heavy items that are to much to carry home and usually hit any other stores that the car is needed for at that time.
• The weather is amazing. It is a nice change to have weather and wake up each morning to something different. We will admit that August was hot and muggy but lately the ocean breeze has been coming through so even if it is hot and humid the breeze makes it very livable.
• Events are never ending.... this is a busy place! It seems that almost any day of the week you can find something to go to. Everything from gay bingo on Sunday afternoon to poker on Tuesdays to coconut races on Friday and so on. Sometimes we aren't sure what to go to next.
  
• Music! Due to the amount of bars here there is also an endless variety of live music all the time. We have already found a favorite local band, Caffeine Carl. So no matter what you want to listen to you can usually find it. There is a local paper, Paradise, that comes out each Thurs filled with the events and music played around town.
  
• KW people. Of course everyone we have met is from somewhere else. We are refereed to as 'fresh water conchs' since we were not born on the island and can never be a 'true conch'. We have met a few true conchs but not very many so we know they exist. Our friends are from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia and the list goes on. Once in awhile we meet someone from California but usually it is an east coast state. Jan and Ray have been on the inland the longest with 10 years (from Penn) and of course we have been here the shortest time. With so many people from so many places it makes for a lot of fun with sports and everyone cheering for there own teams.
  
• Sports.... usually water based with fishing in the lead. Lots of fishing here and lots of fishing tournaments. Then it would be softball then bocce ball. We are joining a team for the winter league of bocce ball. People love to be outside here and anything you can do when you are outside, even if it is having a game of horseshoes in a friends back yard (Saturday night at Chris's house).

So we have settled into island life easily and really love it. It was easier than we thought possible since it seems it is where we were meant to be. Yes we miss our family and friends, not enough of you visit by the way, but this is the place for us. At least for now..... Jan and Ray are moving to St Croix in a couple of years and we are thinking about going with them. So if you want to experience KW from the local side then make your travel arrangements soon!

Boobs & Bikes

Yes in deed... I think I have now seen more silicone and chrome in one place than ever before!
It was the 36th Annual Key West Poker run and it was the most bikes (and boobs) that I have seen in one place. Here is the website in case you are not familiar with what a poker run is - http://www.petersonskeywestpokerrun.com/custompage.asp?pg=history

They started rolling in on Thurs and then rolling out today. It was estimated the 10,000 came down for the event and based on last nights crowds that seemed about right. Duval (the main party street) was closed for at least 5 blocks and Greene (which crosses Duval by Sloppy Joe's) was closed for 2 blocks. This is where bikes lined both sides of the street. It was amazing all that we saw. There were some amazing bikes!

Then of course there were the much endowed woman who also had a lot to show so at times it was hard to determine what to look at next. In Key West it is legal for women to be completely topless as long as they are painted so it is a tradition during events here that painting booths are set up and many women get painted. So to say the least there were more than a few of those around. I was amazed at the number of older woman (over 50) who get painted or have amazingly small tops on. Who would have thought!

Tom and I spent a few hours just watching the crowd and wandering through the bikes. Luckily we live a few blocks off of Duval so when we were done it was a 10 minute walk home to where it is much more peaceful with only the occasional bike coming down the street. Ours is also a one way street which cuts down on traffic.

Then in contrast to Sat night I attended the CMA Bike Blessing this morning. Tom was off playing dive master for Mel Fisher investors (which he is doing all week) so I decided to attend. It's the closest thing to church service that I have attended since we moved. We haven't found a new church here since the first run of looking for one led us to the usual standard religion, conservative churches which is not the non-denomination/ bible based church we have previously attended and loved. You would have thought that in a place that is so unconventional that there would be more of a choice. OK there is 1 non-denominational church but it is for the gay community so I didn't think that was a good choice. In fact there are a lot of churches but at first glance we haven't found one we want to attend, have to dress for (yes they dress up for church here) and sing hymns!
OK so back to the CMA Bike Blessing..... CMA is the Christian Motorcyclists Association and they held a nice service at Mallory Square which included a blessing of the bikes and those who ride. There was about 100 or so people who attended, some of them who are CMA members and other, like me, that just wanted to attend the service. The majority of the attendees also brought there bike to be blessed for the ride so they were all lined up in Mallory Square facing the ocean. It was a beautiful picture of all of the bikes and ocean in the morning sun along and a great group of people to spend some time with. Here is their website in case you are interested in their work - http://www.cmausa.org/

