Fat Tuesday

Ever since I was in elementary school I was a fan of Fat Tuesday. Growing up I had friends from NOLA that taught me the ways of a solid Mardi Gras. I have tried my best to bring the spirit of NOLA to the various cities I have lived since my childhood. This year I was all too excited to celebrate in Honolulu. I went shopping to collect the proper materials for my outfit. I did not want anyone else to have the same mask as me, small island and all. So I decided I had to create in original.

I was more than happy with the final outcome of my mask. I met up with some friends, handed out some beads and walked down to the party. I could not find any King Cake but that was only a minor speed bump in the night. Everyone was full of energy and ready to celebrate. We walked around people watching until the small kine parade parted the masses.

I made it an earlish night as I still had to work the next day. But overall not a bad way to spend an island style Fat Tuesday.

Out of Hiding

Aloha Friends!

I know I have been on hiatus for a while but that doesn't mean nothing has been happening on the island. After a phone call with a good friend I remembered that I have been lacking on my updates. 

Here is the quick review of what has been keeping me from the computer:

• New car (truck to be exact)
• New job (company got bought out)
• New house

Since today is one of those rare cloudy Hawaiian days I feel okay sitting inside at my computer. After all the change and stress in my life I needed some time underwater time to rest myself (ocean therapy). I called up my friend with a boat, grabbed my dive bag and threw tanks in the back of my new truck. 

Our original dive spot was off limits due to the Marine Corps base firing range being hot. For those of you that don't know this means they were firing machine guns in our general direction. Since we had 4 pressurized tanks and 2 gas tanks on the boat (as well as the coast guard telling us to move) we felt it was best to find a new dive spot. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because as we were on our way to the next site I saw a whale spout (it is whale season in Hawaii). We decided to head toward the spout to see if we can get a closer look. Little did we know the treat we were in for. We watched as the whales jumped out of the water for 9 half body breaches and a full body breach finale. 

(Look close and you can see the water spout, I was not able to catch a pic of the breaching)

We made it to our dive site, anchored and back rolled into the water. The site we were at is known as "bird shit island", the name is very deceiving. I saw the highest volume of fish in hawaii that I have seen since diving here. Multiple schools of colorful fish swimming around our bubbles. A spotted eagle ray even glided by to say hello.

We popped up on the boat and started planning out our next dive. We had both heard of a plane wreck off the coast but neither one of use had ever been able to find it. We were officially on the hunt. It was our day of good luck diving because I tossed the anchor off the stern of the boat and it landed on the wreck. 

(notice our anchor line)

It was a crazy shallow dive so we were able to stay down for over an hour. This allowed me time to hunt for shells. I found some beautiful cowrie shells. I was like a kid in a candy shop. The wildlife was not as abundant at this site but the ocean gave me other treats to keep me happy. I kept my eyes peeled for a tako (octopus), I found an eel instead.

On our way back to the harbor we were blessed with more whales. This time they did not breach but were swimming about 300 feet off the stern of our boat. We saw a tail the size of the boat flip through the water.

A rejuvenating day on the water.....that is why I moved here!

Happy Easter Egg!

Last Easter I was sitting on the Big Island with my dear friend talking about how much I love Hawaii. That was my third trip to the island and every time it was harder and harder to leave. That last trip JB and I were discussing how I needed to just move to the islands and stop spending all my money to visit every year. It is hard to believe that I actually did it and have been living in Hawaii for 7 months now!

This year I spent Easter with some friends and their kids. The morning started with quiche, brussels sprouts, seven layer dip and beermosas (beer and orange juice). We rummaged through baskets, went hunting for eggs, and naturally dyed eggs.  We used red cabbage and turmeric to dye the eggs. It took a lot longer than the tablets but was a fun experiment. I was given a lovely 90 minutes without the kids to read a book by the beach and then after being sand blasted by the wind, poolside. It was a lovely easter and a great way to prepare myself for birthday month!

