"Hawaii - Part 2"

As I mentioned in my previous post about our fabulous trip to Hawaii, July is a rough month for us. Jim is gone all but 5 days of the month between mission trips and youth camp, and I am working a lot of extra days in between there. You might ask, how has it been going so far? Somebody told me the other day that "absence makes the heart grow fonder"... but it's making me skinny and exhausted! Yes, my husband is the one who is responsible for making sure I eat and sleep, thus why I've lost five pounds since he left and I'm up blogging at 2:00 AM. I am so thankful for my Jim!

OK, enough with the "downer" part of this blog entry... here's what you really wanted: the rest of our Hawaii pictures. Enjoy!

We visited Waimea Valley, which is a nature preserve you can hike in. I was able to capture a shot of a fascinating creature in his "natural habitat"! Isn't he cute?

We hiked Diamond Head Crater on perhaps the most humid day in Hawaii. Between that, the hot sun, and the billion other sweaty people on the narrow steep trail, it wasn't the most fun time I ever had. The view was spectacular though!

I found another house for Jim and I to live in... we wish! The next pictures are from our trip to Lanakai, rated one of the top 10 beaches in the world. I wish we could have stayed there forever! The water was perfect, the sand felt like powdered sugar beneath our feet, and it was surprisingly not crowded (unlike Waikiki).

I was trying to capture how magnificent the sand was at Lanakai. Instead, I got a great shot of how torn up my feet were from wearing $4.00 sandals from Target the whole trip. Ouch!

I just had to get a picture of these two on the water. Hilarious!

One of the last things we did was head out to Kualoa Ranch for a day of adventure. This ranch is 250-acres of beautiful scenery used as the backdrop for many movies and television shows.

There was a fake horse on the property... which was funny because it was located 50 feet from the real horses you could ride. The Japanese tourists LOVED the fake horse! Jim must have snapped a dozen pictures for people in front of the fake horse. I figured I need a picture in front of the fake horse as well!

Here's us on a catamaran ride around the beach that "Lost" is filmed on. We loved the catamaran ride! The ocean was very choppy that morning, and Jim and I held on to the front of the boat and let the ocean waves spray in our face.

This is a shot of that famous beach! We also couldn't resist getting a picture in front of the catamaran.

We also took an ATV ride around the property. It was beautiful and we had so much fun!

Here's a list of the movies and television shows filmed at the ranch. We thought it was neat to see this setting in person!

We loved our trip to Hawaii, but most of all, we loved the time spent together. Each year we've been together seems to be busier than the last, and we have learned to treasure those uninterrupted times together because they have become fewer and father between. Our time in Hawaii allowed us to reconnect and refresh, and we've decided to continue this tradition in years to come.

Jim and I have experienced a lot in our first 2.5 years. We've been through nursing school, unemployment, financial difficulties, disappointments and heartache. Not only have we survived, we have grown closer and more in love. I could not imagine a better beginning to our marriage. Here's to the rest of our life together!

I must visit this place before I die:

Idaho Fry Company.

I like the way they think.

June 2009 (+ 1 day in May)

It's been a long time since I have posted any updates, and I apologize for that. Jim and I have both been swamped at work, and there hasn't been much to post. As you know from the last few posts, my job has been particularly eventful. Fortunately, every situation has ended well and I have learned a lot.

Three months ago, Jim and I were comparing our calendars through September and we realized we are REALLY busy. How busy? Let's take July, for example. Not only is it my least favorite month (see previous years' posts), but this one in particular requires Jim to be out of town all except five days. Which means I will see my husband for five days in the whole month of July. If you remember my posts from Jim's trip in January, you'll know I'm not looking forward to it!

Every year since we've been together we have taken a big trip in the summer-time. Jim took me to Lake Chelan right after we started dating, and last year we went to Florida and the Oregon Coast. I'm not sure where the idea for this year's vacation began, but somehow we ended up at our Hawaii trip. Jim's been to Hawaii twice before, but I have never been and have always wanted to go. I'm certain we looked at our busy schedules, looked at our bank account, realized we have no kids and no mortgage currently, and decided to go to Hawaii. After all, why not?

We planned a trip to Hawaii for nine days. We chose to go to the island of O'ahu, even though Jim had already been there twice, because it is the island with the most activities and Jim already knew what to do and what to avoid.

June is a big month for us. We began dating four years ago in June. Both mine and my mother-in-law's birthdays are in June. Jim and I scheduled our Hawaii trip to coincide with both the anniversary of when we began dating and my birthday, and we found creative ways to celebrate those occasions there.

Our vacation in Hawaii was a wonderful, relaxing time for us. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery, experienced many things, and ate delicious food. Most of all, we LOVED having nine uninterrupted days with each other, something Jim and I have not done since our honeymoon. This trip reminded us how important that time together is. With our busy schedules, we've allowed our marriage to take the back burner often, and this vacation confirmed to us the importance of taking time for just us, a tradition we plan to continue for the rest of our marriage.