So ends another weekend in KW. It was good to have the city filled with tourists again. With the last 3 storms coming through and 2 of them having mandatory evacuations it causes people to change their vacation plans and head elsewhere. This town is very much dependent on tourism so it was good to have the noise & money return (even if I wasn't able to get my favorite seat at the Iguana) and hopefully to stay since there isn't any storms headed our way in the near future. At least we hope not but the storm season doesn't officially end till Nov so continue to keep us in your prayers.

Taryn & Brandon's Adventure

There has been a lot going on in Taryn & Brandon's life so we wanted to share it with you.

Lets start with May of this year when Brandon graduated from GCU with his degree in Christian Studies. This will allow him to pursue his passion of being a youth minister. While going to school this year he had already started his pastor adventure by working with a start up church in Scottsdale and creating thier youth program.

Then this summer he and Taryn moved to Scottsdale to be near the church and her work. She also had a job in Scottsdale working as a nursing extern for Mayo Clinic for the summer. Taryn still had 1 more semister to complete her degree in nursing from GCU so this was a great opportunity for her.

They also decided to become dog parents once they had there own apartment which wasn't on campus. They went to the pound and are now the proud parents of Tayler. She was 6 months old when they got her and is a lab mutt. The cutest thing you have ever seen!

During the summer they also found out that the start up church wasn't going to be able to move Brandon to a full time job so they decided it was time to look for a job that was something more stable. This led them to a country wide search of churchs who had an opening for a youth pastor. Brandon ended up with a number of interested churchs from CA to IL to MO to VA. In the end it was the Journey Christian Church in Midlothian VA (a suburb of Richmond) that won! If you would like to check it out here is the web site
http://journeychristian.us/index.php?nid=37507&s=hm
The postion they offered was for Brandon to start Sept 21. This meant that they will live apart for 3 months with him in VA and her in AZ. Then when she graduates in Dec she will join him. They have given up thier Scottsdale place, rented a VERY cute house in Midlothian and she is going to live with Catheryn (her old college roommate) until she leaves for VA.
As I write this she, Brandon and Tayler are in Brandon's car crossing the country to move him to VA. Then we will be back in AZ in Dec and get to drive her to VA after graduation. Can't you just picture Tom, Taryn and I in the Echo for this road trip. What a hoot that will be!
Also remember that Taryn & Brandon helped us drive to FL so this makes MULTIPLE trips for all of us across many states with Taryn winning the prize for the most since she gets to do it 3 times in 1 year.

The latest (and best) part in all of this is Taryn found out a few days ago that she is pregnant!!!!!!!
Yes Brandon will be a Dad, Tayler will have a sibling and we will be grandparents. All of us are VERY EXCITED!!!!! She is only 6 weeks along and due May 17 so things will stay as planned with us scheduling a trip to VA in May! Of course there will be blog updates as things progress.

If you would like to send them a Congrats she can be reached at volybal2@msn.com

Capt'n Tom

Tom's New Office!

Yes he is Capt'n Tom!
As of yesterday at 6 pm Tom passed the test to acquire his OUPV Captain's USCG license.
What the means in KW terms.... he will have his 6 pack license or be a charter boat captain.
What that means to me is that he can take people out in a boat AND GET PAID FOR IT!!!! With an added bonus of being out from under my feet everyday (although I will miss my man-slave and all the work he does).
What it means to the Coast Guard is that he will be an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel of no more than 6 paying passenger for Inland or Near Coastal waters (up to a 100 miles off shore) on a boat up to 100 gross tons.

So what is this all about you ask..... no, not just something I had him do to get him out of the house for 6 days..... but something that he was asked to do to help out with a friend's business.
Chris (who owns the Lucky Dog and I have blogged about before) has taken an Investor Relations position with Mel Fisher so Tom has been helping out as a dive master as you know. Now Chris has asked Tom to captain his boat. This means that Tom will be taking over some of the Lucky Dog charters that Chris books. Chris will remain the owner and Tom will work for him. Most of the work for the Lucky Dog is taking MF investors out to dive the treasure site (yes Tom still gets to treasure dive) but when it isn't booked for that then there are charters out for dive trips (independent of the treasure work), fishing trips (Tom will take a fishing guide with him), dolphin watching, back country travels or custom charters. Tom will now have the pleasure of spending many of his days out on the water.

