Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Happy Anniversary



Dear Mom and Dad,
I just wanted to write and wish you a Happy Anniversary. I hope you know how much I love you. You are such a fun couple. I love the way you still like to hold hands and go out on hot dates. I loved growing up in a home with such good steady parents, and as a mom myself, I appreciate that even more now.

I don't know how you do it, but I love that you never seem to get frustrated with each other. Mom, I love the way you support Dad in all he does, and Dad I love the way you always encourage Mom to be her best.

You have been a great example to me in my marriage. I want to be like you when I grow up. I just wish you were a little closer so you could come babysit. If I buy your airfare, would you come babysit for a week? Hmmm, not a bad idea!


So, here's to 38 great years, and many more to come!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Windy Day

What a wild day! I heard the rain pouring down last night, and when we got up the wind was blowing and the sky was overcast. The girls hopped on their bikes and we made it to school without getting rained on, but as John and I headed home from our run (5 miles - darn hard in the wind) the sky opened and we got completely drenched.

Emily forgot her backpack, but with all the rain, I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to make it back to the school. Everytime I would notice a break in the rain, it would be pouring again before I had my shoes on.

Finally I gave John the umbrella and decided we would just have to take our chances. The rain was just drizzling while we walked, and we stayed mostly dry, but there were branches falling off trees all around us! Those palm tree leaves are huge and dangerous. The sound that they make in the wind is very soothing. And though I didn't get wet, I did get a big sticky drop of tree goo on my arm. Blech.

The sky cleared up for a while, but the wind brought in more clouds and rain - a real tropical storm!
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I talked to the Joy School girls, they are very nice and it sounds like a fun group. This week they are just doing field trips, so we will join them, and try the class-time next week before making a final decision. I think John might really like it!

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In other John news, this morning we tried the ABC's on Starfall.com. I had forgotten about that website. It is well done and a fun resource for beginning readers - letter sounds, games, simple stories, etc. John especially liked Tt for train and Vv for volcanoe.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Let the Wild Rumpus Start

It has been 11 weeks since I was released from my last calling. I cried when the Bishop called me into his office to tell me that my time as Primary President in our ward was done. I'm not sure why I was so emotional, because we were getting ready to move so it was time to literally move on! But I was sad.

Then for the next 3 weeks, right up to the day before we moved, I substituted as the music leader in Primary! That is a fun job - too bad I have no singing talent!

So, we've been in our ward for 6 weeks and it is time to get back to work! I just got called to teach the CTR 8 class! It was kind of heartwarming to hear that this Primary (just like our Primary in South Dakota) is always looking for a new teacher.

I am so excited to just teach a class. To only have to call a substitute if I am going to be gone. To actually get to teach, and not spend my time lurking in the halls hoping to find someone to take a class for the last hour. And I am going to be a darn good teacher!

Today was my first week with the 7-turning-8-year-olds. There were just a few of them, and they were so cute! I am hoping to find some fun ways to get to know them better, and to encourage them to bring their scriptures, and to help them prepare for their baptisms.

Primary is a happy place for me.

I also get to help with Activity Day girls. Yippee!

In other news, I was invited to join a "Joy School" with John. This is a preschool where about 6 mom's take turns teaching in their own homes (5 weeks off, 1 week on.) I was in a group like this when Hannah was 3, and actually, when I was 3 MY mom did this. But (atleast when I did this with Hannah) it wasn't the REAL Joy school program, we just did a relaxed preschool coop - #'s and letters, etc.

I have been considering finding something for John, but I'm not sure if Joy School is really worth the cost: $50 registration, and $70/semester. I realize that is much cheaper than your regular preschool, but I kind of think a free mom-swap would be fine with me.

Any thoughts on this?

Friday, January 26, 2007

Busted & Friday Feast


The girls have been riding their bikes to school for two weeks now. I run along with John in the jogging stroller.

Yesterday as we crossed our second crosswalk with the military crossing guards, I noticed a man with an MP (military police) badge on his arm. He was watching Sydney very intently and I had a feeling we were in trouble for one thing or another.

Would it be for riding to fast and passing slow walkers by riding on the grass?

Or would it be because Sydney was too far ahead of me (you are supposed to be within so many feet of the child you are walking to school. 12 feet maybe. Which is difficult to do with the parade of strollers in the way)

Or would we get busted for not wearing helmets?

