No change yet...

Well I've been asked by a few people if I have changed my blog to private yet (and left them off the approval list....lol) - the answer is NO I haven't done anything. Mainly because I've been working so much I just haven't had the time to even bother with posting anything.

I have plenty of time today as I sit in airports all day so I thought I would just take some time and update this ole blog here.

I have been working a lot doing my merchandising I started last year. I really do love it and I've enjoyed the extra money coming in. We are not living paycheck to paycheck anymore and we've been able to afford trips and some extras lately. My job is very flexible in that I can choose the jobs I want to do and work 1-2 twelve-fourteen hour days a week instead of 5 days a week (if I so choose.) I generally try to limit my work days to 3 lonnnngggg days a week.

Because of the flexibility of my schedule AND the extra money I am currently in the Houston airport waiting for my flight to Seattle and then on to Honolulu again! My daughter Felicia who lives in Hawaii called me yesterday morning and said she thought she had broken her foot and she was waiting for a friend to come get her and take her to the hospital. It's her right foot (driving foot.) She called me back later to confirm that her foot was indeed broken and she gets to wear this lovely boot for 6 weeks.
As soon as I told Greg what happened, he said "you need to go help her...let me find you a flight." I tried being "reasonable" and said "we can't afford it, I have to work, what about Dakota..." to which my darling husband said "Elisa! How is Felicia going to drive the boys to school, carry Shawn around and do what she needs to do while on crutches!?" He was right, but as a mom/working mom I'm dealing with guilt over just dropping everything and heading to Hawaii...even though my ADULT daughter does need me. Her hubby is on a ship far, far away and she has 3 rowdy boys (including this little angel below) to deal with.
Oh boy oh boy...I'll be pinching this little angel's sweet cheeks this evening!! So, after much encouragement from my dear husband and after working out a few kinks in my working schedule...I boarded a plane this morning at 6:00 heading to Hawaii! When I left Pensacola, it was overcast/cloudy. We ascended above the clouds and this was my view...so beautiful!

The sun was shining and there was a layer of clouds below me as far as I could see...and NO clouds above me!
This is my darling Felicia and her new attachments for the next few weeks....

and the answer is.....

Rambutan

This is the answer to my question the other day about the strange looking food picture I posted.

It's a fruit. You actually peel all that goofy outer layer off and this is the inside that you eat! LOL
It's a cross between a grape and a pear with a pit in the middle of it - tasted good.

Do you know what this is?

Okay, bear with me for a moment....last post about my food in Hawaii (I promise!) In my post about food yesterday, I completely forgot this one!

Do you know what this is?


I am going to wait a few days before I tell you what it is, but yes I did eat it! LOL

Tried any new foods lately?

I do not consider myself adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. After spending the last couple of weeks in Hawaii with my daughter and seeing all of the interesting foods she has tried I have to give kudos to her that she is able to do this. I would NEVER be able to eat some of the things she has!

When I went to Brazil a couple of years ago I tried some new foods and I did try some new stuff in Hawaii but my weakness is meat. I'm not a big meat-eater anyway so I get queasy just thinking about putting something in my body that I have no idea where it came from, how it was cleaned, how it was prepared, blech, blech blech....sorry no thank you!

I did try some new things that I really liked though and I am now going to try to find a recipe to make my own or find a store in town that sells International Foods and see if I can purchase some of this stuff. Here's some of my favorites -

Mochi Ice Cream
This is a Japanese confection made from mochi (pulverized sticky rice) with an ice cream filling. Comes in chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, mango and green tea.

Ube Ice Cream
This is a Philippine dessert made from purple yams - delicious!

Mixed Arare
This is a tasty rice snack mixed with soy sauce, sugar, seaweed and sesame seeds. I bought a package of this at Walmart and brought it home for the family to try.

Chicken Musubi
BBQ Chicken wrapped with rice in seaweed - yummy!

Kalua Pig and Cabbage
I was hesitant to try this because I don't normally eat cabbage but since I love pork so much I gave it a taste. I didn't even taste the cabbage - the pork overwhelmed the cabbage - it was wonderful.

