Winter Break!

It has finally arrived :) I finished my last exam yesterday- what a relief! I haven't gotten results back but I anticipate that I did very well and I'll make A's in all the classes I took this semester. Work has been CrAzY lately. Today I stayed late and Kui told us to expect to stay late tomorrow as well as come in on Sunday. Sad times! I really look forward to Sundays off. At least my bank account will be happy to be fed the paycheck I'll earn after working so much this break :P
The girls are currently on a camping trip to a secluded beach spot where honu (sea turtles!) are known to gather. I'm so jealous because I've been wanting to do something like that this whole time and I just couldn't get the time off work. Lucie goes home on Sunday so it would have been nice to have some relaxing, quality time with her. At least we got to go to the beach this week- Matthew drove us to Hapuna Beach Park in Kona for a beach day on Thursday because I was off work for my last exam, which didn't start until five :) The sun is always shining in Kona so the drive is totally worth it. (Not that I'm driving, haha... he still has to teach me how to drive a manual!)
It feels like Christmas came too quickly! I managed to get cards and presents mailed out this week, but I still don't have a tree! I feel guilty... but it seems excusable this year. Right? I've been watching for a tiny palm tree because Brandon and I thought that would be fun, a real Hawaiian Christmas tree :) But no luck so far.
Also no luck getting into some of the classes I need. Does it make sense that freshmen get to register for classes before juniors? Or that transfer students get last pick? It hurt me that I couldn't get into some of the nursing classes last semester because one class filled up before I could register and another isn't being offered. But, I did all that I could last semester, emailing teachers and begging them to let me in to their class. So now I just have to go with the flow. The Anatomy class section that I have at night isn't being offered next semester so I have to take it with a teacher that has a really bad reputation around campus for giving impossible tests. I'm just glad that I know ahead of time so I can put in the extra effort to keep an A.
I wish I had a more interesting update. The most interesting thing to happen to me this week must have been when I attempted to track down a package (a Christmas present) that Amazon sent at the end of November that still hasn't arrived. I tracked it online and it was scanned in Honolulu, then Hilo, then Pahoa! And then it said that delivery was attempted in Pahoa and notice was left there. What?! How can that even be possible? So I called the Pahoa Post Office and they searched for my package. When they couldn't find it, the man on the phone informed me that it was just a "computer glitch" that my package was ever listed as arriving in Hawaii at all and in fact, it was on a cargo ship that would arrive in 3-4 weeks. I asked him where he was getting that information and he told me, "I must not be explaining this well. Let me give you the number to customer service in Honolulu." Seriously, what terrible customer service! The people at the Honolulu office have been much more helpful. He said they searched the Pahoa Post Office up and down but no luck finding it. He called me and said that when he talked to the Hilo Post Office, they said that they delivered my package in a plastic bag earlier that week. I laughed because I had told him what I was expecting, let's just pretend that it's a book, and the reason this box was in a plastic bag was because it was leaking liquid! I told him that there was no way that we were talking about the same box because the box in the bag was full of oranges my mom tried to send me. *Awkward Pause* "Ma'am, you know that shipping fruits either to or from Hawaii is highly illegal? Agriculture should have caught that and it shouldn't have been delivered." Hahaha, well there went my idea of sending pineapples home as Christmas presents! So after a few days they called and told me that it wasn't a glitch, my package really was sent to Pahoa (for whatever reason) and from there it was sent back to Hilo- by way of a cargo ship. A cargo ship that first goes to the mainland and then returns to Hawaii. Can you believe that?! I would complain about the Post Office's negligence but I'm not sure what good that will do me because what can they do to make up for it? Give me free shipping on something? Haha. If anyone thinks that any good could come out of me filing a complaint then I will. Let me know! In the meantime, I'll be waiting for my well-traveled package to get here in January :P

December?!

Is it really December already?? It's just so hard to believe that time has passed this quickly. Since I last updated, Thanksgiving came and went. I had Thanksgiving dinner with Sydney's family in Waimea. It was really nice- we played kickball, the game of Life, and ate a big dinner. The next morning was the beginning of my four day vacation from school and work, which I really enjoyed. I got a paper written but I basically just relaxed for most of the time. On Saturday Matt took Lucie, Brian, and I to Green Sands Beach (Sydney was on Oahu visiting family) in the Jeep. It was SO much fun! We put the Jeep in four wheel drive and drove it all the way along the coast until we were right at Green Sands. The waves were big and the water was warm so it was a really enjoyable day. The boys had fun jumping off of Southpoint, but Lucie and I sat out this time. I have videos of Brian jumping into the blowhole (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uUsUKq0f-U) and Matt jumping off Southpoint (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uUsUKq0f-U)

Last week was super busy. At work we're in Christmas mode- we've redecorated the front for the holidays and we're starting to take huge Christmas orders. We make miniature decorated Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, and planters with poinsettias and phalaenopsis orchids inside. This Saturday we were super busy because Hilo High was having their Winter Formal and we had tons of orders for corsages and the like. I promised mom I'd start taking pictures of some of the beautiful things the designers make up, so you can expect to see some soon.

