What I've been up to:

 1. Watching lots and lots of How I Met Your Mother. I started out watching it on Netflix, which was taking forever because I only have a one-disk-at-a-time membership… but as of a few days ago I found a website where I can watch seasons one through five online. I always tell myself that I’m just going to watch one episode, and it usually ends up being five or six. I evidently have very little self-control.

2. Bidding on Ebay. I realized a few days ago that I don’t have a hard copy of my favorite book (novella, really) “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read it in French (the language and the class) in high school and have read it multiple times since in English. So, in three separate Ebay auctions totaling $22.42 (which includes shipping), I bought the book in English, French, and Spanish. I’ve been wanting to brush up on my French and learn Spanish for a while, and I think reading a book in the languages will be a good way to teach myself the conjugations, grammar, and vocabulary.

3. Couch-surfing bonfires. We had another one last night, this time at Lydgate Beach just south of Kapaa. Vee and Chris 2 were there from last time (there will be no more Chris 1; he’s traveling in Europe, now), as well as Jenni (a photographer visiting from Germany for a few months), Daniel (a friend of Vee’s), and James (a friend of Chris’). Sam stopped by for a few minutes, and will probably join our group for events in the future. Chris brought his ukulele (pronounced by locals as “oo-koo-leh-leh”) which no one knew how to play, so I strummed on it for a bit… we sat around the fire cooking hot dogs and smoked salmon smothered in salsa (courtesy of Vee)… and spent the evening swapping stories and discussing nuances between German and English. James had a pretty great story about a brawl he got into in the Netherlands, and Jenni had a pretty great story about accidentally wandering into the set of a porn movie being filmed in Germany.

4. Cooking. I know, right? Shocking. I’ve actually only made two meals, and both were super simple and kind of experimental. I made rice (which was crunchy) with fresh green beans (which were squeaky on my teeth—one of my more severe pet peeves) on one occasion, and buffalo chicken crescent roll ring on another. I usually just have cereal, frozen boxed/bagged dinners, fruit, or chef’s salad… but with potluck lunches at church on Sundays, Sage’s dinners for the bible study group on Wednesdays, and the Thursday dinners at Radnight made by volunteers from the church, I’m usually pretty satisfied.

5. Getting excited to travel. Next weekend is the HIM conference in Honolulu, and there’s talk of a trip to the Big Island with Vee and Jenni in April. Now that Sam’s back from the YWAM outreach, we (and others) are going to set aside a few days sometime this spring to hike the Kalalau trail, which should be an epic adventure. Although I’m still planning to roadtrip the U.S., I’m becoming more and more enchanted by international travel, and am researching a few specific places I’d like to visit in the next few years... specifically Ireland, Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Denmark, and Israel.

Aloha. :)