Unagi Sushi
This was the worst thing I tried - actually ruined my whole meal. Unagi (I found out after I choked it down) is Japanese for saltwater eel. We had gone out to eat sushi one night and Felicia kept encouraging me try something new instead of my usual sushi favorites I eat at home all the time. I reached over to the rotating sushi carousel and grabbed this because it looked good - boy that was a mistake! After I ate this and watched her choke one down since she said she would try one if I did (LOL) we both got a piece of cheesecake to get this terrible taste out of our mouth. Unagi was eww-icky!

Portuguese Malasadas
My last night there, Felicia said there was one thing we had not tried yet (she had not even bought these yet) and she wanted to go get some. The boys were asleep and Will was home, so we jumped in the car and ran out to a small little Portuguese bakery where they make these malasadas. They are doughnuts without holes. We got cinnamon sugar ones, some stuffed with banana and some stuffed with chocolate. They were hot and delicious! YUMMY!

Image via Wikipedia

Luau

One of the last things I did in Hawaii, before flying back home Saturday, was go to a Luau. Felicia and I got a babysitter for her two older boys and we took baby Shawn with us and off we went. Her husband Will ended up having to work late and couldn't join us...kind of a bummer since she had already purchased his ticket BUT she got them for an awesome price so she didn't lose too much money.

FYI - If you plan on attending a Luau in the future, try to hook up with someone in the military and let them get your tickets - you will pay about 75% less than if you purchase directly through the people hosting the Luau!

We went to Paradise Cove Luau at the Ko'Olina Resort. It was a beautiful night and an amazing resort. For about an hour and a half we walked around and participated in activities they had set up on the grounds: polynesian tattooing, hula dancing, making lei's, and Hawaiian games. While this was going on we had to listen out for a man blowing into a conch shell

Image via Wikipedia

and announcing additional activities: shower of flowers, bringing in the fish nets, and the raising of the pig (which we ate for dinner.) It was hard to see and do everything! Felicia has been to one other luau so she let me lead the way to what I wanted to do next.

Felicia working on her bracelet of flowers.


My completed bracelet - we wear it on our left wrist to show we are married.


I wanted to make a headpiece to wear next. Felicia didn't like them - she thought "they were goofy looking!" but I made her wear one anyway!! LOL
I am making my headpiece...


All done!


Felicia's headpiece - isn't she adorable!?


The view was beautiful...


My pretty girl...


Some of the dancers -


Our sunset picture

Word(ful) Wednesday - visiting the set of LOST in Hawaii

While visiting my daughter in Hawaii the last two weeks, she decided we should drive over to the North Shore and try to sneak a peek of where they are filming the popular tv show LOST. She follows the show - I gave up after the first season when they changed the night to Wednesday night and it interfered with church AND that was pre-DVR in my house.
She looked it up online to find out where they were filming and got some EXCELLENT directions (complete with pictures and where to park!) from a fan who likes to scope out all the LOST film-spots around Hawaii. We had no problem finding our way there, parking and walking a short 10 mins down the beach to the LOST campsite.

It's pretty much torn down right now but guarded 24/7 by security. We spoke to the security guard (very friendly by the way) who said they have to continue to guard it because they bring a lot of the Dharma stuff there and people go crazy for that stuff. He told us that about another 10 mins down the beach was where they were going to be doing acutal filming and we should walk down there. I snapped a few pictures before continuing our journey down the beach...



My daughter was thrilled with all this LOST stuff. I was thrilled with this!!!
I absolutely LOVE SEA TURTLES and have collected them forever - for as long as I can remember. These sea turtles were everyone in the water rolling in the waves and I almost walked right over this one, mistaking it for a rock!!! She just looked at me like "Hello! I'm sitting here if you don't mind!"

