So, my story continues… It was only a few days before the race and I was feeling pretty down. My swim was awful, my bike and run were OK, just really slow…but would my ankle hold up for the whole race? I was trying to look at the positives and not dwell on the negatives, but it was really hard. I had been working on a bible study that some ladies in my church were doing. I was reading about having a disciplined life and to not let our emotions get in the way of being disciplined. The author wrote “note the importance of not dwelling on our feelings but of exercising our wills to think the truth.” I pondered that for a long time. I thought to myself, “I know I can swim, even if it isn’t very good or very fast. I know I can do the bike and the run. I know that I will be slow, but I also know that I WILL finish.” Thinking about the race this way and praying constantly, imaging God guiding me through the water, pushing my legs on the bike, and moving my legs on the run really helped me to relax and not worry about the race so much. I had done a half-Lavaman two weeks before the race and it went OK. In fact, overall, I felt pretty good about how I did. It was hard to imagine doubling what I had done, but I really thought that I would be OK. I tried to forget about my swim training mishaps and focus on the fact that I completed a half-Lavaman and what I KNEW I could do. This actually worked quite well and the Lord really calmed my nerves.
The day of the race arrived! I was just a little nervous, but overall, I felt quite relaxed. We were up and on the road by 5:30am. We drove to Waikoloa, about 40 minutes north of Kona, where the race was taking place. I set up my bike in the transition area and tried to remember where my bike was among the 1100 bikes lined up in the parking lot! We only had about 2 feet to set up all of our stuff for the bike and the run. I was trying not to let my nerves get the best of me when I saw all of the other athletes getting ready. Thankfully, everyone was really friendly. I went and did a short practice swim which went OK. It was a little intimidating seeing how far out the buoys went. I have to swim WAY out there? Really?? I had to keep reminding myself of what I KNEW to be true, “I can do this. I’ll be slow, but I know I’ll finish.”
The time waiting before my heat to swim felt like an eternity. I just kept walking to try and warm up my ankle. I prayed and prayed for peace and strength and endurance. I kept repeating one of my favorite bible verses, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It was finally my turn to start the swim! I decided to swim with the novice swimmers since my skills and confidence were so low. It was a bit discouraging to see the pros finishing the swim while I waited to start the swim! I just kept praying and repeating my verse, and I managed to stay relatively calm the whole time I waited. As it turned out, there were only about 20 people in my group, so I didn’t have to worry about running into people, and getting kicking or passed by everyone. That was a relief right from the start! Overall, the swim went OK. I had a hard time staying on course; I kept veering off to the right, which made me have to exert more energy to get back on course. I couldn’t continuously do the free style. I just didn’t have the endurance. I would do the breast stroke for a while and then switch back to the free style. I could definitely go faster doing the free style, I just couldn’t keep going! There were 4 or 5 buoys that seemed a mile apart themselves! Each one, I would say to myself, “one down, 4 to go…” When I reached the last one and turned to return to shore, the sun was glaring off of the water and it was really hard to see where I was going. This made it even harder to stay on track! I ended up doing the side stroke for a lot of it because it was faster than my version of the breast stroke and I could swim straighter than when I did the free style. I swam to shore doing the free style and was so glad when I finally touched the sand. I knew I was finally finished!! Thank GOD! AJ and Jenna were there to cheer me on. AJ took pictures while Jenna ran with me to the bike transition area.
My transition to the bike went OK. I was trying to hurry, but my legs were already feeling a little weak because of using them so much during the swim. My ankle was already a little sore too. I got my shoes, helmet, biking gloves, sunglasses and sunscreen on, ate a few energy snacks and got started on the bike. The 2 times that I trained on the course, it was really windy, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad for the race. I felt good for most of the bike and pushed myself pretty hard. I was able to pass a few people, so that felt good. Of course I got passed too, but I didn’t mind. I was having fun! About half way through the bike, I started to notice that my toes on my left foot were feeling numb. I wiggled them around trying to wake them up. Then it felt like I had a rock in my shoe. I didn’t want to stop and lose time, so I decided to wait until I finished. By the time I finished the bike, it felt like I had a large rock under my second and third toes. I was hoping I wasn’t getting blisters! I finished the bike feeling pretty good. I felt like I had a pretty good time compared to the other times I rode the course. When I got off my bike, I could tell that I had pushed it harder than usual. My legs were like jelly for the first 10 feet or so! I checked my foot, but to my surprise there was no rock, and thankfully, there was no blister either! So, I was off on the run! Again, I had my cheering section cheering me on as I came back from the bike and as I started on the run!!
My legs were pretty shot from the bike, but I was determined to run most, if not all, of the 6.2 miles. The run course starts on the lava, so I didn’t run too fast. I ran the first mile, which felt like three! I was pretty tired by this point, so I ended up walking for a while. Also, by this time, it was really hot and there wasn’t much shade. I ran off and on throughout the course. I think I probably ended up walking about 2 of the 6 miles. Not really what I wanted to do, but I was getting tired and my legs were wearing out. At about mile 4.5, my ankle started hurting. The course moved from the road and sidewalks to lava, rocks and sand. I had to walk a good portion of this just because of the terrain. Just before the last mile, there was an aide station (with water, etc) that my friends from Hospice were running. It was such a boost in spirit and energy to see them! I ran most of the last mile, except for the part that was on sand. It’s really hard to run on sand when you are fresh, much less after doing a triathlon! The run course had to be changed slightly because the tsunami we had 3-1/2 weeks before Lavaman caused some damage to the beach where the run was supposed to take place. While I was sorry that the beach was damaged, I was really glad that I didn’t have to run on the sand as much as the original course called for! The course ended up on the pavement, going around a pond and then a little on the sand before the finish. I was getting so excited to be done, that I think I actually picked up a little speed the last half mile or so. It was so exciting as I got closer and closer to the finish line. I could hear the music, people were cheering, and the announcer was saying my name as I crossed the finish line! AJ and Jenna were there taking pictures and hugging me! They didn’t even care that I was hot and sweaty!!
It was such a great feeling to have completed the triathlon! I said to AJ, ”I can’t believe I just did that!” It was pretty amazing that I DID do it! It took me about 3-3/4 hours, a little longer than I was hoping for, but at least I finished AND I wasn’t last! After all of the training and injuries and frustrations, I had really done it!! I thank and praise God for giving me the ability, strength, and endurance to finish the race!!
I thought about doing the next Lavaman at the end of August, but I decided that instead of doing the whole thing by myself, I would do it as a relay. I’m trying to talk AJ into doing the bike; I’ll do the run; so all we’ll need to find is a swimmer. We’ll see what happens. I’m also thinking about doing a half marathon in August. I need to let my ankle heal up a little more. It’s been kind of sore lately and I haven’t even been doing anything! I felt great after the race. I wasn’t sore at all. I was really tired for about a week and I didn’t really do any training except a 2 mile run. Actually, all I’ve done since the race is one run and one walk. Pretty lame. If I going to do a half marathon, I better get moving!
Well anyway, that’s my Lavaman story. I’m sorry to be so long winded. I hope I didn’t bore you to sleep! Now, I think it’s time to catch you up on life BEFORE Lavaman! But, that’s another story!! :-) So, until next time…aloha!
Hawaiian Sunset at Hapuna Beach
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
LAVAMAN! -Part One
Well, here it is, April 5th already. I just can’t believe how fast time goes! For one thing, it’s been a long time again since I posted, but what really amazes me is that I have been training and anticipating the Lavaman race for months…and now it’s done! It’s a bit of a letdown, but it’s a relief also.
