Full Moon "Party"

It's not really a party when you're alone, but whatever.

No news, no interview.

Still waiting around to go interview with the owner of the charter company. First it was yesterday, postponed to today... maybe tomorrow. UGH. So bored I joined Twitter! SAVE ME FROM MYSELF!!!

Be Somebody.

Things always work out for me. They always have. I don't know how or why but it always happens. Just when I think I have finally gotten myself into something I can't get out of on my own, something comes along and makes everything work out. But it's just not happening this time. This is the longest stretch of bad luck I have ever had. I wish I could say it was all my fault and I got myself into this but through no fault of my own I seem to keep failing. That doesn't even make sense. It has to be my fault. I have never been so sad and depressed and lonely and hopeless. I just want to go home. I don't want to live on an island in the middle of nowhere far away from my friends and family anymore. I have had enough of this. I don't want to hear any "It's that time of year" shit from anyone either. It doesn't even feel like the holidays here. It's the middle of summer as far as I am concerned. I have been sweating for years. I wish I could wear jeans without my knees sweating every once in a while. I want to drive for miles and miles and miles, I wanna go faster than 35 miles an hour. I would like to listen to country music on the radio. I would like to walk down the street in the middle of the day without being hissed at and followed and heckled. There are so many reasons that other people give for living here and I have tons myself but I feel like if you get to the point where you have more negatives than positives, it's time to move on. Like Gladys at Glady's Cafe here on island says, "When one is physically tired one must sleep, when one is emotionally tired one must wake up and move on."

I will try. Try. Try. I will try to find a job for the rest of the season. I would like to save some money and go back to the states in the spring. I am brainstorming right now in between naps and playing guitar. Being stuck on the North Side had sent my world into a frenzy. It made working at Limnos hard. It makes getting a new job hard. I have an interview on Monday with the owner of a charter company. My friend Jen told him I would be taking her place for a two week charter in December and he wants to meet me first, which is understandable. I feel like I am setting myself up for another disappointment though. I am losing trust in what people say.

Lilly gets home tonight. We will see how that changes things. She doesn't want to come home to a negative nancy. She doesn't understand that while she has been at home with her friends, OUR friends, and her family having the time of her life, I have been here, alone, struggling for work and struggling with the drama that has been going on here. Forgive me for being depressed. People don't understand what it's like.

I don't know what I would do if I went to the states. Working on boats is all I know how to do. That and bartend. I would love to be involved in the music industry in Texas somehow. Like event planning or managing. Maybe working for a Texas music label. I just need a way to get my foot in the door in that industry. I have my whole body in the door of the boating industry and it's obviously not where I am supposed to be right now. Like I said, time for a change.

Holy crap.

What a day. Yesterday started out like any other... Me, hammock, MacBook, lovely view. Then I get a phone call from a local crew agent. She tells me to pack my bags I am on a charter for a week. Long story short, she sent me down there to the boat all ready to go and the boat had not agreed to hire me yet because they were either gonna hire me or a chef to help the current cook because the guest if very fancy and demanding. Needless to say they chose the chef and I am on my ass. I had to quit Limnos to take the job and now I am screwed. Well later in the day I got a call from my friend Jen who I worked with at the boat show this year and she tells me she has some work for me but not till the 11th of December. Damn. At least it's work. Now I have to find a way to make some cash till then!

Holy Ghost of Christmas Past!

I had one of these.... I know it. I ran across this on a random site. It stopped my heart! I loved this! Mom? Confirm? If I didn't have one of these then I have really lost my mind because I have memories of this for some reason!

Check this out!!! Caribbean Jerk!!!! lol

Check out Bent Objects blog!!!

Found a song about me! (if it was about a woman)

It's me to a T!



Better as a Memory - Kenny Chesney

I move on like a sinners prayer
I let 'em go like a levee breaks
walk away as if I don't care
learn to shoulder my mistakes
I'm built to fade like your favorite song
gettin' reckless when there's no need
laugh as your stories ramble on
break my heart but it won't bleed
my only friends are pirates, it's just who I am
I'm better as a memory than as your man.

I'm never sure when the truth won't do
I'm pretty good on a lonely night
I move on the way a storm blows through
I never stay, but then again, I might
I struggle sometimes to find the words
always sure until I doubt
walk a line until it blurs
build walls too high to climb out
but I'm honest to a fault, it's just who I am
I'm better as a memory than as your man

I see you leanin', you're bound to fall
I don't want to be that mistake
I'm just a dreamer, nothing more
you should know it before it gets too late

cause goodbyes are like a roulette wheel
you never know where they're gonna land
first you're spinning, then you're standing still
left holding a losin' hand
but one day you're gonna find someone
right away, you'll know it's true
that all of your seek is done
it was just a part of the passing through
right there in that moment
you'll finally understand
that I was better as a memory than as your man
better as a memory than as your man

The cutest damn thing I have ever seen!!!!!!

I am the QUEEN of f-ing up my own life.

Holy hell I am so over this place!!! The power went out last night, therefore messing up my alarm clock which in turn made me sleep till 9am, missing work by an epic 2 hours. I will be lucky if I even have a job. And I can't get ahold of anyone at work because they are all on the boat because I assume that Clement, Sara and Akim all worked today. I feel like such an asshole. Why can't anything on this island work properly??? Why can't I learn to set 3 alarm clocks? Whatever I'm over it.

New Goal!!!

