The Greatest Adventure

Grandma Peatross

2012-02-02T15:20:00.001-10:00

My dear Grandma Jenene Peatross passed peacefully through the veil early Monday morning. I will ever be grateful for the example and blessing she has been to me. I know that death is not the end of life and one day I will see her again. I am so glad to know that Jesus Christ has provided the way for families to be together forever.

At first I thought it strange and perhaps even unfeeling that I haven't shed tears over the death of my sweet grandma. But, while my heart aches because she is gone from me, my thoughts turn again and again to the incomparable joy that must have attended her reunion with Grandpa, her eternal companion.

Aloha oe, Grandma, until we meet again.

Christmas and a Day at the Beach

2012-01-29T16:35:00.000-10:00

It's been awhile. We've all been sick on and off since New Years and I'm definitely glad to be heading out of January and starting a new month. Goodbye colds, headaches and stuffy noses! Goodbye food poisoning! Hello healthy family! I think my 2012 is going to start in February.

Because I know you were all crushed not to see pictures of Manu at 5 months I'll share this gem of a photo with you:

Manu's Christmas outfit from his Aunt Candy and Uncle Josh! Is anyone else singing Newsies?

Here's a few more from December:

Manu helping with the laundry.

Manu, Nate and I at the Laie temple.

Last week Nate finished his work for his Masters! He did a great job on his presentation and is graduating in May! Hooray! So to celebrate that and Manu's 6mo birthday (he can wear sunscreen now!) we packed up and headed to the beach! It had been far too long.

And now it's time for the really cute stuff. Prepare yourself. No really, you might want to sit down. Ready? OK.

Manu at Kailua beach!

Feeling the waves and enjoying a little sand between his toes!

Manu and his Daddy!

It is so different going to the beach with a baby! We had a great time though. The highlight for me was standing ankle-deep in the cool water with the warm sun on my face and Sam snuggled up in a towel in my arms drifting to sleep on my shoulder as we listened to the waves. It just doesn't get any more soothing than that. Ahhhh.

Bliss

2011-12-19T19:07:00.000-10:00

Manu slept for 10 hours straight last night. Oh, sweet joy!

I never thought I'd be so happy about sleep. Waking up at 7am and realize that I hadn't been out of my bed since I got into it at 10pm was such a delightful feeling.

What a wonderful early Christmas present!

Optical Illusion

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-10:00

This will blow your mind. At least it did mine. Look at the picture of the spinning dancer below. Which direction is she spinning?

Some people see her spinning clockwise and some counter-clockwise. Here's the description from Wikipedia:

The Spinning Dancer is a kinetic, bistable optical illusion resembling a pirouetting female dancer. Some observers initially see the figure as spinning clockwise and some counterclockwise. Additionally, some may see the figure suddenly spin in the opposite direction. The illusion derives from an inherent ambiguity from the lack of visual cues for depth.

I can only get her to change directions if I stare at the bottom foot. Even then it takes a while. Crazy.

4 Months!

2011-12-03T15:58:00.001-10:00

Little Manu turned 4 months old on Sunday! This is what he did to celebrate:

Modeled his new jacket from AJ.

Slept. (we're working on starting to sleep through the night again, and I think we're really close)

Partied it up with the Samoan ward and our friend Liu.

And for the big finale:

(please excuse my baby-talk voice in this video)

he learned to roll over!

(unfortunately he rolls over while he's trying to go to sleep and wakes himself up, but I still think it's super cute to watch)

Happy Birthdays

2011-11-01T17:01:00.000-10:00

Okay, let's pretend for a moment that today is October 23rd.
Happy Birthday, Nate! I love you and am so glad that you are a part of my life.

You are an awesome Dad. I love to watch our Manu when he's with you. Like father, like son.

I've never seen a prouder, more loving daddy. Manu and I are so blessed to have you.

You have a great sense of humor.

And you always keep me on my toes. Thanks for sharing life's greatest adventures with me! I love you!

And now, let's pretent that it's October 27th. Manu is three months old now! We've seen a lot of changes this month:

Manu helping with the laundry.

Manu is now enjoying tummy time! Hooray!

Manu has also discovered his hands and loves to suck on them and whatever he can grab hold of.

And, he's still our happy little guy! We love making him laugh with raspberries and silly noises.

We love you, Manu!

Pacific Aviation Museum

2011-10-15T06:00:00.000-10:00

Dad, this one's for you.

A few weeks ago, Manu and I had our first big adventure together, just the two of us. Saturday, September 24th was Smithsonian Magazine's National Museum Day, so many museums offered free admission. So Manu and I packed up and headed out to Ford Island in Pearl Harbor to see the Pacific Aviation Museum.

When we finally got in to the museum (after a shuttle ride, a diaper change, a feeding, and another diaper change) we saw some great planes. Dad, I thought of you a lot while I examined the different planes and Manu examined the inside of his eyelids. So, here's some of the cool stuff we saw:

I didn't get many pictures of the really old planes in the first building because the light was bad. This one is a F-4F3 Wildcat from the 1940s.

North American F-86E Sabre from 1947.

This is an ultralight plane. It was tiny!

Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk I (1942)

McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle (1972)

Grumman F-14D Tomcat (1970)

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger (1953)

SH-60-B Seahawk

Some of the planes you could climb up and get into or see up close. It was a pretty cool museum. Wish you could have been there, Dad! Hope you enjoy the photos!

Mormons and Politics

2011-10-11T14:50:00.000-10:00

Yes, that's right. I'm joining the fray.

First let's take a brief look at the politics side:

There has been a ton of coverage in the news lately about Mitt Romney and how his membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints effects his abilities as a potential presidential candidate. This coverage seems to have exploded in the last few days after Pastor Robert Jeffress declared Mormonism to be a cult.

There have been some great responses to Pastor Jeffress' ignorant remarks including these articles:

Don't judge candidates by their faith (by CNN's William Bennett. Thanks for pointing this one out, Katie)

Latter-Day Sins (subtitle: Why don’t we challenge anti-Mormonism? Because it’s the prejudice of our age.)

Anderson Cooper and Robert Jeffress interview (video)

I'm a Mormon. I may or may not vote for Romney. If I do, it certainly won't be because we both belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It will be because I like his political stance best. By the same token, I'm going to give Rick Perry fair judgment based on his politics as well. I'm not going to discount him as a potential candidate just because he is a member of a different faith. This is what I'm getting at - it just doesn't matter.

