relaxing weekend

We didn't do too much this weekend, just relaxed which was nice since we were exhausted from camping. Sunday morning we had brunch with a couple from church who are very friendly. Their daughter actually went to Union too! They had a nice yard with lots of fruit growing everywhere and they let us pick some and eat it. Elena forced me to try some kind of cherry- I didn't like it.

After brunch we went to a farmers market. It was really big and super duper cool! Everyone selling stuff was hippie-like with dreads or colorful hair and stuff. I got a couple souvenirs there too which was nice. It was a hot day so we didn't stay too long and headed back to the house where we just relaxed more. One can never get too much lay around time!


I'd love to hear from everyone back home! Send me a comment, message, email, facebook, text or whatever to tell me what's going on with everyone who is reading what I'm up to!

swimming with Nemo's friends

I spent Thursday and Friday in the water all day practically! Thursday morning we got up at 4:30 a.m. which was extremely difficult since I am NOT an early riser. However I must admit Elena and I have been going to bed at 8 every night and waking up by 7 basically every day so I'm proud of myself! After we packed the car we hit the road around 5:20 for a 2 hour drive to Kona. First we snorkeled with dolphins!!! They weren't near the shore so after considering snorkeling almost a mile out to where they were, we decided to rent a kayak for the morning. I'm glad we did!! It took a bit to get out where they were roaming but it was SO worth it. There was at least 20 dolphins, maybe more, and even babies just swimming along. I didn't touch any of them, but they were pretty close! Some even swam up to the surface, jumped in the air twirling and then diving down again. By far the coolest thing ever!!!!

After we followed the dolphins around for a while and getting called a "dolphin magnet", we continued kayaking further to where a monument was for captain cook. The guy who rented us the kayak said Kealakeua Bay is one of the best snorkeling places so we were excited. It was indeed pretty awesome! As soon as we hit the water there were fish everywhere. We saw rainbow fish, bright yellow fish, Nemo's friend Gill, (I have no idea of what their actual names are) a few needle fish, and so many more! It was definitely worth paying for the kayak.

Once we were done snorkeling we kayaked back to shore where Elena's dad was waiting. After eating lunch and resting for a little while, we hit the water again, but this time in scuba gear. I still had a couple other skills to master, mostly clearing my mask of water and taking it off and putting it back on underwater. A little nerve-racking but I did it! We didn't stay very long diving at this place because we needed to set up camp which was an hour away and it was getting late. We got dinner, made a stop at a gas station and after AAA came and unlocked our truck since the key was inside (not my fault, just throwing that out there), we made it to camp and set up our tents. It was a nice beautiful drive because the sun was setting as we drove the coast. A great site to end a great day!

We went to bed by 8 p.m. and got up around 6:30 for breakfast and packing up. Luckily we spent the day diving at the same place we camped so we didn't have to go far at all. We did a total of 3 dives today and some surface basic skills such as swimming 200 yards, treading water for 10 minutes, and practicing diving with our snorkel gear on. It was really fun! We saw a ton more fish, part of a crash site, and lots and lots of coral! I even found a cool shell as a souvenir.

To top the day off we got shave ice! A Hawaiian specialty and it tasted wicked good after being in the sun all day. My face got burnt a little from kayaking and my hands, JUST my hands, are darker than my arms from being in a wet-suit. I also have a tan from wearing the booties from kayaking so I have some weird tan lines. Not to mention my hair was frosty with me for having it in a braid the last two days enduring so much saltwater. It took me a good 5 minutes to untangle that mess! Oh well, part of the experience!

the break wall

Today we walked the break wall!! It was another gorgeous day out so after a busy morning of preparations we made our way over to enjoy the nice weather. 

The break wall reminded me of the Cape back home. It was a wicked long line of rocks piled on each other leading to the ocean. We only walked maybe a quarter of the way since it was so long. After a little ways we stopped and laid out and enjoyed the sun! We climbed down the side (on the left in the photo which is the Hilo side and a lot calmer) to put our feet in the water since it was so hot. We saw a turtle and some fish in the water too which was neat! Reminded me of Finding Nemo.

