get ready. this might be a long one.
it’s been long in coming to you.
sorry!
_________________________
my dear friend
R
E
B
E
K
A
H
she was here for a week.
we’re gonna have to back this
train up because she’s been gone
for three weeks now, but i still
need to tell you about her time
here with me.
she came for our birthdays. her
30th birthday was march 8th and
my 29th birthday was march 2nd.
so happy birthday to us!!
she got here, i hung a pretty
lei on her neck, and we made a
mad dash home to get her into
some shorts and ready for a
vacation in hawaii.
my goal on day one is always the
same: keep my guest awake!!
so that’s what we did.
we tried to catch the sunset,
a trip to the mall,
and dinner.
mission accomplished… almost.
she about fell asleep in her salad at
the california pizza kitchen.
Wednesday, day 2:
we headed for the beach.
kailua (my fav beach in the
spring/summer). it was perfect!!
rebekah put on two layers of
sunscreen and her sunglasses and
we soaked it all in. after awhile on
the sand and a second application of
sunscreen we headed for the waves.
the pink rafts were in our hands as
we splashed into the ocean.
after the beach we headed for teddy’s.
there’s nothing like a good teddy’s
teri-chicken sandwich when you are
sandy and sun kissed from the beach.
that night we headed to visit moni
and get in a kiss or two from the new
baby! by this time rebekah is beginning
to glow…like a lobster that is!!!
she got so sunburned! it was painful
to see. that night i liberally applied
the aloe as she lay miserably on my bed.
she had to carry a sunbrella for the rest
of the trip and developed alien skin
blisters on her forehead!!
next morning she was feeling the heat
and pain, so we chose some activities
out of direct sunlight. this was the theme
for the rest of the trip, save her last day.
thursday, day 3: the north shore
was beautiful. the swells at pipeline
were bigger than i’ve ever seen them
before…
monstrous!!
a goal for her trip was to get as many
pictures of random hawaiian guys as
she could.
an honorable goal.
we saw some whales as we passed by
waimea bay!! i pulled over and we
stared unto the blue for several minutes
hoping to see more.
that night we headed to the polynesian
cultural center for a luau. we skipped
out on the luau food and grabbed some
local grinds on our own. we both loved
the kalua pig and cabbage!
we changed into pretty dresses and went
back for the show. hula dancers, drums,
grass skirts, fire…it was all there. we had
a great time, but i think the people next to
us felt gypped. they grumbled on and off
throughout the performance. her slipper
(flip flop) kept breaking and she’d stumble
and fall. embarrassing.
friday, day 4: we were still hiding
from the sun and lathering rebekah
up with aloe.
we had another sweet visit with monica
and the girls.
do you see baby madalyn
chillin’ in background?
then headed to pearl harbor.
it was very educational and moving.
rebekah who is very sensitive and easily
moved to tears (i love that about her!)
had emotions of steel during the film.
she was ready for it, and not a tear
fell from her eye.
i could hardly believe there is still oil from
the oil tanks still seeping up slowly to the
surface from the sunken uss arkansas.
lunch at big island burrito was great
for me. i had the best fish taco i’d ever
had in my life, no kidding. but rebekah’s
burrito was ’super psycho spicy’ (reb’s words).
so off to jamba juice for a back-up
lunch plan.
we drove east. it’s my favorite drive
on the island, and without a doubt the
most beautiful. we stopped at a
lookout and saw more whales!!
there were several sets of them
splashing and jumping into the air.
i could have watched for whales all
day! i love them!! they are so
mysterious and magical. to catch a
glimpse of one is like a treasured gift.
you store that image away in your
mind forever.
in the pic on the right the little brown dot
in the middle of the water is a big turtle!!
we sat at sandy’s beach watching the
waves toss the body surfers and boogie
boarders around. then we drove around
the bend to waimanalo… blue blue blue.
breathtaking and
BLUE!!
then we had to head home so i could
sleep for a couple of hours before i went
in to work. but guess what…..
i got called off of work.
when the charge nurse called me to
ask if i wanted to stay home i shouted
into the phone, “YES!! YES!! THANK
YOU! YES!!!”
so to celebrate we decided to play, and
play hard. clint came over for dinner
and the three of us went to dave and
busters for some serious gaming.
