The First Two Weeks

It feels like things are finally starting to get settled. We still don't have our big shipment of things yet, but we don't really have room in our home anyways, so I'm okay with it.

I think I have finally chosen a favorite color. My whole life I could never decide on just one color to be my favorite. There are so many good colors, and different colors are better in different situations. But I am feeling very attached to a particular color at the moment, and I think this is the closest I'll ever be to choosing one color as my favorite. Drum-roll please.....it's red! Why am I telling you all this? Because this new favorite color happens to be the color of my new van, a Mazda mpv which I love, and the color of my new microwave which I also love, and the color of my not-so-new, but somewhat new, so therefore still exciting cover for my ipad. I think for Christmas I will ask for a new red kitchen-aid mixer. I'm so excited and in love with this new favorite color!

Hyrum also got a new exciting car, even though the color isn't quite as exciting. It looks cool though, is comfortable, and can go fast. So he is of course happy.

Our new home may make one feel as if they may be in a bomb shelter, I love it because it is our home. It is a 4 (tiny) bedroom home with a huge yard, and a playground just up the street. I'm excited and intimidated to decorate it and truly make it ours.

We had our first fun excursion last Saturday. We had gone to dinner the previous night at a friends house. We know each other because our dad's went to chiropractic college together, so I haven't seen her for quite a long time. But before we moved here I found out she was here, and has 4 kids of similar ages. Understandably I was very excited to have a friend here already. So while eating a delicious dinner there, they invited us to the beach the next day. Keep in mind, I am used to being about 20 minutes away from some of the prettiest beaches in the world in Destin, so I was expecting a very similar situation. I mean, we are on an island that is only 70 miles long, so I assumed a beach would be just down the street. And maybe there is one, but that is certainly not the one we went to. We drove for probably an hour and a half, then took a small ferry for a half hour to get to this particular gem. But a gem it was. The group we came with were the only Americans on the entire little island/beach. The water was gorgeous and warm, and the beach was awesome too. Different from Destin, but still good. It is basically made from a coral reef, so the sand was a lot courser, and there were reefs that had been sanded down with the water so looked like big rocks at the entrance to the water. It was nice because it made little pools in the concaves of the rock that were perfect for the kids. No waves! Out in the open water though the beautiful fish just surrounded you. It was amazing! Charity even caught one in her "mask". (They have these masks for little kids that are about a foot long so they can see in the water without putting their head in. I laughed when I first saw them, but they actually are wonderful!)

The secret island from our glass-bottom boat

On the boat!

Watching the fish and coral beneath the boat

Sandy Girl!!!!! We could not keep her out of it!

Charity and Samuel have started swim lessons and are doing great. While other kids are crying there in the water, my two little fish give me the biggest grins and love every second of it!

Some other random thoughts. Driving is starting to feel more natural, and started feeling that way a lot quicker than I thought it would. I still am not comfortable looking to the left for the rearview mirror, but otherwise I'm totally comfortable. I'm also starting to get the hang of how they do the road signs and things like that. I think I even have stopped doing the "newcomer's wave" (where you hit the windshield wipers instead of the turning signal when you turn since they have switched sides.)

The Okinawan people have a tradition where they put two lion/dog looking things in front of or on top of their buildings and homes called shishi or shisa. One has it's mouth open to ward off evil spirits while the other has it's mouth closed to keep good spirits in. Hyrum and I really liked these, so are keeping an eye out to find some really cool ones to buy for our own home. I found it interesting that the lion/dog with it's mouth open, protecting the home from bad spirits is the male and the one with it's mouth closed keeping the goodness in is the female. I think there is a lot of truth in that and some good things to think about.

So that's all that's new for right now. Hopefully we don't get pounded with this typhoon tomorrow, and I will write next week about our fun happenings!