Flotilla 2010

We did it every year, always with the same level of delight. Held on the 4th of July, for our 30-something lifestyle in Hawaii there is nothing the better represented freedom. A floating frat party in the most stunning location.

This year we headed out with friends on floaties. We met up with the canoes, ran into other friends, surprised by some we had never seen on the water, one that even lived on another island. Toasting with our spiked Gatorades and graciously accepting free food, we smiled, and smiled, and smiled. I get choked up looking back on the photos... our lives are so great.













Oh Hawaii, our beautiful friend, full of good times. Happy 4th of July. Here's to all the future Flotillas!

Aloha Portland

Well, we made it!

I'm still not done sharing all our Hawaii adventures. We had an amazing luau party friends threw for us, and we did one more Flotilla. And I don't think I ever shared our trips to Lanai and Maui. So still much more to come.

But if you want to follow our life in Portland you can find it here: http://stringkites.blogspot.com/

Happy trails!

Aloha

In about four hours I will no longer live in Hawaii. It hasn't sunk in at all, I haven't really felt any emotions about it. I've been living each of our last Hawaii days to the fullest and really trying to stay in the moment. I am very excited for what lies ahead of us but I'm trying to keep that in the future and let today be about today.

Thank you to all of you, the small handful, that tune in to read my ramblings. This blog has been fun and has really kept me focused on what a journey this is.

Our time in Hawaii has been incredibly special. When we stepped of the plane four and half years ago I hoped for fun, a tan, and some relaxed days. I had no idea I would be changed so deeply, and so much for the better.

I am a better person having lived in Hawaii, having paddled, surfed and swam in the waters. I am a more patient and open person for all the variety of people I've met here. I am stronger and more optimistic for all the wonderful friends I've made. Bryan and I are better together for having made our lives here.

I am happy to be leaving. I look forward to visiting. I hope desperately that all of our friendships remain strong. I hope, without any chance of this being a reality, that I keep my tan. No matter what, I know Hawaii will travel with me. It's not goodbye, it's thank you, and let's meet again soon.

Aloha, Hawaii.

Saying Goodbye (to paddling)

On Sunday I raced my last paddling race in Hawaii. And I cried.

I had absolutely no idea it would affect me that much. In fact, I nearly didn't race that day. I almost stayed home to read a book and pack up the apartment. But my loyalties to the club won out and I dragged myself down to Ke'ehi Lagoon near the airport.

When we first moved here there was a massive sewage spill in Waikiki that drastically polluted the waters of Waikiki (oh, isn't Hawaii lovely) so our club moved our practices to Ke'ehi Lagoon. Ke'ehi Lagoon is dull, flat, ugly, and cold. But that's where I learned to paddle.

So as I drove into Ke'ehi Lagoon on Sunday afternoon I remembered those early days of paddling. Days when I didn't know anyone but desperately wanted to be invited to join in the fun. Days when I flipped-flopped between loving and hating paddling. Days when Hawaii was so new to me it really hadn't even sunk in.

My race on Sunday wasn't that great. I was in terrible shape to race. I was physcially and emotionally exhausted. I had just eaten a Subway sandwich, and hadn't really warmed up at all. But I truly gave it my all. And because I blessed to be racing with some of the best women in my club, we easily won. I am so honored to walk away with a gold medal.

As we slowed after the finish line one of my beautiful, bubbly and incredibly buff paddling friends piped up from the front of the boat, "Jenni James is that your last race?" And I responded, "It was, thanks for the great ride." Then I paddled on with a big smile.

It's customary after a race to hug all your fellow paddlers. And that's when it hit me. Paddling has been as much as my life in Hawaii as Bryan has. All of my closest friends have come from paddling. Much of my growth as a person is a direct result of paddling. I truly love this sport. And I really, really love the girls.

As I gave each girl a hug the tears started to well up more and more until I couldn't keep it in. I am so incredibly sad to leave this. I truly don't believe I will find this again in my life. I am letting myself mourn it, and honor it.

And I'll cry it out. I will miss paddling. I will miss my paddling friends. And I will miss my Hawaii life so terribly. So, so terribly.

More of What I'll Miss

• Pretty, cute birds.
• Smells that remind me of Hilo.
• Warm air. That perfect mid-year evening temperature when the air isn't cold, it isn't warm, it just is. And maybe there's the slightest breeze...
• Manoa Valley.
• Kids that call me Auntie.
• The high, slow drawl of friendly local ladies, ending their statements with a question mark.
• My tan.
• The ease of weekend plans, BBQs, and meeting up with friends.
  

What else do you think I'll miss?

A Blog by Any Other Name?

Okay. You convinced me, twisted my arm. The four of you that read this blog can follow along as we move to Portland.

I've decided to treat "Hawaii Adventures" as a chapter in my blog life. This blog will stay standing and untouched as we move on.

So the question I have for you is... What should I call the new blog?

"Hawaii Adventure" was never very creative. Any ideas for the future? Bryan suggested "Kite Strings," I have no idea what it means but it's starting to grow on me. I welcome any any all suggestions.

