just a little update

So I quit my retail job today. I managed it for two months. Although it did make the time go by fast, no minimum wage job should stress a person out which is exactly what this job did for me. And having a discount at said retail job wasn't even a benefit because I never wanted to be in the store when I wasn't working. Anyway, so that's done and the job search continues....

We got a new restaurant opening on Guam! Applebees! Right next door to a Chili's and right down the street from a Ruby Tuesdays. Seriously? Whose idea was this? So gross. J and I did visit a newly opened restaurant called Papa's. The restaurant is beautiful and the entire back side of the restaurant is windows so there are incredible views of the island. They had a fancy lounge with a bar that smelled of mahogany and leather. Unfortunately, they also had some lounge singers that reminded me of The Culps from SNL:

Not only that but "The Culps" decided to let an old man sitting in the lounge sing a song. What is this? Karaoke? The man sounded like he had been smoking Marlboros since birth. Thank goodness our table became available just as this man was on the second line of "Georgia On My Mind." So while the atmosphere of this restaurant is super fancy, the food may be a little too quirky and fancy for the island. J's whipped potatoes tasted like pudding. My short rib ravioli seemed to come with a side of cat food. Criminalities!

a pox on your house

So I started working a part time retail job just to pass the time. Never again did I think that I would be working in the world of retail but, alas, here I am slinging for minimum wage. It does make the time go by faster and I've also lost weight from standing and moving around so much so there's a bonus.

Unfortunately, what comes hand in hand with working a retail job is that inevitably you will be dealing with disgruntled customers at some point. I made it a month before dealing with such nonsense. I had a lovely woman who became completely enraged with me. Why you ask? Is it because I punched her in the face? Or because I called her an old, fat hag?  No, no, no. It's because I asked her for her ID in order to process her return. Apparently, this is a strenuous activity. So, captain happy pants, hands me her ID and makes a comment about how she's never had to show her ID before. Riiiiiight because the store just started this policy yesterday. Which prompts her to say, "Oh, you must be new. This is just great." Like seriously, lady? During our interaction, there was nothing, absolutely NOTHING, about my temperament that warranted any nastiness from her. I was bubbly, then patient, then apologetic.

I get her return processed. Unfortunately, the computer puts part of her credit onto a store credit and, as a lowly sales associate, I can't tell the computer what to do.  It didn't make sense why the computer was doing this so I had to call over a manager who then called over another manager who then had to call a third manager. And do you want to guess who is taking the brunt of captain happy pants' frustration during this whole ordeal?  Yours truly. I was so angry that I was shaking by the time she shuffled away into the store to do some more shopping. Unbelievable.

OOG (only on Guam)

I attended a going away party for a friend that was leaving the island (lucky girl) and I met some of her friends. One of the couples shared a story with me that someone broke into their home here on Guam and stole some household items but also stole meat from the freezer. 

This same couple informed me that when the Superbowl is shown here on Guam, it is shown with local commercials. No fancy commercials like in the States. It wouldn't be so bad but the commercials here are a disaster. 

The local news channels also leave something to be desired. I've seen college news stations with better anchors and better graphics. The news here is very 'boom goes the dynamite'-esque. 

There has been a lot of trouble at the Department of Corrections here lately - some of the prison guards tested positive for crystal meth, there was a hole in the perimeter fence of the prison, and some prisoner escaped during a transport. Here's my question to the guy that escaped during transport - umm.. where are you going to go? You're on a 30 mile long island. Nice try. 

Anyway, so the local news has this big to do last week about uncovering more unfavorable footage of the Department of Corrections. They do this big dramatic build up about having secret footage and what not. I'm thinking it's going to be a inmate getting tased or something of the like. No, no, no. It was secret footage of an inmate giving one of the prison guards a foot massage. Wow. Groundbreaking. 

bad news and then great news

This afternoon I was determined to tackle our yard again. With so much rain, the grass already needs to be cut again. Not to mention that strip of grass under the spider web that I didn't touch on the last round. Before I could mow, I needed to clear the grass of coconuts and palm fronds. I also decided to sweep the carport and hose it down which led me to hosing down the front of the house. Why did I need to hose down the front of the house you ask? Snail poop. These damn snails are CLEARLY well fed. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be married, living in Guam, picking up coconuts from my yard, and cleaning up snail poop, I would have told you that you were nuts! Actually, I probably would have said, "What?! Snails don't poop!" 

