Yet another post about the creek.

Okay, so remember this is what the nice little creek in my backyard looks like normally:



Well, this is what it looks like when it rains:



It's more dramatic with the sound effects:





Okay, so I know this is not a thrilling topic or anything. But it's all I've got right now, so deal with it.

Some Pictures of My Neighbors

We have this really cool little creek that runs down the middle of our apartment complex. There are ducks in it all year round.

They're not shy at all, so I'm guessing people feed them a lot. Sometimes I have to step over them on my way to the laundry room.

They got all excited when I told them I was going to blog about them, so they were happy to pose for these pictures.

Some of them speak Duck-Spanish.


It's possible that I've been spending too much time at my house alone during the day.

Thanksgiving in San Diego

Curtis and I went to his Mom's house for thanksgiving. Which was cool, because this was the first time I met any of his family members. So now I know Curtis's Mom is real and he did not just make her up.


Curtis's Mom's family is all Filipino, so altogether there were only one and a half white people there. (Me and Curtis.) It was cool though, 'cause in addition to the traditional Thanksgiving foods, we also got to have some Filipino favorites. The home-made fried rice and Lumpia were both very good. (Lumpia is sort-of like a cross between egg-rolls and pot stickers, very tasty.)


So yeah, that was our Thanksgiving.


On another note, it's really wonderful to have a man in the house. This morning I was about to hop in the shower when I saw a fairly large spider crawling on the shower curtain, and I was able to run and get Curtis to kill it for me.


Very convenient.

The (edible) things that I will miss about Hawaii...

Number one- Manapua

Manapua is the hawaiian version of the Chinese steamed bun- but bigger and therefore better. It is a hamburger sized pastry sort-of thingy. The bready outside is slightly sweet...


and inside there is any one of various types of Asian-flavored meats. My favorite is the barbecue pork. Which for some reason is a bright pink color.

Second, is Poi Mochi.

Poi Mochi is most often sold at stands in the parking lot of a grocery store or a Walmart. It smells like funnel cakes, which is what led me to purchase it in the first place. The outside looks and tastes like a donut, but inside is a purple, gooey substance, which is both delicious and confusing.


I have since learned, that poi, is made from the starchy, potato-like "taro root", which is often compared to a sweet potato, adding to my confusion, as I am not a fan of sweet potatoes, but I seem to enjoy "poi".

Third, and lastly, is sugar cane drink. Have you ever wanted to drink sugar? I sure have!
In reality, a can of sugar cane drink has less sugar than a mountain dew, but it tastes something like rock candy in a liquid form. Although it is not really a "Hawaiian" treat, it is easy to find here because of the heavy Asian influence.

My Testimony

Okay, well, I received an application from the Casa de Amor, (the children's home which I am hoping to volunteer at.) On the application were several essay questions, one of which was "Describe your relationship with Jesus Christ and how you became a Christian." I was afraid this would be difficult to write a lot about, as I don't have an extraordinary conversion story like some people do. But I decided to chronicle my Christian walk, so far, as honestly as I could, and this is what came pouring out.

I decided to post it on my blog, as these days, I don't get many opportunities to share my "testimony". But I must warn my readers, that it is much cheesier and sappier than my usual posts. So please bear with me.

Well, here goes...

I am so blessed! I grew up in an "Uber" Christian family. (Pardon my slang, I've been in the Navy for the last six years!) We went to church twice a week. My parents read us Bible stories and prayed with us almost every night. But aside from all of that, what really made me see Christ alive at such a young age was that my parents were people who really, really lived their faith. My father made a decent paycheck. When I was younger I thought he was rich, but looking back, I realize this was not entirely true. But he gave- anytime God told him to. And when God told my mother and father to take in children with special needs, their response wasn't so much "why", but "how", and "how many?".

That's a big reason why I still follow Christ to this day- because my mother and father made Christianity more than just a cultural phenomenon for me, but rather a real reason to live, to breathe, to wake up each morning, and to die one day.

