New Digs is a Success

We moved into a new house a month ago and we recently had a new digs party. Folks seemed to have a good time, there was plenty of food and a good mix of neighbors and friends from work and church. Once the main crowd left, a few faithful party goers hung out in the back yard and played with fireballs that Melinda and Daniel brought. I finally light my sticks on fire and did an improvised fire knife routine. This is something I've wanted to do for years. Chris made a hot air balloon out of newspapers and we also played pin the tail on the donkey.

I'm settling into the second new house I've lived in this summer. We're pretty much unpacked and the light switches are starting to make sense. I have a lot of new things going on right now- new house, new husband, new name, and I also started a new job. Sort of. I still work at the paper but I am no longer a sales person. Instead, I'll be writing for the advertising department and helping with advertising-related web content. I just finished writing the advertorials for our annual Best of West Hawaii awards. It was fun to talk to people about their businesses and meet successful business owners who love their jobs (at least they say they do) And at the end of the interview I didn't have to sell them anything.

My firestick routine from Carolyn's iphone:

Looks like Joe needs a little practice at this game:

New Digs Party

We're inviting folks to our new digs party Friday, Aug 8th at 6PM. We'll cook up some chicken on the grill and people are welcome to bring drinks or pupus to share if they wish. A new house is a good excuse to throw a party, it's not a housewarming party, we don't need any gifts, plants or knick-knacks, unless you want to bring something flammable and we can have fun with it at the party. Email me for directions.

Back at it

We're finally getting back to our recreational weekend schedule after the wedding, honeymoon and move. We've finished unpacking except for the garage. Chris hung 94 brackets for shelves so there's progress. We took the day off from chores to attend church, surf Pine Trees and eat dinner at my folk's house. Chris took this surf photo using a film camera on a previous surf excursion. It took him forever to use up the roll of film, remember those days?

Crabby Food, Happy Day


I know the honeymoon is old news, but I want to post this one last picture. Stuart took us crabbing in Tillamook Bay and we had a fantastic time. Stuart pulled the boat unto the beach and boiled up our catch. It was one of the best things I have eaten in my whole life. Definately a memorable day.


I'm not short on blog material, I've just been too busy to post it. Chris sold the house so we had to move. All the carrying furniture and packing boxes has cut into our recreation and blog time. Don't worry- it's temporary.

News flash

Jen and Ron are now engaged. He proposed to her during a riverside picnic at Zion National Park. Jen's response to the big question was, "seriously?"

I've known Ron since I moved to Hawaii eight years ago, and Jen is a good friend, too. I couldn't be happier for them. Jen caught the bouquet at my wedding so I guess the silly thing worked.

Stuck in the sand

We rented four-wheelers in Florence and went driving around in the dunes. The machines were pretty lame...not enough power, automatic, the rear brakes had been disabled and they could have used better tires for sand because they sure like to get stuck a lot. But we still had a good time and the dunes were beautiful. Time well spent!

Abort Mission

Not everything has to work out to make a successful vacation. We tried to do an overnight backpack trip and failed miserably. The forest had recently burned, so we were greeted by relentless hot sun instead of shade trees. We carried a tent, food, water filter, sleeping bags, beer, etc. for two miles uphill when we hit unmaintained trail. Poison Oak grew to eye level, and we could not continue to our destination. The steep terrain provided no alternative camp spots.

We hiked back to the car and spotted a nice beach across the river for camping. But Chris' brave river crossing attempt was also unsuccessful. Now with one spouse wet and cold, one spouse hot and sweaty, and both hungry we started making poor decisions like wasting 20 minutes driving the rental car through 50 feet of boulders instead of walking and packing and repacking our suitcases in attempt to find clothes, and trying to wash away old, greasy chili. It's a long, hilarious story. We looked like two bafoons who have never been outdoors.

So we chose to eat at a redneck RV park restaurant and drove for miles down winding dirt roads, finally coming to a magnificant camping spot. We were pretty over the backpacking at that point, so we opted to drive poor rental car down a steep, dirt road over a pretty mean drop off to access our riverside camp site.