I thought maybe it was the reckless riding. It is tricky to get to school because there is only one sidewalk on the one road between our home and the school. As we are walking to school, the road is packed with cars, making it impossible to ride our bikes on the side of the road. So we must ride on the sidewalk, and up onto the grass to pass other families. Maybe the military man would tell us to slow down, I thought.

I was wrong. We were busted for not wearing helmets. Oh, how I hate to get in trouble. When the police man asked me if Sydney was my child I wondered what would happen if I said no (just kidding.) He then told me that you must wear a helmet when riding a bike on base. I did not get a ticket, but I got the impression that if he caught us breaking the rule again I would get dragged off to the brig.

I know that there is usually a rule on base about wearing your helmet while riding a bike, but Sydney hates wearing one (it messes up her hair.) In the two weeks we have been making this trek, none of the very official looking military crossing guards have said anything, nor had the school teacher in charge of the safety patrol said anything, so I foolishly thought it was okay. I was wrong-o.

John and I walked over to the PX and bought a couple new helmets and now we are legal and safe.


++++++++++++++++
I visited Donna over at Quiet Life, and as usual she brightened up my rather glum day. Today is her Friday Feast:

Appetizer
If you could take lessons to learn any musical instrument, which would you want to learn?

I'd like to take violin lessons again.

Soup
Have you ever mistaken a person for someone else?

When we first moved to Rapid City, I went to Victoria's Secret for their Semi-Annual Sale. As I was searching the pile of bras, I heard someone say "Hi Wendy!" I did not recognize that girl at ALL. She told me that her name was Bobby... and for the next couple days I tried to figure out how in the heck I knew her. Was it the Bobby M. that I knew in Texas? Her husband flies in the B-1 and they have a dog, but I didn't know her very well, and she was pregnant the last time I had met her, so maybe that's why I didn't recognize her? Then on Sunday I saw the stranger from the mall at church - a different Bobby! She didn't make fun of me for not remembering her, and we got to be good friends. I love that girl.

Salad
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how well do you keep secrets?

TEN. I am a great secret keeper. Got any juicy secrets to tell me? Just put 'em in the comments, I promise I won't tell anyone....

Main Course
What's the closest you've ever been to a dangerous animal?

That picture of a shark from a couple days ago was taken at an aquarium. That's the closest I ever want to be to one of those guys. Oh, I just thought of another one, when we lived in Texas, I would go walking at night with our new puppy, Sam, and one night we saw a little snake warming itself on the sidewalk. It turned out to be a baby rattlesnake! Yikes!

Dessert
When was the last time you lost your patience?

Yesterday while helping Sydney with her homework. Her homework is SOOOOOOO irritating. The directions are vague and the work is just make-work, and it takes For-eeee-ver. It is making me grouchy just thinking about it. Sorry Sydney.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

To Do

Good Morning! It is time to get going. No more Miss lazy bonez. Here's what I need to do today:
(Checking in at 10am and 2:30pm and 7pm to cross off a few items)

Take girls to school
Go running
Shower
Make my bed
Clean bathrooms
Sweep
Laundry
Arrange Emily and John's room
Play trains with John
Read to John
Take a nap
Walk back over and pick up kids
Survive homework - mostly, han is still finishing up her math
Plant a pineapple

Not a bad day - finished everything (but the nap) on my list, and a few more things as well (including learning how to make that line through a word). Soon the kids will finish up their icecream and start getting ready for bed.


What's on your list today?

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Yikes!

Two of my biggest nightmares are on Yahoo's news today:


First up is a Shark Attack

This guy was diving off the Australian coast when a great white shark came and tried to gobble him up. The shark didn't just go for an arm or leg, it tried to bite off his head! The guy did not "lose his head" and was able to wrestle his way out by poking the shark in the eye.

Holy Moly! That is so freaky. Emily always asks that we won't get eaten by sharks in her prayers, and I think I'm going to start adding that to my prayers, too.

When the movers were taking a break from bringing our stuff in, we were chatting with them, and one guy mentioned that he spends most of his time surfing. I asked him if he ever saw any sharks and he said "plenty!" The scariest part was that he was very casual about it. No big deal.

