The 'Rents

Last week Mom and Dad came to visit. They had a whole lot of reasons to come. 

1. To see me (duh). 

2. Memorial Day holiday weekend. 

3. Start of summer break for Mama (her last one ever). 

4. And last, but definately not least, they were celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary. Woot woot!

For their trip, each of us had a couple of things we wanted to accomplish. I wanted to relax, enjoy time off from the job and work on my tan. Dad wanted to snorkel and eat shrimp from a food truck. Mom's request was to see Lanikai Beach and go on a hike. 

We only had a week, but I think we were successful at completing everything on our list. Now I just have 7 long months until I see the 'rents again. 

Here are some pictures from the week:

Happy hour on Waikīkī Beach. 

Fancy pants dinner at Roy's. 

On dad's to-do list: Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. Check!

Big 'ol shave ice at Island Snow. 

Hiked to the top of Diamondhead. I'm not sure the Gumbels are hikers, but the views were amazing. 

We took a drive up the Windward coast. I really do live on a beautiful rock!

And now for the pic of the week:

Huge rainbow on my walk to my first day back to work

Mahalo!

Holiday weekend

(Photo credit KITV)

This weekend was extra special for me. In addition to having a long weekend, I also got to have my parents in town. One of the special things I got to share with them was the Hawaii Lantern Floating Ceremony. 

Hawaiians use Memorial Day to remember fallen service men & women, but they also use the day to remember all their loved ones who are no longer living. One of my coworkers reported that she and her family planned on visiting three cemeteries in one weekend. 

Another way Hawaiians celebrate is with a beautiful Buddahist ceremony of floating lanterns. I took the parents and joined 40,000 other people down on the beach. We wrote special messages to loved ones lost in the previous year. We then placed the messages on a floating lantern and lit a candle. Finally we waded out into the ocean to release our lantern. 

The ceremony was beautiful. I'm not even sure words can describe it. The ocean was full of messages to lost loved ones all floating out to sea. As long as you don't mind crowds, I recommend this for anyone visiting during Memorial weekend. It makes you realize this weekend is about more than just beaches and BBQs. 

And now for the pictures, since they'll capture the event better than my words:

Here's the the lantern. We printed messages on the other sides. 

 While we were waiting for the ceremony to start a rainbow appeared in the sky. 

Mom and Dad watching the ceremony. This may have been the 1st time all of us heard a Buddhist elder speak. 

The sun setting over the crowd. 

A lone lantern floating on the water. 

But the lantern wasn't alone for long. Here's the crowd up to their waists in the ocean and all the candles floating in the distance. 

And now for the pic of the week:

Reunited at last with my Mama and Daddio!!!

Mahalo!

Time flies

It's official, I've been living in Hawaii for six months. That's half a year in Honolulu. 

Since I've met such a major milestone, I feel it's important to look back and reflect on how I've changed. Here's some things that I've noticed:

- I'm still working on my Hawiian. pronunciation. I've got some of the basics down, but the more vowels there are in a word the more likely I am to sound like I'm from the mainland. 

- Besides writing "aloha" and "mahalo" in my emails/blogs, only two words have worked their way into my daily vocab: shishi and pau (that means pee and stop BTW). 

- I'm hooked on some staple Hawiian foods.  A week doesn't go by without me eating poke. Shave ice is one of my favorite sweet treats. I've started drinking like the locals... bubble tea that is. And I'm still searching for the best acai bowl on the island. 

- As I announced on FB last week, I've lost 25lbs since the move. That's involved a lot of changes. I exercise a lot and eat whole, fresh food... Well, except for those Hawaiian favorites I listed above. 

Overall I would say this adventure is living up to expectations. Work is... Well, work. I love the weather and can't get enough of the sunshine. The only thing I would change would be moving all my family and friends closer! 

And in case you're a visual person, here are some pictures:

A delicious mountain of shave ice. Want to know my favorite combo? It's coconut and mango with condensed milk on top... Yum!

Here's the best poke on the island from Ono Seafood. I like it over rice like this poke bowl. I'll also eat it will gluten free crackers, but that's not very Hawaiian of me. 

I like my tea with 100% sweetness and tiny balls. These are the things you need to know when work is phoning in an order. 

So far Blue Hawaii is winning the acai bowl competition. 

This selfie was taken in December on my first visit to Waikīkī. 

My most recent visit to Waikīkī. Yep I'm wearing the same dress despite the weight loss, perhaps all the weight has just come off my face (jk). 

And now for the pic of the week:

The weather this week has been crazy (rain, sun, rain, sun) and the picture of these clouds is proof!

Mahalo!

The 808

Growing up in Atlanta I remember when we switched from 7-digit phone numbers to 10-digit phone numbers. I still have the memory of when the 678 area code was added. I also remember when I went off to college in South Carolina and I couldn't just put down "7" and expect everyone to know that my area code was 770. 

I'm used to explaining the 10-digit system to people new to Atlanta. And during all my explanations I felt the whole 404, 770, 678 process made sense. It was how I was raised. 

But now I'm trying to make sense of the whole 808 area code. I'm sure it makes sense to everyone who grew up in Hawaii, but I'm still confused. 

