Ouch!

Today was MY first day of school--emphasis on my because I sadly went to school without my hubby--he's all grown up and graduated! Boo. I felt like a little child being shuffled off to school with my lunch all packed and everything. (I actually had a lunch packed--class all the way 'till 5pm). Ugh--it's so hard to watch Seth sleep in when I get up at 6:45 for Genetics class.  My schedule is horrible--I have classes all day with an hour in between each--so I just sit around until my next class and I end up being there all day----PPPFFFTTT! (I don't really know how to describe the noise I made when I realized I had so much extra time---close enough though.) I can't wait until graduation in June!

Anyway, I was super sore today!  Seth got his Wii a few days ago and I played Wii sports and Mario Kart all day yesterday..ha!

Boxing, tennis, golf, you name it! I mostly played the boxing one, unleashing my amazing virtual boxing skills on all who challenged me. What a workout! --and now I am sore. I guess I just kicked too much ass.  I should put up a picture of how ridiculous I look when I am punching the air with remote controls.

Sunday Dinners

I don't really have much time to go all out and cook a nice dinner during the week with everything I have going on right now, so I like to try and make Sunday dinners really good to make up for it! This week I tried a new recipe for a Spicy Chicken Pasta and it turned out wonderful.  I was actually surprised that I could make something so yummy!  I only knew it was good because Seth ate it all in 2 minutes flat and Baloo was sitting next to me drooling all over the floor and licking his lips.

Hooray for learning how to cook! I feel like over the last year and a half I have really improved--wahoo! I also made some peanut butter cookies with Reeses peanut butter cups in them. Those turned out great too! A batch of cookies only last a day in our house--somehow Seth's friends always know when they are freshly baked and they are gone before I ever get a chance to eat them.

1,000,004th reason why I love Seth

We were at Wal-Mart the other day getting things we needed for our house, when I decided that I needed a toothbrush holder. We split up, not knowing where to find one.  I eventually found a HUGE selection of toothbrush holders in the bathroom decor aisle, and picked my favorite--thinking that Seth was going to hate the one I picked. I met up with Seth about 10 minutes later and discovered that out of the 30 or so conservative looking toothbrush holders we could choose from, we both had the exact same item in our hands:

This was the ONLY crazy-looking holder they had, and we both picked it--I laughed for a while when I saw this in his hand too. It's these funny things like this that show me that Seth and I were meant for each other. 

Fat Baloo

I have had a lot of people tell me how much they like looking at pictures of Baloo (aka "Fatty"), so I decided to put up some funny pictures that I've collected over the last year and a half.   When we decided to get a puppy, I was expecting a lovable, loyal, obedient, fun dog! What I ended up getting was a lazy, fat, messy, slobbery puppy---who I love! Baloo is a very strange dog.  He HATES being held--he has since the day we brought him home. If you try and hold him he will struggle and make really weird noises that will make you just laugh! He is also very anti-cuddly and will never let anyone hug him or hold him. He will sit next to you and let you pet him though. He loves feet, and gets all confused when someone is wearing shoes or socks, and attacks them until they take them off of their feet so he can lick them. Baloo sleeps with his feet extended and his arms backwards...something I have never seen a dog do! He also almost always has his tongue sticking out. Baloo is the most cowardly dog I know--it cracks me up! He runs away from all bugs, strange noises, and lights. Yes, lights. If you have a flashlight and shine it on the floor next to him, he will run away and hide, and then try to attack it.  He is so SNEAKY. Whenever things go quiet I know Baloo is up to no good--and I can usually find him getting into something he shouldn't. Besides being the messiest thing I have ever had to deal with, he is really fun to have around. He always makes us laugh with his strange antics and behavior.  He is our little fat buddy!

This is Baloo being sneaky and going all incognito on me underneath the curtain.

Fatty trying to spy on me through the crack between the wall and bookcase--sneaky!

This is how he sleeps. Like a beached seal. He has turkey legs.

This is how we found him sleeping when he was a puppy. One of the early signs of his weirdness.

One of Baloo's pastimes: burrowing underneath the couch like a rabbit.

Did I mention that he likes to sit on my feet? He just trots on up to me while I'm sitting on the couch and plops down on my foot like it's his personal pillow.

