Kauai Adventures

**As most of you know we like to go to Hawaii quite frequently. We have made a tradition of going to Hawaii every January (with the exception of going last September as well). I seriously hope we will keep up this tradition. It will never get old I can promise you that! This year we decided to try a different island and go to Kauai! I was super excited cause it seems so lush and green and I could just picture it all in my head. Well let me tell you it was a little different than we imagined but not necessarily in a bad way. We had lots of adventures and things happened that I never thought would.....

**Jason and I invited my parents to tag along cause we haven't been on a trip with them yet. So the first little adventure was the way over there. I mean I can't complain, Jason and I got over there so smoothly and even got first class from L.A. to Kauai. But I felt horrible cause my parents weren't as high up on the seniority list as I thought they were, which means they got stuck in L.A. and had to spend the night. Everything looked fine until I figured out that they have such a low priority on mainline Delta flights, which happened to be ten minutes before they started boarding. I felt so horrible! Especially cause I was the one that told them to come early with us and fly on Delta instead of Continental (which is who my mom works for).

**Eventually we all got there and started our great adventures. Did you ever think that you could not like a bird so much that you literally wanted to kill every one you saw??? Who would think that roosters, yes roosters and chickens are ALL OVER THE ISLAND! And they aren't very smart cause the crow ALL HOURS OF THE DAY! A book I read said that they must want to save their butts and crow all the time so no one can hold them liable for not waking them up. Fun stuff, I tell you what. The first two nights weren't so bad cause we were on the third floor of the hotel and you couldn't hear them that bad. But when we moved to the cottage we were staying at you could hear them plain as day at all hours of the day. They are actually really pretty and it was quite hilarious to hear them crow except when you were trying to sleep.

**I decided that my husband is part fish because he loves the water and loves to snorkel. Unfortunately the snorkeling on Kauai during the winter totally sucks. We only saw a few fish and they were all silver or black and white. We even bought a new expensive underwater camera and couldn't really use it like we wanted to. We didn't see the bright colors like what we always see on the Big Island. The tide was so high and the currents were so strong that most of the beaches were closed to snorkeling and swimming. You could surf, but who wants to do that when you want to see fish?? The other problem that we found is the beaches that weren't closed to snorkeling had man of war jellyfish controlling the area so I didn't want to touch that with a ten foot pole... NO. THANK. YOU! So that was our next adventure was trying to find beaches where we could soak up the rays and try to get our feet wet. Most of the beaches didn't have a very big shoreline since the tide was so high. Plus it was pretty overcast almost every day so it made things a little bit chilly to be playin' in the water. But that certainly didn't stop Jason. He would go splash around like a fish at every beach we stopped at. I love my little fishy!

**On Kauai there is a huge canyon that the call "The Grand Canyon of the Islands" and it pretty much lives up to it's name. We decided to take the drive up into this beautiful canyon and all the bumpy roads were definitely worth it. The thing about Kauai is there isn't a road that goes all around the island. So, we were staying in Princeville and you could only enter the canyon by car on the south/west side so it took about 1 hour and 45 min to get to the mouth of the canyon and then another hour to get up to the top of the canyon. It's a good thing that Jason and I like to drive but I felt bad for my parents in the back seat. I let my dad sit up front part of the time to save me the trouble of cleaning up throw up.... oh I mean, I let him sit up there cause I love my dad so much!!

**Most of the other time was spent visiting the farmer's markets to get all of our favorite exotic fruit like passion fruit, pineapple, mangoes and my absolute favorite, rumbutans; as well as search the beach for cool shells, deciding whether or not to get into the ocean when it was a little chilly out, trying to knock down coconuts with rocks or in this case a 15 foot pvc pipe (you never know what you can find on an island in the jungle), and hanging out by the pool, we just relaxed and had fun.

