Upon arriving here, I was excited to start posting on this blog. Well, it turned out that my computer still had problems after I thought I had taken care of them on the mainland ...

No worries! I have great neighbors who are experts and were more than happy to help. Now, hopefully, I will be able to post every day!

Yesterday, I asked my readers a question. Today, I would like to give everyone some food for thought based on that question. I have this super cool book which initially, I was skeptical about.

Every time I saw it at the book store, I would take one glance at it and think to myself, "what a cheesy title" (I was still in "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" mode) until one day, I noticed the book was written by one of my favorite authors: Dr. Henry Cloud. I had to have it! The ideas shared in the first few chapters were new to me and a bit shocking, but I continued to read and as I finished the last chapter, everything made perfect sense! Every single adult should own one of these "handbooks"... makes this "season" in life so much easier! It is this excerpt from the book which I have been wanting to share:

• Are you content with your life? If not, then it is not time for marriage. Marriage or a significant relationship is about two healthy, content people coming together, and the "two becoming one." If they are not "whole" people, you don't have two becoming one. You have a half of a person joining another half of a person, hoping to find wholeness. Remember that one half times one half equals one forth. You will end up worse than when you started if you do not get a whole life first.
• Are you seeking a relationship to end loneliness? If you are, it won't. Cure your loneliness first. You must have a full heart to bring to a relationship, not an empty one. Get your relational needs met with a good community of friends. Otherwise, you are going to choose a mate out of dependency and need. If you do that, your judgement is going to be clouded by your needs, and you are more likely to choose badly.
• What are you expecting marriage to provide for you? If you think that it will make you happy when you are not, you are wrong. Unhappy people who get married create unhappy marriages. If you think it will cure your depression or emptiness, it won't. Depression and emptiness are conditions that need counseling, therapy, and spiritual growth. Work on those first, and then worry about getting married. Marriage will only complicate those issues. My advice is the same for things such as desire for security, fear, bad feelings about yourself, and feeling unloved. Work on those things first, then worry about marriage when you no longer need marriage to make up for those things.

(Chapter 29: Do You Have to Get Married? - Dating is Not for the Lonely ... Pages 206-207)

So now, I would like to share some of our tropical adventures...

Angelina and I went on a little walk through the "rain forest" and found bananas, three HUGE yellow pomelos, and the best mature coconut I have ever tried! We also found good sized guava (yellow on the outside, pink inside) and wild mandarins that we ate on our walk.

I climbed a coconut tree (without any equipment) for the first time today. The tree trunk was a bit slippery and it was windy, making it very dangerous. I wasn't able to get any coconuts off the tree ... I could have fallen off of it if I had stayed up too long. Instead, we just took one off the ground and it turned out to be the most delicious coconut I have ever tried!!! Ever. Sweet, juicy and very thick meat. The tool you see in the photo is used to make a hole in young coconuts, making it easy to pour out and drink the juice. We had a papaya for lunch and the seeds from it are drying on the windowsill, they will be ground and used as pepper. The fruit in the black bowl is a Noni fruit and was my dessert. We picked some several days ago on another one of our hikes and even though they were yellow and looked ripe when we picked them, they were as hard as rocks. I discovered that throwing and bruising the Noni makes them soft within hours. We also left the one above to ripen and it was soft within days. To me, the taste wasn't as terrible as people describe it. The Noni fruit has hints of pear and pineapple with a very dominant cheese smell. I've gotten used to the taste and smell, eating two big Noni fruit in one sitting ... couldn't eat too much though, Noni stung worse than pineapple and numbed my tongue. Hawaii is definitely Noni Land!

I discovered a random jackfruit tree growing on one of my hikes and these are two jackfruit that I picked (about 25 pounds each), set out in the sun and awaiting to ripen. I was so excited to find some jackfruit, I didn't even realize they weren't fully ripe. This will be my first time trying FRESH jackfruit, the times I did have it were back on the mainland, found in the frozen section of an Asian market.

Just a "green" reminder: Whenever possible, use the wind and sun to dry your clothes

Aloha!

(finally)

It has been a long time since I've written...a long time for a blogger. Actually, there have been almost no chances for me to blog up until today...there is just so much to do here! Angelina and I rise with the sun, just to make our day last longer.

A little update:
We arrived in Portland on Sunday, March 8th Spent two nights there (it was snowing) and flew out on Tuesday. As soon as we stepped off the plane, we were welcomed with a warm...

Hawaiian wind. The palm trees waved to us... the landscape was waiting there for us with its beautiful flowers. What a pleasant Aloha it was...very special!

And...So...

We have been here exactly six days.

six **fabulous** days.

So far, we have met sooo many wonderful people! People from different cultural backgrounds... some very lovely accents here! And...even though this may be paradise...it's not paradise until every soul makes Jesus the Lord of their life! I don't expect people to be perfect and I definitely am not perfect but being here so far has really opened up my eyes to the many problems people face here. One of those problems being... an addiction to smoking marijuana. From what I've heard, many people here grow it in their backyards. I also heard this bad habit (of burning it) has destroyed many lives and families. Guess What? We were offered some the second day of being here. The people who offered it to us were in a situation were they were the only ones doing it and so out of their unease, they thought they could get us to do it...which was very awkward and unexpected. If my Creator wanted me to smoke, He would have fashioned me a chimney, lol. You will find every "type" of person addicted to this stuff...all it takes is one time to smoke it.

