New Background

Being in beautiful Hawaii, I don't feel like we have much to complain about, but everybody has been telling me how amazing the fall and changing of the leaves is this year in New England.  Since we don't get fall really, unless you consider more rain than normal average, fall, I decided to change the background so something in my life resembles the change.

As a side note, our stuff arrives tomorrow!  YEAH!  I am also beginning to paint.  As soon as it is all done and the house is complete I will put up pictures of the complete product.  

Another post coming soon: Things you should know about Hawaii. (may take a few days since I will be busy unpacking.)

Aloha!

Poi

Poi (also known as taro) is this interesting purple substance Gil and I learned about during our honeymoon.  It is a staple food in the Polynesian culture.  Apparently it can be eaten just as a paste or liquid but we had it in the wonderful form of pancakes.  

I researched it to find out what it is and it is basically the root of a plant that they cook down to form a paste.  The fresher it is the sweeter it is; the longer it sits the more sour it becomes.  It is still edible as it gets more sour but they switch its use.  If it is sweet they just each it straight (or mix it with milk and or sugar); if it is more sour they will use it with salted fish.  

We never had it in a liquid form but it does make amazing pancakes and dinner roles.  It adds such a sweet touch to the bread and pancakes (it also adds a wonderful purple tint.)  

There are many places online to buy a poi (taro) pancake mix if you want to give them a try.  (www.tropicislemusic.com/food/poi3.htm)

Here is a good website if you want to learn a little bit more about poi:

www.paradisecovehawaii.com/FunFacts/poi.com

Dolphins and Sea Turtles and Sting Rays, Oh My!

Gil and I just got back from our honeymoon and I have so much to tell you. We spent a week in Waikiki/Honolulu. Our hotel was amazing. It looked right out onto the ocean.

We spent the whole week doing all the touristy things as I said in the last post. We first did a submarine dive to see the coral and sea life. The university have been working really hard to develop and grow the life down under. We got to see a bunch of different fish and I even spotted a sting ray. I was really hoping to see a sea turtle but they said the current was too strong. At the very end of the tour the guide did spot one but he had been hiding when we passed by it.

On Friday we saw Cirque Hawaii. At first it seemed like it was going to be a little cheesy but it turned out to be an amazing show. It was a very small production but definitly worth it. I can't imagine what the Vegas Cirque shows look like.

To top off the whole week, the one event I was ecstatic about, was our dolphin adventure, which was definitly worth every penny! We got into a pool with about 8 other people. We got to rub Dalia's ( the dolphin) back, belly and give her fin a little foot rub. I don't really know how describe what they feel like. The best I can do is soft, wet rubber. They took three pictures while we were in the pool we each got to have her kiss us on the cheek then we kissed them on the lips. The best part was when we went intothe deep end of the pool and Dalia swam by and we grabbed her fins and she swam us back to the group.

Below are both Gil and I kissing the dolphin.










We are now back on base and signing our lease for our house tomorrrow. We are hoping we will me able to move in on Tuesday. Wish us luck!

-- Post From My iPhone

Hawaii + Amanda + first 24 hours = SUNBURN

After spending a week visiting family we began our life together. (I don't know why it couldn't wait for a decent hour though.) We were up at 4 am and sitting in a cab by 4:30. After a short flight to D.C.,two 6 hour flights and a 6 hour time difference we finally landed in Honolulu, Hawaii.

We were car-less for only a day which was nice but we have been kitchen-less since we arrived on Saturday. Which means a lot of fast food, and it gets old fast.

Being car-less our first full day we decided to walk around base (for any of you that lived at SHAPE with us it isn't much bigger than that base.) Everything is very accessible. We walked to one of the many beaches on base then stopped by the PX (military version of Target) and Commissary (military grocery store.) By the time we got back to the hotel we had been out for over 2 hours. Of course I wasn't thinking when we left and forgot to put sunscreen on, so if you imagine a lobster, that is what I looked like. To make it worse it wasn't an even sunburn, it was just my arms and neck! I won't make that mistake again.





This is one of our beaches on base.

On Monday we got down to business and checked Gil in and also checked into housing. The previous day we had seen a lot of the housing. Some were beautiful, brand new houses with solar panels while others look as if they were built in the 1950's without central air. Of course I was really hoping the newer homes were for us but they weren't. Once we got to see inside, it wasn't bad at all, plus we got a 3 bedroom.

On Tuesday we packed up our things and got ready for our honeymoon. We also scheduled a bunch of activities for our honeymoon that I am VERY excited about!

First we will be going on a submarine ride over 100 feet under water and they say the path of the sub is frequented by sea turtles and sharks! That night we will be going on a sunset dinner cruise. Friday night we get to have the unique experience of seeing Cirque Hawaii which is apparently the number 1 show in Hawaii. To top it all off on Saturday we will go swimming with dolphins! After the dolphin adventure they take us to go feed sea lions. In between all of these things we plan to enjoy the very uncrowded beach we see out of our bedroom window.








There was a rainbow over Honolulu this morning. (Sorry for the picture being upside down I will try to fix it.)



There will be more posts and hopefully more pictures to come, probably next week.

Aloha!




-- Post From My iPhone