When I think back over the months, I guess it’s easy to see how time got away from me so quickly. I signed up for Lavaman in October 2010, only a few weeks before it filled up and they closed registration. I was committed. I hadn’t been running in probably 6 months. I hadn’t been on a bike for over 2 years, and all I had was a mountain bike. I needed a road bike to do this race. I didn’t really know how to swim. I could kind of do the free style, but I couldn’t breathe and do the free style at the same time! What was I thinking signing up for a race that I was not at all skilled to do and was starting at the bottom in ALL areas?! Could I really swim 0.9 miles, bike 25 miles and run 6.2 miles?? I wasn’t sure, but lots of people told me I had plenty of time to train…I hoped so…
So I starting walking, then slowly started running. Fortunately I was able to build up to 3 miles pretty quickly since running is something I have done off and on over the past 8 years or so. Then I joined a swim class for adults to teach me how to swim. I learned pretty quickly that this class was not really for beginners because the coach wanted us to swim 100-200 yards for a warm-up! I couldn’t even swim 25 yards without coughing and gasping for air! I was really out of shape for swimming!! The coach had me hang on to the side of the pool and practice breathing “hundreds of times” while he continued to teach everyone else how to improve their stroke! That was really discouraging and I almost quit the class, but my friend convinced me to keep coming. The coach was really supportive too, even if I didn’t know what I was doing! It was hard to watch everyone else swim so fluently while I struggled just to breathe! I wondered “Why are these people in this class? They’re already great swimmers!” I set goals for myself to be able to do so many laps without stopping by the end of each month. Unfortunately I learned that I couldn’t build up endurance for swimming like I could running. It’s a whole different sport!
I rented a road bike from one of the bike shops just to give it a try. My first attempt was pretty discouraging and embarrassing! I hadn’t been on a bike in over 2 years and I had never ridden a bike with so many gears before, so I didn’t really know what I was doing. I rode for maybe 4 or 5 miles and was working my way back to my house. I was climbing a hill and I just could not make it! I was getting passed by a kid on his scooter!! OK, NOT cool! NOT funny! I had to stop and push the bike up the hill. That was pretty humiliating until I got to the top and realized that I had put the bike in the highest gear instead of the lowest gear going up the hill! That was a good lesson learned! I rented this same bike one other time and it went much better. I decided that I wanted to buy a road bike and I was told that I could buy this one off of the rental fleet. It was nearing Christmas by this time and things were getting busy due to the holidays, so I didn’t act on it right away. As it turned out, my wonderful husband surprised by and bought the bike for me for Christmas! We moved on January 1st, so the bike just sat for a few weeks before I had a chance to use it, but finally, about the second week of January I went for about a 10 mile bike ride. It was great! I loved it and it wasn’t work at all.
I felt like my training was beginning to come together. I was running 2 days a week, swimming 2-3days a week (one day was lessons) and now I could start biking! My swimming was still slow, but by this point I could at least breathe. My technique was still awful and I still had very little endurance, but I was trying! I didn’t like to practice swimming. It was really hard work for me and not fun at all. I had to force myself to swim because I knew that’s where I needed the most work. I kept doing something wrong with my stroke and I would end up with tight muscles in my neck and shoulder. I was getting regular massages and going to the chiropractor, which helped but usually only until the next time I swam.
In early February I got aero bars put on my bike. Aero bars are the handles on the bike that you rest your arms on. I thought it would make the ride easier and help me to have less numbness in my hands. Well, the first time I used them was a couple of days after I did a short swim and running race. The swim was really hard for me even though I used my fins and snorkel gear. I think I did something to my shoulder and then by using the aero bars, I really injured my neck and shoulder. I didn’t have the aero bars adjusted correctly at first and I kept having to lift my head a certain way to see where I was going and I think since my neck and shoulder were already inflamed from the swim, the bike ride just did me in. I ended up with pain and tightness in my neck and shoulder for about 3 or 4 weeks. I couldn’t swim very well and I couldn’t bike either. During this time, I focused on my running. I was feeling pretty good about it and was able to run 5 miles pretty well.
At the end of February, I was finally able to bike again. The first time back, I rode 10 miles and it felt great! I was so excited to be back on the bike! Unfortunately, this same day I sprained my ankle doing something totally unrelated to training! It was like half of a baseball sticking out from the side of my ankle. It was awful!! It was only 6 weeks from the race and all I could think about was after all this time and training I wouldn’t be able to do it!! But with lots and lots of ice, a brace, massage and chiropractic, I actually healed up pretty quickly. Well, not completely. I’m still dealing with achiness and swelling, but I was able to be back on the bike after about 1-1/2 weeks and running after about 3-1/2 weeks. Fortunately, those two sports came together OK for me. I was never real fast in either, but at least I felt like I could complete them without too much difficulty.
Swimming, on the other hand, was a completely different story. I just could not get it to come together! I struggled through each training session. Honestly, I probably didn’t work as hard as I could have, or should have, but when you’re doing something you don’t enjoy and don’t want to be doing, it’s really hard to give it your full effort! I swam in the ocean a few times and each time I chickened out because the waves were too high, it was too rough, I was tired, my goggles fogged up…you name it, I thought of it! I had one relatively successful swim in the ocean about 2 weeks before the race. But unfortunately I follow that with two not so successful swims! I attempted to do a training session with a group of people that my friend knew. They were doing a half-Lavaman, and I thought it would be good practice. I realized very quickly, but too late, that I was WAY out of my league training with these people!! They took off on the swim like rockets! I couldn’t keep up, I panicked, I was sucking in water…it was so bad! I still tried, but I only swam about half the distance that they all did. Then we biked. I was slow compared to all of them, but it went OK for me. I didn’t run since I had just run 6 miles the day before and wanted to give my ankle a rest. I followed that adventure by having another training session in my swim class. The coach took out all of the lane ropes to make the pool like the open ocean. We had to practice swimming around buoys like we were in the race. Well, that was another disaster! I got passed by everybody except one person, I again panicked, I had to stop because I was sucking in water and coughing, and still my endurance was just not there! This was only a few days before the race…how in the world was I going to do this!??? What was I thinking? Did I really think that I could do this? Why am I not better than this after all this time? All of these thoughts swirled around in my mind the rest of the day. I left that training session nearly in tears.
Stay tuned for Part Two coming soon…until then…aloha!
When I think back over the months, I guess it’s easy to see how time got away from me so quickly. I signed up for Lavaman in October 2010, only a few weeks before it filled up and they closed registration. I was committed. I hadn’t been running in probably 6 months. I hadn’t been on a bike for over 2 years, and all I had was a mountain bike. I needed a road bike to do this race. I didn’t really know how to swim. I could kind of do the free style, but I couldn’t breathe and do the free style at the same time! What was I thinking signing up for a race that I was not at all skilled to do and was starting at the bottom in ALL areas?! Could I really swim 0.9 miles, bike 25 miles and run 6.2 miles?? I wasn’t sure, but lots of people told me I had plenty of time to train…I hoped so…
So I starting walking, then slowly started running. Fortunately I was able to build up to 3 miles pretty quickly since running is something I have done off and on over the past 8 years or so. Then I joined a swim class for adults to teach me how to swim. I learned pretty quickly that this class was not really for beginners because the coach wanted us to swim 100-200 yards for a warm-up! I couldn’t even swim 25 yards without coughing and gasping for air! I was really out of shape for swimming!! The coach had me hang on to the side of the pool and practice breathing “hundreds of times” while he continued to teach everyone else how to improve their stroke! That was really discouraging and I almost quit the class, but my friend convinced me to keep coming. The coach was really supportive too, even if I didn’t know what I was doing! It was hard to watch everyone else swim so fluently while I struggled just to breathe! I wondered “Why are these people in this class? They’re already great swimmers!” I set goals for myself to be able to do so many laps without stopping by the end of each month. Unfortunately I learned that I couldn’t build up endurance for swimming like I could running. It’s a whole different sport!
I rented a road bike from one of the bike shops just to give it a try. My first attempt was pretty discouraging and embarrassing! I hadn’t been on a bike in over 2 years and I had never ridden a bike with so many gears before, so I didn’t really know what I was doing. I rode for maybe 4 or 5 miles and was working my way back to my house. I was climbing a hill and I just could not make it! I was getting passed by a kid on his scooter!! OK, NOT cool! NOT funny! I had to stop and push the bike up the hill. That was pretty humiliating until I got to the top and realized that I had put the bike in the highest gear instead of the lowest gear going up the hill! That was a good lesson learned! I rented this same bike one other time and it went much better. I decided that I wanted to buy a road bike and I was told that I could buy this one off of the rental fleet. It was nearing Christmas by this time and things were getting busy due to the holidays, so I didn’t act on it right away. As it turned out, my wonderful husband surprised by and bought the bike for me for Christmas! We moved on January 1st, so the bike just sat for a few weeks before I had a chance to use it, but finally, about the second week of January I went for about a 10 mile bike ride. It was great! I loved it and it wasn’t work at all.