Hooray! I finally have something to look forward to! My friend Amanda, that I have known since the 7th grade and I have decided to do what we promised each other we would do the summer after we graduated high school... Go on a road trip! We planned this out so long ago then she went into the Army and I went to Houston and on to Key West and the rest is history! She is back home in Allen, TX for the winter and spring semester going to grad school at UTD. She and her husband bought a house in our home town but he is in Iraq so she is there alone. We have decided on the third week of July, the 18th-31st. Two weeks. Our agenda is to do the Western USA, national parks, wine country, grand canyon, LA and Vegas... Wyoming, big sky in Montana. I am so excited! I have wanted to go on a big road trip FOREVER!!! I love to drive and I love the states, and I have been away for so long that I feel this is the perfect thing for me. It's given me something to strive for and work towards. We have set it in "stone" on our calendars. If you know anything about either of us you are already laughing and shaking your head, but hey, it's my dream and I will sleep if I want to. If we don't end up going then at least I will have saved up a bunch of money and will be that much better off. I think I want to take the summer off from working and set myself up for next winter somewhere new. It's become obvious to me that I will not be able to take my capt. class here with my work schedule. So I have looked into courses in Texas. There are classes in Houston and in Dallas and I am sure my Parents in Dallas or my aunt Nita in Houston would let me stay with them for a week while I took the class. These are all summer plans.

I have really been missing my family and my home in Texas. It is beautiful here and the water is great but I miss driving to visit people and normal everyday life on land. I'm on land technically but it's different when you live on island. Also, having Lilly out of town this month has really made me realize how alone I am here. All my old friends have paired off and act like old married couples. No one ever calls to hang out or wants to play with me. I am stranded on the north side of the mountain now which is the best thing that has ever happened to me on this rock. I go to work (13 bucks one way in a taxi) I work my ass off for 14 hours and then I come home. When I get here... I stay here. I have not spent a dime on bar tabs or fast food in weeks. I actually have a little savings going for the first time in ages...hell, ever. I don't mind spending the money to get to work because I make 80 bucks a day trip pay plus I haven't come home with less than 100 bucks in tips every day. The only downfall is, I have only been working 2 days a week. The boss says it will pick up, so soon I should expect 5 to 6 days a week. That's good money. With 35 weeks left till road trip time you bet I am saving up. My rent is only 400 bucks a month thank goodness. It was only going to be 350 but I moved to the bigger room because I like it more. Way worth it.

In other news, I have gained all my weight back that I lost in Key West. Bummer. I blame it on just not having much to look forward to. As stupid as it sounds, I was skinny because I was trying to keep a guy around who was obviously never in it for the long haul. Not that I was in it for the "long haul" but at least I cared. Then he really made me feel like I wasn't worth the time or the effort that a relationship requires. So. I need to stop thinking like that. I need to concentrate on my summer and on my family visiting me in Feb.

Feeling very bloggie today for some reason. More like writing in my public diary. I don't care though, I have never been a very private person.

Tomorrow I actually have to work, and good news!!! I have a W2 from last year waiting for me! I should have about 800 bucks coming to me when I file! Awesome! Straight to the Capt. License fund! 6 am comes early on the island so I will leave you with a video.... My favorite band... Kings of Leon

Video of the day!!!

Modest Mouse - Dashboard from Jenny Ko on Vimeo.

Another lazy day at the house. The weather was beautiful though. Tomorrow I get to go to work yaaaaaaaaay! So, I better get settled and get to sleep.

Hope you are all well and happy!!!

Rainy day in paradise....

It was a rare, cool, cloudy, rainy day here on island. Looks to be more of the same tomorrow! Makes for good sleeping and napping in the hammock. I plan to do that all day tomorrow. No work.

I made a mexican food feast last night because I was missing home and craving it. It was good. Had it for dinner again tonight and probably the next 3 nights in a row till i can eat it all! I even have a batch of enchiladas in the freezer for a later date.

Will just moved to PUERTO VALLARTA yesterday!!! I am so excited for him! He is living 2 blocks from the beach and the bars and has 10 chickens and 2 donkeys in his yard. He says the donkeys are loud as hell and make him wish for more chickens. He also thinks I should just move there so we can be Will and Grace, or Willimena and Graciela in Mexico. Don't think I'm not tempted.

I have a few leads on some freelance gigs on yachts around here. Hopefully something will come through.

In other news, I finally got to go to the store, the real grocery store, for the first time in like years! I have a real kitchen! I got all sorts of goodies. Lots of morningstar farms veggie meats and fun stuff like, riblets, chicken fingers, spicy black bean burgers, and chicken patties! Some little frozen pizzas, stuff for sandwiches and soups. Of course all the makings for Mexican night, ground beef, taco seasoning, refried beans, cheese, rice and beans, salsa and chips.... too bad no one showed up. yeah... I invited my roommate/not really roommate Shauna and her boyfriend Alex and Jason who work with Lilly, over for dinner but Shauna said this morning that she forgot about it. I tried to text and call her but she didnt answer last night so now i have plenty of leftovers. Sucks. Oh well, Alex is always asking me when I am going to make tacos and Jason is from Ennis, TX so I know he would jump at home cooking so it sucks that she forgot. Whatever. More for me.

On that note, my video of the day. New favorite by Fall Out Boy. Enjoy!

Fall Out Boy - What A Catch, Donnie from Pete Wentz on Vimeo.