But it's a big deal to me, with being all surrounded by ocean. And going to the beach every week. And letting Hannah go way out on her surfboard - so far that I can't tell the difference between her at some big dark Hawaiin punk. And diving under the water and seeing turtles which big sharks like to snack on. Sharks scare me. I don't ever want to see one and have to poke it's eye out.


++++++++++++

And the second bit of disturbing news is the Temper Tantrum on an Air Plane

In this story a little 3 year old girl would not get buckled in her seat, so she and her parents were removed from the flight. What a nightmare - for the family and the people sitting near them, and probably for that airline, too!


When flying I always try to make sure I have plenty of tricks and treats with me, to avoid all embarrassing scenes. But, you know, sometimes kids just get cranky and nothing helps. In my nightmares I imagined just this kind of think happening while flying to Hawaii: John running away from me up and down the aisles, John standing on his seat and spitting at the people behind us, John having to use the bathroom 100 times (wait that really did happen), John and Emily fighting over toys, or like this family, John hiding under his seat and not getting up. Bummer for those guys.

************

And one more bit of news, today is National Pie Day! This is only scary because if I bake my favorite apple pie, I will have to eat all of it, and then I will be round like unto an apple

Here are some tips from the Pie Counsel of how to best celebrate this important day:
Eat Pie! Bake one for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a late night snack!
Bake a pie for your Sweetie Pie!
Be a good Samaritan and buy a pie at the grocery store, then give it to the person in line behind you.
(and here's one I wouldn't mind happening to me) Reach out to your neighbors and get to know them better by delivering and sharing a pecan Pie!

Hannah is cooking dinners this week as part of her Personal Progress. Maybe she would be willing to fix us a pie for dessert! I'm thinking about this low point pie from Hungry Girl.








Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?


I just had the most delishous orange with my breakfast. Sweet and juicy. Mmmm.

One tip that a friend gave me when we first moved here was: Do not buy oranges in Hawaii, they are terrible. So I didn't buy oranges for a while, but then I started to think about oranges everytime I went to the store. And I remembered that oranges don't grow in South Dakota, either, but they still have good oranges.

So I took a chance, and bought a bag of oranges, and haven't regretted it one bit.

Lesson learned: good oranges can be found in Hawaii, and a friend's advice is not the law. Maybe I should serve oranges when we invite them over next time!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Righteous Men are the most Romantic Men

That is making me giggle to just type it. Don't get me wrong. I think it may even be true, but hearing this cute little Hawaiian/Chinese girl preach it from the pulpit during Testimony Meeting earlier this month was kind of fun.

The first Sunday of each month, all the Mormon's around the world start the day by fasting (no food or water for 2 meals or 24 hours, depending.) During Sacrament Meeting there is no assigned speaker, and members of the congregation can stand at the pulpit and Testify of Christ and His gospel.

The first Sunday in January was our first Fast Sunday in Hawaii and in our new ward. That Sunday many of the Testimonies were given by the members of one family. There is a really neat extended family in our ward with the parents, and a couple of grown children who live nearby - and lots of cousins and Aunties. On this Sunday all of their children and grandchildren from Utah, and Arizona, and all over were here too.

One of the daughters who lives in Utah (I think) got up and stated that Righteous Men are the Most Romantic Men, and went on the let us know that everything in your marriage will be improved when, as couples, you grow closer to the Savior. Then she got maybe a little personal about the many ways your marriage can be improved. Yikes!



This weekend, my Romantic Man took me to the Laie Hawaii Temple. It is a very beautiful Temple, and the grounds around the temple are lovely. It's been about 6 months since we last hand a chance to go to the temple, and about 6 years since we last lived close enough to a temple to go as often as we would like. Going to the temple makes me feel closer to my husband and to the Lord.

So, let me repeat that. Righteous Men are the most Romantic Men. Maybe she's right.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Family Blogging

The McSistas are taking blogger by storm. In a flurry of mad blog creating, two addtional McBabes are up online. There are 7 girls in the McBride family. And now 6 of us are McBlogging!

The newest bloggers are Heather at Orchard Girl and Anna at Welcome to Town-o. Heather and her husband grow pears and apples and kids in Hood River, Oregon. She has 4 terrific kids, and is really great at balancing family and work and farm. Anna and her family just moved from way out in the middle of nowhere to a great small town. Her boys are the cutest little blondies around.