He also just looks absolutely ridiculous when he's dressed up!

Baloo knows he's fat! I actually caught him on the scale once. He probably takes offense to his nickname "Fatty"

Anyway, we love our Baloo so much! He makes us laugh everyday. And I'm finally used to cleaning up his slobbery messes all the time! :)

Survival of the Fittest

Good news: we are back in the beautiful USA, and boy, does it feel good to be home! I've already eaten a ton of turkey sandwiches and taken many much-deserved hot showers (I had actually gotten used to the daily ice showers though).  We had quite the trip back home.  It started when the Miller's wanted to leave Cebu ridiculously early to get to the airport due to some intense paranoia of missing their flight.  So we left for the airport 4 and a half hours before our flight! ...ugh. We enjoyed sitting at the airport for almost 6 hours, because our flight to Manila ended up being pretty delayed--and then we got to listen to people freak out because we had a connecting flight to Hawaii less than 2 hours later.  So... we got to Manila with 45 minutes in between flights.....good timing right?  WRONG.  It turns out for some reason, that the terminal for our next flight was at a separate airport 15 minutes away, AND we had to claim our luggage at the baggage claim and then RECHECK it into the next terminal.  Who was the genius who built terminals so far away?  It wouldn't be normal if things in the Philippines actually made sense...!!  

So..after we got all of our baggage, we ran (and I mean ran...grabbing all the luggage and children we could hold) to find a shuttle.  The shuttle that we found let on all of the local people on first... and then told us we could get on even though we had been waiting there for a good 10 minutes before everyone else.   (racist?) The pushiest of us got on the shuttle, leaving 3 from our group behind (thus titled "survival of the fittest"), and I am reluctant to say that I was one of the pushy ones...totally driven by the thought that I had the chance to be in America that day and take my first hot shower in months---and that I wouldn't have that chance if I didn't get on that bus! Of course the driver was slow, even when we explained that we had a flight that took off in a half hour and that we still had to check in luggage.   We get to the terminal at 6:30 (Our flight left at 7:00), and everyone shuffled around  getting their luggage and children. I am proud to say that Seth and I only brought 1 suitcase together--some girls had 3 or 4 full of stuff! So since I didn't have much to carry, I took off running to find the Hawaiian Airlines counter.  When I got there, I got in line behind other people to tell them that 20 more people were on their way.  A worker shouts at me, "WE'RE CLOSED. GET OUT OF THERE," when there was clearly no indication that they were closed---I was surprised by this guy's rudeness---but I didn't care and just figured he was an idiot and nothing was going to stop me from getting on this plane.  But this lady comes up to me and tells me that they really are closing, and that I need to leave. I tell her the situation, that our flight was delayed, and it was not our fault that we were late.  She tells me "Too bad," and that I cannot get on the flight. You know what her excuse was? She said "We cannot check you in because we have already canceled your meals."  What a sorry excuse, lady. I was still the only one from our group there, and I told her very loudly (I was angry at this point) that it was not my fault, and that I was getting on this flight.  Seth finally showed up and we continued to argue with her and tell her that 20 people from our group needed to get on this flight.  She radioed over her manager after rudely commanding me to move over, and they reluctantly agreed to let us get on after checking our passports, after making rude comments on how late we were.  At this point I was ready to punch this lady's face in! ( I really was.)  

You'd be surprised how much survival instincts kick in when you're flustered and rushed, I pushed past everyone to be the first one to check in our suitcase.  Of course, we are helped by the most unhelpful, unintelligent worker ever.  She just stood there for about 5 minutes doing nothing.  Then she told me that I had to check in my carry-on, which didn't make sense since it was smaller than most handbags.  I was tired of arguing and figured this lazy worker would go faster if I agreed, so I checked it---even though Hawaiian airlines has a history of losing my bag FOUR times....knowing this, I grabbed what I could from my bag and stuffed everything into the pillow that I was carrying.  This lady was so slow, that everyone from our group behind us in line had checked in and left by the time we had our boarding passes.  Carrying my bulging pillow and a backpack, and Seth carrying his backpack, we took off RUNNING, because we had literally 10 minutes before our plane left.  Thank goodness for my running training, because we hauled it through the airport, and I probably knocked a few people down in the process. We pushed through customs, past the slow people in our group, paid the terminal fee, cut in lines, and booked it to the gate. That's where being pushy came in handy.   Some guy in security tried to tell me he needed to take away my tweezers, which I had recently stuffed into my pillowcase when the stupid lady made me check my bag.  I practically threw it at him.  It was actually a funny sight----us carrying all of our stuff and running as fast as we could while knocking over small children and old ladies to get to our plane! Ok, we didn't knock over old ladies....just a few.   We made our plane with 2 minutes to spare, sweaty and all!  You know that song from Chariots of Fire when they are running the race? I felt like that was our theme song as we crossed the "finish line" onto the plane.   The 11 hour ride was super turbulent---and it was our luck that the lady we sat next to was freaking out and screaming the whole time.  Oh well--I rather would have dealt with that then spent the night at the airport with the useless and rude people that work there. 

