Potpourri

Went to the mainland for not long enough for all I wanted to do. 

First stop: Naw'lins for Jazz Fest

where I tried new foods...some so good, some not so good

...and I made new friends, including one with a mullet

...and saw my friend Drew

...along with 100,000 of my other friends

...and sloshed around in mud in my $6 Wal*Mart off-brand keds that I purchased prior to going. So glad that for once I considered in advance the miserable time I would've had in my slippers (flip flops)

Second stop: LBC, VA for Maggie's wedding. I'll post pictures once I get them from Maggie. Until then, here's the bestnieceever Stella:

Third stop: SOUTH CAROLINAAAAA! Where I had a lovely time and even got to spend a day in Charleston with the fam (KTJ and Chewy--you were missed). The last time we were together was right before Chewy left for his South American adventure (even that time being sans KTJ). Despite us growing up and living our post-college lives, it was still typical family time complete with genius ideas that (in retrospect, naturally) weren't thought out completely which only made it that much more typical. Make sense? It does to the fam.

good genes run in this family--we aren't afraid to say it

Hawai'i better prepare for August when these two +KTJ land. 

my BFF Ginnie. Don't hate her because she is beautiful...hate her because she was the last one on the tube before it deflated. 

beach in Charleston...I miss the southerness of it.

Back in Hawai'i now. Moved to town to find a job. The girl I'm staying with this month is great...she is from Tennessee. The only problem with this is when she misses home and "Rocky Top" comes out of the speakers...seriously though, such a blessing for her to offer her futon to me for the month! If it weren't for tsunami scare 2k10 our paths wouldn't have crossed and we wouldn't be friends.

Lastly, how could I post on Mother's Day without a picture of my own?!

Love her.

He is Risen!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. 

Birthday was good. There were friends around, but it was weird not having my friends around. Ginnie and I are having a joint birthday dinner when I'm in South Cackalacky for a hot minute in roughly 2 weeks! I'm only in Cola for 3 days but I will eat as much Miyos and Grouchos as my stomach will allow, and then some.

The day after my birthday was my first "beach ultimate" experience. I've had plenty of practice lying out soaking up the rays, but running back and forth in sand? Dang it wears you out quick. So fun, nonetheless. Here's a "super slo-mo" (ABDC fans, anyone?) of a little endzone play our captain put together


This time next week I'll be en route for my mainland mini-cation....Louisiana, Virginia, and South Carolina or bust! I hope it's warm everywhere. I've grown accustomed to a particular climate...

vaSTAYcation to Moloka'i

I think I can stay up as late as I want tonight because I don't have to work tomorrow but then I'm quickly reminded of 5 little reasons why that won't happen. So we'll make this quick and visual-friendly. Think of it as a picture book...with some words.


oh, idk, my elementary school bff Carter? came to visit during her spring break from Alabama. So fun to hang for a week although I will tell you it is hard to balance having to live here and entertain someone who is on vacation. (vacationing and living in Hawai'i are totally different). It was fun showing her the island and relaxing. We celebrated St Patrick's Day in Chinatown which was a crazy but toned-down version of St Pats in 5pts. Naturally we went to a luau as well. Paradise Cove should start having a punch card or something for how many times I've brought people there. At least they have good military rates. We also hiked Koko Head at sunrise during which my stomach was NOT cooperating--I'll spare the details. It was still beautiful and I enjoyed the time with Carter and my ex-future-neighbor Hannah.


oh, idk, my mom's bff Angela? and her hubbybubby spend a few months each year on Moloka'i. We all know momma di'int raise no fool so naturally I took advantage of the free oceanfront condo (don't want to forget the views of Maui and Lana'i and that other small island that starts with a 'K' from their lanai) and tour guides with a seabring convertible. After hearing about it from Buddy and Vincent all of these years it was great to spend a couple of days with them and see the island and soak up the rays. In their resort I was definitely Cameron Diaz a la In Her Shoes and met so many cute elderly couples who have been going there for years as well. I sat there while they smoked and shared their wisdom and advice for me to take full advantage of my youth. We covered the whole island so here are some pictures.
 

Halawa Valley where we enjoyed a little picnic on the black sand beach

Halawa Valley, the view behind us

the road to Halawa

old church where only the cement shell is still standing. There are still some services held here.

A new friend I met on a little morning walk

I could live in an ocean front condo for a few months of the year...