Angie and the girls sent me a huge box FULL of candy!! Everyone has been enjoying it.. maybe too much :P 

School is coming quickly to an end. I finished up all my assignments for my Nursing Nutrition class this week. I have my final in my Anatomy Lab on Monday, so I've been studying the blood vessels for that today. I have a term paper due this Thursday so I worked on it today as well. Now I'm totally burnt out from homework and I just want to make dinner, eat some cookies, and go to bed :D
Enjoy this video of a smart cat determined to get inside a box: http://www.break.com/index/maru-the-cat-vs-big-box.html

Big Picture Upate!

Life is great!! Here's why:

Our gecko friend!

He comes in through the kitchen window and eats up our crumbs :) 

Saturday night Lucie, Sydney, and I volunteered on Mauna Kea for stargazing. We helped set up telescopes in the freezing cold. I know no one has sympathy for me since it is actually cold back home... but please believe me when I say it was sooo freezing! I'd say less than fifty degrees for sure, with a windchill. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world from the sea floor to summit. The reason most mountains aren't measured from the sea floor is because most mountains don't start down that far! Mauna Kea literally holds this island in place. It also offers some of the best stargazing in the world, for many reasons. Hawaii is isolated, there is limited light interference, and being located near the equator gives a view of both the northern and southern constellations. 

I took this picture down the eyepiece of a telescope. Amazing, right??

Sunday was BEACH DAY!! Matt's room mate Nick took us to to Kona side to spend the day at Hapuna Beach. It was hot hot hot and not a cloud in the sky- wonderful! It felt like summer time :D

My favorite picture :)

And for the best news of all......

 Matthew's parents gave him the money to buy a Jeep!!! It's the best, that's the only way to describe it. He bought it yesterday and I'm already LOVING IT! I just can't contain my excitement. No more taxis! And now we can really enjoy the island. We're predicting a LOT more beach trips :D I couldn't be any happier. But that's it for now because we have a field trip for ethnobotany class today. We leave soon to head to a farm place in Puna to plant taro. Fun? If it doesn't rain, that is :) 

November!!

I can't believe it's already November... and I'm still wearing a tank top and shorts every day! :P hehe. This won't be a long post because I'm taking a break from finishing up my Anatomy lab that's due tomorrow. I'm eating lunch and posting at the same time. Here's lunch:

Garden burger with carmelized onions, red bell pepper, and my favorite salad dressing that mom sent- Asian Sesame with Ginger :) 

I don't want to leave you all hanging about Halloween so here's a quick summary: costumes didn't make it in the mail, so I turned sheets into impromptu togas. Everyone was over at our house making their costumes and Halloween ended up being craft time and board game night because we couldn't find the house out in the farmland that we were invited to. Oh well! It was a bit disappointing but still a fun, different than usual night. 

I promised for updates on grades- so far I've only gotten back two. Someone blew the curve on the Anatomy test so I ended up with a B, just what I thought. I was hoping the curve would make it an A, but what can I do :P And I got an A on my Anthropology test. I should find out two more this afternoon. 

I was going to take a picture of how sunny and beautiful it is today, but a flash flood has just started. I hope it passes within the hour so I can make it to school without melting :D

Christmas is on my mind all the time now. I have a lot of shopping to do!! If anyone is wondering what I'd appreciate, the answer is active wear! I live in work out clothes because they're the most practical for my sweating all the time lifestyle. I'm a size four, small. 

This is what I REALLY want for Christmas!:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Jackson's_Chameleon_2_edit1.jpg

A Jackson's Chameleon!! They're indigenous here so they're common as pets. I haven't held one yet but I would love to have one...

http://bop.nppa.org/2003/still_photography/winners/pictures/NAE-HM-Lizard.jpg

That's a baby! They don't turn green until they get older. I looked into caring for one and apparently they have pretty extensive needs.. such as an indoor & outdoor enclosure with live flowering plants to attract bugs. Practical or not I still want one :P 

Update! I made a 115 on my Anthropology Midterm and an A on my Psychology midterm- wahoo! :D

I'm waiting for yoga class

I just got out of my anatomy lab. Today we dissected the cat's respiratory system and looked at relating slides under the microscope. I'm attaching a view of hyaline cartilage (stained purple) in the larynx. The cells are so beautiful!!