ANYWAY, after all of that excitement I decided to tackle a tree on the side of our yard that has fallen forward and started to grow straight out into the yard. YAY!  It needed to be cut back quite a bit so that I can mow under it. I started hacking at it with the hedge trimmers and I encountered THREE banana spiders. I took branches that I had already cut and swatted them and their webs down. (I still feel like they're crawling on me.) However, I would not be deterred! I continued on and apparently got a little too violent in a tangle of branches because I got stung by something. In the face. So, yea, then I was done. 

A shower and a couple glasses of wine later (my face is fine by the way), I decided to tackle something else on my to-do-list. I'm still trying to get my dog to Guam. Once I had all of her paperwork done and received clearance from Guam's Department of Agriculture, all that I had to do was make her flight reservation. It was at that time that I found out that she can't fly out of my hometown's airport - she would have to be driven five hours one way to an airport that can put her on an international flight. So frustrating. I've been toying with how I could get her to said airport. 

So, as I was perusing this pet transport website tonight, I noticed that my hometown airport is listed as a drop off location for pets traveling in cargo. How is this possible? So I called. My hometown airport is a drop off point for pets but only for pets flying within the U.S. And then the light bulb went off. My husband is going to be at a major airport hub in the States in a couple weeks for training. I can fly my dog to him and then he can put her on an international flight to Guam!!! Now, I ask you, why in the heck didn't this pet transport company not think to suggest this to me before? (This was my third call to them.) I really hope this works. 

a classic case of Halloween costume procrastination

I am the worst Halloween costume procrastinator ever.

I think my most creative costume to date was junior year of college. Although, I'm pretty sure the costumes were not my idea. I was Marilyn Monroe and my bff was Marilyn Manson. Besides my defunct, tightly curled, unruly fro wig that made me look more like Dolly Parton and the fact that I forgot to draw on Marilyn's signature beauty mark, we had a pretty creative twosome.

Unfortunately, it seems at some point in my life my creativity has been stunted. I was always creative as a child and a teenager - taking art classes, making friendship bracelets, sewing sequins on EVERYTHING (I was the original bedazzler), making my own clothes- but I think my need to be a perfectionist killed my creativity.

I went to Kmart earlier tonight because their costumes are 75% off. As I'm searching through three rows of costumes and hoards of people, I finally settle on the zombie banana costume. "It will be funny," I think to myself. About that time someone comes on the loud speaker. "Attention Kmart shoppers, we are sorry for the inconvenience but all of our registers are experiencing technical difficulties." Augggghhhhh. You win, Kmart. You win.

So here it is the night before our friend's Halloween party and here I am Googling "costumes to make out of a cardboard box." (We still have a lot of boxes left over from the move). Luckily, as a backup, my husband loves Halloween and I have a few of his costumes that I can wear if all else fails.

typhoon francisco

Pretty huh?

Time to make t-shirts: I survived Typhoon Francisco.

Looks like the worst is passed us although I can still hear the wind whipping around outside. Winds were supposed to get up to 40 mph with the possibility of gusts up to 60 mph. Luckily the storm has been extremely mild and has been a great trial run in case a stronger storm hits in the future.

We've also been very lucky in that we haven't lost power. Although, besides the entertainment factor to cure the cabin fever, having power hasn't exactly been necessary because the news stations don't seem to make a big deal about a typhoon approaching the island. I don't even think the local news stations here even have weathermen on staff. Maybe I'm a little jaded being from the Ohio Valley because the meteorologists there would be on tv for hours predicting the path of the storm. I know island life is laid back but come on.

Maybe it's harder to predict the path of a typhoon because every time the local news interviewed someone from NOAA, they were not sure where the storm was headed. Thank goodness for Facebook otherwise I would have had no idea what was going on with the storm. Obviously, I would have figured it out on my own just by looking outside but it would have been nice to know that I should be shutting my storm shutters prior to 2am.

Yes, I've now also learned how to operate storm shutters. Although I'm not too savvy operating them in the dark, in the rain.

how to train your roaches

Now the roaches are taking it upon themselves to die in the dust pan. Super easy clean up!

And p.s. roaches here are usually double that size. And they fly. It's pretty much my nightmare come to life.

cutting the grass

This may come as a surprise to some of you (not likely) but I've never mowed grass before... until today.

First, let's talk about me actually getting the lawn mower out of our shed. Apparently, teeny tiny frogs live in our shed. So tiny in fact, you can't even see them until you start to move something around and then all hell breaks loose. I survived the frog attack and managed to get the mower out. I went back in very delicately for the gas can. After about five minutes of trying to pour gas into the mower, I realized the gas can is idiot proof and by that I mean I could not figure out how to work the spout on the gas can. FINALLY I managed to fill the tank and was ready to go.

