Kelli on Saipan

Adam - Two Months Old

2010-05-12T11:23:00.003+10:00

My little Adam is already 2 months old. He's gained a few pounds, his cheeks are filling out, and he gets cuter by the day. : ) Adam is finally enjoying his bath time. Dad is already trying to corrupt the little guy - sheesh. Good food, Josh - veggies, grains. : ) I get to see Adam for short bits of time on the webcam. I am thankful for modern technology. I miss that little guy so much.

Life Update - March 2010 Adam Blalock

2010-04-15T16:41:00.017+10:00

I realize I have not written a blog in a very long time. With facebook, I just didn't see the point in posting blogs anymore. However, someone has changed my mind on that - his name is Adam Patrick Blalock. Meet my new grandson. He was born March 4, 2010. This is what he looked like when I first met him, at 10 days old. Isn't he wonderful? My first close up look into the eyes of my little grandson. I cannot even express to you the joy this little guy brings to my life. I tear up every time I think of his arrival. Here is the new little family. The Blalocks - Josh, Regis and Adam. I love them so much. When I first arrived at Josh and Regis's house, I gave them this quilt for Adam. But the whole two weeks I was there, I was working on the finishing touches. It took me months to finish just the centerpiece - which is counted cross stitch. Thankfully Sarah put the rest of the quilt part together. The dark green ribbon trim is from Chris and Sarah's wedding. Here are my pirate boys. Adam is wearing a white pirate rash guard and swim trunks, too. Love it. My Dad, Adam's great-grandfather got to meet his little great-grandson. Yes, he is just so adorable. He has Josh's hairline and ears, but I think he looks more like Regis in this picture. He's a handsome little boy, for sure. It was very special for me to introduce Adam to his great great grandmother. That's right, two greats. Yep, we married young in our family. Ha. Nani seemed very happy to meet her great great grandson. We bought Adam this little lion suit shortly after we arrived because he didn't fit into any of his clothes. He weighed only 5 lbs. 2 oz. at birth. He's a real eater, and growing very quickly, however. The family went to Tarpon Springs for an outing. Here we are enjoying a delicious Greek lunch. That was a wonderful day. Adam kept cozy and shaded. : ) Aunt Sarah made sure Adam was snuggled and held, not that he ever lacked for that. There may have been some competition for who got to hold him next. Adam's first beach outing. The dog beach, of course. It was a beautiful day. But the water was only 68 degrees, so we put off a dip in the ocean for Adam. Ben was never far away from his family. Car seat riding - not always his favorite thing. But he did pretty well. The happy family at John's pass. We had lunch there with Adam's great granddad. My little bunny boy. (son of my little bunny foo foo) I think my blog will share my adventures with our expanding family for now. Ok, yes, I'll put up the occasional underwater photos too. Feel free to leave comments. I love sharing the joy!

Friends

2009-08-21T10:50:00.002+10:00

This is a picture of my friend, Brenda (second from left) and four of her lovely daughters. L to R - Jamie, Brenda, Amanda, Pam, Bethany. Missing from the photo is Stephanie, if we were going to complete a mother and daughters photo. Harry and I met Brenda when we were newlyweds, late 1980. We spent a lot of time with Brenda and her family in those days (early 1980's) and throughout the years we reconnected for weekends together as we could. Brenda is blessed with 5 girls and 3 boys. Yep, quite a woman. Pam (her oldest) was just a baby when we first met. It has been a joy over the years to watch her family grow up, get married, build their own lives. We share some sweet memories together - some great stories - the kind that make you laugh until you cry. I miss Brenda. And I miss the girls too. Not dissing the boys here, just didn't get to know them before we moved to the other side of the world. I hope someday we get to reconnect and share bits of our lives again.

August UW Weekend

2009-08-04T16:00:00.011+10:00

I spent my first weekend in August underwater for a good deal of the time. But why not? It was raining all weekend anyway, so if you're going to be wet, you might as well enjoy the underwater critters. Harry and I enjoyed a nice long 2 hour dive (well, long for me) at Lau Lau and hung out with these two friends.

I finally got this guy to center in my camera frame. He looks great against the deep blue of the ocean.

Thibeau and Wendy joined us for 4 of the dives. They were Wendy's 4 OW scuba dives. Thibeau completed his course a couple months ago.

All 4 of us got to see this spanish dancer. He was in the rubble on the way out to the turtle snacking grounds.

I spotted this little crab in a stolen shell near the rope.

This octopus had himself nicely tucked into the rocks, but not quite hidden from view.

It was fun watching this fish eating an urchin.

Harry and I saw this eel on our 2 hour dive, at about 60 ft.

Harry spotted this gorgeous shell (yep, I don't know its name) but I wish I had taken a photo of the other side too. It was beautiful all the way around.

I actually got some nice photos of the anenome fish this time. They are always fun to watch.

I told Harry to pose for me for his 400th dive of 2009. Yep, he's done that many. And that's just this year. Only 178 for me - in a year and a half. But I'm pretty happy about that, since I only get to dive on weekends.

It's Been A While

2009-07-24T15:02:00.006+10:00

I just realized it's been a whole month since my last post. I guess I've been busy with a number of things. I've been learning my new job, which has gone smoothly so far. I really like the new job position, it suits me well I think. Chris and Sarah took a trip to Canada to visit family and have a couple of wedding receptions with friends and family. They were gone two weeks. While they were gone, Harry was gone one of those weeks to Tinian to work at a dive camp for kids. So with my one week alone, I enjoyed some girl time with Connie, went to the spa, read a book. But I didn't get to my blog. I chose an odd assortment of pictures for the post this time. My recent dive photos don't seem to be in my smugmug box, so I picked out some older photos. I guess you can tell by the top picture, I'm enjoying the memories of having my family gathered together at Chris and Sarah's wedding.

I've been enjoying diving, as usual. The photo above is a lion fish I saw at Wing Beach. There seems to be a lot of lion fish there lately. I'm hoping the conditions will be good for diving Wing Beach this weekend. It's my favorite dive.

I saw this little guy in a corner all by himself at Lau Lau. I'm always drawn to the starfish.

And how could you not love a face like this? I never get tired of seeing the turtles, even at a distance. But this one was content to let us come closer for some really nice photos. Well, I guess without more pictures, I don't have more stories to tell. But you can visit my facebook site, I think I have more photos up there. Yeah, facebook has been stealing me away. See you - one site or the other. : )

Turtle Dive !! June 20

2009-06-24T15:02:00.011+10:00

After a group dive earlier in the day, Harry and I came back later in the afternoon for a nice long, relaxing dive - in search of turtles. Harry strapped a 100 on me so we could stay out a bit longer for our search. There was one in the normal turtle hangout, and we took some pictures of him. On the way out to a deeper site, we ran across this anenome fish guarding his territory.
And Harry spotted this little shrimp near the small anenome fish. Can you see him? He's mostly clear, with some pink and big blue and black eyes.
I came across this scorpion fish (I think). He was laying on his side, very odd.
But eventually we spotted this turtle heading out to deeper feeding grounds. So we both followed, to see where he would go. He didn't seem to mind having us along for the journey. He was just looking for a snack.
Well, he finally found his snack, and parked right there for about a half an hour, just letting us hang out with him and take his picture. Harry actually got a great video, too. But isn't this just the best? I love this picture.
Here is Harry, happily filming away.
And here's my view from overhead, watching him enjoy his green munchies.
He stopped eating to just look at me for a few seconds. I was smiling back at him. This was just so great.
I moved back a ways, trying to get a nice shot of his whole body. He was very handsome or pretty as the case may be.
And here's a nice turtle exit. Time to go up for some air. Did I say this was just great? What an awesome turtle day.