Busy week so far!

I have been working at the boat show with Jen on her catamaran called Good Medicine. It's been fun but long long hours! We were cleaning and detailing the boat as well as prepping food for the show. Basically the charter boats sit at Yacht Haven Grand marina and all the brokers from all over the country and caribbean come tour the boats and talk to the crew and gather info for prospective charters. Jen and I made appetizers and cocktails for the events. We even made mini cheesecakes in... you guessed it Dad, MUFFIN TINS! Ha! They are awesome. We made cuban beef skewers with chimichuri sauce and some really cool tomato mozzarella balsamic skewers. I mixed up a big batch of mojitos to round out the theme. Work is slow, so it's a blessing that she needed my help this week! I work on Limnos on Friday and have no idea how I'm gonna get there!

In other news, I am thinking about joining the Coast Cuard Auxilliary here in St Thomas. Now, before you freak out... it's not the reserves or anything like that, it's a volunteer group that dispaches to help the USCG in the event they don't have a boat near by, they also do safety for events like the sailboat races and boat shows, as well as vessel inspections locally. They also teach you all these great life saving and survival skills. We will see...

There is a kitty asleep on my back. It came with the house. Very cuddly.

I love this place. It's so cool and airy and breezy! I have been sleeping very well! I would sleep alot better if I had stable work.

Soon come.

Above are pics of the house.

Moved!

Well, I finally got my stuff moved into the new place but unfortunately the car that my friend was going to rent to me is broken so now I am just stuck up on the north side which is really isolated. Beautiful views but far far away from work or town. Oh and BTW I got my old job at Limnos Charters back for at least a few days a week. I also got an offer to work as a chef on a yacht in the BVI for a week. I need to call Jen today about that. Things will be ok eventually. I know it. I will have to take some pictures of the new house and post them like a tour sometime but I think I will be training with Jen on the new boat so that will have to wait. I am so stressed out.

Locked out. Tired. Bored. Getting eaten by Dengue Fever carrying mosquitos.

Guess I will just type here till the battery on my computer runs out.

Been lounging around for a few days. Have to go to work tomorrow though. Thats good. Need the money. We got our shifts cut down to 4 shifts a week which sucks. We have so many people working there that we can only have 4. I guess they are trying to stock up for season. I need to hurry up and get my TWIC card so I can part time with OnDeck to make up for the days I won't be working.

In other news, Lilly leaves on Monday to go home to KW for a whole month! We found a nice place on the North Side that I will be moving into on the first, she will join me when she gets home. It's super nice, I can't wait to take pictures for you! This is the view from our living room. :) Did I mention the living room is all open air? No windows or screens or anything. Just a giant tile living room with couches and chairs and a coffee table and a big dining table right at the edge of the porch. It's covered and everything, just open.

Pretty nice huh? That's Magens Bay on the right, the island on the left in the foreground is Hans Lollick, in the center in the background is Jost Van Dyke, BVI and to the right out in the mist is Tortola, BVI. So. Yeah. It's going to be a huge change but we will be saving money on rent and we will be saving money on food and entertainment because we will be living out in the country and we will have a real kitchen!!! Right now we live in a hotel room with a microwave and a mini fridge so you can imagine how much money we drop eating out. Also, living in town gives us an excuse to go out drinking all the time because we can walk to the bars and stumble home. Living on the mountain will keep us in shape and give our livers a rest.

It's about that time of year again, all the mega yachts and sailboats are trickling back into the harbor! My buddy Brian (the one i got my fingerstache tattoo with) will be here on his yacht this thursday! WOO HOOOOOO! And I am sure the rest of my wayward pirate friends will follow soon.

Damn these mosquitos!

I have spent all day cleaning the house and doing laundry like a good little wifey and now I am locked out. wow. I don't know when Lilly is coming home and Jill and Doug are out so I have no way of getting in until Lilly decides it's time to stop drinking and comes home. This could be a long night.

Day off, relax. Do nothing.

I have today off. I didn't get out of bed till John called me at 11am. Even now I am just lounging on the pool deck Facebooking and reading TextsFromLastNight. I am so tired for some reason. Lilly and I took it easy last night and went to bed early. I registered for my TWIC card so I can start working for OnDeck, a sailboat racing company here. I need something to break up the monotony of working in a restaraunt. So that's what's new with me. Lilly is going to KW for a month and wont be back till the day after Thanksgiving. In the meantime I have to find a place to live. I would like to stay in Frenchtown or at least in town here somewhere close. I will be looking for a two bedroom place even though Lilly and I haven't decided if we are going to live together or not. I like having a place to myself but I get lonely so I am thinking I definately want a roommie. She hasn't given me a straight answer on her plans yet so I am going it alone for the time being. Everything will work out. I really don't need to find something till December 1st anyway. So, I'm gonna put that off my list of things to stress about for now. The weather is fine here, hot, but we got lots of rain this week so everything is nice and green! Tropical. I got bit by some weird bug on my arm and now I think I have staph so I will have to have Jill look at that today. Boo. Hopefully not.
OH!!!! My best boyfriend in the world, Will came to visit me last week! Stayed for 3 days, too short but he had 4 days off from work and was freezing in P-Town, Mass so he showed up here! We had an AMAZING time. We went on Limnos, the boat I used to work on, to Virgin Gorda, Norman Island, Jost Van Dyke and St. John. We stayed in St John at Maho Bay Campground, my favorite place in the world! We called it our "honeymoon"! Pics above!

