This First Week Includes:
How It Came To Pass, A Car A Plane A Bus A Ferry, Dock Street, A House Of Light, Every Hour, Bombs At Sunset, A fist Fight, and Fathers Day.
Almost a year ago, Chancey and Miki came to me with a dream.
Chancey told me about some island I had never heard of, and how her mom had grown up there. She told me her grandparents continue to live in this place called "Marthas Vineyard" on and off, and that they knew a man that owned businesses there that liked to hire from Utah for the summer, their touristy "on season."
I am a realist.
And sometimes a skeptic.
I told them there was no way, and I said this is too good to be true, but yeah that would be fun if fairies were real, and unicorns granted wishes. But everyone knows fairies are not real, and never, out of all of the Unicorns I have come into contact with, has one been able to grant wishes.
Preposterous.
BUT SHE HAD THIS GUYS EMAIL
She emailed him and he set up a time to face time us because he lives in California.
As quick as that we were sitting huddled around Chancey's phone in the shortest interview of my life.
We learned a few things from Bryan, our future boss.
1. Starting wage on Martha's Vineyard and in the East in general, is much more than Utah's.
2. There would be an apartment provided for us right above one of their businesses.
3. Living expenses for this job: None.
4. Ice Cream Shop, Cafe, and Pizza Place.
5. ON AN ISLAND
We were sold. Bryan is so chill he was just like
"Sweet I look forward to seeing you in the summer."
After this interview we all freaked the freak out, and googled until the cows came home to see what our future island home would look like
. (Chancey being the only one of us that had been there)
This is what we found:
Fast-forward several months and here I am off of the East Coast of Massachusetts on an island called Martha's Vineyard, residing for two months in the city of Edgartown.
What I learned about having big dreams: Sometimes the only thing keeping us from a plot twist or an added measure of adventure in the story of our lives, is ourselves.
That's why we have friends to help us live the dreams we never knew we had.
MoNdAy:
Well it actually started super late Sunday night. Our flight was delayed so we we left at two a.m. from SlC to JFK. The layover was literally as long as it took us to speed walk around the corner at JFK to our next terminal and walk right on the next plane.
We flew some more, arrived in Boston, and then came the choice of a lifetime...
We planned to take a shuttle bus from the airport that would go straight to the ferry port, the one we had planned would be there in about an hour. But we were a little early and as it turns out the next shuttle time would be about fifteen minutes after we walked out of the plane.
Problem: we were hungry and all of the places to eat are inside security.
So if we missed the bus we would be sitting ducks for an hour with no food and hungry having not eaten since twenty four hours before.
(Besides a bag of pretzels. Thank you Jet Blue.)
So the question was, can we get our bags that we have to pick up outside security aka the point of no return.. and get to the bus stop of which we have no idea the whereabouts of.. in fifteen minutes?
No. I said no there's no way.
And I really wanted FOOD
But we had some faith and walked down the stairs to the baggage claim, our bags were among the first fifteen that came out, while we grabbed them, Chancey went on a mission to find the bus stop, finding it just outside the doors to our left and returning thirty seconds later to find us with almost all of our bag. We grabbed the last one and we then proceeded to make it to the bus stop EARLY.
wut. wut.
So thankful for the help sent from up above to the three teenage girls that have never traveled alone in their short lives and had no idea what they were doing.
The Peter Pan bus was awesome. Our particular bus was called "Hook's Revenge" but the bus line is called Peter Pan Transportation and the bus-i
(for lack of a better way to write the plural version of the word bus)
are all green. Super Sick.
After looking out of the window in awe as we drove through Boston..
Like Holy Cow Boston Is Incredible
we slept the rest of the way to the ferry. We then took the ferry to the island, and then a taxi to
Dock Street where we had instructions to talk to Barbara because our boss had not yet arrived on the island and Barbara knew where we needed to go. So I found her in this cute clothing store called Rags and she showed me the stairs around the corner that lead to our apartment.
Our Den Father, as he is now nick named, Thomas who is kind of like a landlord, gave us a tour and the place is the cutest thing you can imagine. Our room has a bunk bed and a twin bed. There are seven rooms two bathrooms one kitchen/laundry room (they share) twelve girls and two boys.
