Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Goggies


At the top of Haleakala- apparently it is the steepest incline going from sea level to 10,000 feet in about 30 miles. It was also pretty cold up there.

Drew and I are watching a new show he's grown attached to and they have this little Pomeranian on it. Every time I see it, my heart just melts! My friend talked to me about potentially getting a dog here in the near future and I got totally jealous of that! BUT, then sit and think that a dog is so far off the radar for me that it's ridiculous to even think about it. Especially after watching Marley and Me. I just can't do it. Can't handle the emotional roller coaster once they get older. Crap, I have enough with Lexy as it is.

Anyway, back to reality. We got home from our trip on Sunday- no major issues at all! We even left 10 mins early, and got in 40 mins early because there was a great tail wind apparently. Awesome! Hawaii was great, but I sure love my house, too. I'm also thankful all that stupid ice/snow melted so we could actually get home in an hour rather than FOUR hours! WOO!

I have a week (well, not technically anymore) left of christmas break. HOORAY! The last couple days I have been a total bum. I did clean the house (including the fridge and oven) yesterday, but today, all I did was internetting and book reading. It was absolutely fantastic.


This was at the Maui Tropical Plantation. They had all sorts of plants- pineapples, sugar cane, coffee, coconuts, papaya, mangoes, macadamia nuts, star fruit trees, etc., etc., etc. - it was pretty cool. We got to see the guide husk a coconut. Did you know that there is no machine that can husk a coconut? They are all done by hand- and apparently, there is a woman that can husk a coconut by my teeth! EEK!



This salad looks great, right? Yeah, WRONG DONG KING KONG! I about barfed when I ate this thing. It was pretty pathetic that I had to drenched it in ranch to choke it down cause I was starving to death and thought I might die. (I had asked for the spices to be removed and to not have the regular dressing- they just sounded nasty, but apparently LIME was not part of the spices, so everything was drenches in lime juice. SICK!)

So tomorrow, I'm going to actually get up, get out of bed, go into work, make new lesson plans. BUT THEN my friends, THEN! I am going to go and buy that freakin awesome Michael Jackson jacket- ohhhh yes! My kid is going to be the coolest mofo out there! Let's just hope they're not a total blob so these things will fit when they say they will! hehehe (I probably just jinxed myself)

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry For Realsies Christmas!!!

Wowee, what a day! - and really, it was over at 1pm! For Drew's and my Christmas present, we went to Molokini (nature preserve and cinder cone half eaten away)- anyway, so we go out there, and jump off the boat and had NO IDEA how deep it'd be. Holy CRAP! It took me a couple minutes to catch my breath and make sure I wasn't going to die. I was amazed at how clear the water was, and how deep it was. Only downside was, was that Drew noticed a leak in our waterproof case near the end. I was prety ticked because we hadn't even gotten to turtle town yet! So, we have pictures of *some* of the fish in the nature preserve, but not of the turtles! That was the only thing I wanted pictures of!

Anyway, so after Molokini, we did boat over to Turtle Town- fun name, right? We were able to see a few turtles moseying along like they didn't have a care in the world. When Drew and I got off the boat, we were both amazed at the animation skills of Pixar for making the Nemo turtles so realistic- what great programmers! That was pretty freakin sweet though!

OH! We also saw a pod of bottlenosed dolphins on our way out to Molokini, and we saw a large humpback whale on our way out as well (didn't have the camera handy on that one), and a baby humpback whale playing in the water on our way back to the dock. THAT was awesome, too! All my favorite things in like 4 hours! AMAZING!

So we came back, rinsed off, and were going to head up to the volcano again, but I was feeling pretty queesey still that we decided to take it easy. So, we've been watching The Christmas Story, Housewives of Orange County, and E top (whatever) countdowns! It's amazing how entertaining TV can be when you haven't watched it in a year! AND how much junk is on TV, TOO!

So, tomorrow, I think we'll definitely head up to the volcano (weather permitting- I don't want to drive up that thing if it's pouring rain), and we might head to another state park- don't remember it's name though. I guess it depends on how late we stay in, and if we go snorkeling in the morning.

Also, we have temporarily adopted a vacation cat. I am surprised at how many stray cats there are. There was a kitty handing out on the patio today, so we fed it some roast beef. It then decided to take a nap on our towels hanging out to dry on the chairs. Kitty won't let us pet him though!

OK, now for some pictures!


These were some cool fish, they were pretty big too- we had barely gotten in the water and the waterproof case stopped working- bummer!



