Octopus Hat

Richard decided to expand on my mini top hats and create this:

Sunset

Vog + KoOlina+ Sunset=

sorry the are all so grainy I only had my phone with me.

Mm-mm Fish!

Mmm I beheaded, gutted, and cleaned them all by myself!

Then I invented a papaya, mango, citrus salsa to go on top!

SOOOOOO good :)

Richard tried it but decided it wasn't his favorite so ... I ate them both :D

I felt a bit like Cat from Red Dwarf:

Perks

A paycheck AND some Fish?!

Can I work for you guys FOREVER!?

The post to end all posts!

Sorry that was a bit dramatic. I'm not actually stopping just slowing. On top of working full time, trying to keep our house in order, growing a  tiny garden, being stuck in traffic somewhere between 2 and 3 hours a day,  and working on projects from my drafting business, I'm also trying to squeeze in as many awesome adventures as physically possible. This translates to zero 'down/bored time', meaning the blog may get pretty scarce. And even then, I think they will be more like the original posts, all pictures and very little text. Sorry.

However, I am going to charge up my headset so if you ever want to chat between 6:45-8:30am or 5:00- 6:30 pm (Hawaii Time) Shoot me a text and I can call you :)

So quick update:

We had an awesome Labor Day Weekend! We did the Aiea Loop trail, 4.5 miles plus a little extra for off shoots. It was long but really nice! It is one of my current favorite trails. It is completely covered with strawberry guava. (it is a terrible invasive plant, but it tastes SOOOO good)  Next time, I'll bring some tupperware and fill them up.

We didn't bring the camera, but here are a few phone shots.

Me eating a snack and enjoying the view:

 An Amazing root system:

 Roots with a veiw:

 This is one of those off shoots, it was so beautiful. It just kept going too:

My tiny little Meyer Lemon tree has six little lemons on it!! I am so very excited. All my herbs are doing well and my yellow and green zucchini plants are HUGE, but still have yet to give me anything :( I need to be better about fighting off the aphids and the evil ants that farm them.

We have lured several house geckos into our home to help with the bugs! We have at least 3 residents and have noticed a huge improvement on the nasty cockroaches! Our favorite is one we have dubbed ninja gecko. She wont move if you look at her, but the instant you look away she moves a few more inches. She is extremely patient... I have never been able to catch her actually moving.

Well that is all. See you when we see you :)

Age

Growing up always seemed like such a hassle, Getting old even more so. 

In the not so distant past I honestly felt, it would be best to check out and leave this rock before age 40. 

But the older I get, the more I start to realize that every stage of this life is a grand adventure,

So you know what?

I think I will grow old:

College: Is it worth it?

So I have several YouTube Channels that I subscribe to. One of these is the Vlog Brothers.

Today's video was by John and it was titled Is College Worth It?

It seemed particularly fitting that today's video should be on this subject, because today:

I AM OFFICIALLY HIRED!!!!

That's right! I am now an employee at Solar Wave. I'll start training Monday to be a PV designer. 

Translated: 

I will design solar panel systems!!! 

(There is a lot more to it than just that. If you want all the details shoot me a text and I'll call you)

I am absolutely in love with the job and company! 

In the video John talks both about the financial worth of college and the intangible worth of college. And in his case the expense was worth it. I am happy to say I can be in that same boat.

Not only will I be gainfully employed, but I will be doing something I am passionate about, in possibly one of the coolest places on earth. So for me, YES college was 100% worth it.


Side note:
Ronnow Drafting and Design is still a thing! I am still going to be running that on the side to make extra money and because it is fun :)

Side Side note:
Listen to the angler fish song- it makes me laugh:

Abby's Aloha Chicken

I've been toying with this recipe for awhile now, and I finally have it just right.

The original came from a bottle of Aloha Soy Sauce.

The base ingredients are very similar but I've omitted some and dramatically changed the cooking and marinading methods.

Abby's Aloha Chicken:

1/2 Cup Ketchup

1 1/2 Cup Aloha Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup Water

1/2 tsp Chicken Bullion

1/3 Cup White Wine*

1/4 Cup Hawaiian Sun Orange Pineapple Juice Concentrate*

Chicken Legs*

Mix the first 6 ingredients in a gallon Ziploc Freezer Bag. Add in as many chicken legs as you would like as long as they all can be submerged. Place in the refrigerator 24 hrs or at least over night. Flip the bag every few hours or so.

