I Open at the Close

We landed last, last Saturday night and I almost threw up on the car ride home because we were not getting on a plane again next month to go back; good thing I hadn't eaten more than a package of Delta cookies and half of a Starbuck's blueberry scone that day. It has been a year since we were here last -- much has and much has refused to change. But let's reminisce on our last days spent on little O'ahu for the sake of... the sake (ref. not Professor X).

We should have taken it for a sign that we were supposed to leave when they hacked off another one of our coconut trees. Such a tragedy. It was hollow inside and could have caused severe injury if they hadn't, but it still seemed harsh. We're not there anymore so someone else can deal with burning the place to the ground for their misdeeds whatevs.

Gunstock ranch is some serious beauty. They have just got it going on -- especially at sunset. It's weird that our drive home won't have this view anymore.
We used to say that the country really isn't country anymore even though everyone says that about the North Shore still. And in reality, it isn't, just like we used to say... but the longer you live there, the more you feel like it is country. I mean, compared to town, it's crazy country for sure. Compared to actual country sides though, it isn't. It's this beautiful medium where you have to go an hour away for regularly priced (for HI) groceries and still have neighbors to laugh with/at while you walk up to your door. You get scenes like this one every day, but you can still circle island in a couple hours (traffic pending). We'll miss that.

Our last outing in our car was to the Billabong Pipe Masters; good choice, huh? The parking was horrendous, but the walk is beautiful anyway.

Even though we've seen this structure and others like it a billion times, I don't think it's possible to actually realize they build these things annually. Honestly, a three-story building for just a week or two of standing and then tear down? And then there's a completely different one that gets built a mile over for the next competition. Impossible.

Oh yeah, and these too.

On the way to the car, a hen and her wee chickadees were scavenging excitedly. Glen and I squatted down and drew the chicks nearer by tapping the ground (they naively think you've stumbled upon a heap of food so they come nearer; ha). The one in front was a brave little fella with almost no basic animal survival skills built in. It will learn quickly or will not get the chance to if you catch what I'm getting at. It'll die.

One of Glen's professors (Dr. Gold) is a beekeeper -- which means Glen is now intrigued with the idea that beekeeping can be a thing for us later... yeah, no. I'm fine if the bees are kept in a place far away from my place (wherever my place is at any one time). This was in Kahuku at some farms who've allowed the bee boxes of private owners.

He told us to wear things that make you look like dead plants; white being the least aggressive color to them. I wore my whitest cardigan and best running shoes. I stood on the edge of the truck bed to be as close to jumping down and running as possible because I wasn't chancing anything. I'm not specifically lucky in these types of situations. As it happens, I didn't get bee stings, but the mosquitoes took every opportunity on my ankles. Someday payback is coming to them and I hope I get to invoke it.

Staying far wasn't safe forever with Glen around. He brought one in the cab so enthusiastically I wasn't sure if he understood the beating coming to him or not. The bee (thankfully) turned out to be one of the queen's sex slaves, so it didn't have the ability to sting me. No, really; this guy's only purpose in life is to inseminate the queen. And there are more too. They get too big to fly for any meaningful distance so they literally can't get away. I'm not saying they want to, but who's to say? Glen was very happy about this whole experience; especially the part where we got a big jar of honey from Dr. Gold's house. Needless to say, it is an ongoing battle of the bees in our relationship. Thankfully, his mom is on my side.

So, to sum up... we love HI and HI can't do a thing about it. We're grateful to be in CA with family and friends again though! Christmas is tomorrow and I haven't been able to feel my toes in a week and a half. I think I'll survive 'til summer...

No bees.

Aloha Christmas Eve Wednesday and a happy birthday to Ashley McIntosh!!! Hope your birthday nap is filled with dreams of unicorns and platypi hugs.

High Five for Friday: Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Our countdown has become real and scary to move home. We have a bunch of crap to sell/give away and Glen has an ever-heightening pile of papers to grade. I hope through everything though, we're able to spend time with friends and this beautiful place as much as possible just like this week.

Here are my five favorite things:

1. I met this guy on the beach and we had a moment after he sneezed himself awake. You know, if you really want to just get away from the beach crowds on a beautiful day on O'ahu, it isn't very hard at all. You just have to be the one who stays on the beach while it rains, or walk further than others are willing, or yell shark. That last one's usually not the preferred route.

