What We're NOT Doing...

Sometime in the last few weeks I realized the only way to figure out what is happening on the island is to check the back few pages of the newspaper each day and see the Events listings. While there are online calendars that purport to list the activities, there are always things missing and there are way too many to check all the time (STT Source, VI Running, and VINow.com). I knew there had been a 5k run over MLK weekend for the past few years, but the VI running website didn't have a date listed. So somewhere around then I started looking in the paper on a daily basis in hopes I'd see the race mentioned so I could do it. Long story short, the race ended up being this past Sunday, which I found out on Friday, and I was too sore from my hills workout to do the race. But I did come across a bunch of other interesting things going on. Most of which, we are completely not taking advantage of. But, I thought I'd share them anyways.

• This past weekend was the Carib Cup Cricket Tournament.
• Last Saturday there was a training run for the 8 Tuff Miles race. We passed on this because it's the middle 2.5 miles - you have to catch the elusive bus to the start and then hitchhike back afterwards. Hmmm, guess we'll just be surprised when the real thing comes. (It's not too late to join us! We were so close to getting marathoner Bree to come join us, but it fell through... Consider it, you get a sticker, a fake tattoo, a t-shirt and a medal for finishing!)
• Yesterday was the State of the Territory address (sounds a lot cooler than State of the State, doesn't it?). Actually, we weren't invited to this one...
• This week, the VI National Women's Soccer team is starting practices at UVI. See, now I missed the try-outs because I wasn't checking the paper! Maybe they've still got space... :)
• On Saturday there's a quelbe music concert at UVI, and Ten Sleepless Knights will be there. I hear all the covered seats are taken.
• Next Sunday is a 10k race. I would really attempt this, but I hear most of it is up a decent hill. I think I'll wait until the Women's Jogger Jam on March 12. (I'll sign you up, too, Mom!)
• On February 11, there is a swim at Magen's Bay to raise money to fight breast cancer. (This one, we plan to do!)

So, we've got our excuses. But now that I'm checking it on a regular basis, I'm sure we'll come across something interesting and exciting that works for us. We'll post about it whenever it happens.

December and January Photos

As promised, a blog post of photos to give you a visual of what we've been up to!

Trunk Bay on St John, taken the day we went to St John with Derek and Suzanne. This is actually a bunch of pictures pieced together by Dave, photographer and editor extraordinaire.

Derek at the scenic overlook that looks to the south side of the island - view is of town and Caribbean Sea.

Suzanne having a tasty drink out of a pineapple at Duffy's Love Shack.

Kendra and Dave at the top of Paradise Point. (It's a little blurry, it's not you, unless you've been drinking bushwackers.)

Derek and Suzanne at Paradise Point.

Blackbeard's Castle on St Thomas. (this is a pieced together photo too)

My judge swearing me in as a member of the California state bar.

View from my office window.

Dave, at the end of a lovely Mexican Train domino game.

Tourists, BBQing, and Earthquakes - Oh my!

Apologies for neglecting the blog this month! We've been quite busy now that tourist season has kicked in. Our first guest of the year was Dave's friend Brent in from California during the first week of the month. Just a quick run-down of fun things he got to do while he was here:

• Hiked the St John Reef Bay trail with Dave. The National Park Service has a tour where they drive you to the top of the trail and provide a guide for the 2-3 hour hike down to the beach, then they pick you up in a boat and drive you back to the dock where you started. It's listed in the 1,000 Places to See Before You Die book, so highly recommended for all our visitors. I haven't gone yet as the tour is only on weekdays, but hopefully sometime soon I'll get to go.
• Went on a private Ecotours trip with our favorite guide Dave. All three of us went kayaking to Cas Cay, and then hiked to Red Point and then snorkeled. The guys saw a shark, but I missed it.
• Enjoyed sunset at Paradise Point after riding the Tramway up to the top. Every Wednesday is happy hour there. No, drinks aren't cheaper, but they stay open until 9pm, instead of just 5pm, and it's $5 per person for the tram instead of tourists getting charged $16, and they have a band there. It was quite cool the day we went because Bree Sharp, a singer I'd seen in California once on Lilith Fair, was playing. We went there with Derek and Suzanne too, and plan on taking all of our guests there. Yummy conch fritters and Bushwackers too!