Cook on a well greased, clean grill over low heat with the lid on. Flip and baste with the marinade every 5- 10 mins until last 10 mins of cooking time. (DON'T throw away the marinade though!*) We cook ours between 30-40 mins*. You can tell they are done when they start splitting apart. 

Serve with white rice and pineapple.

Licking of fingers is acceptable and anticipated ;)

*NOTES:

-I haven't tried substituting the wine because all the alcohol cooks off. If you do try substituting it, use something with a good acidity and maybe add something flammable to the marinade like oil.

-You can use pure pineapple juice concentrate for a much healthier option and it is still quite tasty.

-I almost always use frozen Chicken Legs and just let them thaw in the marinade. I've left them soaking for days and they turn out fantastic.

-Watch for Flare Ups! This is a very flammable recipe. This makes for great caramelization and lovely crackly skin but it is easy to burn them.

-DON'T throw out the marinade. There is a ton left over. Just toss in a few more legs and put the whole thing in the freezer. Later, when you want more, take them out, thaw them in the fridge for a day or two, and put 'em on the grill. I've been able to get 3 uses out of the same marinade!

- The marinade dyes the meat and juices pink so you can't use the it's done when the meat is white or the juices run clear trick here.

I hope all the notes don't scare you off! It is really a simple recipe and the flavor....!!! 

I'm salivating right now just thinking about it! 

Coral Reefs and Rough Waves

We made a visit back to my favorite North Shore beach. It started out pretty calm, we snorkeled out to the reef. Richard found this lovely Spanish Dancer slug.

Here it is hiding deeper in the reef

Another one of my favorite urchins (pencil urchins)

A cute little snowflake eel 

Trying to scare Richard away from his hole.

When we returned to shore.. the wave situation had changed dramatically! They were not calm little lappy waves, But big churning waves with a vicious undertow. Getting out was rough but the waves were so much fun I just had to go back in! 

I took my boogie board and figured I'd try and teach myself to body surf. These particular waves changed the water depth really quick. You can go from standing in chest deep water to ankle deep in a matter of seconds. It was on one of those instances where I jumped belly fist into the water. The last under tow had cleared a nice section of basket ball sized rocks, and of course that is right were I landed. I broke my board beyond repair and did this to my leg:

OWWWW! Funny thing is it didn't manage to phase me enough to get out of the water. I sure am feeling it now though.. sanitizing it was less than fun as well.

We both got to work on our tan's a little too. They don't ever show up well in pictures and we still get asked where we are visiting from but we are significantly darker, Richard especially. If we ever get off this night shift schedule he's going to look like the real deal in a hurry :)

Pretties!

We have been trying to beef up the Etsy shop in time for Halloween and Christmas. 

I learned how to make cute little top hats!

These are my first two

This one's fabric is from a huge curtain I found at Saver's for a few bucks
And the flower is just tea stained printer paper!

The fabric for this one came from a Saver's find as well!

I found out that bias tape is the wrong thing to use for trim. I need to go with an upholstery trim or something equally flexible.

Richard added this cool spider medallion 

He made the 'gear' from one of the rings that came on the curtain I used for the hats!

Ridge Hike!

Since we first landed to Oahu back in February we have done all sorts of hikes. There are lots of types to choose from, coast line, historical, rain forest, waterfall, etc, but one type we had never tried was a ridge line hike.

This weekend we remedied that.

The first section was quite arid,


Then more semi arid.
With all the lava rock and pine trees it reminded me of parts of NorCal


(That's lichen that Richard is holding)

About 1/4 of the way up you get your first vistas:

A cute little farm to the right:


Honolulu to the left:

(can you spot the sail boat?)

The higher up we got, the more green and lush things became:


Then after considerable amount of panting we arrived at the top:

That ridge snakes it's way all the way up the island.

And here it is the view:

It was late afternoon and cloudy so my camera was having troubles with the lighting. As cool as these pictures are, they don't even come close to the real sight.

See those two little islands off on the right? Ben and I paddled out to those!

Some beautiful flowers also shared our view:

Needless to say... It was pretty awesome!

And the Crafty Continues!

Richard has created another pair!

This one features a black and brown color scheme and a working LED light! 

Pretty cool right?

Also, I added links to our Etsy Shop, our YouTube Channel, and my Architectural Page. It is over on this side

--->

underneath the calender of us on the bicycle.

So ya, check it out

We should be adding some more stuff very soon..

:)