Hot Hot Hot in da ilons.

Its SO EFFING HOT HERE!!!! It was already 86 degrees at 7am. Things are good. Lilly has decided to stay for the whole season so we are looking for a 3 bedroom place with a co-worker of hers. Hopefully it's somewhere nice and close to the bus route or safari. Lilly and I have also been looking into buying this old Taurus that a friend is selling for 600 bucks, but honestly, having a car opens up a whole new box of pain in the ass. I don't think it's a very good idea.

In other news, my old boss, the owner of Limnos Charters called me and asked me to come back to work for him. He heard I was back. That makes me feel really good but he would have to make me on offer I can't refuse. It's really hard work and I have been making such good money here at Bella Blu that I would have to guarantee that I could make at least the same amount. I would have to start commuting again, which I hate. I would really consider getting a car if he offered me a good deal. I was only getting paid 80 bucks a day plus tips for an all day trip, and it was really really hard work. I made 80 bucks yesterday in 3 hours at lunch. The only thing is, I really miss the water. I think I am going to stick it out here at the cafe. After all, they have agreed to give me the time off I need to take my capt. course. And that's really what's most important here. There is a class starting on Saturday but I don't have the time off or the money to take it yet. I may have to wait till December.

Life is good. The weather is great. Water is clear. I need to go fishing soon though, need to touch some fish!!!!! One of our buddies is mate on a big sport fisher, he says next week he may have a chance to take us. WOO HOOOOOO!

I am off all weekend! I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself! We are having a painting party here at Villa Olga and Jill asked Lilly and I to do the detail work on all the railings and whatnot. We love to do maintenance!

Suckers!

Lilly and I went lobster hunting the other day with Mango, Peanut and FNG. She snared one, I sat on the boat because I was too scared to get in the water. It was late evening, I dont wanna die by shark bite.

Worst blog ever award goes to...

me.

I have been really busy and really stressed out. Having Lilly here has really saved my life though. It's so nice to have her around, I missed the hell outta her. We have been trying to figure out what to do this winter. We both want to go back to Key West but I'm so damn stubborn that I keep coming up with reasons to stay because I don't want to admit I was wrong about coming back. I just want to get my captain's license so bad! My job is still good but I miss the water. Lilly's job pays really well but its hard work and her boss is quite unsavory to put it mildly. We will more than likely save our pennies till late october and bail out of here. The college in key west offers the captains course once a semester but we missed this one, we are thinking about doing it in the spring. We just need to do SOMETHING. That's all I have to say.

Hello Ana and Bill!

Tropical storms Ana and Bill look so come near us this week, not a big deal because Ana is fizzling and Bill will probably get sucked way north. But, hey, its H season and this is to be expected! Lilly gets here in 75 hours! Just in time for the Hurricane Party! Things are going well, I am off to the 25th Annual Texas Society Chili Cook-Off! I wish Lilly could have been here for this party! I have been hanging out with my new roommate Chris alot, he is a boat captain, surfer, boxer, from.... you guessed it.... Texas. He is from Farmers Branch which is like 20 mins from where I am from. Small world. So we are headed to the cook off together to make our executive decisions about the chili. We already put our stamp of DISAPPROVAL on the new mexican food place in Red Hook. Totally sucked. He is a mexican that doesn't speak spanish so I'm not sure if he is even qualified to make decisions like that. LOL. He's looking forward to Mom coming to visit so she can teach him some words! HaHa! Well, I have to run! Time to get to the beach!

Twins?

No... I am not having babies.
But, today as I walked past a rasta fruit stand in town I stopped to try a Quenepa. They are small fruits that I have seen all over but never tried. I asked the rasta man what they tasted like and he said "go on a try one chile". So I picked one off the bushel. I couldn't figure out how to eat it, apparently you are supposed to bite the skin to break it open then the pulp covered seed slides right out and you suck the pulp off the seed and spit the rest out. As I did this in front of the old rasta man and some island ladies lounging under the palm trees they asked "you like?" to which I replied, "it tastes like grass." They all cracked up laughing and the rasta man said he would hand pick my perfect quenepa. So he picked up the bushel and chose my new one. I bit into it and the old rasta man said "IT'S TWINS!!!" I said "What?!" and sure enough, there were two seeds in the pod. He said that means if I get preggo I will have twins. Great. I said "I better be careful then!!!" They all had a good laugh with me today. My Dad is a twin and my Mom always said that I would have twins because it skips a generation. I told the rasta that and he said "da fruit nevah lie!"

Well, tomorrow I work a double, hopefully I will make some money. Sunday I am going to Jost Van Dyke and the Willy T with my friends from work. It's gonna be awesome! I will post pics when I get back.

That's the Willy T. The floating bar/restaurant.

And this is the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke. They call it that because there is no dock here, you have to swim from your boat to the beach... hence the soggy dollars.

VIDEO OF THE DAY!!!

Holy crap. I love this song. You wanna see a Virgin Islands night club erupt into a frenzy??? Ask the DJ to play this song. It was amazing. I can't wait to go out and do it all over again. This is a great video too! Proud of Mr. Sean Kingston from Jamaica. :) Only in the Caribbean are whistles and air horns considered instruments... I love this place. p.s. 13 days till Lilly gets here!

Move over Thelma and Louise...

Jolea and Lilly have taken over.

