IT'S BEEN A MONTH ALREADY?!

Wow, we have been some busy bees this past month. Jacques will write about all of our adventures later... meanwhile I will be talking about the reason I wake up in the morning, my ray of sunshine and the cutest lil peanut in the world. SIENNA SIENNA SIENNA!!!
Here are some words she says that I can think of off the top of my head…
dog

cat

bird

ball

towel

couch

beach

moon

copter (helicopter)

car

book

giraffe

tiger

circle

purple

turtle (my favorite)

shampoo

burger

tube

pool

tattoo

eyes

nose

mouth

ELMO (sometimes MO)

Matt

Col

Coop

Kenna (McKenna)

LaLa (Lily),

She can now point to a LOT of body parts
-head, shoulders, knees, toes, foot, ear, eyes, nose, mouth, armpit, elbow, fingers, hiney

animal sounds:

pig, cow, dog, cat, bird, fish, monkey

She still loves the water and now is dunking herself and holding her breath a lot better nowadays. Wait until you guys see her she is truly amazing and keeps amazing me everyday.

Have a great day!!!!

hot climate, hot sauce

In Jersey I never really enjoyed spicy foods. But NOW I am enjoying the spice it gives to just about anything. Eggs, pork, rice & beans, fish, chicken and my grilled cheese and tomato I just consumed. I know we have it in the states but this Sriracha Hot Chilil Sauce is BANGIN'! Dad, do you guys have a bottle of this in the fridge?? If not, you should it's right up your alley. I'm going to experiment with it and try to make a sweet and spicy sauce for chicken. I'll let you know if a) I can get Jacques to try a different kind of chicken other than his famous BBQ and b) if I can even cook chicken by myself.

OP!!!!

Old dear OP. You were born (made) the same year as myself. Good ol' 1985. Ronald Reagan as president, BACK TO THE FUTURE, most popular song was "I want to know what love is, by Foreigner, Cosby Show was #1...you get it...it was a LONG LONG TIME AGO. Hence why THIS CAR IS BEING A PAIN IN MY REAR END! First of all, we did not realize our marbeta (PR insurance and registration) was expired! One day we are at the beach y una policia is checking out our car. Jacques goes to talk to him and he gets a screwdriver and takes our liscense plate, right there at de beach! Our bad. We did not notice that it was expired and it was definitely our fault. So for one day we rode around with no license plate. The next day we get our Marbeta (correct me if I am spelling it wrong, please!) registered. Not that big of a deal, there's a fee, inspection (it passed!) and a trip to the police station to retrieve our plate. Now we only have one screw for the plate! The boys (not sure if it was Enda, Santi, JB or Jacques...or the combination of the four) decided to DUCT TAPE the damn thing onto our car. Unlike Jersey, Puerto Rico only requires rear license plates (like...ummmm....Pennsyltucky...you know a PA plate by the front of the car). So the front does not look as mal as the back. After our car was legit..we went to our friends house in Puntas (same neighborhood we live in) and we went down the wrong street. Jacques tells me to get Sienna outta the car in attempt to get OP up out of the valley that he turned onto...in the midst he lost his keys and the car sits...for one day...for another...and another...thank goodness the wonderful and caring neighbors towed us out of there. OP, I would think with your 25 years of existence you would be more mature than this!!!!
-sidenote: Jacques rented a car for a couple days (for me) and he is getting all this stuff takin care of tomorrow morning. Our mechanic had an emergency today and couldn't make it.....OP, GROW UP!! WE NEED YOU!
-another sidenote: Jacques tried to post about four times today...he couldn't figure out how to upload pictures without his sweet lil girlfriend. heh. A POST FROM QUEZ SOON TO COME!!

a lot going on

finally spraying a sponger for all the times they snake me.

pretty stoked on school yards this swell. mini indo

what's up everyone,

i've been pretty busy between surfing all the time, family and freinds being in town, car getting stuck and losing my keys, so needless to say i haven't blogged in a while. the car story is for another day. i just wanted to congratulate caesar and erin, plus show the boys the mini indo school yards session on saturday. i'm stoked frank dog, sants, and barrie got a couple friday night when it was really doin its keramas impression.

the girls and i had a sick v day at the spot. life couldn't be better unless i had a car right now of course.

anyways we gotta get ready for the beach.

uploaded this lame tiny barrel twice by accident

quez

Familia de mi novio

Foley and Chad

the glowing engaged couple!!!

