Now I know my ABC's

This morning J suggested that we blog today, and I blithely said "sure".. then wondered what in the world we could blog about - nothing new or interesting has happened recently. Unless you count buying our New Caledonia tickets and receiving my new passport in the mail.
But, then I read Katie's blog.. and miracle of miracles! She had tagged me to write our own ABC's.. I agree with her that it's probably more information about me than anyone really wants to know, but here it goes.. =)

A- Attached or Single? Absolutely Attached, and loving every minute of it.

B- Best Friend? Joseph Daniel Quillen (though I do have other best friends, he's my BEST best friend.)

C- Cake or Pie? I love them both, but pies present much more variety (meat pie, pot pie, fruit pie, chocolate pie...) so i think pie wins slightly

D- Day of Choice? I really like every day right now.

E- Essential Item? A hair tie - I always encounter a situation where I need to pull my hair back, even if it's just because the wind likes to have its way with it.

F- Favorite Color? Orange! Though I'm beginning to suspect that it's only my favorite out of habit or tradition.

G- Gummy Bears or Worms?Definitely bears - they're way cooler to play with it squish.. and connect together.. and mix and match..

H- Hometown? Hercules, CA - home of the old dynamite factory, not the greek hero

I- Favorite Indulgence? Chocolates. mmmmmmmm

J- January or July? I enjoy January in hawaii better than July weather wise, but there's more free time in July... hard choice. I can't pick.

K- Kids? Other people's kids - definitely love them. Our own? Not yet, maybe in the next few years.

L- Life isn't complete without? I agree with Katie, Family.

M- Marriage date? April 27, 2007

N- Number of brothers and sisters? 1 sister, 1 brother, 2 sisters in-law, 3 brothers in-law, 1 sister in-law-in-law (is that ok to do?) , and 1 brother in law-in law.

O- Apples or Oranges? I like how there are random questions in this to fill up letters =) Mandarin oranges are the hands down best ever!

P- Phobias and Fears? Spiders, and heights.

Q- Quote? A friend of mine just shared with me.. "It's a mother's love that allows her children to give the best of themselves. You are the model for your children."

R- Reason to smile? Every time J does something him-ish, friends, family, silly birds following the lawnmower.. clean air, pretty water... listing everything would take too much space, not to mention my entire life

S- Season of choice? I like them all, and they all tend to be my favorite depending on the day you ask. Usually Fall, though I especially love places where there are more like 2 seasons: Warmer days, and Colder days.

T- Tag three people? I think all the people I know with blogs have already been tagged, except Mikensi and Sandra!

U- Unknown fact about me? When I'm relaxed and kind of spaced out, I tend to mimic people around me - for instance the other day i wandered through the room where J was, he jumped and gasped, and I automatically jumped and gasped without realizing why until right afterwards.

V- Vegetable? Steamed brocoli, or potatos.. or bak choy.

W- Worst Habit? Making fun of signs posted with bad grammar.... I need to stop, but it's just so funny at a school where English is not the main language..

X- X-ray or Ultrasound? Hm.. well, one usually means broken bones, the other is kind of slimy.. but ultrasound, because I just think it's neat that sound can be heard, can give images, and transfer deep heat.

Y- Your favorite food? Everything!

Z- Zodiac Sign? Taurus =)

I hope that this miscellaneous information was interesting, or at least entertaining.. and I look forward to the next really cool thing that happens to us for our next blog!

Have a wonderful Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Winter winter winter...

It has come to my attention that it is now winter on the mainland. However, I have also noticed the signs of winter here on our sweet island paradise... The temperature has consistently been in the 70's, never venturing into the 80's. There has been a slight increase in the number of refreshing rain storms. Of course, the most dramatic sign of winter is the temperature of the water. It is more like the temperature of the swimming pools in the summer rather than the normal warm, bath-like water of the Hawaiian oceans which is consistent with the summer months.

It has also been brought to my attention that many people, among whom are our relatives, are being plagued by dihydrogen monoxide (H2O). The particular form is white, and generally falls from the sky. You call it snow. But don't be getting jealous of our tropical home! We too have suffered from a form of white water falling from the sky! As proof, we have taken a photo. See below. As you can see, there is clearly white water splashing from above me and pounding onto my back. So don't be jealous! Clearly we are equally suffering with these alternate forms of water, just as you may be on the mainland.


