Secret 3 of 100

3:100 thumbs up

I hitch-hiked on the North Shore of Hawaii. It was an unpleasant experience and not one that I would suggest anyone try. First, you never know who's going to stop. It could be a total stinker of a person...and then what? You have to share a small vehicular space with someone that smells so bad your nose hairs singe. Pee-You! I'm not saying that happened to me. It was the opposite in fact. A super nice man picked up me and my friends, and then drove us to where we were going...somewhere he actually worked. He took us right back to BYU-Hawaii. He told us that we should be safer and just pay the .75 cents to ride the bus. (Yeah, I'm cheap.) But he also explained to us the dangers. And he said enough to scare me witless. So no more thumbing a ride for me.

But that never stopped me from using a buddy pass.

Mark and I used a buddy pass to head over to Hawaii for my Grandma's funeral and an awesome wedding shoot. Unfortunately last night when we went to the airport and saw the backed up system of people trying to fly standby, we realized we couldn't buddy pass it back to Utah. So with a lot of prayer we were able to find an affordable one-way ticket home. So good bye Hawaii...we'll see when we venture into the buddy pass world again.

Aloha, erin

mariko's cupcakes.

Have you noticed how long it's been since I've posted? Yeah, sorry about that. I had a wee bit of an emo-mental break down caused by frantic editing leading up to a whirlwind trip to the motherland (a.k.a. Hawaii). All of which caused a serious blockage in my brain. For the last two weeks I've been mumbling nonsense and downing Diet Coke like it's the new water. Um...it is the new water, right?
Regardless, it all boils down to no pictures or posts for you.

But now I'm back. And back in sweet style.

Today I was at church. I saw a girl. Not just any girl, but one that I've secretly loathed because of my insane jealousy issues. She is smart, funny, pretty, and uber-talented in the food blogging world. Oh, and she's a mom of two perfectly amazing children. Grrr...just thinking of her makes my blood boil.
What was this post about again? I'm having a hard time seeing through the red haze.
Oh right, Mariko's cupcakes.

So I saw this girl. Mariko is her name. And she said to me, "Hey, show me how to shoot some sweet-as food." (She didn't really say those exact words, but I can't be bothered to write the truth right now because it's tedious and lengthy. I'm sure it went more like, "How are you, Erin?" And I responded with, "Fine. Just fine. How's your friggin' awesome kids?...Oh, perfect as always...Yeah, and you're still smart...great. That's really great...".)
After a short chat she asked if I would come demonstrate how I shoot food. And frankly I was jumping for joy inside. Is there really something I can show her? Holla' ya'll. I said, "Sure. Make some cupcakes and I'll come over." (I'm pretty sure that's what I really did say.) And voila! She made them. I went over. And I shot her.

I mean, I shot her cupcakes.

Here's Mariko's yummy cupcakes coming straight to you from the motherland of Hawaii!

Aloha, erin.

"Eh Daddy, Catch the Crook!"

When Alecia and I stepped off the plane straight into the sweltering humid heat of Hilo Bay, I looked right at her and said, "I can't wait for you to meet my grampa (that is no typo...and to this day I still call him grampa instead of grandpa). Within minutes of maneuvering our way around first-time-to-the-islands dazed tourists, I saw my grampa standing just outside the shoebox sized terminal waiting with my grandma by his side--two pint-sized brown skinned islanders next to their rusted, blue boat of a vehicle.

Sigh. Stepping off that plane always made a part of me feel as though I'd arrived home. Grampa rushed forward and grasped at our luggage despite his foot shorter than me height. I distinctly remember how small he'd seemed then, instead of the great quiet man I once saw him as.