For those of you that are not familiar with birthday month, it is a marvelous treat my mother bestowed upon me for my 18th birthday (the first one she was spending without being with me). I get to open a present everyday until my birthday. I am a well-loved child even into the second half of my 20s.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend with friends and family.

Back in the water.

As I was driving to work the other morning I was looking out at some pristine water to my left. At the moment I realized I had not been diving since Thanksgiving. I pulled out my phone before I stepped foot into my next client to schedule a dive.

There was space on an early morning Saturday dive, and by early I mean arrive at the shop at 5:45 am. There are very few things that can get me up that early and diving is one of them. the first dive was a wreck which is typically not my favorite although this one has made it to my top dive list. We saw over 12 eagle rays floating around the wreck as we explored the nooks and crannies of the wreck.

I was freezing (teeth chattering-body shaking cold) by time we got on the boat. Luckily I was the only girl surrounded by 5 guys so they took steps to warm me up including giving me hot water to pouring into my wetsuit and giving me a second wetsuit to wear over the one I was already wearing.

The second suit kept me quite warm on the second dive. This was when I found my first octopus! It was within the first 10 minutes of the dive and I was so happy I could have gone back to the boat then.

                                                                         TAKO

I am taking all my dives as an opportunity to work on my underwater photography and I feel like this may have been a turning point in my skills.

playing with pictures.

Hiatus

I am sorry I have disappeared for a few months. I promise I am still alive an having weekly adventures.

I had my first non-family visitor back in February. She was hear to visit her sister but I was added to the list. We spent as much time together as I could muster after work and on weekends. This included kayaking, hiking, and babysitting her nieces (that being the most exhausting).

I also had a friend from Kaui come visit for a weekend of shopping and mud running. She flew in for the Warrior Dash. The Warrior Dash was not the best mud run I have done but I had a great partner to run it with. We stayed in Waikiki after the race for a little hotel treat. It is amazing how happy an ocean front hotel room makes two girls. Sunday morning our active weekend continued as we rented two surf boards and I caught my first Hawaii wave. It was nothing huge or terribly exciting but it was surrounded by a lot of asian tourists and had Diamond Head as a backdrop.

                                                                        BEFORE

       
                                                                             AFTER

Marathon Weekend.

This was a marathon weekend for several reasons: its longevity and actual events. It all began Friday night with SantaCon. I did not know much about this event but all I needed to know was that I got to dress up! I chose to go with the more ironic large elf versus the traditional santa. I met but with my LTs and a schmorgesborg  of friends in Waikiki.

As we walked down to meet with the other Santas we inherited another elf, he chose us over his friends he was suppose to meet up with. The sea of santa was the greatest sight of the holidays. 

After a night being Santa's little helper I joined everyone for a sleepover at the LTs. It was sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets wherever you could find space on the floor. We woke up bright and early to our theme song for the day: 

We splattered ourselves with Navy gear to prepare for the Army/Navy game. Go Navy...Beat Army. We hoped between beach bars for the remainder of the day celebrating the Navy win. The majority of us had to get up early the next day to either run the marathon or volunteer at it.

Ben and myself had to get up at 2:30 am so we can begin filling thousands of little cups with liquid for the runners. I am using this opportunity to increase my motivation to start training for my next race. The energy of the runners grabbing a hydrating cup from your hand can only push you toward your next training plan. It is amazing how thankful each runner is as they run by sweaty and exhausted but they still manage to squeeze out a "thank you" between breaths. One runner stands out in his more unique way of thanking me: an 'ata boy' slap on the butt as he ran by. Handing out water is also a great way for us to see our friends run by.

After everyone's post marathon naps we put on our beach gear and walked to Duke's on Sunday. I got to dance with a new friend that is one of the older regulars at Duke's. We congratulated our friends who accomplished completing the marathon with some drinks, laughs, and good music.

I finally made it back windward after over 72 hours away from my house and sleeping on a floor. It was a memorable weekend but nothing was better than crawling into my bed for a goodnight's sleep.