Easy recipe!

CO really likes pasta. I found this recipe while living in Australia and actually made it in New Zealand a few times too while on vacation. It's very simple and doesn't use anything too hard to find.

Buttered Linguine with Romano, Tomatoes, and Basil - from Confessions of a Foodie Bride

1/2 lb Linguine
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 Tbsp basil, chopped/chiffonade
3/4 cup Pecorino Romano, finely grated (sometimes when in a bind I use Parmesan)
Salt, to taste

Cook pasta 6-8 minutes, or until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water before draining.

Toss hot pasta in a large bowl with butter, pepper, tomatoes, basil, and cheese. Add 1/4 cup pasta water and toss to moisten. Add additional water if necessary. Salt to taste and serve immediately.

Yields: 3 servings (entree)
Source: Heavily revised from Everyday Pasta, 2007

HWotD

Today's Hawaiian word is:

'Ohana - family, relative, clan
(also to gather together for family prayers- isn't that cool!)
"Oh-ha-nah"


I'm sad about this one because this year, my family will be spread out. My sister and her family are going to Guatemala. My parents and younger sister are in Michigan (at least for the time being). My dh and I are going to visit his family in Florida. I'm excited to be with my inlaws (really, they're cool!), but I'm also sad because my parents were supposed to go to Guatemala too, but my mom has been having really bad headaches and they couldn't go. She went to the hospital on Tuesday and they aren't exactly sure what is causing the headaches, but think it could have to do with one nerve. Please keep her in your prayers.

Mele Kalikimaka!

The HWotD/phrase is Mele Kalikimaka :)

Merry Christmas everyone!

"Mel-eh kah-lee-key-mah-kah"

The Grinch carved the roast beast!

Ok, so dh (dear husband) isn't really a grinch. He just likes to keep me on budget, but anyway, quite nearly his favorite meal these days is a good roast beef. I, on the other hand, am not so fond of roasts. Last weekend, we tried one and even he wasn't so fond of my cooking skills. Ironically enough, the "rub" recipe that I gave my dad (after doing a google search) was raved about for weeks.

Today I was brave enough to again attempt a roast. I used the recipe for the rub that I gave my dad, and it was fabulous! Both dh and I loved it!

Prime Rib Herb Paste

from Ziggy at about.com

This is a great rub to put on prime rib. (We used eye of round.)The combination of flavors with the olive oil make a good slow roasted rib roast perfect. Whether you are roasting, grilling or smoking this is a great rub.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (We used all dried spices that we had on hand)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary (We didn't have rosemary at all)
  
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 tablespoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt blend (It wouldn't be one of our meals without it!)
  

PREPARATION:

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and even. Spread evenly over the surface of the (prime rib) roast.




Also, note to self. While waiting for roast to cook, don't overindulge in Sour Patch Kids and then think nothing of eating a tomato chunk. Your tongue will hate you. End note.

HWotD

Today's word of the day is:

ahiahi - evening, late afternoon
"ah-hee-ah-hee"

aloha ahiahi - good evening

Pay it Forward

I have decided to join the Pay It Forward pledge and give handmade love to others. I found this on one of my new fave blogs, Make and Takes, and I am in turn passing it on, or Paying It Forward. I think it will be a great way to get to know more of you and encourage you to Pay it Forward as well.

Here is the pledge and how it works:

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, which is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

And if you don’t have a blog, make the commitment anyway by making something and simply giving it away. I don’t know what my handmade gifts will be, I think it will depend on who it goes too. And chances are, I will get to it a lot sooner than 365 days. This is exciting. And who can guess what it'll be? Here’s to Paying It Forward.

"Military Spouses earn $900,000"

That stinking email throws me off every time. It sounds so awfully good. Better than the $10/hour part time jobs that I usually can find. The email gets me started thinking about jobs that would earn money, be helpful to others, be fulfilling... But then I read on, and it says "Did you know that a bachelor's degree will earn you $900,000* more over the course of your career?"

Um. Yes, a bachelor's degree probably will help you earn more money. And about that $900,000 - did you see the Barry Bonds asterisk in there? Once you follow that down to the bottom of the page, it's over a person's career, assuming they start working at birth and die, working, at age 107. Perhaps I exaggerated slightly, but it's still bad.

My theory is that now that I have a masters degree, my earning potential is actually inverted, due to my obviously "overqualified" self. So, not only can I not get jobs, I also have to pay off my student loans too.

Thanks, military.com for getting my hopes up.

What's your name?