IT IS A BLAST
The boys each have their own room, Aaron, the one our age just got home from a mission to Argentina. Aaron is the designated cook at the cafe and can whip up some fantastic food. He came with his sister Brittany who came because she heard about it from Mckell who told her other friends Caroline and Tessa as well because her cousin did it a few years ago. Confused?
They are all going to BYU in Provo and they are some of the cutest girls ever.
I could never leave out Morgan and her sister next door. They are from California and they actually know Bryan personally because Morgan's sister is his nanny. These sisters represent everything you can think of that would make them deserving of #sistersgoals
They are so adorable and I want to be them when I grow up.
Other next door room is a girl from Romania but we hardly see her unfortunately, and upstairs two girls one from China and the other from Mongolia. I have no idea how to pronounce their names and unfortunately we don't work with them either so I don't know them super well yet.
And Thomas who does a little bit of everything and when he talks he has a super thick
"Bwoston Accent"
If he gives anyone crap that means he likes them we have found out. He calls us the Mormon Mafia which is Thomas language for "Magnificent Mormons" ;)
He says that he doesn't have an accent because his ancestors were here first over here to the East and the West screwed everything up. I wanted to point out the fact that England was here first and no one over here still sounds like them sooo..... but I let him have his rant.
It is super cramped in here but it's so darn cute! We have two ocean views from our room where we cans see sailboats sailing on the daily because the harbor is about two hundred yards away. The beach is a half mile away, but the harbor/dock where we sometimes go to sit on the roof is a two minute walk away.
One more notable thing about Monday, I went grocery shopping for the first time on my own as a bird that has left the nest. Super weird to think about.
TuEsDaY
We met B-Mac the Boss Man aka Bryan MacPhail. He is awesome I cant even tell you.
We toured the cafe and the Scoop Shack/Pizza place.
(they are adjoined but pizza operates through a window in back of the Shack)
We cleaned stuff then took a walk to see the rest of Edgartown. The three of us walked to what I call
The Path To Paradise
There is a pathway that leads down to a semi island piece of beach with a lighthouse on it.
So beautiful.
Another thing we noticed Tuesday was that it didn't matter what direction you look on the street, there is going to be a beautiful house that you want to stare at for another fifteen minutes.
We then walked to the dock that has stairs leading to the roof of the dock.
The view up there is amazing.
It was when we got back home that we heard a loud sound that sounded like a bomb or a gunshot. We were momentarily scared for our safety... We also noticed that at every hour of the day a church bell can be heard ringing. It dings once for every hour, so at one in the morning if I'm still awake its a little bit funny because it gongs one time then there's nothing.
That's definitely one of my favorite things about where I live.
WeDnEsDaY
The first super sunny day, we helped out our boss for a while setting up, and went to the beach. I jumped in, it was cold.. but I had to do it :)
ThUrSdAy
Same deal, except that night we bought some cookiedough and had a Psych Movie Night. Fetch yes.
On the roof watching the sun set the night before, we heard the loud noise again only super loud. Looking over we saw smoke and figured out that a cannon goes off at sunset and 8 in the morning everyday. I really look forward to things like that, the simple things that make where we live different.
FrIdAy
Candy Day.
We stocked all of the shelves with loads of candy.. it was awesome.
SaTuRdAy
Preparations for opening later that night which we did and it was fun as heck. I loved it. There is nothing quite as satisfying as handing a little kid an ice cream cone and making their day. Or better yet, handing the huge foot ball player buff crossfit black dude his cotton candy ice cream on a sprinkle dipped waffle cone and watching his day turn from good, to amazing.
That night, there was some huge wine party here in Edgartown and everyone was drinking. Being right in the middle of everything as we are, we can hear just about everything going on outside. Around two in the morning this girl comes out of the Seafood Shanty (the bar across the street) super wasted and yelling at her boyfriend. She was yelling at him to let something go but he wouldn't have it. I'm pretty sure he shoved her and then got into a fight with some other drunk guy. We were watching the scene down below as soon as the cop pulled up, and I don't know for sure.. but I think the guy was arrested.
LOL DRUNK PEOPLE
the other night kind of the same thing happened, only this guy was singing at the top of his lungs about how he wants nothing in life except some chowder soup.
