T-HURS-day.

Its Thursday, & oh what a week its been. 

This week was the start of SAT 10's, the standardized test GPSS administers. For whatever reason they text for 2 long weeks. The students are sick of the testing, as am I. May begins tomorrow, and the end of the year is approaching quickly (I hope).

Our days do not seem to end until 8:00 at night. We have track practice everyday after school until about 5:30 and various activities to follow, depending on the day.

Monday - We try to leave the evening open for FHE/Family time and such.

Tuesdays - We have Mutual. For those who don't know, both Jeff & I are in the Young Men/Women's organization. I was just made Secretary and he is a Counselor/Advisor (I forget which)

Wednesdays - We have track meets from 4:30 - 8:30ish. These are quickly becoming my least favorite thing. They are unorganized & somehow Jeff and I ended up on the outside of the coaches loop. For each meet we submit our Roster at the start of the week via the internet. Last week's meet was cancelled. We were told that it would be rescheduled, so we assumed that this week's meet would be Meet #3 for roster registration. It wasn't, apparently there was an email sent out to informing us of the change, but we missed that one. As a result, our roster was completely out of whack. We had several athletes miss on events, we had parents upset, and the list goes on. The lack of communication, disorganization & stress that come along with these meets have made Track & Field something we will NOT do again, at least on island.

Thursday - Today we met briefly with our groups from class to prepare for Saturdays presentations. We're home relatively early & I'm ready to crash at 7 o'clock. 

And.. that has been our week! 

I should mention that as stressful as things may get, we enjoy being busy!

Gus & Louie

There are 2 new additions to the Wheatley-Gamett household (the name change will happen this summer, I know inquiring minds would like to know). Moms/Dads, there is no need to get to excited, I am NOT pregnant, as scattered brained as this post may be...

Let me begin from last Saturday..

We are currently taking a Teaching Methods class that focuses on a variety of teaching methods that work particularly well for students with moderate-severe disabilities. Its a fun class, and we've come across several interesting techniques. On Saturday we looked at Animal Therapy, and discussed how animals or the care of an animal has positive effects on ALL persons, not just those with disabilities. Jeff & I have been aching to adopt yet another animal, but refuse to do it until we are in a permanent location (I can't bear the thought of returning yet another pet to an animal shelter). 

A few months back Jeff began suggesting we get a fish tank. He seemed excited about the idea so we made a trip to a local pet shop and had a look around. We priced a few things out, got a feel for what was available & decided we'd think about it.

Life has been stressful lately, with classes, work, homework, testing, etc., etc. After class last Saturday we were both feeling pretty drained & stressed. I knew Jeff could use some kind of pick me up, so I decided it was time to buy that fish he had wanted. We headed to the pet store directly from the university. 

Jeff picked out a tank while I played with the puppies and cats.

Jeff decided on a simple tank that came with some rocks, a few decorative plants and 2 free starter fish. We didn't get the fish the same day, the pet store gives you a day to set the tank up. We went right home and set it all up, we replaced the broken lamp in our living room with the fish tank. We were eager to pick the fish up the next day. 

After church we stopped by the pet shop to pick up our Guppies, Gus (is mine) & Louie (Jeff's). I named mine the day I got him, but it took Jeff a few days. They seem to be at home in our little apartment. I have to admit, its a relaxing feature. I catch myself just watching the little guys chase their reflections up & down in the tank, silly fish.

Saturday is a BIG Day..

Today is the day of our PRAXIS II.. its basically a Comp's Exam & Jeff & I are both anxious.. We just want to take it, pass it & be done with it.

60 questions has never been so intimidating! 

Wish us luck!

PS Amoxicillin was my life saver this week! I'm feeling 100%.

The Weekend in Review..

Friday --> Payday (our checks arrived before 5!)

Saturday --> I woke up not feelin' too hot.. The morning was spent w/ last minute preparations for presentations for class in the afternoon.. Both Jeff & myself weren't pleased w/ our performances... Can anybody say, burned out??

Sunday --> Again, woke up, not feelin' too hot.. Study/Prep day for the Praxis II from 8:00 - 5:00.. Productive, stress-filled day..

Monday --> Woke up feeling AWFUL.. Stayed home.. Went to the Doc.. I've got an ear infection & a viral infection.. Fun times for me!

Tuesday --> Still feelin' icky, home from work...

& thats about all I have energy for.. More to come!

1st Track Meet of the Season.. & of my LIFE.

We had our 1st Track Meet of the season! We (athletes & coaches included) felt unprepared, but we were excited! I was not expecting the meet to run smoothly, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Jeff & I took on track mainly for the kids. We were already overwhelmed by what we had on our plate, but nobody else was willing to take it on. Jeff & I both agreed we'd rather struggle through the season & make time for it than leave several students missing out on something they were anxious to be a part of. 

We began practices about a week & a 1/2 before Spring Break. We had between 25-30 kids show up for practice each day. The majority of them had little to no athletic training or previous involvement with any for of recreation (let alone organized sport). Jeff & I quickly realized that this would be a learning experience for us, as coaches, & as well as the athletes. 

