It’s a pretty low-key Christmas morning so far. Darlene is working most of the day and I’m just sort of walking around the house aimlessly. We will be going to party later tonight though, so that should liven things up a bit.

Darlene and I bought ourselves a grill for Christmas and broke it in with some delicious steaks. Darlene made some fancy compound butter and I have to say, it was one of the best steaks I have ever had.

The night sky here is usually filled with stars, but last night around 3am the sky was incredibly clear and we were treated to the most stars we have ever seen. They were twinkling like crazy too. It was really beautiful.

One of my favorite things about living in Hawaii is how quickly and easily it is to get to the beach. Many days I will be sitting at my desk and will decide on a whim to go snorkeling at one of my favorite beaches, Palauea Beach (White Rock Beach). 5 minutes later… I’m in the ocean, swimming through a reef that is so incredible it looks like a movie set.

Yesterday I wrapped up a big project and decided to treat myself with a swim at White Rock. I quickly stuffed a backpack with just the essentials and at the last second I grabbed my camera. I have been trying for months to capture the beauty of this reef but have always been disappointed with the results. I was determined to get some good photos but I think I finally realized I need a better underwater camera. However, I was so happy I had the camera with me yesterday!

I was filming and swimming along the reef when out of nowhere a sea turtle gently glided past my left shoulder. It’s hard to tell how close she was because of the fish-eye lens, but I could have easily touched this turtle. I swam along with her for about 10 minutes with a giant grin on my face. The water was rough and turbulent but you would never know by how effortlessly they move through the water. I had to struggle to keep up and not smash into the coral while doing my best to keep the camera still in the waves.

It was a great experience and a perfect reward for all my hard work over the last month!

Mom’s are the best! I knew my mom was sending some cookies but I had no idea the box would also be filled with all sorts of yummy treats, like nuts, peanut brittle and a homemade apron for Darlene. AND… not a single cookie broke in its 4200 mile journey to Hawaii. It didn’t feel like Christmas until I took that first bite of those cookies. Thanks to my grandma’s amazing recipe and my mom’s perfect execution of that recipe I can’t remember a Christmas in my entire life without those cookies.

Thanks mom! Merry Christmas!

It has been a while since we have shared anything but it’s not because we are becoming lazy. Darlene and I have been working night and day and have had very few chances for any adventures (even small ones) lately. Luckily things should calm down in the next couple weeks and the second they do we are going to go for our first dive. I managed to sneak out today for an hour of snorkeling today and the entire time I kept thinking about how great it would be going even deeper. The sun was nice and bright today and it lit up the reef and the deep blue ocean in the distance perfectly. I will never grow tired of this ocean, it is impossible not to be overwhelmed by its beauty every time you see it or swim in it.

Plus, it’s whale season and, although so far I have only seen their giant water spouts and the occasional splash from a tail, I’m looking forward to many great sightings right off the beach. Darlene has been lucky enough to see many whales breaching while at her job that overlooks the ocean.

A little over a week ago some friends from San Fransisco were here for visit and they stayed just up the road. We joined them for dinner at the house they rented with a few other couples and had a great time.

Winter clouds are creating some amazing sunsets lately so get used to seeing pictures of them!

Greg and Petra from San Francisco enduring one of our boring sunsets.

Gross, look at this crap!

Yuck.

Sickening.

The West Maui Mountains looking towards Wailuku shrouded in a giant cloud.

What do you do when it’s time to buy a Christmas tree and you have 13 foot ceilings? Buy a tree that is 24 inches tall! Obviously.

Thanksgiving is my favorite day of the year. Thanksgiving happens to be Kent’s favorite day of the year too. As luck would have it, the third Thursday of 2011 happened to be worst day of the year for both of us.

Because I had to work this year on Thanksgiving, we scheduled our Thanksgiving to be on Tuesday before the big day. We had no problem with this. We could shove those pictures of our turkey and stuffing in everyone’s facebook faces a few days before they were able to experience it. (Side note, I usually don’t like bragging on facebook but it was the only way I could feel better about having to work at a busy restaurant on my favorite day of the year. Please, don’t judge my social network style revenge to harshly.)

So, not only was the original date of Thanksgiving ruined with my work schedule, our re-scheduled, early Thanksgiving was ruined with a debilitating sore throat/cold/flu. It was absolute misery for the both of us. Sick and weak, we spent almost a week in bed and trying to take care of each other. To top it off, it’s warm here. Imagine having a fever in the summer. It was hell. After gallons of tea, juice, Nyquil, Codeine, and homemade chicken noodle soup were consumed…well, we still felt like crap!

Early Thanksgiving passed, the real Thanksgiving had passed, my dad finished his famous smoked turkey, candy was being made at Rita’s, and photos of everyone’s special day were posted and liked about a million times on facebook. Both of us really started to feel so far away from it all. Even though Thanksgiving was over for everyone else, I had an undeniable urge to cook. Although still homesick, our coughing was starting to fade, so we rescheduled our glorious day for this past Monday, the third Monday of November.

I started my cooking on Sunday. We had a vegan friend coming, so I wanted to make her something special. I made a red-wine braised veggie shepherd’s pie with carrot, potato (yes, I know it’s topped with mashed potatoes, but come on, can you ever have enough?) green beans, onion, and local purple Makawao sweet potatoes. I used some Milwaukee Ave. seasoning purchased from The Spice House, which I thought gave it a very “meaty” and savory flavor. I was really happy with the way it came out. I made my pumpkin pie on Sunday too before I called it a night.

On Monday I started by brining my turkey. Up at 5:30am, I put on my only apron, which we purchased on our road trip, and was able to check nearly everything off of my list before I went to work at 11. Mashed potatoes, candied purple sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing, shortcakes for our papaya and grape shortcake, whipped cream for the desserts, crescent rolls and turkey in the oven. Cooking all of it made me so happy!

By the time I got back from work Kent and I had a nice snacking lunch of cheese and crackers, summer sausage, and bloody marys. Finally, I made the gravy (the most important part of the meal) and we were good to go. Thanksgiving had arrived! We feasted and drank with good friends, what could be better than that?

I wish everyday was Thanksgiving.