Bennett summed it up well in the first article I linked to by saying, "To the right and left alike, we are in the middle of a grueling presidential campaign season. It behooves us to despise and reject all forms of religious, and racial, bigotry. Politics are about policy and deciding whether a candidate shares your views of the founding principles of this country -- life, liberty, and the rule of law -- which men and women of all different faiths can agree upon."

In the video above, Jeffress is directly confronted about his remarks on Mormons. Jeffress then explains that by "cult" he meant "theological cult" wherein a church looks to a man instead of a divine figure as the founder of their church. He also describes the Book of Mormon as a "newer, fresher revelation."

This brings us to the second portion of this post.

I'm a Mormon. I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jesus Christ is the founder of my faith. Joseph Smith is a prophet just like Moses, Noah, and Abraham. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, my Savior and Redeemer. I believe the Bible is the word of God. The Book of Mormon does not replace the Bible, but is a companion to it. It is "another testament of Jesus Christ" and witnesses powerfully of His divinity.

If you want to know what it's like to live in China, ask someone who lives there, not someone who only once saw a picture of it. If you want to know what Mormons believe, ask a Mormon. We're your friends and neighbors and would welcome your questions. Ask me, I'm a Mormon. Or visit mormon.org to learn more.

Foster Botanical Garden

2011-09-30T06:00:00.000-10:00

Nate and I have decided that we need to get out and appreciate this beautiful little island we call home before we find ourselves having to leave and never getting to do all we wanted. (FYI: This is not a moving announcement) So we've instituted "family days" on Fridays when Nate dosen't have class as days to get out and see stuff together.

So for our first family day, we went to a botanical garden here in town. It was beautiful. Such a lovely piece of nature in this bustling city.

Here we are at the gardens with Buddah.

The orchid garden was my favorite, I didn't even take photos of anything else. These flowers are amazing!

This one is not an orchid. It's a bromeliad.

This is also not an orchid, it's called crown of thorns.

There was a random camel at the garden. So naturally we took pictures with it.

Two Months Old!

2011-09-28T15:39:00.000-10:00

Two months old! That's right, Manu is now two months old! I had the startling realization that October starts this weekend. My brain has been stuck in July this whole time, and for some reason I expected the rest of the world to stay there with me until I was ready to move on. But you didn't.

The good news is I'm catching up. Manu and I are getting into a routine of sorts and out of the apartment. So, I have a few photo posts in the works to show you what Manu and I (and Nate too!) have been up to lately. But since yesterday marked two whole months since my dear Manu was born, this post is for him.

Remember this tiny little bundle?

Now he looks like this!

To celebrate, Manu and I went on a walk at Ala Moana Beach Park. As you can see, Manu was really impressed with the ocean view.

Manu and me at the beach.

Manu's #2 favorite place to sleep.

Manu's #1 favorite place to sleep. (Nate was dressed up for a costume/ice cream eating contest at school)

I just realized that Manu is sleeping in the majority of these photos, it's definitely his favorite hobby, which makes for a very happy mommy. He still sleeps really well at night; the last two nights he's gone 9 straight hours!

Here's the stats from today's dr. visit:

Length: 23 1/2 in.

Weight: 11lbs 12 oz

He also got a bajillion vaccines today in two shots and a little drink and after some initial crying, has taken it like a champ and is doing what Manu does best - sleeping it off.

Free Teachers' E-Books

2011-09-18T18:30:00.001-10:00

Nate and I heard about this from a friend and thought we'd share. It's a coupon for $10 worth of free e-books from Scholastic, and they're having a sale until Tuesday where many are only $1! That's 10 free e-books! They're all about teaching, so I hope all you teaching friends enjoy! Neither of us are teachers by training, but we definitely found some neat things to get when we looked through the site this weekend!

p.s. The website is swamped and super slow, so you'll need to do this when you have a bit of time to wait for loading pages.

Here's where I got the coupon:

http://www.motherhoodonadime.com/10-worth-of-ebooks-from-scholastic-for-free/

Ick!

2011-09-14T20:00:00.000-10:00

Let me preface the story of this post by saying that I hate cockroaches. I think they're absolutely disgusting. We have them in our apartment occasionally, rather more often than I would prefer. We're usually quite good at changing our roach baits every three months, so it's not usually too big of a deal. But, we've been a little distracted lately (something about having a baby), and haven't yet changed our overdue baits.

Usually if I see a roach that is mid-size or larger it is accompanied by a small shriek of disgust and a call for Nate to come with a shoe and get it. At times I've even exchanged unfriendly words with the critters and made it very clear that they were not welcome in my home.

Last night I was putting away the dishes. I opened up our utensils drawer (not the silverware drawer, thankfully, though they're all connected, so it only really makes a difference in my mind) and what did I see? Yes, a mid-size roach scurrying toward the back all over my spatulas, ladle, and beaters. Sick.

However, I was pretty tired by this point in the day and Nate wasn't home. So, what did I do? I closed my eyes, gave a shudder, and closed the drawer.

We need to get some new roach baits, post-haste. And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to scrub out the drawers in my kitchen.

But, before you all decide to stop reading my blog because I post gross things about bugs, here's a picture of Manu to keep you coming back. Some of you have seen this one before, but it's so cute I'm going to post it here as well:

Manu in his church duds. He's wearing a tiny ie faitaga (basically a formal Samoan man-skirt. Kind of like what Feki wears in Other Side of Heaven) that my mom made for him.

A Diapering Confession

2011-09-07T16:30:00.000-10:00

During my pregnancy Nate and I stocked up on several different kinds of cloth diapers. They were cute and would save the earth, but above all they were much cheaper for the long haul. We were pretty gung-ho about it.

Then, I received a Costco-size box of diapers as a gift and I thought, "oh, that'll be nice to have around in emergencies or when I forget to do the laundry." Then I started saying, "oh, I'll just use these until his piko (bellybutton) is all healed up." Before I knew it we'd gone through the whole stinkin' box! There were 216 diapers in there!

But, before we'd quite finished, another set of friends gave us a Costco-size box of diapers as a gift. (Thanks, friends!) So I kept using them, and using them, and using them.

