A Quarter of a Century.

Every year we all get another year older. And I'm sure I've gained a few wrinkles as time has gone on, but I certainly don't feel older. I've gone through a lot in these 25 years but feel as thought in some strange way time has kind of stood still.

This past Sunday, August 17th, I turned 25.

The day before we left to Saipan we spent the day at the beach then had dinner with Trevor & Lauren and Josh & Hayley and Nick & Tara at the Wilburs then headed over to our place to play some games. Jason suprised me at our place with a beautiful cake he had asked Lauren & Trevor to make. (If he would have done it, I would have definately found out, hence asking Lauren & Trevor.) It was a made from scratch German Chocolate-My favorite! Not only was it delicious but it was also very beautiful!



Jason knew we were going to be gone for my birthday so he planned a shopping trip for me. I had heard about Sara Jessica Parkers new clothing line "Bitten" that shockingly enough was being sold in Hawaii & had really wanted to check it out. So he suprised me early one Saturday morning and took me shopping. On the ride there, he pulled out some fake, photo copied money; he said it was my spending money and when we got up to the check out counter I could pay him with it & exchange it for the real deal. Everything in the store was $9.98 or less-what a steal! I ended up getting shorts and tees and plenty of dresses. And I still have "money" to spare. =]


While here in Saipan, we went to dinner at Tony Romas Saturday to celebrate early. Sunday we were all actually asked to speak in a fireside to those in the branch here 12 and older. So we went to church, prepared for the fireside, then presented that evening. Afterward we went to dinner at Oleai-a little restaurant spot right on the beach. {A bunch of heathens I know, but the ox was in the myer-we didnt have any food! =]} All in all it was a great day!


Thank you everyone for helping to make this birthday a great one! -Especially you Jay!

SAIPAN!

On the plane, on our way.
P.s. neck pillows are a Great investment!

Guam.

It was after dark by the time we flew into Saipan, so sorry, no aerial shots of the little island. This is the view from our apt/hotel room.


We're in Saipan (a little island in the Pacific Ocean) doing some marine research with the Biology Department Chair. We're having a great time and trying to see lots besides working hard.
We'll add more and update when we get the chance...which might not be until we get back home. We'll be back in Hawaii August 19th. (Even though we leave here on August 20th, gotta love the International Date Line). See ya soon!

Getting to know you...

The Wilburs {who use to be in our ward} recently upgraded their apartment which put them into Trevor & Laurens ward. We're having a great time hanging out and getting to know them. They are wonderful people! This particular night the Wilburs invited us all over to eat homemade scones and play all sorts of new games. (We love games) We also got a little 'tipsy' with our margaritas-dont worry, they were non-alcoholic. =]


The dough.
They doubled their recipe and it just wouldnt stop rising!





"Fact or Crap"
Our late night, bed-bound visitor. Tara was just going to stop by and say hello, but we convinced her to stay and play-she didnt go home until 45 minutes later. ha! :]

We may as well & so we did...

Its an unknown 'rule' here in Hawaii to remove your shoes upon entering someone house, but Jason and I were never ones to enforce it, until now...



Jason and I have wanted to get our carpets cleaned from the moment we moved in. The complex is supposed to do it before new tenants move in, but ours definately were not cleaned. From the first day living here, the carpet in the 'entryway' has been brown, as opposed to the blue its suppose to be. Since we're not ones to complain we've just kept up with vacuuming every week (or sometimes more). We decided with the new cabinets it was the perfect opportunity to clean the carpets & the rugs. I came home from work last Thursday night to all the furniture moved from the living room to the kitchen. Jason borrowed the machine from a friend (who borrowed it from work), and got to work. Since it was more of a one man job, Jason took over the reins, even getting on his hands and knees to get the brown out. He did a Fabulous job!
That night we had a slumber party at Trevor & Laurens house so we could wait for the carpet to dry before putting our house back to normal, so thank you to Trevor & Lauren!

A special thanks for the machine and to Jason for all his hard work!




Sick huh?! This is actually rather embarrasing, but it was there when we moved in! We promise!


So please, "Mahalo for removing your shoes".

Brand New.

Yeah! The cabinents are done and boy do they look good!

They even make our apartment smell like it was just built. It throws us off everytime we glance over in the kitchen and see them; its like a whole new world, like we're actually living in a nice apartment. We LOVE them & are so grateful they're here!

Before:

During:

And Now:

Please Send Money...

...to us poor college students.

Just Kidding.

Our apartment building is getting new cabinents! Woohoo! Out with the old and in the new! I'm pretty sure those old cabinents have been there since the building was built; with all those layers of paint I'd say probably about 30 years ago. We'll post pictures once they're installed. As for now we're V.I.P. eating at "The Club" {also known as the school cafeteria.}

Fish

Jason caught some big ones the other day, so we put them to good "use". We love fish tacos & we love them even more when Jason and Trevor bring home the fish! I guess that speargun for their birthdays was a good investment. Who knew these could turn out to be as good as those...
Yum!

