Hawaiian Healing

I have lived in Hawaii for three years now. Since moving here I have been on an eternal quest for Hawaii's equivalent, for me, to skiing. I have been seeking that activity that brings every good natural feeling in your body together to form one otherworldly feeling greater than the sum of their parts. I want to feel the perfect balance of thrill and inner reflection. Skiing used to provide me with this. I would find myself standing on the top edge of a steep powdery line overlooking the vast expanse of  jagged, snow-covered peaks. My ski tips stuck out over the ledge to where if I leaned ever-so-slightly forward, I would careen forward down the chute and disappear into the sparkling powder. Before I took the plunge, I would always pause, look out afar and take a deep breath. It was almost like I could inhale all the marvelous vastness of the universe, including God. I could inhale the energy of all living things. It was the most incredible feeling. Then I would drop in and cascade my way through pillows and creamy blankets of snow. These moments are when I would feel the most spiritual, the most pure, and the most alive.  

A lot of people would automatically assume the activity I might most identify with in Hawaii would be surfing. I tried that...it was fun. I wasn't very good and I found myself really, really pissed off most of the time. I tried body boarding. It was fun too. I was less pissed off but the euphoric feeling I got from skiing just wasn't there. Everything changed a few weeks ago.

We were invited over to a friends house to do a bit of stand-up paddle boarding. I had been before in Washington, where the dark, 38 degree water deters you from doing anything other than carefully and slowly pulling your paddle through it. I was pleasantly surprised, however, that it's a whole different sport in Hawaii! 

After a few weekends of renting and borrowing boards, I am totally hooked. So hooked that Hasselhoff and I went out and bought our own boards. 

This evening's paddle was a great one. I can't tell you how much I needed it. My heart has been heavy this week with family troubles, illnesses, and just overall discontentment. Once on the water, gliding over the waves with sea turtles swimming around me, I was taken right back to the snowy ledge. Standing on my board, looking out at the open ocean, the setting sun reflecting off the water, I took a moment to reflect and clear my head. 

Its been three years since we moved here, and for the first time, I feel like I finally found that outlet I have been missing. It really is amazing how mother nature provides us with such simple, healing remedies for our ailments...who would've known I just needed a paddle-board to tap into it!?

I'm Baaaacckkk!!!!

Well hello there again!!! It's been quite some time since I have written here! And surprise...I have more to say than ever! Here's my year in a nutshell:

1. Hasselhoff and I got married!

2. Hasselhoff left on deployment and I moved back to Washington for the summer. Lots of fun things happened in Washington!

Westside Sunsets

Clayton Beach

Family Trip to Idaho

Sauk Mountain Hike

Skiing

 3. I traveled to Italy to visit Hasselhoff

3. Hasselhoff came back from Deployment

4. We settled in nicely back in Hawaii for round two of surfing, paddleboarding, beaches and hangin with our dogs.

That pretty much brings us up to the present! More to come!

Crossfit Love

What a week of workouts! I've been Crossfitting for about six months now with Crossfit Kailua and my body is still consistently challenged- being broken down and built back up to amazing strengths.

After Hasselhoff's deployment last year, we found ourselves in Hawaii "fat and happy," until we realized soon that we were just fat and lazy. Just in the knick of time Crossfit Kailua opened right down the street from my house!

I signed up right then and there! The coaches are amazing and I've met some great friends! Only in the last two months have we amped up our eating habits by following the Paleolithic Diet. Yes please!

This week has really kicked my ass... literally! Here are my WODs so far:

Monday: As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:
                3 Broad Jumps
               15 Box Jumps
               30 Double Under Jump-ropes

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday:                                                                  Thursday:

I realize this may look like a foreign language to some people, but these are generally what my daily workouts look like. I am down 25 pounds, up a whole lotta muscle and can officially say that I might stand a chance at surviving a Zombie Apocalypse. Who wants to be on my team!?

Although, some

Back to the ole Paleo Routine...

So thankful to unexpectedly have the next two days off! After a quick two hour "power nap" this afternoon, I decided to listen to my tired body and skip my Crossfit WOD. This was justified only by the fact that I can hit it even harder on my days off!

I find myself pretty stressed lately. With a big move back to the mainland and Hasselhoff's seven month deployment coming up, the "To Do" list seems endless! In between house guests from the mainland, we have to buy plane tickets, sell a car, pack our house for storage when we return to Hawaii, ship our dogs, complete heaps of paperwork, and still work on top of that all. I think one of the trickiest things is going to be figuring out how to pack my suitcase for seven months. Clothes for Washington, Montana, and hopefully Europe! It's definitely going to be tough!