So, I've been working at the preschool for almost 4 months now. I know most of the kids' names, and I hope they know mine. The other day, I was talking to a 2-year-old and asked him what my name was. He gave me a blank look. I said, "Miss Julie?" He shook his head no, and said confidently, "Dora." Goodness, that's ranking me pretty high in kid-speak. I'll take it.

Word of the day:

'Auinala - afternoon (literally declining sun)
"Ow-whee-nah-lah"

Aloha 'auinala - good afternoon

The Christmas Card Debate

DH and I send out Christmas cards. DH approves of the card I create and I send them out. That works well. Then comes the issue of whether or not to send out a letter with them.

Pros of sending out letter:
- Explaining why in the world we're in a landlocked state in the South even when DH is active duty CG
- Recapping highlights of the past year of our lives for those we don't talk to often
- They're fun to write (and hopefully fun to read too)

Cons of sending out letter:
- Other than moving and explaining that, we don't have that much going on...
- They cost money to print
- Risk of sounding braggy at what we've done this year
- "We" already have a blog

What would you do? What do you do? Any advice, people?

HWotD

Today's word is kakahiaka

kakahiaka - morning
"kah-kah-hee-ah-kah"

aloha kakahiaka - good morning
kakahiaka nui - early morning

Prayer Request

We got a few emails about this... and my heart is breaking. XO sent us this email regarding our pastor of our church in Hilo and his wife. This is the church that one of dh's crew members attended too, and they all helped immensely when he passed away in March. He died in an accident by a waterfall as well, so this is particularly hard.

We just wanted to ask you for prayer for Mark and Sarah Rife. (Mark is the lead pastor of Elevate, our church in Hilo). They were hiking Sunday at Onomea falls outside of Hilo. They were taking pics at the top of the falls (Mark was taking pics of Sarah) when she slipped and went over the falls. It's a drop of over 60 feet and she went tumbling down mainly over rocks. Mark was about 50 ft away from her on the other side. He called 911 as he ran over to help her and then put his phone and stuff down on a rock and dove in after her. Miraculously, it wasn't fatal. But Sarah and Mark both were air lifted to Hilo Emergency. Because of the extent of her injuries, Sarah had to be air lifted with Mark by her side to Queens Hospital on Oahu.

Right now Sarah is filled with strength, courage and even humor, cracking jokes, but her condition is still pretty serious. Mark thought he may have broken some ribs but miraculously he has just bruises and is physically fine. Sarah's skull was open in the back. They found a blood clot (hematoma) and because of that chose to medevac her to Oahu. Once on Oahu, they found out she also has a fracture in her forehead and another fracture from the front fracture, over her skull, to the back of her skull. There was internal bleeding in the front between her skull and her brain but that seems to be contained and stopped. (They're still keeping a close eye on it.) But the new concern is of the fracture at the base of her head. It is near a vital artery that leads into her brain. Because of the fall, the doctors are concerned about possible blood clots that could cause a stroke. They can't give her medicine to thin out the blood clots because of the bleeding in the front of her forehead. For now, all they can do is wait out the night and then tomorrow, they will take another catscan to see how that back area is doing. Mark is asking for prayer- for healing, for strength, for His presence, for His peace, for His glory.

Update from a few days ago:
Just got a call from Mark. There's new serious concerns on the horizon right now. Sarah recently began feeling/hearing a "swooshing" sound in her head, and doctors are concerned that an artery may be too close to a vein (or something like that). Anyway, I guess somehow this could lead to further clotting (i.e. stroke), so they are trying to do some procedures to take an internal look to see how serious it is. Also, her blood levels recently began to drop again.

Your prayers/intercession is sooo valuable right now! Thank you for standing with Sarah and Mark!

Psalm 18:6 - "In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears."

Psalm 18 is a wonderful prayer guide. I am especially moved by God's anger (vs.7) towards enemies of His anointed. Let's battle against the powers of darkness, while also pleading the Lord's unfailing kindness towards His anointed (Sarah).

We remember...

USS Arizona










USS Utah

HWotD - hālau

Today's word is something very dear to my heart - hālau

Hālau - originally meaning "long house", now used to describe a school, academy, or group, often referring to an official hula school.
"Haa-lau" (second syllable sounds like loud without the 'd')

`A`ohe i pau ka `ike i ka halau ho`okahis. - All knowledge is not contained only one school. While I know this familiar saying is true, I definitely know which hālau I love - Hālau Na Pua O Uluhaimalama in Hilo! The kumu (teacher) is wonderful - I love you Kumu Em! And the ladies there can't be beat! Aloha Debbie, Diane, Shirley and whoever else reads this :) Mahalo and aloha!

