It's been a while since I last updated, so I figured I'd throw a post up here, just in case someone just happened along by.  Life has been good since my last post- God continues to be gracious.  S is done with her most recent stint in the ICU and now has another 3 months before she does another 30 hr stint in the hospital.  I am settling into my job and for the most part, I really like it a lot.  Great patients (for the most part), great staff (for the most part) and a really nice boss.  Don't like the commute and I reckon I'll like it even less during the winter months, but that's ok- all things considered this life is so much better than the one that I left behind that I don't even think too much of the commute most of the time.  I'm starting to volunteer in a local Christian free clinic and pouring more of my time and efforts into our church here in Cleveland. 

It's an interesting stage of life- most of our married friends who are our age are starting to have babies (or already had 'em).  S sometimes feels the itch, but I have to say, I don't really feel it yet.  I don't think there's too much rush- once you have one, you can't give it back!  No, for me, I'm going to enjoy this season of life with its decreased relative responsibility and enjoy playing with my friends' kiddos. 

I recently went down to MD to attend a friend's wedding.  It was pretty neat being back in old Charm City Baltimore.  Strange, in some ways, because without my friends there with me, it wasn't quite the same.  Regardless, I really enjoyed the wedding and my friend was lovely.  Here are some pics!









Oh and recently, I've been going sailing on some weekends with a friend who has a sailboat. 






It's a lot of fun, until I get seasick, but thank goodness for dramamine!   



and of course, I can't forget my niece J, who turned 2 earlier last month!  Happy birthday J! 



yes, the kids were enjoying the moonbounce :)


I've also been playing with my camera and trying to understand all its many features.Yeah, so thats a pictorial update on what's going on in these necks of the woods!  Hope everyone is doing well out there!

So S and I just back from our 8 day trip to Puerto Rico.  It was a pretty neat trip- lived in the rain forest, listened to the frogs chirping, ate a lot of fried foods (seems all they eat in PR), enjoyed the pretty beaches.  I'll miss the warm weather, but I certainly will NOT miss the drivers, my ghetto Hyundai Brio that I was driving, and S getting carsick as I drove said Brio around mountain curves.  Its good to be home, in our own bed, driving our own cars, enjoying cheap Cleveland produce.  (most produce is super expensive out there, because they have to import everything, so its no wonder their diet consists of fried meats)  Anyways, here's some pics of our trip, just in case you're interested!



El Morro is a 400+ year old fort in Old San Juan, built to protect PR from naval invasion.  Right outside there is a huge patch of grass where it is nice and windy and locals come to fly kites.  S and I decided to go as well, since neither of us had flown a kite since childhood.  S had a nice rainbow box kite and I had an Iron Man kite- it was remarkably easy to start the flying, compared to what we were used to as kids!


here, S is flying both of our kites at the same time- she's amazing isn't she?

 



The fort itself was huge- and very old feeling.  It was pretty neat to see the gorgeous ocean all around.  These little watch towers are pretty significant in PR culture- they are on everything from their license plates to their souvenir trinkets.  We managed to get a little sunburned on this journey- keep re-applying the sunscreen kids!








S thinks I look like a intrepid explorer in this action shot.


S climbing a neat triangular stairway in the fort!


 
Here we are about to eat some more greasy authentic PR food!




One of the highlights of the trip was going swimming in a bioluminesence bay on the island of Vieques.  Billions of phytoplankton are in the water and glow this gorgeous bluish green color when they are disturbed.  Unfortunately, my camera was unable to capture the display- this was the best I could do.  It is a time lapse shot of 15 seconds of the trail the boat made along the water.  Swimming in that water was absolutely amazing- I couldn't believe it.  The best thing was when you lifted your hand out of the water- you'd see these individual sparkles drifting down your hand for the briefest of moments.  It was totally surreal- something that I don't know if I'll ever see again.



S and I went on a long jungle hike to an isolated waterfall and pool.  It was really tiring, but definitely worth it.  We weren't actually brave enough to venture in the water, but it was really pretty just to sit and enjoy being the only humans in miles.  Surprisingly, we didn't see a ton of animals in the forest, but I guess most of them come out at night.

 
We missed out on going to Flamenco Beath, which according to Travel and Leisure is like the No. 2 beach "in the world" (I wonder how they determine that?) because we were sunburned and pretty exhausted.  But we did get to enjoy Luquillo beach which was nice.


 
Rio Camuy Caves are the third biggest underground river system in the world.  It was pretty amazing being inside of it.  Last year, one of the tourists died when a rock from the ravine fell on them.  It had been closed for all of '98, so I'm glad it re-opened.  Fortunately, we survived our journey.



Areceibo Observatory is the largest radio telescope in the world.  Parts of James Bond: Golden Eye and Contact were filmed here.  It was kinda geeky, but Sophia really enjoyed it!


  
a special memory will be celebrating our Lord's resurrection with a group of English speaking evangelical churches on the grounds of one of the fortresses.  It was wonderful to be able to sing for joy with a group of other believers, even while we missed our church family in Cleveland!

so, for all of you foodies out there who are also looking for a good deal- check out the Cheesecake Factory bar menu that is available from 4-6 PM on weekdays.  Lots of different choices, pretty ginormous portions for what you pay- between $3-6.  Sophia and I went yesterday, ordered 4 things and ended up taking a little less than half of it home because we couldn't eat another bite!  Check it out !