A highlight of the day was our turn-around point at Buzzard's Roost. Quite a view:

Knock another one off the list

I have an unwritten and unofficial list of things I want to do before I die. Some have a bit of significance, some border on the absurd, many I know I'll never do. Drive in a demolition derby, attend the Indy 500, travel to Israel, live to see the Cubs win the world series, attend a concert at Red Rocks... you get the idea. Sometime in high school I imagined going to see the giant redwood trees. Now I can cross that one off the list.

And I wasn't dissapointed by the trees. They're just amazing. After snowboarding we headed south to Crescent City, Calif., where we did an afternoon hike through the forest to the beach to watch a sunset.

Winter time!

Chris and I always talked about snowboarding on our honeymoon. When we decided to get married in June we figured that was out of the question. But freak weather dumped fresh snow on Mount Hood during our first night in Oregon and we had powder ski conditions. Chris had never ridden a snowboard before but he picked it up pretty quickly and we both and a fabulous time. It snowed the entire first day we were on the mountain and they were even requiring chains to drive down the road. Finally, we made it back to our hotel room to soak in the hot tub and sip porter beside the fireplace. The next day the clouds lifted, revealing a magnificant view of Mt. Hood's summit.

A lovely day for a honeymoon:

Mt. Hood Summit:

Rain turned to snow as we climbed the mountian road:

A Few More Wedding Pics

Our parents:

Chris shows off his new ring:

Our first dance as husband and wife:


More pics available on my Facebook page.

The Big Day

We couldn't have asked for a better wedding. The rain held out and the surf was beautiful. Family and friends arrived. The fragrance of flowers and salty sea air drifted through the garden. The orchestra added a touch of class.

But weddings are so much more than pretty dresses bouquets. Rather, they are occasions where two promise their lives to each other and God joins them and makes them one. It took weeks of planning for the half-hour event and that's all fine and dandy, but I can see the real signficance is in the lasting marriage and in what God is doing in our lives.

And it's clear to Chris and I that God is blessing us. We're so thankful.

The wedding party cracking up:

Chris proudly walks his mom down the aisle:

My dad:

(Thanks to Baron and Phil for the photos!)

Juneuary

The locals are calling it Juneuary. Chris and I are in Oregon on our honeymoon and we spent the last two days snowboarding Mount Hood in powder conditions. Chris and I even made the Portland news. They were doing a story about the storm that delivered 6" of fresh snow- I guess they thought a couple vacationing from Hawaii snowboarding in June was newsworthy.

Today we're heading south to see the giant redwoods. I've always wanted to do that.

Ohana

This just blows my mind. I have a brand new, extra large family. Chris has five siblings who have many children and they are all coming for the wedding. Many of them are already here. How many? I'm actually not sure, I can't keep track of them all.

We met them at the airport Friday and they all showed up in matching shirts with the wedding dates of all the family members. Each family's shirts were color coded to help me sort out the mass of kids and spouses. Chris and I got pink because Chris has been telling some tall tales to his family that I carry a foo-foo dog and wear pink shoes. When they started reading this blog I think they found out otherwise.


My new father-in-law, David, likes to paint. Here he is with his painting from Pu`u Honua O Honaunau Nat'l Park.


Here's a group shot on the front steps of their rental house. I think a few folks are missing from the picture.

Rec Day

Last weekend was spent cleaning and packing, preparing to move and preparing for the wedding. But Memorial Day was a free bonus day the Chris and I took advantage of. We took the dirt bikes up Mana Road but got rained out about 20 miles into the ride. So we drove up to Hawi and did a little dirt biking there and hiked into Pololu Valley.

Chris and I on the trail into Pololu Valley:



Chris jumps his dirt bike near Hawi with Maui in the background:

Dinner Time

We went to Chris' favorite dive spot yesterday. We did OK, but didn't bring home enough food to feed the Jasper clan, and that was our goal.