I enjoyed lab today for many reasons. One, my group did a picture perfect dissection :) Two, we got out early! And three, we got our midterm results back.... and I set the curve!!! I studied so hard but it was a really difficult test.. I'm just ecstatic to have made a 100%. That should really ensure me an A for the semester :)
This week was a big one for midterms. I had anatomy on Tuesday. I studied a lot an feel pretty confident that I made an A, at least after the curve. Anthropology and psychology were on thursday. I REALLY prepared for anthropology because the last test surprised me by being three pages of essay style questions. I was ready to write everything under the sun about subsistence strategies. But surprise! The test only had one essay question. Hahahaha I was actually disappointed.. But I surely made an A in that as well :) Psychology I'm not so sure about because my teacher is old and didn't go over the information that was on the exam. Have I posted a picture of his terrible board scribbles?? I hope I have. If not, I'll be sure to. Then you'll see why I wasn't prepared for the exam. I should get my results in the next week, so I'll update later :)
I'm super excited for this weekend- Halloween! I'm dressing up as a Spartan queen. Specifically, Queen Gorgo from the movie 300. Matthew is going to be a Spartan warrior :) that is, if our costumes make it here! His shield came today so hopefully they'll be here tomorrow. If not, it will be funny to have to scrounge something up last minute :P
Last night after my last test I celebrate with the girls by ordering pizza. Then we went to Walmart and shopped for Sydney and Lucie's costumes. Sydney is going to be the season spring. Her boyfriend is summer, and another couple will be winter and fall :) Lucie is going as a dragon! She bought paint last night and we painted cardboard spines for her back and then we practiced painting her face. I used my fingers instead of brushes and it ended up turning out so funny.. Nothing like a dragon, hahaha. Hopefully it all comes together and she looks as awesome tomorrow as I'm imagining :)
Oh, I almost forgot the most exciting news of my week!! On Wednesday I worked out back with my boss Kui going through all the christmas stuff that we sell and/or use in arrangements. We had to organize it all and it took all day but it was fun because I wasn't the one deciding what to keep an where to put it. I was basically manual labor :P ok back to my story. So I was in the storage unit with Kui and she turns and starts to praise me for being such a hard worker, and she says 'I've decided that you deserve a raise so you'll see that on your next pay check.' !!!!! :D I couldn't be any happier. What a great week :)
Yoga starts in three minutes, gotta go!

This week

I've had a lot of homework this week. Right now I'm stressing out a bit because I have a big lab practical tomorrow night that covers both the muscles of the cat and the human- and we haven't even learned them in class yet! But it will be okay. Matt has been helping me study and I intend to do well :)
Today during my break between classes I used Photoshop to design a flyer for Natalie, my boss from Vagabond Trader. She offered me a generous amount of money to make one up for her really short notice- and of course I went for it! Here's how it turned out:

After I got out of my night class Lucie and I went grocery shopping. We were disappointed to find out that no fruit was on sale this week so we couldn't afford the oranges we've been enjoying recently- they were $2.99 a pound! :( But we found deals in canned beans and frozen vegetables, so it was still a successful shopping trip. I made fish for dinner but it was gross. I don't think I'll be buying frozen fish anymore... the texture was terrible.
Now for my best news yet- I've put over 300 miles on my bike now!!! Just over a month ago I posted that I was at 136 so I am just stunned. Well, actually, it shouldn't surprise me that much because these days I feel like I live on my bike :P
I better go. I work at 8 tomorrow morning so I'd like to get to bed a little early.

Great news!

So I took my entrance exam for nursing school today... and... (drum roll please)... I scored in the 99th percentile nationally!! I made a 91 and my school wants above a 70 so I think I'm a shoe in! We'll find out for sure when I apply in January.
The second best thing to happen this week was the arrival of a package from mom and grandma! Grandma sent so much kitchenware, I couldn't believe it. My favorite? The three baking dishes pictures below. We didn't have anything like those and we're already putting them to good use. Mom sent my very favorite brownie mix. Those didn't last very long :P
I took another anatomy test this week and it was surprisingly easy! We haven't gotten the grade back yet. We continued the cat dissection yesterday, looking at its muscles. I've still decided to spare you all a picture, you can thank me later :)
After lab last night Matt, Lucie and I stopped by a party that one of our friends from ethnobotany class was having for his friend's birthday. We didn't stay for long, but it was so much fun. They had a talent show on the spot where everyone wrote their talent on a piece of paper and put it in a bowl and they drew the talents out one by one. The best was two boys that put their arm over the other's shoulder and did the Macarena as one person. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time! Then the cops showed up an sent everyone home because the talent show was too loud and the neighbors had complained.
Now it's the lazy weekend and I'm just going to catch up on homework and take it easy :) Love you all!