Island Count

At the risk of bragging, I thought I'd recount our various neighbor island trips since we moved here...

Oahu
Four and a half years of living and loving.

Kauai
Together: trip with Bryan's parents, kayak Na Pali, Princeville weekend with friends
Bryan: additional trip with parents, visit childhood friend
Jenni: 3-4 trips for work, hike Na Pali, paddling competition

Maui
Together: Wailea/Lahaina weekend, Wailea/Upcountry weekend, Road to Hana camping, Paia weekend, Sara's wedding, New Year's with Carr family
Bryan:
Jenni: 3-4 trips for work (never did make it to the top of Haleakala)

Big Island
Together: Bryan meets Tutu weekend, Brian and Maiko weekend, Thanksgiving in Waikoloa, Kohala Coast with Carolyn, Thanksgiving in Hilo, Easter in Hilo
Bryan:
Jenni: Visit family Waikoloa-Volcano-Hilo, Tutu recovery weekend with Mom, paddling races x3 in Kona, 3-4 work trips to Waikoloa

Lanai
Weekend with Laura and Dan, Anniversary weekend

Molokai
Together: Easter weekend
Bryan:
Jenni: paddling race x3

The benefit to knowing we weren't going to be here forever is that we really committed to doing and seeing it ALL. And we don't skimp when we aim for ALL!

Happy Father's Day!

Justification

Why are we moving?