But I also know that God was tugging at my heart. For some reason, which I cannot fathom, he chose me to be one He would save. I consider myself fortunate, that the amazing God of this Earth would notice, and remember me. Me- my stupid, silly self.

I really don't know how old I was when I was first saved. I prayed the salvation prayer so many times during my childhood, I really can't say which one was the one that stuck. I know it was in my teens that I really felt secure about my salvation- and stopped begging for it. It was then that I began to have a real, personal, relationship with my Father, God.

When I was in Bolivia for the first time, I decided I was going to live as an instrument of God. I would never smoke, never drink and never do anything impure. I would be a saint and live every day of my live for my Holy Father, and for my family, who I loved and respected more than I could ever say.

But things didn't work out that way. I think God wanted me to know, that it wasn't me, (or my family) but rather Him that was perfect. He wanted me to understand my humanity. And to know what it was like to live making my own decisions.

When I joined the Navy, I was free from my parents umbrella. It rained, and I got wet.

There was a time, where I had no Christian friends. No idea whatsoever that God was still alive in this Earth, except a faint echo from my family so far away...

I began to question everything... Why not drink, why not smoke? No one is pure, so why should I be? I began to read books about alternate faiths. I read a book by a man who thought there was a God but no such thing as Hell. Why would a loving God send someone to hell, meaning to me, why can't I date someone who isn't a Christian? (Lol, are you following my logic? This is what I wanted to believe.)

But my loving God never let me go. Praise God!! Nothing I searched for made sense. As much as Atheists like to bash Christianity- their "logic" was faulty. Read Richards Dawkins- he's an idiot! There was never anything that made sense to me more than my God did.

And now, here I am. Not perfect. Not pure. But loved by my God. And where my faith in me has decreased, my faith in him has increased.

An interesting idea...

So Curtis and I were talking, and he mentioned that many couples in the military, when one of them goes on deployment, they put their stuff in storage and the one staying home goes to live with friends or family for a while. And that got me thinking that maybe while Curtis is in Iraq this time, I could go volunteer in a children's home again. I've been looking up children's homes online, and I found that there are many, many homes that accept volunteers- some in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Honduras.

So I've been sending e-mails out, and the first place that responded was the place I was the most interested in. It's called the Casa de Amor. (www.casadeamor.org) It's in Cochabamba Bolivia. They only take little kids, mostly babies, but also some 3 to 10 years old. The place seems really cool, and there are several families from the States involved in running the place, and the lady who responded to my email was very nice! To quote she said "I cried when I read your email! How precious - to give us your time while your husband is serving in Iraq!".

So I'm kindof getting excited about this idea, and I'm planning it all out how it would work, financially and otherwise. And I've been studying my Spanish, just in case- well it's nice to have something to obsess about at any rate.

But check out this photo I pulled off their blog:


Doesn't that look so fun?!!!

Why I'm not Blogging Lately

So today I got up at 7:00 and drove to the doctors office and the dentist to pick up my records.
(necessary paperwork- check out sheet)
Then I drove to where I work to have a brief meeting with my division head and get the last few sign-offs done for checking out of the command.
(necessary paperwork- check out sheet, separation orders)
Then I went and got a Non-Resident form so that I can register Curtis's car.
(necessary paperwork- power of attorney, copy of Curtis's LES, proof of insurance)
Then I jump started Curtis's car- all by myself!
(necessary paperwork- instructions for how to jump start a car)
Then I drove to a mechanic to get a safety inspection and a new battery for Curtis's car.
(necessary paperwork- proof of insurance, power of attorney)


Tomorrow I have to get up and be at work by 0800 to badge out.
(necessary paperwork- 2 check out sheets, separation orders, separation eval)
Then after that I have to go to the DMV to get Curtis's car registered
(necessary paperwork- safety inspection, non-resident form, proof of insurance, power of attorney)
Then I have to go to the bank to request permission to ship Curtis's car.
(necessary paperwork- safety inspection, registration, proof of insurance, application to ship vehicle)
Then I have to go to PSD.
(necessary paperwork- separation orders, dd-214 form, medical and dental records, pre-separation counseling checklist, psd checkout sheet, VMET, Terminal leave chit, Security termination debriefing statement)

And then, if I'm not dead yet, I might go to Taekwondo class.