Here's the confession:

I've been seduced by disposable diapers: by their ease and convenience, by the lack of laundry they add to my already exploding laundry basket.

When the second box ran low, we went to Costco and bought our own Costco-sized box of diapers. I felt like I had to smuggle it in to the apartment before anyone saw it.

Here's the other confession:

We've used the cloth diapers for one day. It was great - no leaks or explosions. However, Manu was only two weeks old or so at the time and the cloth diapers just looked so huge and bulky I didn't think I'd be able to fit his little onesies over it. Seriously they made his cute, tiny, little derrière look ginormous! Oh the vanity!

Conclusion:

Will I ever use the drawer full of diapers I've stockpiled to save the world and save myself a bundle of cash? Yes. I really think I will. Just give me a bit until I settle in to this whole mothering thing. And until my little dear's derrière fits them better. Then Manu will be rocking' the cloth diapers.

1 Month Old!

2011-08-30T09:35:00.006-10:00

And now the moment you've been waiting for! Pictures of our handsome little Manu!

Manu turned one month old on Saturday! It's gone so fast I can hardly believe it! He's getting cuter every day and starting to smile and coo, which just melts our hearts every time.

We went to the doctor yesterday for his one month checkup:

weight: 10lbs 3oz

length: 22in

The doctor told us he was destined to be a huge Mid-west sized football player because he ranked in the 90th percentile. I was thinking, "I know he's gained a few pounds, but I don't think he's that big!" It turns out the nurses accidentally plotted his size on the girl's growth chart. Sorry, Manu! You're average-sized on the boys' chart.

Manu one day old. (7 lbs 15 oz; 21 in)

Manu one month old. He is such a good sleeper! I'm talking 6 straight hours last night a quick meal and then another 3 hours sleep! This mommy's feeling good today!

I just can't get enough of that smile.

Usually Manu hates tummy time, but this time he figured out a sure-fire way to get out of it altogether. Instead of the usual crying, he immediately fell asleep.

Manu

2011-08-29T16:56:00.004-10:00

Deb has graciously asked that I, Nate, give the background for the alias that we've selected for use as we write about our newborn son on our respective blogs.

By way of introduction, you should know that for two years I served a full-time mission in the Sāmoan islands for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My time amongst the Sāmoans profoundly changed, redirected even, my life forever. In their honor then we have selected Manu for our son's alias, and here's the reason why.

As explained by my recent Sāmoan professor, ʻAumua Mataʻitusi Simanu, Sāmoan children are not traditionally "allowed to be in close proximity of the aliʻi (chiefs), particularly when they are meeting" to discuss the affairs of the village.

She continues, "In ancient times, Chief Fānene of Falealili violated this tradition by allowing his grandson to climb about him and make noise while the chiefs were seated in ceremony." Annoyed, Fanene's fellow chiefs demanded that the child be taken away, calling him a manu or animal.

ʻAumua remarks, "Fānene begged for forgiveness and, through his gift of oratory, referred to the child as an 'animal for the chiefs'--'ʻo si manu a aliʻi'"--meaning that in due time, through his association with the chiefs, the child would learn his proper place and act accordingly.

ʻAumua concludes that the "essence of the Faʻasāmoa," or Sāmoan way, is "to learn through serving and through living the culture--in the case of Fānene's grandson, through his future tautua or service" to his family, his village, his country, and his God.

Now, technically we aren't Sāmoans, but that's really only a biological technicality. The lessons that I've learned from the Faʻasāmoa--especially the importance of serving one's family, community, and God--I plan on passing on to my son as if we were Sāmoan. After all, he is, with those of his generation, the future of humanity.

Deb and the Fe'e

2011-06-16T14:35:00.004-10:00

Right now I'm enjoying having my sister and her family in town and there will be lovely posts to come from our adventures around the island. But for now, here's a pic from our tri-stake youth conference in late March. Definitely one of the greatest moments of the conference:

Yes, I'm holding an octopus (a fe'e). Yes, it is very slimy and disgusting and my fingers are where are brain ought to be. Eww.

A Dream

2011-05-23T10:14:00.003-10:00

Pregnancy has a lot of strange things that go along with it, and one of those seems to be odd dreams.

This weekend I dreamed that Dennis the Menace zipped me into a large suitcase so that I could be smuggled onto a 12hr plane flight. It was very uncomfortable in there.

Weird.

Enjoying Nature

2011-05-07T15:53:00.003-10:00

We were at Costco the other day perusing the book section after our weekly shopping trip when Nate pointed out a book he thought I'd be interested in. We'd never heard of it before, but it was about someone who hiked the Appalachian trail, which I think is super cool. It talked about his experiences on the trail and the people he met, etc.

After I investigated the book further, I decided that this one wasn't for me. But, just as I was about to put it back a quote on the cover caught my eye.

"The best way of escaping into nature is to read a book like A Walk in the Woods..." said a reviewer from the NY Times.

That's funny, I thought the best way to escape into nature would be to actually get into nature, not read about someone else doing it.

Nate also just mentioned a resource he saw at the baby store today. A dvd about how kids need to play outside more. Ironic?

While it's true I believe we should all be getting ourselves outside more, we don't need to sit around inside reading up on the literature or watching dvds about it first. Just open your door and go outside, enjoy the sun, explore something!

Happy spring!

Koko Head Crater

2011-04-12T09:30:00.000-10:00

This is Koko Head.Before I get started, I need to throw in a disclaimer or two: 1. I am a lazy blogger and I don't necessarily post things in a timely manner. 2. This hike was done last October, now people won't even let me stack my own chair at church. 3. It is still a great hike. That is all.

The trail to the top of Koko Head is a little railroad track that goes straight up the side. This photo was taken at the beginning of the climb.

This is the only photo I took on the way up because I was too busy huffing and puffing to take pictures. This is the beautiful east coast of Oahu.

I think this is looking to the north east from the top.

If you look carefully, on the horizon you can see Moloka'i, the next island to the east.

Looking south-ish to Hanauma Bay.

Closer shot of Hanauma Bay - great snorkeling. When you all come to visit, we'll take you.

Looking south-westish towards Honolulu and Diamond Head.

I'm not sure which direction this one was, but I like it anyway.

Great Expectations

2011-01-18T14:22:00.004-10:00

Expecting it to rain.

Expecting company.

Expecting to have to eat again soon.

