Catching Up

We wanted to catch you up on what the last three months looked like for us...

O Christmas Tree

 We shopped around for a tree in hopes to find one grown in California or even find a local farm to chop down our own, but unfortunately we ended up with an Oregon one from a seller in an empty lot.  Justin was proud he got to exercise those negotiating skills while I tried not to be embarrassed.

Baking Christmas Cookies

We spent an afternoon baking cookies with the family, even Justin tried to get into it. 

A Working Christmas Breakfast

 Instead of a party, our office had breakfast together at a local restaurant.  Here's the ladies I work with.  The one to my right is Antoinette.  We both are the "new girls", since we started a pay period apart.  We both also commute on the bus together most of the time.  Our schedules are changing so now we're on the bus together in the mornings, but I work later than her in the afternoons to earn me a day off every other week.  

Speaking of work...having this change in work schedule definitely helps keep my sanity.  It has been a challenge mentally with not only learning how to do my job, but having to learn it and realizing that my workload hasn't been tended to in a couple years.  It's been difficult to move forward on contracts without having to clear up the roadblocks of the past.  Overall, our office's performance statistics compared to other like office's statistics put us in a very dark light.  It even reflects in your own personal performance ratings despite if you did your part, which was very humbling for me to learn from my supervisor after my three months of training on the job and getting a low performance rating.  So, to keep my motivation, I have to celebrate the little victories...like closing ONE contract or reaching a day off (to do chores)!

Justin's Birthday

Don't worry, this wasn't a raunchy birthday gift by all means!  

The night before his birthday, I couldn't think of any other places to hide his present besides the shower in the extra bathroom we don't use and the car.  I decided to not to hide it in the car to make things easier for me the next morning before I left for work, since it's cold and all.  So in the shower it went.  Everything was fine until I heard him go into that extra bathroom (I was already in bed for the night).  I couldn't go back to sleep and he came into our bedroom with me sitting up.  He said he smelled mildew in that bathroom and I couldn't figure out if he pulled back the shower curtain to see his gift hiding.  Long story short, he didn't let up until after we had a few conversations in that extra bathroom and a few trades of smelling things.  Total FAIL on my part!  Two lessons learned here: Justin has a good sense of smell and latex balloons smell like mildew. 

 Christmas Eve

Justin finally got to go golfing and went to a course across the street with his coworker, Mike.  He's known Mike for a long time now and they used to work together in Hawaii.  Mike moved here 8 years ago.  Mike's a brother-in-Christ and always was very kind to us over the years.  He welcomed Justin into the Calabasas office and invited him to be apart of his lunch crew.  We had him over for dinner afterwards and it was fun to have company again over a meal (Teriyaki Furikake Salmon, tofu salad and rice) that reminded us of home.  We had fun conversations about the differences between Hawaii and California.  I'm disappointed I forgot to capture a memory of the night!

Celebrating Christmas with Our California Family

We went to the Wilson's for lunch and got to skype with my family in Hawaii.  We finally got to see the doggies and boy do we miss them!!!  It was so fun to experience a 1 year old and 5 year old open Christmas presents.  Tyler painted us that piggy bank, so cute right? 

Then, we headed over to the Nakamura's for dinner.  Aunty Carol & Uncle Wally made a tasty roast and salmon!  A real treat to have a hearty home-cooked meal!

Welcoming a New Year

This New Year held a lot of meaning for us, compared to previous ones.  We were ringing in a new year in a new place that is our new home for now, without our family and friends, and stripped of familiar traditions.  These mixed emotions coupled with getting through the challenges of transition brought us to a page that we were ready to turn and start a new chapter into 2012.  We praised God for taking us out of comfort and bringing us here, asked Him to forgive us for trying to do things with our own strength and by our flesh, and prayed we would have sweet memories with Him and not wasted time to look back on in the future. 

 

On a lighter note, we are so grateful for the family we do have here so we can share the holidays with.  They went all out on the food! Aunty Carol & Uncle Wally made some local Hawaii dishes and Japanese ones.  Some were similar to my mom's cooking and some were my aunty's own style, all in all, it made for such a grand YUMMY feast!  David experimented and made a spicy ahi salad and Justin got to make fresh ahi nigiri!  I made the super easy almond float.

Golf N Stuff

 This place was super fun!  We only did one of the fancy mini golf courses, but they had other activities that reminded us of what we heard Castle Park was like back in the day.

 Exploring Old Town Camarillo

Justin wanted to explore this area in Camarillo that he sees everyday on his way to work, off of the freeway, that is "hustling and bustling".  We get there on a Saturday afternoon and it's deserted!  We walked around for a little bit, but realized there's just a bunch of hair salons, barber shops, and some eateries.  We ended up at the Camarillo airport for lunch, Waypoint Cafe.  My coworker recommended this place and it was really yummy!  What made it even better was that while you ate you could watch all these little planes park or make their way to the runway.  It was a trip to see these people park their plane, come in for a bite, prep their plane, get back in and make their way to take off!  Who does that?!