We had such a blast with everyone down here in PR!!! We had tons of company and many good times. First and foremost CONGRATS to Erin and Caesar!!! Caesar popped the question privately whilst a beautiful sunset here in Rincon, Puerto Rico. And of course Erin accepted! We wish them a lifetime of bliss, health and laughter. We couldn't be happier for them, they compliment each other perfectly and we CAN'T WAIT FOR THE WEDDING! WOOOOO!! There was plenty of great food. We had tacos, snacks at Casa Islena (a tapas bar) and a delicious dinner at Nativo (a local sports bar with delicious ceviche, tuna bites and mahi-mahi entrees) to celebrate. Thanks to our out of town contributors for the fabulous dinner as well!! Lots of Medalla, Heineken and rum flowing with cheers and laughs all around. Almost forgot of Jacques' (world famous in Rincon) BBQ chicken! My man prides himself on marinating for hours...then attentively standing by the grill making sure the chicken thighs are cooked to perfection. If you're planning on visiting...plan on eating Jacques' BBQ chicken!! World famous, here in Puerto Rico. Sienna LOVED playing with Lily (she calls her LA LA), Aunt Steph, Ava, Mom-Mom, Chad (aka Tattoo), Shawna, Bethany, Uncle Caesar, Foley, Uncle Frank, Aunt Trish (Tish) and Aunt Erin. We also had great company residing at our palace (our nickname for our house). Santi and John Barrie have defrosted from bone chilling New Jersey. Sienna loves both of them and is going to miss them like crazy. We know we will be getting the "come on parents, I'm bored of you guys" look very soon. Watching her interact with everyone was breathtaking...she's like a sponge! This little girl learns new things everyday. Cutest thing to date: She can now "pound it!" (fist bumping handshake). If you ask her to she then goes up to everyone in the room for another "pound". TOO CUTE!

hello, blog!

We have missed you and we have not forgotten, blogosphere. There are TONS of pictures from the last ten days and can't wait to share them. We LOVED having all of our company and there is so much more to write! We will be blogging tomorrow (or the next day).

Hope you had a good Valentine's Day!! ¡Espero que tengan una día buena de Valentina!

xo

SO BIG!!!

nieve en Nueva Jersey y olas en Puerto Rico

Just got off the phone with my Mom and Dad in Somers Point, NJ. And here is an updated report for ya. The snow started last night around 9:00pm. Gusting winds and heavy, wet snow has fallen for over 12 hours. My parents estimate they have about a foot of snow at their house. The generator on the street blew out at 6am this morning. My Mom, Dad and Zoe are in the kitchen with no heat or electricity. The stove is on, the oven is on and they hung a blanket up to keep the kitchen warm. They cannot grind their whole bean coffee nor use their electric coffee maker. They have NO COFFEE (seriously, we need our coffee). So they found a percolator deep in storage and my mom was on the porch smashing beans with a plastic bag and a piece of wood. So inventive! Hopefully soon they will relax, sip some coffee and talk about what they are going to do NEXT TIME to prepare better. As of right now it is the worst blizzard they have seen since living in Somers Point (well over 25 years). WOW. Lots and lots of snow. MY PARENTS LIVE ON PRINCETON ROAD SO IF YOU DO NOT HERE FROM THEM MAKE SURE THEY DIDN’T STRANGLE EACH OTHER IN THE KITCHEN. I kid. I kid. Hope all you guys up there enjoy the blizzard and BE SAFE.

Update it PR: we’re getting walloped with waves from the storm up north. It’s overhead (7ft waves) here and is building by the set. When nor’easters swing through the north it sends open ocean swell charging towards Puerto Rico (& other islands). It’s about 80 degrees and sunny (had to rub it in). I will definitely be taking some pictures of the waves. We will be sharing them with you alongside pictures of my parent’s blizzard pictures. Stay tuned!

p.s. we have a slew of jersey juice in town and we’re loving every moment of it! The days are flying by!!

frothing

zinski, tres 08

enda or irish at pools on the board i gave him

fun indicators

i'm at the house frothing to get wet. cora, john, and santi are out surfing head high perfect rincon and i'm home on baby duties. cora deserves to surf forever though cause the boys and i have went to middles yesterday and surfed from 10 a m till dark with a empanada de carne intermission. i'm stoked the boys and my girl are out gettting good ones right now. however, i just got sienna to sleep and all i can think about is bashing a lip or blasting an air. i'll be out there soon enough.

anyways i'm super stoked the fam is coming down this week. i can't wait to see everyone. hopefully, the waves are fun for everyone. i got a few spots were we should score empty good waves. keep your fingers crossed.

in the mean time i'm going to watch a surf vid and clean up the crib. good day to everyone.

quez

visitors

tres palmas...