I felt like my training was beginning to come together. I was running 2 days a week, swimming 2-3days a week (one day was lessons) and now I could start biking! My swimming was still slow, but by this point I could at least breathe. My technique was still awful and I still had very little endurance, but I was trying! I didn’t like to practice swimming. It was really hard work for me and not fun at all. I had to force myself to swim because I knew that’s where I needed the most work. I kept doing something wrong with my stroke and I would end up with tight muscles in my neck and shoulder. I was getting regular massages and going to the chiropractor, which helped but usually only until the next time I swam.
In early February I got aero bars put on my bike. Aero bars are the handles on the bike that you rest your arms on. I thought it would make the ride easier and help me to have less numbness in my hands. Well, the first time I used them was a couple of days after I did a short swim and running race. The swim was really hard for me even though I used my fins and snorkel gear. I think I did something to my shoulder and then by using the aero bars, I really injured my neck and shoulder. I didn’t have the aero bars adjusted correctly at first and I kept having to lift my head a certain way to see where I was going and I think since my neck and shoulder were already inflamed from the swim, the bike ride just did me in. I ended up with pain and tightness in my neck and shoulder for about 3 or 4 weeks. I couldn’t swim very well and I couldn’t bike either. During this time, I focused on my running. I was feeling pretty good about it and was able to run 5 miles pretty well.
At the end of February, I was finally able to bike again. The first time back, I rode 10 miles and it felt great! I was so excited to be back on the bike! Unfortunately, this same day I sprained my ankle doing something totally unrelated to training! It was like half of a baseball sticking out from the side of my ankle. It was awful!! It was only 6 weeks from the race and all I could think about was after all this time and training I wouldn’t be able to do it!! But with lots and lots of ice, a brace, massage and chiropractic, I actually healed up pretty quickly. Well, not completely. I’m still dealing with achiness and swelling, but I was able to be back on the bike after about 1-1/2 weeks and running after about 3-1/2 weeks. Fortunately, those two sports came together OK for me. I was never real fast in either, but at least I felt like I could complete them without too much difficulty.
Swimming, on the other hand, was a completely different story. I just could not get it to come together! I struggled through each training session. Honestly, I probably didn’t work as hard as I could have, or should have, but when you’re doing something you don’t enjoy and don’t want to be doing, it’s really hard to give it your full effort! I swam in the ocean a few times and each time I chickened out because the waves were too high, it was too rough, I was tired, my goggles fogged up…you name it, I thought of it! I had one relatively successful swim in the ocean about 2 weeks before the race. But unfortunately I follow that with two not so successful swims! I attempted to do a training session with a group of people that my friend knew. They were doing a half-Lavaman, and I thought it would be good practice. I realized very quickly, but too late, that I was WAY out of my league training with these people!! They took off on the swim like rockets! I couldn’t keep up, I panicked, I was sucking in water…it was so bad! I still tried, but I only swam about half the distance that they all did. Then we biked. I was slow compared to all of them, but it went OK for me. I didn’t run since I had just run 6 miles the day before and wanted to give my ankle a rest. I followed that adventure by having another training session in my swim class. The coach took out all of the lane ropes to make the pool like the open ocean. We had to practice swimming around buoys like we were in the race. Well, that was another disaster! I got passed by everybody except one person, I again panicked, I had to stop because I was sucking in water and coughing, and still my endurance was just not there! This was only a few days before the race…how in the world was I going to do this!??? What was I thinking? Did I really think that I could do this? Why am I not better than this after all this time? All of these thoughts swirled around in my mind the rest of the day. I left that training session nearly in tears.
Stay tuned for Part Two coming soon…until then…aloha!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Christmas and New Years!
Aloha and Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I hope the New Year has started off great! We have been very busy over the past month. In mid December we drove around the mountain, Mauna Kea, with some friends of ours on a road called the Mana Road. It was beautiful! There were so many great things to see – we could see snow on top of the mountain, we drove through areas that reminded us being in northern Wisconsin, we saw Nene geese, the state bird (pronounced na-na, with a long a) we saw lots of dead trees that made interested pictures (I think there was a fire up there not too long ago.) We saw cows and horses. Most of the road was dirt, and in some areas the road split, so the “boys” had fun racing to see who could make it back to the main road first. Some people just never grow up! :-) We had a lot of fun and it was great getting to know our friends better.
Jenna and I had our Christmas programs. Jenna had one at school. They all did great. I think my favorite part was when the kids sang Silent Night in English, Hawaiian and Japanese. That was pretty cool! We both sang in the choir at our church, and Jenna also participated in the children’s program. She was an angel and had to recite a few bible verses, but after doing Annie, Jr., I think it was a breeze for her!
Christmas for us was a little different. Of course the biggest difference2 were that it was 80 degrees and we weren’t with family! We decided to make new traditions, our OWN traditions. AJ had the idea of going up on top of the mountain to play in the snow. So, we got up early on Christmas morning and drove about 1-1/2 hours to the top of the mountain. Thankfully it wasn’t too cold – only about 44 degrees and no wind. Unfortunately there wasn’t much snow, and what was there, had mostly turned into ice. But, we took along our little one foot Christmas tree and took some pictures. We found a small patch of snow/ice and decided to ride down the hill on our boogie boards. Jenna and AJ did great! I crashed and hurt my shoulder and ribs, but fortunately the pain only lasted a few days and then I was better! After being on the mountain, we went to the beach. I didn’t realize EVERYBODY would be at the beach on Christmas day! WOW! We couldn’t go to the beach we wanted because we couldn’t find a place to park. So, we went to another beach not far from there. It wasn’t quite as nice, but it was OK. It was better than being cold, that’s for sure!! Jenna and I made a “sandman.” We think he turned out pretty good. I’ve posted a few pictures. After the beach we went to some friends house for a late lunch/early dinner. We didn’t stay too long because we went home to call our families on Skype. It was so great to see everyone! Of course, in person would have been better, but by video is better than not at all! My niece and nephew thought it was pretty cool to see us that way – or maybe they just liked seeing themselves on the camera, I’m not sure!! :-) It was fun to see everyone and I hope we can all talk like that more throughout the year.
New Years Day was moving day! We worked really hard the weeks and days leading up to January 1st, and I am so glad we did! We had 21 people show up to help us move, and 10 different vehicles moving stuff (8 trucks, a car and a van!) It was absolutely amazing!! It was like a tornado came down on the house, picked everything up and moved it to our new house. We started about 8:45 and we were done moving everything to the new house by 11:00. The cleaners finished about 11:30. I couldn’t believe how fast it went. Thankfully we were ready and had all the boxes labeled because there was NO time for last minute packing!! Now we are slowly unpacking, deciding where we want things, sorting, and getting rid of stuff. It’s surprising how much we have accumulated in just two years! We feel very blessed to have so many friends willing to help us and even more blessed that we have such a lovely home. We can’t wait for you all to see it, so get your reservations in! :-)
The busy times and big moments don’t stop there! Our little Jenna (or maybe not so little anymore) turned 10 on January 6th. It is so hard to believe that 10 years has gone by so fast! She is growing up and is such a great girl! She’s a joy to us and full of so much love and laughter. I have a funny story to share… I have been letting her sleep in my bed because AJ is at a bee convention in Texas right now. The night before her birthday, I was telling her that she was born at 2:23am, and I asked her if she wanted me to set the alarm and wake her up. She declined. BUT, she just happened to wake up at 2am, so she kept herself awake until 2:20, then she said she sat up in bed and stared at the clock until 2:23am. Then she woke me up, saying “Mom, Mom, look at the clock!” I looked and saw that it was 2:23! I wished her a happy birthday and just had to laugh when she told me what happened. She’s so funny sometimes. I hope you all have lots of love and laughter throughout this New Year! Until next time…aloha!
Jenna and I had our Christmas programs. Jenna had one at school. They all did great. I think my favorite part was when the kids sang Silent Night in English, Hawaiian and Japanese. That was pretty cool! We both sang in the choir at our church, and Jenna also participated in the children’s program. She was an angel and had to recite a few bible verses, but after doing Annie, Jr., I think it was a breeze for her!