That was Molokini crater where we snorkeled, it's bigger up close. I think there's a bottlenosed dolphin in one of these pictures. I'm going to have to go through and edit and blow up on my computer at home since Drew doesnt have them on his.



Our adopted cat- I can't find him now. I named him Skipperdee



Ok, far away, near the horizon, under the cloud there is a whale fin. Once again, I need to edit and blow up.



I'm shocked we didn't get burnt! We had to hang out on the back on the way back because the water was so turbulent, I couldn't handle sitting down. Drew is embarassed at his nakedness, but I told him it was ok cause you can't see his boobies. teeheehee ;) - Drew says he has great pecks, but that you'll have to use your imagination. :-O

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!!

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Well, Oregon, you did your part- thank you very much! It cleared up enough for us to get out of Portland- we were given highest priority to leave and there were 4 planes just sitting around waiting for us to take off before we left- yay! Thanks to those patient people on those other planes so we could leave!

So since we've been here 2 days, I have some fun pictures to share. I have tons and tons of them, but these are some of my favorites so far. Yesterday, we just played in the water, rented our snorkeling gear, and just chilled. Today, we went snorkeling this morning, checked out the surfers and wind surfers on the other side of the island and drove to Hana. Note to others- drive to Hana, if you live in Oregon= definitely not worth it. You get the same greenery love going from Salem to Lincoln city, with a less windy road. Yeah, it's pretty, but not what I had anticipated. Still pretty though. :) Oh, we also drove to the last lava flow Maui has had (back in the late 1700's- 1790?)- anyway, that was pretty neato.

Tomorrow, for Christmas, we're going to head to Molokini island to go snorkel and check out the fishies there.




This was actually on the road to Hana (jeans were worn because I thought we were going to go up to the volcano, but it was raining too much, so we chose this activity instead)- anyway, there were over 30+ wild chickens and 20+ wild cats hanging out at this restroom stop! They really liked cheetos. You could tell which chickens hadn't had any Cheetos yet, cause they didn't have Cheeto Cheese on their beaks!



This was underwater- Drew takes great underwater pictures. I didn't realize that coral crackled under the water- so cool!



Some pretty cool fish. I'm having a hard time finding the squid picture.




Pretty sunset picture

Well, if you made it this far- good job! I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! I'll be thinking of you allll!!!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Dear Oregon...





Dear Oregon, I love you so much. You are so pretty green and luscious. You have the most beautiful coast line that I love to stare at, and sometimes, when you're feeling generous, you warm up enough for me to play in there!

I have a problem though. Where did this snow come from? I can handle the 2-3 weeks of constant downpour of rain in February. We came to terms with that. But the deal was, that if we decided to be friends, you would not snow.

You totally did take backs on your side of the promise. Since you have done this, the airport has been shut down for a solid 3 days now. You promised me a trip to Hawaii for Christmas, but instead, I'm sitting in your airport, typing you a what the _____ letter.

I would like to know what your solution to this problem is going to be. I refuse to leave this airport without a trip to Hawaii, or safe roads. So, Oregon, you either need to shape up, and get on with the rain, or get the runway and weather warm enough so that we can take off.

Lovingly Yours,
Your Friend and admirer- Maddy "Awesome" Jackson

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Lamer

We have another snow day today! HOORAY! I'm serious though, these 2 days have been like a life saving miracle. I have slept so poorly the past 3 nights that it's a miracle I'm even coherent today. This cold is really doing a number on me.

So this morning, I realized that our big block bird feeder is empty. They ate like half that thing in 2 days! We'll have to go pick up another few of them at Lowe's tomorrow after the dr. appointment. Anyway, since they hate the other bird feeder, I ended up throwing bird seed all over the ground this morning. There were TONS of birds out there. I love this house for that reason only. We have also acquired a WOODPECKER! Can you believe it!? I wanted to take a picture of them today, but by the time I got the camera, they had left again. It has such a pretty red head- so cool!


I'm not sure what to do today. Part of me feels this twinge of obligation to go into work today just to see what needs to be done, but the other part of me says, meh.

I also should tidy up the house so it isn't so yucky when we get home, but once again, I am in a meh frame of mind on that one, too.

I should put together a list of things we need to pack so I don't forget anything. I also need to call the insurance company and hospital to get some information there as well- yet here I am, procrastinating like there's no tomorrow.