Wing Beach June 21

2009-06-24T14:28:00.011+10:00

Last Sunday, Harry and I did two dives at Wing Beach with Don, one of the new OW graduates. Near the crevice, we kept seeing these two fish following us - one blue fin trevali and one snapper. They were both good sized fish, and fun to watch.
Here is Harry taking a picture of Don, while exiting the crevice on our first dive.
I caught this guy playing King of the Hill on the way back to the rope.
This eel was in the coral lining the cut going out from the rope. He was very cooperative for photos.
I don't know what this is - some kind of flatworm I think. But it was very pretty.
Wedged between two big rocks, I saw this shell partially broken with a crab peeking out.
This was the arch over the crevice. I don't usually swim up that high but I was keeping myself between Harry and Don, so I got to see more things that I usually don't spot at the bottom of the crevice.
Near the cut, there were many lion fish. This one was very big and had nice coloring for photos.
I found some shrimp in one of the holes near the cut.
I think this is a nudi, or maybe a flatworm. Either way, it was really pretty. The blue was neon underwater.
This was just outside of the crevice. I found this beautiful orange fan coral and another really pretty red fan coral. Wing Beach dives are awesome.

Island Life June 2009

2009-06-22T11:36:00.013+10:00

We always start off the month of June with Sarah's birthday, June 1. This year we had a nice birthday brunch at the Hyatt.
And I guess the rest of the month will look like I spent it all underwater. But that's where I take most of my photos, I guess. However, these photos are Harry's. I stole them because I can't find mine on the smugmug site. The picture above is a section of soft coral under the pipeline. It's always so pretty under there.
Here I am watching some fish. I think this was at Obyan. I've got my camera ready. Now if I could just get those little guys to hold still. Ha.
This is the little known sport of pipe surfing. Want to join?
We spotted some spanish dancer egg ribbons at Lau Lau. Very cool.
We saw this guy way out near Lemuria. He looked like a moth. Very weird fish.
Another "Mr. Ugly" fish. I think it's a stone fish.
Very lovely nudi.
Fish school at Obyan. Sunday, June 7 was the best visibility I've ever seen at Obyan. I felt like I was swimming in an aquarium. It was so beautiful. And it was our 29th wedding anniversary. Great day.
This looks like the shallow corals at Wing Beach. They are also very pretty all lit up in the sun.
Ok, guess I'll check out for now. I'll write another post when I can get my pictures off smugmug. I got some great ones this weekend. Harry and I spent a fun half hour with a turtle and we got some great photos and a really cool video.

Recent Underwater Photos

2009-05-26T14:24:00.008+10:00

I've been neglecting my blog a bit, as I've been caught up in facebook. But the underwater adventures continue. Here is some of the beautiful sightings of late. Enjoy. Two very pretty clams - one from Lau Lau, one from Obyan.

Nudi sighting at Lau Lau. The awesome "aquarium" view of Obyan. I was really excited to see this spanish dancer right at the rope at Lau Lau. It was about ten inches long. Very cool. Fran caught this shot of Harry surfacing from one of our boat dives on Sunday. I did four dives on Sunday, two at Obyan with Harry's students and two boat dives in the afternoon - Spotlight and Wing Beach Arch. Very good dive day.

Random Fun Family Photos

2009-05-19T13:42:00.013+10:00

I decided to post some of the random photos from my week with my family. We really had some great times together. The day after the wedding, the family got together for a Mother's Day breakfast at the Hyatt, and a formal wedding photo shoot in the Hyatt gardens. After a hot picture taking session in our formal wear, we all went wading in the ocean. Yep, even Chris and Sarah. John took this picture of me walking down the aisle before the wedding. I was smiling almost instantly as we arrived at the beautiful cliff line for the ceremony, and I didn't stop smiling for days. Ok, maybe I started smiling way before the ceremony, like when Josh and Regis first arrived. Here is Josh, Me and Harry at the rehearsal. The sunset was lovely on both evenings. Here I am with my kids. We sat on the beach at PIC and enjoyed some appetizers, tropical drinks and a great sunset. Life is good.

This was just so much fun - diving with Josh and Regis. I'm not sure if Josh took this picture, or if Harry took it. But I always have the look of wonder and appreciation when I get to swim with a turtle. Pillow Starfish - this was a really pretty one. On Josh and Regis's last night, we all cooked out at Ladder Beach. Josh grilled us some fish and a couple t-bone steaks for Harry and himself. Emma enjoyed the bones. Here's the family, eating lunch at Oleai Beach Bar and Grill. Even Emma came along on this lunch, she's under the table.

This is a great picture. Josh and the Grotto fan coral. Now this is a real rough and tough underwater photo. The boys - Chris and Josh with their toothy UW grins. I might still be smiling - remembering all the fun things we did together.

Chris Sarah Fryling Wedding

2009-05-13T14:40:00.011+10:00

As promised, I am posting some of the professional photographer's pictures. And again, I cannot say just how amazing and beautiful this wedding was. My heart just soars each time I look at the pictures. I tried to post a sampling and tried to keep them in order - I hope you enjoy the virtual wedding journey with us. The guests all arrived at the tee on the cliff overlooking the ocean, via golf carts. It was fun to see the big long line of golf carts heading off to the ceremony. After everyone arrived, here I am, as matron of honor, walking down the "aisle". And here comes the lovely bride and her handsome father. Here is Dad, trying to hug his daughter before he gives her away to the awaiting and happy groom. He did not manage to do a tear-free hand off. That's ok, most of us didn't manage a tear free day either. This photo was actually taken the next day. Chris wanted some professional posed photos, so we all met at the Hyatt gardens the next day for a Mother's Day breakfast and picture taking session in the gardens. What a great event the whole week was! Chris and Sarah stayed at the Hyatt the night before, in an amazing room that was decorated with candles and a flower path. Chris's friends arranged that for the happy bride and groom. Very sweet and very romantic. I asked the photographer to take this photo for me. I had one like this with my Mom. I'm sad that she couldn't be with us last week, she would have loved it all, I'm sure. Isn't Sarah's dress just gorgeous? It had all this great old fashioned lace under the embroidered lace. She looked beautiful. Dad with his little girl. Josh was so happy for Sarah. And happy to be able to come out to Saipan for a week long visit again. I'm so thankful that he and Regis got to come to the wedding and share the fun family week with us. What a wonderful blessing!This is the family. Harry looked down the row and said, "look at our family, how did it get so big?" We are blessed. L to R - Dawn (my sister), Harry, Me, Sarah, Chris, Josh, Regis. It was a hot day in the Hyatt gardens taking pictures. So after the photos were done, we all waded into the ocean - yep, formal clothes and all. Dawn eventually laid in the water in her dress. Harry, Josh and Chris didn't bother rolling up the pants, just waded in. What a great day! Beautiful, too.

