What A Week!

We did a lot this week: 

Monday I had an interview at the Honolulu Club for a receptionist position. John was kind and drove us to town. We decided to rent a rental car for Monday and Tuesday since Zach also had an interview on Tuesday on the opposite side of the island. It was kind of funny when John dropped me off for my interview he said he use to be a member of the Honolulu Club and that it was a hoity-toity kind of place and that he could see me working there. 

I think the interview went well and I actually got a call back for a third interview on Monday (I had a phone interview before she asked me to come in and interview in person), now I just have to pass the typing test. Anyway after my interview Zach picked me up in our rental and we decided to hit the island. We’ve been trying our best to watch our spending, since we aren’t making any money at the moment but we thought it was okay to splurge this week since Thursday was Zach’s birthday so the rental car and tour of the island was his birthday celebration. He wanted Wahoos fish tacos so that was our first stop then we drove up towards the North Shore and of course we had to stop for Matsumoto’s Shaved Ice in Haleiwa, they were so good. Then we ventured on to Waimea Bay where we sat and watched the waves and continued to eat our snow cones. Then we stopped at Pipeline to watch the sunset. After that we continued on our drive along the coast and even stopped at Turtle Bay Resort to look around, it was fun to see where they filmed the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. We love the North Shore, I wish we could live there…maybe one day. 

 Our adventure to the North Shore

On Tuesday we got up and did some work around the farm then drove to Kapolei for Zach’s interview at Costco. We drove around the area and checked it out but we weren’t too impressed, it was more desert-y and not much around the area. After that we returned the rental car and caught a bus back to Waimanalo. We are really starting to understand the lay out of the island. 

On Thursday for Zach’s birthday we walked to McDonald’s to get ice cream cones and then headed to the beach. What’s better than spending your birthday at the beach?

 Happy 27!

 

 

 

Another part of Zach's birthday playing with FIRE!

 Last night John took us on a full moon hike up Makapu’u point, which is the easternmost point on the island. The night and view was beautiful. 

 We are truly blessed to be able to have these experiences.

10 Days Down

We were talking the other night about how much more comfortable we feel on the farm. We wake up between 6:30 and 7:00 am every day and usually to the sound of rain or the birds chirping. We go up to the main house to fix breakfast and to do our chores then usually Zach and I go with John to help take care of the baby catfish. Here’s a little video. 

The whole catfish process takes about an hour then we head back to the farm to begin our day’s work. All the garden beds now have cinders put in them, now we are working on breaking down and washing bio-char (basically it’s charred chopped wood that may or may not be beneficial to plant growth). I began the bio-char work yesterday and let’s just say, I was filthy by the end of it. 

We both enjoy doing work, it’s good to feel productive and we love the food that is cooked and served here. We love taking breaks and going to the beach and we love the beauty that surrounds us. For me personally, I’m looking forward to cleaner feet and having our own space. 

The other day we spent the day in town looking at apartments, that whole process is interesting. We are realizing we have to have jobs first before we’ll be approved for an apartment so we’ve also been applying to lots of jobs; fortunately, we both have interviews this week…fingers crossed!! 

We are definitely learning a lot along the way…patience being the most important lesson so far. We are grateful for the set up we have right now, I don’t know how we would have gone about moving to Hawaii without the help of living and working on this farm. We are grateful for the support of each other (I am especially grateful for Zach’s attitude when I let frustrations get the best of me) and we are entirely grateful for the support and love of our friends and family. We know things will fall into place eventually. 

Until next time…

Our evening watching the sunset in Waikiki

And So It Begins...

For those of you who don’t know Zach and I are on this Hawaiian adventure together. It’s been 6 days so far since we landed in beautiful Oahu and started living in a tent. It’s been interesting for sure. For me I feel like this is Peace Corps part 2 and for Zach this is “exciting”. It took us a couple of days to feel comfortable here on the farm but I think we are finally settling in. John, the owner, is very helpful, kind, and full of knowledge, I think we got pretty lucky with the farm. The farm is still a start-up farm so we’ve mostly been working on getting the garden beds ready for planting seeds. Every morning we have chores to complete, mostly watering the WWOOFer garden and other plants and feeding the fish. The workload hasn’t been a lot to be honest; so far we’ve moved wood and pallet piles, Zach dug a small ditch, which he learned he doesn’t want to be a ditch digger, I helped John staple lining to one of the garden beds, John taught us how to feed and clean the tanks for baby catfish, he also taught us about Black Solider Flies and how to grow them to feed the chickens. The main project has been washing cinder (volcanic rock that is rich in nutrients and supposedly very helpful for plant growth). The process is scooping the cinder half way into a 3 gallon bucket with holes drilled out on the bottom then dunking and rinsing it in a large garbage bin full of water. After the cinder has been rinsed a few times then it’s dumped into the garden bed. There are eight 30ft. long garden beds and it takes about 2 hours to fill one garden bed with cinder. John is kind enough having us do one garden bed a day. 

