monday morning began with the annual Winters family Christmas card photo shoot. kim and i were special assistants to the wonderful photographer, matt lee. it was lots of fun and definitely an entertaining experience ha! (I don't have a copy of the picture they used, but if you got their Christmas card, you know what I'm talking about) let's just say the waves were a little crazy that day. after the family picture was taken, I took the opportunity to get a photo with my favorite guy.
and this one just makes my heart smile. love these two
after the photo shoot, we treated ourselves to an amazing breakfast cooked by chef tara and chef pam! it was coconut french toast (the same famous recipe used on peter island!) and it was absolutely delicious!
i got a plate a french toast, a cup of coffee, and parked myself in front of this gorgeous view that i was blessed to see every morning.
the guys hung out on the couch and played some video games. just a typical morning.
after breakfast, we packed up the cars and headed to the bitter end (the complete opposite end of virgin gorda). we had to drive up an entire mountain and then back down in order to get there. we stopped at a couple places along the way to get some pictures of the view, which was A-mazing.
when we got to the bottom of the mountain, we hopped on a ferry which took us to the bitter end resort.
we got off the ferry and explored the island, did a little shopping, and then got back on a different boat to go to lunch on saba rock!
saba rock is its own little island right beside the bitter end. basically the only things on saba rock are a restaurant and some villas. it was so peaceful and beautiful.
AND the lunch was delicious! i loved the virgin strawberry daiquiris they made there too! i may or may not have had one of those at almost every restaurant we went to...
cheeseburgers in paradise - literally.
and we can't forget the best part: key lime pie for dessert!
we left soon after lunch - a couple boat rides, up and down the mountain, and we were back to the villa.
the next morning was scuba training day for matt, kim, and me! we had to watch some videos and then go to a local swimming pool to practice everything we learned. it was very exciting, but a little scary to put on all that gear. thankfully, we were only in a 5 ft. deep pool.
after training, we met up with tara and pam for lunch at mad dog's - a local restaurant with very yummy BLTs. plus they had root beer, so i was very happy.
after lunch, it was time for us to go scuba diving for real. i freaked out, literally i was terrified. but i forced myself to get over my fears and i did it!! im so proud of myself (even though i had to hold the trainer's hand the entire time...) and i knew i would be ready to go on another dive later that week with the rest of the crew! that day, we went to a place called the diamond reef. i saw so many beautiful, amazing creatures - i even got inches from a sting ray! kim and matt actually touched it, i can't say that for myself. baby steps...
after the dive, we came back and pretty much rested for the remainder of the day. my favorite thing to do during my free time all week was to lay out by the pool. i can never get enough sun!
the day ended with some dinner, ice cream sandwiches, and this ridiculous sunset. God is so good.
