A Little Closer to Heaven

A week or so before thanksgiving my mom called to tell me my grandma had stage 4 cancer. My "healthy" 76 year old Nana, who I had just called to wish a late happy birthday the week before. I felt sad for the pain she would experience and helpless being so far away. In our Ladies Sunday school class a few days later I asked for prayers for her and my family and my emotional self broke into tears(one of the many reasons I don't normally say much). After class came to a finish our preacher's wife said she wanted to bless me by passing around an envelope to take up some money. I had told them I was trying to get a ticket home soon, but didn't mention the financial stress of a unplanned ticket to Tennessee from Hawaii. After class a couple other people and our elders came to me and offered to pay my plane ticket. Even typing this now brings back the overwhelming feeling of love I felt that day. Love for the church, love for God's perfect design of church family, and love for the ladies who felt my pain and took action. Acts 2:45 & 4:32-34 talks about the church selling their possessions to help other believers who had needs. What a beautiful picture of Christ's plan for the church.

So I was headed to Tennessee 2 days later afraid of the pain I would feel and sad to leave my husband and regular life behind. Sometimes being a hearer only of the word and not a doer feels so much easier. God's will is most often times far away from my will. His will stretches me, it makes me uncomfortable, and ultimately it makes me need Him. But time and time again he has proven to me being a doer of his word(especially when it is not what I want) is more rewarding.

The next 2 1/2 months were some of the best and most challenging months. The first couple of weeks my mom, grandad, and I took turns spending the night at the hospital with Nana as she went through radiation and Chemo. The nights were long, but I enjoyed my alone time with Her. One night when it was my turn to stay she told me she was fine I should go home and sleep and I told her no way I was
excited for our slumber party and she quickly replied, "you do the partying and I will take care of the slumber." I have always loved her sarcastic humor. Though this time was hard it didn't compare to what we soon would face.

The hospital sent us home and said to return in 3 weeks for another round of chemo. We were terrified...how could we care for her at home without the help of nurses and all the machines? The hospital staff helped us to transport her to the car and I quickly realized the challenge we would face to get her unloaded and into bed when we returned home. We did not realize how weak her body had become until we began careing for her on our own. For about 6 weeks we struggled to know how to best care for her. We had home health coming in once a week or so, but no one to answer our daily questions. I experienced deeper time with God than I believe I ever have before. Psalm 34:18 " The

Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." I now believe this verse to be true.

 I have always believed that I trust in God, but this situation really tested my faith. Am I truly content with God? Can I say as Paul did in 1 Timothy 6:6-8 if I have food and clothing with this I will be content? I felt isolated from people and life through out this time, but I never felt alone. I wanted my husband to see what I was seeing, so he could feel how I was feeling. But God never left my side. God knew how I felt and saw what I saw. God is enough for me! I am so weak, but God is so Strong.

We brought nana to the cancer clinic twice while we were home. Both experiences were terribly hard
as I watched her struggle to find the strength to just sit up in the car. On our last visit she was
supposed to recieve chemo, but when the doctor saw how bad she was she sent us home and called hospice to come immediately. The last 2 weeks of nana's life we had hospice coming 2 to 3 days a week and we could call with questions 24 hours a day. It was such a breath of fresh air. I will forever
sing their praises.  They did more than just keep nana comfortable and prepare us for what to expect in her final days. They sat with us and listened to us and cried with us.

Those 2 weeks were long as none of us slept thinking at any moment she would breath her last breath. Nana peacefully went to be with Jesus early Wednsday morning January 28th. A few days after the funeral I was able to return home to my husband. He took some vacation time and we enjoyed being back together again. Early last week our close friends from church lost their grandad/husband/father. We were at the hospital the night before and I could not believe how God had prepared me for this. I had just experienced this loss and death process. I had felt what they felt. Ecclesiastes 8:6-8 "For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death..." God's timing and plans are the best.

So I am writing this entry to help organize my thoughts from the past months, but also to encourage
 whoever reads this. Being around death has given me a new fire for life and yes I know that is really qliche. It has given me a new excitement for God's word. He has strengthened my faith and shown me his Love. One verse that gave me great strength through this process was Romans 8:18-19 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God." I am eagerly awaiting heaven...no tears, no pain, no death. If you are going through something hard know God is enough and whatever it is it doesn't compare to what God has planned for those who love him.