WOW. We are so excited to have all these visitors coming down!! We have been kinda slacking on the blogs because we have been so busy (and loving every minute of it!) Between the early morning surf/beach adventures and housing all of our guests we have not gotten a chance to sit down and let it out. This past month (January) has been action packed. Between surf lessons, surf expeditions, entertaining (cooking, drinking, enjoying life) there just has not been time to sit down and write a good blog. We apologize for that. However, I love to have people down here enjoying our everyday life. So far we have had a slew of Jersey juice coming down and having a really good vacation. Correct me if I’m wrong but we have had Carter, Zinski, Jason, John, Birdlebee Jones, Santi, JB making the trip down to PR to experience the beauty of Rincon, Puerto Rico. AND we have figured out more than 13 people are going to be down here during this week. Shout outs to our future guests: Caesar, Frankie, Steph, Lily, Ava, Erin, Shawna, Foley, Bethany, Chad, Mom-Mom (quez’s madre), Boone and his girlfriend all contained in this little town. Jacques and I are finally getting to enjoy the “nightlife” of PR when Mom-Mom comes down to visit. Fun time to be ahead!! Can’t wait to get a break and blog about all these festivities. LET THE GAMES BEGIN! ENJOY THE SUNSHINE AND THE FRESH AIR. Can’t wait until my side of the family comes down to represent!!!

view from our house....

sunset from our house...

surf camp

buenes noche

hello to everyone. sorry, i haven't blogged in awhile but i've been busy with surf camp. bryan zinski flew in ten days ago, then jason and john two days later, and from there it was full surf camp mode when the waves were good. i had the boys up before dark on the good days and on the small days we surfed, snorkeled, ate, and had a steady supple of beer flowing. what else do you expect of surf camp at quez, cora, and sienna's crib?

here's some shots that zinski snapped before our first session at double overhead empty table rock.

these shots are from tres palmas. z shot these couple shots from the hill. it's amazing that we have these cause z was more amped to surf than a 15 yr old grom on his first tropical experience. he defenitaly held it down all day from surfing a slabby right to solid tres.

my homie, enda, from ireland gets the bravado award. he snapped his leash box the first session at tres and had to swim most the way in. after that we went to my house and he found an old gun on the bottom floor, spider webs, dust, and all. he cleaned it up and preceded to talk off on one of the gnarliest ones of the evening session. (except for the cleanup we took on the head). the thing was a mutant just thick, huge, and steep. the young irish lad didn't hesitate, he simply turned began paddling and took off on a solid twenty footer (face that is, ten foot back). when i saw him paddling i said outloud, "he's f ing nuts'', but he made the drop. he also went over the falls on a giant set earlier in the day that we tried to catch together.

the place is scary but one of the most beautiful places on earth. the water color, fifty foot depth, monster swells, and long paddle all add charachter to the mysto outer reef. i can't wait to surf it again.

quez

TRiTS!!!!!!