Kalaupapa, the old leper colony where people were exiled until a vaccine was introduced making it noncommunicable

Dixie Maru, named after a Japanese ship which sunk a few miles off the coast. I don't know if I spelled "dixie" correctly as far as the ship is concerned, so I just chose the southern way.

Papohaku beach park

Kaluakoi which used to be a nice little resort until a few years ago when it shut down. That's a story for later.

My new undertaking is hula and I debut this Easter Sunday at both a sunrise service and regular service. We'll see how this goes...

ON THE CALENDAR: oh, idk, my college bffs since freshman year Ginnie, Katie, and Alice? are trying to plan a little trip in August. When I think about it I sometimes come very close to peeing a little bit out of excitement so if it really does happen and all 4 of us are on the island at the same time...I'm packing some depends. 

Baby, it's cold(ish) outside

If only February was just a couple days longer I would've been sure to post during the month. Regardless, I feel like the second month of 2010 was a rather eventful one. I worked alot which meant bills got paid, I have a potential job after tax season, played in my first ultimate tournament, made a friend at my first ultimate tournament, hung out with said friend from ultimate tournament once, Sarah Grace Pike Hamilton and her baby bump came to visit, Megan is going on a mission trip to Uganda, we got annihilated by a tsunami, and (drumroll) Megan and I have a very affordable apartment to move into for the summer!

Kaimana Klassik is an annual tournament on the island where teams come from the mainland and even a few from abroad (Japan and Ireland) over Presidents Day Weekend. There is a womens and open division. I jumped on board last minute when the women's pick up team needed a few more players. It was a great weekend and I'm glad I went. Wait, let me clarify--after setting up my tent solo on the beach in the fierce wind and cold rain after dark I eventually shivered my way to sleep and so I'd say starting the next morning I was glad I went. We played 4 games each day and by about halfway through the 3rd game each day my legs would shift into full-on rebellion. There was easily a couple-second lag between my brain telling them to move/run and them actually responding. Naturally, this motivated me to workout more but other than a salsaerobics class with Sarah such motivation has (once again) not materialized into anything productive. I figure I already have enough to talk about for February, so starting to workout regularly would only add to that so if I need something to spice up the month of March perhaps I'll give it a go. I made some friends, one in particular being the injured girl on our team. Turns out she enjoys swing dancing and so I went with her to a little dance thing that happens on Thursday nights in Chinatown (hmmm....dancing on Thursdays...sounds familiar). It was a cozy and quaint atmospherd (sort of a la Earlwood Bappy when they had their thing going on) and I enjoyed it. Hope to make it back again.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Megan is going to Uganda May 5-15 for a mission trip with Children's HopeChest. She is a multi-talented individual and is using her talents to be able to leave something behind in Uganda. She is making (absolutely adorable) pillowcase dresses for the girls in orphanages there. If you'd like to help you can either donate $25 to sponsor a dress (donations can be made to CHC for tax deductibility purposes), or donate supplies (old pillowcases, ribbon, thread, old fabric scraps for appliques for the dresses). If you'd like to help at all, email me (kayleighahudson@gmail.com) or Megan (daviesmk@gmail.com) and we can give you more information.

ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT: Sarah came to visit for 10 days so MKS (Megan-Kayleigh-Sarah) bonding time was in full force for the last bit of February. It was awesome hanging out with the three of us in one place again. Plenty of beach time so I got my tan back, had fun taking Sarah on some touristy adventures (Polynesian Culture Center, Pearl Harbor, etc), and of course we made the legendary seven layer bars which came in handy while we climbed to higher ground the next day for the tsunami warning. If I didn't die while skydiving, it wouldn't be too bad either if I died while eating seven layer bars. It was sad having to drop her off at the airport, but we are thankful that her husband (slash babydaddy) let her and her babybump come play.



Finally before I go (because I should've been spending this time cleaning the room....typical) Megan and I will be moving into town from at least mid-May to mid-August. We're subletting from a couple traveling in Spain over summer break. It is an awesome location with a great view and WALKING DISTANCE TO A SOCIAL LIFE! It'll be nice not having to factor in a 30min-1hr commute (depending on traffic) just to hang out with someone. We also happened to meet a neighbor while at Tripler for Tsunami Scare 2K10. A downside will be not having 5 little kiddies attack me with "Kayleigh's home!" accompanied by hugs and kisses everytime I walk in the door. Future roommates sure do have a lot to live up to...

okay, seriously. Clean up time before I go into work (on my day off)

1 little, 2 little, FIVE little Elliots!