Our first meet was Wednesday (the Wednesday right after Spring Break). I was stressed the day of. I was concerned we wouldn't have transportation for all of our athletes, the school system does not provide any assistance & coaches are advised NOT to give rides to athletes (I'm not sure that we'd be able to, our little Echo has seatbelts for 5 but seating for about 3). I was pleasantly surprised, several parents volunteered and showed up to transport their sons/daughters, as well as any others. 

We had been given very little information regarding the meet. We know when & where to show up, but that was about it. I regarded the lack of information as a sign of disorganization & poor planning (in typical Guam fashion) but the events ran smoothly. The only glitch was in the schedule of events. The coaches had been given a different schedule than what was being followed at the meet. Regardless, our athletes were able to finish, and several were decent competitors. I was so proud of our athletes! They all worked really hard and definitely did their best, which is all we asked of them!

1 Meet down, 4 more to go!

The Rest of the Trip...

The last few days of our trip were spent like the first few.. We did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted.. We did a lot more walking.. More eating.. & More shopping.. We just enjoyed being away.. being in Cairns.. The trip was PERFECT!

Here is the Lagoon.. Its a huge public swimming pool right off the bay. Def a very cool spot!

Jeff was either worn out or depressed that we had to leave soon. We had anticipated that our checkout date was Thursday morning because our flight was Thursday late night. We moved really slowly that morning taking full advantage of what we thought would be our last hours in the hotel room. We headed on down to check out, only to find out we weren't scheduled to check out until Friday! We were stoked we'd have the chance to relax & take advantage of the pool for another full day!

This is the view from our last (& first) meal in Cairns. These restaurants were on the Esplanade, a gorgeous board walk/shopping district. We loved it! Great food & great views!

This was the very end of our trip.. In the airport. Our last meal in Australia - A blueberry muffin, an apple juice, a bottle of water, & a meat pie. We were SO not ready to leave!!

We've already begun planning our trip back (& we're anticipating additions to our traveling party *moms/dads*)...

Spring Breakin' Day 3: SkyRail, Kuranda & the Train

Today was my FAVORITE day of the entire trip! This little bus picked us up at our Hotel & took us to the SkyRail. It was about a 20 minute drive out of the city (including the multiple stops we took picking up others). The drive was gorgeous & gave us a chance to see the Cairns that was beyond our walking self-guided tours.

The SkyRail is kind of like a really, really long ski lift. You get into these little pods (they reminded me of the toboggans that used to go over Disneyland) & they take you up & over & through the rainforest, mountains & gorges. It was pretty amazing! Here is a view of Cairns & the valley below from the Sky Rail.

The ride on the Sky Rail took about an hour.  There were a few stops along the way. One stop was a great walk through the rainforest.

And the other was an amazing view of Barron Falls.

The final stop on the Sky Rail was Kuranda, a small mountain town that had once been overrun with hippies, and that is now full of shops, cafes, & Zoos. We were ready for a morning snack, & decided we had to get a Meat Pie. A fav of Jeff's from his last trip to Australia. They're basically like pot-pies, a pastry filled with various things. This was meat, peas, carrots & tomatoes with mashed potatoes & BBQ sauce on top. It was pretty tasty!

We decided to go to the mini-zoo. It was cheap & gave us a chance to see all the Aussie favorites, up close & personal. You could walk right in & feed the Wallabies & Kangaroos. This little wallaby was my fav!

You could also cuddle & take a pic w/ a Koala for an extra fee, I decided to just snap a few shots of my own. These used to be my all time fav animals when I was young! They still are one of my favorites!

They had a ton of freshwater crocs. This one was staring me down from the moment I walked in the park. He looked hungry.

After the Zoo we decided to grab some lunch before we did some shopping. We went to a little cafe. They had fresh squeezed juices & I couldn't help myself! I got a Pineapple-Apple-Mint juice & it was the best thing I've ever had! The sandwiches we ordered were also divine! 

We did a some more shopping after lunch, and then had to catch our train back down the mountain. The rains came in & we got soaked on the way back to the station, but it was fun! It felt part of the entire RAINforest experience. On the way back down we got another amazing view of Barron Falls from the other side of the gorge. They've built a dam that lessens the amount of water that comes over the falls now, back in the day it was really impressive! (I think it still is)

The train trip back down was so relaxing! The view were amazing! We had the time of our life! Jeff looked so natural in the train! He mentioned that perhaps his true calling in life was to be a train conductor (I think he was born a century to late for that).

Spring Breakin' Day 2

I should mention that yesterday we decided to stop into a travel agency. We knew Cairns was THE place to head out & see the Great Barrier Reef, but we were interested to see what else it had to offer. We left the agency with a handful of pamphlets on snorkeling trips, boat excursions, train rides, sky rails, rainforest hikes, zoos, zip lines & everything in between. We were a little overwhelmed. We decided to take a day to discuss & decide before we booked! 