As we were finishing our delicious dinner Jacques made us we started talking about desserts. Which ALWAYS follow a great meal. We have some cookies-n-cream in our freezer...that will do. Our Irish lad Enda was saying he didn't have ice cream in a long time. And I asked him if they have chipwiches in Ireland. He replied "chickwiches?" nooooo "chip-switch?", noooo CHIPWICH! Two delicious chocolate chip cookies with a thick layer of creamy vanilla ice cream in between, not to be out done by the chocolate chip layer on the perimeter of the ice cream. Delicious. We have not found them in Puerto Rico, yet! I will definitely be on the prowl...gonna be doggin the ice cream man TOMORROW. Anyhoo, Enda is heading out to Costa Rica in March and we are trying to get him prepped for moving out there. (Jacques and I are "seasoned vets"). First thing you do when you get off the plane...go into a store and bee-line it to the freezer section and purchase a TRIT. It shits on the chipwich..trits eat chipwiches for breakfast. Ok, let me calm myself down because my heart rate goes up over these things. Details: the trit is similar to the chipwich but more like a delicious distant cousin. The cookies are a cross between a graham cracker and a sugar cookie. The ice cream is more of a sweet, sweet custard. And the three (or four) dollops of rich, gooey chocolate on the bottom are the icing on the cake. They are $1 (when Jacques and I were there) and I could eat them everyday, all day for the rest of my life. I would be 500lbs, but my big fat smile would never leave my face. Yum. I wish they had trits in Puerto Rico. Enda, eat as many trits as you can because you will miss them if and when you leave Costa.

did you know...

Baby powder removes sand ridiculously good?! Sprinkle a little on ANYplace you want the sand to be gone. I guess cause it's more fine than the sand... it buffs it right off. Quez and I use it everyday on Sienna. BONUS! It takes the moisture away and smells fresh too. Meaning less diaper rash and a happy, clean baby. That makes me happy :)

middles: isabela, PR

we took a little road trip to get outta Rincon for a day. Me, Jacques, Brian (our guest), Enda and Sienna all took the 45 minute drive to Isabela and the boys surfed while Sienna and I played on the beach. Waves were small but the boys were out solo until about 6 other people paddled out. My beach baby loved playing with her coconut and checking out the small planes flying directly over our heads. If I wanted to throw a coconut at them I could of, they were SO CLOSE. At the end of our day at the beach Jacques excitedly goes "what the hell...?" pointing into the water "what is that in the inside?" "it's a pufferfish!!!!!" and books it to this dead pufferfish, completely puffed out tumbling onto the shoreline. It was hilarious! It was bigger than a volleyball and looked really angry, eventhough it was dead. I wonder...did it die pissed off? Or did it die then expand? Something to think about...meanwhile, enjoy these photos!!

all for $40 bucks!!

today we got new brake pads, an emergency brake and our oil changed for $40!!!
"OP" is movin up in the world and she is safer to drive.

Coquí! Coquí! Coquí!

Once you get to Puerto Rico and night falls you will hear the Coquí. Sounds like a bird (maybe an insect) but, it is a frog (an inch long) making the sound, as the name suggests…coquí (kooo keeeee! kooo keeee!). The mascot of Puerto Rico. Indigenous to the island. These tiny lil frogs make a lot of noise! The sound stands out even during phone conversations. A couple days ago we were chatting about how there are not a ton of Coquí frogs near our house. But if you try and talk on the phone in other places the person on the receiving end will say “what the heck is that sound in the background?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWaOx65TPWk  Listen for the coquí. Soothing. Supposedly there is a “war” against Coquí in Hawaii. They have tried to exterminate them from their island. They are loud and you will be surprised to hear it from a TINY amphibian! It’s a mating call, all they want to do is get laid. Can’t kill them for that?! And how did they get to Hawaii? ...we love the coquí, it puts the baby right to sleep. And that makes me happy. you won't believe it until you hear it sooooo, COME DOWN AND HEAR SOME COQUí FROGS!

 We have many visitors coming these next couple weeks. We will be updating regularly. Can’t wait to see everyone from Jersey!

haiti

a beach in haiti that is maintained...

I did a post about Haiti the night I found out of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. I have since taken it down. My blog cracked jokes "say a prayer for us" for the following day because we would be in the water on the beach (...frolicking in the sun with our water bottles, full bellies and healthy lifestyle). Screw us and our lifestyle. Save ALL your prayers for this impoverished country. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the capital and surrounding areas of Haiti have been completely flattened. Aerial pictures looks like someone came with a bulldozer and demolished EVERYTHING. Disease, malnutrition, starvation, lack of water and medical needs were concerns BEFORE the earthquake. The people of Haiti have had it bad and just when things may have been starting to look up, it all falls down.