It is evident from the first picture that we took the advice of our good friend Eugene (whose beautiful kids are blogged on the 1st of January) and went to the beach. We went with our friends and had such a good time. However, don't think that we are without unfortunate curses that are equal or even greater than winter snow; it just so happens that oh so often it is a beautiful day. It constantly beckons you to come out of your homework places just long enough that when you finally succumb, justify procrastination, and walk to the beach, it becomes cloudy the entire duration of beach time. Hence the not-so-crystal-clear water in my body boarding shot. However, the sun ever taunts by occasionally revealing itself , keeping you trapped at the beach in the eternal web of laziness with lingering thoughts that the sun will be out soon, so you might as well stay just a bit longer.

These are our good friends Jimmy and Mikensi, whom we've already introduced in our blog. As seen in the picture, you can now deduce why we brought them with us to the beach ( so that I wouldn't be the whitest guy on the beach) =) just kidding Jimmy.

In conclusion, just because we live in a tropical paradise, where the people are usually very kind, helpful, and friendly, and have the opportunity to go to the beach once in a while, doesn't mean we don't have winter woes like the continental united states. And, minor distractions like sultry breezes wafting to us from the direction of the beach hardly interfere with our learning... after all, we have to contemplate something while we gaze out over the waves, or shut our eyes against the light of the sun.

I hope you all have enjoyed this little peak into our lives hidden far away in the Pacific Ocean.

Home Sweet Home

And we're back! We arrived safely in Hawaii, narrowly missing the killer storms that slammed into California literally minutes after we were airborne. Another flight to Hawaii that was supposed to leave only one hour later than ours was delayed for two hours because of weather conditions; after that, many others we canceled or delayed. Needless to say, Lianna and I are very thankful that we got up at an inhuman hour of 4:30 am to be out of the house at 5:00 am. But we did it and we made it out and now we are back home enjoying the last wonderful bit of our vacation before we jump head-on into the new school year.

Now that we are back, we are making preparations for the semester... part of which is working hard to desperately try to make up some of the money that we didn't make while we were away from our jobs on the mainland. Then there are the other necessities like doing some grocery and school supply shopping, doing laundry, cleaning, and getting everything ready so that the transition from vacation to school won't be as drastic.

Soon after we were settled in, our wonderful friends, Jimmy and Mikensi invited us over for a dinner that was quite delicious. After eating a full dinner, complete with dessert and all, we played games, the game of Life. It must have been about 13 years since I had played that game. But it was so much fun. We truly are blessed to have such great friends.

...Moments away from ... a terrible and fiery death!

What better way to start off the new year than to take your life into your own hands and do something you've never done before? Why not make the situation even more exciting by taking into your hands the lives of your beloved wife, your father-in-law, and a complete stranger too! Well, that is just what I did. For the first time in my life, I flew a plane. No, there was no emergency on the plane going back to Hawaii where the pilot and copilot spontaneously died and required a regular passenger to take control of the plane... but Lianna and I went up in a little four-person plane with her father and family friend.
It was truly an odd feeling when the plane, the ENTIRE plane, would surge slightly down, leaving your stomach in your throat and your palms sweaty, holding on to the stick for dear life... only to relax again after seeing that you weren't going to suffer a terrible and fiery death. But just as soon as you descend back into a state of relief and calm, the tail of the plane swings slightly out to the right and you find out what it feels like to have your stomach not in your throat, but to your right or left side, a truly remarkable and indescribable feeling.

It was a nice flight though. Nothing too dramatic aside from the feeling of being on a constant, invisible, and unpredictable roller coaster. We passed over the family's house in Hercules, and it gave a pristine view of the San Fransisco skyline.
We landed at Half Moon Bay, took a walk around the pier, then headed back to Concord. On our way back we saw many other planes, and had to keep a careful eye out to make sure we didn't fly into their airspace, but we ended up just fine with a new experience to blog about. Happy New Year! It is up to you to make it a good one.

Happy New Year!

