Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Hike

Yesterday Nate and I went on an awesome hike up the Kuli'ou'ou Ridge. I consider it one of my Christmas presents from him. It took us two hours to get to the trail head via bus (including the slow down because we got on the 1 instead of the 1L. Oops.) From the bus stop it was about a half hour walk through a neighborhood to get to the actual trail head. Nate kept us entertained by quizzing my knowledge of local plants poking out of the yards - bougainvillea, ti, hibiscus, mango, noni, plumeria, coconut, and others. The sights and sounds of the forest were so soothing. It was wonderful to be away from the noise, hustle, and stink of the city. (Yes, Hawaii is beautiful, but sometimes the city just plain stinks)

At the beginning of our hike I could hear a small stream gurgling merrily out of sight. The air was heavy and sweet with the fragrance of wild flowers and the hill was spunkily adorned in springy ferns. We ran in to a few other hikers on our way up, but mostly we had the trail to ourselves, for our companion only the quiet rustle of the wind whispering gently to the rhythm of our plodding footsteps.

About halfway up the trail we met another couple who were on their way down, looking refreshed while we, sweaty-faced and panting, labored upward. We exchanged greetings and Nate asked, "There's a water-fountain at the top, right?" I didn't see the guy's reaction, but the girl just stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise, unsure whether or not he was serious until I started chuckling and the guy said, "Yeah, if it starts to rain. Then you can have all the water you want."

The top of the trail got quite steep and with the dirt dry and loose, we were left to scramble upwards. As we climbed higher and higher we could see the ocean stretching out behind us, a calm, bright half-moon of tropical blue. Eventually we could see a good portion of the leeward coast from Diamond Head around past Koko Head and Hanauma Bay.

At the top there was a sign indicating that the trail had ended and it was not safe to continue further, as there was an unsupported overhang and several thousand feet of air beyond that point. So we settled in to eat our PB&J and enjoy the cool breeze and the wisps of cloud blowing over from the windward side. These clouds obscured our view of the ocean on that side, which was disappointing, but they looked awesome drifting over the tops of the mountains only to vanish in the bright sun.

The view was incredible. The ocean stretched on endlessly, disappearing in to the glare of the sun on one side and barely peeking through in bits of shocking blue amid the swirling gray clouds on the other. It was definitely one of the most beautiful and rewarding hikes I've ever taken.

Me in a really cool tree


The mountain on the other side of the valley


Hanauma Bay as seen on the way up the ridge


Nate enjoying a break at the top


Me at the top.


The windward side of the mountains with the clouds.


Nate heading back down the ridge.

Finding My Rythm

I've been feeling the need to exercise and though I know it's just plain good for me, I've been lacking the motivation to lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement. So, on Friday I signed up to participate in the 26th Annual Great Aloha Run.

That's right. This is no measly 5k. This is 13k through downtown Honolulu to UH's Aloha Stadium. Approximately 8.15 miles. I've never run that far in my life. Let the training runs begin! Miraculously, my wee ipod shuffle that took a spin through the washing machine almost a year ago, has started working again. At least long enough for me to make it through my workouts. I'm taking that as a good sign.

So, if you've don't have plans for President's day (Feb. 15, 2010), feel free to join me! I could definitely benefit from a jogging partner.

Intruder!

Since we have no air conditioning (you don't really need it here), I often leave the back door open to let more of the breeze through. We're on the third floor, so I've never been concerned about strangers walking in uninvited and I always make sure to close it before I leave. So although we don't live in the nicest neighborhood, I've never thought twice about leaving it open.

However, I walked into my living room this afternoon and was surprised by the agitated flutterings of a pigeon who had been making himself comfortable.

"Hey!" I shouted at it in surprise, my voice echoing in our unfurnished living room, only serving to further irritate my feathery guest.

The pigeon swooped frantically around the room while I tried to sneak around it to open the front door to herd it out. I never made it to the door; it seems the pigeon did not feel welcome and he showed himself out the back door.

