September Happenings.

Life has been good here in Hawaii. Busy working and preparing for our trip home October 2 - 12. We were discussing the other day how excited we were to come home and see family and friends. Maybe even as excited as one would be to come visit Hawaii. And no, we aren't joking. I never thought we would take a vacation back home to Iowa. (nor would I ever thought in my wildest dreams would I live in Hawaii.) But we are, and are we excited or what to go home!

Where is the fall weather? Seriously?! This time of year I am used to putting on jeans and a hoodies.  They feel so good to put on for the first time. I have been wearing jeans and sometimes break a sweat while wearing them.  But it's worth it! I just cannot break the habit of wearing them in Sept. We are not experiencing that type of fall weather here yet... or maybe ever.  Actually this time of the year in Hawaii is considered to be the warmest time of the year (Sept/Oct).  Highs here range between 83-85 degrees and it gets down to 75 degrees at night. Big Deal! We are very much looking forward to that fall weather we will get when we come back home.


So I will stop the chit chat and post some pictures. That is the best part of a blog anyway, right?!

Birthday Lei  I got from my land lady

Ben by our new Zoom-Zoom

All dressed up for Eric and Fawn's Wedding

Some of us ladies

At the reception

Golf Outing to Ko'olau

Awesome Views Along the Course

Ben only chooses the best caddy! :)

Breath taking!

So we have a wild chicken problem at Ko'olau

So, I (Janell) got invited by a nurse whom I work with to go on a hike in the Kailua area.  Ben had to work in the morning so he unfortunately missed out on the adventure. Let's just say I had NO idea what I was getting myself into. It's known as Olomana Trail- 3 Peaks. As the name says, there are THREE Peaks you are to hike up. I went with a group of experienced hikers, Thank goodness!

Here is our group. Checking out parts of the island. 
 Our group made up of an ER physician, 2 Orthopedic/Surgical nurses, a Rehab nurse, and a Phlebotomist. We were safe and in good company during the hike. :) 

And here is what we saw:

On the second peak. (Note the 3rd Peak in the background)

Hiking on the second peak. As you can tell, we had a very narrow path to follow. 

It ranged from 2-5ft in width.

A view of the 3rd peak. My friend had never hiked it before. She was too scared the time she went previously. As you can see, it is very steep and challenging.

It was so steep, they had to direct me as to where good footings would be on the way down and up. The climbs on cliff/rock surfaces ranged from 10 feet to 50 feet in length. Sometimes we even needed to go down on our butts because the gravel was so loose and it was so steep that we couldn't risk losing our balance with standing up or crouching.   I have never been more physically and mentally challenged in all my life. It was quite an accomplishment to say in the least. It took 5 hrs round trip to do this hike.  
Here we are getting prepared to repel down the 2nd peak with ropes.

Here were the ropes we used. 
This gives you an idea of the type of climbing/hiking we were doing.

Me with the 3rd peak in the background!

Our Group

Survived and made it to the 3rd peak. Here is a view of the 1st and 2nd peaks we conquered. Pictures do not do justice.

Views of the 2nd and 3rd peaks.

 

 

Exhausted Hikers

  

By the end of the hike, we were all exhausted. My hands, shoulders, and legs hurt like I have never felt before. I guess it was a good work out to say in the least. The views were awesome,  the best part of the hike. God's beauty and presence was more palpable the higher and higher we hiked into the sky.  We could see for miles and miles. God's handiwork through creation was so evident.

So that is an update on our life lately! We are just a couple short weeks from being home bound, and can't wait! :)  We are praying these next two weeks go well before our trip home.  See you all soon!

Joshua 1:9b
“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do
not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is
with you wherever you go.”

Blessings- Ben and Janell

Life Lately

Ben and I have had a few busy weeks since I last posted. Got back into a routine with work, small group, and church which is always good. Also, Ben's college friend, Jon came to visit for a week. We had lots of fun again doing new things around the island, such as surfing (which was physically exhausting!)

First Date Night with our first paychecks! 

Waikiki Surf Day!

Ben and Jon 

Statue of the Hawaiian Surf Legend

All Ready to Surf!

Four hours later, Ben was done :) 

the boys with their surf boards

at Senor Frogs for 1/2 priced appetizers and drinks. Yes, we ARE Dutch! 

Jon, playing musical chairs with 5-year olds. Too bad he lost. 

He sang karaoke. Backstreet Boys, "I want it that way." 

sketchy, homeless cat, asking for money?! probably had fleas.

Small Group Outing: Mini Golfing at Kanehoe!

 Look at that form!

The guys. left to right (Eden, Derek, Jake, & Brandon)

The ladies. Doing more chatting than golfing for sure!

the ladies (Christina, Sheena, Emily, & Jen)

 They are such a blessing!

 Group Photo (missing one couple, Eric and Fawn)

We are so blessed to have found this group of young Christians at First Prez. We love meeting up with them on Monday nights. One couple is missing. They will be getting married this coming weekend (Sept 4th). We are so excited to be a part of this family.

