Happy Happy Happy!

Today we celebrated my birthday, my brother's birthday, and my boyfriend's birthday by eating dinner at my parent's house with my Nanny and my brother's girlfriend. We ate Vera Cruz tomatoes and baked potato and applesauce, with carrot cake for dessert! So yummy.

So now I am 23! I still feel the same. And my little brother is 20! He is all grown up. I'm sorry, buddy, but I still see you as a little boy who needs bossing. I'll try to work on that. ^_~

My parents just bought a 3D TV and we watched a 3D movie on it with our funny 3D glasses. It was really cool! Now we are home and relaxing before bed.

I have had such a great day. Nick woke me up by making waffles with chocolate chips, and then making me study for my last final (that part wasn't so great). I took my final (I think I did well!) and then came back for a few hours that I just spent with Nick. Then I drove to Olive Garden to have a luncheon given by the Board of Trustees for the teachers at the school I work at. It was just lovely, and really thoughtful of them to do. The director of the school stood up and said really nice things about all of us, and handed us cards with a bonus in them! He said that all the children love me and that the parents and even the teachers stop in to tell him that they like the way I teach. That was really, really nice to hear and I appreciate them so much! I really love my job. Also amazing is the Christmas presents that the parents give the teachers! I have received two armfuls of presents! Starbucks cards, candles, a beautiful Christmas mug, cookies, chocolates, candies, a little purse, a leather paper holder, a beautiful bookmark, numerous lovely cards, and so much more. There are really wonderful people at this school. ^_^

Here's to a great year! It's off to a great start.

Life

My uncle was recently diagnosed with brain cancer.

This has affected our whole family and we are all consumed by worry for him and his family. There is such a feeling of helplessness, because all we can do is learn about this disease and support him.

And yet life continues on. Nick and I are nearly finished with this fall semester, and as soon as this next week of finals is finished I will be a senior! Finally. Work continues, and the children are all very excited for the holidays, ready for vacation. We are preparing for a family vacation: my family and Nick will be going to Barbados! My brother has joined a new band and performed a few nights ago, and he is looking to further his musical career by investigating music colleges. My parents are remodeling the house and just bought a new TV--a 3D one this time! We are all also doing our Christmas shopping and looking forward to spending time with our family. I will be spending this Christmas with my family instead of Nick's because of Steve's diagnosis.

We are all so busy in our lives, but sometimes life seems to pause. And we continue to worry.

Rawr

Big test on Wednesday! I attended a 3 hour study session this morning, and then studied for another three hours this afternoon. Whew!

We went and saw Dracula by the Sac Ballet last night! It was fabulous, definitely something worth seeing again.

We are re-watching Burn Notice. I lurve Michael Westen!

Clair

Clair is Nick's little sister. She recently told me that I have mentioned her only three or four times in my blogging history. I need to remedy this.

Therefore:

Clair. Clair. Clair. Clair. ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
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*gasps for air*

CLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIR . . .

. . .


WHEW.

TIRED FINGERS.

Have fun in Hawaii, Clair! I can't wait to hear alllllll about it! ^_^

Also:

CLAIR.

Also Also:

CLAIR IS MARVELOUS.

Back in the Swing

We are now five weeks into the fall semester of college, and six weeks into teaching computers at the elementary school.

I'm kind of tired.

But in a good way!

Work is fun. Today I taught 3rd graders the entire left hand homerow for typing, showed 4th graders how to make a pie chart with M&M's (that they got to EAT after, whee!) and 7/8th graders how to do the basics of html. The only problem is I don't have as much time as I would like to spend on my lesson plans as I would like, because . . .

Yeah, school. It's kind of homework-y. The last two or three weeks each Sunday has been like 7 hours of homework. In a ROW. That is a lot of homework. Plus, ya'know, trying to actually spend time with my boyfriend (who is still wonderful) and my family (who are also busy) and Nick's family (Hi Clair!) and I am just BUSY.