I found out the hard way that it's pretty difficult to start a mower while the mower is sitting in tall grass. I moved the mower out of the grass and, thanks to Google, also realized that I had to pump the button to get gas into the fuel line. Eureka! I got the bastard started! What a great feeling of accomplishment.

As I started mowing, there were herds of geckos in front of the mower running for cover. They were fast but I was still as careful as I could be in six inch tall grass not to run them over. As I was about to finish the first section of the yard, with my head down looking for geckos, I looked up only to realize that I'm about half a foot from walking into a banana spider. The spider was hanging out in its web at about eye level. Heyyyy spider. Needless to say, the grass below the web did not get cut.

Our yard is huge. Not only is it huge, it's lined with about 100 yards of cinder block. You know, to make it fancy. So not only is the cinder block ugly as heck, it's impossible to mow up to it, around it, above it, next to it. J does a much better job managing it but since it was my first time, my maneuvering wasn't very good. We also have quite a few snails that live in the cinder blocks.

Unlike the geckos, the snails have a hard time avoiding the mower. About halfway through my mowing, out in the middle of the grass, I stepped on something and felt a crunch. Yep, snail. Bleeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I found another one in the grass and threw it to safety. I had to press on because I still had about half of the yard to mow but I was freaked out about mowing over and/or stepping on snails. I had to keep repeating to myself "circle of life, circle of life."

I am a mess but the yard is mowed... except for that one patch under the spider web. It can wait.

things I miss

I miss feeling a chill in the air. I miss people whose job it is to patch potholes. I miss the smell of Great American Ballpark... I miss sports venues in general. I miss being able to watch a football game at 1:00 pm as opposed to 3:00 am. I miss people that know how to drive - people that don't turn right from the far left lane. I miss Target, Starbucks and Chipotle. I miss knowing where to go to buy a cheap handbag. I miss previews at the movies. I miss being able to skip pedicures and being able to wear boots. I miss getting dressed up to go out - it's not even normal to get dressed up for a job interview here. I miss businesses that have up to date websites. I miss being able to drink water from the tap without it having to be filtered 18 different ways. I miss people that know my heart.

UPDATE 10/15/13: Guess what happened today?! They patched the potholes on our street! What's next? A Starbucks?! I'm looking at you, Guam!

pea crabs

A few weeks ago, J and I made a run to the grocery store. We purchased a variety of meats, poultry, fish and shellfish. One night, J decided to make mussels for dinner. He steamed the mussels and made a delicious spicy sauce to go with it. About halfway through our romantic dinner, I noticed that one of the sides of the mussel that I was about to consume was split open and something didn't look right. I start to get a little panicky and asked J to come look it at. He knows that I tend to freak out over nothing so, without looking it at, he said it's fine and to just eat the mussel. That did not put me at ease so I began probing at this little alien looking thing that was hanging out in my dinner.

Turns out it was a pea crab all curled up like this:

Yea, I know. I was freaking out because I had already eaten 7 or 8 mussels at that point. Guh. I thought for sure it was just a fluke and decided to continue eating. That was until I found another pea crab all spread out and comfy like so:

And I was done.

two lovers point

My summary of the legend of Two Lovers Point - Daughter from a wealthy family. Dad arranges marriage to powerful Spanish captain. Daughter gets mad & runs to beach. Daughter meets modest warrior on beach, they fall in love. Dad finds out and is all "you're getting married to this captain right now." Daughter runs away again to meet her lover. Father, captain & Spanish soldiers pursue the lovers to the edge of a cliff.  

Then, according to legend, "the lovers tied their long black hair into a single knot.  And acting as if they were entirely alone, they looked deeply into each other's eyes and kissed for the final time.  Then they leaped over the long, deep cliff into the roaring waters below."

Here are some photos from our trip to Two Lovers Point: 

This was the drive up. J kept saying that it looked like we were driving through Jurassic Park. 

This is the overlook on the edge of a cliff

Another view of the overlook. Pics from the overlook will be coming up!

There were many, many love locks 

Exhibit A

view from left of the overlook

view from the overlook.

I didn't realize this when I took the picture but do you see the face?

my favorite pic of the day

There was also a random 9/11 memorial. The World Trade Center Towers are represented in the top of the frame, with the Pentagon in the forefront, and then trees in the middle representing Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. 