Joe-Lai

My husband worked as a counselor for 2 summers at a church summer camp and since then has always been interested in youth ministry. When we were given the opportunity to work with the teenagers at our church we were excited. But since we are rookies we often struggle to find good ideas for activities the teens will enjoy and things that will also encourage them in their walk with Christ. This year we are trying to think of more ways to serve the people in our community.
So Landry(my husband) recently bought a bike for me off Craigslist. There is a pretty long paved trail right down the street from our apartment that we have ran a few times(well part of it we ran) and I knew it would be perfect for riding my new bike on. One day last week I decided I needed to get out and exercise, but that was not my main reason for riding my bike down the trail this particular day.
I have been reading two books one on serving others and one on making disciples. Also I have recently been studying the book of Revelation, because it is one book of the Bible I don't think I have ever really read or spent much time in study on. So all 3 of these books have been making my mind race. I am using my time serving others? Who should I be serving? How can I be a disciple of Christ yet I never make more disciples? Am I a lukewarm Christian? Revelation 3:15-22 has really been on my heart. "...because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth...For you say I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, poor, blind and naked....Behold, I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me....He who has has an ear, let him hear...."
I say all of this to say I have been feeling like I need to quit sitting in church and reading my Bible and getting on "fire" for God and then going out into the world and doing nothing for him. I know these words may sound harsh, but they have been weighing heavy on me lately. Matthew 25:31-40 "...I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.....Truly, I say to you as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." I know I am saved by grace and no matter how much I try I can not earn my way into heaven. But I love my savior and I want to be like him and use my short time on this earth to show his love to those who cross my path. As I read these verses from Matthew I asked myself, who have a fed? who have I welcomed into my home? who I have clothed? who have I visited when they were sick or in prison? Yes there have been times in my life I have done some of those things, but those times often were organized through church and are not how I live my day to day life. Am I searching for ways to serve others or ways to serve myself?
So on this particular day I took a bike ride not only for exercise, but to serve. I remembered one reason I often don't go down the trail is because I am fearful of all the homeless I see on the path or at the park. I often times don't make eye contact as if they are not human beings just like me. But this day I decided I would fix a sandwich or two and bring to someone I saw. As I peddled my bike, my mind raced with reasons I shouldn't help. Maybe they would reject me or think I am weird for offering or maybe it was unsafe for me by myself to talk with them. Anyways I chickened out that day, but I was determined to go back again with my husband.
So last Sunday, as we were trying to come up with a service project to do with our youth group for the next week, I asked my husband if we could go back to that park and talk with some of the homeless. Thankfully I married a man with a very tender heart for helping others and he agreed to give it another shot with me.
When we arrived, the park was buzzing with people of all kinds. A large gathering of Micronesian families were eating while there kids played on the playground. There were several families barbequing and a big birthday party celebration under a tent. On the backside near the water were 2 different groups of homeless people under pavilions. We nervously paced back and forth trying to get up the nerve to go and speak with them. What would we say? Would they be happy we wanted to help or offended that we offered? So we said a prayer together asking God to give us courage and to lead us to the right people needing help. After playing on the playground with some kids for a bit we got the nerve up to go talk to a small group we saw.
We walked up to a lady sitting on a bench out side her "home", made up of tarps. We introduced ourselves and told her we were wanting to help some local people and were wondering what things her and her family were needing. She introduced herself as Lai and her husband as Joe she said you can call us Joe-Lai. She was happy we asked and said she needed laundry detergent, shampoo, blankets and always needed food. We told her we would come back next Sunday with some teenagers and bring some things she needed. Then she started telling us a little of how she got to where she was and mentioned she had not had a hot shower in 6 months. Landry and I both looked at one another and then said you can come take a shower at our apartment. She seemed really happy and quickly grabbed her bag and jumped in our car.
Why does the act of letting a homeless woman take a shower at our apartment feel so radical? Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Matthew 5:42 Give to the one who begs of you and do not refuse to the one who would borrow from you. Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors Him. Mark 12:31 Love your neighbor as yourself. Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.Ok ok ok, the list of scriptures go on and on about helping those in need, but if I know this is what is commanded and what pleases my Father why do I not live it out? I rode in the back seat as we were driving home to let her take a shower and I had a wonderful feeling of joy. I was so thankful that we had a shower and that I have never had to go a day in my life without taking one if I wanted to. So thankful God chose us on this day to bless this lady. That we could give to her what we were given NOT because we deserve it, but we could give because we were freely given!!
This coming up Sunday we are going back to this park to serve with the teenagers from our church. I am looking forward to seeing them feel that same joy we felt that day. I am praying that they find courage through Christ to talk with the people and to step out of their comfort zones. I debated whether or not to share this story on my blog as I don't want to sound as if I am bragging about a kind act we did. But I decided to share, because I stepped out in faith which is something I have rarely done in my life and one main reason is because I have been reading stories of ordinary people following Christ's commandments to serve as he served. I hope this encourages someone to step out, to find some need where you live, something you feel passionate about, some way to show Christ to the world. My prayer today is that I won't stop with this one small act of kindness. Lord, please light a fire in me that will not be blown out so easily by my own fears. I put my trust in you.