HWotD and Google Reader plug

Ok, first of all, Google Reader is amazing. My sister got me hooked on it. So what you do, is put in the addresses of the blogs you read, and it tells you when they're updated. No more blog stalking! It's pretty cool! I love it! First gmail, now reader. I'm in love with google, I think.On to the word of the day.

Today's word - keiki.
Keiki - child, son, daughter, descendant, offspring
"Kay-key"

I'm not that hungry, perhaps I'll eat a keiki serving of ice cream. (Ha, like I'd ever say that!)

Gross, maybe TMI

So, gross as it is and embarrassed as I am, I have a plantar wart on my right heel. I blame the studio where we dance hula, because it is gross and disgusting. Anyway, I've been reading up on how to treat them and am not pleased with the possible options.

Option one:
Since I am afraid of doctors, do nothing. Let nature take its course and let it go away on its own. One article I read (of course online, where all true knowledge is) said it could take 2 years to go away. Uh, no thank you.

Option two:
Go to the doctor. Have him burn/freeze it off my foot. The articles caution against this for children, as this is rather painful. As this is rather painful. Hmm... I don't think I would like to voluntarily submit to rather painful things.

Option three:
Laser therapy, surgery. Surgery. Surgery? For a thing smaller than a dime on my foot. No way, José (although my doctor's name is Ernesto, thank you).

Option four:
What webmd.com refers to as folk remedies. That conjures up ideas in my overactive imagination such as going to my local witch doctor or drinking some potion with cat's paw or ground bird bones... anyway, I digress. One describes putting duct tape on your wart. This will eliminate moisture (which feeds the wart) and irritates the skin (supposedly motivating it to remove the wart).

Yup, I chose the duct tape. Good news is that instead of years to heal, it could take a mere 6-8 months... gosh, that's promising.

Anyone have advice?

HWotD

Today's words are:

kāne - man, husband, male
"kah-nay"

wahine - woman, lady, wife
"waa-hee-nay"

This is particularly useful when posted on bathroom doors.

Am I that out of it?

Overheard in the free-weight section of the student recreation center yesterday...

"His abs are like graham crackers"

Um. I have NO clue what that means. Only perhaps that mine are still at animal cracker stage? The kind with frosting and sprinkles.

Oh... and this is hilarious.

you have to promise not to tell anyone...

... was the condition placed upon me by P, as I tucked him into his cot for naptime. But I have a Transformer that fits in my room and in my house and it/he sleeps next to me. But he's invisible. He's pretend. If you tell anyone, I'll be very mad at you.

Unbidden, he began to tell me his story of transformers and power rangers... I think tucking the 4s and 5s (we sort the kids by age) into their cots for naptime is one of my favorite things about working at the preschool (Changing soiled undergarments or diapers is definitely NOT). I never thought I would, but I have recently employed the phrase "snug as a bug in a rug" and that makes them laugh. On Thursdays, life is particularly exciting as the 4s and 5s have the Prize Box and get various penny toys or candy to reward their good behavior. For a while, spider rings were very popular. Lollypops were today's hot item. They talk about their prizes with such excitement that it makes me want to go home and have my own gummy snake or red tootsie roll pop (the color is very important).

Instead, I sit here eating sub-standard edamame purchased from my grocery store here in Tennessee. It was the only edamame they had. Apparently, there's not much demand for them here. Sad day.

HWotD

Today I've had the day off from work at the preschool and have taken the opportunity to clean the house a bit, catch up with laundry, and make DH's favorite homemade spaghetti recipe. After all that work, I want to pat myself on the back (domestic goddess would NOT be one of my attributes).

Today's word is maika'i
maika'i - good, fine, all right, also good-looking, of good health, righteousness
"my-kigh-ee" and put a pause between the 2nd and 3rd syllables.

Pehea 'oe? Maika'i au. How are you? I am good.
Maika'i! Good job!

HWotD

Today's word is hana.

hana - work, labor, job, duty, function, procedure, process
"hah-nah"

Combine hana with a word from a few days ago, pau (meaning finish, complete), and you have pau hana. Pau hana means finish work. Restaurants and bars offer pau hana specials, which equate to happy hours.

Mau ke aloha, no Hawai`i

Check out a few of our pictures over on Amy's blog!

Good news - my hula halau here had been doing songs like the Hukilau (aka the song they teach you at a tourist luau - a good song, but still not quite Paoakalani), but now we're doing Ka Uluwehi O Ke Kai and I love it!! It brings me back to the days wandering around the Big Island, listening to KAPA!