**Probably the most vivid memory of all of our trips combined is what I am about to tell you. In the cottage there is a fireplace and my cute husband decided to buy one of those logs that burn for three hours. What could be better, being on a beautiful island listening to those blasted roosters crow and sitting back to watch a movie with a fire going. Comfortable, cozy and nice come to mind. But now the words panic, hysteria, disbelief and laughter come to mind. So there we are having an awesome dinner at the table with the tv on and a fire in the fireplace. When the fire was first lit, it was a little smokey but we all just didn't think much of it and continued eating. Well it continued to get smokey so Jason and my dad go check, again, to make sure there was no flu to open. They couldn't find anything wrong and didn't know why our place was getting so smoke filled. So instead of breathing in all the smoke they decided that we would just put it out and then go down to the hot tub to get warm. So they got water and poured it on the fire (cause how else are you supposed to put out those logs that are soaked in some sort of fire burning fuel). Once the water was poured, masses of smoke and steam FILLED the room. (I have a picture of how smokey it was) For some reason my dad decided to look out on the balcony at the chimney and there were HUGE flames coming out of it!!!!(I have a video of that!) At this point Jason and my dad were in panic mode (I was just laughing and couldn't believe this was happening). I went out and saw the huge flames and was about to start packing all our things to get the heck out of there but decided the fire was only in the chimney and not on the roof or anything. One thing I forgot to tell you was it actually rained just enough to soak everything as we were preparing dinner (someone loves us up there for sure!!) Anyway, there was this tall tree next to the chimney and if it hadn't have been for the rain it would of caught fire for sure. In the meantime Jason is calling the fire department telling them the situation and also trying to get a hold of the front desk. One minute after Jason got of the phone you started hearing the sirens....how embarrassing! However, while Jason was on the phone with the front desk this huge ball of fire fell down into the fireplace and then all the smoke and fire stopped. I was thinking, those stupid roosters made a freaking nest in the chimney and this is why all of this happened. Well sure enough, after the firefighters get on the roof to check everything out they decided that it was indeed a nest and no damage has been done. Relief struck us all and we couldn't help but laugh about it all that night and the rest of our trip. We all WREAKED of campfire smoke along with all of our clothes. So we were thankful there was a washer and dryer in the condo. After all was said and done, the front desk didn't even bother to come over and see if we were ok or move us to a different condo since ours was so smokey, they just said come and talk to us in the morning. We thought that was a little unprofessional but Jason has such a way with words that we ended up getting our weeks stay for FREE!!!! We only had to pay the room tax which was about $50! You can't beat that! Since it all turned out ok we might "try" to make a fire in the fireplace where ever we go! HA! JUST KIDDING! While that night was certainly memorable and won't ever escape our minds, we don't want to go through that again. We are just so grateful that our dear Heavenly Father was looking out for us that night cause it certainly could have been MUCH worse! AHHH MEMORIES!!!

**So all in all our vacation was very fun filled and certainly memorable. We probably won't go back to that island unless the tide is low, the sun is out and we don't stay in a condo that has a fireplace.

Likeness In All Things

One of my friends from work sent me this e-mail about how God created food that looks like parts of our body and that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish... all before making a human. He made and provided what we'd need before we were born. (I know there is a scripture stating that there is likeness in all things but I can't think of it or find it!) Research shows that the vitamins and minerals that are in these foods actually help the part of the body that it looks like. These foods are best & more powerful when eaten raw.



A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.


A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.


Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.


A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.


Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.


Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.


Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these org ans. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents c e rvical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).


Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.


And finally, Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.


I thought that this was pretty cool! I'm sure there are more comparisons out there but these were the only ones listed in the e-mail. ENJOY!

Me.... Crafty?

