Dinner... and other things

 So I am about to tell you about the most exceptional dinner I have ever had under the most improv cooking. Seriously, me and Tyler want to write a book on improv and low budget cooking, we did not have a lot to work with here! So we made chicken cordon blues with grilled asparagus and a dinner roll. See the assembly line goin on on all of our counter space, haha As you can see we dont have a meat tenderizer or plastic wrap, so im beating the chicken with a hammer in a plastic bag :) also we didnt have tooth pics to pin together the stuffed chicken so tyler found some inscence sticks and broke off the wood ends to stick in the chicken! We then browned them on our hot plate, and transfered them into our Toaster Oven! haha

anyway, as you can see it all turned out very good, best meal we have made yet! Notice the Naked Winery bottle we had :) complements to my mom for shipping our bottle we got in Hood River over to us :)

In other news, so the only craft/art supply store over here is ace Hardware which has a craft section, boo They dont carry my paint I use (golden acrylics) and the canvases are super expensive! And this is the ONLY art store in Kona! So, the universe came together and devised a plan for my predicament. There happens to be this guy at the market who sells slices of beautiful Koa wood. So we got to talking and he is going to start giving me the wood for free, and let me sand it, and then I will in turn paint on the wood and then he will take it back and sell it for me at the market! perfect collaboration! So I was down at the market getting a piece of wood and this lady was buying a really nice $50 piece of wood for her husbands workshop to make a sign. And we got to talking and she is going to commission me to paint and or/woodburn a sign out of the wood :) So i went out and got a wood burner also to work on projects and paintings :) 

The other day i bought a blender for 5 bucks at our Kona salvation army :) (yes we are very thrifty) now we can start making tropical fruit smoothies, yumm Tyler made a passionfruit smoothie today :)

We are looking into getting some Kayaks :) I was talking to this huge outdoorsman at my work who was telling me all about how he Kayaks all along the Hawaiian coast finding amazing beaches that are impossible to get to by foot and havent been touched in probably months! plus since we live right across form the ocean we could just load it in right there! So that is a really exciting prospect! :) Samantha and Sarah are coming to visit in less than 2 months! So So excited to see me friends! That really has been the hardest part about living over here, is missing all my friends :(  

But we do have someone to celebrate Thanksgiving with! So my friends Dale and Sandi Johnson from persimmon at home, just happen to be vacationing near Kona with their kids who are all our age and they invited us to their vacation home for Thanksgiving dinner! So awesome! 

Well Tyler has been downloading movies like crazy and I think we are finally going to watch one, I just had to talk about our dinner adventures :) 

LOVES

LAUR

Realization

Its about 10:15am on monday, and I'm just layin on the couch havin a cup of coffee. Tyler is still sleeping :) I start my first day of bartending on my own today! cant wait to start making tips again :) Its awesome, cuz at my restaurant, there is always only one bartender working, so i basically get to run the show and do what I please.  I might go out to the beach today and work on my tan a little more before work, but its going to be just a relaxing day today :)  Our little apt. is almost all decorated, thanks mom for shipping over MORE stuff, haha. But i have realized that wow, you dont need so much "stuff" in your life to be truly happy. I had this same realization when I went to Australia. I only wore a weeks worth of clothes for 6weeks, and even here, having a full closet, Im regretting bringing so many clothes. I wear shorts and a tank top everyday for gods sake, haha!
So, a few more things i have realized: I have a new found love for Sushi! There is this little hole in the wall Sushi place in town that is absolutely Amazing! California rolls, tuna rolls, and spicy salmon rolls are my favorite so far. They make them fresh, right there in front of you and all the fish is fresh caught of course :)
I love seeing new things and simply finding something by following a map! So the 2nd-4th Tyler's mom and her boyfriend were here to visit us and we drove around the whole island, and I got to be Navigator :) I know bad idea right, I barely know right from left! But actually navigating an Island is WAY easier, I mean there is only so far you can go :)   To put it in a nutshell, we were extreme tourists! and crammed A LOT into two days of exploring! The first day we drove down to the volcano, hiked though old lava flows and though a lava tube. We didnt actually get to see lava flowing which was a bummer because where it is flowing there is no road to get there. So you have to hike in really far OR what I really want to do next time is you go out on a tour boat where they motor you out to right where the lava is flowing into the ocean!