Chris and Sarah's Wedding - Family Photos

2009-05-13T09:57:00.005+10:00

Chris and Sarah got married May 8, 2009 at sunset on the 6th tee at Lau Lau Bay Golf Course. The site was on the cliff's edge overlooking the ocean. Besides the spectacular beauty surrounding us, the wedding was also beautiful - awesome really. It was truly a day of joy. I'll post some better pictures later, but here are a few that the family took. In the photo below you see Harry walking Sarah down the aisle, Josh and Regis are in the background. It was just so awesome having my whole family home for a week. We had the best time together. I'll do a post about that sometime soon, too. I guess it was evident in the photo below that I was quite the happy Mom of the bride, Matron of honor, and best girlfriend of the bride. Chris and Sarah saying their vows to each other. They wrote their own vows, it was very sweet. Here's the Brother of the Bride - Josh with his lovely sister, Sarah. Yep, I love my kids. And here's the happy couple. Yes, I'll post more and better pictures soon. I do have more photos in an album on facebook, if you want to check those out. Let's just say, there are stories to tell, and it might take me a few posts to get it all told.

Three Random Pics

2009-04-27T13:53:00.003+10:00

I've had these pictures kind of sitting in the side lines of my folders because I wanted to put them in a blog. But I never got around to writing a good blog for them, so here they are. The one below is Phil from the professional Volleyball Games at PIC. I love this picture. He's almost twice the length of the kids. Made me smile.

This is Sarah, Kevin (my nephew) and Katelyn at her wedding. This is such a cute shot of Katelyn, I love it. Sarah wasn't too fond of the funky hairstyle, but she had a great time being with her extended family and getting to attend Katelyn's wedding.

Harry and I at the Peroni Party. We sampled some good white wine and hung out with friends. Fun evening - thanks to Fran C. for the picture.

Saipan on NBC Nightly News

2009-04-24T10:52:00.004+10:00

NBC Nightly News sent a crew out to Saipan to cover the Marianas Trench Monument, and the Friends of the Monument group. This is an exciting moment for all who worked so hard to make this Monument a reality. Congratulations Angelo and team for an amazing job well done!!

Voices from Saipan April 22: More pictures and extended interviews with scientists and activists on the importance and meaning of the new marine national park. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30369070#30369070

Working to preserve a world under water April 23: The Northern Mariana Islands are in history books as the site of one of World War Two's most decisive battles, but they may ultimately go down in history because former President George W. Bush made the Mariana Trench, an area the size of Arizona, a protected marine reserve. NBC's Ian Williams reports. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30376206#30376206

Lau Lau / Obyan Dives

2009-04-21T16:51:00.007+10:00

Since Harry had two students last weekend, I led Dave (visiting couch surfer and fellow diver) on a couple dives at Lau Lau and Obyan. Below is the path leading to the shoreline at Lau Lau. Such a beautiful dive site. This is Dave inside one of the swim-throughs at Obyan. And here's Dave checking out one of the many stands of coral loaded with little fish at Obyan. A large piece of coral with christmas tree worms. Very pretty. Harry is checking out his photos at Obyan. And here's a recent familiar site - Harry helping his students fill in their dive log books. Sara is still going through her book work, so she will do her last two open water dives at a future date. But Mike just completed all his dive skills, bookwork and exam. So he's a newly certified OW diver. Congrats Mike!Ah, lately, such is our life on Saipan. Diving, students, visiting divers and awesome sunsets. I am thankful for my island dive life.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

2009-04-16T15:02:00.015+10:00

Oops, I mean "Divers and Eels and Nudis, Oh My!"
I went through some old dive pics. Are you in the oldies? Ok, yes, for me a year ago is old dive pictures. But hey, I had fun looking through them and picking some out for this post. So Brad, what number are you now?I haven't seen this guy down there in a long time. I see these guys down there fairly often, though. Mean looking and pretty at the same time. Hmm - I think the word is funky for this guy. Awesome and friendly, I always enjoy seeing the turtles. Cross cultural connection. Mr. Ugly. But don't judge a book (fish) by his cover. He could have a really nice personality. I'm not risking it however. Saipan Diver. This guy comes up for air - sometimes, but not as often as most. Do you recognize this pretty diver with the pink fins? Clue - she had a recent close encounter with a shark. Somebody is home, but door is shut. Underwater fin thief. Octopus giving a hug. Life is good. Hope this post made you smile today.

Girl's Guam Weekend

2009-04-13T14:21:00.008+10:00

Sarah and I decided to have a girl's weekend together in Guam. We wanted some quality mom/daughter time together before she gets married. So . . . we're leavin' on a jetplane. Ha. Well, it's better than when I sing the McDonald's filet o' fish song. Farewell to Saipan for a few days - we're off on our shopping adventure. Here's Sarah taking in the view from our balcony at Fiesta Resort in Guam. And me - trying out the bed. We had alot of shopping time, but plenty of time to relax and sip tea, read stories out loud, read the resurrection stories in the gospels (Easter), sample some hagen das raspberry sorbet (it's the best!), eat at our favorite places, go for a swim in the pool - yep, we fit in all that and more. That's right, I always have to get Mongolian bbq at least once while I'm there. Sarah got some too, and a .50 bowl of miso soup. We found this great white dress for Sarah on one of our shopping expeditions. The wind turned her into a marilyn monroe photo shoot a couple of times - ha. The girls had a great weekend together. And we spared the boys from having to go bra and shoe shopping - their least favorite shopping chores. I'm still smiling at all the fun we had.

Visiting Couch Surfer

2009-04-13T09:05:00.006+10:00

We had our first couch surfer come to visit our home in Saipan last weekend. Dave is working in Korea and had to exit for a few days for his visa renewal. It was fun having him stay at our house, as he also enjoys diving. Dave has alot of experience as a couch surfer, both hosting and traveling so he was a good source of information about what we should expect on both ends. The photos in this post were all taken by Dave. He says he enjoyed his stay on Saipan very much. In the photo below, Harry is heading around the rock, to lead another Grotto dive. Dave got this great shot of Harry through the fan coral at the Grotto. While Harry was teaching some students, Dave, Chris and I went diving at Obyan. Here I am exiting after our dive. Dave came along on one of the student training dives at Lau Lau, too. Photo: Harry, Dave, Kelli, Sara (new OW student). Harry and Sara worked on OW skills and Dave and I went looking for turtles and other good underwater photo ops.

NBC

2009-04-03T10:20:00.006+10:00

While the NBC film crew was on Saipan to do a story on the Friends of the Monument, Harry had the opportunity to take them diving all day on Wednesday. They wanted to do some underwater filming, with the assistance of Mike Tripp, and wanted to see some of our amazing dive sites. Harry took them to the Grotto first, where they saw a large gray stingray. They enjoyed the "drama" of the Grotto dive, as they put it, meaning the awesome experience of the hike down, crossing to the rock, and diving down into the cavern. It was fun hearing the description of the dive, from someone new to the whole majestic underwater experience of the Grotto. After the Grotto, they all rode in Scott Eck's Aqua Jet boat out to Naftan Point. I have some pictures in a previous post from the wall at Naftan Point, if you want to see it. It's definitely a beautiful dive also. Their next stop was Ice Cream, where they saw about a dozen eagle rays. I was so thankful they got to experience the very cool critters that often appear at Saipan's awesome dive sites. Their last stop was the shipwreck. There were plenty of nudibranchs and loads of fish around the shipwreck. So, with 4 dives for the day, they got a very nice overview of our awesome Saipan diving sites, and hopefully some great footage and photos. You will be able to see Harry, Angelo and Mike on NBC Nightly News sometime around the week of the 20th of April. I'll try to remember to give you a heads up when the interview airs and when it is available online. Wow. How cool is that?!