I've listed them on my sidebar under 'Ohana (family in Hawaiian) in order from youngest to oldest. If Erin, our baby sister, would start a blog we could start a revolution, or atleast a baseball game. She's all busy with school and boys and all those good things, so all signs point to mom as the next McBlogsta (McBerries? In the McBriar Patch?)

Just because I want to see it all listed (like a family portrait), here we are all in order, oldest to youngest:

Laurie at Prairie Tide -the original family blogger
Heather at Orchard Girl
Wendy's Tiki Hut - that's me!
Mary-Land formerly Jiggety-Jig
Sarah at Bean Head Family - come one Sarah, once a week, that's all I ask
Anna at Welcome to Town-o


All of us together this summer at Sarah's Wedding(not in order by age or height)
Mom, Heather, me, Erin, Sarah, Mary, Anna, Laurie, Dad.

Friday, January 19, 2007



Emily and Sydney's Hula class starts today!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Confession

Nathan kindly reminded me that I never mentioned what happened with my ID card.

Did a nice old lady find it and return it to me? Did I lose my "military dependant" priviledges? Am I being held prisoner on base? Did I have to suffer the embarrassment of going to the MP and admitting that my ID card could be, right this minute, allowing access to all manner of militants to high security areas like the commisary and PX?

No.


Nathan found my ID card.



In my wallet.




I checked my purse. I searched the car. I looked through my wallet. I called the beach. I cleaned out my purse and threw away 2 months worth of ATM reciepts. I drove back to the beach. I searched the car again. Then Nathan prayed, and decided to check my wallet. And there was my ID card, hiding behind a credit card, all along.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Sad

Sydney cried on the way to her class this morning. A great way to start the second day of school. She had a no-good, really bad day yesterday, and didn't want to go back. I hung around until after the bell rang - she looked like she was okay when I left. But I felt terrible.

Yesterday her teacher was mean (to other kids, not really to her, I noticed this as I was dropping Sydney off - I guess not so much mean, as gruff and not welcoming) Sydney felt like she didn't know what was going on - couldn't read her teacher's writing, and had a hard time understanding what she was saying. Then there was a bully at recess (a big girl) who wouldn't let her play on the jungle gym. And Sydney was the only person in her class to have cold lunch so she had to sit ALONE. Poor Syd. I hope today is better.

On the other hand, Emily's teacher is the cutest little Japenese teacher ever. When Emily came in, she said "oh, you must be Emily! So nice to meet you!" and helped Emily find her seat, then invited me to visit with her after school. Her classroom is really cute, and Emily had a fun time. After school Ms. Yamauchi just gushed about how smart Emily is and how well she focused... How can you not love a teacher like that?

Hannah made it home on the bus and had a good day, too. Yesterday was all orientation, so today is her first day of going to her classes. There is a little problem with her schedule, but hopefully we'll get that worked out this week.

The funniest part about going to school here is the stroller gang. The children are not allowed to walk to school alone unless they are 10 years old. I think most of the children who go to our school all live within a few blocks of the school, so there are mom's pushing strollers in a parade all along the one road to the school. Double strollers, wagons, umbrella strollers, jogging strollers, even a triple jogging stroller! The crossing guards are all big army guys (+ one girl) in uniform, who step out into the road to stop the traffic for the kids. And they are still there for the mom's with strollers on the way back home. It is a little embarrassing!

Monday, January 15, 2007

Sitting on Top of the World


Hannah catches a wave and is getting up



Riding a Wave



Waiting for the next one



Me Surfing



Boogie Boarding with Sydney



J. Diggety



And just for Good Measure



*Click on a picture to see more detail.
*These and all good pictures found on this blog brought to you by Nate.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Are You Some Kind of Weird-o? part 2

Today was Stake Conference and it was so fun! The theme was "Families", and the speakers were chosen from a returned missionary to newlyweds to the Temple President. The talks were not boring but they still mananged to discuss the important things like prayer and scripture study and missionary work. Loved it.

My ID card is still lost.

Here is a MeMe from TXMommy. I thought I should write about some weird things I have noticed about myself in Hawaii:

1. I don't mind the geckos. They are said to bring good luck, and they eat the bugs. We have a few living here in our home. There is tiny little one that likes to hang out in the kitchen, and a bigger one that lives in the garage, and at least one medium-small one that we have seen upstairs. I don't want to touch a gecko, but I don't have to scream when I see one running across the wall.