Lilly will be here on the 19th!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! My partner in crime is actually moving down! I am so happy! She gets here at 3:30pm in two weeks! It's great timing because we are losing a waitress on the 20th. Lilly can just take her place. That and Meg's charter boat company just got two new boats and they need crew so we can pick up shifts there too.

Work is going great! I really like it. I have to work at 6 tonight and tomorrow night, then I am off Thursday and Friday and I work a double on Saturday. Woo HOOOO!

I have been eating vegetarian for a few days now. I don't know what kind of animals they grow at Morningstar Farms but damn they are tasty.... My favorites are the Spicy Black Bean burger and the Buffalo "Chicken" nuggets.

Well I gotta go! See ya later!

Farmer's Market day at Yacht Haven Grande!

Awesome morning! Jill and I went to the farmer's market at the marina this morning! It's so nice to support local farmers and visit with the people of the island. There were fresh baked breads, produce, and crafts from all corners of St. Thomas. We ran into tons of people we knew and I bought a cucumber and some local honey. Jill bought some lettuce, sprouts, passion fruit and some homemade blue cheese dressing. So we had a delicious healthy lunch! Now I am off to Hook Line and Sinker, a local cafe on the water, to meet up with my friend Wes for bloody mary's. Love my life.

HELLO FROM ST. THOMAS!!!

I have really been slacking on the blogging but I am going to try to keep you up to speed from now on!

I am back in Frenchtown, living at Villa Olga! It's HOT HOT HOT and I love it. All my old friends are still in town and it's been awesome catching up with them!

I got a great job at a very well known long standing restaurant here in Frenchtown called Bella Blu.
I will be working there 5 days a week or more which is awesome!

The food is great and it's the oldest restaurant on the island! 32 years. Their specialties are Shnitzel and pastas. It's sooooo good! I am trying to stay away from the pasta for fear of getting faaaaaat! I am so lucky I got this job! The people who work there have worked there for a long time, the girl I am replacing has been working there for 2 and a half years.

I am living at the guest house right now with Jill and Doug but pretty soon I will be moving into the house that Jill and Doug bought over the last year when I was gone. The house is right here in Frenchtown, it's a two bedroom place and I would have a roomate who is already living there. Jill says he is really nice and laid back, he's a surfer. Sounds like someone I could get along with. Jill actually took me over to the house the other day and showed me around. The house is beautiful! HUGE kitchen, a real living room! HUGE bedrooms! I can't wait. It's so nice to have work so close, it takes me less than 5 minutes to walk to work. It's a huge difference from when I lived here before. I used to have to get up at 5:30am to walk to the safari stop to catch it by 6am, in order to make it all the way across the island to work by 7am just to work all day on the boat, drag tourists through the Baths at Virgin Gorda, fix them lunch, put away the lunch, take them snorkeling, save their lives, take them back to St. Thomas, clean the boat in the heat of the day all to get back on the safari at 6pm to be home at 7pm, completely, thoughrouly exhausted. I don't want to do that 6 days a week again. At Bella Blu, I wake up at 9:30am, take a swim in the pool, take a shower, get dressed, walk up the street, work from 11am-4:30pm, walk home, take a swim in the pool, have a cocktail, watch a movie, go to sleep. Oh boy. On a day where I work the night shift it's even better! Wake up at whatever the hell time I want, lounge by the pool, or go into town for lunch with Meg and the crew of the Schooner Doubloon, or go to the beach, then come home by 3pm, shower, get dressed, walk to work by 4:30, work till 10pm, come home, watch some tv, go to bed. Oh boy. YAAAAAAAY! And sometimes I will work a double but thats all good too because it's mas dinero! Oh and we are closed on Sundays so I never have to worry about missing out on SUNDAY FUNDAY!!!!

Speaking of Sunday Funday, The 25th annual Texas Society Chili Cook-Off is being held at Brewers Bay here in St. Thomas on August 16th, a Sunday!!! I was here for it last year and it was one of the best days ever! This is my landlord Doug at last year's event...


And this pirate ship on the right is the Schooner Bones, where me and all my friends took breaks from the heat and the chili on the beach while the coast guard dropped frog men out of helicopters! We hope to bring the boat around again this year and do the same. Swinging from the crosstrees while intoxicated probably isn't the safest thing to do but hey, at least we all landed in the water.

Chili cook off madness.

I am looking into the captain's courses because the one I wanted to take isn't till November. I hope to find one in August so Lilly can take it with me. She wants to come down for a while but she wants to be productive as well. Smart. If she can't take her class while she is here then she is just going to go back to Key West and take it because she can live with her family. I hope we can find one sooner. Well, I think that about updates everyone on everything. I will write more later!

BYEEEEEE!

At this point...

I can imagine you are all quite tired of my behavior. I have managed to quit yet another well paying job in search of something that excites me. The yacht wasn't my scene. Not gonna say anything more than that, if you want the whole story you can email me. I quit in Newport after the offshore passage. I loved being out there in the middle of the ocean for 6 days. It was so quiet. But after that I was happy to be back in the land of people. Newport was fun, got to see some old friends. Then I went up to Boston for the Liberty Clipper crew reunion! It was awesome!!! Saw all my old sailing friends and had a great time with Lilly and Sean. I am currently in Provincetown, Mass, staying with my friend Will that I worked on the Schooner Jolly 2 Rover with this year in Key West. He is living here for the summer. This is a beautiful place. Cape Cod is so green and lush!