So if you're wondering why I'm not blogging, it's because if I did, all I would write would be a long list of the boring things I have to do and the crap ton of paperwork I need to do them. Or it could also be because I have died from all the boring things I have to do and the crap-ton of paperwork I need to do them.

Finally Blogging again

Well, for anyone who doesn't already know what's been going on with me lately, I got back together with Curtis. We got married. I'm moving to San Diego to be with him in just a few weeks, blah blah, so on and so forth.

Bear with me here, I've got some serious blog-writers-block and I'm trying to just push through it.

So anyways, I've always found it amazing how many dishes I can dirty- just me living all by myself. I suppose it doesn't help that I have the tendency to use every single clean dish in my cabinet before I finally suck it up and wash the monstrous pile that accumulates.

Well, the other day it happened again. I was down to my last plate and knew I would have to do dishes before my next meal. And that's when it occurred to me- I'm moving in with Curtis soon, and his dishes are much nicer than mine anyway.

With that in mind, there was only one sensible course of action- I took that dirty pile of dishes and threw them all in the trash.

It gave me the most wonderful feeling- perhaps because the whole thing was kind of like a metaphor for all the positive changes that have occurred in my life recently- but also because I really hate doing dishes.


After all that, I went out to the store and bought myself some new dishes:



I like these ones a lot better.

My Birthday Stuff

My mom got me this sweet doggy family for my birthday.
I decided to make them a house to live in.
I used cardboard boxes and scraps of paper and cloth that I had lying around the house. Some of the furniture I made, and some of it I already had.
It was really fun, and I think it turned out pretty good, all things considered.


And this last picture is of what Curtis sent me for my birthday. The boxes are filled with cookies and candy. It was such a fun surprise!

Fed-up Fridays

Okay I thought about making a Thankful Thursday post, but I was too late this week. So I decided to start my own tradition instead. On "Fed-up Fridays", I will list all of the little things that annoy the living heck out of me. So here goes:

1. Contests under the lid of a 20 oz soda bottle. It used to be, that you could find out if you won right away, and then simply take the cap to the store to claim your prize. But now you have to go online and type in the code, after providing your email address. Only one in five wins a free Pepsi, but everyone gets to enjoy the junk mail from the soda company that will be clogging their inboxes for all eternity.

2. People who park SUVs in compact car spots. This may be a result of illiteracy, and I can sympathize with that- after all, not every one can be a super-duper speed reader. For this reason, I propose that instead of writing the word "Compact" in the spot, they should illustrate the meaning, by painting something like this:


3. Pennies. Or what I like to call, "Satan's Sales Tax". Most of the time I throw them in the trash. But every now and then I feel too guilty to waste the money, even if it is stupid pennies. So I put them in a jar, vowing to take them to bank one day, while in actuality, I save them for a few weeks untill the guilt fades, and THEN I throw them away- along with the jar.

(My current penny jar. It made me happier back when it still had pickles in it.)

4. Taking out the trash- A job intended for a man, but for lack of one I must perform the task myself. I hate it when the bag bumps against my legs and it feels kind-of wet. I know what kind of nasty things I put in there, and there is a reason I put them in the trash and not on my legs. On a related note however, there's this Navy chief who lives in the same neighborhood as me. I knew him from DLI. He was the guy that decided which language you got to be put in. I used to be quite afraid of him. But the other day I encountered him at the dumpster, and he asked me to help him throw away his toilet. It's interesting, how much more human someone seems once you have seen their toilet, particularly if you have helped them carry it.

Well, that's all I can think of for today. Stay tuned for "Wishful Wednesday", which is where I list all the things I don't have, but want, and also "Masochistic Mondays", which is where I list all of the things I hate about myself.