Sunday Diving and Movie Night

2009-03-26T13:44:00.013+10:00

Last Sunday we did two afternoon dives with Robert, Glen, Tina and Joel. Tina got to pick the dive site, since she missed out on last week's boat dive. She chose Obyan, and it was a perfect day for Obyan dives. Instead of hanging out in one big group, we broke out into buddies this time. Below you see Harry and Robert, buddy team number one, leading the dive. We stopped by a big sand patch with this pretty soft coral in the middle. And we found a few nudibranchs along the way. This shot turned out pretty good. Joel and I were buddy team number 2. We both had cameras, so we stopped alot for pictures. Glen spotted this eel. We saw another eel a bit further on the dive. I really like this picture of him. He looked pretty long with his body all wound around the coral. Glen and Tina were buddy team number 3. Glen spotted a big puffer fish, and I got some great shots of it and Glen. But my pictures haven't all uploaded to smugmug yet, so maybe I can post those later. Tina is trying out the new diveskin. I think she likes this one better than the old one. There were plenty of lion fish around. I got some great shots of some really big ones, but I'm still waiting on those pictures to upload, too. I saw this really pretty blue clam along the way. I think Harry is taking some lion fish photos in this picture. I really liked this spot, with the different kinds of soft coral - very beautiful. I'll post more later when I have my other pictures. But it was two very relaxing and fun dives at Obyan on Sunday. After the dives we decided to have movie night at our place. Chris rigged up his projector and screen, and surround sound speakers. So we ate pizza, made some popcorn and watched "Casablanca". That was alot of fun and a good way to end the weekend.

New Dive Skin Modeling

2009-03-16T15:05:00.007+10:00

My other dive skin got a rip in the leg, and it seems like Harry's dive students were needing to borrow it often, so I invested in a new skin. I really wanted a separate top and bottom, but apparently that isn't available at my normal dive gear shopping sites, so I shopped for a new one piece skin. Henderson has this model out for men and women, called Hot Skin. The women's version has this pretty strip of tropical flowers down the sleeve. The men's has a tribal print or ocean waves down the sleeves. When I first saw Harry's pictures of me, I was a little surprised that I was so bright under water. Michelle said I was an easy dive buddy to find. Ha. But I guess Harry's new spiffy lens filter makes this photo even clearer than reality, so I'm not quite that colorful on the dive. The fish seem to like it ok. Here I am checking my air, with Joel following close behind. There were 12 of us on these dives, both done from the Aqua Jet boat. As usual, they were good dives. I'm also enjoying the Mares BCD, a nice women's model BCD. It's a comfortable fit, with padded shoulder support and back padding. The only thing I would add is a big pocket. Ever wonder what you'd look like with a fish face?Here's a group of us checking out the rubble at Lau Lau for nudibranchs and other interesting critters. I saw one here, but I saw a really big nudi at the shipwreck. The turtle population was really down the last few dives. I'm guessing poachers again. Very sad. The turtles are so friendly and docile, and hundreds (probably thousands) of tourists enjoy getting to see them and take pictures. I think this might be more what I look like without the lens filter. There is another diver below me, shivering. The water has definitely been a little chilly this past winter (82 degrees this day), but I stayed comfortable in the new skin for all the dives this weekend. And I remembered to bring fleece jackets for Michelle and I to wear on the boat ride in . It's true - there were better things to look at than my hot new dive skin. Here is one of Harry's eagle ray shots. He got some really good ones this weekend. He might post some on his blog, be sure to check it out. None of my photos turned out that great this weekend. Maybe next time.

Boat Dives - Naftan and Ice Cream

2009-03-10T08:54:00.019+10:00

Sunday afternoon we did two boat dives. Harry took along divers : Tina S., Glen H., Robert H., Les W., and Lewie T. A Japanese group also had 7 divers, so we had a full boat. This is our boat captain in the photo below. I am fairly certain I heard him say "Argh!" and give a wicked laugh when our boat leaped over one of the swells on the way out to Naftan. Just kidding, and yep, it was a rowdy ride, but everyone did well. The Japanese girls screamed a couple times, then laughed. It was fun. Once inside the protection of the point, it was great diving. Robert took this next photo. I decided to include it in the blog since there were no other pictures of me (I had the camera) and this was a classic shot of Harry. Thanks, Robert. Here is some of our group - Les, Glen, Tina, Robert, and the boat crew standing on the pontoon. Harry is standing in the back as the boat leaves the Saipan shoreline, but he had to move around a bit to avoid the spray. Robert didn't move, so he was soaked by the time we got to the site. It looked like he'd already been diving. Robert decided to wear his goggles to keep the salt spray out of his eyes. Funny. : )And here we are, at beautiful Naftan Point. This is Tina, enjoying the great visibility. It was such a beautiful clear blue out there. And here's Lewie, going over the edge of the wall and looking down. This is the first time I've seen a diver come to a screeching halt and just hang there. But then, it's a pretty fair drop, about 130 feet. This is Harry close to the bottom of the wall. He looks tiny for a reason, it's a long way down. Harry is back to the top of the wall in this photo, checking out the coral under the boat. And he pauses for a nice underwater grin. : )Here is some of the coral formations and a bit of soft coral. There were alot of fish tucked under the ledges of the cliffline, but I didn't take a picture of them. Here's Glen and Tina doing their safety stop at the rope. And now we move on to our Ice Cream dive. Harry, Robert and Tina "hanging" out below. There were no eagle rays today. But it was still a fun dive. All around the ledges of the big Ice Cream coral head were little pockets of anenome and anenome fish. This guy was either shy or playing hide and seek with me. Can you see him?These guys weren't shy. They were on regular guard duty. The sun came out and lit up this shot for me. Very nice. This clam was tucked into the coral. He was fairly big. And here's a group of the fish under one of the shelf layers. One of the boat crew, checking on us to see if we were heading up yet. We all climbed aboard and headed into shore after two great dives, plenty of laughs, and a really fun day. We're going again next Sunday - want to join?

Friday Night Pro Volleyball Tournament

2009-03-09T16:28:00.009+10:00

Friday night we went to watch the pro volleyball tournament at PIC. We don't normally watch volleyball, but Jennifer Snyder was Harry's latest OW student, so we went to watch her play. This is Jenn getting ready to serve.

And here is Jenn and Janelle, the American Women's Pro team. They won all exhibition games that night. Good job, girls. Jenn taking a quick break between matches. This was a big deal for the island. There was a large crowd at PIC enjoying the competitions. And here's the proud Dive Instructor with his newest student, Jenn, and her volleyball partner, Janelle. It was an awesome evening - great competition, fun seeing a bunch of our friends, and this really sweet sunset.

More Diving

2009-03-09T11:08:00.007+10:00

Harry has been doing so much diving lately, that I don't see much of him during the week any more. By the time he gets home he just drops into bed and falls asleep within minutes. Don't get me wrong, we are very thankful for all the work. It is truly a blessing. And Harry did finally take a minute to post on his blog, so you need to check that one out, as his last OW student was professional volleyball player Jennifer Snyder. I got to go along on one of her dives - a night dive, which was her first dive after her certification. Yep, Jenn is an ethusiastic diver. Harry took this picture below of a puffer fish on the night dive. It was a big one. I took this picture of a lion fish inside a small hole in the coral. I think I took this one at Lau Lau, but it could have been Obyan because we saw alot of lion fish there lately. Harry had some dive customers from Pohnpei this past weekend. I went along on their Saturday morning dive. Morris and Karine seemed to enjoy Saipan diving, in spite of living on an island where they can dive alot also. Harry the faithful dive guide, patiently waiting as his customers take photos. Karine checking out the Lau Lau rubble for nudis or other interesting critters. We all stopped to take pictures of the anenome and anenome fish. I had better luck catching them in good positions for the camera this time. This guy even posed and smiled for me. Very enjoyable dive days. In the next couple of posts, I'll put up some pictures of our two boat dives from Sunday afternoon. We dove Naftan Point and Ice Cream.