Be The Change

The month of November has been a whirlwind of events in the Allen house. We will have had 4 different sets of people stay with us by the end of the month, I have 3 craft shows, and we made a trip to the Big Island for a church retreat. Whew, just writing that makes me feel tired. One perk of living far away from family and friends is we get lots of visitors. It doesn't hurt that we live in Hawaii which also is a pretty nice place to stay.
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am interoverted through and through. Although, I have grown so much in the past 3 years of marriage to my very extroverted husband, I still would rather be with a small group of people than a large one, it makes me extremely nervous to speak to new people and I do not like to be in the spotlight. Having said all of that, I also struggle with having a positive outlook on hospitality. I love sharing our blessings with others, but the introvert in me gets nervous when people I have not spent a lot of time with come to stay in our home. But I STRONGLY believe when you push yourself outside your comfort zone to do something that God has commanded you will be Blessed. And blessed I have been.
Every new couple that has stayed with us over the past few years I have learned something from I feel. Our tiny one bedroom apartment leaves little room for alone time when we have company, making it a good enviroment to get to know our visitors. I could go through and talk about each guest we have had in our home and the impact they have had on us, but since that would be too long of a posts I want to just say a few things about the last couple in our home.
Last week Dave and Harmony Miller came to stay with us. My husband, Landry and Dave are friends from college and lived together after school for a little bit. I lived with Harmony one summer when I was dating my husband. The title of this post is from a quote Harmony told me one night when the boys went out and we stayed home. She said that she is always encouraging her husband to be the change. She was telling me she feels like we don't talk about God enough in our everyday relationships with people. She texts her husband when he left and reminded him to talk with Landry about how God has been working in his life lately. What a great challenge.
This thought really was an eye opener for me. Do I speak about God to those I come in contact with? Do my non-Christian friends know who is number one in my life? Do I check in on my Christian brothers and sisters and encourage them in their walk with God? My number one desire in this life is to please God.
Matthew 10:27-28
What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you her whispered, proclaim on the housetops, And do not fear those who kill the body, but can not kill the soul, Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:19-20
When they deliver you over do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
I want to be bold with my faith in Jesus. I want to not fear what others will think of me. I want to only fear what God thinks of me. My prayer today is to be the change, to be the person in my circle of influence who speaks the truth. Thank you Lord using me as your vessel. Speak your words through me.

 