I DID however get my exercising in for the day! I sat and contemplated (while I read Brisingr, because for some reason, I find this one boring)- about how in the world I am expected to drink 10 glasses of water, plus extra for being sick a day? I barely get through one nalgene, let alone TWO of them. Does milk count? Does kool-aid count? Does orange juice count? Alls I'm saying is I feel water logged and I've only had 2 cups of water. HAHAHAHA

Monday, December 15, 2008

Holy CRAP!- I feel so Sick (the cold kind)

I have turned into a wuss or something. I got called last night for none other than a SNOW DAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! So excited. So I was all excited for a day off of work. I struggled to get to sleep last night because I couldn't breathe so well to then wake up around 11pm, and then again at 4am. I wasn't as lucky at 4am, as I was at 11pm in getting back to sleep. I ended up tossing and turning in bed, hoping for a miracle to make me fall back asleep- it didn't come. (I absolutely loathe breathing out of my mouth, and the air was so cold, it just hurt, and I also have some kind of allergic reaction going on to something, so I had ripped up the roof of my mouth from agitation which just made matters worse).

So, at 5am, I got out of bed and came hobbling to the couch to hang out with my warm laptop. Blah, blah, blah, Drew finally wakes up, we eat breakfast, he studies, and I figured I'd at least walk on the treadmill cause in the past, walking would clear up my nose pretty well. Well, I forgot that when I'm this sick, it will only clear it up WHILE I'm walking, and there was no way I was walking alll day long.

So I then cleaned the bathroom, sent off Christmas presents and then got back on the computer cause I didn't have anything else to do. I eventually nodded off for maybe 45 minutes, and woke up coughing due to my mouth/nose being so dry and it just HURT!

My tolerance level for little things is not where it should be. I even pulled out the Dr. approved cough drops to try to help ease the sore throat- they'd help more if I could close my mouth long enough to let them do what they're supposed to do. :(

I guess today was a blessing in disguise- I can't imagine how miserable I would have been at work trying to struggle through this- especially with Drew having his last final today- I told him to take the car, so I would have potentially been stuck at work til 5pm, and we all know how whiney I can get when I don't want to be somewhere for long amounts of time. HAHAHA

In other, brighter news- the nausea is tapering off at a decent speed- HALLELUJAH! I just wish the bathroom necessity would follow suit a bit faster.

I also need to remind myself to ask Drew how to get to the Netflix portion on the Xbox so I can watch stories I know he isn't too interested in watching. I kind of miss having cable this past week- I think we're definitely going to have to cave and buy a dish by summer time- the cable out here sucks- so we have to be white trash too, and get a satellite dish.

OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY GOSH!!!!!!! Speaking of white trash, let me tell you a story. (I wish I had pictures of this) OK- it really took all I had to not call up DHS today and report this family. So as we all know, the roads are ICEY! Seriously bad. OK, so Drew and I are coming home from the post office adventure and we're all skidding up our hill to get home and we both realize there are 3 kids sledding down their driveway and into the street. Thankfully, Drew was able to maintain control on the car and we stopped while this 3 year old slid right in front of our car. So we wait for her to get back up the driveway, and as we're going ANOTHER KID STARTS SLIDING DOWN THE DRIVEWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Two "adults" were hanging out in the garage like nothing DANGEROUS was going on. I WAS APPAULED! So then half hour later or so, Drew was driving into salem to take his final and he calls me up a few minutes after he leaves to tell me that he was driving by said house and waited for another kid to get out of the driveway, and then made eyecontact with an "adult" and saw that the guy was holding the sled at a 45 degree angle, which Drew assumed was to make sure that the kid didn't go down until Drew had left. So Drew starts driving to then see this "adult" PUSH the kid down the driveway- turns out, the 45 degree angle was to get more slide on the driveway, and almost hit the car if Drew hadn't sped up. Drew said that if I had been in the car, that there's no doubt in his mind that I would have gotten out and screamed at them- WHICH I WOULD HAVE. WHO DOES THAT?!?!?! I am so disgusted with that behavior that I'm almost ready to go put on my boots and coat and see if they're still doing it. What a terrible thing to do.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

SnOw!!

It snowed last night and is continuing to snow. Let me explain Oregon snow to all my lovely Utah counter parts. I laugh at the term "snow" up here because a fine dusting to me, is NOT snow. But in Oregon- it's a flippin blizzard. Not only is it a blizzard, but hands down 300 times SCARIER to drive in. Why you say? Because. Normally it rains first, and over the night, it turns to snow. When this happens, it leaves a nice layer of ice covering the ground, then you add snow to it, and it becomes not just slippery my friends, but a death trap waiting to happen. I would MUCH rather drive in 12 inches of Utah snow than even a minuscule amount of Oregon "snow". So, I have some pictures. There's no way church will be had today. That hill we have to drive up would be a death trap of terror!