I have to admit I was not a good photographer on this trip, and I apologize if you are disappointed. Jim and I were too busy enjoying each other and Hawaii apparently! Here are a few pictures from our trip, plus one day in May.

This first picture is us at Ryan and Melany's gorgeous (and HOT!) wedding on May 30.

Here starts our pictures from Hawaii! We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village at Waikiki. This is a picture of the tower we stayed in, the famous "Rainbow Tower". The mural on the side is the world's largest mural coming in at 226 feet tall and using over 8,000 hand-painted tiles.

This was the view from our room. When we arrived, we found out the room we had booked was unavailable, so they upgraded us to this "Deluxe Ocean view" room.

Here's us on the beach, right outside our hotel!

Jim LOVES the ocean! The next picture I snapped is of a wedding on the beach. We learned that the Hilton averages 2-3 weddings a day.

Here are some pictures from Pearl Harbor. This first picture is of an aircraft carrier docked in the harbor. Here's the memorial, which lays directly over the sunken USS Arizona.

Here is one of the gun turrets of the USS Arizona.

The USS Arizona was sunk with an estimated 150,000 tons of oil on board, and today they believe there is still 40,000 tons of oil on the ship. It is constantly slowly leaking out. The Navy has been ordered to deal with the oil issue, but refuses to touch the ship. The locals say the oil is the blood of the 1,500 who died when the USS Arizona sank.

This is us in front of the old courthouse building in Honolulu. The statue in front is of King Kamehameha the Great, who conquered and unified each of the Hawaiian islands. His birthday is celebrated every year in June across each of the Hawaiian islands. We were able to see a parade through Waikiki in his honor on June 13.


This is us in front of our new house! (OK, so maybe not... it's actually the last and only royal palace in the United States)


That night we took a sunset dinner cruise. We had such a great time!

This is a view of the sunset we saw on the cruise. I have to admit, Hawaiian sunsets are nice but do not hold a candle to Tri-City sunsets!

Look Ron Burgundy, we found diversity! (Note: this will only make sense to you if you've watched Anchorman)Here is a picture from the Luau we went to. The entertainment was good, but the food was awful.We took a day and went to the North Shore. On our way, we stopped at the Dole Plantation for some Pineapple ice cream!

Do you recognize these pineapples?

That's it for now! We have ~360 pictures from Hawaii that I am still trying to wade through while working and catching up at home. I will get "Hawaii Part 2" up soon!

Untitled (Written 4/29/09)

This past Sunday was my normal weekend at work, but I was put on-call and allowed to go to church. Which is something that has never happened to me in the four years I've been working there.

I should have known there was a reason God wanted me to hear the message Sunday. I just wish the personal application piece could have been avoided.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, we've been going through a series at church on the theology of suffering focusing on David's life. This past Sunday we looked at some very difficult questions involving suffering. One of the points that really stood out to me during the sermon was how suffering allows us to know God more fully. If we never were without, we would not know God as our provider. If we never needed comfort, we would not know God as our comforter. So on and so forth.

I believe I have the awesome privilege of being used by God in my profession to both help bring life into the world and prolong life from leaving the world. In my experience with death, it often felt to me as if I had no part in helping God, but that I was simply able to witness and be reminded once again that God is in control.

I think now the better description for what I do could be termed "wrestling with God".

Jacob wrestled with God. The deceiving con-artist went up against God and won, taking only the small souvenir of a dislocated hip. And he was rewarded with a new name and being the father of God's chosen people.

Yesterday I wrestled with God and a life hangs in the balance.

In my profession, loss of life in unexpected. I witness again and again life being brought forth, new life being born. When life is suddenly lost, or even expectantly lost, it is a tragedy. But even as suffering allows us to know God more fully, loss of life allows us to appreciate life more. And infinitely more when you are allowed to be a part of the loss.

How can we truly value the preciousness of life if we have not been directly impacted by its loss? How can we expect others to value life as we do, if they themselves have not experienced loss?

Yesterday I was reminded, yet again, of how fragile and precious life is, and how God is always in control. Even when I think I can, like Jacob, win.

Worthy are YOU, O Lord.

"Organic" is a grocery term meaning "twice as expensive".

And "Gluten-free" means "three times as expensive".

This new diet is wrecking my grocery budget. I'm feeling very guilty after my adventures in the grocery store today. Darn that Dave Ramsey; he's taken all the pleasure of shopping away from me!

My new goal is to figure out how I can feed Jim and I organically and gluten-free AND stay within my grocery budget. Can it be done? We'll see!

I'm hoping it can be done. Otherwise Jim and I will be getting even skinnier.