Does it get worse?  

it DOES believe it or not.

When we get back to the US, we find out that the people that we left to watch our house had done some things that our landlord asked them not to do, and it became a big mess, ending in an EVICTION notice on our door. Lovely.  Isn't that the best thing to hear after our trip home? Anyway, after much communication over the past few days with the landlord and owner and a whole bunch of stuff, it was resolved and we are not getting evicted anymore. I just wanted to relay on you what a day it was for us.  

Ok, as for the positive things--- it feels so good to be back home, where driving is somewhat orderly and there are things called "lines" behind counters when you want to be helped.  I love love love turkey sandwiches and have devoured many since coming back already. I haven't had fruit in months, and love eating apples, oranges, and pineapple every day.  I love the hot showers and our comfortable bed again! It feels good to be in our own place and eat food that won't make us sick.  This whole trip has made me realize how GRATEFUL I am for the things that I have been blessed with.  I also learned how pushy and forceful I can be when my flight back home is on the line, haha. Oh yeah, and we were blessed to have our luggage make it back safely as well.  We are so grateful to have gotten back to our awesome home safely---and back to our fatty as well. :)

Only in the Philippines...

The weirdest thing I saw in the Philippines was....



..a  FROG PURSE.

Yep. These are real. And they are disgusting. Frogs with zippers sewn on them to make them a purse. What I want to know is who actually buys these?

Blog Stalkers

Alright, I know everyone does it. Everyone has their blogs that they check periodically, including me. But overnight, I got 74 blog hits, and not a single comment....what's going on? I try to leave comments on my friends' blogs all the time, and I feel like it's turned into this weird one-way things. So WHO ARE YOU bloggers? I'm forcing you to come out of the closet. I would love to hear what you have to say! I promise I'll try to write more interesting blog posts to make it easier. Comment on my page so I know who you are, and so I can return the favor by comment on your blogs. It will be fun!

Our day off

On Saturday, we were finally given a day off from work to roam around and get sunburned. We all crammed into a jeepney (I'm finally used to the tight, hot, traveling around here), and took off to the other side of the island to Shangri la, a Filipino Resort. It was so nice! It actually reminded me of Ko 'Olina in Hawaii.

We played a few rounds of HORSE, in which I totally dominated! Here is Seth making a winning shot:

..And we played around with my underwater camera for a bit!

Then we took off to some boating dock in the middle of nowhere to go island hopping off the coast of Cebu. Our Jeepney was falling apart by then and I though the tires were going to pop off any minute. I also noticed that the side I was leaning on was being held together by a pair of rusty handcuffs! Safety is always a priority here in the Philippines.
We took a little boat, over to a big boat:


The boat ride was so nice! The girls and I just layed out on the front of the boat. It felt so good to be away from our computers and projects for once.

We stopped off at an island to go snorkeling. The water was really warm and we found a whole bunch of stuff. I found a couple of cool sand dollars, a seahorse, and some crazy starfish. Seth found a blue starfish and a cool shell for me!




The seahorse is hard to see; it's in the middle of the picture.

After that we went to a deeper area where the continental shelf dropped off. There were a lot of Barracudas around, so we had to be careful. I swam right into a little jellyfish in this place, so I wasn't snorkeling around for too long. I was totally OK with that--I'd much rather be stung by a jellyfish than eaten alive by an nasty Barracuda!