I LOVE that song (and have for a while, but haven't known what its name was). Here's a video with the song in the background. Plus you can watch (or choose not to watch but still listen to the song) some octopi.



Hawaiian Word of the day is:

Pu'u = bump or mound ranging from pimple to heap, pile, bulge, hill
"Pooh-ooh"

The current volcanic eruption on the Island of Hawai'i is stemming from Pu'u 'o'o ("pooh-ooh, oh-oh") which could mean hill of the 'o'o bird, or have something to do with Pele's walking stick (read the Wikipedia article for more).

You can combine pu'u with maka, meaning "eye" in this case, and it becomes makapu'u bulging eye or hill point. I love the lighthouse at Makapu'u on O'ahu.

HWotD

I think this Hawaiian word is one of my favorites - it just has so many uses!

puka - hole, opening, door, gate, entrance, zero (as in the number)
other meanings- to graduate, to pass through, to emerge, to say, to gain or to win, trap, snare, and almost.

"pooh-kah"

My phone number is five-five-five-puka-eight-puka-puka (555-0800).
Put the plant in the puka.

Thanksgiving Break!

We had a great Thanksgiving break. We got to see a lot of friends (well, Erinn and I never met up - sorry!) and family. We went to Chuck E. Cheese, we played Apples to Apples, and DH supposedly even won a game of Settlers of Catan. It was really good to connect with family and spend some good time with Calli and Mari.


Hard to believe, but the fam convinced me to go bowling, and I actually liked it! I stink, but that's ok! It was good to have a smoke-free bowling experience, so my score was the only smelly thing coming out of the alley!

We had some family pictures taken by the lovely Amy Carroll, and here's one we snapped ourselves on the way out. I can't wait to see her pics!



The secret's out of the bag. No longer is this town under cover!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Miscellaneous catch-up

DH and I have had some exciting times lately - like reaching the 100,000 mile -mark on the XTerra.
DH and I at a Vanderbilt/Kentucky football game. Vanderbilt lost.

Notice how most of the fans are dressed in blue (the game was against Kentucky) and that you can see the Nashville "Parthenon" from Vandy Stadium... I guess Nashvillians like to boast that "their" Parthenon is still intact. Whatever.

And just for reference, the Greek Parthenon as we saw it about 4 months ago.

This was on our drive, somewhere in the Midwest. Look at the line underneath "Daisy Thrift Store" - let's hope they were trying to be funny. What exactly are they selling?


My friends Dave, Jen, and baby Anna. Anna was born on my birthday... well, forescore and a few years after me.

I got my hair cut today - and as my sister says, I can no longer pull off the "Eve in the garden" look. Too bad.

HWotD

Today's Hawaiian Word is:

mahalo = thank you
"mah-hah-low"

I choose the word of the day by what Hawaiian word pops into my head at the time, and this one very appropriately was the first word I thought of :)

I heard a great story about this word from the tour guide Ku'ulei who took us from one part of Pearl Harbor to the other part where the USS Missouri is. She was very entertaining and told us this story about one of the most famous Hawaiian words.

Apparently back in the day when Hawaii was becoming a famous tourist destination, the Hawaiian culture gurus decided to try to teach the tourists a little bit of Hawaiian and encourage them to clean up after themselves. They decided that a good way to promote both objectives would be to put the word "mahalo" on garbage cans. Legend has it that the tourists thought the meaning of the word to be trash instead of thank you. The same tourists, when thanked by their taxi drivers, or waitresses, or beach boy, or local Hawaiian, thought the Hawaiian was saying trash.

Anyway, aloha and mahalo have very significant meanings in Hawaiian, as described in this article.

Fall fun

I have the most adorable nieces. EVER.

You need evidence?

Exhibit 1:
Exhibit 2:


(poor DH didn't realize that my sister was feeding the girls leaves until he saw the video!)


Exhibit 3:

From the mouths of babes...

Dear husband (DH) and I went out for dinner with some friends of his from grad school. They brought along their 6-year-old daughter. We asked her questions about her favorite subject in school (centers, where she can choose to bake), her favorite book (any Dr. Seuss book), and then about her pets. She sighed, and said she had a story to tell us about her pets. Dh and I readied ourselves for the drawn-out tale of a six year old. Here's what she said. She has a cat and some fish. Well, make that had some fish. Apparently, the cat ate the fish. She said, "It is a short story."

Life as a preschool teacher...

Story 1

So, the other day, G comes up to me holding a ball
me -Hey G, what's going on?
G - T won't share the ball with me.
me - What ball?
G - This ball.
me - Um, it looks like he's sharing because you have it.
G - Well, I took it from him.