After careful consideration of my life's direction I have decided to move back to St. Thomas and pursue my 100 Ton Captain's license. I want to take it where I took my STCW license course because I like the way the guy teaches. Not to mention, I really miss that water and the sand and sun and the life down there. I have amazing friends. Can I just say that right now? I called up Jill and Doug who were like my surrogate parents in STT, and when Jill answered the phone the first thing she said to me was, "when are you coming home?" I said, how's Saturday? She said "perfect, call me when you get here you are staying with us."

I have a few jobs in the works there too. I think I would like to bartend a few nights and work on a boat a few days to keep it interesting. I was working myself to death doing all day trips on Limnos. When I get my capt license I will see about maybe running little 6pac boats to Jost Van Dyke or something like that. Who knows, that is a ways off.

I just got to thinking, obviously I am going to work on boats for a living. Thats what I do right? Ok, well, its time to move onward and upward. Can't just keep on being a deckhand forever now can I? Besides, I think I would be an awesome captain.

Sorry for being a total mess. I haven't been blogging because I have kinda been dissappointed in myself. So, here I go again on my own.

I'm really gonna try harder to make you proud of me instead of just shaking your heads saying "what the hell has she got herself into this time?"

Well, I leave P-Town on Wednesday, headed to Boston to visit Lilly and Sean again before I fly to St. Thomas on Saturday.

Catch ya on the flipside. Island time.

One day.... we will leave the dock....

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday! Things are around here are calming down a bit. We have most of our projects done and we will be leaving here on Tuedsay evening. Our generator will be done on Monday but we have to wait for a shipment on Tuesday before we leave. Monday I have to go aloft and wax the mast from top to bottom. 100 feet up! Hope they don't drop me! :) I have had a nice time here in Ft. Lauderdale but I really really really want to get out on the ocean, and get to a new town where I have never been and see some things I have never seen.

It looks like it will take us 6 or 7 days to get from here to Newport, RI. We will be there till the 14th of July then we will head to Martha's Vinyard.

I commemerated my Key West spring with a new tattoo.... yep...

YAY! MIKE IS ON THE BLOGGER!!!

Yall check out my good friend from High School's new blog. Mike is a storm chaser and photog and is freakin awesome!!! Go welcome him to our world!!!

DAMAGE PATH!

MOM! Make these...

http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/05/hasselback-potatoes.html

they look YUMMMMMM!

MOM! Make these...

http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/05/hasselback-potatoes.html

they look YUMMMMMM!

LOL

Our charter site...

http://www.oysteryachtcharter.com/oceana.html

Got a haircut and re-squeezed the spinnaker...

Productive day at the dock here at Harbour Towne Marina in Dania Beach, Fl.

This morning started out with our computer tech from New Orleans coming to the boat to sort our our interwebs problems... needless to say I am up and running on my mac! I feel relaxed and at home now that I have my own bunk and my computer attached to the web. Ahhhh....

Then I pulled everything out of the lazarette so we could get the giant spinnaker out of there, when I say giant.... I mean GINORMOUS!!! This thing weighs like 500 pounds. no joke. That's it, the colorful one in the pic. Well we had to raise it in its squeezer thingy that keeps it all together and re-pack it because it was all messed up so that was a sweaty job. Then we put it back in the laz and I packed all the dive gear and lines and fishing gear on top of it. whew!

Then, we did some laundry and the guys came to disassemble the generator that decieded to eat itself last week. Dirty job. Then I cleaned the interior and tried out the new vacume we bought. It's VERY quiet and light.

Then we took the bimini down and gave it to the cleaning dudes to get the stains removed before we leave next week.

Then we wrapped things up and headed into town. Lee needed to go to Best Buy to get a new flat screen and blu ray player so he dropped me and Amy off at the hairdressers because we both were in desperate need of a hair cut. I haven't had mine cut since D.D. cut it last year... no joke... So the lady started cutting, and cutting... and cutting... she cut about 4 inches off. I needed it. Feels good! Now it's time to color it and get on the big blue watery road. North bound and down, rollin up and truckin'!!!

Amy is cooking traditional english "Toad in a hole" and no Mom... It's got nothing to do with eggs in toast...

Sausages laid in the bottom of a baking dish, covered with a mixture of eggs, milk and flour, baked in the oven till the whole thing rises like a big biskit!

p.s. that pic was taken before our hair cuts in Miami Beach.

TA DAAAAAA!

Sitting still for another week or so...

Well, one of our generators bit the dust on friday so we are headed back to ft. lauderdale tomorrow for another week or so while we wait on our gen to be fixed... sucks because it puts a damper on our fun plans up north. We are still going to NYC but we may have to shorten or postpone the Boston area visit... blah. Oh well. The owner already said that we could take our time heading back south after the big new england summer trip. we will be here in the yard for 6 weeks starting in October. So we may stop in the Boston area on the way back down and also in Charleston or Savannah. I would love to go to either spot! I really miss Savannah! Mom sent me a lil care package and I asked her to send my book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil because that book is awesome and takes place in Savannah... I read this morning for about 30 mins before I had to put it down and get to work. It's just so freakin good! It's a true story so if you ever get a chance to read it I highly reccomend you do so. j

I fell in the marina on Saturday night. My cell phone and ID and credit card are at the bottom of the marina. Good thing I postponed getting that iPhone! As soon as I find a bank of america I can get a new card and get back on line. I'm so excited!