Hawaiian Generosity

The people we have met here in Hawaii have been so good and generous to us. They have helped us get settled here in so many ways, helping us find our apartment, furnish our apartment, giving us rides, and helping me find a job. One way in particular where their generosity continues to astound me is in the giving of food. It is ingrained in the culture here to feed others and then send them away with the leftovers. So, for those of you who are still worried that Nate and I are starving, here is a list I kept of all the food that was given to us in the space of one week (9-18 to 9-23):

2 dinner plates (chicken, rice, chop suey, etc.)
1 1/2 gal POG (passion orange guava juice)
1 carton ice cream
6 nectarines
5 frozen pot pies
1 manapua (a bun filled with meat)
1 faiaife'e (octopus in coconut cream)
2 more dinner plates
4 pieces pumpkin pie
4 large avocados
1 lunch bowl (curry chicken, taro, and pisupo)
1 pear
1 large cup mackerel rice soup
1 large cup coconut rice
1 tray of apple pie pastries (like mini apple pies)
1 more dinner plate
1 bunch green bananas (for boiling)
1 can pisupo (corned beef)
1 orange
1 shave ice
2 more dinner plates
1 King-size Reeses
1 box cake from Liliha bakery
1/2 of a birthday cake
2 MORE dinner plates (this brings our total to 9! I don't think I cooked at all that week!)
1 tub popcorn
1 box Red Vines
1 box Reeses Pieces
1 package rice crackers
2 large muffins
1 bag potatoes

Granted, this was a particularly abundant week, but I still can't believe it! That's a lot of food!

Nate the Forager

My doctor says I'm too stressed. Thankfully, I found a job just one day after I saw him. I'm going to be a reading tutor at the high school around the corner from my apartment. I turned in my paperwork today, so hopefully I'll be able to start tomorrow. Hooray!

Now that I'm not crazy stressed out and spending every spare minute (which for the last few months has been all of them) looking for a job, I can blog! and do cool things that I can then blog about! I know you've all been anxious for my to make a return to the blogging scene. Here's what we've been up to lately.

Since we've been in Hawaii for two months and I until last Friday did not have a job, we've been living in ultra-frugal survival mode. I don't know how many of you have lived in this mode for any length of time, but it requires quite a lot of creativity in certain areas like food sources. Thus, we've been diligent in attending any and all church or school events where food may be present. However, Nate has also taken to foraging on the University of Hawaii campus between classes.

Apparently there are numerous fruit bearing trees on campus and their fruits go unused and are left to fall to the ground and rot. So really, we're doing the university a favor by preventing smelly rot, right? So far Nate has procured a mango, a passion fruit, and a breadfruit. Now, you all know what a mango is, so I won't explain that experience except to say that this was the most amazing mango I've ever had.

The passion fruit was something quite unexpected. It is a small, round, yellowish fruit with a hard, thick skin with a soft, juicy, orange center. You spoon out the orange part and eat it. The flavor was wonderful. The texture can only be compared to slimy boogers with the occasional crunchy seed.

Ours was just like this, but a different variety, so the outside was yellow

The breadfruit I've eaten before, whenever we are at an event with Samoan food, it occasionally shows up. The breadfruit is not a fruit at all, but rather a starchy food, like a potato. Which is the closest comparison I can make. We cut it up, boiled it and served it with coconut milk. It was quite good (I didn't like it the first time I had it, but it has grown on me).

Breadfruit

Nate preparing the breadfruit

The crazed forager

The finished meal


Yum!

(For those of you that are concerned, we're not actually in danger of going hungry. Just thought I'd clear that up.)

Almost Home, Sweet Home

Okay, so it's been two months since I last posted. Nate and I have been in Hawaii for exactly 6 weeks now. So much has happened since the last time I wrote I can't even begin to tell you, so I'll show you some of it.

Our new home as seen from Punchbowl/ National Cemetery of the Pacific

The trees at the National Cemetery were awesome! They all looked like this.