We’ve been eating really well, one of the girls is the main cook and she cooks really good, healthy food. It’s nice we all eat together and they are overly generous with food. 

Living in a tent has actually been kind of fun. Our tent is located down a ledge from the farm so we are farther away from the main house. We have an air mattress to sleep on, which we are grateful for. However, we are finding out that we want our own place and are actively searching for an apartment. We have been to the beach every day so far and we love that! The beach is about 2 miles away and it’s beautiful and during the week it’s pretty empty. 

We traveled into Waikiki on Sunday to explore the city and kind of get a feel for the area. It’s very touristy and we figure we could probably get jobs pretty easily downtown. 

All in all we are doing well and are happy to be in Hawaii. 

It’s been a fun and educational first week so far. 

The garden beds looking out from the main house

The main house

Home sweet home

{I know from this picture our tent looks uneven but it's actually pretty level}

Waimanalo Beach, less than 2 miles away from the farm

It's so pretty here!

Hawaii x's 4

I have been to Hawaii 4 times and 3 of those times were to visit my grandma Sonia.

The first time I went I was 2 years old. I don't remember that trip but I love looking at the pictures. I look like I belong in Hawaii!

My grandma and me on the Big Island

 

Grandma, me, and mom

I was born ready for Hawaii

Me and dad, I love this picture!

The second time I went I was 7 years old and papa took me to see grandma, Aunt Cola, and Dana.

I do remember that trip.

I remember only wanting to eat rice, shrimp, and ice cream.

I remember grandma braiding my hair every night.

I remember Dana and I setting up a bird trap and catching a bird.

And I remember going out on a fishing boat and getting so sea sick. 

Dana and me with the fish we caught.

The third time I went was a couple years later with mom and Amie.

I remember the airplane ride.

I remember swimming in the warm ocean.

I remember going on a little hike.

I remember it raining a lot.

And I remember being so afraid of homeless people 

{there's actually a pretty embarrassing story from this trip involving me freaking out in a restaurant}

Hawaii has a lot of rainbows

Me and my little sissy. 

The 4th and last time I was in Hawaii was with Andrea when we were 15 years old.

We went to visit her sister who was going to BYU.

It was my first time going to the island of Oahu and we did and saw so much.

We went to Pearl Harbor.

We went to the North Shore and got Matsomoto shaved ice. 

We ate shrip from a shrimp truck.

We went to the Dole Plantation and to the Polynesian Culture Center. 

We hiked and jumped off the Waimea falls.

And we went snorkeling. 

It was a very fun trip. 

At the Polynesian Culture Center

And now, in less than 2 weeks I'll be going to Hawaii again, this time to live! 

I'm so excited for this new adventure!! 

Reunited At Last

Last week I flew to Florida to reunite with 3 amazing girls + Kellen!

We had SUCH A GREAT TIME!!!

It felt like no time had passed between us...we picked up right where we left off in Guyana, only this time we were in sunny, beautiful Destin, FL. 

The minute I spotted them at the airport I was rolling with laughter and it didn't stop for 3 whole days.

This is how we began our reunion...

they greeted me at the airport wearing these amazing mustaches and when they were close enough to hug me they slapped one on me. 

Let me just tell you, the small airport was full of laughter and many stares.

Heather rented us a condo near the beach, which was nice and we spent our hours laughing & chatting and laughing some more.

We decided to have ourselves a little photo shoot on the beach, it was very fun & funny!

We used a tripod and point and shoot camera, who needs a professional anyways?

Of course we had to get a little silly and sport our mustaches.

We went to dinner at the Back Porch where Kellen works, it was fun to surprise and see him.

We ordered gator kabobs & seafood nachos, they were delicious.

One evening we went to a little free concert at a park

& our last night all together we went out to a piano bar.

The time flew by but in a short amount of time we created even more amazing memories!

I seriously love these girls and I'm so thankful we were able to reunite!!!

