Easter Weekend and Ho'omaluhia

Hope you all had a blessed Easter weekend with loved ones.

This past week has been an eventful one. I just posted last Wednesday, but it feels like ages ago now. Thursday was my dear Momma's birthday. I think it was a special one because my little sister made a surprise trip up from North Carolina for the long weekend. They seemed to have enjoyed the weekend time together.

Thursday I went snorkeling with Jo and her boys. I just love the drive to the southeast side of the island. The rocky coastline just begs for you to stop and take several photos. The waves were pretty big that day so it made for a nice photo shoot.

Friday I spent the afternoon with Amanda and her little girl Rhiannon. Even Rhiannon is in the Project Spectrum mood. She was sportin' the cutest orange and yellow outfit. We had a yummy lunch at a local Mexican restaurant. Here she is perching on our chair. Too cute!

Sunday morning our church celebrated Easter with 3 other Kailua churches by holding a sunrise service on the beach. It was a beautiful morning, windy, but beautiful. The most glorious part of the service was when several people were baptized in the ocean. It was an amazing representation of what Christ did for us and how we are able to die to our old selves and rise to walk in the newness of life! Christ's death and resurrection have given us life! It was a special morning. I was blessed to celebrate the Resurrection morning with Amaya and Marc. We took a quick picture before we headed to the church building for a yummy breakfast.

That afternoon and evening was spent with my closest friends on the island. Jo and I spent the afternoon on the beach with her boys. We then joined Amaya, Marc and my neighbor, Lacy, for dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant in Kailua. (That is Famous Amos in the the center with his wife on the end. Yes, Famous Amos, as in, the cookie guy. He came into the restuarant so of course we had to get a picture. We are all addicted to our cameras.)

Lacy and I have been spending more time together lately and she has been a joy to get to know. Her husband is currently on the mainland for training so it has been nice to get to spend the extra time with her. She clicked with our group right away...a goofy group of friends.

Later that night we crashed at Jo's for dessest. Yes, it was a day of eating, like a true holiday. Jo had made two cheesecakes and pinkies. (Two cheesecakes, I don't know why two...) Amaya had made these mini carrotcake cupcakes with creamcheese frosting. They were so cute bitesized, but dangerous because you could eat three before you realized it...
Overall the day was special even without family to celebrate with. Of course I was wishing I could have family nearby, but God has blessed me with dear friends that can fill the family void for now.

Today I went to Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens in Kaneohe with Jen. I visited this same garden with Lauren and Kris when they visited in October. I just recently bought a book about Hawaii flora and several plants have their main blooming time in the spring, even with the constant warm weather. I wanted to experience that while I was here, so off we went to Kaneohe.

It rained last night, so we had to get over the inital muddiness of the low lands around the freshwater lake. After we cleaned ourselves up from the muck that swallowed up our shoes, and took to higher ground, the day went more smoothly. When I say garden, it is deceiving. This place is massive; 400 acres to be exact. It is tucked away in the most majestic land right next to the Ko'olau mountain range that graces this side of the island. One would never know it was there because it is surrounded by neighborhoods. It takes seeking out to find this diamond of the Windward side.

I took several pictures of the plants, but the ones that are showcased in this entry are all orange and yellow for Project Spectrum. Here is the Coral Tree:
We pulled up into the parking lot and this was right in front of our car. I had never seen this tree before so it was an immediate treat.


This delicate blossom is not in my little flower book, but I still had to take a picture of the vibrant yellow face.

These little flowers were so charming! Again my little book was not adequate enough to find out what kind of plant this is. I am planning on doing a little bit of research once I finish this entry.

This plant is too distinct to not decipher. This is the helconia and it is related to the banana plant. This is the rainbow helconia. The bird of paradise, one of my favorite plants, is in the helconia family as well. Unfortunatly we were not able to find any bird of paradise today, but I will have to post one when I do get a picture.

Another picture of a flower that is yet to be identified. I had to post it though, it was too sweet, even with bugs on it.

I leave you all with the most popular Hawaiian flower, the hibiscus. I like this variety with the petals that fold behind the face.

Much Love!