Story 2
Girl comes up to me holding a doll.
me - Oh, that's a nice baby you have there.
girl - Yes, she's sick though.
me - Really?
girl - Yes, she has a fever.
me - I'm sorry. How did she get sick?
girl - She ate too much cheese.

Clearly, cheese is the beginning of all sicknesses.

Word of the Day

pau - finished, done, completed and sometimes very
"pow"

Are you pau with your dinner?

And know that each - and ' are very important in Hawaiian! Pau means finished, but pa'u is soot or inky or hard labor. Pāʻū is a skirt used in horseback riding or for hula, among other things.

Hotwings

One of DH's favorite meals is chicken wings with hot sauce. He LOVES them. There's a restaurant in Florida that offers such great ones that we go there twice every time we go down to Florida to see DH's parents. DH also has a recipe he likes to make at home that involves frying chicken strips and then dousing them with his homemade hot sauce. This, I have determined, when coupled with massive amounts of bleu cheese, is probably not the healthiest thing we've ever eaten. I found this new recipe and tried it the other night.

Everyday Food's chicken tenders with creamy honey mustard. Thanks Martha.

DH was horrified at the idea I would put Rice Krispies on his chicken, but he left to grab a few last minute ingredients and I snuck the required amount into the food processor. I also added a bit of yellow cornmeal.

Holy cow, they were great! DH made his normal hot sauce (based on Crystal and a few other ingredients) and we skipped the creamy honey mustard, but it probably would be great with honey mustard. For being baked, these came out absolutely spectacular. I liked them almost as much as our normal fried "wings".

HWotD

Today's word is akamai

Akamai - smart, clever, expert
"ah-kah-my"

I love that Hawaiian words often can take different word forms - sometimes it can be used as an adjective, others as a noun - it's just so wonderful!

Random pictures :)

Amy, here are what 'uli 'uli are... my new birthday present :) The bottom of the gourds have seeds in them and so they rattle when you dance. Roy and my hula sisters called me Julie-'uli-'uli, and that is where I got the blog's name.


Here is a picture of our condo's great room, taken from the dining room - I also got the picture frames on the wall for my birthday too. I put pictures I took of Hawai'i Island in the frames.


This is the rug we (aka DH) got in Turkey. It looks really good and he loves it a lot!
Edge of the rug

Other part of the living room/great room. Yes, the fireplace wall is blue! Our rug looks fantastic by the wall! I was watching Jeopardy with DH.


Here are the pictures in the 8"x10" frames...

Looking at Mauna Kea across Hilo Bay
One of my favorite Big Island beaches

The last one I am really attached to - it was the first silversword in bloom I had ever seen! Plus, it was so cool to be on top of Mauna Kea, looking over at Mauna Loa! We got to see some awesome stars that night!

HWotD

In honor of working Tuesdays and Thursdays at the preschool, here is today's Hawaiian word.

Kolohe - Mischievous, naughty, rascal
"koh-low-hey"

Kolohe na keiki. The children are rascals.


PS - Readers, especially Kumu Em, please correct me if I am wrong - I'm still learning!

New Feature - Hawaiian word of the day

Well, I've decided I need to motivate myself to get learning Hawaiian. So, I'm going to try to come up with a Hawaiian word each day because in teaching, you often learn the most.

Today's word:
waiwai - assets, wealth, rich, value

Waiwai means rich. "Rich" can be applied to financial or material matters, but I choose to say that I am waiwai because I am well loved and have a good life.

Waiwai 'au. I am rich.

And this one's for DH and all of the MBA students - Moʻokūlana waiwai = Balance sheet

Long time, no post....

Yup, not much has been going on here, other than last week's excitement :)

Dh's school goes by mods (aka quarters) rather than by semesters. This means he has 7 weeks of school, at least one week off, then 7 more weeks of school. So anyway, last week was his fall break week - yay! We headed down to Florida for some warm weather, the ocean, and DH's family. DH's sister-in-law (I guess mine too!) just had a baby on October 10 - so we got to see Curren, our first nephew! He's beautiful! It was so difficult not to get baby fever after seeing him...



We also got to celebrate my birthday while we were down there, and had Hula Pie to celebrate :)
I got a lot of fun stuff - Netflix from DH, a cute necklace from Sean, Ashley and Curren, and my new favorite things - 'uli 'uli from DH's parents. Woohoo! I have 'uli 'uli now!!!

We spent some time with DH's grandma, who has Alzheimers. But, sometimes her personality would burst through and I could tell she was glad to see us.