We did find the new set of LOST a little further down the beach (and this is it behind my daughter) but the sound guys were busy setting it all up for filming....the next day. Awwww, man - too bad! There were buildings and things in this picture that they were covering with big palm tree fronds and stuff - it was pretty cool to see how they were setting it all up and laying out the sound equipment.
We stood on this point for over an hour watching the turtles rolling in these waves. There must have been 50-75 right here - it was just amazing! I could have stood here forever watching this.
This little guy got washed in with the waves right at my feet...then he turned around and started making his way back out to the water...After we walked back to our car and were leaving the North Shore we were sitting at a stoplight and in the traffic headed towards us, my daughter spotted this...(of course it wasn't on fire!) but she said "LOOK!! LOOK!! A DHARMA VAN!!" As it got closer, sure enough it had the Dharma symbol on the front...my daughter's day was complete! LOL

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

Spam, anyone? The meat, not junk mail

Image by asmythie via Flickr

One thing I have learned during my long stay in Hawaii is that Hawaiians LOVE their SPAM! It's everywhere and I do mean everywhere.

Want a SPAMburger? Just head down to your local McDonald's or Burger King and pick one up.

How about SPAM and eggs? Any IHOP, coffee shop or Pancake house will be happy to help you out.

I think my biggest surprise was when I was shopping in Target the other day. We stopped at the little snack place (at the entrance of Target where the shopping carts are) to get a smoothie and I was browsing the menu while waiting on Felicia to get the smoothies. I noticed the usual pizza slices, cookies, sushi (yeah, well that may not be normal for MY Target but I would expect that here in Hawaii...LOL) - but what I didn't expect was to see this:

SPAM Musubi -

I found out these can be purchased in convenience stores and restaurants alike. It is a favorite "to-go" food and just cost between $1.00 - $2.00 each.

When I walked over to where The Dollar Spot should have been, this Target had The Aloha Shop. There were 4 rows of SPAM souvenirs and memorabilia -- I couldn't resist taking a picture! Anyone want a SPAM purse?
According to Wikipedia...
Hawaiians have a love affair with Spam - they eat it as a delicacy, adding it to soups and stews, treating it as a side dish for breakfast, and enjoying it as the main event for lunch and dinner. Residents of Hawaii consume more Spam than populations anywhere else in the world: More than four million cans every year, or an average twelve cans of Spam per person per year. In fact, Hawaii is so well associated with Spam that Hormel even introduced a limited edition "Hawaii" can in 2003.

Too bad I'll be leaving this Saturday to head back home or I could join Felicia at the annual Spam Jam Waikiki 2009 on April 25th.

Oh yeah....one more thing - NO, I did not partake of any SPAM while in Hawaii! Been there done that - YUCK!

Pineapples, hiking and worship

I have been here in Hawaii for four days. Everyone is resting right now (Sunday afternoon nap) so I thought I would take a few minutes to update my blog as to what I have been doing the last four days.

My first full day here we started out early dropping Allan off at school and then Felicia drove me around the entire island (I think - I really can't remember at the moment if we did in fact go around the whole island or not and she is asleep so I can't ask her.) I loved all the varieties of trees and foliage I saw. It is absolutely beautiful here!
Will and Felicia and the boys climbed this moutain - it is 1000 feet up by way of stairs!! They did this 6 weeks after Shawn was born. You can just barely make out the trail in this picture. Oh my goodness...NO WAY!

Sweet little Shawn just rides along in the pack on Will or Felicia's chest when they do all their weekend hikes.
So many pretty pictures to take...
This reminds me of Brazil - all the houses stacked on top of one another. It is really funny because there are lots of similarities between Brazil and Hawaii.Nathan and I
The 2nd day we went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Felicia and I shared this pineapple split..
Have you ever seen one of these trees? A Gum tree - they are so colorful and beautiful. I have never seen a Gum tree before.
Yesterday we hiked to the summit of Diamond Head crater. It was a long steep climb. The boys were real troopers!

The view from the top was amazing! Me and Felicia were exhausted by the time we reached the summit - me from being out of shape and her from carrying Shawn on her chest in a pack! lolOne set of steps (out of 3) we had to climb. We are coming back down in this picture...Allan is in front of Will who is carrying Shawn in the pack.Waikiki in the background....from the very top of the crater.
The boys and I at the top.