 Making New Friends

God is definitely providing us opportunities to get connected to the church we've been attending, Community Bible Church of Ventura.  We were invited to have lunch with some people from church.  Pictured here were just a few of them.  The guy on the left is the worship leader and his fiancee.  We've been invited to be a part of a bible study that the couple in the middle is starting with one or two more young married couples.  It's a smaller church compared to ones we had visited and is only 10 years old.  They've been looking for someone to do PowerPoint!  Can God make it any more obvious where Justin needs to lend a hand?

Discovery Science Center

 

 

 This past weekend we went with the family to Discovery Science Center in Orange County.  There was a special exhibition on Star Wars.  Very cool place for kids and even adults.  Justin had fun trying to figure out some of the intellectual stations and teaching Tyler how to program R2D2 to travel through a course.

Rose Parade

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Pasadena on Monday, January 2nd 2012 in celebration of the 123rd Rose Parade. Thousands camped overnight to stake their spot along the five and a half mile parade route. No, we weren't one of those hardcore parade-goers. We actually got invited to go by a friend of Rae's co-worker and it turned out that he got us tickets in the grandstands and lives only a few blocks from the parade route which meant that we could park at his apartment and walk to our seats right before the parade started at 8am. Pasadena is about a hour and half drive from where we live so our day started at 4am. We wanted to be at the apartment by 6:30am which meant we had to leave the house by 5am.

This year's theme was "Just Imagine...". I've always seen the parade on TV so it was real treat to be able to witness the spectacle in person. It's one of those must-do activities if you live in SoCal.

The crowd waiting in anticipation of the first float

The start of the 143rd Rose Parade

Wish that tree wasn't there

Mr. Kenny G himself

This was a cool float

Apparently this guy won Dancing with the Stars or something...

Rae enjoyed these little ponies

Can you guess what their job was? Pooper scoopers!

Marching band from Lubbock, TX

One of my favorite floats

People were everywhere - even the rooftops.

Kyoto Tachibana marching band

After 2 hours, 43 floats, 21 bands, and 18 equestrian units, the parade came to an end. We had a great time and couldn't have asked for a better first experience at the Rose Parade.

Two Recipes that Worked

Pinterest inspired me to try these two recipes out this past Saturday.  If you've never heard of Pinterest, you should check it out and just remember that I warned you because it can get really addicting...but also inspiring.

Anyway, to my surprise Justin LOVED both and I thought it may be worth sharing it with you all.  Yes, I was surprised because we can count on one hand how many dishes I've made that he truthfully enjoyed.  If you know me well enough you know that I definitely lack in cooking skills and desire, plus it's hard to beat both of our moms' cooking! 

Here's the first recipe:  

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
submitted by Erin from The Sisters Cafe
http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2008/12/crockpot-chicken-tortilla-soup-2

4 chicken breast halves
2 15-oz cans black beans, drained
2 15-oz cans Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 cup MEDIUM salsa (not mild)
1 4-oz can chopped green chilies
1 14 ½-oz can tomato sauce
Tortilla chips, not optional :)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp)
Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in large slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 8 hours. Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice or shred into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup. To serve, put a handful of chips in each individual soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips. Top with cheese.

I'm not sure what the consistency is supposed to be, but mine turned out a little thicker and almost like a chili.  You can also find more info on it from readers' comments at the website I've provided above.

This second one is more like a snack or breakfast.  You may have even already tried it, but it was new to me:

PB&J Banana Burritos
http://www.missionmenus.com/cookbook/PBJBananaBurritos

2 Mission® Medium/Soft Taco Flour Tortillas
4 tablespoons Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
2 tablespoons Smucker’s® Strawberry Jam, Jelly, or Preserves

2 bananas, peeled

Place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave for 10 seconds.  Spread 2 tablespoons peanut butter on each tortilla.
  Add 1 tablespoon jelly to each tortilla. Place the banana near the edge of the tortilla and fold up the ends of the tortilla.  Roll-up and enjoy!

I didn't do the measurements, used TJ's organic PB, and used guava jelly instead (thanks to you peeps in HI that sent it to us!), but it was still yummy!

I know this isn't our usual post of adventures, but this past Saturday was a different kind of one...an adventure staying in.  It was the first Saturday since we've moved here that we stayed in pretty much all day and relaxed.  I was getting over a cold, it was chilly outside so we lounged around the house doing things we haven't really had time for.  Justin actually planned to go golfing, but when he drove down the street it started drizzling so he came back home.  So instead, we rested, read, finished chores, played cards, made cookie dough, organized the bills, Justin played some video games, and I made these two things.  It seemed like a really long day, but I guess this is what happens when you don't have cable TV.  Isn't that funny?! 

A Welcomed Visit

A former Hickam coworker of mine was attending training in El Segundo for those contracting courses and it turned out to be a perfect opportunity for her to come visit me and Justin!  We knew this was a strong possibility before we moved here, so we were thrilled that the day had finally come to reconnect again!

Meet my friend, Debbie!

Bless her heart for driving through LA with traffic and aggressive drivers to come to Ventura!  We did some of my favorite things:  talk, eat, and shop! 