Good Weekend

2009-03-02T15:38:00.007+10:00

Wow, blogger is a bummer today. This is my second attempt at writing a post about the weekend. One of Harry's dive students lost my camera on the rope at Obyan, so I won't have photos for this post. But no worries, I'll replace the camera soon.
I'll just post the short version of the weekend this time, if it decides to post.
Saturday was a 3 dive day, with one morning dive at Lau Lau with dive customers, then two boat dives with the same customers and John and Angelo. Mr. Lee brought some dive customers from Guam too. We all went out on Scott's boat, which is always fun as he has great boat crew. John is a new diver on island, and he'll be working in the lab at the hospital. I think everyone knows Angelo. The dives were both great - very relaxing. We saw a couple eagle rays and scores of fish. Great visibility.
Sunday we did two morning dives at Obyan with John, Tina, Glen and Robert. Obyan had pretty good visibility also, but some wave action and a bit of current. But it was the usual Obyan sunlit aquarium with fish and coral castles everywhere. I always enjoy my Obyan dives. Harry had two dive customers to take back to Obyan in the afternoon for two more dives. But I opted for some girl time with Sarah and went to Fiesta Resort Spa for a massage package. It was awesome, and so relaxing. I always feel renewed after a spa visit there - both spiritually and physically. As we sipped hot tea and nibbled cookies in our flower bath, I was thanking God for the opportunity to enjoy so many special moments - the sun, the sea, and the relaxing spa. I am blessed.

Sunday Dives

2009-02-20T16:12:00.011+10:00

Sunday was a good dive day. We took OW students Robert and Tina (above) and Glen (below) for two dives in the morning. They almost have their OW skills completed.
Below are some photos from my Sunday afternoon dives. Harry and I went to Obyan with Dan for two dives. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure which day it was, Saturday or Sunday. They all seem to run together with numerous dives. One day was 4 dives for me. I can't remember which one now. Anyway, the anenome and anenome fish were fun to take pictures of.
We saw some huge lion fish there, too.
And I saw this funky worm like thing. I don't know what it is.
This tiny purple fan coral was tucked inside an arch in the bigger coral. It's so pretty.
And the soft coral was just gorgeous with the sun shining down on it. Visibility was much better here than it's been at Lau Lau lately.
Here's Dan exiting Obyan after two good dives.
And Harry heading up the beach, ready to call it a good dive day.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T11:32:00.009+10:00

Ok yes, Harry and I spent Valentine's Day underwater with 4 dives each for the day. I'm guessing that doesn't sound very romantic to my female friends. But we did go on a sunset dinner cruise on the Star and Stripes with other Rotary couples on Friday night. A boat cruise is pretty romantic, right? In the photo above, I'm boarding the Stars and Stripes, getting ready for our cruise in the lagoon and dinner with friends.
Here's Harry connecting with other couples - Kathryn and Jim, and Ellie and Oleg.
Harry and I are out on the deck after the sail has been hoisted.
Harry enjoying a drink on deck with more Rotary friends.
Rotary couples on the sunset dinner cruise.
Here's a shot of the ocean, just before we went inside the cabin for dinner.
Ben, Kim, Donika and Ben's wife all waiting for the group to come inside for dinner.
Donika and I dancing with the entertainer and tourists to YMCA. Yeah, it's a little crazy after dinner time. Ha. But the singer on board even sang a Russian song with Ellie and Oleg. I was impressed that he could sing in all those languages. It was a fun night.
So, what did you do for Valentine's Day?

CIC Sunset Dinner Cruise

2009-02-12T09:52:00.009+10:00

CIC and AON hosted a dinner cruise for visiting VIP's from Australia. In the picture above, the CIC group is getting ready to board the boat.
Some of us girls (and Tom) are enjoying the wind in our hair, as the boat takes off to tour the lagoon.
Grace and I are inside relaxing after a good meal catered by Fiesta Resort. Grace did a lovely rendition of "I'm on the Top of the World", and I did the cha cha with one of the boat guys. : )
Robert had the pleasure of wearing the blond "wig" while posing for pictures with "Elvis". What can I say? Saipan entertainment. : )
Some of my fellow CIC coworkers enjoying the deck and sunset.
Here we are scrunching closer together for a close up shot.
A nice sunset and Managaha shot from the deck. I think we all had a fun evening. It was a real treat for our whole office.

Students and Dive Number 100 !!

2009-02-09T14:18:00.010+10:00

This past weekend was very busy with dive students. Harry had 5 students and one regular diver, which meant 8 dives for the weekend for him. I only went on 5 of the dives, which was still a busy dive weekend for me. In the photo above you see Glen, on his first OW dive.
In this photo, Harry is taking pictures of the big snapper while Tina swims nearby.
Here's the big snapper coming in for a closer look at us, while Tina watches him off to the side.
And here's a closer shot of Tina on her first OW dive.
Harry and Robert are exiting on to the beach after a great dive.
Glen and Tina had to leave for another commitment, but Robert stayed for dive number two, where he finished up most of his OW dive skills, and got to hang out with turtles.
Harry and Robert enjoying some turtle time.
Curtis joined us for our Sunday afternoon dive. No students this time, just a recreational dive for all of us - AND the 100th dive for me!!!
There I am, coming up behind Curtis, enjoying dive number 100.

Magazine Cover

2009-02-02T13:25:00.001+10:00

Some of my photos are in the Hafadai magazine for February. That's really cool for me. Hafadai magazine is a Japanese Tourist magazine for the CNMI. The story inside has quotes from our blogs and a few more pictures. But everything is in Japanese, so I can't read it. It's still very cool for me to have my photos on the cover.

Cathy - Official Dive Student

2009-01-26T16:09:00.006+10:00

Sunday afternoon Harry and I took Cathy out for her first two open water dives. In spite of some waves and current, Cathy was confident underwater, and seemed to enjoy her two dives quite a bit. I enjoyed them, too. But then I always enjoy diving with turtles and friends. : ) The above picture is Harry working with Cathy on some dive skills.
And here's Cathy off on her first turtle swim!
The turtle decided to surface, but I still thought this was a good photo.
Cathy, official underwater mermaid.
Cathy and Harry after two successful OW skills dives.
Who is this mystery man? And just in time for Chinese New Year.

New Camera

2009-01-22T16:31:00.004+10:00

I thought I'd post a few photos I took last weekend, with my new camera. I'm definitely liking the new camera, but I have to learn a bit about using this one. It has a slower response time, so I missed the octupus. But I did ok with the turtles.
Isn't this a cute turtle pose? Chris is enjoying the turtle show, too.
Harry was trying to follow an octupus and almost set his hand on this guy. I pushed his arm away from it.
And this cute little eel was just posing for us on the coral. Good dive day! And fun new camera day!