Christmas for us was a little different. Of course the biggest difference2 were that it was 80 degrees and we weren’t with family! We decided to make new traditions, our OWN traditions. AJ had the idea of going up on top of the mountain to play in the snow. So, we got up early on Christmas morning and drove about 1-1/2 hours to the top of the mountain. Thankfully it wasn’t too cold – only about 44 degrees and no wind. Unfortunately there wasn’t much snow, and what was there, had mostly turned into ice. But, we took along our little one foot Christmas tree and took some pictures. We found a small patch of snow/ice and decided to ride down the hill on our boogie boards. Jenna and AJ did great! I crashed and hurt my shoulder and ribs, but fortunately the pain only lasted a few days and then I was better! After being on the mountain, we went to the beach. I didn’t realize EVERYBODY would be at the beach on Christmas day! WOW! We couldn’t go to the beach we wanted because we couldn’t find a place to park. So, we went to another beach not far from there. It wasn’t quite as nice, but it was OK. It was better than being cold, that’s for sure!! Jenna and I made a “sandman.” We think he turned out pretty good. I’ve posted a few pictures. After the beach we went to some friends house for a late lunch/early dinner. We didn’t stay too long because we went home to call our families on Skype. It was so great to see everyone! Of course, in person would have been better, but by video is better than not at all! My niece and nephew thought it was pretty cool to see us that way – or maybe they just liked seeing themselves on the camera, I’m not sure!! :-) It was fun to see everyone and I hope we can all talk like that more throughout the year.
New Years Day was moving day! We worked really hard the weeks and days leading up to January 1st, and I am so glad we did! We had 21 people show up to help us move, and 10 different vehicles moving stuff (8 trucks, a car and a van!) It was absolutely amazing!! It was like a tornado came down on the house, picked everything up and moved it to our new house. We started about 8:45 and we were done moving everything to the new house by 11:00. The cleaners finished about 11:30. I couldn’t believe how fast it went. Thankfully we were ready and had all the boxes labeled because there was NO time for last minute packing!! Now we are slowly unpacking, deciding where we want things, sorting, and getting rid of stuff. It’s surprising how much we have accumulated in just two years! We feel very blessed to have so many friends willing to help us and even more blessed that we have such a lovely home. We can’t wait for you all to see it, so get your reservations in! :-)
The busy times and big moments don’t stop there! Our little Jenna (or maybe not so little anymore) turned 10 on January 6th. It is so hard to believe that 10 years has gone by so fast! She is growing up and is such a great girl! She’s a joy to us and full of so much love and laughter. I have a funny story to share… I have been letting her sleep in my bed because AJ is at a bee convention in Texas right now. The night before her birthday, I was telling her that she was born at 2:23am, and I asked her if she wanted me to set the alarm and wake her up. She declined. BUT, she just happened to wake up at 2am, so she kept herself awake until 2:20, then she said she sat up in bed and stared at the clock until 2:23am. Then she woke me up, saying “Mom, Mom, look at the clock!” I looked and saw that it was 2:23! I wished her a happy birthday and just had to laugh when she told me what happened. She’s so funny sometimes. I hope you all have lots of love and laughter throughout this New Year! Until next time…aloha!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Fall Update
WOW! Here it is, almost Christmas! I have thought about posting an update several times, but have never taken the time to do it. So, I thought I would try and give you a brief update of our activities since my last post…FOUR months ago!! Let’s see if I can remember back that far!
Jenna started 4th grade. It’s been a little different, but she is doing well. Before school started, she got her ears pierced. We have attempted to change them one time since them, but it didn’t go very well. Now, she’s too afraid to try again. Hopefully someday! She got braces put on her top teeth 2 days after school pictures were taken. It’s amazing how quickly they are straightening her teeth! We can see a big change in just the few months she has had them. Jenna was in the school production of Annie Jr. in November. She played the part of Molly, the youngest orphan. She had 18 lines to memorize and a few short solos. She did really well, especially considering she cried on the way to auditions and I could barely hear her singing to the directors. She overcame that stage fright pretty easily and performed like a pro! We were so proud of her! I’ve posted a few pictures. I’ll try and put a video of her up too, if I can figure out how to do it!
We have had some great adventures over the past few months. We keep saying we are going to explore the Island more, but we never take the time to do it. We have made more of an effort the past few months. In August, we camped at a military camp for a few nights, then we went to Hilo (the other side of the Island) to go to the zoo. The Hilo zoo is not the most exciting zoo I have ever seen, but at least the tiger was there this time! The last time his exhibit was closed for some reason. From Hilo, we traveled over Mauna Kea (the mountain) to home. We did this same drive last year and got to see baby feral hogs, but not this year. I guess we scared them too much last year! We’ve spent a few Sunday afternoons at Hapuna Beach. We have some friends that go late in the afternoon and then stay for the sunset. We joined them a few times and it has been such a blessing. It’s so relaxing and the sunsets are amazing! I’ve posted a few for your enjoyment! One other adventure we went on was a 7-mile hike the day after Thanksgiving. It was 3.5miles up to the top of a cinder cone, and then of course 3.5 miles back down! That was very challenging! We were pretty exhausted afterwards and our calf muscles hurt for days! Jenna and I were in the Christmas parade with our church. It was fun, but exhausting to decorate the float and then walk in the parade. It’s fun being in a Christmas parade when it’s nearly 80 degrees out! Jenna and I also participated in our church’s Christmas programs. We both had fun and the performances went well.
We just had a winter storm last weekend. A winter storm in Hawaii consists of lots of rain and wind. And we got a lot of both! It actually felt kind of cold! It snowed on top of Mauna Kea, so we are driving up there this weekend. We, and several other families, are going to drive around the side of the mountain on a road called the Mauna Road. Our friends tell us it is quite beautiful, so we are looking forward to it! Someone told us they have seen truck loads of snow coming off the mountain so the kids can make snowmen. Maybe we’ll do that too! That would be fun! Since we have lived here, I have had a hard time making Christmas feel like Christmas since it doesn’t snow and it’s not cold. I have been resistant to decorate because I thought it was weird and “wrong” to have snowmen and Santa Claus when it is 80 degrees! But, I came to the realization that maybe if I decorated, it would feel more like the holidays! So, next year I will decorate and see if that helps. We have a few things up this year, but since we are moving, we decided not to put too much stuff up. That brings me to...
Our newest and most exciting news is that we bought a house! We put an offer in at the end of September and, praise God, everything went great and we closed on November 19. I have never bought a house before, but I have heard that it can be an awful experience. Well, the Lord blessed us with a great experience and we are now the proud owners of a beautiful new house! We are moving in on January 1. The previous owners wanted to stay living there until Dec 31, so they are renting back from us. That was OK with us, especially since we haven’t started packing yet! The house is 12 years old. It’s a single story with a great ocean view. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We will use one of the bedrooms as an office, until we have guests. Then it will become a guest room! (Hint, hint!) The main living area is open, so the kitchen, living room and dining room are all in one big area. There is also an atrium with a water fountain in it. I wasn’t too crazy about the atrium the first time I looked at the house, but I think it has a lot of potential, especially after we cut back some of the plants that are overgrown. The yard is actually quite large, but most of it is landscaped either up the hill or down the hill. We have several fruit trees – 2 avocado trees, a mango tree, papaya trees, a lemon tree, a lime tree and pineapple plants. We plan to plant bananas too! Jenna and I are excited about having REALLY fresh guacamole! We’ll just go out and pick avocados and limes and “wa-la” guacamole! We’d love to show off our new house, so get your reservations in now! :-)
I think that is the latest update. I’ll try and write more often, but you know me...it will probably be 3 or 4 months before you hear from me again! Until next time...whenever it is...aloha!
Jenna started 4th grade. It’s been a little different, but she is doing well. Before school started, she got her ears pierced. We have attempted to change them one time since them, but it didn’t go very well. Now, she’s too afraid to try again. Hopefully someday! She got braces put on her top teeth 2 days after school pictures were taken. It’s amazing how quickly they are straightening her teeth! We can see a big change in just the few months she has had them. Jenna was in the school production of Annie Jr. in November. She played the part of Molly, the youngest orphan. She had 18 lines to memorize and a few short solos. She did really well, especially considering she cried on the way to auditions and I could barely hear her singing to the directors. She overcame that stage fright pretty easily and performed like a pro! We were so proud of her! I’ve posted a few pictures. I’ll try and put a video of her up too, if I can figure out how to do it!