(Notice I am up at nearly 1am on a school night just so I could have some goof off time. Normal hours rebellion, ahoy! Also, zzzzzz.)

Um. What else. Taekwondo is good! Mostly. And I did a cardio class! And got really sweaty. Um, I need to clean my fish tank. I need to clean my apartment. The list of things I need to do is kind of long, so let's just skip that and I'll say I'm totally going shopping tomorrow morning, because Kohl's gave me a $10 off coupon and I need work clothes! Yay, shopping!

I'm off for bed.

Ciao!

TaeKwonDo

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a town not too far away, I took TaeKwonDo classes with my brother and my dad and we all made 3rd degree black belt. Yay!

I stopped TaeKwonDo three or four years ago and got lazy and out of shape. Booo!

Then I missed it too much (especially kicking people) so I signed back up at a local school! Yaaaaay!

(I've taken a few weeks of classes so far and each class I get better endurance and improve but I am still nowhere near the level I used to be. But the people are super nice and I'm having a great time! Yaaay!)

(Also, my muscles hurt a lot after each class. Owie.)

Kauai Days 8-10

Sooooo . . . I kind of suck at updating lately, and now I can't even remember everything we did for the last days in Kauai. Oops.

At some point over the last few days, we:

1) Hiked the Kalalau Trail on the Napali coast from Ke'e Beach to Hanakapi'ai Beach, two miles each way. It was pretty much either going up or going down the entire time, but it brought us to a beautiful (if unswimmable) beach and beautiful views. On the way back I saw a wedding happening on the beach! Very pretty.

2) Beach time! We went to Poipu Beach again and swam in the gorgeous water--I miss how warm it was! and sunbathed with a very specific pattern. Step one: Apply sunscreen. Step two: Lay out for 5-10 minutes a side and then retreat to shade. Step three: Apply sunscreen and wait until it is absorbed. Repeat.

3) Luau! We saw the Kalamaku luau at the Kilohana plantation, which has dancing and fire dancing and delicious buffet food and free drinks, that tells about one family's voyage from Tahiti to Kauai. That was pretty cool too. :)

3) On our last day, Saturday morning, we got all of our things together and made sure the room was clean, and drove back to Lihue and ate our last lunch in Kauai. :( I had a delicious seared ahi taco! So yummy.

4) Flew back! We made our way through the super hot airport (lack of breezes=lots of sweating). We got on our plane (yay for air conditioning!) and flew back! Andra and I sat together and ended up moving back where Clay was as there were empty seats, and we were closer to everyone. We arrived in San Jose and Drew's mom picked us up, we said good-bye to Aly and Zach, and then we drove back! She dropped me off at home and I was so happy to see Nick again. ^_^

So! Overall, it was an incredible experience, and Kauai is beyond gorgeous. I can't wait to go back! Hopefully next time with Nick. ^_^

Kauai Day Seven, Tuesday

Kauai Day Seven, Tuesday

We planned on driving up to the North Shore of Kauai, a near two-hour trip each way, and meant to leave by ten.

Yeaaaah. We left at nearly noon.

The drive up was beautiful, as is everything in Kauai, and we saw lots of little towns and resorts and beautiful beaches and the most beautiful mountain ranges ever. By the time we arrived it was one o'clock and lunch was sounding good. Instead of getting lunch we decided to hike first, snorkel, and then eat. We set off in search of the trailhead.

Yeaaaah. We found where the trailhead was supposed to be, two miles down a one-lane road, and there was a house, a friendly dog, and it was sectioned off. We decided to hike a trail we'd seen on the road off to the side instead, called Okoleani at the base of He'emanu Mountain, which means manta-ray. The thing about mountains? That I conveniently forgot? Is that they go up. We hiked for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours up, which sucked, but was really pretty, and then we ran into a local who is something of a guide, and she showed us some neat plants such as awapuhi, which softens hair. She also told us that the trail goes for about five hours to a scenic overlook. We decided to turn back. The hike down was not nearly as long but it was difficult, and we slid a few times in the steep mud.