Seth jumping in the water:

There were a ton of colorful fish down there. I kept calling them Pirate fish, when I finally learned that they are actually called Parrot fish. Pirate fish sounds better.

Michelle and I trying to feed the fish some food that the boat guy gave us

My little diver Seth swam down to get me another shell. This was actually pretty deep water. I tried to swim to the bottom and only made it about 3 feet.

Seth and I at the front of the boat:

At the end of the day, all of us were sunburned, but it was a lot of fun and totally worth getting away for. I hope we get another day off like that before we leave.
There's a place called Bohol that has these monkeys that are the size of your hands and have huge eyes. They look like Ewoks!
This is what they look like:

Cuuuuute! Seth said he'll have to keep an eye on me so I don't stuff one in my pocket and run away.

Other than our project, we've been having a lot of fun. I like hanging out with the Miller kids. Eve, who's 5 years old, came up to me yesterday and said in a deep voice, "I'm Seth, your husband. Give me a cookie now!" And then pretended to shove a cookie in her mouth! Everyone was cracking up. Then she said " You are my wife, give me a kiss!" and then jumped on me and kissed me before I had the chance to get away! She is so funny. Seth and I are having fun exploring the city, and especially finding pirated DVD's. But we can't wait to come home and get back to our Fatty!

Recent travels...

I don't know if anyone really reads this blog, or cares really, but last week, Seth and I were assigned to fly to Negros Island to conduct interviews with ACE academy alumni. We were gone for a week and wandered all over the island to do interviews. It was quite the adventure! We first went to Bacolod, where I got extremely sick, and I won't go into the details. It was just scary. Anyway, one of the alumni that we interviewed earlier in the day happened to be a doctor, so Seth called her up and she came over in the middle of the night to give me some shots, and stayed with me until they kicked in. Her name was Marti and she was the nicest lady I've ever met, and I owe her big time. She even invited us over the next day for a home cooked dinner, something that I miss incredibly. It was one of the best dinners I've ever had; with marinated steak and rice, with home-grown vegetables and local Filipino fruit. She also made us homemade pineapple pie, which was absolutely amazing. We remembered to get a picture before we left:

She's actually getting married in the Laie temple this November, so we get to see her again. Yay!
After we finished up there we caught a nasty bus all the way down to Dumaguete. It took 7 and a half hours to get there on this bus.....and we're not talking a greyhound bus! The ride was very scenic and gorgeous.

There were no taxis in Dumaguete, just scooter trikes!...

It was an interesting experience to lug around my giant duffle bag in these things.
We finished up our interviews at the church, and had a few hours to look around the city. I really liked it there, and the members were extremely kind and helpful. Something that you don't find in the US.



We decided to go to Apo Island, which was a 30 min boat ride from Zoboanguita. First we had to lug our stuff down a long street! I'm telling you, that pink bag I'm carrying was so heavy and was it awful to walk down the streets carrying it.

Someone told us we were taking out a pump boat, and I had no idea what that was to be honest, but I thought it would be big, since we were going far off coast! But this was what the boat was:

Our "crew." They laughed at me for taking a picture of them. The guy in the back cracked me up because he was able to stand on the end the entire time through all of the waves. I was sitting and clinging on for my life and this guy had no problem at all!

It ended up being a lot of fun! We got drenched though, because the waves were bigger than the boat! Apo was gorgeous.


This is where we stayed the night:




There was no electricity, and no plumbing. Lovely. Good thing it was only one night! We had a lot of fun exploring the caves on the beach and climbing all of the rock formations. I found some amazing shells I've never seen before and I'm going to add them to my collection when I get home. We took the same boat back to the mainland, and then a jeepney over to Sibulan, where we caught a ferry back to Cebu.
....and then another 4 hour bus ride back to Cebu City. It feels so good to be home now! Well, almost home. We still have a lot to do with our project writeup. Seth and I are working on the interview text analyses and we should be done in the next few days. Oh yeah, Elder Bednar is speaking at the Cebu church on friday, so we're excited to see him speak. Happy to finally be finishing up our days here!....it's been two months of turkey sandwich withdrawls...

Something I miss

I miss seeing this face everyday when I wake up:

I can't wait to get back home!