We have had some great adventures over the past few months. We keep saying we are going to explore the Island more, but we never take the time to do it. We have made more of an effort the past few months. In August, we camped at a military camp for a few nights, then we went to Hilo (the other side of the Island) to go to the zoo. The Hilo zoo is not the most exciting zoo I have ever seen, but at least the tiger was there this time! The last time his exhibit was closed for some reason. From Hilo, we traveled over Mauna Kea (the mountain) to home. We did this same drive last year and got to see baby feral hogs, but not this year. I guess we scared them too much last year! We’ve spent a few Sunday afternoons at Hapuna Beach. We have some friends that go late in the afternoon and then stay for the sunset. We joined them a few times and it has been such a blessing. It’s so relaxing and the sunsets are amazing! I’ve posted a few for your enjoyment! One other adventure we went on was a 7-mile hike the day after Thanksgiving. It was 3.5miles up to the top of a cinder cone, and then of course 3.5 miles back down! That was very challenging! We were pretty exhausted afterwards and our calf muscles hurt for days! Jenna and I were in the Christmas parade with our church. It was fun, but exhausting to decorate the float and then walk in the parade. It’s fun being in a Christmas parade when it’s nearly 80 degrees out! Jenna and I also participated in our church’s Christmas programs. We both had fun and the performances went well.
We just had a winter storm last weekend. A winter storm in Hawaii consists of lots of rain and wind. And we got a lot of both! It actually felt kind of cold! It snowed on top of Mauna Kea, so we are driving up there this weekend. We, and several other families, are going to drive around the side of the mountain on a road called the Mauna Road. Our friends tell us it is quite beautiful, so we are looking forward to it! Someone told us they have seen truck loads of snow coming off the mountain so the kids can make snowmen. Maybe we’ll do that too! That would be fun! Since we have lived here, I have had a hard time making Christmas feel like Christmas since it doesn’t snow and it’s not cold. I have been resistant to decorate because I thought it was weird and “wrong” to have snowmen and Santa Claus when it is 80 degrees! But, I came to the realization that maybe if I decorated, it would feel more like the holidays! So, next year I will decorate and see if that helps. We have a few things up this year, but since we are moving, we decided not to put too much stuff up. That brings me to...
Our newest and most exciting news is that we bought a house! We put an offer in at the end of September and, praise God, everything went great and we closed on November 19. I have never bought a house before, but I have heard that it can be an awful experience. Well, the Lord blessed us with a great experience and we are now the proud owners of a beautiful new house! We are moving in on January 1. The previous owners wanted to stay living there until Dec 31, so they are renting back from us. That was OK with us, especially since we haven’t started packing yet! The house is 12 years old. It’s a single story with a great ocean view. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We will use one of the bedrooms as an office, until we have guests. Then it will become a guest room! (Hint, hint!) The main living area is open, so the kitchen, living room and dining room are all in one big area. There is also an atrium with a water fountain in it. I wasn’t too crazy about the atrium the first time I looked at the house, but I think it has a lot of potential, especially after we cut back some of the plants that are overgrown. The yard is actually quite large, but most of it is landscaped either up the hill or down the hill. We have several fruit trees – 2 avocado trees, a mango tree, papaya trees, a lemon tree, a lime tree and pineapple plants. We plan to plant bananas too! Jenna and I are excited about having REALLY fresh guacamole! We’ll just go out and pick avocados and limes and “wa-la” guacamole! We’d love to show off our new house, so get your reservations in now! :-)
I think that is the latest update. I’ll try and write more often, but you know me...it will probably be 3 or 4 months before you hear from me again! Until next time...whenever it is...aloha!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Summer activities update
WOW! This is definitely the longest I have ever gone in between posts! Life has been unbelievably busy this summer! I wrote this while we were on the plane on our way back from a vacation to Wisconsin. I had about 3 or 4 hours before we got to L.A. to try and catch up, which I did, but then we got back into life and…well, now it’s almost 3 weeks later!! So, here is the update through August 3.
We just spent the past 2-1/2 weeks in Wisconsin visiting family and friends and going to 2 class reunions. We had a great time, but are tired and ready to be home. We went to the fair and watched the tractor pull and gauntlet races and were able to see many people that we know. We stayed at the hotel in Darlington the first few nights and Jenna and her friends were able to go swimming. We stayed at AJ’s sister Sue’s house for several days and visited friends, and got to meet our new “great-niece” Leah, who is very cute with tons of hair! (If we have a great niece, does that make us old??? –naw!) I asked AJ why is the grandparent called “grand” and the aunt and uncle called “great”? I think we should be called “grand-aunt and uncle!” That makes sense doesn’t it?? I don’t know, I guess my logic doesn’t apply here!
Anyway, we dubbed this vacation the “ever-changing vacation.” We called it this because almost everything we had planned changed! AJ was planning to redo the cement in our front porch at the house, but the date got changed 3 times due to his help changing the date or because of rain! He never did get it done! AJ was also planning to take a friend of his to Green Bay to see Lambeau Field, but that unfortunately didn’t work either. Lynn was going to go to Monroe for a day, but that changed too! We did manage to see lots of friends and pretty much everyone in our family. AJ and I both had a class reunion too. It was fun to see our classmates and catch up. I hadn’t seen many of my classmates for 20 years and AJ saw a few he hadn’t seen in many years too. I was on the planning committee for my reunion, so I was busy with last minute preparations the 3 days prior. I had my reservations about how it would all turn out, but fortunately everything fell into place and it ended up being a really great evening! We stayed with my parents for a few nights and got to see the family. We got to see my sister Lisa and her family from Milwaukee – her kids are 3 and 5 now and as smart and cute as ever! I was able to see my brother Al and his wife from Colorado too the first weekend we were here. It would have been great to have everyone together at once, but at least I got to see them! We visited my 93 year old Grandma for a while. She is still witty, but is getting a little forgetful. She still lives alone in her own house – not bad for 93 years old! We visited my cousin Sam’s grave. It was hard, but I’m glad I did it. We left him some flower leis, which is nothing compared to the paradise he is now enjoying, but it’s a little something I guess.
Jenna got to stay at Peach and Papa’s house and got to see many of the babysitting kids she grew up with. Peach and Papa’s grandson, Kaden is 3 months younger than Jenna and he is about an inch shorter than me! Next time I see him, I’m sure he’ll be taller, but I’ve still got him this time!! The last few nights we stayed at AJ’s Mom’s house. We had great meals of sweet corn and fresh veggies from Karen and Dave’s garden. I think we all ate too much the whole time we were there, but it was great! Our niece Melanie and her boyfriend Tom announced their engagement while we were in Wisconsin and we were able to get together with them for dinner at Karen’s. We are very happy for them and it was great to see them!
It was a great trip. We were on the run a lot, but not quite as much as when we are there at Christmas. We’re pretty tired and ready to be home. I think we got rested up a LITTLE…we were pretty wiped out with everything going on before we left. There’s been a lot going on that I will try and summarize without writing a book and/or putting you to sleep!
I think I left off at the end of April. May started off with Lei Day at Jenna’s school (May Day in schools on the Mainland). Jenna’s class performed a hula and sang a song in Hawaiian. It was very well done. The kids choreographed the dance themselves and they did a really good job! I wish I could get it to attach, but the file is too big. Then each child put a lei on a big wooded cross – it was a very nice ceremony.
Jenna’s last day of school was June 4. Unfortunately, I was not able to be at her promotion, but AJ surprised her and showed up in time to see her get her promotion certificate. She did very well in school this year and we are very proud of her! It’s so hard to believe that she will be in 4th grade next year!! Where does the time go??
The first full week of June, our church had Vacation Bible School. The theme this year was a ranch/cowboy theme. The kids were taught how to "round-up" answers they had by asking God. I helped with the snacks in the kitchen. It was a fun week and we are already looking forward to next year - the theme is New York City! That should be fun!!
At the end of June, AJ’s boss again took his managers to the Kona Village for a weekend getaway. Kona Village is the fancy resort we went to last summer that is like “old-time Kona.” It’s meant for people to get away and relax. There are no TVs or phones in the rooms and you can only be on your cell phone in your room. The rooms are like huts, but they are very nice and come with everything a normal hotel room would have except the TV and phone. We even had a hot tub on our porch. We had a pretty good ocean view too! We went swimming and snorkeling and were able to relax. It was really great and we didn’t want to leave!!