Nothing much..

This week I had my first Anthropology test, which surprised me by being nearly all short answer based on his lectures, not the chapters in the book it was supposed to cover. He said the average grade on his tests is about a 60%, so he curves the grades about ten points. So there's nothing to worry about :) In Anatomy this week we started cat dissections... We had to skin the cat and pull back the skin, cutting away at the cobweb-like fibers that hold the skin to the muscle tissue. It was surprisingly tough work! What wasn't surprising was that it was nasty and I wished it could be anything but a cat. I'd rather dissect a human than something furry. But don't be thinking that these cats are cute because they're the furthest thing from it. I entertained the idea of taking a picture to post, but I decided it was just too graphic. The cats all had their mouths open and their throats slit and I don't think anyone would enjoy that. Yet I have that to look forward to for the rest of the semester, haha.
Today I went to work, then went grocery shopping. I managed to get $91 worth of groceries home on my bike, somehow! I was glad that I remembered to bring an extra tote bag in my book bag.
Update on my bike mileage:

That's right, 265 miles!!!

Other than that... hmm... Lucie and I have been going to Yoga on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights after my anatomy class. That's been reallllly nice- it clears my head and loosens my muscles. We started learning head stands! Lucie and I were having fun practicing one day in the gym until I got overly confident and tried about two feet from a wall- I fell over backwards and whacked my knee, haha. Now I have a big nasty bruise. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow so much- my day off!! But I have an Anatomy test on Monday so I will unfortunately be spending a majority of it studying.

Until next time!

Nothing very exciting this week. Jut the usual school, work, what is for dinner?? Haha :) On Sunday I decided to try my hand at making my favorite breakfast- grandma's Danish pancakes. Matthew and I worked together and they turned out even better than I imagined!! I think the trick was having the patience to let the batter sit in the fridge for an hour. It really helped thicken it up, making more sturdy pancakes. Does anyone want the recipe? They are so filling, and Matt says they're even better than regular pancakes! I'd have to agree.

Sifting the flour

I'm home right now on break between classes and I just made a Mexican casserole of sorts for lunch today, tomorrow, and however many more days it lasts :P I think it's really tasty. It's onions, green peppers, corn, kidney beans, and few shakes if chili powder sauteed and layered with flour tortillas and cheese. Yum!!

I made 98% on my anatomy test! Which means I didn't set the curve, but I was awfully close :)

Here are two dinners Matthew and I made this week: French onion soup and shrimp linguine Alfredo. Both delicious!

To make shrimp linguine Alfredo:

-boil a pot of water for half a box of linguine pasta, cooking it for 9 mins to al dente

-warm a large saucepan to medium heat

-add 1/4 cup butter, melt, then add as many shrimp as you'd like as well as a generous amount of diced garlic

-when the garlic has lightly browned, add 1 cup half and half and reduce the heat

-stir continuously as the sauce thickens. When it is nearly thick enough (about ten minutes or so later) add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. It's important to get the freshest, least dry cheese you can find. For us this meant getting the more expensive variety. This helps the cheese melt to a good consistency

-tada! Quick, delicious dinner :)

You know what they say...

Different strokes for different folks!
We share a love for chocolate chip cookies though :)

My first test :)

Today is a landmark day- I had my first test of the year! It was an Anatomy test on the skeleton. I feel confident that I did well but overall I was disappointed by the test. I really studied each bone and their characteristic markings, but the bone identification we did was so easy I could have done it before I had this class. The questions focused more on random tidbits from the chapters, which made me feel like the test wasn't a good survey of our knowledge. But I'm over it because I'm not the teacher and at least it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be :)
After my test Lucie and I went to a free yoga class at the gym on campus. It was a lot of fun, and soooo nice to stretch after all this biking I've been doing. The gym is really impressive, and there is a HUGE outdoor pool. I swam laps for a while in between classes on Tuesday. The sun was shining down on the water and it was just really nice.
And then the most exciting part of my day- we made chocolate cupcakes tonight with the mix grandma sent and yummmmm :D It has been way too long since I've had a cupcake! Or five, hahaha. Now I'm preparing for my anthropology quiz tomorrow. He told us what the one question was going to be and it sounded so complex, but I've done some internet research and it's actually a piece of cake :)
Update on my bike mileage:

136.19 miles! Woo-hoo!!