Elena and I got a great tan today so we were both excited. After our walk we went to Kozmic Cones and got ice-cream which was super yummy! I'm loving it here! 

diving day 2

Yesterday was my second scuba lesson! It was a beautiful sunny day so we took advantage of it. We dove down to about 12 or 13 feet. I practiced more skills in case I need them and did everything except filling my mask with water and clearing it. It's really hard!! It was hard to see underwater though because for some reason the water was foggy. But I saw some more coral, fish, and held a sea cucumber!! Unfortunately no underwater pictures yet.

After we were done with my lesson Elena's dad had another student to take out so Elena and I got to lay out in the nice sun on the beach and tan. I lost my shorts tan yay! It was nice to just relax and enjoy the weather and not have anything to worry about. It's beautiful weather again today so hopefully we have fun doing whatever is planned!

mother's day- shout out to my maj!

First of all, happy mother's day maja!! I wish I could be home with you, but I hope you had a fantastic day! I love you!!

Today we stayed around the house doing yard work. Elena has 2 small dogs, 3 cats, 2 horses, and 5 chickens. This morning I woke up with one dog laying on my ankles, one dog laying on my side, and a cat in my face sniffing my mouth- a little frightening to wake up to but no big deal. Every morning we take the dogs out and feed the horses.

I mowed the lawn today and got a nice shorts tan. Great, my first tan in Hawaii for the summer and its an awkward tan! Oh well hopefully it'll go away soon.


After we finished helping in the yard we made Elena's mom a late lunch/dinner of lasagna, potatoes, casserole, and fruit salad. It was yummy!

Then Elena introduced me to African Tulip Tree buds. When you break the tip off and squeeze it, it squirts water out like a water gun! It was pretty neat and was a nice cool down after working outside!

 After dinner Elena and her mom got their guitars, her dad got his flute and they had me grab my ukulele and we played for a little while. And, I've been roped into playing for children's story with them this week at church....Oi.

thai food with my bffl

I tried thai food for the first time today! A friend from church graduated college so we went out to dinner. Elena and I shared the Chiang Mai Fried Rice dish. Mild of course because I can't handle spicy food! (Mom, you should be proud of me for trying it, you know how picky I am!) 

All the dish names sound similar so when the waitress brought a dish over, Elena assumed it was ours. Mistake #1. Mistake #2, taking a bite of it! It was very spicy and I didn't know how much I would be able to eat. As Elena took a couple bites, she realized we had accepted someone else's dish. Imagine our embarrassment when we had to ask whose dish we were eating! Thankfully the person it belonged to laughed it off and wasn't frosty with us. All and all, a good way to end the night! Lots of memories!

"I got you this piece of lava, it represents all of my hard work"

7 am rise and shine! Started the morning off by making pancakes and hash browns for breakfast. I impressed Elena's mom with my pancake skills so that was basically a win! During breakfast we skyped her grandparents in Cyprus (wicked cool accents!!) and then we went to church! I met a ton of new people, not to mention being announced to everyone in the middle of church. Elena and I stood up and she told everyone my name and where I was from. Embarrassing, but I survived. Here in Hawaii you call your elders auntie or uncle followed by their name, so I guess you could say I met a lot of aunts and uncles!

Elena's parents are super cool. Her mom is nice and her dad is quite sassy. He reminds me of my family and how much I miss them! Even though he knows my name, he refers to me as "the girl". He teases me a lot which makes me feel like I'm part of the family so I'm glad!

We went to Kapoho today and snorkeled around a bit. There were different mini pools that we got to swim in. We went when it was low tide so most of the pools were shallow and we had to do a lot of crawling. Despite the warnings of Elena's dad to wear a shirt so I don't scrape my stomach, I decided not to. Rookie mistake...I came out with a couple scrapes on my stomach and on my knee but nothing too bad. We saw lots of fishes, crabs, and brain coral!!! That's what I call it at least, I don't know the technical term. We also saw purple coral which was the coolest naturally since I love purple.

Unfortunately no pictures to show for now, but hopefully I can get some from her dad's camera he can use underwater. That's all folks!