The windward side of the island


And now for the gross-out factor, just in case there are some of you that think living in Hawaii is perfect. It's pretty close, but sometimes there are the bugs to contend with. These are dried up roach egg sacs that were crusted all over the inside of our closets when we moved in. I spent most of a whole day cleaning these out before I could unpack our stuff. I almost lost my lunch. Eww. But, a lot of scrubbing later, it looks great now and, knock on wood, I haven't seen a roach in the apartment yet.

And, since I can't leave you on that nasty note, or none of you would come and visit us, here's us at my favorite beach. Really, this beach is perfect. We've seen an occasional Portuguese Man of War each time we've gone, but it is so beautiful not even those will keep us out of the water.

Things are going great. Nate has started school and we're all settled into our apartment. The only thing left is for me to get a job. Wish me luck! (unless any of you have contacts in Hawaii, then send me names and phone numbers!)

The Epitome of Summer Days

Last Saturday, Nate and I combined all the best parts of summer into one fantastic day. The only unfortunate thing is that I didn't get any photos.

Early in the morning, before the day got hot, we ventured out with friends from our ward and went blackberry picking. Long rows of berries stretched out before us, waiting only to be discovered. Conversations floated along easily, as the buckets filled and the sun slowly rose higher.

In the afternoon, Nate, my sister, and I along with some friends went to the Blue Bell Taste of Summer festival. Blue Bell is a regional brand of ice cream and they have a local factory. Every year on the last Saturday in June they host a party with all-you-can-eat ice cream. However, I've lived here almost my whole life and never been. It was awesome. By the time we arrived at the festival, at 11am the day was already turning into a scorcher. There was ice cream, local musicians performing, factory tours, ice cream eating contests for all ages 5yrs - adult, games for little kids, and the fire department even opened up a hydrant to help everyone keep cool. Altogether, I tried 7 different flavors in the hour and a half that we were there: Triple Caramel, Strawberry, Rainbow Sherbert, Moo-lenium Crunch (vanilla with almonds, pecans, chocolate and butterscotch pieces), Chocolate Covered Cherry, Dutch Chocolate, and Turtle.

We finished out the day splashing in the pool and taking it easy. What a perfect summer day!

The House Where Deb Lives

First, thanks for all the birthday wishes. I had a wonderful 23rd birthday yesterday. Except for Rachel and Steve, my whole family was there and it was lovely.

We've been in my good old hometown in Oklahoma for about two weeks now and my parents have wasted no time in putting us to work. But nonetheless, I am going to attempt to be more active in writing. So, since as much as I'd like you all to, most of you will probably not get to come and visit Oklahoma (one of the more beautiful and under-appreciated states); here is a virtual tour of my childhood home.

home, sweet home

This is our front entry.
It doesn't always look like this, however due to a recent flurry of this activity...

it has become the work whereby Nate and I earn our keep.


Immediately to the left is the dining room.


Up the stairs we go to my room when I was growing up, which is no longer a bedroom

Then on to the largest room that for a time my sisters and I all shared, except for Bug - spoiled from the beginning. Just kidding, she was still a baby.


Back downstairs, there is the closet under the stairs where we keep our camping gear. This is where I had my secret club meetings when I was little. I think our club membership maxed out at three people (you can't fit many more into that little closet anyway).


The living room, complete with Mom taking a snooze:


And the kitchen with Nate studying away at his statistics reading on summer vacation.


Finally, the place that I spent by far the most time in the summers while growing up and the grand finale of our tour, the back yard.

Well Katie, and all you others who are secretly wishing that you could spend your summer vacations in Oklahoma, I hope you feel at home in my home now.

Ready or Not, Here We Go!

The last few weeks have been quite the whirlwind: Nate's graduation, moving out of our apartment, my best friend's wedding, spending a week in Boise with family, another week in Montana with more family, etc. We've been having a fantastic time and I can't believe we still have a week left before we head for home.

Nate has been officially accepted to the Nutrition program at the University of Hawaii and offered a teaching assistantship that will waive his tuition and offer a small stipend. It is such a blessing to have that support from the school. I don't know how we would have managed without it. We purchased our tickets today to move out there and will be flying out to Honolulu on July 22. We ship boxes there tomorrow - thanks Josh and Julie for letting us send you our stuff! Even with all of this it all seems surreal. I suppose it won't seem real until I look out the plane window and see somthing like this:


or walk down the street to enjoy a scene like this one:


I think I can handle the change.
Come and visit!
Aloha!

