Thursday, July 14, 2011

Summer Shenanigans.

So summer in Hawaii has finally arrived! As many of you just read that,  you may be feeling shocked that I dared to write that sentence. What can I say though? You can feel the 5 degree difference from Winter to Summer... :) Sorta.


So as I typed the word shenanigans, I wondered "what does that word really mean?" According to my handy dandy Google Search Dictionary:  

Shenanigans are silly or high spirited behavior. 
Even the word "mischief" is used in some dictionaries... hmm.


Well I don't really think we are up to too much mischief over here on the island, but we are enjoying   the "high" God's creation gives us every. single. day.


So here are our shenanigans:

We decided to hike KOKO HEAD CRATER. I (Janell) have wanted to do this hike for some time. Ben needed some convincing. but we finally just decided to do it! lets just say the some 1,048 steps (but who's counting anyway) lead us to some of the most breathtaking views.
 

  
...see, I told ya. 

...at the top!


 

Here's a photo I took walking back from the dog park at sunset.

We spent our 4th of July at where else... da Beach!

 we came across this little fella...

A Honu! (sea turtle)
  

Yum, Spam Musubi!

 

 What is Spam Musubi you may ask? -- The Hawaiian version of a cold cut sandwich.
(thanks google for the better image)
Its a piece of spam, sandwiched in between white rice, wrapped in seaweed. It's served at room temperature.
May sound disgusting, (and you may have just thrown up in your mouth a little bit) but you cannot judge it before trying it. I'm here to tell you that first hand


Well, if that didn't get the tastebuds jumping, this should.


mmmm...Malasadas! :)


 These warm pieces of heaven are sold around the island out of these trucks.
We were lucky to be shopping for Ben's Africa trip and were a shopping stupor when we stumbled upon this truck in the parking lot. 
For the record: the debate is over. "original" is the best.
 


God's Covenant
(I took this photo on my way to work. God knew I needed this before a long night shift.)



I ran a race in a grass skirt.... we knew it was only time.



We enjoyed a lovely evening at Roy's (a hawaiian fusion restaurant) with our friends mid-week.

Sheena and I


There's some of what we have been up to lately. We have also been busy keeping busy with the usual (work, youth group activities, small group). 

Ben has been extra busy plugging away at the Med School Applications and preparing for his trip to Africa in two weeks. GULP!...We just pray that GOD continues to prepare him for this awesome opportunity. We only can imagine how much God is gonna rock his world over there in Swaziland!

We are looking forward to the next two months as Brent and Michelle will be visiting us here in August and we are planning on doing some island hopping. Destination: Maui. 

God has blessed us so richly here in Hawaii. We literally thank God over and over every day with all He has given us. We are also so thankful for our wonderful family and friends back at home reading this. You are in our thoughts and prayers often!

Aloha and God Bless,

Janell

Monday, May 16, 2011

April Updates


As we were reflecting, April usually isn't one of the twelve months you look forward to during the year. How come...

January: anticipating the new year and new beginnings, February: Valentine's Day and many family birthdays, April-                 ? May- Graduations and summer break, June-August: SUMMER :), Sept/Oct: beautiful fall weather and changing of the seasons (on the mainland), November- Thanksgiving & December: Christmas, time with family and friends. April on the other hand is between Winter and Spring and is usually too cold, snowy, or rainy to really enjoy being outdoors. Besides the obvious fact that we don't deal with the cold or snowy weather anymore, we actually had a quite rainy month. BUT besides the rain, we had much more to look forward to.

Moving in to our NEW PLACE


Ahhhh... finally a kitchen!
 

...now I can be a real wife again.


Ben taking (and rocking) his MCAT after many months of of class and studying!


Surprising my family on a return trip home for graduation week. (We got 'em good. :) Thanks again Kim!



Brady made an excellent cake for Sunday dinner :) 

And Ollie still remembering me after 3 years of joint custody and abandonment...

So it became official: I was taking him back to Hawaii with me, thus giving a whole new meaning to the phrase, "you lucky dog..."

Relaxing in his new home.

"Hawaii isn't too bad..."
AND

 Running another half marathon!


It has definitely been a busy but good APRIL for the both of us! We look forward to coming home in just a few weeks from June 9-19 ish... dates are still tentative as we still don't have finalized work schedules for booking flights. We are hoping to do that this week.

We are looking forward to our return trip and to spending time with family, friends, wedding celebrations, boating, and possibly catching a Twins game. 

Look forward to seeing all of you again soon,

Janell