Expecting to gain weight.

Expecting something small.

Expecting big changes.

And expecting one more thing...... a baby!

The Quest for Immortality

2010-11-05T02:00:00.004-10:00

For thousands of years, men have sought for immortality. People have gone on perilous quests to find the fountain of youth; alchemists dedicate lives of study to finding the Philosopher's Stone and making an elixir of life. Across the world there are examples of people erecting monuments of stone to themselves in order to obtain lasting greatness. Even today, people spend millions of dollars every year on creams, dyes, and surgeries to make themselves younger looking. We seek to avoid aging and death at all costs.

Where is the solution for mankind's immortality? The Lord has said, "For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) Through the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, every person who has ever lived on this earth will one day live forever. What an amazing gift Christ offers to us!

"O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect." (2 Nephi 9:13,15)

What is the catch? What do we have to do to obtain this great gift? Nothing. Well, almost nothing. Before we become immortal beings we must die. It seems counterintuitive, doesn't it? But that's the way it works. Over and over again in the scriptures Christ teaches us that "whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." (Matt. 16:25, see also Matt. 10:39, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, Luke 17:33, John 12:25 )

This is the way of the Lord. It is true in this practical sense, that we all must die before we are resurrected and become immortal. But it also is true in a deeper, spiritual sense: when we willingly give our lives to the service of Jesus Christ and his gospel, He will return unto us much more than we have ever sacrificed for Him.

The Lord asks but little from us, only that we follow him. "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?" (2 Nephi 31:10-21, see also Matt. 4:19) In return He promises eternal life (2 Nephi 31:20), peace (Isaiah 48:18, John 14:27) and joy (3 Nephi 28:10).

Why would Christ offer all of this to us? Because He loves us (Alma 26:15, John 3:16).

Halloween

2010-11-03T11:49:00.004-10:00

Here are our costumes for Halloween this year. We helped with the ward's trunk-or-treat activity and had a great time.

I was a referee and Nate went as a tourist. His costume was awesome. Note the aloha shirt with swim trunks, camera across the shoulder, and long dark socks with Crocs.

Here you can also see the bus map in his shirt pocket. Awesome.

More posts to come this week. Check back!

Deb vs. Ants

2010-10-06T13:06:00.004-10:00

My home has become a battlefield. The invasion started gradually, with only one or two scouts showing up and poking around. No big deal. And so I was slow to begin planning my counter-attack. Now if I'm not on my guard,

THE ANTS ARE EVERYWHERE!

Just when I think I've got them beat and I spray the dickens out of their little path with bug killer, they reappear from another direction with double the forces! Today I discovered that the ones on the bathroom counter came all the way from the kitchen. What are they eating in there, facewash?

The Deb Show

2010-08-08T11:57:00.003-10:00

Aloha and welcome to the ward! Today we'll be having the Deb show!

This morning at church I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting. It was about how the Young Women's program has strengthened my testimony. Our whole Young Women's presidency spoke. (I'm the 1st counselor)

Then, I subbed for another teacher and taught the Teacher Development class during Sunday School. We discussed the impact of having Christlike love for those you teach. Only two people came. One was Nate.

And I taught the Mia Maids during Young Women. We learned about making wise choices.

It was crazy. Church has never gone so fast. I was constantly hurrying about to gather chalk, pictures, play prelude, go sit on the stand, etc. Now I can really be grateful for regular Sundays when I only have one lesson to teach.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Amen.

Laundry

2010-07-26T17:31:00.005-10:00

I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's the warm sun on my back, maybe it's the fresh smell of clean sheets, maybe it's seeing my clothes flapping in the blissful breeze that swirls through my apartment. There is something serene about it. I love hanging my laundry on the clothesline on our lanai.

Delays

2010-06-25T16:40:00.003-10:00

Sorry, you're just going to have to keep waiting for the awesome post about Tuesday until I can get the video to work. Hopefully Nate will be able to help me soon.

Tahiti Tuesday

2010-06-22T16:41:00.012-10:00

And now, the moment you've been waiting for.... TUESDAY! Thanks Steve, for helping me get the videos all sorted out.

We saw some huge sea turtles.

And headed back to the PCC. Here's Joe and Nate at Rapanui (Easter Island).

Whitney and I practiced our Tahitian dancing. Apparently it's all in the knees. My knees do not have it.

The best part though was watching the show at the Tahitian village. They taught the whole audience how to do Tahitian dancing. After we learned, they asked for volunteers and had a competition. Naturally, Whitney and I volunteered Joe and Nate to perform. They were awesome! Check it out:

Here are our dancers in their victory crowns!

These posts really don't do justice to the amazing week we had. Thanks Joe, Whitney and Ellie for coming to visit us!

More from our Staycation

2010-06-22T16:09:00.004-10:00

I know, I promised to post more sweet staycation photos soon, and I made you wait two whole weeks. Sorry. But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. I just wanted to make you all more fond of me so that you'll want to come and visit me. If that doesn't get you here perhaps these will:

Sunday we went to Punchbowl, the National Cemetery of the Pacific. A memorial honoring soldiers who have fought for America in the Pacific from WWII through Korea.

Joe and Nate at the Punchbowl lookout.

Monday we found a new favorite beach. Hukilau. It's awesome.

We relaxed and boogie boarded at the beach all day. The day was perfect. Here's Joe catching a wave. I picked this picture because it makes the waves look big. It was my first time boogie boarding and I loved it!

Cute baby. Hot mama.

Then it was sushi time. I must say it's grown on me since we've moved here. Delicious.

Wednesday, (I know I skipped Tuesday, just you wait until tomorrow) I had to go back to work, but everyone else headed to Pearl Harbor.
Joe checking out the big guns.

Nate ringing the dinner bell.

They also got to meet two soldiers who survived the attack at Pearl Harbor.

Stay tuned for Tuesday's pics tomorrow. Trust me it's worth the wait.

Our Hawaii Staycation

2010-06-08T17:37:00.005-10:00

May 13 - 20 we got to have our great friends the Hardies come and visit us! We had a fantastic time seeing a lot of the island, hitting the beach, checking out the local food (and by local of course I mean international), and exploring the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). It was an awesome staycation. Nate and I got to do a lot of things on the island that we'd been wanting to do but hadn't gotten to yet, plus we got to spend a whole week with great friends!

