Very British Afternoon

Rule Britannia! In an effort to add some diversion to our office, we decided to designate today as our "Very British Afternoon." Thusly, we brought an assortment of delectable delights, such as trifle, biscuits (cookies), and tea. We've also provided a selection of British hits from various artists, such as The Beatles, Queen, and David Bowie. We've even compiled a "Registry of British Names" so students coming to our window can create their very own British name! My British name for the day is Reginald Baxter-Kensington.

Plus, this morning, we had an Office Mini-Golf Tournament. So today has just been a fun day in general! I'm happy!

Simple Pleasures

Hi everyone! I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seats anxiously awaiting the next installment of my Hawaii trip, but I guess you'll all just have to wait. It really is a pain trying to upload pictures of my trip from work, and seeing as that's where I spend most of my day, it's going to take me a while to get Aloha part two going. In the meantime, here's a small list of the simple pleasures in my life. Disclaimer: This list is in no particular order and is not meant to be exhaustive.

· Sinking my toes into wet sand on the beach

· Warm cookies and milk

· Robyn hugs

· Puppy noses

· Puppies that walk all lopsided and clumsily

· Heck, puppies in general! J

· Goldfish crackers

· That warm tingly feeling you get when you hold hands for the first time. (Hear the song “Bubbly” by Colbie Callait for a more detailed description)

· Getting the first whiff of soup in a thermos

· Sunsets over the mountains

· Cold watermelon in the middle of the summer

· Blowing bubbles into milk

· Picnics with friends. Preferably at Hart Park. During school hours. *Devious chortle*

· Being warm under the covers on a cold morning

· Hearing your favorite song on the radio

· Food samples at Costco

· Driving with the windows rolled down on the first warm day in spring

· The first snowfall of the winter

· Tropical rain

· The earthy smell of planting a garden.

· Window-shopping at the mall with my friends.

· Flying a kite

· The really pulpy feel of high-pulp orange juice on my tongue

· Cold apple juice

· Walking into a warm room on a cold day. Except when I’m wearing glasses, cuz then they fog up.

· Being barefoot in a park with really nice grass.

To be continued…

Aloha!

Well, here I am in Hawai'i, which is God's green gift to man. Seriously. I've been here 3 days and I'm still not over how beautiful it is! We're in Kailua-Kona (which is on the big island, Hawai'i). Not to be confused with O'ahu, which is the smaller island where Honolulu is. Anywho, life has been great. I flew in on Thursday morning, after 8 hours of traveling it was great to get up and do something! We settled into our room (more like condo, actually) and took a little nap, then decided to go rent a car and go to dinner. It took us over an hour to find the restaurant...thanks to GPS lying to us, and the most intense outpouring of rain I've ever seen in my life! But we finally arrived at Fish Hoppers, and the mahi-mahi (a deep-water fish aka dolphin-fish...NOT a dolphin, haha...served on a bed of sweet potatoes and steamed vegetables, topped with a fresh mango salsa...YUM!) made it all better!

Friday we woke up early in the morning, ran some errands / got food, and packed a lunch. We drove up the coast to Hapuna Beach State Park, which is said to be the best beach in the state of Hawai'i. Which I believe. It was beautiful. White sand, and turquoise water. We played on the beach for about 4 hours, then headed home and I cooked dinner...tortellini and crescent rolls.

Today, we woke up early again and went down to some bay (whose name escapes me) and got on a boat for a snorkel tour. We went out and stopped in some other bay whose name I couldn't spell anyways, and got to snorkel around for a bit. I got to touch a sea turtle!!! It was exhilarating. Really. Then we hopped back in the boat and went to another bay (where the Captain Cook Monument is) and did some more snorkeling. That bay is a marine sanctuary, and the cliffs around it are where most of the Hawaiian royalty are entombed, so you're not alowed to walk there, you have to come in by boat. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Well, I'll have more updates later; in the mean time, enjoy some of these pics I took! Aloha and mahalo!