(My apologies to the creators of "Thankful Thursdays"- this is just a parody, no harm intended.)

Another quick story

I was printing something out today, and I kept getting paper jams for some reason. I finally managed to pull all the excess paper out, but my printer was still making an odd crunching noise. Finally I got it to print something, and when it did, look what popped out with it!! I didn't have a paper jam, I had a cockroach jam! It was so disgusting!

What I've been up to lately

(Warning: this post has been edited for purposes of national security.)

I've been back to work now that my Chinese class is done. I was a little bummed at first, but I've gotten used to it again. Last set I had to _______ and this time I __________ which is always a bit of a thrill. The first minute or so is always nerve wracking, my hands start shaking and I can't hardly type, but then once _____________, it just feels really freakin' good. It's really one of the most satisfying parts of my job.

I also had to ________________ last night, for hours and hours on end, which ended up being cool because they let me go home early- which doesn't happen often, but is always a pleasant surprise.

Today I went to the beach with some of my work friends. I wish I had brought my camera, the beach was really nice today. The water was a beautiful blue green and the waves were the perfect size. There were two large ships anchored off in the distance, which added to the ambiance. It was really fun.

Chinese class, in English this time

Okay, so I was just kidding about that post about my Chinese class. Now I will post about my language training experience in English.

I got put into an advanced class, which is not necessarily appropriate to my level. I could have requested to be put in the intermediate class instead, but I have found in the past that that I learn more in a class that is difficult for me than I do in a class that I can skate through, and thus I stuck with it. I was definitely the worst in the class, and it was a little hard on my ego to suffer through that, but as I predicted, the results were worth it.

Recently the military decided to make the annual language test considerably more difficult, without providing supplementary training to help everyone pass it. Fun, fun. My score on the old test, was a listening 3, reading 3. Which is pretty much as good as you can do. (Passing is a 2/2). But when I took the new test for the first time, I scored a 1+/2+. Which is the same as saying "failing miserably". But after this class I took the test and got a 2+/2+. Which means I did "really freakin' good". I am pleased, to say the least. It's also good news for me financially, because I still get a good amount of language pay, and I just started getting paid for E-5 this month, so overall I am coming out ahead. Since I will be unemployed in 7 months or so, the more money I can save now the better.

Another cool thing happened in class. We had to give a presentation in Chinese (using powerpoint) on the topic of our choice relating to China. I knew that my speaking would be lousy compared to other people's so I plotted a way to make up for that. I illustrated my presentation, by drawing humorous pictures in Paint. I got a really good response. Everyone laughed a lot, and as it turns out, my strategy worked perfectly. My presentation was not the best, grammatically speaking, but it was still one of the most memorable. I am so pleased that I was able to employ my artistic skills and my quirky sense of humor to help me do well on my project.

Overall the class was really fun, and I was actually bummed to have to go back to work. On the positive side, I'm now really excited about the prospect of attending college when I get out. When I graduated high school I was so sick of academics, I couldn't stand the thought of it, but now I think I could really get into studying again.

One last interesting thing happened. Because I was the only E-5, I ended up being the class leader, which was initially intimidating, but ended up being really fun actually. It was fun to be in charge of a bunch of E-4's and E-3's. Although the people in my class were all so responsible already that I never really had to use my authority. (Thankfully.)

Well, anyways here is a collection of some of the goofy drawings I used for my presentation. I can really actually draw better than this, but nonetheless people in my class were very complimentary, which once again, pleased me to say the least.

Just a quick story.

So this guy came to my door, trying to sell vacuums, and when I answered the door, he asked me if my parents were home. LOL! I love that I still look young, even though I'm almost 26.

And by the way...

I can't wait to go home!!!!

Chinese Class

I've been in a Chinese refresher class for the last month or so. I've been having a lot of fun, so I decided I should tell you guys all about it. Here goes:



Well, that about sums it up.

My accidental adventure

The other day I went for a walk around my neighborhood, when I happened upon this trail. I started to walk it, thinking it would wind around behind the houses and then lead right back to one of the main roads.