We drove up to Tallahassee on Friday to watch the Florida State game on Saturday. We got decked out in Florida State gear - thanks to DH's Dad, and cheered on the 'Noles to no avail.

This week, I've been nearly full-time with the kiddos, and DH is back to school. So that's been keeping us busy.

Hula!

Well, I missed one of my most favorite days in Hawaii - the Queen Lili'uokalani Festival. It's really cool because the whole town of Hilo gathers in the Queen Lili'uokalani Park (right on Hilo Bay) and the various hula halau all dance two songs together - and they drop orchids from a helicopter. Plus, add in shave ice and spam musubi... it's basically my version of heaven. It is what inspired me to join a halau back a year ago. My kumu hula posted a video of this year's event on his website... check it out! (Plus that's him chanting - he really needs to record a cd!!)

In my hula school here, we used both 'uli'uli (feathered gourds) and pu'ili (split bamboo sticks). I'm starting to get used to the 'uli'uli (go figure I'd pick that one up first :) ) but the pu'ili is coming a bit slower! Kumu Em can testify that sometimes I can take a little bit longer to teach ;) Someday, I hope to be like the dancers I saw at Kumu Em's uniki...





But I still think I love this song from the uniki more :)

Exams... yuck! Carbonara... yummy!

I'm glad I don't have to take or give exams right now.
Poor DH took his first final exam today - yes, today, on a Saturday! He has a few others in the next week.

I hope you don't mind me sharing another recipe. I've been experimenting a bunch so I want others to reap the benefits :)

Here's the recipe for Martha Stewart's Spaghetti Carbonara
My comments are in italics.


Ingredients

Serves 6 (I halved the recipe and it was enough for the both of us)

* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
* 10 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/2-inch dice remove rind if needed
* 1 pound spaghetti
* 1 cup heavy cream, plus more if needed
* 4 large egg yolks
* 2 cups grated (about 5 ounces) Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish (I'd reduce this to 3/4 cup for the half recipe, or 1-1/2 cup for the full recipe)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and pancetta to skillet, and cook until the pancetta is browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, and keep warm.
2. Cook spaghetti in boiling water until al dente, about 8 minutes. While spaghetti is cooking, whisk cream, egg yolks, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl until combined. Drain pasta, and return to saucepan. Immediately stir in egg-and-cheese mixture until well combined. Add warm pancetta and fat from pan. Toss well. Thin sauce with additional cream, if necessary. Serve immediately, garnished with grated Parmesan cheese.

This made me laugh today...

Not much going on...

Not much going on around here. I work every Tuesday and Thursday - plus more when they need substitutes. Dh has been studying a ton. His final exams start on Saturday and go through next week. After that, we get to have a week off! We're heading to Florida to spend a week relaxing in the sun - hopefully we'll catch some surf and maybe see our new nephew if he decides to be born anytime soon!

I tried out a new recipe for baked ziti last night and it was pretty good! I'd reduce the amount of ricotta cheese though, it was a little too intense for me. Plus, I used penne instead of ziti. Yum! Even DH liked it!

Day care stories...

Some days are definitely harder than others when working in daycare. Today was one of those days where I wonder what in the world the kids are thinking and if they ever are going to behave. But, in these days, how you get through is looking for the humor in whatever they're doing. And so I present 2 stories:

Story 1:
I have a Starbucks tumbler where you create your own design (thanks Jenny - it's from the vacation house last year). Basically, I took a decorated sheet of paper and put on a cute picture of DH & I on our honeymoon.

One child looks at it and says to me. "That's you, Miss Julie. Is that your daddy?"

Lol. DH is older than me. He's not THAT much older.


Story 2:
Setting: on the playground, next to the "tree house/slide"
Child comes up to me and says, "Miss Julie, my booty itches."
Um... how do you respond to that?

Aloha! Pehea 'oe?

Maika'i au :)

One of the parents of a girl who goes to my halau here in Tennessee told me about Kamehameha School's Distance Learning Program. I checked it out, and found they have Hawaiian language classes online! For free! (What fits better with a grad school budget?)

So far, I've just done the first lesson and am letting it sink in. DH thinks it's funny hearing me say the same phrases over and over, asking myself questions and then replying back to myself. It's so good to "be around" Hawaiian things again! Hau'oli au.

Funny video :)

So, this video was made by some students at Duke's Fuqua school of Business, and it makes fun of people who go to Owen for their MBA (which my lovely husband is doing currently). It's kind of funny. (but we're not that rich, nor were dh's grandparents. and I don't own any pearls.)

Homesick

Yup, I think it'd be fair to say that DH and I are both homesick for Hawai'i. I know we didn't live there long (but then again , we don't live anywhere for too long), but it certainly had a hold on our hearts that I'm not sure we'll ever let go of.