There was also a chapel on the grounds which I'm assuming had the same view as the overlook. It was gated so this was the closest we could get. 

We took the Jeep off road on the way home :) 

a bad plan

A couple weekends ago, J & I walked to a bar near our house. We had been to this bar before with some friends and we had had a great time. On this night, we walked into the bar at 11pm. There were TWO people in the bar and the bartender was sitting on a stool in the corner watching Friends on the tvs. Hopping place. We didn't want our late night walk to be in vain so we decided to stay and play pool. We ordered some drinks and started our pool game. In the middle of the game, we decided it was too quiet & J put $5 in the jukebox & it started playing our songs right away. After about five songs, the bartender apparently felt like we were bogarting the jukebox so she comes out from behind the bar, puts money in the jukebox, and hijacks our playlist. It wouldn't have been so obvious except the song she played was like death metal and she started head banging behind the bar. Ooookay. It's not like the music we were playing was bad (J picked most of it.) It was just so weird.

Around this time, J was getting hungry. Since there weren't any restaurants nearby, we were trying to find a pizza place to deliver to us at the bar. Guam is not very up to date with putting information on the internet nor with social media. I used some sort of app to search for nearby pizza & it showed me results for pizza in Arizona. Awesome. I know what you're thinking: user error. I promise you, I am very internet savvy & we couldn't find anything. Or I think we did find one place but they closed at 11pm. I believe it was around 11:45pm at this point.

We decided to walk. In search of food. In the opposite direction of the house. Maybe about 20 minutes in, we decided to stop at a convenient store for snacks & then we continued on our journey. Another 20-30 minutes later, we found a restaurant that was open 24 hours. Let me tell you something, I don't care how hungry you are or how intoxicated you are, ordering & eating something called "mayonnaise chicken" is NEVER A GOOD PLAN.

Engrish

Your waist stinks. 

what?! I'm leaving this island right now!

snea snakes aka sea snakes

I am incapable of saying sea snakes. I can only say snea snakes.

J & I took our dog to the beach last weekend. She loves the beach and the water. She swims around like a little beaver. Because she likes to swim, she is usually the reason that I get in the water. I walk far enough out with her so that she can swim. Well, the water was particularly clear on this day so I felt somewhat comfortable walking into waste deep water. So J & I are standing there watching the dog swim around, I look down and see a brown and white pattern skirting along the bottom near our feet. I turn away and say, "Oh jeez, I think that's a snake!" J looks down and says, "It's fine, honey. It's just a palm frond." For those of you playing along at home, a palm frond is just a fancier way of saying a palm tree branch. J then takes my hand and walks me and our dog toward shore. I think nothing else of it.

Later on that night, while we were having dinner, J tells me that what I saw was totally a sea snake. He just didn't want me to freak out. Smart man. Very, very smart man.

exploring the south side

J & I went exploring last weekend & drove around the southern part of the island. It's very scenic. We stopped once for pictures but I plan on going back to some of the overlooks for more pics. Here's a sample:

It's kinda hard to tell but the sand is actually black.

Oh hey, someone set up an office for me. Random spot for a desk.

July 27, 2013 - the weekly recap

Time is going so fast. I can't believe that I've been here for a month.

I got my Guam driver's license. I hate having to do anything at any DMV in any state or territory. Guam's DMV is in a huge warehouse with a bunch of cubicles. When you first walk in, there is a wall with many pieces of paper tacked to it that contain just random instructions. I walked around for a bit but ended up just standing in the longest line. Luckily the guy in line behind me was from the States and he helped me. I went in fully expecting that I wasn't going to have all of the documents that I needed (as that usually happens with me and the DMV) but, surprisingly, two hours later, I ended up walking out with my Guam license.

I downloaded the MLB app on my phone and I'm able to listen to Reds games which I'm so happy about. Since the Reds are playing on the West Coast right now, the games usually start here at 12:10 p.m. I don't think I'll be listening to any business day specials at GABP, though. Those games would start here at 2:35 a.m.

J & I went to dinner at one of the restaurants in one of the hotels on the strip. I had mushroom risotto which I didn't finish so I asked our server to box it up. Our server came back with the food boxed up along with a waiver form to fill out and sign. What? Yes, I had to fill out a waiver saying that I understood the "dangers" of taking food to go. When I got the food out of the bag the next day, there was a note on the box saying the food that I was about to consume could be dangerous and that the hotel was not responsible. Jeez louise. Everybody calm down.