Developing Talents

Since graduating from college, it's amazing how much free time I have. I work full-time, but just the fact that I don't have any homework to do or tests to study for is amazing. I've always thought that people who could draw or paint were brilliant and secretly I wanted to be one of them. But, I had to content myself with other things because, I told myself, I just didn't have the gift.

Then I watched my second graders paint. None of them are child prodigies, but they paint with freedom, confidence and delight. I figured, if they can do it, so can I. So, I took myself down to the public library and checked out some books on sketching. I bought several different kinds of sketching pencils and erasers and started reading. Soon I was ready to draw my first drawing, so I hunted around the apartment for something classy enough to be drawn as a still life. I set a few things out on the counter - an empty bottle, a canister and an apple, carefully selected from our fridge for its roundness and evenness - and left for work planning to come back that evening, arrange the objects and begin. When I came home however, the apple was gone. My husband had eaten my still life!

We had another well-shaped apple, so all was not lost, and here is the result:




And and for an exercise in perspective, some geometric shapes. Drawing #2:

The Joy of Cooking

Some of you may be familiar with the famous cookbook The Joy of Cooking. It is actually more of a recipe book and cooking encyclopedia combined. I got one for Nate for Valentine's Day when we were engaged and we have loved using it to cook together.




Imagine our surprise when we saw this at the grocery store:


Frozen dinners made by the Joy of Cooking. How about the joy of eating others' cooking?

April Fools!

Here's a taste of April Fool's Day at an elementary school:

"There's a spider on your head!"

"Really? Where? Get it off! AHHHH!"

"April Fools!" dissolving into riotous laughter.

I heard this one about 10 times today and believe it or not, it only got funnier.

Haircut Woes

About a month ago I got about 12 inches cut off my hair. I love the rejuvenating feeling of being free from my long locks. To add even more good feelings, I donated my ponytail to Locks of Love. They make hair pieces for kids who have lost all of their hair due to illness or disease.

Me and my nephew at Christmas

Just after the haircut

The change was pretty dramatic and some of the kids I work with had a hard time adjusting to my new look, especially the boys. Here are just a few of the many comments that I got from the boys I work with:

Shocked, "Mrs. Black, why did you cut your hair!?"

"Mrs. Black! When I saw you, I thought you were a boy!"

"Why would you do that?!"

"Mrs. Black why did you cut your hair?"
me -"I like it this way."
"Man, you must be on crack!"

"Mrs. Black, you look like a boy now!"
me sarcastically - "Thank you."
"Why do you think that's a compliment?"
me - "I'm trying not to respond rudely."
(This boy had a particularly hard time and we had this conversation every day for a week.)

These comments have gradually subsided and thankfully, I don't base my self-confidence on the opinions of 8 year-olds.

God's Words Never Cease

This video is of a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He testifies, as do I, that God continues to reveal his will unto prophets and apostles. He loves us and wants us to know and do his will that we might return to live with him forever after we have finished our mortal sojourn. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he is the Savior of all mankind. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
John 3:16

Christmas, a Month Late

Okay, so it takes me awhile to sit down and upload photos for you all to see. Here's what our apartment looked like when it was all decked out for Christmas. We spent hours one Saturday making a tiny paper chain for our tree. After the Christmas decorations came down, we replaced them with some beautiful pictures taken by Whitney that I got Nate for Christmas. They make our dumpy little apartment a bit more classy. Now if I only had walls that weren't made of solid cement I could hang them up!













Happy New Year, I hope it has started off great for everyone!

Homeade Pumpkin Pie

So, this is a long time coming, but a while back Nate and I made some pumpkin pies out of pie pumpkins and we took some photos to document it. The pies were a little stringy, but otherwise quite tasty.

Nate scraping out the seeds

Baked pumpkin chunks.

Scraping out the baked pumpkin

The finished product