It was hilarious. He was yelling/singing chowder over and over again and other drunk people were chiming in and adding their own singing.
His girlfriend presumably (also suffering from.. 1 too many) started yelling at him to shut up because
"ADAM YOU ARE MAKING A FOOL OF YOURSELF BE QUIET YOU ARE DRUNK"
funny joke: she was yelling even louder than his singing about chowder. HAHA
This is why everyone: "Why can't mormons have any fun?" I as a mormom can/do have tons of fun actually. If you are referring to the part of being a Mormon that abstains from addictive substances that result in lack of bodily control.. as a lack of fun, then a reason among many is because I don't want to look as unintelligent as you when you are having your version of the word "fun." And then I don't want to look as unattractive as you with a hangover and throw up all over yourself.
but peace okay? :)
I will happily continue to listen to and smh at the "fun" outside my window because let's be honest, it is pretty entertaining.
SuNdAy
I was fortunate to be able to go to our branch of about thirty people. One room for the nursery, one room for the primary, and the chapel room splits in half to become relief society and priesthood hour. So cool to listen to these people's testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel Is True no matter where I go, it shouldn't surprise me anymore but every time I travel to another ward/branch I have been amazed at the same spirit I feel.
I had to work that night, but luckily it was only a four hour shift.
OH YES
Sunday was also Fathers Day I got to facetime the fam which was really fun. I also sent my dad some fathers day cards which that were also really fun.
Recap of my favorite things here on the island and some new ones as well:
The cannon twice a day
The bells every hour
The acapella group of about six or seven boys our age that do shows and just sing all over the island to advertise all day. Side note. The first time we saw them they were advertising by singing to people right under our window. We hung out the window and took videos.. They are super attractive and they sing amazing. When they were done they walked over and told us they expected to see us at their show. I asked the cutest one where he got his black eye, and he told me he was saving orphans in danger.. hahaha :)
Okay Next
The general friendliness of people. No one locks doors, car or house doors. Probably because lets just say, year rounders on the island and also summer home owners are "doing okay financially" so none of them are desperate enough to steal. But "steal" ;) They are super friendly.
The Patriotism is insanely awesome here and the rest of the country needs to get on board. The fourth of July here is going to be madness. In a good way.
The rain.
The smell of the salty air.
The humidity and low altitude so that breathing is possible.
EVERYTHING IS SO GREEN
The beautiful houses.
Nautical everything: boats anchors lighthouse's and everything else
The sunrise because our windows face the East and it comes up right over us
What I learned about having big dreams: Sometimes the only thing keeping us from a plot twist or an added measure of adventure in the story of our lives, is ourselves.
That's why we have friends to help us live the dreams we never knew we had.
MoNdAy:
Well it actually started super late Sunday night. Our flight was delayed so we we left at two a.m. from SlC to JFK. The layover was literally as long as it took us to speed walk around the corner at JFK to our next terminal and walk right on the next plane.
We flew some more, arrived in Boston, and then came the choice of a lifetime...
We planned to take a shuttle bus from the airport that would go straight to the ferry port, the one we had planned would be there in about an hour. But we were a little early and as it turns out the next shuttle time would be about fifteen minutes after we walked out of the plane.
Problem: we were hungry and all of the places to eat are inside security.
So if we missed the bus we would be sitting ducks for an hour with no food and hungry having not eaten since twenty four hours before.
(Besides a bag of pretzels. Thank you Jet Blue.)
So the question was, can we get our bags that we have to pick up outside security aka the point of no return.. and get to the bus stop of which we have no idea the whereabouts of.. in fifteen minutes?
No. I said no there's no way.
And I really wanted FOOD
But we had some faith and walked down the stairs to the baggage claim, our bags were among the first fifteen that came out, while we grabbed them, Chancey went on a mission to find the bus stop, finding it just outside the doors to our left and returning thirty seconds later to find us with almost all of our bag. We grabbed the last one and we then proceeded to make it to the bus stop EARLY.
wut. wut.
So thankful for the help sent from up above to the three teenage girls that have never traveled alone in their short lives and had no idea what they were doing.
