Saipan: The good and the bad

During the past few months, Eric and I have discovered a few things we really miss about dear ol' Saipan. But, there are also a few things we've survived without. See table below. :)

MISS	DON'T MISS
The people/branch Obviously, our favorite part of Saipan was the sweet, accepting, loving, humble, non-judgemental people of the island. Especially those from the Saipan branch. They were quite possibly the easiest group of people to join and the hardest to walk away from. And I REALLY love the youth! I can't even express how much I love and respect those kids.	The customer service This was weird to me because everyone on the island was so nice - except when it came to their customer service. If I tried to approach someone at the store to ask them a question, they would literally start speed walking in the opposite direction. Maybe it was me. Being at church for 10 hours on Sunday. Planning Girls Camps and Youth Conferences.
The beach White sand and crystal clear, WARM! ocean water Snorkeling/discovering all sorts of beautiful sea life Beach combing There was even a beach within walking distance of our house.	Discovering sand in every crevice (of car, home & body) Eric throwing/squishing sea cucumbers at me. Yes, "squishing". When you squeeze a sea cucumber it squirts out a liquid (hopefully, water), and a pretty good distance too.
The weather Always 85 degrees. Guinness lists Saipan as having the most equable temperatures in the world.	The humidity. The sticky clothes. The worthless hair staightening and instant frizz.
The sky/sunsets/sunrises The sunsets in Saipan are unlike anything else. Vibrant colors, huge fluffy, dense clouds, and the reflection on the water.	The short days It was a tragedy to live on such a gorgeous island but have the sun go down before Eric even got home from work (around 6:30)
The jungle Lots of luscious green EVERYWHERE. Our incredible view...	The jungle overtaking our car We literally had plants growing out of our trunk at one point.
Having few shopping options. Makes decision-making easy. When I say "shopping", I mostly mean grocery shopping because we were (and still are) too broke to shop for clothes. During our 2 years on Saipan, Eric and I did both go on one big shopping spree at ROSS (!) when we visited Guam. I wasn't tempted by home decor either b/c 1. I knew our stay their was temporary, 2. The humidity tends to destroy things, and 3. If it didn't fit in the 2 pcs of luggage that I arrived on Saipan with, then there was no point.	Having few shopping options Sometimes it’s nice to have selection. It’s especially nice to not have to go to 6 stores looking for cottage cheese and still not find it, and in fact, no one's even heard of the stuff! Everything’s more expensive. Although, a good friend once put it this way – “Getting frozen ice cream, transported by a ship and across the ocean – that’s not expensive, that’s magic!”
Having few restaurant options Again, easier to choose. And, we did have a handful of places that we loved - Teppanyaki's, Bobby Cadillac's pizza, Happy Hour smoothies, vegetable lumpia and hot wings on the beach at the Pacific Island's Club (while watching the sunset).	Having few restaurant options Because groceries were so expensive, we often had an empty fridge so we ate out a lot (which saved us a ton of money I'm sure!). Subway almost every day. As for American chains, they also had a McDonalds, Pizza Hut and a KFC. While we were there, they even got a Taco Bell which was a huge deal. The first few days they had a line out the door.
Diversity Surrounded by people from the Philippines, Japan, China, Russia, Chuk, Yap, Palau, Marshal Islands, Gilbert Islands, etc. Fun to be a minority for a change	Being mistaken for a Russian ("dancer")
Fun cultural experiences Food Traditions Dancing Thur. night street markets	Not-so-fun “cultural” experiences. Cock fighting Betel nut (the locals are constantly chewing/spitting betel nut)
Easy access to travel We were in close proximity to so many cool new places.	Constant temptation to travel BUT, just because we were close to these places didn't necessarily mean cheaper airfare. Flying from a small island is never cheap.
Living in the jungle and feeling very secluded	Living with lizards, massive wolf spiders, ants and, worst of all, shrews. Waking up to mysteriously half-eaten bagels, etc. Having lizards fall in my lap while I worked.
Our boonie dog "Skinny" Skinny was the sweetest thing. She only came around some of the time, but she was always happy to see us.	The boonie dogs It was pretty heart-breaking to see the dozens of malnourished dogs all over the streets in Saipan.
	Having a PO Box instead of an address Having to pay for that PO Box that was only available 9-5pm. Having to travel 15-20min to check that often empty mailbox
Fun island adventures	Not-so-fun island incompetence that led to a summer of island-wide dark and sweaty power outages.

Suckapunch!

My husband warned me that my blog posts were getting a little dull so I took that as a challenge. I'm confident that Eric will love this post. We may not have as many photo opportunites here in Idaho as we did on Saipan, but that hasn't stopped us from making our own.

OUTTAKES

It's amazing how thoroughly entertained we were by this little activity. If you haven't guessed, Eric and Jason were just shaking their heads violently from left to right to achieve this somewhat convincing effect. The tricky part is snapping the photo at the right moment. Eric wins the prize for best floppy cheeks. I don't think he'll be winning any prizes for sex appeal with these photos, however.

More guests!

We've got a bit of a revolving door going on right now; so who's next? Kristin and Brigham are staying with us right now while they search for an apartment. Which means, yes, they are moving to Boise! I'm looking forward to having a friend close by. (They're moving from New York so it will be a bit of an adjustment). I've known Kristin for about 8 yrs. We met at BYU-Idaho, spent a summer playing together in California, and were roommates one summer as well. I even tried to set her up with my bro-in-law Patrick at one point. But, alas, Pattie found Nat, and Kristin found Brigham. They're getting married in California next week. I'm sad that I can't go to the wedding, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of them when they move here.

My Birfday Cake!

Pretty sure Wentworth Miller didn't show up at YOUR birthday party.

THE REACTION

Ya done good Eric! And now all that's left of the cake is Wentworth's face. We'll see who dares to eat it. :)

Viewer Discretion is Adviced: Exposed Muscles

Saturday Eric and I were introduced to a whole new world. A world of fake tans, protein bars, egg whites, and bulging muscles. We were there to support our good friends and pseudo relatives. Beck and Chris are the perfect examples of why you should never judge a book by its cover. Becky is a sweet, polite and very intelligent little English girl, and Chris is a professionally trained chef. They've both been training and dieting like crazy for the past few months. (They also have 2 young children) It was definitely a strange atmosphere - seeing unnaturally dark-skinned people with their bright white eyes and teeth, their 0% body fat, and their big veins and muscle mounds, walking around casually with only a few sequins to cover up their unmentionables. I learned, however, that for at least some of the contestants, it's not all about vanity and ego, for some - like our friends - it was about fitness, reaching personal goals, and gaining confidence.
Becky is 3rd from the right.	Far right.
Chris is 2nd from the left.	The pose-off. A strange world indeed.