Life, Wedding and the Boy Cats

2009-01-22T08:26:00.012+10:00

This past weekend, we had the pleasure of attending a wedding for fellow diver, Dave Johansen. This is Dave and his lovely bride with the minister on the beach at PIC. It was a lovely little ceremony. True to island form, the maid of honor showed up after the ceremony was done - ha. Island time.
This is the new Mrs. Johansen, in her very lovely Thai wedding gown. They had a very nice wedding reception at Charlie's in PIC.
I just realized right after I mentioned Charlie's in PIC, that this next photo is of our Charlie. Made me laugh. Nope, the reception wasn't at his place. He's not that social.
I posted the picture of Charlie for Sarah. I figured she might be missing the boy cats a little. But I'm posting this picture of Alex for Josh. I was talking to him, so he's working his claws all happy on his towel on the table. Yep, the good ole boy is looking a bit old. He still gets a lot of love and attention at home.
I may have mentioned this before, but we went to the Hyatt for Christmas brunch after our Christmas eagle ray dive. Edz and Angelo joined us. I thought I'd post this picture as a HI and we miss you - from Mom and Dad.
These next two photos are just for the sheer enjoyment of it. Both are Hyatt sunsets. It's hard to beat the great beauty of island sunsets.

Happy Winter

2009-01-14T11:35:00.003+10:00

This is a picture of where we used to live. Literally, this is the road we used to live on in Michigan (picture from this week).
This is where we live now.

Random Holiday Photos

2009-01-06T10:46:00.012+10:00

I got so many nice photos over the holidays that I decided to just pick a few random shots that made me smile. The one below was a red fish sitting inside the soft coral at the pipe. It was just so pretty. Yeah, I should have used my macro and flash, but I still like the picture.
These two headed straight for each other, bonked heads, then went on their separate ways.

This little starfish caught my eye. Cute blue tips, very pretty.
We saw a sea slug near the rope. It looks like someone left a message on him since he was all covered in sand. We were guessing - "wash me" or maybe "happy new year".
Lisa and Harry are finishing up some surface skills at the buoy.
And here's the happy OW Grad! Congrats Lisa! (above) In the photos below, are Josh, Regis, Sarah and Chris. I missed them all very much over the holidays. But they called and shared their adventures, and sent me some pictures. Thanks, Sarah. I love you guys and miss you so much.

Dive students and fun dives

2009-01-05T15:49:00.007+10:00

Harry and I spent the weekend diving with one of Harry's students, Lisa, who is working on her Open Water certification, and her husband, Scott. At the beginning of the dives, Lisa and Harry would work on the OW skills, while Scott and I hovered nearby checking out the lion fish and other things we could find to take photos of. In the picture below, Harry is shaking Lisa's hand, congratulating her on completing the skill successfully. Lisa is checking out her compass for her surface navigation dive. Here's Scott, enjoying his underwater time. The underwater fun truly picks up when you get to share it with turtles. Such a pretty green turtle. And here I am, thankful for my new BDC and camera. The new camera definitely works better than my old one. Here's the group, exiting the dive site, and discussing the skills and whether or not to do another OW dive that day. It was such a beautiful day, and such calm waters, we all opted for two dives. Scott is a Navy pilot. He and Lisa are stationed in Japan. I think they've been enjoying their Saipan vacation so far.

Healthy and Prosperous 2009!

2008-12-31T08:45:00.002+10:00

Photo from : Free Stock Photos.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Christmas Day - part two

2008-12-26T09:45:00.020+10:00

I am still in awe of this part of our Christmas Day dive adventure. Like I said in the last post, I'm saving the best for last, even though this was the first dive. In the picture below you see Brad, Harry and one of the boat crew doing a life jacket demonstration for us. We took along some of our yummy Christmas snacks from Expressions - seasoned pretzels with wasabi mustard dip, carmel macadamia nut popcorn with white chocolate and peppermint (yep, that's really good). The boat serves hot tea and fruit, so we were all set. Angelo is dropping down, snapping his fingers at the fish. Harry and I headed for the large coral head, and began to round the corner. This is what we saw! Yep, how awesome is that? Harry and Angelo counted 45 eagle rays before they lost count. When I rounded that corner, I was just stunned. I went down hoping to see an eagle ray or two. Wow, this was just spectacular! My jaw dropped, I had to hold my regulator in for minute or two. As we looked up over the edge, they were just everywhere. So graceful and beautiful. What amazing creatures!Yes, they came this close to us! Harry and I took turns with my camera. He got a great video. While he was shooting the video, one of the rays headed straight for him. It got within a couple feet, then made an arc around his head. On it's way by, it's tale slid along Harry's neck. Yes, I watched this whole thing happen, holding my breath, not making any sudden moves. All the divers saw it happening too. We were stunned, and had much to say about it back on the boat. Here they are on one of the exits. Too cool.

After spending some time with the eagle rays, we went down to the bottom to look around. This is Kathy.Harry playing with a sea cucumber. Brad and Kathy "hook up". After a quick swim around the bottom, we headed back up to the top of the coral head to watch the eagle rays again. They seemed to be coming even closer to us this time.

They were so close, I could look into their eyes. And they seemed to be looking back at me, too. What an incredible experience. This was definitely an unforgettable Christmas day for me. I feel so blessed to have had this experience. To the other divers along on this adventure, I have tons more photos of you all and the eagle rays, of course. Feel free to check them out on Harry's smugmug site. Go to family pics, then Kelli's pics. Feel free to post them on your own blogs, too. Especially, Brad - such a bummer about your camera flooding.

Well, thanks for sharing this grand adventure with me. I'm still smiling. Happy Holidays!!

Christmas Day - part one

2008-12-26T09:00:00.016+10:00

As Christmas day approached, I admit I was feeling a little sad as I wasn't going to spend Christmas with my kids. I usually have at least one of them with me on Christmas. Not this year. But as is often the case in our lives, God has a cool plan for us, no matter how odd the circumstances. Life is definitely an adventure. In the next two posts, I'm going to share with you my 'Christmas Day on a tropical island' life adventure. I hope you enjoy it. I guess the picture below tells a big part of the story already. Yep, we did two boat dives on Christmas Day! In the picture below is Harry, Jeong Ah, and Brad D. The sun was shining and the water was a gorgeous blue. Here's Kathy checking out the horizon, with Managaha in the distance. Meet the divers of Christmas Day. Brad D. Brad and Jeong Ah. Brad D. checking out some of the wreckage. Closeup of Brad and Jeong Ah. Angelo.Kathy and Brad, checking under the wreckage. This dive was Kathy's idea, as her Christmas gift to Brad. I was so thankful we were included in the plan. Brad R.Dave.Harry. The wreck has some beautiful coral growing on it. The little black and white fish live in the coral. I like watching these long tube fish. I don't know their names. This guy kept swimming around me, but would run off when I raised my camera. This time, I finally got a good shot of him. This guy was actually quite huge. He was also camera shy. This was a spectacular dive, great visibility. We all enjoyed it very much. I'll post the other dive next. They actually happened in reverse. Ice Cream dive was first, then the shipwreck. But you know what they say about saving the best for last . . .

Joyous Island Christmas !!

2008-12-24T16:22:00.003+10:00

Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!

Yay TURTLES !!!

2008-12-22T15:43:00.022+10:00

Sunday was just an awesome dive with Chris, Harry and TURTLES!! Here is Chris trying out Harry's new BCD. Chris and turtle. They were content to let us hang around. This turtle stopped to munch a while, then would move on to another snack site.