We had decided the night before that we wanted to see the rainforest. Jeff has seen the reef, & I get a little anxious when I think about swimming so closely to fish (especially after my traumatic snorkeling experience in Catalina, another story for another day). We decided that we wanted to take the SkyRail into the rainforest, up to the town of Kuranda, spend the day there & then head back to Cairns via the Railway. After another leisurely breakfast, and another stroll around Cairns we headed back to the agency & booked our trip! We were stoked!

We decided to continue exploring the city..

We stopped into the Casino (did not compare w/ Vegas, but then what does??). It was fairly empty, probably because it was 10 A.M. We headed to the second level of the casino in search of the NCAA Final. Sure enough, we found it, as well as a Senior Citizens movie club. They had converted half of the level into a free public theater for the morning. After watching the start of the game we decided to move out & move on.

We came across an amazing mall next. It was big. It was a mall. I was excited! We did a walk through & then headed up to the food court. We stopped at a Coffee Shop & each got a wrap. They were delish! It was amazing to have fresh veggies again! Its been so long... There was a movie theater near the food court, so we decided to check it out & see what was playing. Most of the movies had been out in the states for a while & didn't really peak our interest. I wanted to see Monsters vs. Aliens (I had heard good things from some of my students). We checked the times, & had some time to kill before the movie, so we did some shopping! More window shopping than anything. I think Jeff & I are in perma-save mode, needless to say, we didn't buy much. Movie time was near, so we headed back to the theater, purchased our tickets & snacks simultaneously (they sold the tickets @ the concession stands). I was still full, but they had Frozen Coke (Icees) & Jeff had to have one. I was glad he had gotten one because it was the best Icee I have had in a long time. The movie was cute. 

We headed back to the hotel for some pool time before another early dinner.

For dinner we went to Outback Jacks. Its an new Australian chain. We had Kangaroo & Crocodile skewers. We were down under, we had to try! The crocodile had taste & consistency similar to beef, w/ a hint of fishiness. The Kangaroo was a white meat, and tasted like... meat?? (I def do NOT have a career as a food critic) Both were pretty good, & generally meaty. For my main course I got the worlds largest wagyu  burger on the worlds largest platter. It was tasty! 

And that pretty much wraps up Day 2.

Spring Breakin' Day 1

'Tis that time of year... Spring Break! Jeff & I had been living for this week off, we needed a break, a vacay, a chance to get off this tiny little island we live on & FINALLY we got it! We had narrowed our list of destinations for spring break down to two: Australia & Japan. After price comparison, budget talks, & research we unanimously chose AUSTRALIA! 

We were stoked! We left Sunday evening & arrived that same night! Guam & Australia fall under the same time zones so we didn't have to deal with any lost/gained/adjusted time. Our flight went quickly (thankfully - the in flight entertainment was seriously lacking). We checked in, got through Customs/Immigration with very few problems. We were a little worried because Jeff's Passport was set to expire at the end of the week! 

Australia has very strict rules about what must be declared & what can be brought into the country. Jeff had a whole bag of unopened skittles he had purchased for the trip, & in a moment of panic tossed them into the trash. I doubt they would have denied us entry because of a bag of Skittles, declared or undeclared.

Like I said, we arrived at night, took a cab to the hotel, checked in & settled right in.

I managed to find a hotel that fit our (Jeff's) budget & my champagne taste! Lets face it, boys wouldn't know the difference between a Motel 8 & 4-Star Hotel! We stayed at a place called the Novotel Oasis.

The room was just the right size! The bed was comfy, the shower was clean, & the TV was an LCD Flat Screen (Jeff's favorite feature). Jeff wasted NO time getting comfortable!

After a wonderful nights rest, we decided to head out in search of breakfast. In order to cut costs we headed to a corner grocer & bought some bread, PB & J, Apple Juice, Granola Bars & Crackers. These 'essentials' would serve as our breakfast for the trip. We decided to head out & do some exploring after breakfast. We took a stroll around the city. Down the esplanade, around the bay, & to the nearby harbor. I immediately fell in love with the city!

We had gotten a good taste of what Cairns had to offer & decided to take advantage of the sun, & head to back to the hotel to enjoy some quality R&R by the pool. We took advantage of the poolside bar & got a Pina-Colada to share (virgin of course)..

After some pool time, we headed out to an "early-bird" dinner. Most of the restaurants in the area offer discounts for early dinner diners. Jeff & I typically eat early dinners, so Australia seemed to be well suited for us! We ate dinner at the Raw Prawn, overlooking the Esplanade & the bay. The weather was perfect! The seafood was fresh! & we were in HEAVEN!

The Wonderful World of BLOGGING...

I've started several blogs & have failed to update & share every single one of them. 

We're in Guam. We're so far away from family & friends, & this seems like an alternative means of staying in touch since our busy schedules & the extreme time differences prevent us from regular contact with those on the mainland.

I've decided to try this again, so here it goes!