We're Back!!

I have so many pictures to go through from our trip. One thing that sped up the process is that I lost all of my pictures from Idaho...technical problems...bummer. The Mexico pictures will come soon I promise.

So Latest news for me is that I got a hair cut. One thing I have found when you have long hair is that most people don't even notice when you get one. I could cut off a foot and most people don't even look twice. I thought this one would get a double take, but only a few noticed. So here is the before and after pictures.

Before and After

Its a good change. Shorter hair is so much easier...why do I ever let it get that long. Anywho Rusty and I have been getting back into the swing of things. He leaves for work, I try to stay busy for 10 hours while he's gone and then we eat dinner and play for a couple hours before bed. Good times. Lately we have been going on bike rides. Rusty found a bike under the porch and fixed it up. And I got a bike from Walmart. It makes for a fun evenimg. We just take our bikes along the beach path that starts at Sharks cove and ends at Sunset. We don't usually get that far. Even at night it gets pretty warm. When we got home from our mainland trip my bike had made a friend with the vine under our house. It was actually remarkable how the vine intertwined its self around anything that was thin...like the spokes, the brake wires, and other parts of the bike.


Another bike experience we had was when Rusty and I went out for family night and about 5 min. into our ride it started pouring rain. We camped out under a big tree for another 5 min. until the rain died down then booked it home. Rusty's prized bike doesn't have a splash guard on the back tire. Poor Rusty.

Our Front Yard

wE HAVE BEEN BUSY! mY sUMMER BREAK STARTED ON MONDAY AND i HAVE BEEN SPENDING ALOT OF TIME STUDYING...HAHA. oKAY, i HAVE BEEN SPENDING ALOT OF TIME AT THE BEACH. aLL THIS TIME HAS LEAD ME TO FIND A GREAT TREASURE THAT'S BEEN RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE THIS WHOLE TIME AND i NEVER DISCOVERED IT. itS A BEACH CALLED tHREE tABLES. tHE NAME COMES FROM THE REEF FORMATIONS. tHEY COME OUT OF THE WATER TO FORM TABLE TOPS. wELL THIS IS A FISH PALACE.

tHERE ARE LOTS OF FUN CAVES AND LITTLE ARCHES TO SWIM THROUGH.

tHE OTHER DAY WE WERE OUT WITH OUR FRIENDS nATHAN AND hEBB (HER NAME IS lIZ & SHE SERVED ON TEMPLE SQUARE...LAST NAME WAS hEBB) wE SAW A hUGE tuRTLE! sO FUN! thIS THING WAS WAY OVER 100 YEARS CAUSE IT WAS HUGE. tURTLES ARE SO CHILLED OUT. iTS NO WONDER IN nEMO HOW THEY MAKE THEM ALL "SURFER DUDES". i WAS THINKING THEY JUST SOUNDED HIGH. pOINT BEING IS THAT THEY ARE SO RELAXED IN THE WATER AND LET YOU GET SO CLOSE WITHOUT A CARE.

oN THE SIDE OF THIS BEACH THEY HAVE BIG LAVA ROCKS THAT MAKE TIDE POOLS WITH FUN FISH, URCHINS, HERMIT CRABS, AND SEA CUCUMBERS (SEA SLUGS). tHE ROCKS STAY REALLY WARM BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK. eVEN AT NIGHT THEY ARE STILL WARM. wE WENT THE OTHER NIGHT TO WATCH THE SUN SET AND THE ROCKS WERE LIKE A HEATED RECLINER. iT LOOKS LIKE rUSTY AND i WILL CONTINUE TO ENJOY ANOTHER FEW YEARS OF OUR HONEYMOON HERE IN hAWAII.

No Hot Water...or cold.

Rusty and I are pretty easy going when it comes to the constant struggle we have with our water heater. We have solar pannels on our roof that are supposed to heat our water, and when those don't kick in due to cloudy weather we have a flip switch...a pricey flip switch. When things aren't just right you can imagine our showers are pretty quick.

A few days ago we would have been happy to have cold warm hot or a combonation of any of the three. I got home form work and went to the beach to escape the summer heat. After a swim and a little nap I went home to get dinner ready. No water! It's funny how when your power goes out, (seems like a common occurance here in Hawaii), you still try and flick on the lights every time you go into a room. Well the same thing happens when your water is out. Its crazy how often we use water for the simplest things. Brushing your teeth, dishes, rinsing my hands after handling food, washing hands before preparing food, and of course showering after the beach.

I couldn't go to bed in my "condition". So rusty and I in the true spirit of the North Shore went for a night swim. After our swim we walked down to Sharks Cove (5 min walk) and took a shower in our bathing suits at the beach shower. Good times. The next morning we had water again. The End.