2. I hate the feel of grit on my bare feet. We have no rugs in our house. Not a single one. I have been sweeping and mopping the floor like a crazy person because I just hate the feel of sand or dirt on my feet. Before I get into bed I brush off my feet and put on some socks. I had to stop putting lotion on my feet before bed because the lotion really attracts the dirt and it feels so creepy.

3. I had really really dry skin on my finger tips in South Dakota. I spent a lot of money at Bath and Body Works to keep my hands moisturized. Maybe it's the humidity here, I don't know, but we hadn't been here a week when I noticed that my dry skin was all healed and soft.

4. At the beach, sometimes, I have to talk myself into getting in the water. I stand with my feet in the waves and go a little deeper, one step at a time. When the water gets to my waist I will just stand there and think - do I really want to get all the way wet? Sometimes it takes a good wave to get me motivated. I love to swim in the ocean once I get in, but sometimes it takes me a while.

5. I carry a white grocery bag with me whenever we go on a walk. We live in such a beautiful place, but there is a lot of trash around. It really bothered me, so I decided to do something. I take my little bag with me, and though I'm probably not making a big difference, it makes me feel better. I pick up cigarette butts (hundreds) and paper cups and candy wrappers and moldering newspapers. I have a feeling this makes me look like a real weirdo. Next thing you know I'll be pushing my little grocery cart around with all my belongings....

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Under the Sea

We got a call this week from Nathan's cousin, Mark. Mark is in the Navy, and his submarine is here for a while. It turns out he has been here in Hawaii about as long as we have, but could not get a hold of us. I feel so bad that we weren't able to share Christmas with him. But it has been great to see him this week.

One evening he took us on a tour of his boat. Muy cool! A real submarine! We climbed down ladders and looked out the periscope and saw real torpedoes. John even used the "Head."



Mark was a great tour guide and did an especially terrific job of explaining things so that the kids (and I) could understand. The berthing where 9 guys sleep in 3 sets of triple bunkbeds made me wonder about claustrophobia, but the most memorable event was when I accidently suprised a poor (shirtless) shipmate heading to the showers. How embarrassing! (But another great story to add to my shirtless list.)

+++++++++++++

In other under-water news, Nathan and I went scuba diving this morning at Hanauma Bay. We got there before the sun came up and hiked down to the water with our gear. We swam out the cable channel to the outer reef and and saw a couple of big sea turtles, an eel, a huge shell, and loads of fishies. The visiblility was not great, but we had a good time. You can see some pictures of Hanauma Bay here.

But I did a terrible thing. After our dive we had to walk back up to the car and stow all of our gear in the car. And somehow in all the changing and packing I knocked my Military ID card out of the car and lost it.

I am hoping, hoping, hoping that someone very nice picked it up and turned it in to the lost and found. Until then, or until I can get a new one made I can't even get on base alone (though I think I can get a temporary pass if I need to.) Nor can I shop at the commisary or check out books at the library. And it is a 3 day weekend, so I won't be able to replace it (I'm assuming they let you replace them - maybe not a bad thing as my picture was taken when I was way pregnant with John - blech) until Tuesday at the earliest. I am such a loser. For the record I would just like to say that I have NEVER lost my ID card before. Actually, I have lost it many times, but never outside of our house. And I feel just sick about this. Millie, why did this happen to me?

=============

In happier news, this afternoon I washed every stitch of dirty clothes in the house, and just folded and put away the last load. Whew. What a day. Time to snuggle down with a good book.

Hannah and I are reading Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card from the Alvin Maker series. I read these books back when Hannah was a baby, it is really fun to read them again with her, and the story is still intriguing!

Friday, January 12, 2007

Does Anyone in this Town Speak English?

I'm beginning to think I am losing my hearing. I keep repeating "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that," and "What? Could you repeat that, please?"

At the dentist today Hannah came out of the exam room looking a little confused. She told me that the dentist said "something about a referal or something, maybe about an orthodontist." I rolled my eyes at her and told her to Puh-lease listen, next time...

So, I walked in to speak to the dentist myself. I came away thinking he said something about a referal or something, maybe about an orthodontist....

I think I'll just keep smiling, and nodding yes, and saying "hmm?...what did you say?"


++++++++++


And here is Donna's Friday Five:

Appetizer
What comes to mind when you see the color orange?

