We (heart) Our Teachers

We've all been there, done that when it comes to school.

Hopefully, we've all been able to experience that teacher who truly has made learning exciting and had a profound impact on our lives.

Steve and I were talking about this subject the other night. His favorite teacher of all things was a high school English teacher who taught writing in a way that has had the most profound impact on his writing today. And, my favorite teacher was my high school Social Studies teacher who taught me more then just world history. She taught me about taking responsibility for my actions.

The irony is, that I am a self proclaimed English geek and love anything English, and Steve, although his career took a different path, he did his student teaching in Social Studies.

Now that my boys are early on in their school career, I think Ethan has already been blessed with this experience. Maybe I feel this way because he is more tender then Ty and not quite as independent. Ethan needs love from those adults around him. And, luckily for him, he has found this in both his second and first grade teachers. I feel so fortunate too that they have both become my friends. And, his first grade and second grade teacher are best friends. All of Mrs. Lamb's (first grade) students wanted to get Miss C this year. Many of them did.

That was an answered prayer for us.

Here is Ethan's second grade teacher:

Isn't she just beautiful?!!! And, of course this was her wedding day in April (same day as my mom and Al's anniversary). If you want to see some amazing wedding pictures, click here. I love how she captured their relationship.

And this (below), you are going to LoVE this; it's 2nd grade advice for living happily ever after! Some of them made me laugh out loud.

And, did I mention yet...

...that Ethan's teacher married one of my friend's brother? So, this darling girl is Brielle. Not only does she live in our neighborhood, but she and Ethan have been in the same school class for the past 3 years (since kindergarten). I love these two pictures of them. I love the second one, it looks like he is holding out his hand to ask her to dance...he's not; they are both going for the balloon.

And did I mention yet...

...that I loved her use of color at the reception?

The 2 pictures on the left represent the candy favors that were, "especially for Ms. Christensen's students."

And, look at her cake...BEAUTIFUL!!! I love it.

I think Ethan will remember this event for a long time.

He loves his teacher and boy are we going to miss her over the summer!

JaMakin' Memories - Jamaica (1 of 3 posts)

Jamaica is another word for Paradise.

When we decided to go on a trip, we looked at several different options. We thought about experiencing Europe, cruising around the Caribbean, or heading to Hawaii... and in the end, decided on the island paradise of Jamaica.

In the early planning stages, we quickly decided that we wanted a relaxing vacation, not one filled with touring or walking from one historical place to another. Although that will be a later vacation, some day.

From there, we had to decide a cruise or an all-inclusive.

Through his many hours of research, Steve found the perfect spot for us: Couples Tower Isle. And from there the decision was easy. Couples offered us both of what we thought we wanted, the opportunity to sit and be pampered on the beach and options for excursions when we wanted a little more adventure. I think Steve is a little more relax and I am for a little more adventure. Couples was a perfect vacations for us!

Couples Tower Isle was one of the first all-inclusives in Jamaica. In the early 1950s, Tower Isle became a popular Hollywood hangout. Such people as Eva Gabor, Debbie Reynolds, Walt Disney and Princess Margaret have walked the sands of Tower Isle. Couples resorts have won many national awards and been recognized for the outstanding vacations they provide time after time. No wonder people often travel back there when given the chance for another vacation.

Why was Couples perfect for us?

It included so much.

Through our research we quickly realized that some all-inclusives are glorified hotels that offer free dinners at their restaurants with few other included activities. What is the point in that?

Then we found Couples.

They included so many things that others didn't.

They included such things like:

• Our Premier Ocean Room
• Drinks and Food at all hours
• Horseback riding
• Watersports: snorkeling, Hobie Cat sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, pedal boats,
• Scuba diving
• Glass-bottom boat tours
• Dunn's River Falls tour
• Shopping excursions to Ocho Rios
• Catamaran Cruise
• Unlimited Golf
• Shuttle to Island Village, home of Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville"

We didn't have enough time to take advantage of everything.

Makes me want to go back.

The people that we met also make me want to go back. I was so impressed with the Jamaican people. From the workers at the resort, to the tour guides on our excursions, to the drivers of our shuttles everyone was friendly and worked so hard to ensure our every wish.

I felt a little guilty.

When we arrived in Montego Bay, we had about a two hour ride to Tower Isle. I actually didn't mind because I felt like I was able to see Jamaica...a little bit. Some of what I saw hurt my heart so much. I saw huts that probably housed a whole family the could fit into Tyler's bedroom twice over, that I complain is way too small.