Salmon burger

With pesto and tomato

$100 worth of groceries

Second week of school

This week went really well, and really fast! In Anatomy we're learning about all the bones of the body. We have a test on them this Wednesday. There's nothing interesting going on in Anthropology or Psychology yet. In Hawaiian Ethnobotany we're learning the basics of the Hawaiian language while studying our first plant- lau ki (l-ow- kee) or as it's more commonly called, the ti leaf (tee). It's an very common and extremely hardy plant here. Here's a picture that shows some different varieties: http://www.randyjaybraun.com/rachaelsblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/blog-ti-leaf.jpg
The Hawaiians use the leaves in lots of ways. One common usage is in the making of lau lau (l-ow like in down, not low) which is meat and vegetables wrapped in ti leaves and then baked in an underground oven called an imu (ee-moo).
Here's a picture of some lau lau: http://maona.net/img/food/laulau.jpg
And then when one is opened up: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3521/3947657569_d18c8b607f.jpg
That is pork and it doesn't look appetizing to me but the Hawaiians love it. Apparently the ti leaf gives it a very distinct flavor and the way the steam traps inside keeps the meat very moist.
The Hawaiians also use the ti leaf to make leis and hula skirts. Sydney showed me how to make the leis. You cut out the middle vein on the leaf and then heat up the leaves so they become very flexible. Then you twist them together, adding a new leaf piece as needed.
Here's how it looks: http://www.withouraloha.com/hawaiian_images/Hawaiian_flower_leis/ti_leaf_maile_vine_leis/ti_leaf_lei.jpg
Medicinally, the Hawaiians placed the ti leaf on the skin of someone who was sick to draw out the fever and they mashed up the new leaf shoots into liquid and used it to cure eye cysts.

Update on my bike mileage: I've now reached 124 miles!!! So hard to believe, but a few miles every day really add up!
I've been looking forward to this weekend for a while now because I have 2 days off from work for Labor Day, giving me a 3 day weekend :) Yesterday Matt and I biked downtown and saw the movie Grown Ups at the dollar theater. It was enjoyable. When we got out a storm was blowing in from the ocean so we raced home, just beating the downpour. We made shrimp stir fry and rice for dinner and played a Trivial Pursuit card game that mom sent.
The highlight of my day today was talking to mom, Ron, and Brandon over video chat! I bought the family a web cam so we could keep in touch better and today was the first day they got it up and running! Technical difficulties were making me feel like it would never work.. so it was a really nice surprise to be able to see everyone today! Brandon played his newest piano songs for me- very impressive!! He is playing on a higher level than I ever got to when I took piano lessons. Then it was time for chores. It's my week to mow, so I got out the lawnmower, put it my headphones, and had at it! It wasn't so bad at all. Then I did weeding (not fun), laundry (a work in progress), and cleaned the bathroom. Whew! I just ate lunch- tomato soup and crackers. Today I also need to grocery shop. Matt is going to meet me there on his bike to help me get all the bags home. He's so helpful and sweet :)
So that's all for now. I need to hang the laundry up on the line. I'd love to get mail from you all! If you need my address just email me or get it from mom. I love you!!

A mouse about the house

This week we have been 1- adjusting to our new schedules and 2- trying to catch the mouse that was living under our oven. The mouse is more interesting so I'll start with that. We started to find mouse poop on our kitchen surfaces, and then we found a chewed open bag of brown sugar. One night Matt and I were in the kitchen and a big mouse comes running along the wall, goes behind the fridge, pauses for a minute at the doorway to make sure the coast is clear, and dashes down the hall. When I told Sydney she insisted that it was a  rat and that pretty soon it would have babies and we would have a huge rat infestation. She took it upon herself to kill the rat. She bought 2 different kinds of traps and we set them with peanut butter and waited. It took a few days, but we finally caught it last night.

This made me sad actually. But at least it's not a rat!! 

Classes went well this week. Anatomy is going to be my only challenging class. It's going to require a LOT of study time at home and the lab has a lab report due every week. My other classes are going to be no problem though. Most of them only have four grades! Two tests, a term paper, and one more thing. No problem ::) Matthew has accepted the role of 'patient' for my online Nutrition class, which is fun. I get to play nutritionist and make healthy goals for him to meet. 

Today I worked from 8 till 2, then I went grocery shopping. I'm about to ride my bike to Matt's house so we can make dinner. Shrimp scampi! Yum... :D

Lava!!

Yesterday Matt, Lucie, and I went with a group of Sydney's friends to hike to the lava flow. There were 12 of us in all. We started at the New Black Sand Beach that I posted pictures of the first week I was here. Then we walked forever and ever across fields of lava, following the cloud of volcanic smoke you can see in the horizon of this picture. Most of the trek was not green like this photo shows, but it was all along the coast so it was a beautiful view. 