Here's the details:

- The whole state is in the 808 area code

- When dialing numbers on the island of Oahu, the call is local and only 7-digit dialing is needed

- If the number is on a neighbor island, the call is long distance and you need 10 digits

As a new resident I have to learn what towns people & their numbers are from as well as what island they live on.  This can be difficult, for example Kailua is local but Kailua Kona is long distance. If I use my cell phone everything gets easier, I just use the 808 no matter what. When dialing long distance at work things get complicated since each long distance call has to go through the operator dispatch system. Thank goodness for Google maps, I can search for the clients address prior to calling them. I wouldn't want the operator to think I'm a newbie who didn't know the difference between Wainiha and Waianae (even though I actually don't). 

Though to make matters worse I'm still desperately clinging to my 770 number. It didn't seem to matter when I lived in South Carolina for seven years, but for some reason in HI my cell number brands me as an outsider... Or maybe it's my blonde hair ;-)

And now for the pic of the week:

Check out this fresh poke bowl from Ono seafood... I'm seriously addicted!

Mahalo!

The HI Secret

As with any big city, Honolulu is full of lots of different scents. As I walk by Liholiho St. I smell the fresh baked bread coming from Subway. As I pass Punahou St. the scent of rotting trash makes me wrinkle my nose. There's a food truck on Young St. that smells so delicious I seriously consider eating meat again (well maybe not). 

At work I told a story about a particularly malodorous scent. One afternoon while enjoying happy hour I caught a whiff of the worst  body odor ever. It was so bad I decided to close out my check versus staying for the rest of happy hour. After telling this story my coworker looked at me and said "Oh, she must have been a haole right?". I confirmed that the stench WAS coming from a white person. That's when I learned the Hawaiian secret:

Native Hawaiians don't have BO!!!

After polling the people in my office they all confessed that they don't stink and they don't even bother wear deodorant.  One guy said he has to wear it sometimes because his Dad is white which can make him smell funky if he really sweats. They think the lack of stinkiness comes from their Asian and Polynesian origins. They then laughed and said only white people have that funky smell. Grrrreat. 

Here I am after a hike. Very hot & a sure a little stinky. 

I've decided this is all horribly unfair. While everyone around me is enjoying the HI secret, I'm applying actual Secret deodorant 1-2x/day just to keep my haole stink away. Maybe that's why deodorant is so expensive. They're taking advantage of the mainlanders...

And now for the pic of the week:

I was trying to take a selfie with my tiny sombrero in honor of Cinco de Mayo (that's why my head looks lumpy). Instead I got this crazy picture of the sunlight. 

Mahalo!

Get real!

I've always loved eating. And in my adult years I've developed an appreciation for cooking as well. 

About a year ago I tried a month long "cleanse" that involved eating unprocessed, vegan food. At the beginning of the month I was tired and cranky. By the end of the month I felt much better, but I knew a vegan lifestyle definately wasn't for me (I just love cheese way too much). I did, however, gain an appreciation for cooking and eating whole, fresh food. I made a point to start consciously working them into my everyday diet. 

Now I've decided to take my commitment to the next level. I am still cooking and eating whole, fresh food but now I am also avoiding sugar and processed flours. It only took a couple of switch-outs in my pantry and a complete change in the way I think about snacking. I'm two weeks in and so far, so good.  

At this point I'm not willing to swear of flour and sugar forever, but check out some of the tasty meals I've made: 

Breakfast of local tomatoes and hard-boiled organic eggs. 

Sweet potato and quinoa cakes topped with an avocado sauce. 

 Chickpea and spinach curry over brown rice. 

Spinach and quinoa cake topped with a fried egg. 

And now for the pic of the week:

This beautiful flower was here one day and gone the next. Good thing I snapped the picture when I did!

Mahalo!

One lucky girl

When I was in high school I had a day that changed my life. Remember "Take Your Daughter to Work" day? Well instead of going with my Mom, I went to spend the day at a school with another woman who went to my church. That day I met my first speech-language pathologist. I remember thinking that woman had the best of both worlds: she got to work with children, but didn't have to deal with crowd control. 

From that moment on I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I graduated high school and got into a good college. I survived college and got into graduate school. In grad school I learned more about my choosen profession and the areas of specialty I wanted to pursue (feeding babies of course). And then, finally, all my dreams came true... I was an actual SLP. 

Luckily I am one of those people who truly loves their jobs. And while I may not like all of the paperwork, there is nothing better than helping a baby eat and sending him home with his family. 

This week was a great example of that. I got to send three babies home with their parents. One I had worked with for months, one for weeks and one for just a couple of days. Each off the babies made huge amounts of progress in the time we worked together. Each set of parents grew in the level of confidence in feeding their baby. Each family hugged me goodbye. At least two of the babies, I'll be making cameo appearances in their babies books (years later they'll wonder who's that happy girl with the glasses and the baby bottle). 

Much of my current job is similar to the job I had back in Atlanta. Some of the biggest differences:

- In the last 5 months I have only worked with one red headed baby and not a single blond. Most of the babies born in Hawaii have dark hair. 

- I've met several families who've had their baby while on vacation. This means lots of discharge recommendations to accommodate for different states and different countries. For one baby we got a speciality bottle from Japan!

- Instead of using Spanish interpreters, we have a computer that translates Marshallese, Chukese, Tagalog, Japanese and Mandarin.  

- Instead of being called ma'am I'm referred to as Auntie.  

But overall these differences are quite small. And wether it's GA or HI, I love my job. And that makes me one lucky girl. 

And now for the pic of the week:

This is actually a #tbt from my week with sister. But with it being the middle of the week, I really miss the beach & wouldn't mind a shave ice in my hand!