2. On Monday night, our friend Rinki came over to teach us how to make chicken curry -- Northern India style. Her and her husband are from Calcutta and just moved here earlier this year for schooling. The curry was so delicious and we are so grateful for Rinki having enough patience for our billions of questions.

3. On Tuesday, we had our friends Amy and Josh come over to teach us how to make Thai food! Amy is half Thai and we are fully aware of our love for Thai food, so it really works out. We had four dishes: Pad Thai, Tom Kha Gai, Laab, and Chicken Sate. It was beautiful food and company. Thanks Amy and Josh!

4. Glen and his grapefruit.

5. Thanksgiving was a wonderful day filled with plenty of food. We have a full turkey left over; no joke, the whole thing was untouched because there was just too much food! We had our unofficial ward Thanksgiving on the lawn in front of our buildings and enjoyed the breezy day turn into a chilly night. And Glen was in a food coma on the grass with blankets covering him for a while after everyone started packing up.

Aloha Friday

Mormon Monday: Having Fun, Part 1

This is the video I mentioned we made in my last post. Our friend was making a video compilation of a bunch of videos friends made for his wife's birthday and we made this for her! It was fun and a really great way to spend time together. So much of our "together" time right now is being spent campaigning or grading quizzes or sleeping or driving across the island that we don't get to do normal, fun stuff like this. And if I wasn't a member, I'd probably be thinking to myself what a Mormon does for fun because they can't dance, right?

In high school my best friend and I were Mormons; all of our friends knew it, it wasn't a big deal. We didn't drink or do drugs and everyone knew it. This one night in particular, we were at a friend of a friend's house celebrating our friend's birthday party. It was extremely fun and you know why? Jolie (my best friend) and I didn't have inhibitions, no need to drink them out of us.
We set up shop in the garage because it was equipped with couches and Brisk cans all over the floor. We sat down and began our talk show for the night -- this is where the cans come in, they were our microphones. We were extremely bad at the English accents, but no one seemed to mind (or remember). Everyone thought we were just as drunk as the next person, which may have not been the best example, but we were teenagers without testimonies. We were seriously having the best time over anyone, I guarantee it. Everyone else was moaning about some stupid drama here and there, but we were just in our huge dreamland in the one-car garage busting guts all over the place. We got yelled at several times for being too loud and for drinking the Brisk when we were specifically asked not to. Trouble is, we don't drink tea as Mormons and we were probably contracting infectious diseases from the real culprits, so who's got it worse buddy? It was the best party I had ever attended and remains my favorite memory of high school.

The point is, Mormons have fun, just not a lot of the same fun as everyone else. We make dumb videos and go on hikes and play sports every week; and if you grew up with/in a devout Mormon family, you probably still play Settler's of Catan every Monday week night out of habit.

We love having fun. Come to any activity and it's sure to be a hilariously-wholesome, good time with major treat action. It must be that we just have more time to bake and cook and craft because we don't clutter our nights with drinking, not sure though. We wake up and get on our knees, not in front of the toilet for sickness (besides that whole pregnancy deal), but to consecrate our day and dealings to the Master of heaven and earth. We are the way we are because of Him and I love it.

Aloha

High Five for Friday

We just got home from the La'ie Temple... so let's make this quick! Here's my five:

1. We saw Meet The Mormons at the last showing last Saturday. It was a really touching, great film. We really enjoyed it; plus, La'ie Palms Cinemas has thee best popcorn evahh. Let's say it together: real butter. Mmmm. Yeah, it sounds amazing too.

2. Words cannot express the joy and peace that comes to my soul from being at the beach.

3. We took care of my boss's mother-in-law. Everyone calls her Grandma, she loves singing songs about CA (my kind of sing-along partner) and Popcorn Popping. She really made me feel super grateful for the things that I have and remember. She has Alzheimer's and asks you the same questions every 30 seconds. During this picture, she felt really uncomfortable that some weird stranger was trying to take a picture of us. She kept asking me who it was when we had already been sitting with her for about 10 minutes before Glen went outside. Oh, and she eats ice cream... that's it. Go big or go home, you know what I'm saying?

4. We bought some camera stuff and we are way stoked on it! This was taken with a new filter we got that's supposed to be really good for black & white photography. So far, I'm pretty happy with it.

