Some fun little Adventures

Okay so it has been a while and I've meant to keep this updated but I'm still pretty new at this.  So I'm just going to list a few of the fun things we've done here, give you all an update, and share some funny things that have happened to us. 

School:  School is going well for both of us.  We always feel like we're playing catch up and when we don't feel that way.... it is short lived.  We are both loving learning though so that is good.

Friends:  We have made some WONDERFUL friends!!  We have a couple that live down the street from us and rent from the Unga's too.  Their names are Steph and Andrew Townsend and we just love them to death.  They have been lifesavers in giving us rides to church (otherwise we'd have to leave at 6:45am to catch the 7am bus to be to church by 8am) and sometimes to school.  We have game nights together and Steph and I like to work out together.  They are super rad.

The Auna's, Janice (maiden name Gacilan) and Jacob and little Reyna.  This family is the BOMB!! Our trips to the beach usually include them.  They are so nice and take us to Walmart and Costco with them when they make runs.  We love chilling with them.  And in return for drivin us to walmart we watch little Reyna for them.  We totally get the better half of that deal.

The Smarts are just that... SMART!! We had dinner with them, Amy and Taylor and their little one Brennan, just last night for the first time.  Amy is a famous cook around these parts and they are trying to get a bakery business going. HOOK UP!! They make the best cinnamon rolls EVER!! They are in our ward and Taylor and Nick have the dreaded class, Psych Stats, together. I really like them and see us being friends.

There are many more friends we have made and they've all taken us under their wings.... (I think we've been unofficially labeled as the poor couple in the ward. haha) No, everyone here struggles and succeeds here together.  That's whats so great about student wards.  We're all in the same receive-all-the-assistance-from-the-government-while-we-can boat paddling together. haha.

Smash that Cockroach!!!:  Did I say cockroach? Yes I did.  One fine morning I didn't have an early class so I slept in a little and got up in time to say bye to Nick as he left for the bus.  I had an extra hour to get ready before I had to head for the bus.  So Nick leaves and I meander into the bathroom to do my business.  I'm sitting there, shorts around my ankles, when this GIANT COCKROACH scurries from the main room into the bathroom and under the magazine that was on the floor directly in front of me!! My reaction?....I screamed like a little girl and brought my feet to the seat of the toilet. AHHH!! I will admit it.... I was freaking out.  So I'm paralyzed... What do I do? I don't want to put my feet down. What if that nasty thing zips over to me and crawls up my leg!! Do cockroaches bite?? WHY ME?? Yeah, freaking out might be putting it lightly.

Anywho, I get up the courage to get off the toilet and and run into the room and grab a shoe. I started hitting that magazine with everything I had.  Like it was this cockroach or me.  Only one would survive. After exerting all my strength into demolishing this big roach I cautiously pulled away the magazine to see the remains of the enemy.  He was lying on his back, motionless.  Ew, I don't want to even pick this thing up with toilet paper and throw it in the toilet.  It's sooo huge!! Wait a second.... It's antenas were still twitching.  Crap.  I nudged it with my shoe.  It shot up and zipped up the wall and found shelter behind MY TOWELS! AHHH, I ran into the main bedroom, hopped on the bed and called Nick.  "You have to come home!!!! I can't do this!!! You need to come kill this cockroach!!"  Hahaha. I laugh now but then I felt like I was going to hyperventilate.

Nick tells me to hang up, kill the roach, and call him back.  After we hung up I sat their terrified.  How am I going to do this?? I decided to call someone to get me jazzed up so I could just run in there and kill the sucker without thinking about it.  Mom...... no answer.  Uncle Craig......... dangit, no answer.  Natalie.......... "Hello?" "Hi, Josh!!" "Hey whats up?" "Oh, nothing much... actually I'm kind of freaking out!!" "Why? Is everything okay?" "Um, yeah, there's just this giant cockroach in our apartment and I'm kind of freaking out about it"