There's so much to miss - Elevate, my halau (and hula sisters), friends, the scenery, the weather (I miss the rain a lot now), the ocean, the food (Spam musubi and fruit especially!)... I could go on.

I have the cd from hula in our car and I almost can't listen to it sometimes because it makes me want to cry. We were so blessed by people there. I can't wait to go back.

Vacation House!

Rich and Jenny rented a house in South Haven for the week. DH and I could only go for the weekend due to his school schedule. We drove up on Friday morning (early!) and then drove back Sunday morning (early!). We had a lot of fun hanging out with my family!

Hanging out on the beach with their favorite Uncle!

The girls <3>

Beach time!

Tia Katie made a fish. Or was it a turtle?

Baked chicken... and Jack Handy

Tonight we had baked garlic chicken with sautéed garlic asparagus... yummy!

I love Jack Handy. He cracks me up.

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the wine I drink I feel shame. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the vineyards and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this wine, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this wine and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." ~ Jack Handy

Makemake au mahi mahi

It's true. I do want mahi mahi. And tonight I got it! Yay! Mahi mahi was one of my favorite fishes to eat in Hawai'i, and I thought I'd try some from our local supermarket here in a landlocked state. While not as fresh as Hawai'i, it was pretty good!

I used a recipe from Epicurious and it was pretty good. DH didn't like the breadcrumbs, but I did. I didn't have any potatoes, so I just did the fish and it was pretty good!

Mmmm... sorry, Junior

We tried this recipe for Sautéed Garlic Asparagus tonight and really liked it. We had really skinny asparagus, so I only cooked it 5-6 minutes, and it was delicious!

No news is... no news...

Hmm... this week really hasn't been that eventful.

I got rejected as an applicant for several jobs. For several, I was notified by email. For one I was notified by postcard. That's weird. I got hired by one place, but I rejected it. Who wants to earn $8.50 an hour selling stuff, when you can only work 4 hour shifts? Anyway, I did interview for one job and they asked me to come back later that same day to work. So I did. I have worked two days at a local church's preschool - they have 2, 3, 4, and 5 year olds. It's not a ton of money, but I can at least walk there. I have an understanding with the principal that if I find something that can offer me the hours I need at the salary I need, I can leave. Otherwise, I'll stay. The kids are so cute. Even when they're crying and you don't speak their language, they're adorable.

I need to learn how to say, "It'll be ok" in Korean and Chinese.

Before I got the preschool job, I spent one whole day waiting for our car to be serviced. Seven hours of my life that I cannot live again were carelessly discarded by people who demanded way too much money for their services. But, I did get some rockin' Thai food at one of my favorite restaurants in the area. So, I guess I did win.

DH and I are slowly unpacking more boxes. Hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll have our second bedroom live-able. That's good news.

A hui hou...

We might have friends!

So, last weekend we went to a Sig-O's barbecue. (Yes, I went from being a "dependent," the military's term, to being a Significant Other at dh's grad school, which they shorten to Sig-O. Some day I'll just be a wife. Just maybe.)

Anyway, at this barbecue, we met other people whose significant others are attending the Owen School and therefore, MIA most of the time. (Like today for instance, DH has been studying for like 5 hours now and it's 2:30pm). One of the couples that we connected with has the husband in grad school and then the wife is here. The husband is a former Marine, so he and DH can relate pretty easily. The wife is a former high school and college soccer player and is currently unemployed (much like myself, except she's not looking for a job. But then again, she doesn't get weird rejection letters in the mail like I do either.) She and I hung out the other day - we went out for lunch and then came over to our condo to go swimming in our pool. It was nice. They are Christians too and attend a local United Methodist church.

This afternoon, we're going to pry our husbands away from the library and go to a wine tasting at a local wine store. And then they're coming over for dinner. It's nice to know people :)

Cute Baby Things

This site has a bunch of cute baby booties and blankets. We don't need them... but if you do, all of the money goes to a family adopting a baby from Ethiopia - sounds like a good idea to me!

Excitement in the Music City

I've been really excited three times this week.

1. When I found the silverware in the box marked "book's." Clearly, I should have known that "book's" also meant "general kitchen stuff" like cookbooks, tea, and all of the silverware you own. I found it on Wednesday. That's not too bad...

2. When we finally got internet in the house and I can finally stream KAPA radio on my computer. I love KAPA. Its wonderful Hawaiian music and horrible jawaiian music make me feel I'm back on "my island."