There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

That's what the wood plaque in my friend Jackie's kitchen says. I love that plaque because a) it's red (which is my favorite color) and b) it's been a good reminder for me, often when I need it the most. Kind of like the sermon this past Sunday.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my church is doing a read-through of the Bible chronologically in a year. Currently we are working our way through the life of David. One of the wonderful things about reading the Bible chronologically is that many of the Psalms David wrote are interdispersed through the readings of his life's events. It adds so much more meaning to the Psalms to know what was going on in David's life when he wrote them. Time and time again, we see David suffering, having multiple attempts on his life by the king, being exiled from his country and separated from his wife, family and best friend, being pursued by armies and captured by enemies... Well, you get the picture. Things were not good for David. Yet the Psalms written during these events poured out gratitude, praise and adoration to God. I loved how our pastor put it Sunday morning: what an amazing God David served, to inspire such love and adoration despite such suffering.

I have to admit by the end of the sermon Sunday I was feeling very ashamed. First of all, because instead of being right on target with my Bible reading, I'm still stuck in Numbers (who gets hung up in Numbers? Seriously!) . But mostly I felt ashamed because of my attitude these past few months.

One of the things I like most about this blog and hate most at the same is the vulnerability it causes. Every now and then I spill my guts on this thing and it's there for the whole world to see, whether it be good, bad, or just plain ugly. Lately my blog entries have been falling into the ugly category. Jim and I have both experienced some major changes over the past few months, and I have not been entirely pleased with all of them. OK, maybe that was an understatement. The point is, my "sufferings" are embarrassingly small in comparison with suffering like David faced and look how he reacted. I have spent the past few months grumbling and complaining to anyone who will listen, and David sang out psalm after psalm of gratitude and love to his God.

I am thankful to serve a God who is holy, perfect, and just. I am even more thankful that He loves me, and has chosen to reveal His truth to me. I am incredibly thankful that He loved me enough to sacrifice His perfect son as atonement for my sin. I am so thankful that even though I continue to sin, He sees me as blameless and pure.

I am thankful that God created my husband, and knit us perfectly together in His timing for His glory. I am thankful for a husband who loves God and places Him above all else. I am thankful that Jim gets the awesome privilege of serving God for his career. I am thankful that God has provided for us with two incomes that allow us to live far better than we deserve. I am thankful that God reveled His truth to us in the area of our finances, so we are able to manage those incomes for His glory. I am thankful that He continues to provide for us and bless us through the generosity of our family and friends.

I am thankful that God gave me such clarity as to how He wanted me to serve Him. I am thankful that sometimes He clouds my vision so that I have to keep searching for Him and His will. I am thankful that God has placed me in a profession that allows me to see Him so vividly in all that I do. I am thankful that He allows me to show a glimpse of His love and His tender mercy to my patients.

I am thankful that God has given me a body that is able. I am thankful for the good health I have had thus far. I am thankful for the poor health I have had, because it reminds me I must depend on Him.

I am thankful that my life is in His control, and that my world is in His control. I am thankful that God knows and wills all that has happened and will happen. I am thankful that I have a destiny beyond this world.

I am thankful for beautiful days, because I see God's majesty in His creation. I am thankful for less-than-beautiful days, because it reminds me that all things work together for my good and His glory.

I am thankful that God has given me knowledge, because it allows me to know and experience Him more fully. I am thankful that God has given me ability to love, because it allows me to know and experience Him more intimately. I am thankful that God has given me the ability to dream, because it reminds me that there is so much more than my small reality.

God, I thank You that there is ALWAYS something to be thankful for.

They just keep getting bigger and better...

I have to brag: I'm going to Hawaii for my 23rd birthday!

Jim just booked the tickets today for 9 days in Oahu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. We are so excited! Although, secretly I think Jim is just feeling guilty over all the sad posts that have been cropping up on my blog lately...

This will be the fifth birthday Jim and I have spent together. Here's a quick recap of how I've celebrated:

19th - Jim took me out for a romantic dinner at Cedars complete with flowers, eloquent card, and watching the sunset on the river. He was still trying to win me over at this point.

20th - I can't remember how we celebrated this birthday. Jim proposed four days before this birthday, so I'm sure we were still celebrating both occasions!

21st - Jim and I (and my parents) toured the Columbia Basin stopping at various places to taste aged grape juice.

22nd - Jim forgot to plan anything special for my birthday but made it up to me by taking me out to lunch and surprising me with a delicious fruit torte from my favorite bakery.

23rd - Going to Hawaii! 9 uninterrupted days with my husband!

I honestly don't know how next year's birthday could get any better.

Small disclaimer - The only part of this trip that is Dave Ramsey-approved is the fact that we are paying for it in cash. If it was Dave Ramsey-approved, we would have paid off our debt and completed our Emergency Fund first before budgeting to save for this trip. Shh, don't tell Dave!