Remember that...

Some choose to smoke it but interestingly enough, I would like to eat the plant! Based on my research, it is an extremely healing herb...the oil is extracted from the plant and you can either drink the oil or apply it topically, it even heals cancer! I met an individual today who grows it and said you can eat it...said the plant can get up to ten feet tall (like a christmas tree), although they like to keep theirs small.

It is now 11 pm and I have had a full day! I will continue writing tomorrow...with pics!

This week was Angelina's last week teaching a Nutrition Class at a local school, here are some photos:

Angelina and students

Wonderful kids with... their green smoothies

Greens=Strong Bones

Good to the last drop

...yes, they loved this drink so much, they made their own green smoothie

"drive-thru"

My favorite green smoothie?

Blend well and Enjoy!

(I like using cilantro because in purifies the blood and is VERY mineral rich... so is cactus! Excellent sources of protein too! Adding fruit to the greens is what makes them taste so good!)

Here is a link to more info and green smoothie recipes:

Forget about the animal product called "milk".

Greens is where its at.

Still unsure?

Just ask the 12-year-old model in the ad...

...my brother has surely done his homework.

Also, be sure to check out The Raw Family

and their book: Green for Life

Here is a list of personal care items I'm taking along:

Why DID God create the woman from the man’s rib? Couldn't He have just created her from dust, as He did the man? This story puts a beautiful touch on the reasoning:

“When I created the heavens and the earth, I spoke them into being. When I created man, I formed him from the dust of the Earth and breathed life into his nostrils. But you, woman, I fashioned after I breathed the breath of life into man because your nostrils are too delicate. I allowed a deep sleep to come over him so I could patiently and perfectly fashion you. Man was put to sleep so that he could not interfere with the creativity. From one bone I fashioned you. I chose the bone that protects man’s life. I chose the rib, which protects his heart and lungs and supports him, as you are meant to do.”

“Around this one bone I shaped you. I modeled you. I created you perfectly and beautifully. Your characteristics are as the rib, strong yet delicate and fragile. You provide protection for the most delicate organ in man, his heart. His heart is the center of his being; his lungs hold the breath of life. The rib cage will allow itself to be broken before it will allow damage to the heart. Support man as the rib cage supports the body.”

“You were not taken from his feet, to be under him, nor were you taken from his head, to be above him. You were taken from his side, to stand beside him and be held close to his side. You are my perfect angel. You are my beautiful little girl. You have grown to be a splendid woman of excellence, and my eyes fill when I see the virtue in your heart. Your eyes: don’t change them. Your lips: how lovely when they part in prayer. Your nose so perfect in form, your hands so gentle to touch. I’ve caressed your face in your deepest sleep; I’ve held your heart close to mine. Of all that lives and breathes, you are the most like me.”

“Adam walked with me in the cool of the day and yet he was lonely. He could not see me or touch me. He could only feel me. So everything I wanted Adam to share and experience with me, I fashioned in you: my holiness, my strength, my purity, my love, my protection and support. You are special because you are the extension of me.”

“Man represents my image, woman - my emotions. Together, you represent the totality of God. So man: treat woman well. Love her, respect her, for she is fragile. In hurting her, you hurt me. What you do to her, you do to me. In crushing her, you only damage your own heart, the heart of your Father and the heart of her Father. Woman, support man. In humility, show him the power of emotion I have given you. In gentle quietness show your strength. In love, show him that you are the rib that protects his inner self.”

Looking forward to:

My sister Angelina and I are very excited to be doing this...sharing this experience with the world! An experience that will bring us closer to our Creator and His creation. You may not know God personally, but He knows who you are and wants a personal relationship with you...

He is so real!

At one point in my life, I thought I was hurt beyond repair…my world seemed to just end right there. I asked “WHY?” And not one question I had, had to be answered. His peace overcame my understanding. All I had to do was trust Him. He has always been there for me: when no one else cared. There is nothing I go through that He also hasn’t gone through: Rejection, Abuse, Sickness; …He wants to heal YOUR heart, your body, and restore broken relationships…

It will be up to you to let Him in.

This blog is all about returning to the place where God intended for us to be...A place of Harmony, Peace, Love, Forgiveness, Prosperity, Freedom, Health, Purity, and Purpose.
Our minds are bombarded by the media on a daily basis. “How can I expect to hear that still small voice of God when all those other voices are screaming in my ears?“

The media says- “To be worthwhile, you must be beautiful”
God says- “I care about who you are, not what you look like”


What about this earthly body my eternal soul lives in?
What is IT being exposed to each day? Why is sickness and disease prevailing all around us? Why have we become so ineffective? Ask the industries you support with your money and ask yourself, as a consumer: Are they concerned about my well being?

(More on this later...)

So...This is the plan:
To arrive in Hawaii on March 2009
Promote a lifestyle of spiritual and physical purity
(in the process, become a better writer, photographer...and person)

By the way, YOU don't have to travel to Hawaii to live in a clean environment. Get yours cleaned up today!