So, to ring in the new year J and I babysat in place of Debbie for two of the most well behaved and cutest children ever. We played with them, and fed them, and put them to bed, and then played with the pets of the house and watched the Bee movie until almost 2008!
Sasha, the girl, is two. I began babysitting her when she was very young, and so she and I have kind of grown up together. Anthony is around 19 months and is very tall, and very adorable. As you can see, they are lots of fun. I really miss them, and now Joe will too since he's met them, when we are back in Hawaii. Our break is winding to a close, and I'm going to miss the Bay Area, especially knowing that I probably won't be back for a while.. But we have lots of good memories to look back on, and we rung in the new year with big smiles all around!

Happy New Year!!
All the best wishes for a new year to rededicate to life, love and family.

Last-minute Christmas

Before we left Hawaii, I envisioned long days full of cold weather, hot chocolate, fires in the fireplace, Christmas carols, and plenty of free time for blogging. Now that we are in California, we have had lots of hot chocolate, (especially JD,) and there has been plenty of cold weather to encourage us to stay indoors, but somehow we have managed to fill our time with friends, family, movies, Christmas decorating, and some shopping. Oh yes, and lots of napping. But it wouldn't be a good vacation without those things, so the blogging has been pushed to the back burner. We have, however, been keeping up (sort of) with picture taking, so before the clocks pound out the last hours of the old year, and the wild bells ring in the new 2008 (at which point all these pictures and memories will become outdated and so last year) I want to record a few of the good times we have had.

When we arrived here, the house was noticeably lacking anything resembling Christmas, so JD and I took it upon ourselves to dive into the attic and pull out boxes of things. We put on some Christmas music, and (after I and Debbie cleaned the gift-wrapping department out of the living room) the three of us commenced putting up couch cushions, red and green candles, and various other yule-tidy things. Thus we passed a pleasant 10 minutes, until JD accidentally decorated a picture off of our dish hutch, and we decided that I would decorate while he and Debbie scavenged for more boxes and bags in the attic. They found some really pretty decorations, and after we were finished the house looked great, and only lacked a Christmas tree. Once Peter returned from BYU-Provo a day later, the four of us set up and decorated our artificial tree.

And, Debbie cleaned up after our tree's annual attempt at realism - it shed many of its poky plastic "needles" all over our carpet.

Lights, Camera, Christmas!

Saturday night found us at the Hilltop 2nd Ward's Christmas party. Some of the primary children sang some songs, and others in the ward participated as well. Debbie played the piano to accompany a soloist after dinner, and the rest of us watched and ate the delicious feast provided.
Christmas day came quickly, and we all gathered around to open our gifts!
JD and I received many wonderful and exciting gifts from the Quillen famlily, and from the Henderson family. It's impossible to pick favorites, but the following are some pictures of the whole bananza.

Some shirts J and I bought for Peter, a Family Favorites cookbook for JD from Mom Henderson, and lastly a sadly washed-out picture of Debbie, and an old filing cabinet JD and I cleaned out and cleaned up for her to hold her mountains of sheet music. At any rate, we loved everything we received, and we loved the smiles on everyone's faces whom we gave to. =)

We've also been blessed to be able to gather some furniture and other household supplies from my Grandfather and Grandmother's old apartment. My Grandfather is now in a nice home in Fresno, with good medical help for his Alzheimer's, and since my Grandmother passed away some time ago, my family is now getting the old apartment ready to rent out. Everything must go, and so JD and I have been able to look through it and store what we like in my mom's house. We have also been lucky to see some of my old friends - many of whom are between the ages of 1 and 12. We hope to see more of my old friends before we leave, and we wish everyone else a wonderful New Year!

A Little Christmas Sprite, or Two

So, now that school is officially over, it looks as though we will probably be blogging more often! And doing a whole collection of other silly things. For example, this little Christmasy gismo - something JD's dad sent him, and that I saw at work. It's very goofy, and I think it's rather in keeping with the holiday spirit. Below are several pictures from the wonderful treat.

And, the finale..

To see the dance in its full glory, go here! And, have some patience, or do something else while you are waiting for it to load. =) It may take a little while.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1417782750

Somehow, though, they put a girl's body on him, and man's body on me... maybe because hes grinning and I'm scowling? (Does that say something about stereotypes of men?) At any rate, it's a fun way to gear up for Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!