inside the lava tube

Next we drove into Hilo, where we got soaked! Rains about 300 in. a year there! But the cool thing is that you are in a tropical rainforest! There we got to see some amazing waterfalls and drive though some of the coolest scenery I have ever seen. The houses in Hilo all have metal roofs and most are on stilts. But most of the houses are SO run down, its weird to think people actually live in them. Im guessing all that rain takes a big toll on your house. Lets just say im glad we moved to the west side of the Island, Hilo reminded me a little to much of OR :)

rainbow falls

The next day we drove north to the most northern point of the Island and down to one of the most amazing and scenic beaches I've ever seen. The road stops at a lookout at Pololu Beach, where you can see the entire valley where the national forest starts and a black sand beach 500ft below! So we walked about a mile down this trail to get to the beach. The sand was so fine, it felt like silk, so so beautiful.

After two long and fun days on the road, I realized something else: I dont think its possible to get Island fever on the Big Island! OMG driving around the Island made me realized just how BIG it is! I have a new respect for the island! We saw a lot but not even close to everything there is to see. I dont think we could see ALL of the island in a year if we tried! It took almost 3 hours just to get to the other side, we put over 300miles on the rental car! Where as on say Oahu its only 30miles wide. You can fit all the other Islands Twice inside the big Island! We are about the size of Connecticut! But our population is only 185,000 (Ohau is 953,000!!) Also, we have the largest telescope in the WORLD on our island. Hawaii is one of the most remote places on earth, so we have the least amount of light pollution, which means AMAZING views of the stars! :) We also have the tallest Mt in the world (Mauna Kea) And another fun fact: The Big Island holds 11 of the 13 different climates that exist in the whole world!  So all in all, I love it here, im so glad we chose the big Island, there is SO much to do and see here!   

Now that we are both working and starting to make money, our next adventure is to get certified to scuba dive! And also to start Island hopping and seeing all the other Islands! 

Well thats it for now, 

Laur

We're officially "Locals" :)

So its weird, after spending a day at the beach saying to Tyler, "ready to go home" and actually feeling like wow this is home now.  I do still refer to my "old" home as home but its defiantly starting to finally set in that this is our new home. We got our Hawaii IDs so we are officially locals! and can get "kama'aina" which is the Hawaiian term for local discounts on anything from hopper flights to all sorts of activities and restaurants. 

ALSO, newest update, I GOT A JOB! I am now a bartender at Splashers bar and Grill!  I literally just walked in, talked to the GM and they just happened to need a new bartender and hired me on the spot! I had a working interview, which I passed and now am in training for a couple more days. Splashers is right at the beginning of the strip right across the street from the ocean. Its on the second story and an open air restaurant, so I get to look out at the water all day and see dolphins jumping and whales breaching this winter! So amazing, I had an epiphany yesterday while working that went a little like this.. Oh my god I got exactly the job I was looking for with almost no effort, bar tending in paradise, this isnt work, I love life right now! Everyone I work with is awesome, so making new friends wont be hard at all. 


We went out after I got off work yesterday for Halloween and it felt like home. On Halloween this little town explodes and people know how to party. We went to this bar called Humpys, they had a live band, dancing and costume contests, it was awesome! I had missed dancing in Portland, and im so glad that scene exists here as well, if not just a bit smaller :) 

So just an update on visitors:  We have visitors the beginning and end of January. My parents are coming to visit the 6th of February, as well as Tyler's friend Chris on the same day! He is staying 2 weeks so he can celebrate Tylers 25th birthday with us on the 18th. So please if you are coming to visit us call first before you book your flight! I really hope as many of ours friends and family can make it over here as possible, it really is beautiful and there is A LOT to do. And we have a good amount of space in our place to sleep people, so that is a big cut in cost not having to pay for hotel stay!  
Also we have set up a mailbox to get mail, this is different from our home address since we dont have a mailbox at our apt.  So please please write us!  


74-5540 Kaiwi St.
PMB #390
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

love you all,

laur