There are still a few items he has to complete and send in for his license which he will be working on this week (official logging of previous boat hours, drug test, physical and so on that the Coast Guard requires). He and Chris continue to work together to teach Tom how to run the business and the boat. Tom is learning the water routes out to the treasure site (30 miles off shore), dive and snorkel spots out on the reef, routes to take in the back country and so on.

So when Chris called a few weeks ago and asked Tom if he would get his 6 pack and captain the Lucky Dog boat we were both shocked. Now Chris has known us ever since we have been involved with MF but with all of the other people in KW (and Chris knows a lot of them since he has been here 10 years) that already have their 6 pack it is an honor to be asked to help out with someone else's boat/business.

So this is part of the amazing Adventure that we weren't expecting. Tom is getting to do something he hadn't ever thought of or planned on. Being here has opened up a lot of opportunities that you just never know you can do until you follow your dream!

Ike Dodges KW

So the winds are blowing and the rain is on it's way!. Ike has moved off to the south of Cuba and will miss us as a direct hit, YEA!
We are still under a tropical storm warning with rain and wind which should last through Wed. So I just wanted to give an update that all is well and another one has missed us.
Cuba is our lucky charm since it either deflects or weakens a storm before it can hit us. That cannot be said for them, Turks and Caicos or especially Haiti. Haiti has been hit the hardest with the last 4 hurricanes this year being a direct hit. Last count 630 have died so we count our blessings for Cuba and the protection it gives our island.

Here We Go Again With Ike

WE ARE NOT EVACUATING......

That being said we wanted to let you know we have decided to stay and are not leaving even though you have heard from the news and the Weather Channel that there is an evacuation. It is true that one has been issued. The tourists are leaving and many have left based on our walk around town this morning. Tomorrow the residents are supposed to leave. No one that we know is leaving. All of our friends and and neighbors are staying so we have decided to continue the adventure and stay too. At this time the only residents that seem to be leaving are those that live in mobile homes or have medical issues. The designated hurricane shelters are only rated to withstand a category 2 and it is estimated that Ike will be a 3 by the time it gets close to us. That is why these people have to leave since they have no where to ride out the storm. We don't have that concern with our house since it is protected, on the highest point of the island, and has withstood many previous storms.

Now Ike is not scheduled to be in our area till Tues. That is along time away and a lot can happen during that time. Based on the latest set of hurricane tracking models (11am today) there are 4 that show Ike heading south of us and 2 that have him coming close to us. Still to early to tell.

So I just wanted give the latest..... don't believe everything the media tells you ........ and I will give an update on Monday as to what the scoop is. If you want to know before that or want to check in just give us a call..... we will be at the bar with the rest of the locals!

Crusing Complete

We have returned from the cruise with Taryn and Brandon and had a GREAT time. Hurricane Gustav was behind us the whole way but never caught up so it was a great week of sun and water. It was also the first time Tom had left KW since we have arrived. Of course it wasn't to traumatic since he went from being on an island to cruising around islands!

The above picture was taken in Jamaica where we spent the day hiking up a water fall, yes we hiked UP a series of waterfalls called Mayfield Falls. It was a great time. And yes you will notice both Tom and I had a tan. Not a big surprise with Tom since he is out on a boat so much but I to have one. In fact it is probably the tannest I have ever been. It's not that I am trying but we spend a lot more time out in the sun here so it just seems to happen.

Back to the cruise..... the islands were great. The cruise was great. The biggest ship we have ever cruised on and Brandon's first cruise. There were 4200 passengers on the boat but they did an amazing job of handling the people and getting things done. It was rare to stand in line for anything. The cruise activity staff was the best we have seen. They were a lot of fun and had so much for us to do that we didn't get to do all that we wanted to. And of course the never ending amount of incredible food!!!! Believe it or not Brandon got FULL about day 6. I wasn't sure that would ever be possible!

So we are back home to unpack and get ready to go back to work (for at least one of us), from vacation to island living, it is tough ;)