HALLELUJAH PRAISE THE LORD THEY'RE HOME! A week and a half ago Carrie came home to Hawaii with Mykah and Jackson. So awesome to see their family finally complete! A first family photo:

What a happy beautiful bunch. Colin loves to be a big brother and help. Maddie didn't waste anytime showing Mykah around the girls room, being sure to point out the closet and all of their pajamas they get to share. Gracen (who is half Jackson's age yet almost twice his size it seems) just loves having more people to chase, cups to drink from, and how there's too much going on to always have an eye on her. Mykah and Jackson are absolutely precious. Mykah is quite the livewire who wastes no time to run and jump into my arms when I come home. Jackson also is the biggest (figuratively, of course) cuddle bug who looovves hugs and kisses. He'll sit in my lap for the longest time and you just can't say no to his tooth-ish wide mouth grin, or adorable puckered lips looking for some love. Oohh I just love all 5 of them like crazy and look forward to watching them all grow together as a family. 

Work is getting better now that things are picking up. Right now it gets busy, but not too busy. Stays consistent which makes the days go by faster. However the next two weeks are known as hell peak because everyone should be receiving the rest of their tax info. We'll see how I feel about things then. I have this one precious old lady who I can't wait for her to come back tomorrow for me to finish her return. She's in her 80's and asked me if I had any grandparents and when I told her none were living, she all but adopted me on the spot. I can't wait to be a funny old lady (I can wait, but you get what I mean). That reminds me that I need to find a rocking chair somewhere...when I frequented Windy Gap I got lots of practice rocking on the porch, but since I've moved across the country I've been slacking.

So now it's time to tell you about my new adventure yesterday! Marlene (temporary roomie) leaves for Spain tomorrow, so yesterday I had the day off and her uncle took her, Megan and myself diving to spear tacos (octopus). So awesome. It was an overcast day so there were 0.0 tourists and we had flat island and the surrounding waters to ourselves. This was my first time snorkeling and after working out some disagreements with my gear, I was loving it. We brought an underwater camera and so I'll add pictures. Uncle found an octopus who was home and even though I did more cheering on and supporting than actual spearing I totally felt like an amazon woman or something. Later when uncle was cleaning out the insides a vicious green head eel (I think he called it a green head...I don't know, uncle just said you don't mess around when they're near) came out of nowhere since he smelled feeding time. I got a picture of it and escaped with my life so no worries. We popped out it's teeth/beak which comes in two parts. Megan is and artist so can we say FRIENDSHIP NECKLACES?! I don't know if I'm still even friends with anyone I've had real frienship necklaces with before, but I now see the foreshadowing in that they came in the shape of a broken heart. I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure Megan and I will be the only ones with octopus teeth necklaces. Thinking back, there was that one summer I was working at camp in Florida and Spike sent me a "Best" sweatband where she had the "Friends." We're still friends. I still have that sweatband somewhere.

After our adventure we went on a little hike to some ww2 bunkers where we introduced Marlene to the jumping picture. Lots of those. On the way down, naturally I slip and fall and of course there is a perfectly placed rock right under my left cheek (I'll let you figure out which cheek I'm referring to) and nailed it perfectly. I know I have plenty of padding, but I do not have buns of steel so you can imagine how this hurt. I couldn't help but say the first thing that came to mind (again, use your imagination). There is now a giant black/blue/purple splotch. TMI? Maybe. Probably. But every time I sit or lie down I am reminded of it and blogging is to be somewhat a reflection of my thoughts. Well I think I'm bruised as hell and it hurts. To top it all off, after looking at pictures I realized the shorts I was wearing are completely unflattering from behind and nobody has ever bothered to tell me this.

As usual, Yogurtland helped make things a little better and all in all, a good day. So, until next time something worth my mom reading about happens, aloha.

I wish I didn't have to wait until April for Glee

This sentence is about as exciting as the majority of my time at work right now.

Since the IRS has officially started accepting returns, business will continue to pick up which will help the days go by faster. I've only been full time for 2 weeks but I've already found myself singing "everybody's working for the weekend" by Tuesday afternoon. I've noticed that I'm getting paler and fatter (I don't think I'm fat) from sitting all day every day. I even worked out a few times this week after the kiddies went to bed. Marlene has been a good coach.