Aren't they just the coolest creatures?Harry thought he'd save this one a trip to the surface for air. It looks like he's considering it, huh?The underwater turtle grin. Ok, I don't think the turtle was too impressed with the bunny ears. He looks alittle miffed. Harry trying to make up to the turtle for the bunny ear incident. And finally ME ! yay - with turtles. This is just so awesome.

If you ever wonder, what are you thinking while you swim next to a turtle? Well, I'll tell you. I'm thanking God for letting me enjoy such an amazing experience. Too cute, huh? This is my photo. But Harry got a nicer one, using the flash and macro mode. Nope, you aren't seeing double, well ok, yes you are. Yep, two - fun!

Harry's great close up shot. What a truly fun and amazing dive day!

What a friend!

2008-12-22T15:34:00.003+10:00

While Harry and I were diving on Saturday, we saw Doug below us, looking for stuff on the bottom. Harry snuck up behind him and tugged his fin. The bubbles you see bursting from Doug's regulator are a string of bad words, or so I'm told. I was laughing so hard I made my mask leak. These two are really bad boys underwater, especially to each other. After Doug's heart started beating regularly again, the fish came to visit him for a minute. I'm surprised he didn't mess his pants, but then, maybe he did.

Rotary Christmas Lunch

2008-12-22T15:08:00.006+10:00

Chris, Sarah and I got to join Harry for the Rotary Christmas lunch. Dave and Rita were also at our table. As always, it was good food, fun games and some raffle prizes.
Here's Dave laughing at one of his raffle gifts.
One of the games was choosing a member of your team, and decorating him as a christmas tree. Harry was the lucky team member chosen to become their "tree".
And here's the slightly scary finished product. Merry Christmas everyone!

Sarah's Last Ladder Beach Cookout

2008-12-18T10:24:00.005+10:00

Sarah wanted one last Ladder Beach cookout. It was a nice relaxing evening. Here I am washing the charcoal smudges off my fingers. Emma always comes along to "help". Chris and Sarah are putting the veggie packs together. Sarah folding some of the foil packs of veggies. Harry got a steak to toss on the grill too. Sarah grilling our dinner. We had grilled portabella mushrooms, Harry had steak, and foil packs filled with veggies (pumpkin, yam, potato, mushroom, spices, herbs, zucchini), and sliced apples with butter and cinnamon in foil was grilled for the dessert. It was all delicious. Emma and I went off on a golf ball hunting expedition. We found 6 balls on that trip. I think we took home about a dozen. I guess someone was hitting them off the cliff.

Dive Students

2008-12-18T10:18:00.004+10:00

A beautiful Oleai sunset. We came to Oleai at lunch time to give Harry's first two Open Water dive students their exams and possibly head out for an afternoon dive. However, the guys didn't have their book work done, so they had to work through that first. But it did allow us to enjoy a nice sunset at Oleai. Here they are - his first two Open Water graduates. Congrats Pastor Greg and Joel.

PIC Waterpark Day

2008-12-18T10:00:00.010+10:00

Chris and Sarah, Harry and I all won free waterpark passes to the PIC, so we all decided to go there on Saturday and relax for the day. Harry spent so much time surfing, he was sore and exhausted by the time we went home. But then, that's just Harry, always playing hard and having to go back to work to rest. Harry, the surf dog. He managed to do 3 rolls, get back up and exit nicely before he quit for the day. This is Chris doing a mighty fine surf manuever just before hitting the cement divider. Harry enjoying the lazy river after an exhausting surf day. Chris enjoying his relaxing lazy river ride. Sarah and Chris. Sarah wouldn't let him put bunny ears behind her head - so . . .I was trying to get my plumeria in the picture. I found a fallen plumeria near our recliners, and stuck it in my braid. Ah yes, a PIC beach sunset. It was a fun and memorable day.

Our final Saipan Girl Day

2008-12-17T13:59:00.011+10:00

Last Friday I took the day off from work so I could spend the whole day with Sarah. We had a great "girl's day" together, visiting some of our favorite island spots together. We started our day at Java Joe's - I got a hot chai and Sarah got a capiccino. Mmm. One of our stops was Bonzai. It was a wild wave day, but no turtles in sight. The blues were awesome that day. The girls snapping their own "tourist" photo. While heading down the road from Suicide Cliff, I spotted these highway signs. I just had to take a picture, and record this Saipan moment. This is a closer look at highway 320. Yep, best traveled via 4 wheel drive. And highway 322 had a few suspicious looking little stink biscuits on the road. It would make one think that something other than cars might be using this road. Aha! I thought so. Sarah practicing to be a feng shui model. There are dozens of the stone arrangements going up to Suicide cliff now. They are fun to look at. A look over the edge at Suicide Cliff. No, I did not go over the fence for this photo. View from Suicide Cliff. Again, awesome blues out there. Sarah and I had a great day together. We stopped at Expressions and treated ourselves to some great gourmet candy. We ate lunch at Coffee Care. We shopped for Sarah's wedding gown, and checked out a few rings too. Sarah found a gorgeous wedding gown. All in all, it was some pretty great Mom/Daughter time. I will always treasure our girl days.

Disco King and Queen

2008-12-17T13:52:00.003+10:00

Nope, not Harry and I - sad, I know. Chris and Sarah won these trophies December 11, in the dance competition fundraiser for Brilliant Star School. Congrats Chris and Sarah!! You might be great at disco swing, but your best dance is the tango!

December 2008

2008-12-10T15:26:00.009+10:00

I thought I'd pay tribute to all the happy events of December.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, JOSH AND REGIS !! (Dec. 3)

CONGRATS ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT, CHRIS AND SARAH !!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAWN !! (Dec. 11) AND CONGRATS ON YOUR WEDDING, KATELYN AND GABE!! (Dec. 19) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOZUMI !! (Dec. 15) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, DAD AND SHARON. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of Dad and Sharon together, only this picture of Dad and me. and HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

Saipan Turtles

2008-12-08T10:58:00.011+10:00

It's always great to see turtles on a dive. And lately, we've had some good encounters. Lau Lau was really murky and a bit rowdy this past weekend, but the weekend before, we got some nice photos. I have so many I had a hard time choosing which ones to post. So you can check out Harry's smugmug later if you want to see them all. Here's a pretty green below with Chris swimming in the background. Here's a better shot of Chris with a different turtle. Harry and turtle. And finally, Kelli and turtle in the next two photos. I hope you enjoyed the virtual turtle swim. We sure did!

This just says "peaceful" to me. I take my time, and swim slowly past the soft corals. Peace.

Turtles, Nudis and Friends

2008-12-03T10:13:00.034+10:00

It was another 4 dive weekend for me. As usual, I enjoyed them all. The following photos are different shots of friends and aqua critters that I enjoyed this past weekend. I had some other nice photos of me with turtles but they didn't upload successfully into smugmug, so I'll just show you some of the ones that uploaded. I'll start with this picture of me - taken by me. Yeah, since I have the camera I don't get too many pictures of myself underwater anymore. So I took this one myself and bugged Harry to take the one after it.