i almost beat clint in basketball
rebekah can hold her own in skeet ball
i almost beat clint in a shoot-em-up
game (but that’s his job, so it
doesn’t count…he’s a marine. if we
played the game ‘how many iv’s can
you start in 10 minutes’ i would have
whooped him at that…hands down!!)
we were dominating the horse race
game when a scary man came out of
nowhere and kicked our tails!!
how rude!
fun times were had by all. we came
home to continue the fun and played
cards with jared.
saturday, day 5: we went to the swap
meet for some shopping and didn’t
come home with much. frisbee is
on saturday, so that’s what we did in
the afternoon. rebekah sat on the side
watching, taking pictures, and reading.
post frisbee, the gang came back to our
house and we had pizza, games, and
movies.
in the pic on the far right i’m pretty sure that i’m bossing
jared…it happens.
rob and clint played me and rebekah in
spades.
girls vs. boys
this was not wise on their part.
we’ve played together for years
and years. we know how it goes. they
held their own for a while, but i’m
not sorry to say that they got
smashed
schooled
smoked
thrashed
busted on
it was piles of fun!
sunday, day 6: MY 29th BIRTHDAY!
that morning in the time i spend each
morning praying and reading the Word
and worshiping i was so blessed and
felt so loved. i read this:
Psalm 29:1-2
ascribe to the LORD, o heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
i was reminded to be thankful, and in my thanks
i was drawn to the ways the Lord has made
me new and alive. he gave me physical life
and spiritual life!! that was and is extremely
exciting to me. so instead of leaving that time
praising him as my creator and maker,
like i expected i would, i was praising
him as the God of my Salvation!!!
it was a perfect way to start the morning,
and i got to not only go to church on my
birthday, but participate in sweet communion
with my brothers and sisters…and my Jesus.
it was indeed a wonderful birthday gift.
after church clint took me and rebekah to
lunch at the officer’s club on the marine
base. it sits up on a hill overlooking the
golf course and bay. it was a clear beautiful
day, and the food was
u n b e l i e v a b l e ! !
that afternoon me and rebekah watched the
sun go down on a mat in the park as we
watched a woman hula hoop for at least
an hour and played cards…and ate
cheetos. that was our instruction from
julie for our birthday celebration.
that night rebekah and i got to have
dinner with monica and ashley. we all
know each other from college (go bison!),
we have vacationed in thailand together,
and now we are all in hawaii together!!
so crazy and so great!! we couldn’t pass
up the opportunity to meet together.
monday, day 7: we took our chances and
got out in the sun again. waimea bay
here we come!!! it was beautiful. the
waves were big and powerful.
we picked our spot carefully. there was
a very tempting flat area, but the big
waves washed up and got everything
wet. we were both soaking up the sun
and enjoying a quiet moment when a
group of older folks crept up and set
all their things on that flat area. we
didn’t see them in our bliss.
can you see the pants drying on the pink raft behind us?
one big wave came and washed all
of their things away. they came upon
the scene in a tizzy.
“where are my pants??!!!!”
“check your phone gladys, it’s
probably soaked, like my pants!”
and they had colorful east coast
accents. it was so hard for me and
rebekah to keep our laughter in.
we let them put their wet pants on
our pink raft to dry out.
after kua aina burgers w/ pineapple
and a quick stop by the dole plantation
we were on our way home to change
and get rebekah off to the airport.
this is a the dole pineapple plantation.
a dream come true for rebekah…she
LOVES the pineapple. the pic on the
right is a baby pineapple.
i hugged her tight at the security
checkpoint and blew kisses at her
through the glass until she was
out of my sight.
having her here was wonderful!
we always have a blast together
and always balance out the laughs
with deep heart-conversations.
it’s always my joy to share my life
and the treasures i find in each place
that i live. in hawaii it is the beautiful
drive east with the waves crashing
violently upon the rocks, malasadas,
the blue waters of kailua beach, the
view of the ridged green carpet-like
mountains on one side of the road and
the teal rolling waves of the ocean on
the other side, chocolate haupia pie,
hula girls gracefully (and skillfully)
shaking their grass skirts, kalua
pork and cabbage, my new friends,
and more. having rebekah here to
share (and enjoy) these treasures
with was a blessing to me.
thanks for your coming, dear friend.
i miss you already, when are you
coming back?!!! and “where are my
pants??!!!”
