Beautiful Guam

Last week I was hanging out on base waiting for Drew to get off work so I could pick him up.  [We still are a one car family because even though we have a new car we can't drive it yet because it has no plates & we don't have the title - it's a long & frustrating story but the nice part is that Drew & I get to carpool together.]  I wasn't quite sure how to kill the time and then remembered I was surrounded by beautiful beaches!  I ended up at Gab Gab Beach and just relaxed and soaked in God's beautiful creation.  It really doesn't get much more peaceful than sitting on the beach in Guam.

Drew & I were very productive this past weekend.  We kept up our weekly date at Meskla Dos (the best burger place on island) on Friday night.  I got the French Toast Slammer - a burger in between two french toast pieces with a fried egg on top and drenched in maple syrup.  Needless to say, I could barely eat half of it and left telling Drew that it was truly delicious but I didn't think I would order it again because I didn't want to die.  Drew got his old standby - the fabulous tuna melt.

On Saturday we really went to town giving our upstairs balcony a much needed deep cleaning.  Drew scrubbed the floors & walls to get rid of the built-up mildew and I cleaned our patio furniture.  We felt very accomplished after our cleaning and know we will use our balcony a lot more now!  As we were finishing up, Drew sprayed our sandals down and was going to leave them outside to dry.  And the following conversation ensued:

Me:  I don't want to leave my sandals outside because a gecko is going to come poop on them.
Drew:  That's so weird.  I can guarantee that a gecko isn't going to come anywhere near your shoes.
Me:  Okay.

About an hour later I peeked out on the balcony to find this little guy (for some reason I think all geckos are boys) chillin' right on my shoe.  I can't say for sure whether he pooped on it or not, but I'm pretty sure he did.

On Sunday we went to the early church service at the chapel on base (we're still trying to find the right church fit for us) because I was going scuba diving in the afternoon.  As part of my diving certification class I was supposed to get a free boat dive, but it didn't work out with the timing of my class so my instructor signed me up for the one on Sunday to tag along with one of his other classes.  It was my first boat dive & it was awesome!  We had two tanks so we went diving at two locations - the Seabee Graveyard & Western Shoals.  The first one had all this equipment at the bottom of the ocean from where the seabees (essentially the building crew of the Navy) dumped it long ago - there were huge tractors & just all kinds of stuff down there.  It was so cool to look at it.  The second spot had some of the most beautiful fish I have seen yet on Guam and there were SO many of them - swimming through schools of fish is just such an amazing experience.  While I was off diving, Drew was watching the Gold Cup finals (sad) and getting more things done around the house.  Overall, it was another wonderful weekend here in beautiful Guam.

Six Wonderful Months

Drew & I celebrated six wonderful months together yesterday (it was the 18th in Guam).  We played tennis on base (Drew beat me) & went out to a delicious dinner at Proa, complete with the dessert sampler.  Overall, it was an amazing day.  We can't believe how quickly the time has gone by.  We are so happy together & can't wait to celebrate many, many more anniversaries.  I love you, sweetie!

We had our first dinner party on Friday night.  We had Drew's friends from ultimate frisbee, James & Siiri, over for dinner and to teach them bridge.  They both picked up bridge very quickly and we're really hoping they like it so we can have a couple to play with.  We've desperately missed our tradition of Friday night bridge parties with Jake & Angela!  I made shrimp korma with basmati rice & summer squash for dinner - it was a recipe from my new Cooking Light magazine, which my mother-in-law got me a subscription for & I couldn't be happier with.  So, thank you so much, Sue!  I have already found so many delicious recipes.  We made some tasty homemade vanilla ice cream in our new ice cream maker for dessert (thanks to Fritz & Mary!) and we can't wait to make even more scrumptious treats.

Our first dinner party

And last, but certainly not least, Happy Father's Day to my wonderful daddy!  I love you so much, dad, and wish I was at home in Pasadena to celebrate this day with you.  But, I'm thinking about you and appreciate you so much.  And I hope Kobe shows you a real dandy of a day.  Love you!

As Promised!

I'm a certified diver!

Our fearless Scuba Chief

My diving wounds...yeah, I'm hardcore.

Drumroll, Please.

It's official - I'm a certified scuba diver!  I finished my last open water ocean dive on Sunday and was so excited that I successfully completed the course.  Pictures of me in my full scuba gear to follow.  My body is a little banged up from all the diving, though, and it needs a break.  Most people don't get banged up diving, but I'm not most people - I'm clumsy and was more focused on not dying underwater than where my body was at all times.  I have some severe raw spots on both ankles because my boot/fin combination just wasn't working right for me.  I have to get some taller boots to fix that.  And I accidentally ran into the coral a few times so both my calves are slightly torn up.  Oh, and I fell on the pool deck one day so both my knees are bruised and scratched up.  I said I was clumsy.  Despite all these minor injuries, I loved my diving class and am excited to explore the underwater world some more!

In other exciting news, Britney's Femme Fatale Tour starts this Thursday in Sacramento!  I have heard so many good things about this show and I just love her new album.  I'm extremely bummed that I can't go to any of the shows.  I would have absolutely loved to see this one.  But I'm just so glad that Brit is back & doing her thing!  I know a few of you are going to her show (Jennie!) so I want all of the deets!  Can't wait to hear about it.

Drew was supposed to be on a plane right now to Tokyo and was going to be back tonight, but his flight was cancelled and he's still in LA.  We haven't had a lot of luck flying to Guam lately.  He was on the plane, had already fallen asleep & then they made everybody get off and cancelled the flight.  I'm guessing something major was wrong for them to cancel the whole flight, so I'm glad the Lord was watching over him.  He's now booked on a flight through Honolulu early tomorrow.  It will actually be a lot better route for him and he will get home at 6pm instead of 1am.  I'm really looking forward to seeing him tomorrow!  And it gives me one more day to do my cleaning.  :)

One is the loneliest number...

that you'll ever do.  So the song says, things have been a little bit lonely around here this week for me.  Drew is at a training in Newport, Rhode Island learning all about computer crimes.  The timing worked out great, though, because he gets to stop by home on his way back to Guam to make his sister's graduation.  We are very proud of her - she's graduating with her Masters from Stanford!  Congrats, Maggie!

I have been finding a few things to keep me busy, like reading (currently I'm reading Book 2/Day 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicle), watching TV, cooking, baking and taking scuba diving certification classes.  I know, I know - I have such a rough life out here.  Honestly diving is a bit scary for me, but I'm hoping I can stick with it and get certified.  If anyone has ever watched the Parks and Recreation episode where Leslie Knope goes out on her first date with the police officer and runs through all the doomsday situations that could happen, then you have a glimpse of me this week with scuba diving.  Drew was the one to make the comparison and I have to admit that it kinda fits.  It just seems so unnatural to breathe underwater!  But we had our first pool dive today with all the equipment and it went okay.  I got a bit freaked out in one of the tasks we had to do, but was able to get through it on the second try.  One of Drew's coworkers is assisting in my class & it's really nice to have her down there to calm my nerves.  Probably couldn't do it without her!

Oh, and I've been watching a lot of So You Think You Can Dance.  And it's gonna be a mighty good season!  As my friend Janine said, Vegas week was fierce and, boy, was she right.  I can't wait until tomorrow to see who makes the top 20!  So happy for the return of Chugga Chugga.