J & I went to see Pacific Rim and Red 2. Both movies were pretty good.

I told J last night that someone vandalized the Lincoln Memorial with green paint. (So ridiculous) J said, "Well what color green? Like neon green or like forest green? I need to know!" He's so silly and he cracks me up.

doomsday preppers and come on a walk with me

Due to the island wide power outage last week, our doomsday prep was kicked into high gear. We are also just starting typhoon season in Guam which I think lasts for 6 months. Umm.. what? J said that the last typhoon that hit the island knocked out the power for 2 months. Yeaaaaa, I barely survived 6 hours. Anywho, so this is why we're prepping. J bought 2 generators and a gas grill. I now know how to work a generator. Never thought I would say that in my life. We also now have a plethora of working flashlights strategically located throughout the house. I have my very own headlamp too. Jealous? You should be. We will have to start stocking a water supply as well as canned goods (and wine. definitely wine.)

So, I just got back from a walk around our neighborhood and I just want to give everyone a little snapshot into the conversations I have with myself (not out loud but in my head) while I'm walking. You will notice a central theme:

"Dear God, what animal monstrosity is this?! Eww, eww, eww.... Oh, it's a half eaten porkchop. Who the hell throws a half eaten porkchop on the sidewalk?"

"Is that a dead frog? Augh. Don't look at it, don't look at it! Damn it, why did I look at it?"

"OH JEEZ THAT'S TOTALLY A TREE SNAKE! ... or a shoestring. Definitely a shoestring."

that's the night the lights went out on Guam

So the power went out yesterday. On the whole island. It went out around 3pm and then didn't come back on until 9pm. I had just gotten home from taking our dog to the park. Thank goodness I made it home, because since the whole island lost power, all of the traffic lights were out as well. People can't drive on this island even when the traffic lights are working. 

I decided to take the party outside hoping to get some kind of breeze. It really wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the annoying flies. J got home from work and pulled up a chair and we discussed our game plan for the evening. We couldn't cook anything because we don't have a grill yet and we have an electric stove. I was worried about the food in the fridge spoiling so I decided to drink two of my Guinness before they could go bad. :) 

After sitting in the heat for 2 hours, J & I decided to head to the beach.  We sat there until about dusk and started noticing some lights coming on around the hotels (apparently all from generators). We decided to go try to find something to eat and ended up at Ruby Tuesdays. As we walked in, the whole restaurant went black for about 5 seconds but then came back up. We ate, came home, and the power was back on! Yay!!!

we're not in Kansas anymore

Yesterday (Sunday) J & I set out to try a new brunch spot. The first place we went to was closed on Sundays. We went to try another spot on the strip. One sign on the restaurant said open, one sign said closed. We saw people eating pancakes in the windows. Jackpot! Walk in, sorry we're closed from noon to midnight. It was 12:30pm. Augh. We continued down the strip and ended up eating at a TGIFridays. Apparently there was a big UFC fight showing Saturday night in the States (Sunday afternoon here) so the place was packed.

After lunch we walked around some stores on the strip and then decided to go to Underwater World which is basically the Guam aquarium. They have one of the largest aquarium tunnels. It's 319 feet long through a 800,000 gallon tank. It was pretty cool. I also was finally able to see a brown tree snake in one of the exhibits. I still haven't seen any out on the island. Of course the only exhibit that was under renovation was the coconut crab exhibit. Although I think J & I saw one of those on our hike the other day. They just look like giant hermit crabs.

After an afternoon of cleaning and setting more things up in the house (mostly by J), we decided to go to a grocery by the house. I was totally disheartened. The store was dirty. We had to check all of our items, especially the produce, to make sure it wasn't bad or expired. Some of the customers in the store were rude. It was just an overall bad experience for me. I know I sound like a spoiled American but I just felt completely out of my element. Luckily, there was a wine aisle. J bought us 3 bottles because clearly I needed it.

a hike

J & I went on a hike today...

This is how it started. 

Yeaaa. Do.You.See.The.Spider?  Even the camera was too scared to focus. This spider asked us if he could bum a cigarette. Silly spider. We don't smoke. 

Pretty flower on the trail

 Dude, where's my car?

And then the trail got a little crazy. Yea, I descended that. 

So it was totally worth it because THIS was at the end of the trail. 

Amazing! 