The Church

I want to tell you a little about our friend Raheim. He is a 25 year old single soilder in the army. At our church there are not many single people and very few families without kids, so with Raheim being closest in age to us we gravetated to each other quickly. Landry and I have always been drawn to his zeal for God. He lives about 45 minutes from the church building and has a demanding job in the military and is taking classes online, but he rarely misses a service. He comes Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday night. Every time we hang out and go for a hike or something we discuss God and His word. You can't talk with Raheim very long and not here him say something about the Lord of his life. He is diligent in reading his Bible daily! He has a plan and he sticks to it. The other passion in his life is family. As we have grown to know him more, he has told us a lot of stories about him and his 2 brothers. He was raised in a single mom home and he always felt like a dad to his 2 younger brothers. He protected them when they were younger and as he has grown spiritually he has tried to guide them in that way as well. Raheim did not grow up going to church regularly, which I believe is where a lot of his enthusiasm for telling others about the good news comes from.
I tell you this small amount of background so you will understand the rest of what I am going to say. Saturday Landry called me from work to tell me Raheim's brother had been shot and killed. A friend of Raheim's from home called Landry to see if he could go check on him. Immediately I felt a strong pain in my heart for Raheim. Then I got an email from Jenni(a faithful prayer warrior who always emails out prayer list to everyone) at church asking for everyone to pray for him. When Landry got off work we met with Raheim to grab a bite to eat and talk. We had to wait a while before he could get free from all the military forms and things he was having to figure out to get a flight home. When he pulled up to the resturaunt we were sitting outside waiting on him. His eyes were bloodshot from tears and his voice shakey when he spoke to us. The first 10 minutes of conversation Landry and I did not know what to say or how to comfort him. Also we did not want him to feel as though he had to retell us all the details and stir up all his emotions again.
Landry asked if he wanted us to have a prayer and he said yes please. As we all three held hands, sitting at a table outside a burger place on a rainy cool night, I felt such a strong bond. As Landry began to speak I noticed his voice was softer than usual I turned to look at him and saw a stream of tears rolling down his cheek. I rarely ever see my husband cry and I new that our bond with Raheim was something special, something different!
Fast forward to the next morning during worship service at church. Raheim came as I knew he would. He always sits at the front by himself so he can hear good and pay attention. Landry went to sit with him and I sat with my family who is in town visiting right now. We were sitting a few rows behind them on the side so I could see them well. Every song that we sang stirred up strong feelings for me. As I sang the words to songs I have sung thousands of times I felt differently about the meanings. I felt Raheim's pain. With every few words I would begin to cry and I felt surprised at the hurt I was feeling. I have had friends and family members in the past go through hard times and I have felt sorry for them, but I don't think I have ever felt pain for them.
1 Corinthians 12:26 reads, "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" For the first time in my life as a Christian I truely understand this verse. We said goodbye to a family at church Sunday that has 4 children in the youth group that we were able to spend some time with. Although we did not get to know them too well, because they were only with us a short time I felt sad to see them go. As I watched our church family go forward to hug them in the closing song, as is our traditon, I thought what a joy it is to be a member of the Lord's church. As I have mentioned before in previous post I really feel like our small church here is unique. I have gone to church my entire life, but never really felt completely at home or like this truely is my family. But being miles and miles away from all the people I know has encouraged me to let go and rely on the people from church as I would my blood family. I think this is the way the church should feel everywhere. All should feel welcome and loved. Everyone should work together as a team for Christ fighting Satan hand and hand. It should feel like home...
This world is not my home, I am just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heavens open door, and I cant feel at home in this world anymore. Oh Lord you know I have no friend like you, if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do. The angels beckon from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore.
My prayer today is for Raheim and his broken heart. Please join me in praying for him and his family in this hard time.

Wake up Call

Aloha! I am back. I have not written a blog post in more than 3 months due to the fact of how insanely busy our lives have been. I am in the process of making a job change(more to come on this later) and have been feeling like a crazy woman lately. I want to do a post soon and catch up on the last 3 months I have missed. But today I want to talk about how God has been working on me. A couple of weeks ago we went to a marriage seminar weekend at Honolulu Church of Christ. The speakers for the weekend were Glenn and Cindy Colley. We had just went to a marriage retreat with our congregations a few weeks before, but Landry heard who was speaking and said we should go here them.
 Landry's dad and granddad built his childhood home. He has so many found memories growing up there. His family moved when he was a sophomore in college and he has told me several times how he misses it. We live in a small world, because the Colleys actually bought that house. We went to grow in our marriage relationship and to learn about how to raise our future kids in the Lord. But we gained so much more than we expected.
We both took away a lot from the different lessons we heard in the group sessions and the split men and women times as well. Here is a list of some of the things that stuck with me and hopefully will be encouraging to you....
1. Teach your children that the definition of True success is living your life and going to Heaven.
2. Every evening you should have a time of Bible study with your family. Just bringing your kids to church is not enough.
3.T.I.M.E. spells love to your children.
4. Teach your children to obey you now so that later in their life they will be able to obey the Lord.
5. You NEVER get what you need in marriage if you deprive your spouse of what he/she needs. You must change yourself first.
6. The principles that make a person a great Christian also make a great spouse.
7. Decide to find something positive to say about your spouse everyday.
8. Let laughter, fun and sex be main stays in your marriage.
9. Have the attitude that I am going to love you whether or not you are good to me!
10. Speak to and about your husband in respectful words. Compliment your husband, especially around others.
11. Women don't nag, pout,manipulate or lie. Make the home a peaceful, loving sanctuary for your husband.
We both had to work part of the weekend and missed a couple of the lessons, but the ones we heard really made us reevaluate some things. We spent a time of study alone with the Colleys one of the nights they were on the island. Landry and I celebrated our 2 year marriage anniversary last February and the last couple years have been some of the happiest times in my life. Moving away a year ago from all things familiar in Tennessee to a whole new way of life here in Hawaii has been one of the greatest blessings to our marriage. We have completely depended on each other and grown so close as we stepped out together. But one area we have struggled in is studying our Bible and praying together as a couple.
In our time alone with the Colleys they really encouraged us to set aside a time everyday together to have a Bible study and the gave us some tips. They gave us their book "You're Singing My Song" and we have been reading it together at night. They also suggested to change it up. Some nights we read a book, some times we watch an encouraging video, listen to a sermon online or make a prayer list and spend some time in prayer together. We have been consistently having this time for about a month and it has been amazing to see God pulling us close to Him and to each other. You can check out some great resources on the colley's site http://thecolleyhouse.org.
Also for all the ladies out their check out this podcast http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=112808&cmd=tc. Once a month Cindy and some other ladies do a podcast on a different book of the Bible. The theme is Sanctification and this month's book is Daniel.
I am finding there are so many ways to daily draw yourself close to God. It just takes a conscience effort. James 4:7,8 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you,...."
My prayer today is to never stop trying to draw near to God as long as I am on this earth, because I always want to feel Him drawing near to me.

