Sunday, June 24, 2007

One more week...

No exciting Hawaiian adventures this weekend - I have finals this week. Since it's an accelerated class, I'll have exams Monday, Thursday and Friday, and in the midst of all of that, we are learning new material as if it is a normal week! So Kris and I met up for fondue and Ocean's Thirteen last night, which doesn't really make interesting pictures. We made a Jamaican hot pot - it was pretty fantastic. The very helpful fruit guy at the Foodland a) found out for us what "garam masala" was and b) gave us sample slices of delicious tropical fruits - what a pleasant trip to the grocery store (I think he thought we were secret shoppers)! Kris ended up crashing on the sofa, and she'd brought some of her famous banana bread, so we had delicious breakfast before she hopped back into her rumbly blue Jeep for the drive back to the other side of the island.

The second half of class starts on the 2nd of July, so next weekend is my weekend of freedom in between; Kris is headed to Iowa for a wedding, but I am planning to spend a good chunk of it lounging up on the North Shore with some *pleasure* reading.

--jess

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Three Carolinians went on a 9.3 mile hike...

...and somehow managed to turn it into 12.5 or so!!! Instead of hiking from the Pali Lookout, which is near Kailua, to Waimanalo (which is where Jeff and I got married, if you don't remember - see the second shot on the left), we managed to hike from Pali Lookout to Waimanalo BACK to Kailua and ended up at probably the most gorgeous, fancy country club I have ever seen, Luana Hills Golf and Country Club. We took one wrong turn on the trail that made the difference between coming out safely at Annie's car and coming out stinky and covered in mud amongst a bunch of people planning a wedding, and hiking up to the clubhouse to call a cab! So after we got back to Annie's house to get a third car, we had to pick hers up in Waimanalo and mine at the Pali Lookout. On the way back, we ran into a couple who had lost their car keys on the trail and were locked out of their truck, so Annie gave them a ride back to Kaneohe while Kristin and I collected the Lancer. Afterward we were so exhausted! In fact, I think I am going to post pictures and go to bed - the pictures are in chronological order left to right, and the last one is the golf course (I am tempted to take up golf just to golf there; it was GORGEOUS).

--jess

Monday, June 11, 2007

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...

...of three women and a dog taking a tiny motorboat from Kaneohe Marine Corps base for a three-hour tour of Gilligan's Island and a gloriously warm, clear sand bar perfect for a dip! Our boat wasn't the Minnow, by the way, it was El Presidente! And we made it back to the marina just before the tiny ship would have been tossed around in wind and pouring rain (isn't it crazy how the clouds were thick everywhere except right over the island???).
(The island is known as Coconut Island here, by the way.)

It definitely made for a fantastic Hawaii Sunday and some great pictures. We decided Old Pali should be a Saturday hike, since it is very, very long and we might want Sunday to recover from it!

--jess

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Wombat and python

I figured I'd give Jeff a couple days to post these ridiculously cute photos, but I definitely wanted to share with everyone who reads the blog!

--jess

Monday, June 04, 2007

Koko Head

This was probably one of the toughest hikes I have ever done, but I am proud to say Kris and I conquered the master of all stairmasters! The picture doesn't do it justice; just imagine a stairway made of old rotting railroad tie that goes a mile up to the top of a mountain, no winding, no gradual inclines, no meandering. Oh, and did I mention the part where the ground under the railroad tie goes from directly under the railroad tie to 20 feet under the railroad tie? This definitely isn't a good hike for squeamish people, but the views of Hanauma Bay, Waikiki, and whatever island is off the coast (Molokai?) are worth it.

Afterward, we swam and snoozed at Makapu, which became one of my favorite beaches on the island today; the water is warm and clear, and the surroundings are perfection. But I didn't post a picture because I didn't think I could come close to doing it justice.

--jess

Sunday, June 03, 2007

As promised...

A few more pictures from Casey's graduation/commissioning:








Friday, June 01, 2007

Quickie update

The bad thing about The Lieutenant getting promoted now is that I can't trek miles through the mountains to the grocery store in Mililani and tote back a backpack full of eggs, cake mix, frosting, and sprinkles to make him a cake, and then guilt trip him into saying he loves it!

I just submitted my CASPA application. CASPA is a generic PA program application that you can send to a bunch of different schools. I applied to George Washington University and to the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. PCOM is my second choice, even though the more I research osteopathic medicine, the more I like the idea. Of course GWU is my first choice because it works the best for Jeff and me - but it is a very competitive school from what I understand, so I am trying to be realistic. I still have to do a secondary application and pay even more money (GAH!) - I guess they're trying to make sure people are serious. You know a college senior is serious about going to GWU when he donates a kidney to get there! GWU's program also has an edge because they have an advanced surgical preparedness option that sounds really interesting.

Anatomy and Physiology has really become interesting and fun (after I was (somewhat) able to bypass the fact that my professor has little grasp of basic chemistry); it's the first time in ages that I've enjoyed learning something in a classroom. I have a big test today on bones.

--jess

Promotion


I put on my Lieutenant bars today.

-Jeff