We finally made it close enough to see the lava pouring into the ocean! At this point the ground was a bit hot and we'd see cracks in the rock with molten lava inside! 

We adventured very close, right up to a molten pool of lava! The smell of sulfur was a bit overwhelming. Here Lucie is spreading her uncle's ashes. Her family distributed lots of vials for everyone to take him to different places. She poured some into the lava, and saved some to take elsewhere on the island.

As night started to fall the view got even better! It's much easier to see the lava at night. By this point lots of people were hiking to see, which surprised me because the hike really is a difficult one, especially in the dark!

I never would have imagined that I'd ever get to be this close to lava!! It just blows my mind. It was such a great experience. What a wonderful way to close out summer, right? Today school starts. I work until 4 and then have anatomy at 5. I've ordered a headlight for my bike so I won't have any trouble riding at night time. I've made it to 60 total miles on my bike now!

Rambutan

I got another box from mom :) She sent games, soap, books, and this hanging fruit basket! We love it.
See those odd looking fruits in the bottom basket?

Here's a closer look. They're called rambutan. One of the neighbors that we made cookies for, an elderly Japanese man, came over and gave these to us a few days ago. He said, "Thank you for the cookies!" and handed me a bag of these from his garden. I'd never seen anything like it! 

The spines are really flexible and the skin peels off pretty easily, revealing an eye-ball looking fruit inside. The taste is okay, but not as sweet as I'd like. Kind of bland, actually.

There's a pit in the middle.

3 Days Till School Starts..

Mom pointed out that I have no pictures of Matt on my blog yet! Shame on me. Here we are at Laupahoehoe (L-ow-pa-ho-ee-ho-ee) Beach last weekend. We had lots of fun jumping off a boat ramp into the ocean. Don't worry, it was just a 2 foot fall this time :P

Today I got a package from home! :D

How exciting to have the comfy bike seat off my old bike to put on my new one! Thanks mom :)

The most exciting part of my post- the bike speedometer Brandon got me for my birthday. This thing is awesome!! Matthew put it on for me the day after I bought my bike, just over a week ago. The big zero on top is where the speed displays. See the number underneath, 40.75? That'd be referring to the 40.75 miles I've ridden so far!! :D It also keeps track of my top speed, average speed, trip distance, and the time. It's nice to be able to have a clock on my bike when I'm riding to work, and then my miles per hour so I can pick up the pace if I'm running late :P

I've worked a lot this week. Today I was there from eight till five. Looong day! But I have tomorrow off :) I'm going to try to find a desk to buy since school starts so soon. I'll definitely go to the beach as well. Now that I have a bike I can ride outside of Hilo along the coast to the beaches there. The area is called Four Mile because it's four miles from downtown Hilo. Sea turtles frequent the whole area, and it's not uncommon for them to swim right up to you while you're wading in the pools there. Matt, Lucie, and I went on Monday and a turtle came right up to me, lifted its head out of the water, and touched me with its flipper! I wish I had a picture of the grin on my face at that moment. It felt like a Kodak moment for sure.

10 Days till School Starts....

This week has been enjoyable. I've really gotten into the swing of things at work so I feel very useful, and time just flies by. I turned in my class schedule today so they can start scheduling me around it. I'm not sure how many hours I'll be able to get, but I've made my schedule so that I can work a full 30 hour week and I don't think it can get much better than that. I'm now signed up for 16 credit hours because I got into Anatomy!! :D The school opened up a new class section on Monday and Wednesday nights and I signed up immediately. I'm so happy to have all the classes I needed. 

Two exciting updates:

1. Lucie and I made lasagna on Monday :) We went grocery shopping Sunday and bought all the ingredients for lasagna because we had inherited lasagna noodles from Sydney's room mates and we thought that surely a whole lasagna would make leftovers for a week. Boy, were we wrong about that, though. It was so good, the entire thing was gone by Wednesday! Hahaha :)

Cheese is so expensive here! And maybe everywhere else as well? But it was $15 just for the mozzerella, parmesan, and ricotta that lasagna recipes call for. 

