Bugz.

So every night when I go out to our shower (outside), I'm always greeted by the same creatures. And I've always wanted to post about my lil' friends. Though most people would scream and run for their lives if they saw the critters I'm about to talk about. Which I get. Some bugs and stuffs are gross. But I've never minded, and I even go as far as to rescue the ones that can't swim fast enough to get to safety. I'm weird, I know.

Coqui frogs.

I took a picture of this flyer the other day at Garden Exchange. I love the part about how Puerto Ricans love them and consider them a bedtime melody. We have HUNDREDS of coqui's where we live. They really do sing us to sleep and I would be really sad if they weren't there. But I can ALWAYS count for at least 3 or 4 to hang out with me in the shower. They are freakin' adorable.

Centipedes.

I know, SO GROSS. I even had a hard time looking at images of these. I DO NOT count these as one of my shower buddies. Fortunately, I have only seen one. And it was a baby. And it ran for dear life when I saw it. But I was scared. I read once that if you get stung by one of these dudes, it feels as bad as a gunshot wound. Ya, no thanks.

Geckos. 

These little guys are EVERYWHERE. I see them all day every day. They love to hang above the shower door and when I open it, BAM! right onto my head. It always scares me. 

Cockroach.

yep, they are also everywhere. And before you get all, "eeeeeeewww, gross, sick, blech!!!!" Let me tell you again: THEY ARE EVERYWHERE. Even the cleanest, most pristine places that spray and spray and spray are affected by these guys. You just have to learn to live with them.

Once you get past the fact they they will never be gone, you can begin to appreciate their beauty.

Ya, that's right: beauty. They glisten and sparkle and have pretty little antennaes.

While we are able to keep them out of the yurt, we can't really do anything about the shower. I mean, it's and OUTSIDE shower. We're on their turf.

There's always at least five hangin' out with me when I hop in.

Christmas in January

Tim made it back!!! Not in time for Christmas though :(

So, we celebrated late, and it was still great. (That rhymes)

Tim opening his stocking. Hoosier Daddy tee-shirt.

Big Island candy bar, that thing weighed like a pound..

Tim smelling his gift. And for those of you that don't know: There is a company here on the Big Island called Filthy Farmgirl. They are AMAZING. They use all natural ingredients, and they have the funniest labels and names, you can always find them at the open door markets. Tim is a big fan, and I was able to get them to agree to make him his very own soap. They don't usually do orders for just one bar, but they were SO NICE and came up with the most amazing label.

This is Tim looking at the front of the soap... he says "Hey, this kinda looks like me!"

And then I told him, "It is you!"

Thus, how the 'Filthy Timothy' Soap came to be.

My other present to Tim was an art hanging of what my soundwaves look like when I say "I Love You Tim Nock"

Big baby... he cried.

Next came New Years. We spent it at home and ate greasy Chinese food and found a local Pineapple Sparkling Wine. This is Tim's Osama Bin Laden firework. 

We watched my favorite holiday movie: While You Were Sleeping

Who knew fermented pineapple could be so yummy?

Flora and Fauna

Tim is still out, but hopefully by the time he gets back, our new front deck will be done. It's twice as big and covered.

I think our mosquito population is also going to reach 7 billion this month. Out back is terrible, but I really wanted some pictures of all the beautiful flowers blooming.

Our chicken has been laying eggs under the house. (I call her 'ours' now because I found out she's not the neighbors chicken and she won't leave, so...) Very excited for fresh eggs.

 

Our compost pile is producing tomatoes.

 Draining the pond in hopes the mosquitoes won't be so severe.

Poof!

And just like that... he's gone!

We expected Tim would be back here on the Big Island till at least Friday, but he got the call Tuesday evening to go back. He flew to Oahu Tuesday night after only being back for a little over 3 days.

The bright side is this is Boat #1 out of #4 of his contract so if he decides he doesn't like it, it's only a few more months.

He'll be on a Vietnamese boat (for sure) for this first trip, and he's already texted me that the crew attaches flowers to the front of the boat before departing. I like that.

Before we knew he would be leaving so much earlier than expected, we were at least able to have a great couple of days back to the normal life... whatever that is.

Ever since Tim came home, I've been very domestic, cooking around the clock. I realized that Tim is still the better cook because he had to rescue me from this Cinnamon Roll recipe, as I obviously did not add enough flour and pretty much realized I had no idea what I was doing half way thru. 

I saved the day however, by re-creating this coconut-ginger fried prawn recipe that I saw out of the corner of my eye on that new show "The Chew". This turned out AMAZING!!! So yummy and easy, and I don't even like coconut.

Sunday night, I perfected our weekend together by falling off the step stool in our outside bathroom and twisting my ankle pretty badly.  Tim, thankfully, used his first aid skills and wrapped me up. I'll spare you all of the purple yellowish bruises that developed the day after. 

Lets all think really good thoughts about Tim being safe out there during his first voyage. We'll all pray for a VERY safe return.

WE LOVE YOU TIM!!!!!!!

The Return!!!

 

 Tim passed his observer training and is HOME after 22 days!!!! I should have taken a before shot because he definitely came home a lot scruffier than he went out. First mission: Shave.

He had requested home-made enchiladas verde and I am very happy to report that my first shot at making this verde sauce turned out amazing! Best recipe ever, so easy too, can be found here. I added chopped cilantro though.

I was in a happy, home-coming mood and also made these lemon raspberry muffins which also turned out pretty well. Recipe here.

He's back for about a week until he goes out for his first assignment, that's not much time to fatten him up but I'm up to the challenge.

'Aina kakahiaka

Our Hawaiian Blog has surpassed 500 page views! I'm glad we have a way to all stay connected to our friends and family on both coasts, we miss you all SO MUCH!

 

Right on schedule, our pig family comes to visit. They seem to like Tim's car :)

Tim had to be at the fish market at 5am a few days ago in Oahu, he sent me these lovely pictures:

Mahi

Highest Bid

Marlin

This little guy somehow found his way inside and was VERY hard to catch. He's obviously a trouble maker as you can see he's lost part of his tail in his adventures.

'Aina kakahiaka: Breakfast

The Departure

Tim left yesterday to train in Oahu, it was really sad... I cried at the airport like a big baby. He'll be gone a little over 3 weeks. Depending on how well he does in training he may leave right away after training, or he may come home for a few days... not really sure yet. I am sure he'll do great though.

Tim made us our last dinner before leaving: Fresh mahi tacos,  I've been living off the leftovers since. Soooooo good. The pepper plants Tim re-planted last month were amazing with the fish.

The day Tim left was so sad, and I swear, I've never seen the island look so gloomy since I've been here. This is a picture I took while driving to work a few hours after dropping Tim off at the airport. So dark and yucky. 

A few nights ago was the full moon. Tim and I sat in the hot tub for a while and took these pictures while it rained on and off. You can see our neighbors (and landlord) house in the corner.

Everyone please think good thoughts for Tim while he's in training! I hope it goes by really fast and hopefully he'll be home before we know it.

 I'll be sending him a few care packages most likely, so if anyone wants to send something along, e-mail me at NicoleAlyseCowan@gmail.com and I'll send you our mailing address.