The Peter Pan bus was awesome. Our particular bus was called "Hook's Revenge" but the bus line is called Peter Pan Transportation and the bus-i
(for lack of a better way to write the plural version of the word bus)
are all green. Super Sick.
 |
| "Thanks for traveling Peter Pan" |
After looking out of the window in awe as we drove through Boston..
Like Holy Cow Boston Is Incredible
we slept the rest of the way to the ferry. We then took the ferry to the island, and then a taxi to
Dock Street where we had instructions to talk to Barbara because our boss had not yet arrived on the island and Barbara knew where we needed to go. So I found her in this cute clothing store called Rags and she showed me the stairs around the corner that lead to our apartment.
Our Den Father, as he is now nick named, Thomas who is kind of like a landlord, gave us a tour and the place is the cutest thing you can imagine. Our room has a bunk bed and a twin bed. There are seven rooms two bathrooms one kitchen/laundry room (they share) twelve girls and two boys.
IT IS A BLAST
The boys each have their own room, Aaron, the one our age just got home from a mission to Argentina. Aaron is the designated cook at the cafe and can whip up some fantastic food. He came with his sister Brittany who came because she heard about it from Mckell who told her other friends Caroline and Tessa as well because her cousin did it a few years ago. Confused?
They are all going to BYU in Provo and they are some of the cutest girls ever.
I could never leave out Morgan and her sister next door. They are from California and they actually know Bryan personally because Morgan's sister is his nanny. These sisters represent everything you can think of that would make them deserving of #sistersgoals
They are so adorable and I want to be them when I grow up.
Other next door room is a girl from Romania but we hardly see her unfortunately, and upstairs two girls one from China and the other from Mongolia. I have no idea how to pronounce their names and unfortunately we don't work with them either so I don't know them super well yet.
And Thomas who does a little bit of everything and when he talks he has a super thick
"Bwoston Accent"
If he gives anyone crap that means he likes them we have found out. He calls us the Mormon Mafia which is Thomas language for "Magnificent Mormons" ;)
He says that he doesn't have an accent because his ancestors were here first over here to the East and the West screwed everything up. I wanted to point out the fact that England was here first and no one over here still sounds like them sooo..... but I let him have his rant.
It is super cramped in here but it's so darn cute! We have two ocean views from our room where we cans see sailboats sailing on the daily because the harbor is about two hundred yards away. The beach is a half mile away, but the harbor/dock where we sometimes go to sit on the roof is a two minute walk away.
 |
| Kind of hard to see in a picture just how much of the ocean we can see, this doesn't do it justice. Plus the first day was super rainy and foggy. |
 |
| There is a sail boating excursion place across the street, it's usually around sixty dollars but if we tell him who we are we get to go on a sunset cruise for little next to no cost! Super excited for that. It's called Mad Max |
 |
| Unpacking on my cute little bed bottom bunk. |
One more notable thing about Monday, I went grocery shopping for the first time on my own as a bird that has left the nest. Super weird to think about.
TuEsDaY
We met B-Mac the Boss Man aka Bryan MacPhail. He is awesome I cant even tell you.
We toured the cafe and the Scoop Shack/Pizza place.
(they are adjoined but pizza operates through a window in back of the Shack)
We cleaned stuff then took a walk to see the rest of Edgartown. The three of us walked to what I call
The Path To Paradise
There is a pathway that leads down to a semi island piece of beach with a lighthouse on it.
So beautiful.
Another thing we noticed Tuesday was that it didn't matter what direction you look on the street, there is going to be a beautiful house that you want to stare at for another fifteen minutes.
We then walked to the dock that has stairs leading to the roof of the dock.
The view up there is amazing.
 |
| The roof. Miki captured this of me walking over there to see the smoke and figure out that it was the traditional sunset affirming cannon we heard, not WWIII The Ocean To The Left Though <3 |
It was when we got back home that we heard a loud sound that sounded like a bomb or a gunshot. We were momentarily scared for our safety... We also noticed that at every hour of the day a church bell can be heard ringing. It dings once for every hour, so at one in the morning if I'm still awake its a little bit funny because it gongs one time then there's nothing.
