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Just thought I'd share our big news..... We are not staying on the island for 5th and 6th semesters like we had been thinking we would. Unless, of course, something earth shattering comes along and the Lord tells us very plainly that we need to be on the island. We'll just figure he has helped us make the decision to leave so we'll go with that. After talking about it, and checking things out, we have decided that Michigan will be better for us. I'm a little torn...

• Staying on the island would mean moving to the southern end of the island.
  Good - I can visit some sights I want to see without having to make the 1-hour bus trip down to the southern end of the island. We could check out the library, museum, and botanical garden, as well as some great snorkeling.
  Bad - No Ross campus, no drinkable water source, no Ross security, a little scary.
• I have one more semester on the island so I can still visit some of those sights, with the crazy drive but doable.
• Flying home in December is looking a bit tough and limited with few days available. We'll have to work on that.
• Excited to get back to the States.
• Living on the island really isn't bad.
• Not sure I want to have snowy winters (although the kids have asked for hot chocolate recently).
• Ready to drink real milk.
• The "what's for dinner?" question will remain and I'm cooking stuff here that we will eat in the States so nothing will change and I'm a little worried about that.
• I have come to enjoy the walking (even though I complain about it being hot and sweaty) and will miss the walking when we have the cars to get us everywhere.
• I am comfortable with where we are right now and am a little nervous about the change. If we could stay in this house until the end of 6th I would be more likely to stay.
• Getting back to Massachusetts in December and having to go through our boxes to try and find winter clothes seems a little daunting. We didn't pay any attention to where it was placed because we thought we'd be coming home in the summer.
• The whole "how's this really going to work" is overwhelming. We'll just take it day by day and my husband will make it all come together - just like our trip last year from AK to MA and then on to Dominica.
• I will miss our new friends - which is true of any move, either to MI or Roseau so I guess this one is a wash.
• We will be reunited with some old friends from 1st and 2nd semester who went to the Bahamas campus and are also planning on going to MI, so that will be so fun.
• I can get pregnant now and have the baby in the States so we'll see about that one.
• The whole packing things here, deciding what to sell and what to take home and trying to figure out how to get it all back just doesn't excited me so I'd rather stay put then deal with it. I guess I need to change my attitude and look at it as a challenge to beat. I can do it!

So, there you have it. More information will come as time passes and things become clearer. I'll make sure we don't leave any kids behind and my husband will do the rest. Okay, I'll help him so he has time to study.

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Noticed that I didn't give a timeline... We will finish 3rd semester in the next couple weeks. Then Kevin will start 4th semester the beginning of September. He will finish that in December and then we'll leave for the States. If we were staying here, we would move to Roseau the end of January, and wouldn't leave the island until about August of next year.