We went shopping at the Camarillo outlets and the Pacific View Mall...or I should say she watched and helped me get some Christmas shopping done.  She was looking for something specific and ended up not finding it, so she was very good and didn't spend a dime!  I wish I could say I do that all the time. :)

Justin joined us for dinner at Souplantation and it was a real treat on a cold night!  If you've never been to this chain restaurant, you should give it a try.  They have a huge soup/salad bar with farm fresh vegetables and make everything from scratch.  Pasta, breads, muffins, chocolate chip cookies, an ice cream machine are also some other things they have all at a very affordable price.  That place is always yummy!  When we first moved here, we ate here at least 3 times in a month.  I would go there every night if Justin let me. Haha!

Sunday morning we got to take her to church with us.  We've been visiting Community Bible Church of Ventura for a little over a month now and excited we got to share that experience with her!  It was encouraging to hear her say she enjoyed it for the same reasons that has been bringing us back every Sunday.

We dropped Justin off at a park near our home, since he wanted to watch some serious soccer players.  We got to watch Tyler (my cousin's older son) play soccer twice and it's been fun watching little 5 year-olds running around on the field.  So, since then Justin's been wanting to watch serious soccer, if you know what I mean. :)   While he watched these men play soccer Debbie and I went to have brunch at a cafe in Oxnard, Cafe Amri.  Another place that was yummy!  Their cinnamon rolls are to die for!!!  I mean they were so good, I couldn't stop thinking about it.  Of course we brought home all our leftovers for Justin to also enjoy.

This rounded up our time with Debbie.  It was so fun catching up and sharing stories on how much our work environments changed from when we worked together in Hawaii.  She's been such a good co-worker friend and I know that's hard to come by, always smiling and bubbly.  We cried and laughed together about life throughout the short 3 years we've known each other, even though it seems like I knew her longer.  We were grateful that we got to share with her a little bit of how our life here is in Ventura and welcome you too to come visit anytime!

Thanksgiving

While in Hawaii, we met some great friends at FBCPC: Mason and Regina. They are from New Mexico and I remember all sorts of stories Mason would tell about things he would do on the weekend and just talk about his life and family back home. It was hard to fully appreciate some of his stories since it was so different compared to life on the islands. Well, a couple months ago while they were visiting with us in California, Mason invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them in his hometown. Rae and I didn’t want to impose, but he insisted that his family would love to have us over. I started getting really excited about going and the next thing you know I was online searching for the flights. It wasn’t long before the tickets were purchased and the countdown began.

Let the adventure begin...

Flew out of Burbank early Fri. morning with a layover in Vegas. This picture of Lake Mead was taken just as we left Vegas.

It was deer season and Mason and his brother each got a deer. This poor guy's head was frozen and awaiting clean up to get mounted.

It was also quail season. I tagged along with Mason and his two cousins and they got a Blue (left) and a Bobwhite (right).

 Feeding time...These cows belong to their family and live out in their back yard. Mason called them "Rae's kids" because Rae fell in love with them. She could just stand there for hours and watch them (and they don't do anything except eat and poop). In a few months, unfortunately for these cows, they'll end up being supper :) The beef will be able to feed the family for the year.

NM has been experiencing a drought and was very dry, but the sunsets were spectacular.

Land is plentiful here. We spent the day riding four-wheelers across thousands of acres of land owned by a family friend. We got to drive through herds of cattle and had to maneuver around cow pies and be careful not to run over any thorns that could flatten our tire.

Out clay shooting on a friends ranch. Growing up on a small island like Hawaii, owning a gun was pretty much unheard of and used only for self-defense or as a weapon . However, out in the country it's more of a tool.

Mason, Regina and his entire family were so friendly and hospitable. Their home was always open for people to drop by and "visit" (a.k.a. talk story). They made us feel at home and welcomed us into their family. We really enjoyed getting to know them.

This was truly a unique and enjoyable experience for Rae and I. Not only was the scenery different, but the lifestyle was so laid back and easy going. I loved it! Nobody was in a big rush. Everything slowed down and the days even seemed longer. This was made strikingly apparent to me when I decided to check my work email one day. My blood pressure shot through the roof and I was starting to get really warm.

Of course when Friday rolled around, that meant we had to say good-bye. It was really sad to have to leave especially since we didn't know when we would see Mason and Regina again. We really felt blessed and thankful that we were able to be a part of their extended family for the week.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

We visited our first pumpkin patch with our California family and it didn't disappoint!  There are many pumpkin patches around us and it's SO cool to see fields littered with bright, orange pumpkins.  It's quite a sight to see!

We visited this one in Santa Paula and was only 10 minutes away.  It was a really nice day and the first time I could wear shorts and a sleeveless top since we moved here!

Justin & I quickly discovered that there's more at the pumpkin patch than just picking pumpkins!  There are pony rides, petting zoos, crafts/antiques being sold, a farmer's market, food (and shaved ice), mazes, live bands, a pumpkin chucker, and hayrides.  There was even a Harry Potter and a shark sighting!  Leaving you with lots of pictures to make up for the lack of posting...