Leighton Girl, Becky Boo, HB, & Sara Sue 

Why mustache we be so cool?

2011 Tobabgo (where it all began)
2012 Destin, Florida
2013 Oahu, Hawaii

Following A Dream

In exactly one month I'll be embarking on a new, life long dream adventure! For those of you who know me, you know I've dreamed and talked about moving to Hawaii since I was 15 years old. Well, that dream is finally coming true!! I am beginning this adventure by taking part in the organization World Wide Opportunity on Organic Farms (WWOOF), basically I'll be working on an organic farm. I won't be making any money but I get a place to live and food. I think it will be a good way to start out in Hawaii and I'm excited to learn about organic farming.
Here's a description of the farm: The farm is called Nalolicious and is on Oahu about 13 miles north of Honolulu.

This is some of the most beautiful land in all Hawaii, with dramatic cliffs behind and miles of white sand beach with gentle surf nearby. The climate is warm and relatively dry with rare downpours. We are a 3-acre startup aquaponics operation set just below the dramatic cliffs of Waimanalo. Our crops are diverse and totally organic. We're starting with the basics: kale, lettuce, watercress etc. and experimenting with more exotic stuff as we build out our system. Our fish include tilapia and catfish for now, with other species coming soon. We're employing cutting edge strategies, including biochar in our grow beds and black soldier fly larvae for feed. Our goal is to produce the tastiest crops in the most sustainable manner possible.

Accommodations are rustic but liveable, the food is good and there is a beautiful beach about a mile away. Hours may vary but are essentially 4 hours/day, 5 days/week. At the moment we are building out our system so this is a great learning opportunity for anybody interested in learning how to set up an aquaponics system from scratch. We also have chickens (both eggs and meat birds) and black soldier flies (for feed) to maintain and are adding rabbits (we have 1 at the moment but she's a pet). Oh, and a milk goat is on the horizon. There's lots to learn about here. 

My goal while working on the farm is to try and find a job and an apartment, hopefully I'll be on the farm for a month or two and then get settled into my own island living. Its going to be quite the adventure and experience and I'm very excited!!  It feels surreal that this dream of mine is actually coming true...I truly believe we should live our lives the way we want to and do the things in life that makes us happy! 

 I'll admit I'm scared but VERY excited.

Moab Adventure

I traveled to Moab to see my friends Princess and Peter. 

 A little back story first:

Peter is from England, he specializes in IT work in developing countries 

and has lived in Guyana on and off for a few years. 

He worked in Iraq and sadly was held hostage for 2 years. 

His story is amazing.

For years he has been planning a road trip, 

visiting every state in the U.S. via motorcycle.

Princess expressed interest in his travel plans 

and so they set off on their amazing adventure 2 months ago starting in Kentucky.

When she told me she was going to be in Moab last week 

there was no doubt I'd be there to meet them.

They rented a cabin at the KOA and it was really nice. 

They also rented a jeep to go off roading in. 

Long story short we got the jeep stuck in the sand because we went down the wrong road.

Luckily, the road wasn't far from the highway so we walked out on the road and flagged down a park maintenance worker.

 He was more than willing to help us out and drove his truck down the road...

he got stuck.

He called his boss, who came to get him unstuck.

But our jeep was further down the road so they told us we'd have to call a tow truck.

The maintenance guy was super helpful and drove us to the gas station where we called a tow truck then he drove us back to the spot where the jeep was stuck and waited with us. 

The tow truck arrived and Peter was pretty sure this was going to cost him a pretty penny.

The tow truck also ended up getting stuck but he was able to get the jeep unstuck. 

Then he used the jeep to try and get his truck unstuck...

that didn't work and his truck ended up dying. 

He was embarrassed and left his truck.

Then he offered to drive us down the right off road (Long Canyon)

we said sure!

We were stuck in the sand for 6 hours and it was quite the adventure. 

The tow truck guy was able to use my AAA card and he didn't charge us a thing.

We were so grateful and surprised with how this ordeal turned out.

Everyone was so nice and helpful

and we were left with quite the story to tell. 

Princess's goal was to see the Delicate Arch so the next morning we woke up early and hiked to the arch. It was a little overcast and not too hot. I loved seeing the arch again. 

But most of all I loved seeing Princess and Peter!

I wish them the best of luck on the rest of the road trip and I hope I get to see them again.

Digging out the maintenance truck

We are stuck!

Princess & Me

Princess & Peter

Love the arch! 

The crazy but amazing road tripers!