Xterra Trail Run

Yesterday Landry and I ran our first 10k and also our first trail run. I am not a runner. I enjoy exercise and doing pretty much anything active, but running has never been something I like to do. However since living in the beautiful aloha state I have found a true love for hiking. Hiking has been one of the best things for Landry and my relationship. We can walk and talk for hours. We love being outdoors and have found it to be a great activity to do together. Some hikes have beautiful views or waterfalls that make the trek worth it, while others are more about challenging yourself and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Hiking is obviously great for the body, but I have found it also to be great for my soul. I love being surrounded by God's beauty, from the green grass and all the beautiful different trees to the chirping birds.

I say all that to say that while I do not enjoy running on the concrete or tredmill or on a track, I love running through the woods on a trail. One of the first trails Landry and I did when we moved to Hawaii was Manoa waterfall trail. It is a pretty easy beginner hike, but it is on the rainy side of the island and it is usually really muddy. On our way back from the waterfall it began to rain on us and we decided to run and it was so much fun. We felt like kids splashing through the puddles and not caring how muddy we got.

Manoa Trail

Soaking wet from the rain.

 

Trail running is very different from normal runs because you have to constantly think about your next step so you don't trip on a root our a rock. With my mind focusing so much on all the obstacles in my path I forget all about how much I hate running and it becomes more like a game to me.

Landry watched something about the Xterra trail run on the discover channel before we moved to Hawaii and he had his mind set on running in it. Like I have mentioned before I am not a runner and as for Landry he rarely exercises except the occaisonal basketball pick up game and the once a week hiking we do. But Landry signed us up for the 10k instead of our normal 5k. Neigther of us have ever ran more than 4 miles and we did not train for this race because it was a last second decision to do it. I am glad we did it, but I wish I would have trained since this is no walk in the park type of run. There was lots of hills and I thought my legs were going to fall off, but we finished it and felt proud of ourselves. It took us about an hour which is definately not a record setting time, but not shabby for first timers.

Team E.X.T.E.M.E.

Team xtreme is a group of military guys that help wounded soilders. Before the race started they skydived to the starting line. Then they ran the entire 21k half marathon. They took turns caring the soilder with no legs that is on the ground in this picture on their backs for the entire race.

Yes we even stopped to take a picture during the race. Landrys main focus was snapping pictures of the scenery and mine was to make it to the finish line before my legs collapsed.

 

Team xtreme is a group of military guys that help wounded soilders. Before the race started they skydived to the starting line. Then they ran the entire 21k half marathon. They took turns caring the soilder with no legs that is on the ground in this picture on their backs for the entire race.

Sorry for all the pictures of my backside running, but like I said Landry was snapping lots of photos. Since he was behind me thats all the pictures we got.

After the race we headed to the north shore to take a nap on the beach. There have been lots of surf competitions lately and we were hoping to catch one, but the waves were not high enough. So we took a couple pictures of the set up which was pretty cool to us.