Another good thing about my temporary roomie (there are many good things about her) is she surfs. So last Sunday we had a little "church-n-surf" sesh and I caught a wave or two on my own but Waikiki wasn't really helping much. So we just walked around Diamond Head and chatted. Tomorrow we're doing the same thing but going somewhere else where she said it should be better conditions for me. I'm pumped. Next goal: get up way early to go surf then be at work by 9am. Then I will be even more of an island girl.

Speaking of which, once I reach such goal, I've dubbed a term for myself over here...an "island belle." A combination of island girl and southern belle. Get it? Clever? No? lalalala I can't hear you. I think it is appropriate because I plan to regain my tan from September after Elisabeth left and learn to confidently surf solo while not abandoning my pearls, croakies, sperrys, and bows around the waste. Not to mention that out here apparently I have an accent. I tried to tell a few people I was a local haole (white person) but they all called my bluff.

In other news, to wrap up, Chris and Carrie are in Atlanta with Mykah and Jackson (their new kiddies!) and we are picking them up Monday afternoon here in Honolulu where the entire and complete Elliott family will be together for the first time. There will be pictures. There will be waterfalls from all of our eyeholes. Waterfalls of joy and love. It will be a beautiful thing.

Then I pick up Megan on Wednesday. She has been missed.

Some goodies: First, my mini-me. I was playing with Gracen and hear "I'm Kayleigh! I'm Kayleigh!" and turn to see this sassy thing:

New Year's Eve...or "the Day of Fireworks"

This time of year I will say with confidence that when it comes to per-capita fireworks sales Hawaii's top of the list. In our neighborhood, people about go Griswold-crazy with lights (and inflatable holiday-themed exhibits....who knew Santa flew in planes, rode merry-go-rounds and swings like at the fair? Not to mention the snow globe he skated in...). It isn't quite as much as the Griswolds, but compared to neighborhoods I've lived in before, it was quite impressive. Then there's the Elliott's. I forgot to take a picture but that is probably a good thing to save from embarrassment. On either side you have the works, then you look at our house in the middle. One night to appease Colin and Maddie, Megan and I attempted to put icicle lights on a palm tree in the yard and on our balcony. The ones on our balcony lasted about 5 hours and fell, never to be restored. Whatever, they had something to plug in outside so they were happy.

Another tradition during the month of December besides outdoor decorations, is freaking fireworks every night. Every single night at some point you would hear some neighbor setting them off. Sometimes aerials, then often the regular littler ones. This however did not prepare me for New Years Eve when fireworks and barbequing is a full day affair. All day it sounded like bombs being dropped in the Ewa by Gentry war zone. By the end of the night, there is a haze in the sky accompanied by the smell of gunpowder. 

On the morning of December 31, 2009. I woke up at 4:30am at Heather's after a few hours of sleep where their dog managed to finagle more bedspace that I. Heather, her oldest son (Braden, 6yo) and I went to join others for a sunrise hike to the top of Koko Head crater. It is on the windward (eastern) side of the island so after climbing 1000+ steps we made it to the top and saw the last sunrise over the Pacific of 2009. My final day of the year was a really really good one. Post-hike we met up with the rest of the Holliday family for an oceanfront brunch with banana-macademia nut pancakes. So Hawaiian, I know. I had a successful Target trip (where I only purchased what I went in there to purchase...this is probs the first time I've been in there and left without spending enough to cover their mortgage payment for the month). Heather basically found me some friends in my peer group so I danced the night away with a fun group of people. To top it off, every time I got into Julia (my truck) on that day, Beyonce was playing on the radio. New Year's Day was uneventful--I basically spent all but 4 hours in bed passed out/trying to give my legs (dead tired and sore from hike/dancing) a pep talk and reminding them how to put one in front of the other, etc.

Starting today, however, my 5 month Hawaiian vacation of paradise has come to its close. I started a job. I'll be doing taxes, so that's good in that it'll be me on top of things, but the idea of working in general is still something to get used to. The thing that will keep me going is that the software we use is TPS which means we print out "TPS reports." I just might have to watch that movie soon.

That's probs all I'll really have to report in the next few weeks until Carrie finally comes home with Mykah and Jackson! So in the meantime, I'm going to have to ask you if you could come in on Saturday...