Very quickly I realized this was not the case.

I passed a pond.


I went over a bridge.


And this is where I ended up. It's the far side of Pearl Harbor.


I can't believe I've been living here for more than a year now and just now discovered this.

4 Things I learned this week:

1. Sometimes when you accidentally leave your atm card in the atm, the atm swallows it, and then you have to ask the people who work in the bank who run the atm to give it back to you. If you are lucky, they will.

2. If it is 85 degrees outside, and you buy modeling clay that hardens in heat, and then you leave it in the trunk of your car for an hour and a half while you are in the mall getting a haircut, you will not be able to make anything with it when you get home, that is, unless what you wanted to make was a hard white brick that is in the shape of a block of modeling clay.

3. It is unwise to drive at 70 MPH in sudden, torrential rain. What happens if you do, is that your car starts to go into a spin, and you have to turn the steering wheel vigorously back and forth in order to regain control of your car. If you're lucky, you will.

4. And finally, when you leave a full container of bleach on a counter which is next to a brown carpeted floor, it's always best to put the lid on it.

Homemade T-shirts

Well, I was bored yesterday so I decided to do something crafty. I ended up buying a tie dye kit and some printable iron on transfer sheets. Here are the results.







It was pretty freakin' fun.

Because Hampsters are illegal in Hawai

I bought two mice a year and a half ago. The store said they were both female, but as it turns out one of them was a male. I didn't figure it out until the first eleven babies were born, and by then, the next eleven had already been conceived. Luckily the store took them all back (along with the troublesome impregnater.) I kept one of the girl babies.



They don't have names. I simply call them "the fertile one" and "the result", and to be honest I can't tell which is which anymore.




If you can't tell, this is a picture of a mouse's butt. The mouse who it belongs to is fleeing from my presence. This is mostly what I get from these two. They aren't the friendliest.

I heard that the cedar bedding gives them respiratory difficulties that can lead to an early death. That's why I always get that kind. It hasn't worked so far. The thing is, I'm really hoping they die before I have to move in January. I don't know what I'm going to do with them if they don't.

Drawing

I drew this on Paint. I actually have a better program that I draw on sometimes, but I'm so used to paint, and you can actually make pretty good stuff on it.

Insomniac Rant

J.K. Rowling is suing the publishers of a Harry Potter Lexicon. I'm thinking, how much more money does she think she needs?

And does she really think that anyone fanatical enough to buy a Harry Potter encyclopedia would skip purchasing the one authored by J.K. Rowling herself simply because they already purchased the knock-off lexicon? I think not.

I think Rowling needs to spend more time writing and less time suing people and saying stupid things like this-

"There comes a point where Susan, who was the older girl, is lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick. She's become irreligious basically because she found sex," Rowling says. "I have a big problem with that."

Well, it seems, J.K. Rowling, that you have read Phillip Pullman's Cliff notes on the Narnia books. Way to regurgitate someone else's crappy opinion.

While I'm ranting, How exactly does the Texas child protective services justify taking over 400 children into custody because one anonymous sixteen year old makes a phone call? Maybe take the teenage girls, but the babies and boys? I know those people are freaky, but they still have rights.

And as for the 8 girls who beat up another girl and videotaped it, What have they ever experienced in their lives that made them think even for a second that assault is funny or entertaining in any way? I just can't comprehend that.

I've slept maybe 5 hours in the last four days and I want to gouge my eyes out.



Me, gouging my eyes out.

A peek into my home

Well, I can't come up with anything interesting to post about lately, so I thought I'd just post some pictures.

This is supposed to be be my dining room, but since I live alone, I eat on the couch in front of the tv. So I decided to turn this little room into my art corner.

The collage on the wall took me a couple weeks to finish. It will no doubt take me hours to take down when I move, but that's all right.

And this is my bedroom. I resisted the care bears theme for quite some time, trying to convince myself I was too grown up. But that's a joke, and besides I like Care Bears.