We piled into the mildew and plumeria scented car and drove along the volcanic black airport road, headed toward Hilo town. Grandma was so proud to have me and Alecia, two high school seniors, staying with her. She chatted merrily the entire ride...though I suspect from the darting glances I received from Alecia that my friend had no idea what Grandma's rich pidgin meant. To celebrate our arrival they filled our bellies at the "so Ono" Chinese restaurant just around the corner from Pennys while grandma asked question after question about our lives on the mainland. Eventually the food grew cold and our bellies extended far beyond a normal meal's filling. We loaded back into grampa's car and pulled out of the parking lot, headed to their home in Papaiko.

For the late afternoon, traffic had increased with drivers wanting to get home. Grampa waited and waited with one foot on the gas pedal and one foot firmly held on the brake. Each time there appeared to be a small gap in traffic, we all lurched forward from grampa's right foot slamming on the gas. And then flew back when grampa's left foot decided there wasn't enough time to make it across the busy road.

When grandma decided we'd waited long enough, she turned to Grampa. "Eh Daddy," she hollered (probably because her hearing wasn't the best) in a thick island pidgin, "Catch the Crook already!" To this, Alecia and I erupted in a fit of giggles.

Grampa died 10 years ago today. And though I know I will see him again, I cant help but miss his quiet ways, soft spoken voice, and loving generosity. I am lucky that my own dad is much like Grampa, so when I speak of him, my boys will have a sense of the great man my grampa was. I love you Grampa and look forward to spending time with you again.

The Problem with moving...

...is you meet such wonderful people and then you have to say goodbye, and not just, "goodbye, I will see you later," but "goodbye, we might never see each other again and hang out like we used to." In that sense, it is almost like part of you dies when you move away. Eventhough when I loved living in Hawaii, I often felt sad like part of me was missing...part of me left in Utah. But now that we live here in Utah, I feel that same loss for Hawaii. I feel almost incomplete without my daily dealings with the beauty there, the rich culture, and especially my dear friends. When I lived in Hawaii I came across many awe-inspiring and unique individuals, and people that I feel as close to as family. This is my blog today to let you all know, that even though it is freezing-butt cold here in Utah and I miss the welcoming sun of Hawaii, I miss you all more! This next picture is my favorte shot of Miss Carol...such a funny funny lady...and very flexible!
Jackie, the beauty in red and white stripes will always be remebered by my boys for teaching them that "broccoli gives you stinky farts!"There is no better picture that could capture my bro-in-law: JASE!Rachel...my sister who stole my sweet baby girls from me and is raising them as her own...hahaha

Picture Perfect

I recently acquired a wonderful tool for taking seemingly better pictures. Since we will be leaving Hawaii very soon, I decided to put this acquisition to the test at my friend Dolly's home. Her home is a sancutary of Hawaiian foilage. Here are some of my most favorite flowers, plumerias and other scenery shots of Hawaii.

The purpose of this blog

I haven't blogged for quite sometime because, as my friends call it, I have been in hibernation mode. We have been blessed to be busy with the end of the school year, George's kindergarten graduation, sight-seeing visitors, youth activities and cheap, CHEAP, cheap inter-island tickets. So if you are wondering why I haven't returned many phone calls or replied to e-mails, those are just some of the reasons. This past weekend, we took a trip to the island of Kauai! I love that each of the Hawaiian islands are unique, so by just taking a short 25 minute plane ride to another island feels like I am in a different state. We went to Kauai with my cousin and his little family. Together, we all hiked past Hanalei to see the beautiful, untouched Na Pali Coast. This coast is remote with no vehicle access, so they only way to view it is by boat, helicopter or on foot. There are waterfalls and caves around every other bend. The complete hike is 11 miles each way, but we only went 1 mile to the first look out. The scenery was surreal. We stoped, caught our breath and took lots of pictures. My other favorite site was Waimea Canyon. They call it the grand canyon of the pacific. From what I remember of the grand canyon (we visited it when I was about 10), the Waimea Canyon is very similar but with a tropical feel. While we were there we saw a Ne Ne goose (Native Hawaiian bird) and a mountian goat. If you ever have the chance to visit Kauai, you definitely should take it!
George and Henry hand no problem hiking through the lush Na Pali Coast, but I dont think I will do it wearing slippers next time.