The Growing Garden.

Our little garden is growing so quickly (well some of it) and we're all so proud! We can just hardly wait for the veggies. Heres some recent pictures of the few weeks since we started. Green Beans. Cucumbers.

Squash-Yellow & Green.

Beans that also grow little red edible flowers.

Coconut is TOO Expensive!

And so we just find our own. Well Jason does at least. I have yet to master shimming up those trees. I think I just might leave that to him. Thanks Jason! I will say though that there's nothing like drinking fresh coconut juice and eating the meat.

So Close!

Now the hard part. =]

You got it!

Yum! Fresh Juice.

Thanks Gentlemen!

Not quite ripe enough to eat the meat, but the juice made some delicious coconut smoothies!

Recent Intruder!

There are very few things, if anything, that I actually LOATHE. But these things I without a doubt despise! Even thinking about them give me the heebee-geebees. We may live in paradise, but with these guys around its like torture.

The famous Cane Spider.

We only get them every once in a while, and of course at night. It seems every time we get one they just seem to get bigger and bigger. But this one, oh man, he was HUGE. This one showed up the other night while we were brushing our teeth, getting ready for bed. Jason was out in the living room/kitchen and spotted him running across the wall. After trying to scream for a shoe {yes, he still was in the middle of brushing} he found one, attacked and Killed! Thank Heavens!!!

Pictures just dont do them justice; they are HUGE and they are DISGUSTING!
About a month ago another one traipsed its way into our apartment late at night when I was talking on the phone with Nikki, my sister, as she was flying to come visit us the next day. I use to be the brave one to kill all crawling creatures in our apartment, but Jason has taken over that responsibility for me. {Yeah for me!} So he was following it around and stratigically planning on how to kill it, claiming it was the Biggest one yet. The little devil found a good hiding spot behind our bookshelf in our room. After throwing numerous objects at it, moving the book shelf, spraying water near it, poking and prooding things in his direction to scare him out, we were unsuccessful. Both afraid to fall asleep with it still in hiding, we finally we able to nod off. An hour later, I awoke quickly to all the lights on and Jason hitting the walls. He said he woke up to use the bathroom and figured the little guy would be out and about, sure enough he was which made him the perfect target for the next toilet flushing. And we could finally fall asleep peacefully.

Heres some info on my nemises....

Cane Spider, Heteropoda venatoria. ..."usually the size of a can of tuna fish, this spider has a huge body and thick hairy legs. This spider is actually quite a helpful arachnid. The Cane Spider does not spin a web, but instead hunts for food at night. Just about any insect is fair game for this spider, including cockroaches and silverfish..." (I think thats the only good thing about them) "...Cane Spiders are very reluctant to bite and prefer to run instead of defend. However, if sufficiently provoked the spider can bite and though rare, can inject venom."

Happy Independence Day!

This 4th of July was quite a busy and full day! We woke up early to make a dish for the ward breakfast, then headed off to eat. There was SO much food, it was delicious. After the breakfast, a group of us headed off to go spearfishing at Laie Point-it was much too choppy, so we ended up at our 'secret spot' up by Turtle Bay Resort. The water was pretty murky, however, Jason caught his first catch on with his new speargun! We decided to cook 'em up and have a BBQ; weird combination, but we had grilled & steamed fish, hamburgars and hot dogs. It all turned out SO GOOD! We (the Robins, Trevor, Jason & I) quickly hurried over to Turtle Bay Resort so we wouldn't miss their fireworks show. After 'talking story' and then being rained on {it stopped as quickly as it came}, the show started. It was pretty good and of course, beautiful. While waiting in line to drive out of the resort, we watched S.W.A.T. in the car. I'm sure we looked rather funny all watching a movie on a tiny screen, but the surround sound was pretty amazing, that the size of the screen didn't matter. By the time we got home, we still had about 10 mins left of the movie, so we continuted watching it in our apartment parking lot. We then met up with Lauren, her dad Bob and her brother Justin (whom she picked up from the airport earlier that evening), to shoot off our own fireworks. Since they are illegal in AZ, it was a first for me. And it was a blast (no pun intended)! We started out at Temple Beach, but it was TOO windy so we crossed the street and lite them off in the beach park parking lot. By the time the last firework and sparkler were lite it was rather late, so we all headed home. It was a long and non-stop day, but it was lots of fun!


The fish Tumu (a friend from the ward) caught and cooked up at the BBQ.

Jason playing with our bag of skittles. This little boy came up to us and just kinda lurked around us and stared for a minute at them. I asked him if he wanted some and that was the question he was waiting for, he dove right in the bag and helped himself.

David & Elissa Robins.

Jason & Trevor.

The chaos of people running for cover during our little Hawaiian rain storm. But the show must go on!

Trying to light our own fireworks at Temple Beach.

Right before Bob did a 'tuck and roll'.

Right as Justin was about to get his hair singed off.

Teamwork. Jason & I.

A bunch of crazies.