So what's new with us?

1) We are coming home the first week in October !!! YEAHHHHH! Mark Your Calendars! I was able to get off a good week and a half from my work to come home. Originally we really wanted to come home Nov/Dec, but because I am the "newbie" at work I will take the time they will give me. We are hoping to be home for about 10 days. We are thinking about leaving Oct 1st or 2nd and coming home the 12th. We will get a better idea of when we can leave sometime within the next two weeks and book our flights from there.

We are really looking forward to catching up with family and friends! We haven't been gone from home too long (it will be about 4 months by the time we come home), but it will be good to be back. We miss all of our family and friends so much and it will be great to get together. Because we are staying here longer, we promised each other to make trips home more often than planned. Previously we had planned to come home once a year, but now we are hoping to come home a few times, if possible.

We are also looking forward to do some golfing (Ben), seeing some of Chris's football games and Anna's volleyball games, enjoying the fall weather, harvest time, reuniting with our dog, Ollie, and taking a break from work.

2) I (Janell) am currently planning on running the Honolulu Marathon! It was kind of a last minute decision a couple months back. They had a resident discount, of $40 for the race if you signed up by the end of June I think,  and being Dutch and crazy, I gave in. Most marathons are $120-200 per race so I decided to sign up and see how training goes.  I am only 4 weeks into training and so far so good. But I know from experience, it will get harder. The race is December 12th. After my first marathon last year, I really wanted to try to get a faster time. Here it is much more hilly than at home, so that is an extra challenge.

One nice thing is there is a race series called the Marathon Readiness Series. http://808racehawaii.com/readiness_series.php It is designed to help you get your long runs in and run parts of the marathon course. There is about one race a month, so 5 total before the marathon. So far I am signed up for two races. The Runners Hi 20K (about 12.5 miles) is next weekend and Starn O'Toole's 25K (about 15.5 miles) is a few weeks away. This race  is actually run in Kailua! So we will see how training goes and hope I stay injury free so I can run the race in December. It will give me something to look forward to since we won't be going home for holidays this year. Ben is looking forward to cheering me on at the sidelines. Maybe I will get him to run a 5K with me some day.  :)

3) Final thing: I talked with our landlord on Monday. I asked if she would consider letting us have Ollie at our place. We love living here so much and plan on staying here our entire time that we are here. The location is amazing and it is so nice to live in a quiet town, away from the business of Honolulu.  Since we are going to be here for more than a year, we thought we should try to be responsible parents and get our "kid" over here if we could. It would be a good place for him to live since we can let him outside anytime and don't live in a high rise apt building. Plus there are quite a few dog parks in the area, and tons of dogs at the beach he can interact with. Anyways, she said that she uses to be a "foster parent" for the Humane Society and loves little dogs, especially Chihuahuas. I thought this sounded promising to me!  Ollie is small (not a Chihauhua) but this will work out. She asked for a picture of him, so I will give her the ones I am sharing with you below. They will hopefully melt her heart so she cannot say "no".

She mentioned that we would discuss this further in a few months (since it's not currently in our rental agreement) and that she has had tenants in the past live in the cottage with a couple dogs. She said that we could even fence off our lanai for him to have his own space outside and to make sure that he doesn't run away or get hit by a car. Sounds good to me! I will have to get certain shots and a microchip placed prior to him coming over (Hawaii has an outrageously strict quarantine process when he gets off the plane and a rabies free policy). I will hopefully get that stuff taken care of in Oct when we come home. So that is another thing we are looking forward to, okay probably ME more than Ben. But it will be nice and not so lonely the nights when Ben is working and I am home (and vice versa).

Phew, sorry this has been so long. That's what I get for not updating this blog lately. The biggest challenge this week: trying to make myself a birthday cake (Funfetti, which is the BEST) in a toaster oven. Round One: I was half successful (literally). The middle was still runny, top was golden brown, and the outside edges were perfect. Round Two: Baked it tonight, top looks a little more brown that I like, But it isn't "jiggly" in the middle, so there is potential. We will see how it tastes tomorrow! :)

To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to my birthday tomorrow (or today if you are up in the Central Time Zone). Not being around family and  missing out on the traditional Pizza Ranch outing just won't feel the same. But, Ben has been awesome! and is making it really special for me. We have had a 3 day birthday extravaganza. We both work a lot and the weekend of my birthday (and on my birthday), so we went out for a date night last night (nice supper and a movie), and Ben is doing "a gift a day". Plus, I cannot complain. How many people can say they celebrated their 24th Birthday in Hawaii. Get real, Janell. What am I complaining about?! So keeping life in perspective, things are great and I am having an amazing birthday already. Even though our family is not around physically to celebrate with us, I have a few packages and cards I am dying to open! Plus, my best friend and husband is here. How can it really get better? God is Good!