First things first, we hit the beach out in Kailua:

The next day we stopped by the Laie temple grounds:

And the PCC. Nate and I hadn't been yet. It is so incredible!

At the PCC we watched the canoe pageant. Each represented country did a traditional dance as they went by on these canoes.

Here we are waiting for the show to start. (I wove that fish that Nate is holding at the Samoan village)

We saw this guy climb a really tall coconut tree.

Nate was in his element speaking Samoan, meeting everyone and sporting his Manu Samoa jersey.

Next we went to the Aotearoa (New Zealand) village where we learned how to spin poi balls (warrior training). Joe was very good at it.

We played tititorea, a stick tossing game also used in warrior training to develop hand-eye coordination. I'm pretty sure we played a version of this in my elementary school music class.

We got some tattoos (removable of course) and practiced our Maori war faces. Check out Joe in the background.

There was so much more to see, but that was all we had time for before heading to dinner and the night show "Ha: the Breath of Life." The show was really cool. It follows a archetypal Polynesian boy as he grows up, with performances from all the different islands.

And of course, we got to meet the cutest baby ever!

All of this was just in the first two days! There's more to come and I promise you won't want to miss it!

For Mom

2010-05-09T12:29:00.006-10:00

Thank you for being such a wonderful mom! You have taught me so much and I love you!

Thank you for your example, love, encouragement, laughter, lessons, understanding, time, compassion, and dedication to your family. I hope one day I can be a great mom like you!

2010-04-28T15:26:00.003-10:00

To the Love of My Life:

Happy 3rd Anniversary! I love you!

I gave Nate his gift last Saturday. Here he is enjoying the new weight set.

Two Months in Only 5 Photos

2010-04-21T19:01:00.003-10:00

Well, since I've been terrible at posting lately, here's a brief photo update with a promise of another post to come shortly.

In February we finally got a couch! This futon frame was given to us by a member of our ward. Another friend in the ward gave us a mattress for it a few days later. No more sitting on the floor for us!

This is the beautiful spider orchid that a neighbor gave to me (also a ward member). Within two weeks all the blossoms had fallen off. I think I over-watered it at first, but I don't think it's actually dead. We'll see.

This is Nate thawing and separating a frozen block of 10 whole chickens that were given to us by a member of the ward for us to distribute to other ward members in the building. Since we didn't have room for 10 chickens in our freezer, we had to distribute them immediately and it was rather humorous. Picture me knocking on your door at 9:45pm in my pajamas and offering you a chicken.

Last weekend Nate and I had the wonderful opportunity to fly to Kona on the Big Island for a trip to the temple with our ward.

I seem to have unintentionally created a theme in these pictures. Yes, we love our ward.

Race Results

2010-02-15T10:57:00.006-10:00

Wake up: 4:45am
Depart 5:15am

Make the 15 minute drive to the Aloha Stadium: 1hr 10 min

Miss the "last bus" at 6:00am and catch one at 6:33am

Arrive at the start: 6:50am

Gun goes off at 7am, finally cross the Start line at about: 7:15am

Official Finishing Time: 1:17:45

Walking Breaks: 0!

Pace: 9:33min/mile

Place Overall: 2,699/15,721

Place in my Category (Female age 20-24) 96/697

Aloha Stadium - the finish

Now you can play "Where's Deb?" in these action shots of the final turn into Aloha Stadium:

After the finish (check out my cool gear that Nate got me for Christmas and Valentine's Day: shorts, water bottle belt, and ipod with an arm band!)

Where would I be without my personal trainer? Thanks, Nate, I love you!

Race Day Countdown

2010-02-09T20:11:00.002-10:00

Days left until the Great Aloha Run:
5

Race Length:
13k (8.15 miles)

Start Time:
7:00am

Number of Participants Expected:
22,000

Miles run since December 1 in preparation for this race:
103

Average Pace:
10 min/ mile (6 mph)

Goal Finishing Time:
80 ish minutes
(I ran 7 miles last Saturday in 68minutes, so I'm feeling pretty confident. Slow and steady may not win this race, but it will see me to the finish line! Though I did have a dream that I won it the other night...)

Wish me luck!

Trapped!

2010-01-29T15:09:00.002-10:00

A bit of humor for the first post of 2010:

It was Sunday evening almost two weeks ago and we had just gotten back from picking our neighbor's daughter up from work (no, we didn't get a car, we picked her up in their car while the rest of them were on vacation) when we discovered we needed to run next door to ask her a question.

Now, our door knob had been giving us some trouble for a week or so at this point, nothing concerning, really. Every once in awhile the latch would just get stuck inside the door and we had to jiggle the handle to get it to come back out. We figured that eventually we would get annoyed enough with it that we would call the apartment managers and have them send the fix-it man with some WD-40 to take care of it. We did think it was a little curious that it was getting stuck because when we moved in they proudly told us that the door jamb was new and that the door had just been fitted with a brand-spanking new doorknob and a deadbolt! I think we're the only apartment in the complex that has a deadbolt.

So, I hopped up and went to the door to ask our neighbor the question. But, upon reaching the door, I couldn't get it to open. Kind of embarrassing to not be able to open your own front door, but no big deal. I blamed it on slippery hands and called in reinforcements, confident Nate could get it open with his man hands. No luck.

So we sheepishly called up our friend, Josh who lives a few doors down and asked him to come and let us out. Thinking "we are definitely calling in a maintenance request first thing tomorrow." Josh shows up with kids in tow and we have a good chuckle as we explain our situation through the window. Until Josh tries to open the door. Nothing.

Josh's wife, Julie, arrives home at this point and goes to tell the managers (who are also members of our ward) that we are locked IN our apartment. Oh, how I wish I could have seen the look on his face as she told him. No, this is not a practical joke; they really are stuck inside their own apartment.

And so the manager comes up to appraise the situation. He tries the doorknob. "Yes," we tell him, "we're sure that the doorknob is unlocked." We tried several different tactics, poke this turn that, shove a wire in there, poke it with a knife but to no avail. So, the window screen came off, followed by the glass louvers and in climbed our apartment manager. No one had any idea why the door was stuck or how to get it open again, so he eventually wound up tearing out the old knob and replacing it (why he had a brand-new spare door knob lying around, I don't know, but I am very grateful for it) as well as chipping away some of the door jamb so the bolts fit better. An hour and a half later we were freed.