Surprise News and a Little Project Spectrum Fun

Well, I will start off with the surprise news even though it is not entirely a surprise anymore. We are moving in August. That's right, we are moving away from the dear Hawaii shores to the beautiful North Carolina shores. Daniel and I were planning on staying here until at least June of 2007 but we could not pass up the opportunity for Daniel to work at Cherry Point, North Carolina when we could be so close to family and friends. I am not going to go into all the details on the blog, but know that we are excited and looking forward to being on the East Coast again. Daniel hasn't been in the continental United States for quite sometime now. He has been on islands for the past three years. He is looking forward to the change of venue as well as the challenges of a new work place.

I will share more news when I get it. We are waiting for our official orders so that I can start the Permanent Change of Station (PCS) requirements before he gets back from Afghanistan. For now, there is not much more I can say other than this happened all very quickly and it is still a new thing for us as well.

Daniel is currently unreachable. He is away from computers and phones so he has not contacted me for the past few days and he said before he left it would probably be a few weeks. The major operation on the news is what he is a part of so that is what has caused the communication break. He seemed excited and very motivated before they left so I am happy for him, yet I am trying to deal with my own emotions about his deployment. I am ready for him to be home to me. It will come before I know it...I am praying that.

I have been staying relatively busy since I got home from Maryland. This week I have been fighting a stomach bug. This evening is the first time I have felt like eating real food. It was so good to me after the past three days. Anyways, enough about sickness. I have been reading and knitting this week.

This past weekend I was blessed to celebrate my dear friend Amaya's graduation with her family. Her husband returned from Iraq early and was able to make her graduation from massage therapy school on Saturday. He flew in Friday afternoon. It was an exciting week as Jo and I were helping her prepare for his arrival as well as her parents' visit. They flew in on Thursday for the graduation and they were able to greet Marc as well.

On Sunday we all took out a pontoon boat on the Kaneohe bay for the afternoon. It was a dreary day but still nice to be on the water. I only did a little snorkeling. There is not as much to look at around the sandbar where we anchored. Here is a pic of Jo, Amaya and me...

It was an emotional week for all of us. Jo and I were so excited for her, yet wishing it was our time for our husbands' return. We both are very ready for their return. Jo has been going through some stress at work too so she is ready for her husband to return. I cannot imagine having children that have to cope with the deployment as well, especially a teenager and 9-year-old. It has to be a tough time dealing with the separation from their father. I know that if God has that in His plan for Daniel and I, to have kids while Daniel is deployed, He will give us the needed strength. Looking at it from an outside view of a young wife with no kids, I know it has to be difficult. We will have to deal with it when the time comes.

On a lighter note, I have been taking a great amount of joy in Project Spectrum. Basically it is a project my older sister started online. She has encouraged people to create handicrafts as well as celebrate color. She has given each month a color or pair of colors to really explore. She has about 900 participants. It is really a wonderful idea and it has delivered such a refreshing wave of artful creativity online in peoples blogs as well as on flicker where there is a photo slideshow to watch of all the amazing photos people have taken.

The other day I visited the Swap Meet, a local flea market in Honolulu, to pick up sarongs for Amaya. I had such a good time taking random snapshots of yellow and orange, this month's colors. I have to share them. I pulled into my parking space in the Aloha Stadium, where the Swap Meet is held, and lo and behold all around the stadium these beautiful trees were in full bloom. These are called simply Golden Trees (trust me I looked it up). It is native to Mexico and Central America but it has flourished in Hawaii. There was one tree that was even more full of these beautiful blossoms, but I could not get to it because it was roped off. Believe me I wanted to snoop over for a picture, but I was on a mission that morning to explore the actual Swap Meet.

Here the humahuma is celebrating Project Spectrum on a dirt shirt. Yes it is our state fish and yes I can say it three times fast correctly. :)

I also snapped some pictures of some bright yellow sarongs with dolphins and honu, or turtles on it.



I love me some sarongs!

I also took some great rainbow pics of the fake leis that were being sold at little kiosks. it made for a nice PS pic, Hawaii style!


I had to get my favorite snack that is orange: dried mango strips. They are super yummy.


Well that is all for me tonight. I am going snorkeling tomorrow with Jo, her sons and her nephew. He is here visiting from Illinois. Jo is not as big a fan of snorkeling as I am so she wants my enthusiasm for the pastime to encourage her to get out there. We are going to my favorite Hanauma Bay to see some amazing fishies. So it is an early morning for us. It should be great.

I'll write more on the move later. As soon as I have news of Daniel I will let ya'll know.