The shag carpet in my bedroom when I was a kid.

Soup
Did you ever get in trouble while you were in school? If so, what was it for?

Getting in trouble is one of my phobias. I don't remember REALLY getting in trouble, but I can remember a couple times that my best buddies got in trouble - and I probably should have gotten in trouble, too. Once we were all swinging on the bathroom stall doors. Most of us left the bathroom, except Linda. She wanted to swing a little more, and she got caught and got a WHITE SLIP! Yikes! Was it Anna who got a White Slip for going up the slide the wrong way? And on the topic of White Slips, I knew a kid who didn't want to show his mom the White Slip, so he forged her signature (Mommy)


Salad
Which topping(s) make up your perfect pizza?

Plain old pepperoni is my favorite, but occasionally I like a pizza covered in meat and peppers and mushrooms and artichoke hearts.


Main Course
Do you believe in UFOs/aliens/etc.? Why or why not?

I don't think there are little aliens with big eyes and round ships, but I think our Creater could certainly have made many more worlds out there somewhere.


Dessert
What color is your bedspread/comforter/quilt?

Off white. To match the walls. Sounds boring, but I think (hopefully) it looks elegant.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

You Have Great Lips

Here in Hawaii, my make-up seems to melt away before my 2nd breakfast, so I only wear mascara, and I have a feeling that soon, that, too, will become a Sunday Only item.

My hair has issues in the humiditiy so I wear it one of two ways, neither of which requires a blow dryer: either parted on the side and pulled back into a tight low bun(I think I need to buy a flower pin to go with it); or scrunched with a little gel, the front pulled back with a chomper clippie into an Alice-in-Wonderland (McBride speak for whatever you call that hair-do when you pull back your bangs and other front hair and leave the back down.)

Also, the dress code here in Hawaii is very casual. Flip-flops are it. Anything with flowers is great. A bit of fabric wrapped and tied at your waist is a lovely skirt. But you're not allowed to wear just your swimsuit in the commisary (military grocery store.) Bummer.

I've been feeling like a bit of a slug. No make up. No blow dryer. And then, last week, I had the worst breakout of my grown up life. It was like being 14 years old again. A volcano on my cheek and another on my jawline. Blech.

Not very elegant or stylish. In fact, I've been feeling a bit invisible.

Friday afternoon, though, I was at the base (I mean POST, sheesh I just can't remember that) Outdoor Rec. Center (a place where you can rent all manner of things - tents, boats, and bouncy things) renting scuba tanks. The man who runs the place is a little freaky, so I made Nathan come with me. And while we were ringing up the order, the check-out-girl looked over at me and, said "You have really great lips!"

She made me blush. And smile. I smiled all the way home, and Nathan teased me about it all weekend.

Awwwww. How sweet of her. That one little compliment really made me feel lovely. And beautiful. I even remembered to put on a bit of lip gloss before going to the store this morning.

Her quick words made me want to give more random personal (but not too personal) compliments to people. To smile more. To meet the eyes of the bagger at the grocery store. To introduce myself to my neighbor down a few doors. To paint my toenails and buy some cute new flip-flops.



And you know what? I really do have great lips!

Island Livin'

Look over here! Aloha Everyone! I hope you had a Mele Kalikimaka and that you are having a very Hau'oli Makahiki Hou.

Our household goods arrived on Friday (carried in by 3 big - actually 2 big and one rather skinny - hawaiian guys) and our internet was hooked up yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. I got all of one hour on the 'net before Nathan got home and hogged it for the rest of the night. I'm not sure, but don'cha think blogging should take priority over silly old job certification stuff?

We are loving this Island Life. Here is a little of what we have been up to:


Kissing on Waikiki Beach



Watching the huge waves on the North Shore



Beautiful Sunsets



Catching a Wave
(just kidding, those are some huge 20 foot waves up on the North Shore. Our favorite beginner's beach is in a "high crime area" so we haven't taken the fancy camera with us, and plus, we aren't that good...yet....)



Climbing our Banyan Tree



Scuba Diving



Throwing Rocks


What a fun time! Watch for these, and other, upcoming Blog Articles:
Surfing with Jesus
Army Post vs. Air Force Base
You have Great lips
SCUBA
Righteous Men Make the Most Romantic Men
Smokers and Junk
huh ONE huh TWO huh THREE