this moment

plum bay

today we went to plum bay aka baie aux prunes, one of our favorite beaches just up the road in terres basses. driving through the hilly streets surrounded by lush green vegetation, beautiful gates that lead to secluded holiday mansions, and the brilliant blue sky decorated with puffy clouds up above, i was instantly put into that wonderful "i live in paradise" mindset i sometimes get while living here.

all the stress from packing, carrying, and unpacking our beach things (i know my life is not that stressful) melts away when i see this view. i think it is beautiful in this picture, but believe me when i tell you it is so much more vibrant and awesome in real life.

ezra and i had a great time with some of our island friends.

we were having one last hurrah with our friend alicia and her sweet baby kendall who leave the island forever this friday. we have loved spending time with them talking about life and motherhood. ezra has gotten a chance to try out the role of big brother and he has since been asking for a baby sister. i shot these pictures at the beginning of our visit just to document the beautiful setting and people we were with.

with us were our friends leah,

her daughter arden,

and laura.

after i took these pictures leah and i went snorkeling for my longest swim yet, while ezra played on the beach with the rest of the gang. we saw several schools of tropical fish, urchins, coral, and blue, green, yellow, silver, and purple fish swimming solo looking for food. it was so dreamy that i wish i could go everyday. afterward arden went snorkeling and pulled ezra and i along in a blow up boat while she collected a small white urchin from below to take a closer look at it. she said, "it feels just like a fork" but ezra said no when she asked if he wanted to touch it. then we traded places and i snorkeled again and pulled arden and ezra along in the boat. after that we followed the adventurous arden to go fishing from the rocks. ezra pulled out the bait of squid and shrimp and threw some of it in the ocean and sweet leah didn't mind. in between these fun little escapades we had some popcorn, watched baby kendall eat sand, applied suncscreen, and had some conversation. but, i'd say 85% of our time was spent in the water and that made me so happy. this was by far one of my favorite beach days yet!

playing with the wind

a beautiful blustery afternoon at dawn beach

ezra was so excited to fly his new airplane kite for the first time

our friend erica was there to help

holding those kite tails was a lot of work

and a lot of fun

grooving with the wind

you can see jon in the background helping michael to get that airplane to fly

and he did it!

happy michael

that plane flew with the dark clouds moving behind it for awhile

this was the way the sky looked behind me

a beautiful sea turtle sand sculpture some boys made on the beach

it was a perfect end to our day being at dawn beach together with michael and friends to celebrate after the last block exams of their third semester. one more week until finals and then we have two weeks filled with days like this one! we are so excited to get michael back and spend time on this gorgeous island together. it feels almost like we're on vacation! but even better.

a year around the sun living on sint maarten

one year ago today we landed on the little island of sint maarten which would be our home for the next 21 months. michael was beginning medical school at auc and i was beginning my new life as a stay at home mom to our 2 and a half year old son. we were both excited about our new ventures in life, michael starting a second career, and me leaving my career as a school teacher to do what i've always wanted to do - stay home to raise a family. a year into it, and we are both facing the joys and challenges that come with these worthwhile endeavors and feel right on track with our decisions. here are the most significant events and milestones of the last year that come to mind:

ezra's uncle christopher and aunt annie came to stay with us in our new home before michael started school. we experienced our first tropical storm with them and got to explore the island together and enjoy some fun family togetherness before school began for michael. a month later auntie di di came for a couple of days since she was all the way in puerto rico. we had one of my favorite beach days ever at orient beach.


michael has completed 2 semesters of basic sciences and is 2 weeks away from finishing his 3rd. hooray michael! i am so proud of you in your accomplishments so far. i watch you work so hard everyday and every night. your dedication to your studies is highly admirable.


michael turned 40 and we celebrated with a party in our home with some of our new island friends.


ezra began sleeping through the night, turned 3 and entered into a world of awesome imaginary play. he has grown into a 'big boy,' eats more and more food (other than his favorite bread and butter), says bonjour and bonsoir, loves to skype with his relatives back home, and is learning to ride a bike.


gigi and poppy came for a 3 week visit over christmas and new year's making what could have been a sad holiday time for us a special one to remember.


my lovely friend lena came to visit in january and we had some memorable snorkeling adventures and dinners together.


inspired by the blogging world i have come to know, i started michael and i on the 'green smoothie challenge' and we have been on a 75% raw food diet ever since.


ezra and i went home to california to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and although it was our first time away from michael and ezra had his first sad feelings of missing his beloved daddy, i got to see mine and we both relished in the time spent with our sweet loving family.


one of my closest island girlfriends got married in a beautiful ceremony on dawn beach that we will always remember as a highlight of our time spent on st. maarten.


i started this blog to keep family and friends connected to us while living so far away and also as a place for me to keep our memories of this extraordinary time. at the same time it has opened up a community of bloggers around the world to me, all of them mothers keeping their memories and sharing tidbits of their lives. i have enjoyed becoming a part of this blogging community a lot while living far away from family and friends and living on this island, a foreign country, where i often feel isolated in my days of being a full-time mom. it has given me a place to be creative with a subject most close to my heart - my family, my son, my life and the world around me. thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing your world with me as well.

what ezra says...

today we went to a place nearby where i thought ezra could ride his new bike. it was a bit of a bumpy ride in the center of this piazza type setting and boy was it HOT out there today at 1:00 in the caribbean.


mostly he rode through the 'tunnels' where the tiles were flat and gave him a smooth ride on his new balance bike. instead of getting him the traditional bike with training wheels, we got him this bike without pedals or training wheels so that he will learn to balance before he gets on a two wheeler.


truth be told the fancy bike with training wheels cost 4 times as much as this cool bike that was on sale and since we are only going to be living here for 10 more months (gasp) we don't want to acquire so many things that we will most likely end up giving away.


but, the point of this story was about the cute thing that ezra said when we were riding up the elevator on our way home. i just thought i'd tie it in with some photos of him on his new bike today. so riding up to the 7th floor of our hotel, he asked to have some cookies when we got home and i told him he could have a cookie after he ate some good food like broccoli that will make him grow up big and strong. right away he said, "cookies will make me grow big. please don't be bossy mom."

gratitude sunday

this week i'm grateful for:

the beach

the return of sunny weather

more time together as a family

ezra's new bike and newfound skills

blogland for connecting me with like-minded people

a husband who works hard in medical school AND knows how to cut hair

my carefree time on this island

this moment