I also was able to see and understand the culture a little more because of the wealth of information from our many drivers. I saw the school where Olympic runner Usain Bolt attended as a small child in Jamaica. We saw where Christopher Columbus landed in Discovery Bay when he discovered the island paradise. We saw Jimmy Buffet's Margaritville - which meant nothing to Steve but brought back fond memories of singing that song in the bars of Ocean City, Maryland.

I love the laid back attitude of the Jamaican people, yeah mon. Everything was no problem. I could learn a thing or two.

Jamaica could be my home away from home.

I've already had so much fun reliving my "JaMakin' memories."

JaMakin' Memories - The Activities

DUNN'S RIVER FALLS

Dunn's River Falls is a popular tourist attraction in Ocho Rios that was included as an off-site excursion from our resort. The setting is amazing and the cascades of waterfalls refresh and mesmerize visitors no matter their age.

We hiked up the falls and stopped at opportune moments to enjoy our surroundings and to take pictures. It took us about two hours to hike up with all the stops and picture photos.

PRIVATE BEACH DINNER

Steve surprised me with this little excursion. I loved it. The resort had set up a table on the beach surrounded by candles. We didn't even start dinner until 7:30 which is late for us but so worth the ambiance. Although it was our 4th night there, we were no less impressed with the food, our waiter, the sounds of the ocean, each other's company.

It was so romantic and I loved that Steve drew a heart and wrote our initials in the sand. Muy romantico.

SNORKELING

The first time we went snorkeling, I was completely enthralled with the sunken ship that was about 30 feet or more from the reef. And then when I made it over to the reef, I loved the colorful fish. Steve and I had a blast as we would dive down to get up close and personal with the fish. Luckily for us we never saw a sea snake. There was an abundance of these strange little jellyfish creatures that I was sure were going to send me home with welts all over my body. So, I was freaking out! Then I realized they didn’t have tentacles and I hadn’t been hurt by them thus far. My fear was groundless.

CANOPY ZIP LINE TOUR

Oh this was such an awesome experience.

Obviously Steve is much more comfortable at it that I am. My fear of heights got to me a little bit. Still, it was a great experience. And, one I would do again any day.

TWILIGHT MASSAGE

Oh the joy of a couple's massage at dusk.

The resort spa was in the most beautiful setting. To quote Steve's words, it was a "quiet, tropical forest surrounded with trees frogs croaking and trickle of water from the Buddha statue" Nothing was contrived about this setting.

If you want to read about our fun little adventure in this pool, read this post from Steve's blog.

JaMakin' Memories - The Food

Oh, the food...

Everything was delicious!

Drinks

There are many things yummy in this world, and then there is the virgin Miami Vices (bottom right). It is a colorful concoction of pina colada and strawberry daiquiri garnished with a pineapple slice. This was by far our most favorite drink of the trip.

However, there were plenty of other delightful concoctions (strawberry mango daquiris, shirley temples made with their ginger beer (oh so yummy), banana daquiris, tropical fruit punch (where the only decision was blended or shaken), that crossed our palettes as we sat on the beach, ate dinner, watched the shows and enjoyed paradise.

I think we must have had a dozen a day. So hard to resist...so I didn't.

Food

The food was nothing short of out-0f-this world mouthwatering good and very plentiful.

We had our choice of 6 restaurants. Each offered a different and unique cuisine. At all of them the service was great. Each of them also had their own unique decor. At several of the restaurants, they served bread in the cutest wrought iron bread basket which I have now added to my birthday list.

After working out in the mornings, we headed over to The Patio for the buffet breakfast. They had the yummiest chicken sausage. Oh, it was mouth watering good. I loved their waffles topped with a banana/cinnamon syrup topping. Oh, I indulged in these everyday. Steve and I both indulged in the croissants: he loved the almond one and I loved the chocolate croissant.

The place we ate the most was called The Pool Grill. Steve couldn't get enough of the jerk chicken! It was delicious. I couldn't get enough of the jerk burger. We ate there almost every day for lunch and then we would head over to The Patio for the desserts at their buffet. They had so many great choices. Our favorites were the cocnut ice cream, banana cream cheese wontons, and the chocolate molasses cookies. I couldn't get enough of them.

Dinner...there were just too many favorites to come up with one. I recommend that you just try them all. ♥♥♥