Though I didn't like having to make our manager work on a Sunday I'm glad it happened when it did. Imagine how I would have sounded on Monday morning calling in to my new job to apologize for being late because I was locked IN my apartment!

Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Hike

2009-12-29T15:28:00.008-10:00

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

2009-12-09T17:28:00.005-10:00

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!

2009-11-12T16:11:00.002-10:00

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

2009-10-02T12:37:00.004-10:00

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

2009-09-21T13:14:00.004-10:00

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

2009-09-03T17:31:00.004-10:00

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

2009-06-30T12:21:00.005-10:00

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

2009-06-03T11:27:00.006-10:00

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!

2009-05-12T15:59:00.003-10:00

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

2009-04-14T04:00:00.000-10:00

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

2009-04-10T12:55:00.004-10:00

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!

2009-04-01T17:44:00.002-10:00

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

2009-03-21T08:13:00.005-10:00

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

2009-02-08T16:32:00.003-10:00

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

2009-01-31T05:00:00.002-10:00

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

2009-01-29T16:57:00.007-10:00

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

The Joy of Christmas

2008-12-06T05:00:00.006-10:00

I love the Christmas season. I can't even explain my own excitement - family, decorations, giving gifts, serving those who are less fortunate, a break from school, a time to reflect on the year, a feeling of love, community, and generosity, and most importantly, a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the kindergarten class that I work with, we were making little Christmas tree crafts and I got to be in charge of the art table. As the kids were working, they got to talking about how excited they were for Christmas. One of the little boys was expressing his enthusiasm for Christmas celebrations, but then he got this great light in his eyes and said, "But when Jesus comes [meaning the Second Coming of Christ] it will be even more celebrater!" Poor grammar perhaps, but a wonderful message. The joy and hopefulness that we feel at this time of year is only a glimpse of that which we will feel when Jesus Christ comes to the earth again.

Comic Relief

2008-12-04T17:15:00.004-10:00

For your reading enjoyment and end-of-semester stress relief, here's some more great stories from work. I love working with kids.

Squishy
A month or so ago the smartest kid in the second grade came up to me at recess and informed me that there was something squishy in the grass. Seeing that he was obviously quite concerned about this, I asked him to show me what it was. My first thought was that it would be some small maimed rodent and I was steeling myself for something gruesome. As we approached the spot, he began examining the ground very carefully. When at last he pointed to the ground I came over to investigate more closely. "Nathan*," I said, "that's dog poop. Don't step in it." Keep in mind that this literally is the smartest kid in the second grade.

Yeah
I was chastised by a third grader for saying "yeah" because apparently it is the lazy way of saying "yes."

Pictures
I recently got an assignment at school with a kindergarten class. I help a boy who comes from a rough background learn what is appropriate behavior for school and basically just be his friend. I love it. Anyway, he was drawing a picture the other day and, noticing that it looked a lot like a picture he'd drawn of himself the day before (you know, big circle for a head with arms and legs that come directly out of the head) I asked if he was drawing a picture of himself. "No," he replied, "that's a dinosaur." Of course, silly me.

Rain
As I was "lifeguarding" (for some reason, the kids on the playground call me 'lifeguard') at recess one day, it started to sprinkle. One of my second-graders came up to me and told me that when it rains, it means that Jesus is crying. I asked her why she thought that He was crying. She said that it was probably because He was sad because people smoke.

Big Belly
I was reading a Sponge Bob book to one of the kindergarteners in the after-school program. In the story, Sponge Bob eats a lot of food and gets sick, but in the picture his belly also gets rather large. In my attempts to help this boy enjoy the story and improve his comprehension, I was trying to help him examine the pictures in the book. "Why does Sponge Bob have a big belly in this picture?" I asked. He immediately yelled out, "because he's going to have a baby!"

*as always, the names of the students have been changed.

Halloween

2008-11-07T16:19:00.006-10:00

Nate and I had a great Halloween this year. Nate went as a used car salesman, which was by far the best costume he's had since I've known him. (in previous years he's been an undercover cop - a.k.a. he had no costume, and a P.E. teacher - which he actually is) I went as a 70s snow bunny.

We carved pumpkins with some friends and they turned out pretty well. They got a pumpkin carving kit and it was great for the smaller cuts, but only because the knife blade was tiny. It was actually a battery powered knife, which was cool. I thought my Frankenstein pumpkin was downright adorable.

For Halloween day, I participated in my first ever school Halloween parade at the elementary school I work at. We don't do that in Oklahoma, but here it's a pretty big deal. Even the teachers that wouldn't even wear pajamas for pajama day went all-out for their costumes. It was quite an experience. I went as a cowgirl, (I had lent my snowsuit to a neighbor. Her work was offering $100 for the best costume.) but I definitely didn't measure up to the other teachers.

That night we drove down to Fairview to visit my grandparents and had a great time with them.

Nate as a used car salesman, Deb as a snow bunny.

Here we are again at the ward party (our singles' ward).

The pumpkins outside our apartment.

Ta Da! The finished products!

Tagged

2008-10-24T13:57:00.003-10:00

So, I was tagged by my sister, Rachel. Here is the fourth photo from the fourth folder on my computer.

This is (from left) Josh, Ben, Nate and Dave at Thanksgiving last year.

Microorganisms and Band-aids

2008-10-11T17:15:00.003-10:00

For the last month I have been working as a second grade tutor at an elementary school and I have been really enjoying it. I have a degree in Therapeutic Recreation and (as of Thursday morning when I passed the exam that I just spent the last four weeks studying for) I am nationally certified to practice as a CTRS - a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist - according to the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification. My job has absolutely nothing to do with my degree, however I still enjoy it immensely. So, until further notice I will press on with tutoring second graders. One of the benefits of this job is that I get to work with second graders and they are hilarious. Here are two of my favorite stories from this last week:

Everyday at school I supervise lunch recess, which since it is not in a structured classroom setting is where most of my funny stories come from. Kids run around like crazy and tattle on each other and I make sure they don't kill each other. I have to wear an enormous orange hunting vest so that I'm readily recognizable and easy to locate - as if being one of two adults on the playground doesn't clear that up.