What could really be more beautiful? There is something so fulfilling about being surrounded by this beauty, why would anyone ever give this up?

Yes, this is the purpose of this blog. We will not be giving this up. The likelihood that we will be moving to Utah in the fall is at approximately 6% and the chance that we will stay in Hawaii is 94%. I will update the statistics as they change.

Visitors and Sight Seeing

Over the last month and for the next few weeks, we have had visitors. Since our visitors want to see the sights, we have been able to see more and more of Hawaii. Mark's mission buddy and his wife came to visit the day after my sister left and then the last day that they were here, my friend from my BYU days came to visit.
This picture is taken just outside our backdoor. The tide was really low and the beach was so calm, so we took the kids out first thing in the morning.
oops! I thought I rotated these pictures, but I guess I didn't do it right. The little mommy play group that Henry and I go to took a hike to Wiamea waterfalls. Since the mommy group was going, I thought it would be a great time for my friend, Diana, to see the sights.
One unexpected sight we saw was this crazy peacock that walked right up to the visitors center and poked his head around.

Rat-too-tee means RAT

When you come to Hawaii, we will be sure to take you all around and show you all the lovely sights. Among the beauty of Hawaii you will also have a chance to see Hawaii's stunning wildlife, take for example the rat in the above picture.

My sister Leslie arrived yesterday from Washington state to visit for a week. As we drove from the airport she commented on the lush green fertile landscape and the bright blue of where the sky meets the ocean. I promised to take her to see the sea turtles (as mentioned in my previous post) and the humpback whales. Think how surprised we were this morning to find out that we could also add rat to the list of exciting wildlife to see. Yes, it is sad that there are rats that infest this land and sneak into my home, but what a great "hawaiian" experience for my sister Leslie. I promise all who visit me that I will try to share with them the real Hawaii that we have grown to love!
Here is Mark the Rat Hunter. For many moons he has fret over this persistant, oatmeal eating creature. Since he ate through the container that held Mark's special "Coach's Oats Cracked Oatmeal", Mark has vowed to get revenge! Look who the winner is now! That will teach you mister Rat!!! SUMMERILLS ARE WINNERS!

Honu means Turtle

Since we moved here almost 2 years ago, I have been offering our home to friends and family to stay at, but sadly the only people who have been able to take us up on that offer have been my parents and Mark's mission buddy, Josh and his wife. We were so excited when are PG, settlers-playing buddies, told us they were coming for a week. The Hales came last week Wednesday and left this evening. While they were here I took them all over the island, from Makapu light house to Haleiwa for shave ice. In fact, we were lucky to see humpback whales on Saturday and then giant Honu (sea turtles) today. It turned out to be perfect. Today for their last day in Hawaii I drove them out to Lanis (or turtle beach). This beach is popular because the Honu love to sun bathe on its shore. After a yummy breakfast of portuguese sausage and eggs at Hukilau Cafe, we drove to lanis just in time to see 5 or 6 Honu playing in the waves. After we watched them for about 10 minutes one of the turtles bobbed his way onto the shore and slowly crawled up on the sand. After he came out, another turtle followed in his path. It was great to watch the beautiful turtles make their way out of the ocean and onto the beach. Wish you could be there too....ahh, I sure do love living in Hawaii.

This guy was pretty big. Henry had a great time watching him crawl up on shore, and since he was so slow, we had some fun photo opps!
Here is me and Haley at Makapu light house look out. We spent the morning hiking up and we were both pretty tired at the end. From the lookout we could see Molokai and a group of Humpback whales doing pectoral fin slaps on the water.
I couldn't resist a picture of the turtle butt! If you are feeling saggy and overcome with cellulite, just imagine, it could be worse. This guy needs to do some serious butt crunches.