Animals

The crab lives in our front yard underneath a rock near our flower tree and the frog was in the backyard. We have a ton of frogs, there is actually a big one that is the crabs next door neighbor. Never though I would see a crab in our front yard.

These are some views around us. It is very green and pretty here. The weather is nice right now in the winter, but the summer will be very hot. We go snorkeling near the water photos. Last weekend we saw a huge parrot fish, a few sea turtles and a moray eel. It was fun to see the eel but apparently they are dangerous so we will not be getting so close next time. I think we are ever going to go snorkeling on Christmas. The water is cooler now, but we are still able to play in it.

Shawn started working in section. He works nights and it will take us a while to get used to it. I work 8 hour days and he works 12 hours nights and our shifts over lap, so we are really only home together for a few hours on days that we both work. It is also difficult with only one car. On the plus side no where on this island is to far away, we can get most places within 5 mins. we also don't have any traffic lights which cuts down on the stops.

We both really like it here. This is a very nice community and there are a lot of activities. We are going to learn to scuba dive soon and then we can go further out and deeper in the ocean. It is still hard being so far away from everyone and we miss you all.

The House

Here are some pictures of our house. We really like it. Its nice to have a place of our own.

Pictures

This is Shawn and I snorkeling at Windmill Beach. It was clear and we got to see a lot of tropical fish along the reef, we even saw two sea turtles. The bird is in our back yard. The iguana is small to medium, they are everywhere. We don't touch them but they are fun to see. We are doing well. We both really like our jobs and we are enjoying getting to know this place. The weather is very nice right now about 85 degrees everyday, which is a lot better than 100 degrees and humid. We hope everyone is doing well, we will talk to you all soon.

Our House

Hey there everyone, here are some photos of our house and Shawn cleaning out our shed.

CUBA!!

Hey there everyone, we are in Cuba. Sorry that it took so long to get a post up but we have been trying to get our house set up and everything else. Anyway our stuff is finally here so we don't have to use loner stuff anymore. It is very hot here and humid. Most of the time it is in the 80's. We are really enjoying it here. Shawn is going doing training right now and I got a job at Columbia College as an academic advisor/administrative assistant. We are both going to start school in January, so we are looking forward to that. Lets see, we are still waiting for our car to get here and we are hoping it will be tomorrow. It is actually difficult to get around here with out a car. We live just over two miles from the downtown area, which is also where we work and it takes about half hour to walk down there. Which would not be so bad except the humidity is so high that when you get down there it looks like you just got back from a 10 mile run. We do have a taxi service that has about 4 cars, but we usually have to wait a long time for them and some times you can't even get a hold of them, so we are really hoping that our car is here soon. Other than that we are doing really really well and enjoying the nice weather. I'll post pictures soon.

Delayed Again

Hey there everyone, once again I am delayed in the states because of "paper work". I am in Boise and headed to Lewiston tomorrow for about a week before I fly out to Cuba to join Shawn. He is in Pocatello right now and he flies to Cuba tomorrow morning. We both really hate being apart from each other, but that damn "paper work". Don't worry I'm NOT BITTER at ALL! It will all work out, it is just takeing longer than I would like. We have had a good time seeing all of our family, we will miss them a lot but I know we are ready to have a place of our own. Here are some pictures of us on our travels. We will talk to you all soon.

GOOD NEWS!!

Hey there everyone! I know that once again it has been awhile but I have good news. Shawn gets home from Greece this Sat. at 10pm. We are both really excited. We are going to spend some time in Pocatello, then head out to see my dad in Durango, Co and after that we will split the rest of the time between Bosie and Lewiston visiting more family. We will be leaving for Cuba for 3 years around Oct. 20th. We would really love to see you all so call or e-mail and we can set things up.
I am thinking about setting up a welcome home party for Shawn on Sunday Sept. 21 around 2pm at probably Ross Park so let me know if you are interested in coming and I will let you know all the details, oh don't tell Shawn I want it to be a surprise.

FINALLY AN UPDATE

Hey there everyone sorry that it has been so long. I am back in Pocatello but hopefully not for too much longer. I am just packing and trying to get things ready to move. Shawn got stationed in Cuba so we will be there in October. We are really excited. I get to live there, which is nice because I won't have to go back and forth any more. We are going to be there for 3 years, so I am hoping to get a job that has at least something to do with my degree and maybe get some more schooling done. Shawn is going to take classes as well. We are hoping that I will be able to go back to Greece in about a month, but we really don't know anything. We have just learned to take it one day at a time, thinking too far ahead when you don't know what is going on is just too hard and depressing. It is kind of like an adventure that you really didn't want go on, but now that your on it you just take it as it comes and learn to enjoy as much as you can and overcome that which is not enjoyable.
Anyway, enough about that. Shawn got promoted, he is now a MA3 which is a Third Class Petty Officer. We are excited for him. He has also gotten the qualifications to drive both boats, which is something that not very many people are able to do. I am very proud of him. We miss each other and all of our friends that we are not able to see, but we hope everyone is doing well. Check back, I will let you know what is going on as soon as we find out.

Bad Weather

Hey everyone, I was supposed to be back in Poky tonight, but we are having really bad weather here so my flight got delayed. I should be in Wednesday night or so. They are seeing snow for the first time in two years here!
Annie

St. John's Cave and Monastery

Hi everyone, yesterday Shawn and I went to St. John's Cave. It is where St. John the Hermit lived (or was said to have lived). Then we walked down into a gorge where there was a very old monastery. They are no longer in use but there is a monastery at the top of the mountain that is still used. We weren't aloud to take pictures in there. The walk to the bottoms of the gorge was very steep and we walked along an old rock path (that was falling apart). It was a nice walk but the walk back up was not so easy. We were the only ones there so we were able to take our time and walk around inside of the old buildings and caves. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun. The two slide shows below are from our walk. The pictures above are Shawn and me at St. John's Cave and then us about half way up from the bottom of the gorge (we were tired!). Hope that you all enjoy.

St. John's Cave

Very Old Monastery

Photos

Hey everyone! I went around and took pictures the other day while Shawn was at work and they are posted below, there are more at photobucket keyword sstuart18 if you want more. Enjoy!

Old Geep Herder Hut

Olive Trees

Monastery

Fishing Harbor

View of Crete Mountains

Crete Pictures

I went out driving and these are some of the pictures that I took. I had a really good time. Shawn was at work so he didn't get to go, but he liked the pictures. I am going to take him back up to a monastery that I found in the mountains. St. John's Cave is back there so we are going to walk down to it soon. Hope you all like.