With that being said, I cooked a nice hearty, healthy Paleolithic Dinner tonight. For those of you who do not know, I recently completed a 30 day challenge following the "Paleolithic Diet." No dairy, No legumes, no grains, no soy, no rice for 30 days. My meals consisted of meat, fruits, veggies, lots of coconut products and nuts. I lost 10 pounds, but have recently fallen back into some bad habits. That's about to change! Tonights dinner consisted of baked chicken marinated in honey, applecider vinegar, and ginger; Okinawan sweet mashed potatoes; and a field green salad topped with blueberries, purple onion, mushrooms, and honey mustard dressing.

Here are a few examples of "Paleo" meals that I made while on the challenge. Don't they look yummy!!!??

Field Greens, Turkey and Dried Fruit Salad

Roasted Chicken

Oriental Asian Salad

Chicken Mushroom Stew

Scramble

Banana Bread

Portobello Burger

Apple-Cinnamon Pork Chop with Asparagust

Spanish Fritata

Grilled Salmon, roasted Sweet Potatos/ Veggies, Salad

Fried Egg, Bacon and Avacado

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Tequila tried to kill me...

What a weekend! Saturday morning, Hasselhoff and I headed to North Beach on Marine Corps Base Hawaii- Kaneohe Bay for a quick surf session. Unfortunately, our good time was cut short after a rude run-in with the off-duty, base Provost Marshall (head of Police). FYI: If you do not live on base, your dogs are not allowed anywhere on base except for the Vet. This includes beaches. What a bummer! We had never heard this rule before! North Beach was one of our favorites! We walked back to our truck in defeat, but on our way several people approached us and expressed their sympathy to our situation. Apparently this woman Provost Marshall is despised, especially by dog-owners that live in the same neighborhood as her. I was slightly comforted to know that I wasnt the only frustrated beach-goer, doggie walker.

Trying not to let the unpleasant  woman ruin our day, we packed up our camping gear and headed to Bellows Beach for some good ole fashioned camping with great friends. While everyone errected their massive four-room tents and filled them with full-size airmattresses, Hasselhoff and I set up our tiny two-man backpacking tent with half-length Thermarests. We are often the butt of jokes with our camping gear in Hawaii. Most of it was purchased in Washington and meant for backpacking- lightweigh, small in size and incredibly water-proof. We may have stuck out like a sore thumb, but that didnt stop us from having a jolly time- well equiped with Margarita Makings!

Although I woke up Sunday morning with a screaming headache and a fuzzy brain, I reminisced about the conversations that took place the night before, mostly about politics, religion, and science. Phrases like "Damn Liberals," "But What about Sickle-Cell Anemia?" and "Imma go Walkabout," came up quite frequently all night long! (Sigh and Smile)...Tequila always makes for great nights!

Surf'in with Hawaiian Fire

Last year for my birthday, Hasselhoff gave me a gift certificate for a surf lesson with Hawaiian Fire, a surf school run by the City of Honolulu Firefighters. Since we were both firefighters back in Washington, I loved this idea! Unfortunately, another birthday rolled around and I still had not used the gift certificate.

Hasselhoff tried to teach me how to surf several times. Word of advice to the fellas: If you want your relationship to last, don't attempt to teach your girl to surf or any other sport that you are way better than her at for that matter. I like to think of myself as pretty athletic in the "surf-like" sports department. I'm an avid skier and snowboarder. I picked up wakeboarding pretty fast and I used to skateboard a bit. Surfing shouldn't have been an issue right? Bawhahahahah! It was horrific! Despite Hasselhoff’s experience as a sailor, the profanity that came out of my mouth was that of epic and matchless proportions. Needless to say, I was a bit turned off by the sport. Until Hawaiian Fire that is!

I know what you are thinking. Surf  lessons on a paradise beach with hunky, shirtless firefighters right? That’s exactly what it was! However, I must commend all of the instructors (however hunky) for their professionalism, knowledge and the fact that they can get me up and roll ‘in on a surfboard!

Reasons why I would recommend Hawaiian Fire?

·  Three hour lessons -the perfect amount of time so you can still move the next day

·  1:2 Instructor to Student Ratio- allowed us to ride wave after wave

·  Shallow, mild break- we were able to touch the bottom at any point which is perfect when you get tired

·  Empty beach- we had the water and the beach all to ourselves!

·  They let Hasselhoff paddle out and be there while I surfed!

·  Hunky Firefighters- need I say more!?

Surf's Up!!!