Our owners trip on Saturday went really well! Everyone had fun and they invited us to go bowling at Lucky Strikes lanes here in south beach yesterday so we did, it was so fun! We bowled and drank and ate and had a blast! I taught the owner of my boat the top gun hi-five, you know when Goose and Maverick are playing volleyball and they do the hi-five then bring it all the way around and do the low five... classic. We were on the same team so that was our deal... they are probably wondering where the hell they found me... lol!

My old chef Justin from the Seattle yacht is in ft lauderdale now too! His generator broke as well so I will be seeing them soon. I just saw them in key west a couple of weeks ago but I can't get enough of Justin and the scoot!

It's hot as hell here. South Beach Miami!!!! I am ready to get out of here though. Ready to head north where you need a blanket at night. My focsle doesnt have a/c yet so it's freakin hot in there right now. good thing mosquitos don't like me because I have been sleeping with my hatch open.

SHIT! I FORGOT TO WATCH THE SEASON OPENER OF TRUE BLOOD!!!! DAMN!!! It was last night. I will have to watch it online...

Gotta go. Back to work!

Sailing.... take me away....

Hello! I know, I know, I haven't been updating my blog but my computer wont connect to our internet for some reason and I have no time to take it to the mac Dr. so I have to use the boat computer whenever I can...

So, here we go.

The boat is great! Crew is fun, we get alog really well. I made some new friends while we have been in the yard here at Powell Bros. Marine in Ft. Lauderdale. The crew of the megayacht Double Haven have been entertaining. Danny and Ian... thanks for entertaining me! Ian took me to a badass concert on Tuesday night, the artist was Bon Iver and it was freakin' sweet!!!

It's been a busy week because we are putting the boat back together as it has been torn apart for a month, dust everywhere, the deck is covered in soot from the damn generator for the yact next to us so that is a big job. 82 feet of teak. Not to mention waxing the hull and the white parts on deck... all my job.

Tomorrow we head to Key Largo where we will anchor out for the night just the crew, then we will have guests on board Sat. morning and will sail north to Miami Beach where they will get off. We will be staying in Miami till Monday or Tuesday and then we will head to New York City! We are headed straight there, no stops, head out into the gulf stream and ride it up more than likely. Capt. says it should only take us 5 days.

They dropped the iPhone down to 99 bucks so I think I am going to buy one on Sat. when we get to Miami. My phone is acting up. I think I finally dropped it too many times. I will post some pictures when I can, we have a camera on board so don't worry we will be documenting our adventures!

Boy... I'm hungry.

OH my, so I have gained like 10 pounds since I got on this boat. Amy cooks all this great food and I just can't not eat it! I am stopping today though... I went from eating maybe half of what I have been now and riding 10 miles a day on my bike and walking all over the island all evening to eating 2 full meals a day and never leaving the boat. Makes a big difference.

Well, that's the news... Not too exciting yet! But it will be... :)

FINALLY!!!

OK. Now I can tell you guys what's going on....

I got a job on a Sailing Yacht!!! http://www.oysteryachtcharter.com/oceana.html click there to see it!

I am the deckhand/stewardess and the other crew are husband and wife Capt and Chef team. I am loving it so far. I am in Ft. Lauderdale now but will be leaving on the 13th to head to NEW YORK CITY. The owners are awesome and so are the crew.

My plans are as follows, this is what the owners told us yesterday...

June 13th - crew only- sailing to NYC for a few days for fun

Then to Marion. Mass for a week or so because the Capt and Chef have buddies there and they want to see them. Marion is 30 mins south of Boston so someone will come pick me up and I will go visit Lilly and the Clipper crew for a few days.

Then we sail to Newport where we pick up the owners.

Then on to Provincetown Mass (P-town) where we will stay for a few days and where I will get to visit Will!

Then on to Martha's Vinyard

Then up the coast of Maine almost all the way to Camden... ;)

Then back to Newport

Then up to Nova Scotia

Then we aren't sure if we are going up and around Nova Scotia into Halifax but if not we will head back down and do some more cruising around the Maine coast in August then we will drop the owners off and make our way back down here to Ft. Lauderdale for another yard period for the month of October.

I will be living in Miami in a condo for the month of October.... :)

Then we head to the Caribbean for the winter.

Make our way all the way down island.

Through the Panama canal

To the Galapagos Islands....

Onward to the South Pacific!

From there I just don't know....


BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHAHAHA SDK S JDKFDJASKNAKVNSKDHGOWIERWRQEHWGD;XKFRHDGFG;A;SDK!

OMG!

Whew...

I gotta get a camera!

I feel a change in the wind... again...

Hope it's not an accidental jibe.

The aliens are communicating...

through my VHF radio on channel 63a. Just thought I would let everyone know...

They have been at it for a few days now, wonder what they are talking about!

Chillin at work on a beautiful Key West morning!

Morning hammock swingers and back porch coffee drinkers!!!

It's me.

Just got done with my first 5 mile bike ride of the day which puts me here at work at the yacht club. Just watched an amazing sunrise over Mt. Trashmore (the dump) and a badass full moon rise over the yacht club. Time to buy a new camera.

Right now I am watching Luis drive a huge fork lift with a boat on the end. It makes me nervous but he does a good job. We have a lot of people that keep their boats in our dry storage and when they wanna go out on the water they just call and we put it in the water for them.