While I was supervising recess the other day a cute little first-grade boy comes up and gets my attention. "Do you know that..." he says, and I start wondering who he is going to tattle on. Usually sentences that start with "Do you know that..." end with "so-and-so is climbing up the slide?" But he continues with, "there are microorganisms over in a mush spot on the soccer field?" Quite surprised, I said that I did not know that and asked him what they were doing. "Oh," he replied "they're just swimming around, and eating dirt." He seemed a little concerned by their presence so I told him that it was probably okay that they were there.

Wondering how a first grader even knew about microorganisms, I was just about to ask him if he'd learned that in class today when he dove off on a discussion about oceanic food chains. It involved a lot of, "and then a bigger fish comes and eats that fish..." type explanations. After which, he promptly ran away, leaving me chuckling to myself and wishing I still had the enthusiasm for learning that first graders do.

My other favorite story this week is about playground injuries. They seem to be a daily occurrence, but they're usually quite minor. In fact most of them don't even draw blood, but it seems to be the cool thing in the second grade to have a bag of ice or a band-aidto put on your battle wound. Actually band-aids seem to be a universal cure-all in the playground world. Just yesterday one of the kids came up to me and informed me that someone was hurt. I quickly followed him to the scene of the incident where I found a little girl bawling her eyes out. Naturally, I thought that something serious must have happened for it to be the source of so many tears, so I asked her what had happened and if she was hurt. She was crying so hard that she could barely speak to me, but eventually the story came out. She had hit her shin on the playground equipment, she showed me the spot so I could assess the damage. It was a little red and she had scraped of the first layer of skin, but there was no blood. Not so much as a scratch.

Now I may have a cold heart, but seeing as how this couldn't even be classified as an injury, I wasn't sure what to do with the sobbing child. I told her she would probably have a bruise, but that she would be fine. I even suggested that she get up and walk around on it and go play. This however, was only met with increased wailing, at which point I left her in the sympathetic hands of her fellow second graders.

I Have a College Degree!

2008-09-02T09:56:00.008-10:00

Well, after four years of work I finally made it to that light called graduation at the end of a long tunnel. My mom, dad and youngest sister came out to celebrate with Nate and me. The graduation speakers did well and inspired us all to do great things - my little sister Bug thought it all so interesting in fact that she doodled in her notebook through the entire proceedings. Anyway, for those of you who couldn't be here with us, here are some pics from the grand event.

Nate and me

Bug and me.

My wonderful parents and me.

Me in my cap and gown after commencement.

Now that I have successfully earned a college degree, I am left to wonder "Now that I have it, what do I do with it?"

Achieving the Impossible

2008-08-02T10:45:00.003-10:00

It has been another exciting week at camp. Since our Americorps team left us two weeks ago, we've been very short staffed (aka very busy). When they left, they reduced the number of our staff by half. So, this week we had youth with mental disabilities and interns became hybrid intern-counselors. Half our time was spent doing our regular activities and the other half was spent helping the groups out with whatever activity they were doing. I was privileged this week to be part of the Group B Wildcats (I'm pretty sure their mascot was taken from High School Musical) and there were several great stories from this week. I'll start with my favorite:

Thursday morning I was belaying at the high ropes course for one of the groups (acting as an intern for this part of the day). One of the boys in this group had a goal to try the high ropes course. He wasn't afraid of the height, but he had some strength, balance, and coordination problems that made him (and others) doubt his ability to climb up. However, he was determined to give it a try, and I was determined to help him do it. This guy was one of my favorite campers this week. He got his harness and helmet on and before too long had worked up his courage and was ready. Before climbing up, he had some questions, as most campers do, about the ropes, if they would break, and what happens if he were to fall. So I taught him a little about the belay system and how I would hold him up if he fell while climbing. Keep in mind however that he probably out-weighed me by a good 60 - 70 lbs.

In order to get up to the elements of the high ropes course, you first must climb 30 feet up little metal steps on a telephone pole. This in itself often proves a difficult challenge for our campers. When he started to climb, I called one of the counselors, Troll, over to be my backer. (Yes, that is her camp name and she did pick it herself) Because Casey* out-weighed me by so much and was unsure of his climbing abilities, she simply holds on to the loop on the back of my harness to provide a little extra strength and weight so I don't go flying off the ground if he were to fall. With both of us ready, Casey began climbing. He wasn't sure how to go about it though, so for each step we coached him on which hand or leg to move, where to put it, and which leg to stand up on to get higher. Even with this coaching, Casey could not physically do it on his own, so Troll and I started pulling on the rope to give him a little extra boost with each step. I often wound up a few feet off the ground with Troll pulling me backwards trying to get Casey just a little bit higher so he could get his foot on the next step.

By the time Casey's head got to the bottom of the wooden platform, he, Troll, and I had each worked so hard to get him up that there was no way that he was coming back down without making it to the top. My hand was cramping from holding the rope behind me in the brake position, and my legs ached from supporting myself in a lunge-squat-like position for so long. I felt like my arms and legs were going to fall off, but his courage and determination to meet his goal kept me holding on with all I had. It took us 20 minutes to get him up, but he made it because he never gave up; he never asked to come down, only how do I go up from here. All the effort was worth it to hear the excitement in his voice and see it in his face. He knew that he had accomplished the impossible.

Some might say that we cheated Casey by giving him so much help, that we gave him a false sense of confidence. I disagree. There are many things in this life that none of us can accomplish on our own. There are obstacles that there is no way we can overcome through only our own meager efforts. We all need help from each other and most importantly from our Savior. None of us can leave this world having never done wrong. We cannot be worthy to enter God's presence by our own merits alone. Because of our Savior was willing to pay the price for our sins, He has given us the greatest gift we can ever receive, that of repentance and the path back to live with our Father in Heaven. It is not cheating to accept this gift, making possible a miracle we can never achieve on our own. With our Savior's help each of us can accomplish the impossible.

Exfoliated Knees

2008-07-12T13:16:00.002-10:00

This week I was working at the high ropes course at camp. I look forward to my day at the ropes course each week; in fact it's my favorite activity. This week we opened up a lot more of it than we usually do because it was organ transplant week, so the kids at camp were a lot higher functioning. As I was setting up the course, I got to complete some elements I had never done before, including ones called the catwalk and the Grand Canyon jump. The catwalk is a telephone pole that is about 25 feet up in the air and parallel to the ground. Once you walk across, there is a gap of several feet that you jump across to a platform on the other side (that's the Grand Canyon part). My jump to the platform was successful and I finished setting up that portion of the course.