In July, Jenna and I were in the 4th of July parade for Hospice. We had fun throwing candy to people and then went out to eat afterwards and stayed to watch the fireworks. It lasted a whole 10 minutes! AJ and I were both off on July 5th for the July 4th Holiday, so we went snorkeling and kayaking with one of AJ’s co-workers, David. We went snorkeling at a place called "two-step." It's called this because there are two steps to get in and out of the ocean - pretty original, huh? Someone took white rocks and wrote "aloha" on the bottom of the ocean. I tried to get a picture, but unfortunately it didn't turn out very well. Oh well, maybe next time! Then, we went paddling around looking for the sea arches, but the water was getting rough and I was starting to get sea sick, so we turned around and headed for smoother waters. We paddled past the City of Refuge, one of our favorite beaches. It was neat to see it from a different point of view. While we were making our way back to the boat landing, David said, “Hey AJ, look to your left.” Of course, I looked too and we saw a black fin sticking out of the water! It was a little scary at first, because, of course the first thing you think of is …SHARK! You could see this dark image in the water; it was very wide but not very long. Then we saw 2 fins sticking out of the water, kind of at an angle and equally spaced. I was thinking, “What is that??” AJ thought it must be a manta ray. David tried to paddle closer to it, but it could swim so fast, he couldn’t get near it!! It was a little scary, but exciting too! We would like to go on a night tour to snorkel and swim with the manta rays. We hear it is very fun, so hopefully someday we’ll get to see them up close and personal!
The following weekend I worked at Camp Erin again. In case you forgot, Camp Erin is a bereavement camp for kids that have lost a loved one. This year we were at a different location which was really nice! It was at a lower elevation so it wasn’t as cold and rainy. We did get a little rain, but it wasn’t cold and damp like last year. We were in cabins this year also instead of tents which made a huge difference! The biggest pest this year was mosquitoes, which was really nothing compared to what we endured the past few days at Karen and Dave’s! (They live near a swamp, which is the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes!) I again had the 6-8 year old girls in my cabin and it was amazing! Almost every one of the girls in my cabin had lost a loved one in some tragic way – it was very sad, yet amazing to see how they were coping. AJ again helped with archery and Jenna even helped this year. She helped get water balloons ready for the obstacle course and got soaking wet! Hard to imagine, I know! She had fun and felt like she was helping in some way, so it was OK. We all enjoy working at Camp Erin and plan to again next year.
Earlier in the year we were dealing with a very severe drought. In fact, we learned that it was the worst drought Kona had had in 50 years! It caused a lot more work for AJ and Kona Queen, but they managed to get through it. Thankfully we were getting rain on a pretty regular basis before we went on vacation and things were starting to look green again.
So as I mentioned, AJ was very busy with the bees because of the drought. He is responsible for 3000 hives of bees and he usually feeds them once every three weeks. Because of the drought, he had to feed them every week! To make matters worse, the Big Island now has the mite (a parasite that affects the bees) and the hive beetle (which affects the bee larva). Both of these pests are new to the Big Island in the past year. AJ has been responsible for his 3000 hives plus the testing and treating of the mite and the beetle. Kona Queen hired a new person to deal with the mite and the beetle, so AJ will finally get back to doing one job instead of two! It’s been pretty stressful and extremely exhausting, but I think things should be getting better now.
My job has been very stressful also. We hired a new person, but she quit and so did one of our other nurses, both for various reasons, so we are short staffed. We have had 1-2 people on vacation all summer so we have had to work longer hours and take more call than usual. We are taking call 2-3 times a week, which was really beginning to take its toll on me before our vacation. They were supposed to be hiring someone new while I was gone. I sure hope so because I’m not sure I can continue to take call like this and still be sane and have my family like me!
Jenna finished swimming lessons just before we left on vacation. She was in level 4 this year, which was stroke development. She still needs a little practice, but overall I think she did well. Her last day of lessons was the day we left for Wisconsin, so were running up until about an hour before we left! We also discovered we had a water leak somewhere in the house or under the ground the day before we left! We got a notice from the water company telling us that we had doubled the amount of water used from what we usually do! AND to make matters worse, the dishwasher quit working the day we were leaving! We talked to our realtor before we left, and while we were gone, so hopefully everything is fixed before we get home!
So we were all a little stressed before we went on vacation. Even though we were busy on vacation, I think the stress level was definitely lower! We did have a little excitement in Chicago…we almost missed our plane!! We flew from Madison to Chicago, but only had a 40 minute lay over. We got into Chicago a few minutes early, but we taxied for 15 minutes!! I’m not sure why, but it took forever to get to our gate! We had to gate check one of our bags, so AJ waited for that while Jenna and I took off running for our gate. We had to change concourses to catch our next flight so it was a long way to go! We were going to take the shuttle, but there was a line and I didn’t want to risk missing our flight. So Jenna and I ran most of the way to our gate. We walked a little, but when we got to our gate, they were already boarding and AJ hadn’t gotten there yet! He arrived a couple minutes after we did. He had to run the whole way! We boarded and the plane left in less than 10 minutes. It was a little stressful, but we certainly got our blood flowing and got a little exercise before our flight to L.A.! I hope that is the end of our stress for a while!
Well, I think that’s it! That’s the update so far this summer, so until next time…aloha!
We just spent the past 2-1/2 weeks in Wisconsin visiting family and friends and going to 2 class reunions. We had a great time, but are tired and ready to be home. We went to the fair and watched the tractor pull and gauntlet races and were able to see many people that we know. We stayed at the hotel in Darlington the first few nights and Jenna and her friends were able to go swimming. We stayed at AJ’s sister Sue’s house for several days and visited friends, and got to meet our new “great-niece” Leah, who is very cute with tons of hair! (If we have a great niece, does that make us old??? –naw!) I asked AJ why is the grandparent called “grand” and the aunt and uncle called “great”? I think we should be called “grand-aunt and uncle!” That makes sense doesn’t it?? I don’t know, I guess my logic doesn’t apply here!
Anyway, we dubbed this vacation the “ever-changing vacation.” We called it this because almost everything we had planned changed! AJ was planning to redo the cement in our front porch at the house, but the date got changed 3 times due to his help changing the date or because of rain! He never did get it done! AJ was also planning to take a friend of his to Green Bay to see Lambeau Field, but that unfortunately didn’t work either. Lynn was going to go to Monroe for a day, but that changed too! We did manage to see lots of friends and pretty much everyone in our family. AJ and I both had a class reunion too. It was fun to see our classmates and catch up. I hadn’t seen many of my classmates for 20 years and AJ saw a few he hadn’t seen in many years too. I was on the planning committee for my reunion, so I was busy with last minute preparations the 3 days prior. I had my reservations about how it would all turn out, but fortunately everything fell into place and it ended up being a really great evening! We stayed with my parents for a few nights and got to see the family. We got to see my sister Lisa and her family from Milwaukee – her kids are 3 and 5 now and as smart and cute as ever! I was able to see my brother Al and his wife from Colorado too the first weekend we were here. It would have been great to have everyone together at once, but at least I got to see them! We visited my 93 year old Grandma for a while. She is still witty, but is getting a little forgetful. She still lives alone in her own house – not bad for 93 years old! We visited my cousin Sam’s grave. It was hard, but I’m glad I did it. We left him some flower leis, which is nothing compared to the paradise he is now enjoying, but it’s a little something I guess.
Jenna got to stay at Peach and Papa’s house and got to see many of the babysitting kids she grew up with. Peach and Papa’s grandson, Kaden is 3 months younger than Jenna and he is about an inch shorter than me! Next time I see him, I’m sure he’ll be taller, but I’ve still got him this time!! The last few nights we stayed at AJ’s Mom’s house. We had great meals of sweet corn and fresh veggies from Karen and Dave’s garden. I think we all ate too much the whole time we were there, but it was great! Our niece Melanie and her boyfriend Tom announced their engagement while we were in Wisconsin and we were able to get together with them for dinner at Karen’s. We are very happy for them and it was great to see them!
It was a great trip. We were on the run a lot, but not quite as much as when we are there at Christmas. We’re pretty tired and ready to be home. I think we got rested up a LITTLE…we were pretty wiped out with everything going on before we left. There’s been a lot going on that I will try and summarize without writing a book and/or putting you to sleep!
I think I left off at the end of April. May started off with Lei Day at Jenna’s school (May Day in schools on the Mainland). Jenna’s class performed a hula and sang a song in Hawaiian. It was very well done. The kids choreographed the dance themselves and they did a really good job! I wish I could get it to attach, but the file is too big. Then each child put a lei on a big wooded cross – it was a very nice ceremony.