 

This is Waimea beach one of our favorites to go catch some good waves. We can body board for hours here and leave with swimsuits full of sand.

 

Psalm 8:3-9

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth!

A spoonful of sugar

Since moving to Oahu we have been trying lots of new sports.. We enjoy living close to the beach and want to take advantage of all the fun activities the ocean offers. When we first arrived on the island we both were excited to try out surfing. We bought a groupon and took a lesson. After our lesson we were feeling a little too confident. We both caught almost every wave and thought we were on our way to surfing the 30 foot waves on the north shore. Yea well, that is until we rented some boards a couple days later and tried it on our own. I have decided the surf lessons are meant for tourist. They don't really teach you any techniques or how to catch waves on your own, they push you into the waves and all you have to do is stand up. This makes you feel like you are a professional and gives them a chance to snap a picture that they will charge an arm and leg for you to purchase. I am not trying to be negative about surf lessons, because they are fun and I suggest all visitors to give them a try. All I am trying to say is they do not really prepare you for getting out there on your own. Like I was saying we rented some giant 11 foot boards(the bigger the board the easier it is to get up and to balance) a few days later. It was pretty much a disaster. We were clueless about pretty much everything. Paddling out we got hit by a lot of waves and knocked off our boards and then when we were a pretty good ways from the beach we started trying to catch some waves. We couldn't figure out the timing very well at first, so Landry decided he would try to push me. This is when it became very comical. As we were turning trying to get ready and wave came in and since Landry was so close to me his giant board hit me in the back of the head....well I did catch the wave but I never stood up because when I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything. I blacked out for a couple of seconds and it really scared me. Needless to say the rest of the time we were out on the water I felt a little shaken up and we never really caught any waves. We were down, but not ready to give up. So we rented boards 4 or 5 more times and still felt discouraged.
Landry works with several guys who enjoy surfing and surf a couple days a week in the mornings before work. They are always trying to get us to go out with them, but I have been avoiding it due to the fact I was afraid it would be extremely embaracing from our previous experiences. Well a couple of weeks ago I was off and Landry did not have to be at work until noon so we decided to go to the beach for a couple of hours. We had just arrived and were lathering up with sunscreen when one of Landry's coworkers pulled up. He was meeting two other guys to surf for a couple of hours. He asked us if we wanted to give it another shot and said the other guys had 2 nine foot boards we could use. So we said why not. We drove to another beach down the street called White Plains beach. It is a family friendly military beach and is supposed to be good for beginner surfers. We have been wanting to surf there for a while, but you can only rent boards if you are military at this beach. They waves were perfect for us that day around 1 to 2 feet. We both had a blast. We were getting the hang of timing and when to paddle into the wave. 2 days later we went again with them, but there was only one other guy with a board so we shared it. Landry swam out with me on a boogie board. I caught around 4 waves and stood up on 2 of them. I asked Landry if I looked like a surfer girl and he said yea until you stand up. I was having so much fun and Landry only got to get on the board a couple times before it was time to leave. We are looking in to buying a used board on craigslist so we can go to this beach and practice whenever we want. Try, try, try again...

A few weeks ago we had a fall festival at our church. As always I was rushing around at the last second figuring out our costumes and getting all the necessary supplies. Thank goodness for pinterest. I began searching for couple's costumes and ran across a really cute picture of Mary Poppins and Bert the chimney sweeper. It looked simple enough to use some clothes we already had and to just buy some accessories.

 There was a costume contest(which I missed because of traffic), trunk or treat for the kids, some finger foods to eat and a lot of games set up in different classrooms. Landry and I played corn hole with some of the teens and adults. It was a very fun and festive night.

The following weekend we ran a 5k race called the color run. I had seen several peoples pictures on facebook, covered in bright colored powder. When I heard it was coming to Honolulu I told Landry we had to sign up. It was a bit pricey, but overall I think it was worth the money for all the fun we had.

There were over 8,000 participants.

We wore our clear, nerdy glasses. We wanted to wear something to protect our eyes from the powder, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to see too good in sunglasses. We bought these glasses last year when we lived in Nashville to ride on our scooter. Man do we have some great memories wearing these goofy things.

This was definately not a serious 5k. A lot of people were walking. It is all about just having a good time. And we definately had a good time!