This was from the back patio door


Another view of the patio



Of the front yard- the big images I had uploaded on a different server, and the smaller ones are uploaded from blogger. Weird how they shrink it so much.


I also had some other photos on the camera so I thought I'd share some of those. OH and a movie of Lexy- let me find it!



This is the giant mushroom we found in our yard a bit ago. I think someone took it cause it was gone the next day.



This is my new favorite beach spot, other than Neskowin. There's barely anyone ever there and ample parking. LOVE IT




Sunday, December 7, 2008

Dangit

I wasted my afternoon filming footage of our cat playing like she's never played before. I was so proud of it, and I go looking for the USB connector (cause I often misplace it)- so I give up and ask Drew where it is. He said he left it at work. DANGIT!!!! So, for all my Lexy- The Devil fans out there, you're going to have to wait til tomorrow or Tuesday before you get the awesome footage of her attacking a paper ball. Mmmhmm...this is what I spend my time doing.

I fell asleep reading Hunger Games again today. I am loving that book but can't for the life of me stay awake. I don't know what the deal is. So I took an hour long nap- which was nice, but I got so warm that I had to get up. Drew is still in there snoozin.

Alright, time to eat- cause I haven't eaten in like an hour and that's just killing me. ugh...

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Updates- Good, and not so great

  • The pants are getting tight today.
  • I sure hope that bridesmaid dress still fits in 2 weeks.
  • I love my family and miss them terribly today.
  • I have a bachelorette party to go to tonight- should be interesting as sushi is apparently on the menu and that is a no go.
  • Petey is up in heaven with Keeley and Grandma and Grandpa. I miss her already
  • Drew got an unexpected bonus from work. He's excited for next years bonus as an attorney cause that means it'll probably be more than what he got this year! Now we can buy food while we're in Hawaii! heh

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Zaquisha and I are tight

Drew and I were at WallyWorld tonight to buy some new hair bands for my beautiful locks, and surprisingly only saw one other person at the store- and thankfully it was another teacher, so the courtesy wave was all that was needed. It brought on a story that made me giggle pretty hard though.

When Laurie, Carrie, and I were waiting for Twilight to start, Laurie told us of a story of a couple she knows down in Utah that saw Zac Efron and that girl he hangs out with at Target (since they film High School Musical down there). So anway, the couple asks if they can take their picture, and Zac says no, they're are off the clock. *I was shocked!* so anyway, the couple proceed to go around the store taking pictures of them with their camera phones while the celebs try to hide their faces with murchandise. Then when they're leaving, the couple takes a picture of them coming out, and proceeds to follow them in their car later yelling to them WOULDN"T IT JUST HAVE BEEN EASIER TO SAY YES?!?!?! ...at least that's the story I remember- I might have left out details. SOOOO!!!



I laughed and said, OH! I totally know how that is! And they both looked at me like I was crazy. So I elaborated. I said, well when you work and play in Dallas, you're a total small time celeb. I go to the store and usually get a MIIISSSUSSSS JAAAACCCCCCKKKSSSOOON!!!!!! And if I don't turn toward it and give them a great big hug, then I'm like total sleeze of the earth! So I told the two of them, you just have to constantly be "on the clock" cause you never know who you're going to see where, and you have to be careful! The goal is to not let them see what you have in your shopping basket!

SO ZAQUISHA EFRON> I TOTALLY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DEALING WITH!

hahahahahaha oh so funny

OH OH OH, and speaking of twilight, I let one of my co-workers daughters borrow my books so she could read them. I told her dad that I thought the movie was just so-so. SOO, I was talking to him today, and said, well, I totally liked it more the second time, but it definitely is more eye candy than anything else. ANd he's all, "YOU didn't like it all that much, but you went again!?" and I was all, "Well, YEAH! I can't turn down a chance to see it again! I even downloaded it on the cpu but it was such a terrible copy that I had to delete it!" Oh man, I think I had him laughing ALL DAY! I then told him later on that day that if she needs someone to go with, I'll totally go with her. LMAO!


Oh, and I don't care if RPatz has a big forehead...us big foreheads have to stick together!