Chris hold up the floats with our catch:

My best fish was this Palani, and Chris's was this nenue:

Buku Bananas

The local term would be "choke" or "shoots, brah, get plenny." We recently picked a 55 lb. hand of bananas that's been growing in the back yard.

Hau`oli la hanau

Happy birthday to me. It's not really my birthday for a couple more weeks but we started celebrating today. I wanted to go dirt biking and Chris didn't think he could contain the secret until May 15, anyway. So he produced my new dirt bike! I still can't believe he bought me a dirt bike. This Chris guy is going to make a pretty darn good husband. We took the bike out for a test spin and it was a blast. It would have been even more fun to ride around out there with Chris, but after 5 minutes he broke the frame of his dirt bike in half, so he was reduced to spectator for the rest of the afternoon. When the fun was finished we came back to my place where my mom had made - no joke- a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I guess she got the memo that my birthday starts early this year.

Our first wedding gift


Dan and Jill gave us a new 10.1 mega pixel Sony Cybershot camera. It's pretty sweet. And it's just in time, my old camera has been acting funky lately. It's been through a lot.


Chris and I took the new camera cave exploring Saturday. We didn't find any caves but we found an old rock wall that was probably used by Hawaiians for herding goats during the cowboy era. We cooled off with a dip in the queen's bath at Kiholo then we took a stroll along the beach.

What once was lost now is found

Several month ago I lost the key to the church. I tore my room and car apart before deciding it must be buried in the sand at Pine Trees. Finally, I fessed up to the lost item and mourned the loss of the key chain... a sturdy, stainless steel bottle opener imprinted with the logo of my Alma mater. It seems fitting, doesn't it? A church key on a church key key chain. Today I uncovered the elusive key from under the floor mat while vacuuming the Jeep. What better way to celebrate than with a cold brewski?

Smile

Sarah took our picture so we'd finally have one with both of us in it.

Fish for the dinner table

I borrowed Sarah's speargun Saturday and I finally got a couple kills. I shot a tiape (blue finned snapper) and a rainbow wrasse. Chris got five fish, including an uhu, some nenue and the table boss pictured below. I'm anticipating more fishing trips so I can polish my skills and fill the table with fresh fish.

Tiape, my fist kill:

Shark night

Duane took Chris and I fishing last Friday night. It was my first experience deep sea fishing, and let me tell you, it is not the same as fishing for bluegill in Lake Griffey. The lures we used while trolling were as big as the fish I'm used to catching in Indiana. After dark we set out a parachute in the water (it's too deep for an anchor) and we baited the lines and let them down 200 feet below the surface. And we waited....

...Finally we heard the reel click, click, clicking and wrrrrrrr the line was flying out of the reel. A few minutes of cranking revealed an 8-foot shark, so we cut the line and let it go free. A couple hours later, another hit! Click, click, click, wrrrrrr. This time, I got to the reel first, and this fish was fighting. It kept swimming straight down and the reel spun until it was hot to the touch. I knew this fish was strong because the tension on the line was set so tight I could barely pull it with both hands, yet this fish had the reel spinning like crazy. Then it stopped. It had broken loose. It took several minutes just to reel all the line back up to the boat. Duane determined by nicks on the line we had hooked a 12-foot thrasher shark. I guess they can be pretty dangerous so we were relieved the line broke and the shark never surfaced.


We didn't bag any eatin' fish, but it was still a pretty exciting time. We saw dolphins, a flying fish, creepy swimming creatures, and who can beat spending the night out on a boat with such good company?

Sunrise over Hualalai:

Duane preparing the lines for trolling:

Voggy Mountain

A plume of sulfur dioxide and ash pouring from Halemaumau Crater at the Summit of Kilauea forced the closure of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Tuesday and Wednesday. The park has reported elevated levels of sulfur dioxide in the air since mid-February, and in mid-March an explosion/ eruption at Halemaumau damaged the nearby museum. We've been seeing a lot more vog in the air ever since. Tradewinds tend to blow the volcanic gasses toward Kona and people are complaining about itchy eyes and phlegm in their throats. When the winds shifted earlier this week, even Oahu was blanketed in haze. I'm starting to miss the pretty, blue sky!