Our New Pet

wHO KNEW GEKOS COULD BE SO FRIENDLY?

sO rUSTY AND i LIVE ON THE nORTH shORE OF hAWAII. iTS PRETTY COUNTRY, SMALL TOWN. wE LOVE IT. wE HAVE ROOSTERS AND CHICKENS THAT KEEP AWAY THE CENTIPEDES, AND GECKOS THAT KEEP AWAY COCKROACHES. wELL AT LEAST THATS WHAT i THOUGHT THEY DID. wE HAVE A WINDOW IN OUR BEDROOM RIGHT BY OUR COMPUTER. tHIS VERY LARGE LIZARD WOULD ALWAYS BE HEADING OUT WHEN i GOT HOME. tHEY LOVE SUN BATHING ON OUR FRONT PORCH, WHO WOULDN'T.tHESE ARE NORMAL GECKO ACTIVITIES. bUT YESTERDAY i DISCOVERED A NEW PAST TIME FOR THESE FRIENDLY REPTILES.
a GECKO PLAYING wii? nOW THATS AN ACTIVITY i WAS UNAWARE OF. i COULD TAKE THIS GECKO TO THE CIRCUS AND MAKE A BUCK. dON'T KNOW HOW GOOD HE IS AT wii BOXING BUT WE'RE ON TO SOMETHIN'. tHIS IS NOT THE END OF OUR NEW PETS TRICKS. tHIS LIZARD WAS VERY TINY SO TO GET A GOOD PICTURE i HAD TO GET EXTREMELY CLOSE. i COULDN'T BELEIVE HOW BRAVE HE WAS. sO i THOUGHT, BEING THE ANIMAL LOVER THAT i AM, THAT i COULD TOUCH THIS THING. tOUCH HIM i DID. eVEN BETTER HE JUMPED RIGHT ON TO MY HAND. hE PROCEEDED TO CLIMB UP MY ARM ON MY SHOULDER. hE MUST HAVE BEEN ENJOYING THE HEAT THAT WAS RADIATING FROM MY SKIN AFTER A FEW HOURS AT THE BEACH.

i GAVE rUSTY THE CAMERA AND TOLD HIM TO GET A PICTURE OF THIS. tHE GECKO LIKES PHOTOGRAPHY AND JUMPED FROM MY BACK ONTO THE CAMERA. rUSTY WAS A LITTLE STARTLED BUT NOT NEARLY AS STARTLED AS WHEN THE gECKO JUMPED FROM THE CAMERA TO HIS FACE! i AM LAUGHING HISTARICALLY AS RUSTY sPITS AND THE GECKO LANDS BACK ON HIS HAND. aPARENTLY rUSTY DOESN'T LIKE BABY GECKO FEET IN HIS MOUTH. i WAS JUST SAD i DIDN'T CAPTURE IT ON FILM. tHE BEST TRICK OF ALL IS THE GECKO EVEN HELPED ME WRITE THIS bLOG. oKAY HE PROBABLY JUST LIKED THE HEAT FROM THE COMPUTER. wHAT A CUTIE! hE SERIOUSLY HUNG OUT FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS. cAN i KEEP EM' dAD?! cAN i?!

sTANLEY

sO, MY NEPHEW sCOTTY bEAR IS IN THE 2ND GRADE. aND HIS CLASS READ A BOOK CALLED fLAT sTANLEY. wITH OUT TELLING YOU THE STORY sTANLEY GETS FLATTENED AND SENT VIA MAIL AROUND TO DIFFERENT PLACES. aS A CLASS THEY MADE THEIR OWN FLAT STANLEYS AND i GOT ONE FROM ONE OF sCOTTY'S CLASSMATES. sO i TOOK sTANLEY AROUND TO SEE THE SIGHTS...(MOSTLY JUST THE BEACH SINCE THATS ALL rUSTY AND i DO). i INTRODUCED sTANLEY TO MY CLASS, TOOK HIM TO mATSUMOTOS sHAVE iCE, AND MANAGED TO GIVE sTANLEY A PROPER LOCAL MAKEOVER. mOST IMPORTANTLY THE SHAKA AND THE SLIPPERS AKA FLIP-FLOPS. rUSTY AND sTANLEY LOOK SO CUTE TOGETHER! bELLA WAS IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. sTANLEY WAS HER BEACH DOLL. sHE KEPT LOOKING AT HIM FOR THE PICTURE UNTIL WE SAID PUT STANLEY ON YOUR TUMMY. sUCH A SMARTY...AND A CUTIE! sO BACK TO cALI i SENT sTANLEY WITH A LEI AND A PICTURE BOOK OF ALL OUR GOOD TIMES.

sKIM cITY

sO THIS IS WHAT rUSTY AND i DO FOR FUN. I AM SURE YOU HAVE HEARD US TALK ABOUT IT. sOME OF YOU HAVE EVEN SEEN IT. wE ARE TRYING TO GET BETTER. tHE IDEA IS TO SURF THE SHORE BREAK. sOMETIMES WE DO AIR TRICKS TOO. iTS PRETTY FUN ONCE YOU GET PAST THE PART WHERE YOU EAT SAND ALL THE TIME. nOW WE ONLY EAT SAND ONCE IN A WHILE. mUCH BETTER THAT WAY. rIGHT NOW THE WAVES ARE DEPRESSINGLY FLAT. sKIMMING IS PRETTY POPULAR IN cALI AND fLORIDA BUT HASN'T TAKEN OFF OVER HERE IN HAWAII. wHEN WE SEE ANOTHER SKIMMER ITS INSTANT FRIENDSHIP BECAUSE WE ARE A RARE BREED OVER HERE. rUSTY AND i ARE STILL BABIES IN THIS SPORT SOME OF THESE GUYS CAN SHRED THE WAVE UP AND GET BARRELED. itS PRETTY COOL. oNE DAY...WE WILL TOO.

Let me see that BELLA ROLL!

sO THIS VIDEO CRACKS ME UP. i TAUGHT bELLA HOW TO ROLL DOWN THE HILL AND SHE CAUGHT ON PRETTY QUICK. sHE JUST WASN'T SURE WHAT TO DO WHEN SHE FOUND HER SELF IN THE WATER. lOVIN THAT GIRL!