Item number 19

Yes indeed. With my future now uncertain it did occur to me that in less than a year I may or may not have medical insurance, but either way this is certainly the last time I will be able to go to the doctor as many times as I want and not pay a single penny. My point being, If there was ever a time to seek medical help for my social anxiety this was certainly it.


I called the doctor and made an appointment to talk about "anxiety."


When I got there he had me fill out a questionnaire to determine whether or not I was "depressed." Personally I think if I was depressed I would have said I wanted an appointment to talk about "depression". But maybe that's just me.


Dr Witt was his name. He's not the doctor I am officially assigned to. Whom by the way I have never actually met, but happens to be busy every single time I make an appointment. Not a real big loss. When I checked in to the command they had me pick a doctor from a book. I picked a lady who was smiling in her photo, because I hoped that meant she would be nice to me when I went to see her. Apparently many other people were thinking the same thing, which explains why she is always too busy to see me.


Poor Doctor Witt is not nearly so photogenic.


Anyway, as it turns out, usually people who come in complaining about anxiety actually in fact are also depressed, so they are immediately prescribed anti-depressants and sent on their merry way. (Merry is perhaps the wrong word) But people who are anxious and not depressed, are complicated cases that need referred to a psychiatrist. Put simply, having less problems is harder to treat. So after making me promise I wouldn't kill myself, Dr Witt gave me a referral and that was that.


So, while I'm still waiting to find out if there is a cure for shyness in medicine, at least I have officially completed Item number 19 from my list of 30 things to do before I turn 30.


2 down, 28 more to go. Stay tuned everyone! (I am sure you are all on the edge of your seats.)

The five most Attractive Fictional Men so far created by the Human Imagination,

The first one that comes to mind is Enzo Matrix, from the cartoon show Reboot. His tough guy persona is just an act that he puts on to cope with his hard life. Deep down inside he is lovable, adorable and loyal. In other words he's definitely fictional. He also has green skin, but still manages to be handsome.

The second is Jack, from the show LOST. Jack's biggest problem is that he goes after the wrong women. A common mistake made by extremely attractive but good-hearted men. Luckily for Jack, and for all the women who love him, he is not actually real.



Third, is Superman, also known as Clark Kent. Whether it's the one from the comics, movies, or tv shows it makes little difference- all incarnations of this man are wonderful. He is powerful, but good, he is horribly attractive and famous, yet for some reason he only has eyes for one woman. If only it was me, and if only he was not fictional.



For the fourth, we have perhaps the complete opposite of Superman- Vegeta from Dragonball Z. Vegeta is the ultimate bad-boy. He is powerful, hateful, selfish and obsessive, (i.e. very sexy) yet he is still oddly loyal to his wife and children. Very unrealistic I know, but that's what's great about fictional men.



Finally, the fifth is the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Also fictional, as it turns out.

Easter Package

My baby likes his new bunny! Thanks for the Easter basket Mom! (Was I supposed to wait till Easter to open this? I just thought of that, Oops!) Well, I needed cheering up today anyway.

My Roomates

I have a few geckos living in my house with me. Geckos are territorial, so each one of them has their own spot in the house where they spend most of their time.

This is Vacuum Gecko. (He likes to hide behind my vacuum.) He is the largest of my geckos and the one that I see the most often. I am quite fond of him. He lives his whole life on one wall of my house. Late at night he walks back and forth looking for food. When he gets upset he makes chirping noises.


This little guy is Balcony Gecko. He was playing dead when I took this picture. He played his role so well that he even let me touch him.

Fun With Floam at Home

So I did it. I decided to go ahead and make a pencil holder out of Floam.

I have to say, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.





On the down side I cut my hand on the edge of the can while making it. It bled quite a lot in fact.





Actually that's not really blood, that's ketchup. I did cut my hand, but it wasn't that bad. And that's actually not even the right hand. I cut the other one. I just didn't want to put ketchup on the cut, I thought that might hurt.

My hand smells like ketchup now, even after I washed it.