A view of Kona from Kailua Pier:

A view of Kona, vog included:

Winner! Winner! Winner!


I am now $60 richer and I am enjoying all of the glory, honors and benefits entitled to me as the 2008 West Hawaii Today NCAA bracket contest winner. Here are the final results:

The Big News

A few years ago I sent out an email informing everyone that I was getting married. News spread fast, my inbox was flooded with mail and I received phone calls from as far as Germany. Most people who read my message failed to realize it was sent on April Fool's Day.

But this time it's for real. Chris and I are engaged. He proposed to me a couple of Sundays ago at a special spot on the beach at Kukio. We've already been working on wedding plans and the big day is set for June 7.

Blog readers already know my history with Chris includes hiking, caving, and learning how to spearfish and dirt bike. We met at church and got to know each other during pastor Bruce's well-known Theology 301 class. We're still amazed at how much we have in common and how much fun we always have together. My mom says I couldn't have done better and I think she's right. It's a pretty cool deal...I guess I never thought this would happen to me. And I have to admit it's still a little shocking when I catch a glimpse of the diamond ring on my finger!

It's that time again...

...time to post this important document. So far I am in 4th place out of 8 people in our annual work contest. What does it say about the competence of our newspaper staff that I am ahead of both our sports editor and one of our former sports writers?

The Day that Lives in Infamy

I've always wanted to visit the sunken USS Arizona and see the memorial for those who lost their lives on December 7, 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Jen and I got the chance Thursday during a day-trip to Oahu. We also toured the USS Missouri. Japan officially surrendered on her deck in 1945 when she was docked in Tokyo Bay.

Andi on the deck of the USS Missouri:

The base of a gun turret on the USS Arizona protrudes the water in Pear Harbor:

Dare Devil Kids


My sister, Jen, is here visiting with her daughters, Lydia and Camille. We spent the day on the Fairwind's snorkel cruise to Kealakekua Bay. The kids are pretty good swimmers, and at age 6, Lydia is already an expert snorkeler. But the ship's slide was the big hit of the day. The other passengers got a kick out of watching the little girls fly down the slide squealing with delight, much to the chagrin of some teenage boys who were at first afraid to try the slide. The kids love a good thrill, it's no wonder we're related!

Camille makes a splash:

Lydia's turn:

Great snorkeling:

Family photo:

Priorities

More play time this weekend. Chris and I took the Jeep down the "awful" 4WD road to Keawaiki and hiked to a Queen's Bath. Sunday was church, cooking on the grill, my second dirt bike lesson, and yesterday was surfing, building pine wood derby cars and yet more grilling. You're probably wondering when I do chores and such. In life, you have to have priorities.

Holoholo to Halape

Wow, I'm behind on the blog again. I was feeling pretty burned out and in need of a break, so I went with Sierra Club on a three-day backpack trip in Volcanoes National Park. It was just what I needed!

The plan was to hike seven miles down the pali to Keauhou, but the vog (smog from the volcano) was thicker than I have ever seen. As soon as we got out of the car we started choking. So we decided to take the coastal trail in. Wind along the ocean blew away the vog, but this trail was three miles longer than the other. Just when I had enough of the scorching sun and trekking over heat-soaked lava rock, we arrived in paradise.

Keauhou was an unexpected oasis along the rocky coast. We camped beside a calm bay with fresh water springs and black sand bottom tide pools.

The next day we took a side trip to Halape before hiking to Apua Point for the night. Sunday morning we sat on the beach sipping Howard's homegrown Kona coffee while watching the sun rise.

Looking to escape the crowds? Hike eleven miles from the end of Chain of Craters Road and Halape is yours to enjoy.

Peaceful Paradise- A fresh water spring and sandy tide pools refreshed us after a day of hiking.

Sunrise over Apua Point.