I have been wanting to learn new things.... crafty things. So I picked up this "teach yourself how to crochet" book and starting crocheting away. I thought I was doing pretty good but it was taking FOREVER! I was doing it to tight and small so I wouldn't make that much progress. Well.... my friend Camilla from work knows how to do EVERYTHING crafty! We actually have the same birthday and are exactly the same age! Weird, right? Anyway, so I'm like I really want to be crafty like her and she has been wearing this really cute beanie that she made. It's one of those oversized beanies that kind of sags in the back. I love them! I begged her to teach me how to make one and she's like, well I don't know all the terms and stuff cause I just taught myself but I'll do my best. I wish I could just figure it out on my own like her...jealous! So she taught me how to a couple of days ago and lo and behold I can be crafty too! It really didn't take much time at all and it's way easy! So here is a picture of my cute beanie and I had to add a button on it since my last name is Button and I made it! I love my last name and that you can do cute things with it! If any of you want one let me know. I don't want to forget how to make it so I want to make a bunch of them. You can just buy the yarn you want and I'll make it. You can leave a tip too if you want :) He he he!

Just disregard the rug hanging over the door and the fact that I took these pics on my own. Not the greatest but you get the idea.

Momma Button

I just wanted to wish my Momma Button a happy birthday and let her know how much I love her and appreciate her! She is the best mother-in-law there is. We have so much fun together and it has been a blast being able to take trips together. We always end up laughing so hard we start to cry! She is such a blessing in my life. I love you and hope you have a GREAT birthday :)

Way late!

So things have been a little crazy and the past few weeks have just flown by. I just want to say that I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! Christmas was really good :) Jason and I decided that we weren't going to do presents and just take our annual Hawaii trip but he decided that he wanted to cheat and buy lots of presents. It's a good thing that they were "US" presents and not just for me or I think that I would have won the "worst wife of the year" award. Let me just start out by saying that I knew that Jason wanted the new Call of Duty game for our X-Box 360 cause he conveniently left up the webpage showing that this game was on sale. I figured hmmmm I better get this since it was a little obvious that he wanted it and I thought one present won't hurt our "no present" deal, plus it was on sale. (win win) I was thinking that I was being a good wife and got it for him but didn't get anything else since we told each other we wouldn't. So I wrapping gifts for my parents and my sister in-laws when he sees that there is an extra present so I told him it was for him... Jason is really good at being sneaky... and he's like, "Babe, we weren't supposed to get anything for each other. Now I feel really bad cause I didn't get you anything." I was thinking good!, now I can feel all warm and fuzzy by getting him a little somethin' for Christmas. I would have just been fooled with that (I'm way gullible) but he was even more sneaky and I'll tell you why. Christmas Eve we were going to eat at my parents house with my sister Natalie and her family and open up our gift exchange gifts since it was supposed to snow all day Christmas and we didn't know if we would be snowed in. Jason had to work earlier that day but got off around 4'ish. Well he calls me up and says that he will have to go back to work around seven to do a last minute training. Obviously I was bummed and couldn't figure out why Discover Card would conduct training Christmas Eve! But me, being gullible, believed his excuse that they had a lot of trainings they were supposed to finish and they have been short handed (which they have) and that he needed to finish this last training by the deadline or Discover would get big fines. So I was like ok, this sucks, but ok. Christmas morning I get up at 7:30, cause we were meeting at Jason's parents house for a huge Christmas breakfast, and the Christmas tree lights were on and I know that I unplugged them before I went to bed. So I go out there and there were a bunch of presents! He told me that he didn't have to go back to do a training but that he had to go home and wrap presents cause he never had any time to do it without me knowing :) I know, my husband is really cute! So he got us a Wii with Wii fit (highly recommended!) and Mario Kart with extra steering wheels. We got a ten piece camping set (I love camping and we haven't been since we've been married), I got new 3-piece luggage cause I only had a huge oversize suitcase and needed carry on size. He got us a new camera and a second guitar for Guitar Hero so that we can battle each other! Yay! Although he got us all these things for Christmas we are still going to Hawaii and I am so excited to get away from all this snow! Hopefully you all had a great Christmas season as well! I'll just add real quick that Jason and I don't really care about New Years so we didn't really do much. We played games at his parents house for awhile but went home at 9 and Jason was actually asleep when the ball dropped so I recorded it on DVR and stole a kiss from him while he was sleeping. Ha ha, that is pretty pathetic!! ANYWAY......... HAPPY NEW YEAR!