Job is good, I am good at it but I miss being on the water. I am lucky to have such a good job at this time in the world and also during slow season in Key West so I am gonna stick with it. I am thinking about getting a little island car of some kind for the rainy season though.

I have all sorts of new friends and fun things have been happening. I don't know how to begin to catch up so I wont. I will just start with the most recent stuff.

Lilly is leaving for the summer, headed to Boston on the Schooner Liberty Clipper. I am really sad that she is leaving but she will be back soon so I will be ok.

JUDY IS COMING HOME!!! Actually she is home, she is in Ft. Lauderdale right now and arrives on Monday!!! YAAAAAAAY! At least she is coming back before Lilly leaves. It's gonna be like old times but better! Me, Judy, Mandy and Sarah... all back together. Look out world!

My new friend Joshua and his brother Caleb and his Dad Fishbone are artists. Check out thier work here at http://www.designsbyfishbone.com/ amazing stuff. When I met Fishbone he told me he was so happy to finally meet me because he had a dream about me some time ago that inspired him to make some art pieces... he calls me his inspiration now lol! Go to their site, click on Catalog, Off the hook, scroll down click next page and scroll down till you see Jolie and her squid whip. YEP. He DID dream me up. I don't have any pics of me and Joshua yet but I will post some when I do. Having a good ole time. It's nice to hang out with someone I can have a conversation with that doesn't start with "so there i was, wasted, running from the cops..."

;)

What else.... Um... I am a size 4 now! Pretty much the size I was when I was in high school. HELL YEAH! Now that I'm not drinking every night I will probably loose some more weight. I don't really want to though. I already look like I'm gonna topple over already.

Everything is good at my apartment. I love it. My roommate is awesome. We never see each other unless it's in passing each other going out or coming in. Perfect situation. We sit down and chat maybe one time a week if we are both off work on the same day. She is very neat and tidy so we never have a problem with that.

OH! Jose just pulled up! I love Jose... http://www.spanishflytv.com/

He is so freakin nice! Maybe one day he will take me fishin...

Oh! I went deep sea fishing the other day with my buddy Bobby who is a member of the club. His boat is called LET'S GO!!! and his charter company is called LET'S GO FISHIN! LoL. Heidi and I went out with him last week and we went all the way out to 600 feet! I have never been in water that deep or that blue. It was like the most beautiful thing ever! He was going nuts about how proud he was of us for not barfing. The boat is only 35ft long. I told him we are badasses and he should have known that already! We were even hungover! Heidi made the first catch of the day, a nice sized tuna. Then we didn't have much luck but we did see a sail fish. We caught some yellowtail snapper and I caught the only one that was a keeper. We will go fishing with him again when Judy gets back to town, take Mandy with us too.

If you wanna see my yacht club go to www.ycoa.com and click on Key West.

Sorry I have been away!!!

Been busy.... single again... having the time of my life... working alot... lost my camera and my ipod.... met a new awesome guy that is not a loser... things are going well... will have more motivation to blog now that i don't have to spend every waking moment with Evan. :) Gotta go, Lilly's going away party is tonight and I have to attend...

When getting boarded by the coast guard...

It helps if they are adorable and you are almost naked....


Cousins Steph and Charlie (lilly's cousin and his girlfriend but they are my cousins now too)

dude... kw never ceases to amaze me... these guys were sailing under umbrella

Dylan and Lilly on the best day ever.

Best day ever wakeboarding from the beach at boca grande, an uninhabited island about 45 mins away from kw.

Dylan and Zak, love them.

pictures

Me holding a gator
Lilly holding a gator
Gators in the wild
cave art
us at Paynes Plains
Me at paynes plains

I'M BACK!

Sorry for the lack of blogging but I have been without internet access most of the time. Things are going great! At the moment I am relaxing on Lilly's bed in Gainesville, Florida. We decided to take a "mental health week" and drive up so she could take care of some final school stuff and I don't start my new job for another week and a half so it seemed logical that I come with her.

Oh! Confused you say?

I am not working at the croissant shop anymore. I got a REAL job. I am the assistant dockmaster at the new YCOA marina! TADAAAAAAAAAAAA! Yes.

Why do I need a mental health WEEK?

Anyway....

Lilly and I took a 4 mile walk and a 12 mile bike ride today! YES I SAID TWELVE MILES!
We are looking so sexy.

Here are some pics.

damn blogger wont upload them...

just know this... we got really close to some alligators in the wild and took pictures of ourselves with them.... They don't call them the University of Florida Gators for nothin!

p.s. I know I am a stupid girl but that's my prerogative.

I am down to a size 7.... and counting!!!!!

p.s.

Everything is fine with me and Evan! We are too much alike in the first place so we do the same stupid things when we get freaked out lol. He took me to meet his Mom yesterday... uh oh! Haha she is awesome. Exactly what I thought she would be like! I am off to work on the Rover. See ya later! 

lost my phone

new number is 305- 879-2276 call me or text me so i have your numbers....

Still alive!

Just busy and have no internet access now that I have moved out of charlie's house. Technically homeless, but I have good friends that have couches and extra bunks on their boats. 

Doing great! 

So happy! 

Life is sweet! 

Here are some pics for you...

Evan and Damien at Cowboy Bills...

Evan and Will on the dock... 

Me and Ivona Richmond on a boat! 

Lilly and Me and Evan hanging out in the bed...