Jenna’s last day of school was June 4. Unfortunately, I was not able to be at her promotion, but AJ surprised her and showed up in time to see her get her promotion certificate. She did very well in school this year and we are very proud of her! It’s so hard to believe that she will be in 4th grade next year!! Where does the time go??
The first full week of June, our church had Vacation Bible School. The theme this year was a ranch/cowboy theme. The kids were taught how to "round-up" answers they had by asking God. I helped with the snacks in the kitchen. It was a fun week and we are already looking forward to next year - the theme is New York City! That should be fun!!
At the end of June, AJ’s boss again took his managers to the Kona Village for a weekend getaway. Kona Village is the fancy resort we went to last summer that is like “old-time Kona.” It’s meant for people to get away and relax. There are no TVs or phones in the rooms and you can only be on your cell phone in your room. The rooms are like huts, but they are very nice and come with everything a normal hotel room would have except the TV and phone. We even had a hot tub on our porch. We had a pretty good ocean view too! We went swimming and snorkeling and were able to relax. It was really great and we didn’t want to leave!!
In July, Jenna and I were in the 4th of July parade for Hospice. We had fun throwing candy to people and then went out to eat afterwards and stayed to watch the fireworks. It lasted a whole 10 minutes! AJ and I were both off on July 5th for the July 4th Holiday, so we went snorkeling and kayaking with one of AJ’s co-workers, David. We went snorkeling at a place called "two-step." It's called this because there are two steps to get in and out of the ocean - pretty original, huh? Someone took white rocks and wrote "aloha" on the bottom of the ocean. I tried to get a picture, but unfortunately it didn't turn out very well. Oh well, maybe next time! Then, we went paddling around looking for the sea arches, but the water was getting rough and I was starting to get sea sick, so we turned around and headed for smoother waters. We paddled past the City of Refuge, one of our favorite beaches. It was neat to see it from a different point of view. While we were making our way back to the boat landing, David said, “Hey AJ, look to your left.” Of course, I looked too and we saw a black fin sticking out of the water! It was a little scary at first, because, of course the first thing you think of is …SHARK! You could see this dark image in the water; it was very wide but not very long. Then we saw 2 fins sticking out of the water, kind of at an angle and equally spaced. I was thinking, “What is that??” AJ thought it must be a manta ray. David tried to paddle closer to it, but it could swim so fast, he couldn’t get near it!! It was a little scary, but exciting too! We would like to go on a night tour to snorkel and swim with the manta rays. We hear it is very fun, so hopefully someday we’ll get to see them up close and personal!
The following weekend I worked at Camp Erin again. In case you forgot, Camp Erin is a bereavement camp for kids that have lost a loved one. This year we were at a different location which was really nice! It was at a lower elevation so it wasn’t as cold and rainy. We did get a little rain, but it wasn’t cold and damp like last year. We were in cabins this year also instead of tents which made a huge difference! The biggest pest this year was mosquitoes, which was really nothing compared to what we endured the past few days at Karen and Dave’s! (They live near a swamp, which is the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes!) I again had the 6-8 year old girls in my cabin and it was amazing! Almost every one of the girls in my cabin had lost a loved one in some tragic way – it was very sad, yet amazing to see how they were coping. AJ again helped with archery and Jenna even helped this year. She helped get water balloons ready for the obstacle course and got soaking wet! Hard to imagine, I know! She had fun and felt like she was helping in some way, so it was OK. We all enjoy working at Camp Erin and plan to again next year.
Earlier in the year we were dealing with a very severe drought. In fact, we learned that it was the worst drought Kona had had in 50 years! It caused a lot more work for AJ and Kona Queen, but they managed to get through it. Thankfully we were getting rain on a pretty regular basis before we went on vacation and things were starting to look green again.
So as I mentioned, AJ was very busy with the bees because of the drought. He is responsible for 3000 hives of bees and he usually feeds them once every three weeks. Because of the drought, he had to feed them every week! To make matters worse, the Big Island now has the mite (a parasite that affects the bees) and the hive beetle (which affects the bee larva). Both of these pests are new to the Big Island in the past year. AJ has been responsible for his 3000 hives plus the testing and treating of the mite and the beetle. Kona Queen hired a new person to deal with the mite and the beetle, so AJ will finally get back to doing one job instead of two! It’s been pretty stressful and extremely exhausting, but I think things should be getting better now.
My job has been very stressful also. We hired a new person, but she quit and so did one of our other nurses, both for various reasons, so we are short staffed. We have had 1-2 people on vacation all summer so we have had to work longer hours and take more call than usual. We are taking call 2-3 times a week, which was really beginning to take its toll on me before our vacation. They were supposed to be hiring someone new while I was gone. I sure hope so because I’m not sure I can continue to take call like this and still be sane and have my family like me!
Jenna finished swimming lessons just before we left on vacation. She was in level 4 this year, which was stroke development. She still needs a little practice, but overall I think she did well. Her last day of lessons was the day we left for Wisconsin, so were running up until about an hour before we left! We also discovered we had a water leak somewhere in the house or under the ground the day before we left! We got a notice from the water company telling us that we had doubled the amount of water used from what we usually do! AND to make matters worse, the dishwasher quit working the day we were leaving! We talked to our realtor before we left, and while we were gone, so hopefully everything is fixed before we get home!
So we were all a little stressed before we went on vacation. Even though we were busy on vacation, I think the stress level was definitely lower! We did have a little excitement in Chicago…we almost missed our plane!! We flew from Madison to Chicago, but only had a 40 minute lay over. We got into Chicago a few minutes early, but we taxied for 15 minutes!! I’m not sure why, but it took forever to get to our gate! We had to gate check one of our bags, so AJ waited for that while Jenna and I took off running for our gate. We had to change concourses to catch our next flight so it was a long way to go! We were going to take the shuttle, but there was a line and I didn’t want to risk missing our flight. So Jenna and I ran most of the way to our gate. We walked a little, but when we got to our gate, they were already boarding and AJ hadn’t gotten there yet! He arrived a couple minutes after we did. He had to run the whole way! We boarded and the plane left in less than 10 minutes. It was a little stressful, but we certainly got our blood flowing and got a little exercise before our flight to L.A.! I hope that is the end of our stress for a while!
Well, I think that’s it! That’s the update so far this summer, so until next time…aloha!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Guests, WI, updates
WHEW!! What a whirlwind of activity we had over the past several months! We started with guests in February and continued through the end of March. I’ve already told you about most of our guest’s visits; there are just two left. AJ’s classmate Brian, his wife Stacy and their daughter Alyssa came and stayed with us for about a week. We had a great time with them! Jenna and Alyssa hit it off right away! AJ and Jenna went with them to Hilo to see Mauna Kea and the waterfalls (Lynn was working.) Lynn and Jenna showed them around town and AJ enjoyed a luau with them. It was fun having them here and we look forward to seeing them again this summer at AJ’s class reunion!
While Brian and Stacy were here, our friends and Jenna’s babysitters, Kevin and Janette came for a week. It was so good to have them stay with us! Jenna was on Spring Break, so she was their tour guide. I think they ALL had fun with that! I was told that she did a great job as a tour guide. I believe it…I’m sure she knows her way around the Island better than I do!! I think it was a pretty relaxing vacation for Kevin and Janette, as Kevin was recovering from knee surgery. Hopefully, nothing got damaged from Jenna sitting on his lap so much! She loves her Peachy and Papa! It was fabulous having them stay with us and maybe next time, some of the kids will come too!
Kevin and Janette were Jenna’s babysitters in Wisconsin from the time Jenna was 3 months old until we moved. They are like family to us. In Hawaii, they would be considered “hanai” grandparents. Pronounced (han-eye); it’s like an adopted child or grandchild without the legal paperwork…someone who you are very close to, but not related to. They always took such good care of Jenna, and I had to ask them to do it again while they were on vacation! I decided to go back to Wisconsin to see my cousin who has a brain tumor. I left while they were still at our house. I felt really bad leaving, but at the same time, I really wanted to see my cousin. The timing was not great, but it’s what worked at the time, and in hind sight, I’m glad that I went when I did. I was able to spend a lot a good quality time with my cousin and I got lucky enough to have Easter dinner with my family and AJ’s family too! I also snuck in a quick lunch date with my two best friends! All in 2-1/2 days!! Not too bad! Of course, traveling to Wisconsin and back to Hawaii in less than 4 days in not real smart, but it worked. I was very tired and not sure what day it was for a while, but that’s OK! I am very grateful that Kevin and Janette were here because I’m not sure it would have worked otherwise with AJ’s busy work schedule! God is good and He will always provide a way!!