Orchids, no hitters, and tv

Yesterday J and I were putting together a sofa table and a coffee table. Once we got the sofa table finished we put it in front of one of our blank walls. I said that we could put pictures of our family on the table.. even though I didn't pack any. (Sorry. We're only here for a couple years, I wanted to pack light) And then J said we could put some orchids on the table which was nice except I heard "our kids" so that made for some awkward conversation. We laughed about it though. Seems that we're always laughing at something... usually at each other. :)

We went to one of the malls yesterday at lunch. J heard that there was a really good sushi place in the mall. While we were eating, there was a tv on behind me and J said, "Hey, isn't that the Reds?" So, we got to watch Homer Bailey's no hitter which was pretty cool.

So a lot of people have asked me about what tv stations are shown on Guam. It's basically all of the channels that we have in the States. The only thing kind of weird is that the morning news shows like Today & Good Morning America are a day behind but they will still come on at 7am. I honestly haven't been watching a whole lot of tv to even see if the schedules are the same but I'm sure I will find out eventually. We also have an Australian news channel that we watched for a bit yesterday and it reminded me of my brother doing his Australian accent at Thanksgiving dinner. "I think I'll stick with this."

Brunch, the beach, & more exploring

I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to figure out how to retract the cord on the toaster. Yeaaaaa. Who puts a retractable cord on a toaster? Anywho...

Yesterday, J & I took our morning walk to the beach & back & then went to the brunch buffet at the Hilton. Brunch was delicious. I was starving & created the most ridiculous plate of hodgepodge food: french toast, pancakes, sushi, steamed veggies & fried rice.  I usually don't mind my food touching, but this was an exception. Once we ate our money's worth, we walked around the back of the hotel and found a really nice koi pond. The fish aren't actually blue. I think the water is dyed blue to control the algae. 

We walked to the beach behind the Hilton. 





After we left the Hilton, we drove around for a bit & stopped at some other beaches. 

It's just so beautiful here. 

I'm still not adjusted to the time change so after our exploring, I was exhausted. I had a nap & then J & I went to dinner. We found a really nice restaurant & had salmon with mushroom risotto. The salmon was amazing. So, since dinner was so good, we decided to go for dessert. Each dessert was described on the menu. Tiramisu was described as having "espresso fluid gel..." Mmm... I love espresso fluid gel. Decided to go with the cheesecake. It seemed safe & it was. 

random thoughts

Many, many thanks to my friend, JCS, who stalked me at the Cincinnati airport and pleasantly surprised me outside of a Starbucks. She sat with me for two hours before my flight left which made leaving so much easier. 

Yesterday, while JP and I were driving around, we saw a formal dress store called Gaylords. I sarcastically said, "Aww, I should've waited and bought my wedding dress here." JP said, "Yea, you could've just bought a wedding prom dress and we could have a predding." 

We found the Guam Zoo yesterday. According to their website, they have a coconut crab, a miniature donkey, a monkey, a shark among other wild creatures. I will have to put it on my list of things to do. 

Meanwhile...somewhere in the Pacific...

Morning all. It's Sunday morning here. Still trying to get adjusted to the time change. 

The flight here, although long, wasn't so bad. If I'm ever lucky enough to get a visit from any of you, my suggestion would be to stop for a period of time in Hawaii. That should break up the trip. With all of the food and inflight movies, the time went pretty fast. Unfortunately for those around me, the sleep deprivation called for a mini breakdown about three hours into my flight from Houston to Honolulu. Yep, I was the crazy girl crying on the plane. 

I got a full nights sleep Friday night and felt so much better Saturday morning. Saturday JP and I took a walk to the beach. On our walk, JP pointed out all of the slugs crossing the sidewalks where we were walking. Awesome. Apparently I'm going to be forced to get over any fears of insects, molluscs, reptiles, etc. JP said there are geckos that hang out in our house but that I should leave them be because they eat bugs. Again, awesome. 

Anyway, the beach was so beautiful. Clear, warm water. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of tranquil time there. After we got back from our walk, we went to have lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We left there and drove around. The main strip in the touristy section looks like Vegas. Lots of shopping. We continued on and JP showed me the Beach Bar. Holy cow. It's just a simple structure with a bar in the middle of it. I'm looking forward to spending time there as well. http://www.guambeachbar.com/

We made a stop at the largest K Mart in the world. It was definitely... K Marty. Pretty big Little Caesars Pizza inside as well. Hahaha! I used some of my gift cards (thanks, fam!) After we left K Mart, we stopped at Yogurtland for some yogurt. 

I'm looking forward to doing some more exploring and unpacking today. I miss all of you!!