Another thing Brent got to do of course was enjoy tasty food Dave cooked for us. One of Dave's new things is to barbecue a plantain on the grill whole with its skin on still. It is mighty good and super easy! And no added oil from frying! Dave is becoming the BBQ master again, after not having a grill for the two years we spent in Berkeley. In fact, we just had a yummy snack of grilled tofu!

Also on the topic of food, like many other people this time of year, I'm aiming for healthier food intake. I've been on a pumpkin kick lately - lots of fiber, vitamins and something else... You can substitute it for butter when making cookies or breads. This may be sacralige for the Nielsens, but I made Pumpkin Stickum's. No butter, just pumpkin instead, and a few other modifications. They need work, but I'll send the recipe to anyone who's interested.. Yesterday I made pumpkin oatmeal bread. It was mighty tasty, though a little gooey. We discovered the Health Food store on the island last weekend. It was very exciting and I will certainly make some more trips there in the future.

So what you've all been wondering about based on the title of this post. Yes, we have earthquakes! Not too suprising given we are pretty close to where the Caribbean plate, North American plate, and South American plate all meet up. One night last week an earthquake woke us up around midnight. There was also apparently one the week before but we slept through that one which was a 4.0.

Other than that exciting news... not a whole lot else is new. I'm trying to get in 6 hours of exercise each week, in addition to the healthier eating. (It's bathing suit season year round here, after all!) Yesterday I had 30 minutes to go in the afternoon so I decided just to walk up and down our driveway. It is mighty steep (sometimes the car struggles) and was a real workout, I'm pretty sore today. But I'm going to try to do it a few times a week as the 8 Tuff Miles is coming up at the end of February. It's the largest footace (entries wise) in the USVI and BVI. It's a walk/run across St John and it's basically all hills. Anyone care to join us?

We have lots of new photos to post, I'll try to just do a photos-only post soon so I can get them up. Today is a chilly 75-degree wintery day so I best go get a warm cup of tea and curl up with a good book!

Old Years and Three Kings

Happy New Year! Here, and I think other places in the Caribbean, people refer to New Years Eve as Old Years. You'll hear "what are you doing for Old Years?" And people have Old Years Balls and some places have fireworks for Old Years Night. But based on our walk this morning at Magen's Bay, people still say Happy New Year to one another.

A lot of people go to Jost Van Dyke for Old Years. Foxy's bar and restaurant on the nearby British Virgin Island has one of the best and biggest parties in the world (or at least, that's how it's advertised here). I think I heard that only about 300 people live on the island, but 15,000 may show up for the party. We decided to pass because aside from my being sick, I'd heard that many previous clerks have gone and ended up having a hard time getting back because so many people are swarming the ferries, and I didn't really feel like spending the night on the beach. We had a good time at home watching movies and playing dominoes; same thing we're doing today! Nice to have some lazy time.

I'm enjoying having long weekends right now. Had a four day weekend for Christmas and now for New Years too (Fridays and Mondays off). Like last week, this week is a three day work week because Jan. 6 is Three Kings Day, which is a court holiday here. I'd never heard of it before it showed up on my calendar as a holiday. From what I've learned online, it's also known as the Epiphany. We get the day off to celebrate the three kings that brought Jesus gifts. It's also the last day of the twelve days of Christmas (so maybe I'll get a dozen roast fish?).

P.S. A typo in the last post was pointed out to me - it should have stated that the Sea Trekkin' helmet weighs 75 (not 7) pounds out of water. Thanks, Dad!