-When I was done I had to jump back from the platform to the pole. That's a little more difficult because the pole, obviously, is round.

At this point all of the campers had arrived and finished their safety lesson and all eyes were on me. I made it easily over the gap and onto the pole, but before I could get my balance I slipped off the edge of the pole. Now, as a side note for those of you who have never been on a ropes course I was still perfectly safe at this point because I was connected to a rope that went through a pulley connected to a steel cable over my head and down to someone who had me on belay. On my way down, I somehow managed to catch the pole with my ankles, hoping that I'd be able to swing myself back up onto the pole and finish the element. Unfortunately, I just hung there for awhile and couldn't get back on top, so I just let her lower me down.

I came out of all of this completely unscathed; my knees had been nicely exfoliated and I had a few splinters, but mostly I was just disappointed that no one got a picture of me hanging upside down by my ankles.

A Sandlot Moment

2008-07-05T07:32:00.003-10:00

If you have ever seen The Sandlot, think about Squints and Wendy Peffercorn as you read this story:

This week was teens week at camp and I was lifeguarding for swim time. I was at the pool for five hours that day and I was roasting! I sat down to reapply sunscreen and I started thinking about the Sandlot kids and how they were all in love with Wendy Peffercorn: "oiling and lotioning, lotioning and oiling..." and I laughed to myself. As I looked out at the pool, one of the campers was just floating there at the side and looking at me. I called out to him and asked him what he was doing and he replied, "staring at you." Taken aback, I asked why. He gave me a little smile and said "you know why." I didn't really know how to respond to that, I just laughed it off and looked around to see if anyone else was witnessing this.

Just a minute later I overheard this conversation between David*, the camper, and, Flipper, one of the counselors:
Flipper: Hey David, what're you doing?
David: Staring at the lifeguard.
Flipper: Why? Do you think she's pretty?
David: Yeah, she's smokin' pretty!
Flipper: Well, you'd better be careful, she's married.
David: No she's not.
Flipper: Yes, she is.
David: I don't believe you!

The way the he responded to Flipper's inquiries was so matter-of-fact that it made me almost fall out of my chair laughing. These campers certainly keep me on my toes!

*name has been changed

A Deceased Fish

2008-07-02T13:00:00.001-10:00

I love my job. Its only drawback is that it takes me away from my sweet husband all week. All of my friends from school are tucked away being bad-mouthed by teens and doing paperwork for their internships, while I spend my mornings 30 feet up in the air helping kids with disabilities maneuver around a ropes course. In the afternoon we canoe or go to the pool and the evenings are spent fishing. And that brings me to today's funny camp story:

I finished up my responsibilities early yesterday evening and headed down to the fish pond to help out, hoping to do some fishing myself. Usually the pond is pretty chill and not too many fish get caught. The fish must have been hungry last night, however; altogether we caught ten fish! We do catch and release fishing, so I spent all of my time running around unhooking fish caught by campers. As the evening was coming to a close, I still hadn't gotten to do any fishing myself. (most of the other counselors are quite squeamish about touching fish, so I did all of the unhooking) Finally someone handed me a fishing pole and I got one cast out into the pond. I only waited 30seconds before I was reeling in a struggling rainbow trout!

When I got it up, I saw that there was no way that I would be able to get the hook out. It had swallowed it so deep that I couldn't even see it and unfortunately it was bleeding from its gills. We quickly cut it loose, hoping it could survive the ordeal. However, it was only a few minutes later that there it was, floating on the side of the pond. I scooped it out; all the while sitting on a poky plant and getting prickles in my derriere. When I got it untangled from the weeds, I had to be discrete about going to dispose of the fish, because some of the campers get upset when they see one dead.

I had a hard time deciding where to put it, not wanting to stink up the garbage cans and therefore the whole camp. I finally decided to dump it in the little creek that runs by camp. I figured fish die in there naturally all the time anyway so one more couldn't hurt. When I tossed it over, it immediately got stuck on the side and went nowhere. I couldn't just leave it there to rot, so I scrambled down the steep bank and scooped it back out with my net.

After scrambling back up the bank, I was standing outside the lodge when one of the counselors walked by and suggested that I wrap it up and stick it in the freezer for Chef Chris to cook for me. Brilliant! So I hosed of the pond scum and we wrapped it up and left a note for Chef Chris. Today when I went down to the dining hall for lunch, there was a note for me from Chef Chris. He had my fish all cooked and ready for me! I was a little nervous - I've never eaten a freshly caught fish or trout at all for that matter. It was delicious! I don't know what Chef Chris did to it, but I never would have guessed that that fish came out of that nasty pond!

The Beginning and Crossed Swords

2008-06-28T14:44:00.000-10:00

I like to view my life as a series of grand adventures. This blog will be mostly dedicated to sharing them as well as my views and opinions of events and ideas. I am currently a therapeutic recreation intern working at a summer camp for people of all ages who have disabilities. I love it! There could not be a group of people who are easier to love. I am sure as the summer progresses there will be more entries about them and the antics and drama of camp life. After that, who knows where life's next adventure will take me, that's what makes it so exciting!

Here's a little taste of camp:

This last week at camp, we had a pirate themed kick-off party. The other interns and myself were dressed as pirates, complete with eye patches and a plastic sword I'd found in the arts and crafts closet. I passed through a group of campers to go and set up for the party, and talking like a pirate tried to get them excited about the pending party. They were excited to see a pirate and a young boy about 7 years old, stopped me and asked me what kind of sword I had. I told him to take a look and he excitedly stepped up to examine it. After only a moment's inspection he gave me a disappointed look and simply said "ninja." I frantically tried to convince him that I was actually half pirate and half ninja, but he shook his head and walked away. How was I to know that it wasn't actually a pirate sword?

Later that same evening as the party was starting, I was handing out pirate eye patches for the kids to wear. A counselor came up to me and said "Little," (that's my camp name) "I think it's so funny that you're wearing a ninja sword!" I was dumbfounded. In a matter of a few minutes two people had called me out on mixing up my swords! I never would have thought twice if I'd seen that sword on a pirate! All I can say is: be careful not to get your swords crossed; the kids are watching!