Because this morning I opened the cabinet to get a plate and there was a COCKROACH sitting there next to my plates. I couldn't find a slipper (and I can't do it with a papertowel because then it would get too close to my fingers) so I grabbed a clean spatula - that we use for FOOD - and whacked at it. But I missed. ARGH!

~~~

Of course, that's not why we're moving at all. Shockingly, I've nearly gotten over the cockroaches. I rarely have complete meltdowns because of them anymore.

We're moving because it feels right for our future. Because we'd like to own a home someday. And I want that home to have a fireplace and a yard. And we want to pay less than $133 for two days worth of groceries (no joke, I just spent that. But it also included beer for two weeks). We want to be closer to families and our mental images of "home." We want our kids to have a childhood that looks and feels close to our own. We're moving so we can grow our careers and make more money - hey, I'm being honest. Also, after more than four years we still can't find a great deli sandwich or kick-ass Italian.

I suppose you could say we've been living on a cloud the last four and a half years. It's like we're in a dreamy movie. Who is every lucky enough to live on a beautiful island for years with great success? We've been lucky. It's time we try our hand in the real world again.

Food Confessions

Yesterday a friend announced that she doesn't eat tomatoes or mushrooms. She is a very kind, well-balanced, mature and smart person. And yet I found myself thinking "How ridiculous! Something must be wrong with her."

I have another friend who grew up in San Diego and doesn't eat avocados. I can't tell you how much time I've spent being incredibly baffled by this. I excuse people from Ohio that don't like avocados. I get that it's a texture thing. I figure Ohioans aren't enlightened enough to get over the texture. But if you're from San Diego? Incomprehensible!

I let my judgment fly left and right but the truth is that I am not without my food flaws. I thought it was time I confess...

I don't eat mustard. Let me make that perfectly clear... I don't eat it. I hate it. I despise it. Mustard makes me angry. I hate the color, the smell and especially the taste. And I know very well that most of the world considers mustard a wonderful and delicious food item.

If I order a sandwich I always say "no mustard." If mustard comes anyway, I either send it back or remove all bread and anything else that touched the mustard. Bryan and I have a favorite restaurant and I'm convinced they have mustard in their salad dressing. I can taste it. So last time we were there I didn't touch the salad and asked the waiter, "Is there mustard in this salad dressing?" He told me no and listed off every ingredient in the dressing. I thanked him, he walked off, and I turned to Bryan and said "I think he's wrong, I think there's mustard in the dressing."

Mustard is pretty much my only won't-eat-at-any-cost food. But there are a handful more that I try to avoid. I know that as I avoid them I'm missing out on delicious meals. I'm trying to make a conscious effort to be open minded to these foods:
- Salmon (I think I really just haven't had good salmon)
- Zucchini and pretty much anything in the squash family. I know! I know it's good, I know you love it. I just gag if it not perfectly hot.
- Salads with nuts, ice cream with nuts, cookies and brownies with nuts
- Unagi (eel) - just don't like it, creeps me out
- Mussels and clams - they creep me out too. But give me an raw oyster any day. Yumm!
- Eggs with running yolks. Yuck. But I stay strong if I see crab cake benedict on the menu.
- BBQ sauce. I just don't love it. Too thick, too sweet.
- "Wings." The tiny bones freak me out.

Oh I remembered two more must-avoid foods. Diet soda. Yuck! Fake sugar gives me a headache anyway. I am so tuned in I can taste fake sugar. And coconut. Tastes fine, just upsets my stomach. I believe I am mildly allergic so I try to stay away.

Your turn, what are your food confessions?

What I'll Miss

• Swimming "laps" in the ocean - the taste of salt water, the buoyancy, the fishies swimming along, the swells and waves, and the view looking back at the beach.
• Walking out of a freezing cold grocery store to the comfort of the humid, warm evening air.
• Rainbows.
• Anticipating the sunset.
• Looking out the conference room at work and immediately knowing the ocean conditions.
• Ramen soup.
• Lilikoi anything and everything.
• A closet full of sundresses and still not enough.
• A legitimate reason to own more than two bathing suits, many many more than two.
• As embarrassing as it is to admit it, a few cheese-ball Hawaiian songs.
• BBQs in the park.
• Camping at the beach.
• Trade winds.
• Wonderful genuine friends.
• A few Hawaiian words that seem to express more than their English translations.
• Maui Brewing Company beers in cans.
• Our trash chute.
• Smell of plumeria trees and ginger stalks.
• The perfect blue colors of the ocean.
• Rainbows on my license plate and my drivers license.
• Hawaiian blessings.
• The kiss-on-one-cheek greeting.
• Discovering sand on my feet hours after I returned home from the beach.
• Lei.
• Banyan trees. "Umbrella" and "Monkey Pod" trees too.
• Shave Ice.
• Bumping into friends at the bar, the beach, the bagel place, and nearly everywhere in between.
• A flower behind my ear. But I can still pull that off, right?
  

One Perfect Day on the North Shore

On Sunday last week Bryan and I headed to the North Shore for a day of beach and paddling-watching. We stumbled upon the most perfect little beach and stayed so long we missed the paddling-watching. But we weren't too sad.


This beach was absolute relaxation.






Finally we pulled ourselves away from the sand and sea and headed on over to the canoe race. Turns out we'd missed our friends race. Oh well! So we headed into town for food. We cannot go to the North Shore without a stop for the best Thai food on the island. On this day we had dessert first because they close early. Shave Ice, so good!




After dinner we weren't ready to head back to the reality of the other side of the island. So we wandered around a bit, discovered a sweet quiet beach, and watched the sun go down.



A day for the record books. It was perfect!

May 28th Sunset

One Year Ago

May 24th 2009

I became a wife. Bryan became a husband. We became married. And we had the time of our life.

Earlier we were sharing our favorite memories of our wedding day... we both remember feeling very confident - not nervous at all. Bryan reports that as soon as the ceremony was about to start he was ready to go. He even passed up opening my gift to him thinking, "I'm ready to get married!" I remember feeling incredibly sure of myself. I was certain it was going to be a wonderful day, that I loved Bryan completely, and he loved me. And certain everyone was going to have a good time.

It's been a wonderful year. And it's fun remembering such a wonderful day.






For the full experience, let's watch this one more time.

More About Shoes

You know how some women keep a collection of shoes under their desk at work? I've adopted my own strange version of this... over the past few weeks at any given time I have shoes in front of the passenger seat of the car.

Why? Because I paddle after work. I take off my fancy shoes and put on slippers, then I forget to take my fancy shoes into our apartment.

This is bad because: it's tacky. And when I'm getting dressed in the morning I sometimes search for shoes that are already in the car.

This is good because: I can easily whack a baby cockroach when it makes an appearance on the dashboard during our morning commute.

Such is my life. Shoes. Paddle. Shoes. Cockroach.

360 Days Ago

Last year, two days before our wedding, almost all of our wedding guests joined us on a sunset sail in Waikiki.




*why didn't we take a picture together?!*

On Sunday we took a sail on the same boat. This time just the two of us. Well, unless you count all the strangers on the boat too.



I know it sounds cliche but I truly can't believe it's been a year. It's been a very fun and relatively easy year. But a year?! It went to fast.

End of an Era

In a few weeks one of our favorite friends in Hawaii will move away, to pursue her dreams and studies. She's one of those extremely special people that you're certain you could never find again in life. So when there's a party in her honor, you go - because you love her and also because you know it will be an AWESOME time. And when she asks that you wear animal print or caveman attire, you don't think twice and you raid the local discount stores for tacky clothing.

We had an incredible time on Saturday celebrating the end of the era of Katy in Hawaii. There was animal print as far as the eye could see, lots of good times, and one hell of a dance party.

Sunset, Sunrise

Yesterday Bryan and I captured this from the waters of Waikiki:


This morning Bryan woke up early and was rewarded by this from our window, overlooking Manoa:

Holoholo to Kauai

A few weeks ago I got an email from a good friend saying "I want to holoholo. Who wants to go to Kauai?"

Holoholo: a Hawaiian word meaning to go out, especially for a ride for leisure

What do you do when you get an email like that? You say yes, absolutely yes. Then you help look for a condo rental, and book your plane ticket.

And just like that we ended up in Kauai last weekend with our two closest couple friends in Hawaii. It was a fantastically easy weekend filled with laughter, total relaxation, drinks, drinks, and more meat than I typically eat in an entire week. Oh, and the utter beauty of Kauai.

We waited out the rain at Tunnels beach, taking in the scenery and bonding with the fish through a snorkel.







At Secret beach we explored little pools, strong waves, hot sand, and a truly relaxing beach.





We hiked a pretty path to a sweet little falls. Some swam, some jumped, some just sat and took it all in.






A weekend goes by too fast.