Ta-da! I'm wearing the apron that Lucie and her parents got me for my birthday :)

Vegetable Lasagna
1 box lasagna noodles
24 oz can crushed tomatoes
15 oz tub ricotta (the smaller one)
8 oz bag mozzerella
at least 1/2 cup fresh parmesan (we used grated)
2 eggs
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 tbsp olive oil
4-6 cups frozen veggies (the more the better! We used a bag mix with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, & squash)
-Boil water for noodles. Add noodles and cook 10 mins, then rinse in cold water and drain in colander.
-Heat big sauté pan to medium-high. Add 2 tbsp oil, half the garlic, & the onion.
-When onions are soft, add all the veggies and cook over medium-high heat until most of the water cooks out. This took us at least 20 mins.
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
-Heat a saucepan to medium. Add 1 tbsp oil and the rest of the garlic.
-When garlic has lightly browned, add can of tomatoes and lower the heat. Let simmer for 15 mins to thicken.
-In a batter bowl, mix two eggs with the tub of ricotta until smooth. Add the rest of the cheese in parts, stirring to combine completely.
-Ready to layer?-
-Start with tomato sauce (so the lasagna won't stick in the pan!)
-Now a layer of noodles
-Spread on about 1/3 of the cheese (less means more later :P)
-1/2 the veggies, as evenly as you can
-Pour a layer of sauce
-Noodles
-Cheese (we couldn't go any taller, so we used all of ours at this point)
-Veggies!
-Extra sauce and/or cheese to top it off! (We saved some parmesan to melt on top)
-That's it! Now cook for 35-40 minutes, uncovered.

Now for exciting thing #2: I bought a bike!!!

Here she is. Mom found it online from a bike shop right downtown. Why I never checked there, I don't know. It's half beach cruiser, half mountain bike and that is just PERFECT for me. Comfy ride, nice and tall, but with gears to handle the hills. I couldn't be happier. Today, the ride home from work took FIVE MINUTES. Ahhh!! I was all smiles. 23 minutes slowly generating sweat versus 5 minutes with the wind in my hair, hahaha :P

Tonight I did chores, which included weed whacking. I've never done that before! We have an electric weed whacker so it's not heavy, which is a blessing, but the cord is a bit of a hassle. It took all of 20 minutes to finish though, so no complaining :) Lucie and I made a huge pot of brown rice to mix with veggies and eat on this week. That will last longer than lasagna, for sure :D

Lucie just yelled for me from down in the shower because she needed help- a cockroach had climbed down the wall to give her some company, hahaha. I grabbed some dustpans to save the day but the little bugger escaped before we got back. I force myself to be thankful that they only show up in that bathroom- we've never seen any upstairs in the house, thank goodness!

Tomorrow I work early, but that's not so bad because I get off at two! I like getting out and still having a lot of sunshine left. Then I have Saturday off :D I'm going on a beach adventure with Matt and his room mates. I'm not sure which one yet, but I'll definitely post some pictures after we get back. I'm excited! This is most likely my last beach day before school starts... 

Ahhhh, Sunday....

What a relaxing Sunday! I got to sleep in and be lazy today :) Matt and I walked to see a movie this evening at a theater downtown that shows movies for just $1 a ticket! We just discovered the place. It only plays 4 movies at a time, all movies that have recently left the new release theater. We saw Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Both of us enjoyed it. Then we walked to the grocery store for me to shop for this week. Lucie and Sydney went to Cost U Less yesterday and spent $30, so I had $120 to spend on all the things we need. Thanks to Matt for adding up everything I put in the cart, we made it out just $8 over :) (Going over was entirely my fault- I thought I could estimate weights of produce easier than weighing it out :P)
The most exciting news that I have since I last posted is that I got into the Anatomy class I needed! Well, not the exact one. They opened up a new class section with a different instructor and I signed up for it. It's on Monday and Wednesday nights, so now I have 4 night classes a week. That should be interesting... But it's how I had to do it in order to keep some days open to work. I'm at 18 credit hours, with work.. something I've never done before, but I think I can handle it. Anatomy is the only hard class I'm taking. Or at least I hope so! Haha..
Lucie didn't get the internship.. but she has an interview this Tuesday for a position at Macy's, so hopefully that works out for her.
The mailbox place that Matt works for is currently for sale. Some potential buyers came to look at it and said that if they bought it, they'd want to keep Matt on and increase his hours to full time. They're from the Mainland and they'd want him to just run it for a while. Wouldn't that be great?! I'm excited for the possibility.
Nothing else exciting has happened this week. Work was pretty uneventful. I finished two books, both disappointing :( I hate when that happens! But mom has sent me plenty of books. Surely the next one will be good :) I just made dinner- whole wheat pasta in olive oil and pesto with steamed broccoli on the side. Yum :) Now I'll do dishes and try to pick a good book. Goodnight everyone!

3 weeks till school starts...

