Feeling loved

The day has just begun, and I'm already having an awesome birthday! Check out this "custom made" birthday card. My mom drew it herself, and I love it! This card reminds me of the cards my mom's mom used to draw for us. What a thoughtful, fun tradition.

If only I were that skinny & that cute...I do type like that though (they call me the "turbo pecker").

Misc.

Ok, so I'm not much of a seafood person. I know, it's a shame considering where I live, but it's just not for me. I have learned, however, that I like mahi mahi and tilapia. So the other night, Eric and I went to a chinese food restaurant and ordered the tilapia. Eric failed to mention that this was no Costco variety tilapia. I guess I'm not a true islander yet because I was a little freaked out by the all-too-real fish that was staring back at me (complete with his skin and eyeballs). I think I'll stick with the skinless, boneless fishies in the future (pictured below, left).

Meet the Alforezas (below). This is the lovely Filipino couple that was married last weekend. Eric's first time performing a marriage ceremony, and he did a wonderful job.

These last 3 pictures were just taken today as I was walking along the beach.

And I love this last shot. I couldn't resist asking this stranger for his photo. He's from Palau, and I think he's one of the group who just arrived here from Palau and Yap on traditional sailing canoes, an 8-day journey, with no special navigation devices - only traditional methods. They're considered "master navigators." In fact, Eric heard that one of the captains is blind.

If at first you don't succeed, photoshop

Yesterday, I decided to drive to the north side of the island. I first went to the Grotto where a nice Japanese lady insisted on taking my picture for me. It was very sweet, but pretty comical as well because of the communication barrier. She kept smiling and showing me "thumbs up" which I assumed meant, "Good, stay there." In actuality, she was trying to get ME to do the thumbs up. So, finally, after a few seconds of confusion, she had to come over and physically pry my hands into position. What's even funnier is that the camera was set to record. So now I have a short little video of me standing/smiling awkwardly for entirely too long, but my thumbs were up!

After that, I hit the trail near suicide cliff, and on my way home I stopped at the Mariana's Resort and Spa to say hi to the horsies. Normally, our camera takes decent outdoor shots, but these turned out terrible for some reason. Thank goodness for Photoshop!

Before

After

Work & play...

These past few weeks have definitely been busy (emotionally, mentally, spiritually, physically). Eric seems to be going non-stop...and he won't be slowing down any time soon. Examples below:

1. Temple trip - still finalizing plans, and scheduling temple interviews.


2. This weekend - General Conference weekend (we use DVDs). AND we have a patriarch on island! We just learned a few days ago that he would be visiting which was very exciting considering we don't have a patriarch on Saipan or even Guam so he came all the way from Japan to do 20 patriarchal blessings in 2 days (20 interviews for Eric, scheduled and completed in record time).


3. Mock Trial - The team received their new "problem", and now they're preparing for nationals in Atlanta May 4-May 11. Eric has to fly back to Saipan early so he can turn around and hop on a plane again for Manila May 12.


4. The unexpected - In the past few weeks we've had 2 terrible family crises in the branch.


5. Next week Eric will be responsible for his first wedding and his first funeral.


6. Job search - Still hunting (contract's up in Aug). Any firms out there looking to hire a highly qualified and very attractive young attorney??


7. Play time - Always have to make time for play (for sanity's sake). Last weekend Eric and I decided to hit a new beach, Marine Beach, and yesterday we went to the zoo! It was a hard sale, but I finally convinced Eric. The zoo here is known for 3 things: 1. being over-priced, 2. being tiny (mostly chickens and rabbits), and 3. having a lion that pees on people. However, we still enjoyed it. The nice thing about the zoo being so small is that you get really close to the animals and you get to feed them (bananas, carrots & popcorn). We especially enjoyed the Bengal tiger, the black bear, the pigs, the coversation with the parrots, and Eric always feels a special connection with the monkeys (the "friendly" lion was asleep sadly).
   
   Oh yeah, and last night we went to the Facey Farms Fajita Fiesta which I'm sad to say I don't have any pictures. All of the boys drew themselves very convincing mustaches (handle bars, horseshoes, etc.) It was hilarious. And we ended the night with a llama pinata.