In college, I always gravitated towards Haiti. Cultural studies, intercultural communications, global awareness, etc I found myself wanting to know more about Haiti. How could the third largest island in Caribbean be looked over and through so much? There was so much potential (and still could be). As I remember: it was the first nation colonized in Latin America, rebellion from the French credited Haiti to be the first black-run nation and the only nation born of such a slave revolt, once was a lush island with tropical forests framed by white-sand beaches. Devastation from HIV/AIDS, political corruption, lack of education, medical attention (and attention in general) Haiti just couldn’t make it to it’s feet. Lush forests are non existent from the need of wood for fuel and cooking. Lack of a sanitation station (garbage) has littered the beautiful beaches and polluted the water. Seemed Haiti was just too big of a problem for the world to deal with and now it is just screaming for help. Hopefully the world will not ignore these screams and come to those in severe deprivation.

With the shock and more bad news to come I hope that Haiti can get back on it’s feet. Hoping that the help will stay with them for a long time to come. This poor, poor nation has been knocked down once again, hopefully to come back stronger than before. Only time will tell.
My thoughts go to everyone that has a connection to this nation.
Mom, fill me in on your student’s families, my heart bleeds for them. Xoxo.

I have donated money to Farmville to be able to plant white corn in honor of Haiti.
If you’re not a farmvillian here are some other sites to donate
 https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=197&hbc=1?ref=main-menu
www.clintonfoundation.org/haitiearthquake
https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=6680&6680.donation=form1

a beach that is NOT maintained...

where the water meets the land...there is trash

seatle visits pr

i've been working the past few days, and it's been freezing for pr. mainly cause it's been rainy, windy, and gray for the past three days. it's all good though, i've got a vest that has kept me toasty during lessons and free sessions. it'll probably feel warm for those of you heading down, but i'm starting to get a bit soft (as bird would say) living in the tropics.

anyways, i'm online checking the surf and enjoying a hand rolled cigeratte especial con una copa de rum. aqui es algunas mas photos de domes. lo fue hace dos dias con olas asi asi, pero con un poco de suerte yo recibe estes photos. espero que todo esta listo para surfear olas tan grandes y duros si tenemos un swell grande.

here's a few shots of fellow south jerseyites getting a few sickies. nick and brian.

thanks to frank for shooting, and to the whole crew from jerz that got cora and i all buzzy the night we chilled.

quez

pools

what's up everyone?

here's some shots from pools the otherday. two of us surfed for hours with nobody and who says pr is always crowded. get amped boys. hope its fun when you get here.

quez

oh and cora's been ripping domes plus being a bomb mom while i make those dollars pushing tourists into waves. holla

domes

she's already amping to get out there.

domes has been the only spot as of late. everyone's been saying its flat, but cora, sienna, and i have had a few awesome days at the beach. we've got this crip shaddy spot on the side where we chill at. check the pic of sienna kicking it.

the surf's been chest high and super fun for all levels. cora's been smooth flowing, and i've been trying to do tricks. the amateur pics don't do it justice.

the locals have been kinda agro lately, at domes atleast. peoople have been getting kicked out or forced to surf down peak. i don't blame them for regulating it's what we need to have done in the summer when we get invaded by shoobies.

i'm bout to head to the beach for a snorkel swim session with the girls.

finally trying the snorkel gear, thanks dad

stoked the upper crews heading down and can't wait to see the family.

sienna after a long day at the beach.

quez

skype you!

My parents got us a webcam for Christmas!! Now we are skypable, skypatible...whatever, we can sykpe now! I've tried it out with my mom and we skyped for an hour over a couple drinks. It was real cool, being able to see and hear her, it's just a different experience. It was late at night, Sienna was sleeping so we scheduled another sykpe date when the baby was awake. This past Sunday Sienna and myself skyped with my Mom, McKenna, Colin, Auntie Em and my Dad & Uncle Chris (popping in and out). I just point the camera at Sienna and everyone talks to her. She was confused at first but then interacted with everyone. She kept pointing at them and poking at the computer. It was super cute. This morning I skyped with my sister, Aunt Paigers, before she went to work. Short but sweet, but love to see her pretty face. We are going to skype again later tonight. I want Aunt Stephanie to start skpying so Sienna and Lily can see eachother, I just know they will love it. Sienna will be a professional sykper in a couple more tries. Soooo, LET'S SKYPE IT OUT!!!

how cool is this??

...i think i want a pick up truck!

sleeping beauties

here are my two babies.

one on the airplane.

one in the car.