So, now you are updated on our guest visits. We don’t have anyone else scheduled to come at this time; however we have a few people talking about coming! We look forward to having more company!! Maybe by the next time we have guests, we will be in a different house! We have started looking at buying, but we haven’t made any decisions yet. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
AJ continues to be very busy with work. We have had some rain, but it is still very dry. Things are looking good for him despite the dry weather. I continue to keep busy at work too, but not crazy. Just nice and steady. I’m sure that will change, but I’m enjoying it for now! Jenna is doing great in school. She is ready to be done for the summer. She is in Awana, an organization that teaches kids about the bible. She had to memorize about 30 bible verses this year! She had a book that she had to work through and if she finished the book, she would be eligible to go on the camp-out with the rest of the group. She just finished her book last night and she was sooo excited when she came home that she could hardly sit still. It took her about half an hour to settle down before she could go to sleep! We are very proud of her!
I think that’s the latest update! I hope everyone in the Midwest is enjoying the Spring weather. I’m beginning to learn/see the differences in the seasons here. Right now, the plumeria and jack-aronda trees are all in bloom. The Plumeria smell fantastic and the jack-aronda have these beautiful purple flowers on them. They are so pretty! Well, that’s all I know for now. Until next time…aloha!
While Brian and Stacy were here, our friends and Jenna’s babysitters, Kevin and Janette came for a week. It was so good to have them stay with us! Jenna was on Spring Break, so she was their tour guide. I think they ALL had fun with that! I was told that she did a great job as a tour guide. I believe it…I’m sure she knows her way around the Island better than I do!! I think it was a pretty relaxing vacation for Kevin and Janette, as Kevin was recovering from knee surgery. Hopefully, nothing got damaged from Jenna sitting on his lap so much! She loves her Peachy and Papa! It was fabulous having them stay with us and maybe next time, some of the kids will come too!
Kevin and Janette were Jenna’s babysitters in Wisconsin from the time Jenna was 3 months old until we moved. They are like family to us. In Hawaii, they would be considered “hanai” grandparents. Pronounced (han-eye); it’s like an adopted child or grandchild without the legal paperwork…someone who you are very close to, but not related to. They always took such good care of Jenna, and I had to ask them to do it again while they were on vacation! I decided to go back to Wisconsin to see my cousin who has a brain tumor. I left while they were still at our house. I felt really bad leaving, but at the same time, I really wanted to see my cousin. The timing was not great, but it’s what worked at the time, and in hind sight, I’m glad that I went when I did. I was able to spend a lot a good quality time with my cousin and I got lucky enough to have Easter dinner with my family and AJ’s family too! I also snuck in a quick lunch date with my two best friends! All in 2-1/2 days!! Not too bad! Of course, traveling to Wisconsin and back to Hawaii in less than 4 days in not real smart, but it worked. I was very tired and not sure what day it was for a while, but that’s OK! I am very grateful that Kevin and Janette were here because I’m not sure it would have worked otherwise with AJ’s busy work schedule! God is good and He will always provide a way!!
So, now you are updated on our guest visits. We don’t have anyone else scheduled to come at this time; however we have a few people talking about coming! We look forward to having more company!! Maybe by the next time we have guests, we will be in a different house! We have started looking at buying, but we haven’t made any decisions yet. I’ll keep you posted on our progress.
AJ continues to be very busy with work. We have had some rain, but it is still very dry. Things are looking good for him despite the dry weather. I continue to keep busy at work too, but not crazy. Just nice and steady. I’m sure that will change, but I’m enjoying it for now! Jenna is doing great in school. She is ready to be done for the summer. She is in Awana, an organization that teaches kids about the bible. She had to memorize about 30 bible verses this year! She had a book that she had to work through and if she finished the book, she would be eligible to go on the camp-out with the rest of the group. She just finished her book last night and she was sooo excited when she came home that she could hardly sit still. It took her about half an hour to settle down before she could go to sleep! We are very proud of her!
I think that’s the latest update! I hope everyone in the Midwest is enjoying the Spring weather. I’m beginning to learn/see the differences in the seasons here. Right now, the plumeria and jack-aronda trees are all in bloom. The Plumeria smell fantastic and the jack-aronda have these beautiful purple flowers on them. They are so pretty! Well, that’s all I know for now. Until next time…aloha!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Easter, AJ and Jenna
Happy Easter to you all! We had a beautiful day here! We got up bright and early and went to the community church service called the Sonrise Service. It started at 6am. We arrived at 5:30 so we could get a seat. The paper said there was about 1000 people in attendance!! It was a beautiful service! There was great music and hula dancing, but the best part was the pastor’s sermon to the children. He was talking about 2 crowns for Jesus – a thorny crown and a crown made of plumeria flowers. At the end of his sermon a HELICOPTER flew over the crowd and dropped plumeria flowers all over us!! It was so cool!! The kids were running all over the place trying to catch the flowers. After this service, we went to our regular church for our Easter Service and then had a potluck afterwards. It was a long, but great day! Praise God for the Resurrection of our Lord!
AJ has been very busy with his bee work lately. We are in the middle of a severe drought right now. People that have lived here for a while say that this is the worst drought they have ever seen. There is very little moisture for the plants so there is not much nectar for the bees to collect. AJ is working hard to keep the hives growing. He and his crew have had to feed them more than usual. We have been praying for rain and have gotten a little lately, but we need a lot more to get things going again. AJ says that there is a lot of pressure to keep his hives going because the nuks where they produce the queens need the bees from his hives. It’s such a snowball effect – he needs to have a lot of bees so they can be used for the nuks for queen production which beekeepers around the world need in order for their hives to be productive. AJ describes it as his operation is the root for so many other businesses and people’s livelihood. It’s very stressful. I pray that we get more rain soon!! I don’t like seeing him so stressed, but am impressed that he is handling it pretty good overall.
Jenna had a Science Fair at school recently. Her subject was “How to Read Invisible Ink.” She did a great job with her presentation. We didn’t spend as much time preparing as we probably should have, but we/she pulled it together nicely. She fortunately has her Daddy’s gift of public speaking! She placed 5th and got a nice ribbon. She was happy with that. Third quarter has ended and Jenna did very well in all of her classes. We are very proud of her! Every time Jenna gets a report card, AJ says “They must grade differently now than they did when I was in school because I never saw grades like this!” Maybe his grades were letters a little further down the alphabet…hmmm. :-)
I'm working on my note about our latest guests visits. I'll be posting soon. Until then...aloha!
AJ has been very busy with his bee work lately. We are in the middle of a severe drought right now. People that have lived here for a while say that this is the worst drought they have ever seen. There is very little moisture for the plants so there is not much nectar for the bees to collect. AJ is working hard to keep the hives growing. He and his crew have had to feed them more than usual. We have been praying for rain and have gotten a little lately, but we need a lot more to get things going again. AJ says that there is a lot of pressure to keep his hives going because the nuks where they produce the queens need the bees from his hives. It’s such a snowball effect – he needs to have a lot of bees so they can be used for the nuks for queen production which beekeepers around the world need in order for their hives to be productive. AJ describes it as his operation is the root for so many other businesses and people’s livelihood. It’s very stressful. I pray that we get more rain soon!! I don’t like seeing him so stressed, but am impressed that he is handling it pretty good overall.
Jenna had a Science Fair at school recently. Her subject was “How to Read Invisible Ink.” She did a great job with her presentation. We didn’t spend as much time preparing as we probably should have, but we/she pulled it together nicely. She fortunately has her Daddy’s gift of public speaking! She placed 5th and got a nice ribbon. She was happy with that. Third quarter has ended and Jenna did very well in all of her classes. We are very proud of her! Every time Jenna gets a report card, AJ says “They must grade differently now than they did when I was in school because I never saw grades like this!” Maybe his grades were letters a little further down the alphabet…hmmm. :-)
I'm working on my note about our latest guests visits. I'll be posting soon. Until then...aloha!
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