That's definitely one of my favorite things about where I live.
 |
And I wasn't even to the island yet... #CueTheHomesickness |
The first super sunny day, we helped out our boss for a while setting up, and went to the beach. I jumped in, it was cold.. but I had to do it :)
ThUrSdAy
Same deal, except that night we bought some cookiedough and had a Psych Movie Night. Fetch yes.
On the roof watching the sun set the night before, we heard the loud noise again only super loud. Looking over we saw smoke and figured out that a cannon goes off at sunset and 8 in the morning everyday. I really look forward to things like that, the simple things that make where we live different.
FrIdAy
Candy Day.
We stocked all of the shelves with loads of candy.. it was awesome.
SaTuRdAy
Preparations for opening later that night which we did and it was fun as heck. I loved it. There is nothing quite as satisfying as handing a little kid an ice cream cone and making their day. Or better yet, handing the huge foot ball player buff crossfit black dude his cotton candy ice cream on a sprinkle dipped waffle cone and watching his day turn from good, to amazing.
That night, there was some huge wine party here in Edgartown and everyone was drinking. Being right in the middle of everything as we are, we can hear just about everything going on outside. Around two in the morning this girl comes out of the Seafood Shanty (the bar across the street) super wasted and yelling at her boyfriend. She was yelling at him to let something go but he wouldn't have it. I'm pretty sure he shoved her and then got into a fight with some other drunk guy. We were watching the scene down below as soon as the cop pulled up, and I don't know for sure.. but I think the guy was arrested.
LOL DRUNK PEOPLE
the other night kind of the same thing happened, only this guy was singing at the top of his lungs about how he wants nothing in life except some chowder soup.
It was hilarious. He was yelling/singing chowder over and over again and other drunk people were chiming in and adding their own singing.
His girlfriend presumably (also suffering from.. 1 too many) started yelling at him to shut up because
"ADAM YOU ARE MAKING A FOOL OF YOURSELF BE QUIET YOU ARE DRUNK"
funny joke: she was yelling even louder than his singing about chowder. HAHA
This is why everyone: "Why can't mormons have any fun?" I as a mormom can/do have tons of fun actually. If you are referring to the part of being a Mormon that abstains from addictive substances that result in lack of bodily control.. as a lack of fun, then a reason among many is because I don't want to look as unintelligent as you when you are having your version of the word "fun." And then I don't want to look as unattractive as you with a hangover and throw up all over yourself.
but peace okay? :)
I will happily continue to listen to and smh at the "fun" outside my window because let's be honest, it is pretty entertaining.
SuNdAy
I was fortunate to be able to go to our branch of about thirty people. One room for the nursery, one room for the primary, and the chapel room splits in half to become relief society and priesthood hour. So cool to listen to these people's testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel Is True no matter where I go, it shouldn't surprise me anymore but every time I travel to another ward/branch I have been amazed at the same spirit I feel.
I had to work that night, but luckily it was only a four hour shift.
OH YES
Sunday was also Fathers Day I got to facetime the fam which was really fun. I also sent my dad some fathers day cards which that were also really fun.
 |
| "Some dads are so great they'll blow up your planet just to teach you a valuable life lesson" *cried from excessive nerdy laughter bc Star Wars>>>>>> |
Recap of my favorite things here on the island and some new ones as well:
The cannon twice a day
The bells every hour
The acapella group of about six or seven boys our age that do shows and just sing all over the island to advertise all day. Side note. The first time we saw them they were advertising by singing to people right under our window. We hung out the window and took videos.. They are super attractive and they sing amazing. When they were done they walked over and told us they expected to see us at their show. I asked the cutest one where he got his black eye, and he told me he was saving orphans in danger.. hahaha :)
Okay Next
The general friendliness of people. No one locks doors, car or house doors. Probably because lets just say, year rounders on the island and also summer home owners are "doing okay financially" so none of them are desperate enough to steal. But "steal" ;) They are super friendly.
The Patriotism is insanely awesome here and the rest of the country needs to get on board. The fourth of July here is going to be madness. In a good way.
The rain.
The smell of the salty air.
The humidity and low altitude so that breathing is possible.
EVERYTHING IS SO GREEN
The beautiful houses.
Nautical everything: boats anchors lighthouse's and everything else
The sunrise because our windows face the East and it comes up right over us
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