Well Hello There...

Hello family and friends. I have finally gotten my act together to write a blog entry. Sorry for the ridiculous month and some days break.

During the entire month of March I was in Maryland visiting family and friends on the East coast. I had a great visit and I stayed just long enough to get used to things but not too long to become annoying. During the visit, both Lauren and Sarah had their spring breaks from classes, so I was able to spend quality time with both lovely sisters. I was also able to road trip with my parents to visit Sarah's university in North Carolina. It was great to finally see where she spends most of her life now. Life is simpler in the south and Sarah has adapted beautifully and found quite a niche down there.

March 17th was Sarah's birthday, that's right, the little leprechaun. She was not in Maryland during that time but here she is blowing out her candles the week before in Maryland during her Spring Break. She is sporting her new shrug Lauren knit for her. It was too cute!

I was able to spend some great time with my old church as well, the Life. So many things have changed, but the people are still as wonderful as ever and so nice to get away and chat with. Thank you Lifers for taking the time to reconnect!

I spent some wonderfully chilly days in DC seeing the sights. One day my Mom and I went to the National Art Gallery before we met up with Dad in Arlington for dinner. The main entrance has a grand fountain with Hermes standing on tiptoe on the top tier. When we visited, as you can see, it was surrounded by azaleas of every color. They were so beautiful. I had a hard time getting enough light, but this picture will have to do. We had a great time gazing at several great pieces of art. I do not have a picture of Mom and I, but I have the picture Mom took of Dad and I in Daddy's new office in Arlington. It was another great day with family.

Another DC Day, Sean and I spent time roaming around the Dada exhibit at the National Art Gallery. We met up with Lauren and her friend Becca for a few hours. Afterward Lauren and Becca had to leave for class so we took several goofy pictures.
Here is the set; and here we are in the mirror art. Hey, we were making our own art...just like the Dadaists. ;)

I was super stoked because I was able to spend so much time with my girl, Katy. Katy has been very busy with her last semester of student teaching. Basically, she teaches everything and the original teacher sits at her desk and picks out vacation spots or paint colors. The teacher is about to retire, she deserves the break. It really is a big responsibility for Katy. Anyways, she took a lot of time out of her busy life to spend time with me. Thank you Katy for the time sacrifices you made. We lived it up in the time together. We even visited Fort McHenry... HA! Now that's livin it up!

Most of the time home was spent crafting it up though. I learned how to correctly use the sewing machine. I also stocked up on some great yarn that I had to mail back because I bought so much! Knitting and sewing took up a large portion of time. It was great. I finished sewing a knee-length skirt. I also finished knitting a sash, a scarf, and I am almost done with baby blanket #1. I just have the last few rows to wrap it up. Here are the ladies knitting and chatting, the best pastimes combined.

All in all, it was a fabulous visit with family and friends. I am so thankful for the memories and next time hopefully Daniel will be there as well.

Speaking of that man...He is still staying as busy as ever. He is feeling comfortable in his work environment and he really feels productive and in control. He is getting great feedback on his work from his peers as well as superior officers. When I talk with him, he sounds healthy. The Marines do a good job of taking care of their own and Daniel says they have a great cook. I hope he misses my cooking too though. He has time every once and a while to get to the gym, so that has been helping his morale as well.

The Command has been saying the return dates are scheduled now for the end of May. There are circumstances that can push the flight dates back into June, but we are all hoping that they get here as soon as possible. I am still anticipating June so I don't have a large let down in case they do return later.

Life for me has returned to normal here in Kailua town. I did yard work this morning. The amazing amount of rain the islands have had this past month have made the weeds killer. It was drizzling as I was pulling weeds and pruning bushes. There are patches of sunlight this week so far, so it is better than last week when I returned and it rained non-stop the entire week. It has flooded so many canals and homes. We are ready for sunny clear days to dry the muddy soil. I need to mow and I don't want to be slipping through the rain and mud while doing it!

Enough complaining.
I leave you with my Project Spectrum hibiscus. I did a horrible thing today trimming the hibiscus. They were covering all our windows so I had to trim them back. I had to cut off so many blooms; it was depressing. I had to keep thinking, this is good for the plant...

Orange and Yellow month of April. I also have several red, pink and white hibiscus blooms, but they are "sooo last month"... :)

Love Ya'll. Thanks for your patience in reading this.