Finally we made it! We were down, and alive, and we were covered in mud which we washed off in a convenient stream. Yay!

We then headed to Anini Beach to snorkel, which I didn't do because I was tired and hot, so I decided to hike back fifteen minutes down the road to a public restroom because I don't do the whole “Bladder Bay” thing. Andra picked me up on my walk back. They snorkeled and I swam for a few minutes to cool off in the very shallow sandy waters, and then lay on my towel in the shade.

For dinner we ate at Hanalei town and I had Hanalei Gourmet fish sandwich and the others ate at Bubba's Burgers, which is apparently famous because celebrities have eaten there. Mine was delicious!

We drove home and enjoyed the beautiful views again, and then Clay and I went in the jacuzzi and then we came back and I went to bed and read for awhile before falling asleep.

Kauai Day Six, Monday

Kauai Day Six, Monday

This morning I woke up about 8:30 and made some chocolate macadamia nut coffee, which then was left in the pot for awhile because I decided to go to the gym along with Drew. My usual workout is some weight training and mostly treadmill and the stair machine, but Drew suggested some weights and new workouts and some killer crunches. I was too tired to run after!

Breakfast was half an everything bagel with scrambled egg on top, mmm! And the neglected coffee. ^_^ Andra and Drew went off to Costco while the rest of us had a lazy morning, reading and dozing and getting ready. Once they came back we decided that today we wanted to snorkel today!

We headed to Lawai beach and rented snorkel gear for $5 a day from Boss Frog's and then got in the water! It was very rocky and it was easier to swim through the shallow water than to walk with flippers. Right away we saw tons of beautiful fish! I recognized those moor fish, parrots, angelfish, and most definitely the two sea turtles that we found! Or rather, Andra and I found one farther out (he hid under a coral cave but then came up and bobbed about getting air!) and then the others found one right by the shore! We got scraped up by the rocks in about one foot of water at times, and have a few cuts but ohmigosh it was soo close and cool! The waves were pretty strong and were knocking us around and we had to be careful not to get knocked into the turtle! He was just chowing down on the food on the rocks, ignoring us. We got out after a while and rinsed off, then decided we were all starving and needed pizza.

We drove to a Pizzetta restaurant and had freshly made calzones and pasta! I had a Hawaiian calzone, delicious. Then we drove back and relaxed. I went to load more photos in the lobby and now am back in the room eating popcorn and watching the movie Mario. Good times. ^_-

Kauai Day Five, Sunday

Kauai Day Five, Sunday

I spent an hour wandering the beach and cliffs with my camera and then tried to upload them at the lobby. We had a slow morning but eventually decided to go to Nawiliwili Beach back in Lihue, where we swam in the crescent strip beach for a while but mainly stayed in the shade. We are waaay too afraid of the sun now! (Probably a good thing).

For an early dinner we went to Duke's Canoe Club which was right on the beach. There were two singers playing guitars and serenading us throughout dinner, the main singer had a really amazing voice. We sat way in the back by a pond with koi fish and had calamari appetizers, and I had a delicious mahi mahi sandwich. The most amazing part of dinner, however, were the lava flow drinks! We had multiple people back in California telling us how amazing they were, and they were not wrong. It was basically a pina colada with strawberry syrup/sauce added, deeeelicious!

We then decided to be super classy and go to WalMart to look for some cheap movies. We also lucked out and found some rashguard shirts (tight spandex-y shirts for surfing that have UV 50 protection) because we are so afraid of the sun!

We made it home and decided to watch Hellraiser, which was . . . interesting. And kind of gory. Andra and Drew made popcorn and we snacked on it until the movie was finished, at which point I was about asleep because of a Benadryl I took to relieve the itching from my sunburn.