5. We made an awesome video for our friend's birthday. I would show it, but it's still a secret for now. Soon though, very soon. I love it. Anyway, during the filming this beautiful sunset unravelled before our eyes and we just admired it until it was gone. You might think it's fake and I would encourage your doubt because look at it. Some serious nature right there.

Hope your week was filled with goodness too! Also, it's Glen's birthday next Friday... and mine next Sunday... Ah!

Aloha

High Five for Friday: Ideal

While my weeks are always filled with the mundane like work and laundry, there is just so much more that really brings life to my soul. I can already feel this HF4F thing lifting my spirit and love. Every night I think about my day while drifting between awake and asleep and gratitude sweeps over me for all the good that's in my life. I love it.

With that, my high fives for this week:

1. General Conference was awesome. I mean, it usually is, but this time it was just something else. Half-way through, Glen and I were excitedly planning our best reading/re-watching times together. Nerd alert.

2. Oh, and I made this during the viewing (like I said I was going to, oh snap). We're in Halloween territory, people. 2014 is in it's last quarter. Insane!

3. Glen's colleague (hahaha I really wanted to say that for some reason) recommended reading this book. When Glen brought the borrowed book home, I thought to myself why would anyone publish a book telling me how to make an atomic bomb? Also, why would anyone publish a book telling me how to make an atomic bomb!?! I completely forgot about it put a pin in it and shelved it. On a hammock outing, I shoved it in my backpack resolving to at least see what the ingredients were. Upon reading the first page, a swift realization came to me that it was not making, but the making. Words, huh? Anyway, a copy is on its way from Nebraska or something because it's that good.

4. I may have procured a job actually using my degree. I already work for the owner in a different capacity, but he likes me a lot (mostly because I'm Samoan -- we fist bump like every 20 minutes because we have an ancestor in common; it's hilarious) so he wants me to do more stuff for him. Mo' money, mo' money, or something like that.

5. Much of my week has been filled with this... let's just put everything on repeat for a while.

Seriously, if anyone has a repeat button I'm calling upon your good favor to just do me a solid.

Aloha

Kaimalielani and Her Mommy & Daddy

I mentioned in my post about starting Hulina Lani Hikes + Photography that Thomas and Sharolyn came to O'ahu for a family reunion. It was the tops. We had never met their sweet, sweet baby Kaimalielani and we were so happy to finalllllllly be rid of that ugly truth. She is, as they say, the stuff.

Okay, so babies don't normally gravitate to Glen at first. It may be due to his height or maybe his perfectly straight teeth. I am the human children like first out of the two of us probably because I'm short and have crooked teeth :) But can we just talk about how much Kai loved Glen right from the beginning? It was interesting to have Glen hold a child and never once whisper something like, "Oh, Breanna! You wanna hold her? Take her, she wants you." I was so proud of him haha. Truly, I was. Don't get me wrong, I love holding babies and being relatively good with them, but it was fun to see Glen love a baby so much simply because she was content in his embrace. It is a prime-time embrace. She was rarely away from his body, the cutest.

 If you haven't figured it out yet, we went to PCC in the afternoon and had an awesome time! Thomas and Sharolyn's nephew came along with us. He got a much needed chief tattoo from the Fiji village on his leg and one on his face from the Tahiti village. He was very proud of them, and rightfully so.

A group picture with the island of the long white cloud. We didn't get around to all of the activities in the villages, but the company was superb and the laughter was rampant. We love them!

Look at her! She is so adorable and relaxed. Her name is a beautiful description of not only her parents' happiness to receive her, but of her sweet personality. We can't wait to visit with her again in December.

On a lame note, one of the coconut trees in the courtyard of our apartment building suddenly died. It seriously went brown and then frond-less in a couple days. Such a sad experience. We woke to the sound of it crashing to the ground.
That was our main anchoring tree for slacking; not that we could anymore anyway (housing forbade us to do it because it was too dangerous...excuse me, but you have rust holes in your playground equipment, I'm pretty sure my piece of rope is safer than that crap), but it felt like a piece of my experiences here was being chain-sawed and hauled away to a dump. Lovely.

Just look at Kai's face again; if you're as annoyed at the last part as I am it makes you feel better about the world. We were so happy to have met her and reunited with Thomas and Sharolyn. And if you can believe it, Kai is even cuter in person.

Aloha