3. Today, when I realized I get to go to hula. Yes, it is far from being the Halau I so dearly love, Halau Na Pua O Uluhaimalama, but still. For some reason, hula makes me feel like I'm home, even in a room of complete strangers. Yes, the steps they do are just slightly different from how Em taught us. Yes, I know Debbie, Shirley, Diane, and Shelly aren't going to be there. Or Mrs. Woo, or anyone familiar. But just practicing hula makes me happy. I get to connect once again with the Hawaiian culture.

Less than an hour 'til hula :)

Update on us...

Our condo has officially been ours for a week now. Our household goods (aka all of our stuff in military-speak) were delivered on Monday. We're still unpacking and trying to get 3 bedrooms worth of stuff into 2 bedrooms worth of space. That and we're trying to "simplify our lives" as DH says, and get rid of a lot of our stuff. We'll just see how many wetsuits he plans to get rid of... anyway, we had our first dinner at home last night and it was nice not to have to go out after 2 months of eating out all the time!

DH started orientation this week. Aaaah, orientation, with all of its icebreakers and get-to-know-each-other goodness. It's been a busy schedule. I wonder what the school schedule will actually hold.

I'm in the process of looking for jobs. It's interesting... to say the least. I'm trying to be optimistic and realistic at the same time.

Goodness, jobs are so annoying. The whole process of finding one is particularly frustrating. It's exacerbated by the fact I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Compounding this frustration is the problem that I don't know what I can do with this expensive degree I'm trying to pay off. Add to that my fear of committment - that just as I sign away my life on the dotted line, a better deal will come along and blow raspberries in my face, taunting me that I am such an idiot for settling.

So, I interviewed at one place at the university to be an administrative assistant. They told me I was overqualified and asked me why I wanted to stoop down to take the job. Repeatedly. It's kind of frightening when they do that. They said that I obviously was headed toward something. I just wish I knew what that was. I'm guessing it was teaching Latin American studies?

And then I turned in an application for a retail position at a mall and they offered me the job right away. At $9/hour, working nights and weekends (the only chances I'll have to see my student husband). Plus I'd have to dress business casual, and no, those new khaki pants from JCrew that are so cute don't count (therefore, most of my wardrobe).

Did I choose the wrong things before? Why can't I find a job? Should I go back to school (prolonging my lifelong affair with academia) and study become something useful to society like a nurse or engineer or architect? Grrr. It might be easier if God just hit me on the head with a 2x4 and inscribed on my head what I'm supposed to do.

But it's the weekend. DH has one activity tomorrow to finish off orientation, and then classes start on Monday - woohoo! Hopefully we'll spend some time by the pool and continue to set up the house. Ok... that's it for now :)

Aloha!

So... I have a lot of pictures...

I have a TON of pictures from Greece and Turkey. I mean, an absolute astounding amount of pictures. But hey, when are we going to be there again?

So, if you want to see pictures, check them out on my other website. I don't think I can post all 500 pictures (that's only half of them) on here...

You know you're back on the mainland when...

You go out to eat at restaurants two days in a row just because you can. This week, we went to Alehouse twice for lunch (they have killer wings) and Olive Garden twice for dinner (for their Tour of Italy platter). There are some things that Hilo just didn't have....

By the way, if you haven't had the Tour of Italy platter, TRY IT! It has lasagna, chicken Parmesan, and fettuccine alfredo. DH and I split it after having salad and breadsticks. It's wonderful. Go get it.

How old?

DH and I visited some friends in Dallas when we went through. Kelly (guy) and Lisa have a 3-year-old daughter named Gracie. She kept asking us all kinds of questions. One was "how old are you?" I responded five, as I figured, old is old... Her mom, Lisa, added "but she has a niece that is three years old." Gracie immediately looked at my knees in astonishment. Lisa quickly amended her statement - Miss JulieAnn's COUSIN is three years old. I just about died laughing.

Whirlwind

So, since I posted last we:

- arrived at our final destination... well, for now
- found a realtor
- searched for places to live
- found a condo
- flew standby to Florida
- met DH's brother's fiance, Sydney
- worked on house paperwork
- packed for our next adventure!

Next post hopefully from Europe!! :)

Grand Canyon!

The Grand Canyon was beautiful! We really enjoyed it, but still hold a place in our hearts for the Waimea Canyon on Kauai. The Arizona Grand Canyon is huge, but we thought the Waimea Canyon was more colorful (perhaps it was the time of day and we most certainly are biased!)

DH checking out the canyon





Me, the closest I would ever get to an edge - afraid of heights much??

Cool fuzzy flower


Strange cactus/cacti?