Anniversary Again?! Blogging Discoveries
Precisely one month ago, I launched this blog – Happy Anniversary! Okay, okay, I know it’s only been a month, and I promise I won’t coerce you into celebrating such minutia all the time. But, kind of like in the early stages of a new relationship when the couple celebrates mini-anniversaries, I’m just so darn excited and want to mark the occasion.
So, what have I discovered in this month of blogging?
Daily reminders of how much I enjoy writing! The joy of “meeting” new and interesting people in the form of blog readers and other bloggers. I actually dig… Continue readingHow Did You End Up On An Island? PART 1
“How did you end up living on an island?” This question is posed to me on a near-weekly basis. The end result was a few decades in the making, so it defies any succinct answer, but I’ll give it a shot.
Where Were You Before You Moved To The Island?After graduating law school and obtaining a Master’s Degree in Education in the Midwest, I moved to South Florida (where my parents and brother had relocated) and worked for four years as an educational/legal consultant to school districts across the southeastern United States.
Then, for a variety of reasons, I… Continue reading
Delicious Fish Dinner
Good morning! I was thinking of you all as I cooked dinner last evening, so I decided to snap some pics and share my delicious fish dinner with you. Now, I’m no chef, and this is not a food blog. BUT this fish makes me happy, so here you go. 🙂
The real dinner process starts in the sea, when my beau and his buddies spear-fish hogfish or grouper, or when we catch mahi mahi with a rod-n-reel. After they clean everything, I help package the fish fillets in gallon-sized Ziplock bags and seal them tight. The best seal… Continue reading
Questions?
Good morning, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I definitely did. I enjoyed home-puttering, boat ride, visit and cookout on neighboring island, dinner with friends, dress-up party at the local marina and plentiful dancing, leisurely breakfasts, movies from the comfort of couches, book-reading and – of course – Angel antics.
My post today is focused on YOU. What questions do you have about island living or otherwise related to Choosing The Better Life? Please submit your questions as comments here or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ChoosingTheBetterLife), and I’ll answer them in an upcoming post. … Continue reading
Island Back-Story: How I Discovered This Tiny Paradise
(Editor’s Note: Originally posted on March 16, 2012, this post was updated on September 25, 2012 to add in pictures! Once I retrieved old photo albums from storage, and consulted my dad’s pilot’s logs for details of our early trips, I corrected a few errors in memory and added the old pics! Enjoy.)
Since the island is so small, and so far from where I lived in the States most of my life, how in the world did I ever find it? Well . . .
15-Year-Old Midwestern Girl
Let’s go back in time to the mid-80’s . . .… Continue reading
Stateside Visits
Ahhh, home sweet home! I am happily back on the island after being away much too long. Although I was keeping up with this blog from afar, I’ve actually been traveling through Florida the last couple of weeks. You might think I’d enjoy a return to “civilization,” with its restaurants and salons and Target stores. But, really, it’s always just so darn HECTIC! I love, love, love the chance to spend time with family and friends. And I do take the opportunity to stock up on things I can’t get on the island. But, oh, the traffic, and the running… Continue reading
Angel with Coconut (Video)
Dear Readers, I thought you might enjoy a little snippet of my Island Dog in action. Angel looooooooves to chase and chew coconuts. These particular clips were not actually filmed in the islands; you’ll see Angel and me in a Florida backyard when we visited family recently. The first video clip (17 seconds) is a little better quality, but the second one (27 seconds) amuses me because you can really hear how Angel squeaks and squeals in her excitement while chewing. My vocal little dog. Enjoy!
Before & After
This blog’s “About” page narrates a bit about my life before and after making the decisions that led me to life on an island. That’s the big picture. But all kinds of minutiae really drive home how my life has changed – for the better – from BEFORE to NOW. For example:
Before – The alarm clock would jolt me rudely awake in the morning. Now – I never use an alarm. Instead, I awaken naturally around 6:30 a.m. – give or take 15 minutes – as the light filters in. If I’m really drowsy, my back-up “alarm” is the… Continue reading
Random Things I Didn’t Know About Island Life
After visiting this island for 25 years, sometimes for long stretches, I really thought I had a pretty good handle on the ins and outs of island living. Silly, I suppose, given that there is ALWAYS something new to learn in any venture. Also, I thought I knew how tough the ever-present elements of salt, sun, sand and humidity were on materials. Nope. I’ve had plenty of surprises, small and large, or simply things I hadn’t considered before. Such as:
“Stainless Steel” means what is says. It will stain LESS, but it is not rustproof in the way I took… Continue readingSharks & Eels & Barracudas, Oh My!
For as many years as I can remember as a child, I loved curling up with family and a bowl of popcorn and watching the once-a-year televised airing of The Wizard of Oz. (Somehow, that felt far more special than our ability now to download or watch a DVD any ol’ time you please.) Anyway, one of the memorable lines in the movie was Dorothy’s innocent exclamation, “Lions and tigers and bears – oh my!” As I delve deeper (no pun intended) into my new world, I am far more apt to blurt, “Shark!” or “Eel!” or “Barracuda!” Oh… Continue reading
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