I proceeded to just blabber on and on about how much I didn't think I could do it.  This cockroach was HUGE!!  Josh calmed me down "Mel, anyone would react this way.  No one likes cockroaches.  All you have to do is trap it with a bowl or something.  Then Nick can kill it when he gets home."  "Oh, okay, I can do that!"  "Do you want me to stay on the phone with you?  I can walk you through it" "Yeah okay"  I then put my shoes on because if that thing came anywhere near me I was doing the jig of death.  I'd smash that sucker!!  Josh proceeded to talk me through it step by step.  Every time I pulled one of the towels off the rack and shook it out I screamed.  Just my impulse I guess.  Finally I got to the last towel.  It had to be there.  I stood there paralyzed again.  "You can do this Mel.  The cockroach is more scared of you than you are of him." Yes, I can do this.  I can do this.  I CAN DO THIS!!! This chant screamed in my head as I lifted the towel away from the wall.  There he was.

He jetted from behind the towel, across the wall, and into the shower.  I leaped after him with bowl in hand.  In one swift move I trapped him in the bowl.  And then I place a shoe on top..... just in case he had some radioactive strength come to him.  You can never be too careful with those roaches.  I was in triumph.  Josh was so proud.  At least that is what I let myself believe.  I had done the impossible.  I had conquered the massive roach that invaded my bathroom. I was the master ninja!!!!

When Nick and I got home later that day.  I looked at the roach trapped in the shower...... okay so it wasn't as big as I'd thought it was.  It must have shrunk from lack of oxygen..... yup, that's definitely what it was ;-)

Nursery:  Okay, so this last Sunday they needed volunteers to help in nursery.  I looked at Nick.  He looked at me.  Why not?  He raised his hand and we followed the lady into the nursery room..... or should I say the urine smelling, ball of stress, energy sucking room of children.  AHHH!!! Haha, as cute as all of those kids are, when they are in a room together they are satan!!!! Okay so that's a little dramatic but man they wore me out.  I have not been that stressed out in a long time.  Two hours seemed like two days.  I have a lot of respect for those who run daycare's.  They must have a gift: patience.  These children were all injected with sugar before they came to nursery.  I swear!!  I look forward to having kids..... I'm just grateful they usually come one at a time, not 16 at a time! We got home from church, ate lunch, and crashed.

Well I hope you enjoyed the update.  I am writing this at school so hopefully when I get home I'll have some photos and videos to update.  We love you all and hope all is well. Aloha!!

Laughing Matter: The Reality of Being Poor

You know when people talk about the good old days when they were poor and all they had to their name was $300 and a bus ticket?....... I always thought they were over exaggerating to make their story better.  Come on, you know you do it too. Well Nick and I have reached the point in our lives where.... all we have to our names is a little bit of money, bus passes, and a little studio apartment.

WE ARE DIRT POOR

AND WE LOVE IT!!!!

We have so much to laugh about.  We love laughing about how poor we are.  Some examples:

1.  The first day we got here the bus wasn't running often (labor day weekend) so the only place we had to eat at was a little shrimp shack.  We were so hungry I swear our neighbors could hear our stomaches screaming at us.  We walked down the hill to the scary looking shrimp shack only to find that one plate of food cost $11.  We almost cried.  "One coconut shrimp and one mahi mahi to go please. We can make these last two meals right?......" The next morning as I ate my tiny morsels left over, I had a flash forward to our first visit home: "Oh my goodness Mel!!!!! You look anorexic!!! Are you okay?" "I guess that's what happens when all you have to eat is..... nothing (Picture an over dramatic sad face)" Hahaha. And just so you know.... we have food and we're not starving now.   

2.  The first day in our real apartment (our landlords had to put us in their other place because our place wasn't ready) we had breakfast: cereal in a cup as our bowl using a spatula as our spoon.  We've learned that you actually can cook pasta in the microwave and that rice and tuna mixed together is NASTY.  We eat each of our meals on the floor next to our bed.... unless it's cooler inside and then we'll eat on our bed.  Before every meal and each morning and night we gladly give thanks for what we have been given.  It is amazing how grateful and humble we've become.  And we LOVE it. 

3. We are grateful for the ceiling fan above us and say little blessings of gratitude every time we enter a store or get on the bus....... hello air conditioning!! 

We love the beach and have spent much time there.  We love it here in Hawaii and look forward to seeing you all come visit..... hopefully sooner than later.  We count our blessings and we love you all.