Summer is nearly over! I'm having trouble believing it, but the days keep going by and I start school on the 23rd of this month. My day spent on campus was very productive. I am now a pre-nursing major and I'll apply for the nursing program this winter. My classes from when I was working towards pharmacy school transferred really well into this track, so I'm nearly done. This year I'll just need Anatomy & Physiology I and II with their labs, Psychology 100, Anthropology 100, and three nursing classes. I was really trying to create a class schedule that will allow me to continue working, and I think I've managed it! I'm taking a nutrition class online, psychology on Thursday night, Anthropology and Anatomy (hopefully!) during the day on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Anatomy's lab on Friday morning from 8:30-11. Right now they are only offering one class section of Anatomy with 100 seats, and it's completely full! But I've emailed the professor and she said I'll be at the top of the waiting list. I really, REALLY need to get in, so I've been checking the website every day to see if any seats have opened up. No luck yet, but I feel like I'll have a good chance here soon. I'll keep everyone updated!
This week.... Sydney's parents came to bring Tucker back home and they brought us a couch! Luckily Matt and Brian were here to help us carry it, because it is seriously heavy. Syd's step dad Tony pulled their Suburban into our front yard and we tried to lift the couch over the railing of the stairs, but it was too big so we had to drop it back down to them. Then Lucie thought to get Brian to pull his truck in our yard instead, and lift the couch from the back of the truck bed. It was a sight to see- me, Matt, and Brian in the back of the truck, hoisting up a couch to Lucie, Tony, Sydney, and her little brother Chris, who were all standing on the front porch. There was lots of grunting, and even more laughing :) Once they got it onto the porch we realized there was NO WAY it was ever going to fit through our front door. Ever. But Tony was dead set on leaving the couch here, so we have new porch furniture! :D

It is so very comfy! It takes up every bit of our porch space, but we couldn't wish for any better reading spot :) And with our roof over hanging the house by at least two feet, I really doubt the couch will get soaked. It will definitely get damp though... good thing it was free!

Also, this week I got a box from grandma in the mail! She sent lots of kitchen supplies, chocolate cupcake mix (yum!!), and a bunch of other nice little things. We were excited to have a new game to play- Yahtzee!

Lucie, Sydney, and Brian. Lucie won :P

You can't tell, but Lucie is sitting on our new piece of living room furniture- the bench that used to be on our front porch! It's great to have because so many people can sit on it and it takes up hardly any room. (and it was free? hahaha. That has become my new favorite reason to like furniture!)

Other news... not much. Sydney and I have been working every day. Lucie has been getting very bored of being home alone. Oh! Lucie has an interview for the paid internship of her dreams for TOMORROW! She is so excited and she is definitely going to get the job :) Think good thoughts for her! She needs this. 

Lucie made us a chore chart so we can keep a better handle on house responsibilities. After finding maggots in the corner where we keep our trash can (ew... :( :( :( that was not fun) it was decided that we need to take out our compost can and trash much more often than we had been. This way, we initial boxes when we've taken care of a chore. So far so good :) 

Also, we decided to start individually spending $50 a week in groceries that we need/everyone likes. This way we don't have to coordinate grocery shopping where we all three go together. It's better this way because we shop at more than one grocery store- we have Island Naturals for organic  health foods, the regular grocery store for cheese and less expensive produce, and Cost-U-Less (a wholesale place like Sams Club!) for buying cereal, rice, shrimp, frozen veggies, etc in bulk. This week we tried it out for the first time and our kitchen is stocked!! We'll try it this way for a few weeks, and if we find that it's too much food we'll spend less. But it's nice to have more options when you look into the fridge, that's for sure :)

Did I mention our fridge is tiny??

That's about it for now. I'm still really enjoying work. I've really gotten into the swing of things, and they trust me enough to run the front that they've left me alone at the store with just one designer quite a few times now. Time goes by so quickly at work! Between answering the phone (completely my job), dealing with customers (also my job) and doing side work (which there is plenty of!) I stay busy all day long. Today my side work was making tuberose leis :) I only got two done! That's how busy I stay. I didn't even take lunch, I ate it on my walk home :P

Now I'm searching the web for a good waterproof book bag.. I'm going to be riding a bike to and from school and work pretty soon, once I find a used bike at a good price here in town, and Hilo is the rainiest city in the United States. Really. Winter is the wet season and Sydney says there will be weeks where it never stops raining and the sun never shows its face. I bought a really nice rain jacket before I came, so I just need a good book bag. I'd like to find another pair or two of shoes that are both water proof and bike-safe, but that can wait. I don't have enough money to shop for things that aren't an absolute necessity right now. 

Interesting fact: it doesn't lightning here!! Matt and I went swimming in the ocean right outside of Hilo on Sunday and a storm started coming across the ocean, and he asked if there was a chance of lightning hitting us. Turns out, thunderstorms just don't happen here! I tried to research why online but I didn't come up with much. My guess is that there aren't many cold and warm fronts mixing out here in the Pacific, but who knows!

Love you all-