Here is one of the turtles we saw over the weekend. Cute, huh? This one was close to me, but heading for the surface for some air. Turtle having his breakfast. At one point, Harry took out his regulator and munched with the turtle, trying to convince the turtle that he was one of them. He claims he doesn't know what the turtles see in the algae, as it wasn't that tasty. This was such a pretty lion fish. I loved the blue tipped "feathers". Michael catching up to us on one of our dives. I thought this was a pretty urchin with all the stripes on his spines. One of my nudi shots. Another nudi shot. Rose found this nudi tucked under a ledge overhang. Harry took this photo. I think this one is a halgerda guahan. When I swam past the same ledge the next day, I saw that she left this behind. Beautiful egg ribbon. Rose checking something out. Rose is good at finding cool little critters. Rose playing ring around the rosey with a turtle. Rose was following a turtle, and headed him my way. He swam right over my head.

Harry munching more sea life, trying to convince the critters he's one of them. Harry with pillow starfish. Harry and the herd heading west. Ha. Harry waiting for me in the distance. Fish circle. Those are Harry's bubbles coming up from under the coral, as he checked out the little caves. He managed to chase a Titan Trigger Fish out of the caves. Bubble coral. Another nudi. I was happy with my photography for this one. Anenome fish and anenome. I ended the 4 dive weekend at the spa. I was sooo tired. I actually fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the reef line. Such a peaceful and pretty place. I'm thankful to get to hang out here. Sarah wondering why I am taking her picture at the spa. The peaceful spa fountains.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-29T18:51:00.006+10:00

Sarah spent hours cooking a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner for 8 thankful dinner guests. This year we had two Navy guys join us - Jason and Randall. Harry took them both diving and to the Grotto for a swim before dinner. I think they enjoyed their day with the family. We also had Rhea and Kaye join our family for the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Here is the delicious roasted turkey, fresh out of the oven. We sent a good portion of turkey and fixings back to the ship with the guys. Sarah carving the roast beast - ha - not really. I took the knife from her and did that job myself. Yeah, it's usually Harry's job, but he wasn't back yet with the Navy guys, since they stopped for the Grotto swim, so I went ahead and got the carving done.

Here's our pretty holiday table.

This picture is a little blurry, but I always like having a picture with my chef of the day.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T14:50:00.004+10:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There is no pressure to buy gifts, instead it's a time to reflect on all we are thankful for, and share our blessings with others. Every year we have someone new at our table. This year we'll have a couple of guys from the Navy ship joining us for turkey dinner. I am looking forward to hearing everyone share what they are thankful for. But I thought I'd use my post for today to give you a chance to share what you are thankful for, too.
I'll give you my brief list. 1. My awesome husband, Harry. 2. My wonderful, loving kids, Josh, Sarah and Regis. 3. A few of my good friends who have weathered the triumphs and pains of life this past year - Chris, Laura, Hozumi.
There is much more to this list, of course. But I thought I'd keep it brief, in hopes that some of you share your "thankful for" list too. Have a great Thanksgiving!!

Four Weekend Dives

2008-11-24T10:46:00.029+10:00

Harry and I went on 4 dives this weekend. Saturday it was just the two of us. We did two Lau Lau dives. The first dive was my final for Advanced Diver certification. So now I'm officially an Advanced PADI Scuba Diver. I can move on to my Rescue Diver course now. Sunday we did two more Lau Lau dives with Brad R., Kathy P., and Brad D. Here is Brad R., Kathy and Harry in the photo below. The Where's Waldo of fish - the scorpion fish. I love these guys - they look like they are smiling, almost chuckling. Kathy spotted something interesting. Brad also spotted something interesting - inside a cave.

Harry picked up something yukky - spewing sea cucumber. Harry relaxing. Harry heading down to check out the "Lemuria" site. It seems to be growing. Harry swarmed by yellow fish near the site. Brad and Kathy checking out the school of yellow fish. Kathy checking out the anenome fish. Brad and Kathy near the anenome.Beautiful anenome and anenome fish.

We got to swim with a turtle on our second dive. Brad D. says her name is Fiona. Here she is heading up to the surface for some air. Kathy and turtle. Brad and turtle.

Brad D. taking pictures and video of turtle. I'm guessing he's got some great video of this turtle, so check out his blog, too. The guys, trailing "Fiona" for more video. When I was coming in on the rope, Dennis and Judy were ahead of me. Judy hung on to Dennis's back, then Brad latched on to Judy's back - so here is a stack of 3 heading in from the dive. Fun dives today.

Congrats Harry and Brad!!

2008-11-21T09:21:00.010+10:00

After 16 days of studying and taking exams, Harry and Brad received their PADI Dive Instructor certifications in Guam. Harry was sick as a dog during most of it, but he still managed to pull off an almost perfect score. I'm very proud of him. I arranged a little get-together for them both as a Welcome Home and Congratulations party. A number of dive friends came over and congratulated the "boys". Angelo and Brad R. were not able to make it due to a horrible car accident over the weekend, and a soccer game. I'm sorry they couldn't make it, as they had plans to "entertain" Harry and Brad with a little lip sync. A friend let Harry and Brad use an empty house in Guam, so the neighbors all thought that Brad and Harry were the new gay couple that moved in. So Angelo was going to dress up as Harry (eye patch and all) and Brad was going to dress as Brad D. They were going to sing "Just the Two of Us" for them. That would have been a hoot! I laugh just thinking about it. In the picture below, the cats found a safe place from all the people in the house - right on top of the frig. Here's some of the group - L to R - John, Esther, Mike and Malou. L to R - Chris, Brad (congrats!) and DennisJudy and HarrySarah (who cooked some amazing appetizers for the party), Morgan and Denise. Mike and son. This little guy smiles all the time. And Oli, "helping" with cup clean up. Oh, maybe she was just biting holes in the cups, that's it.

Kelli Dives

2008-11-21T08:53:00.009+10:00

While Harry was gone to Guam taking his Dive Instructor courses and exams, I managed to get out on a couple of dives to Obyan with Michael and Chris. Here is a great shot of Michael. I like the tank straps, it's almost like a little tank jacket, seems more secure. Here's Chris doing some exploring. It was fairly good visibility out here, but more murky closer to shore. Chris again, with a boat overhead. We saw this big chunk of stuff, and it had fish all over it, eating something. I never could tell what it was. Pretty fish and coral. Fish out near the eel garden. We didn't see too many garden eels. The fish were so pretty hanging out over the coral heads. Nice dives, but I missed having Harry along.

Facebook

2008-11-19T13:45:00.001+10:00

I set up a Facebook account. It's kind of fun so far. And I've been able to contact different people from our past, so that's been fun, too. I posted a few pictures on my page. And I finally figured out that if I list I'm married, I should put to whom. HA - yep, a facebook mutant, still, but working on it.

I'm in a Magazine

2008-11-11T10:27:00.002+10:00

Check it out! I'm in the November 2008 Issue of Beach Road Magazine. Nope, not the cover girl - maybe next time.

Friends

2008-11-06T10:15:00.003+10:00

After work last night I went to a beachside bbq that was arranged as a farewell to a friend and business associate. While waiting for the bbq to start, I called a friend to see how she was doing. She told me about a car accident that she and her husband were in last week, in almost the exact same spot that the person almost hit Sarah and I. Thankfully, my friend and her husband are ok, but very sore from the impact. However, they are not sure if their car can be repaired or if it will be totalled. I'm just thankful she is ok. Close calls sometimes bring our attention back to the important things - life and the well being of those we love. So once I found out she'd be ok, and we arranged to meet this weekend, I thanked God for His protection, and headed over to the bbq.
We said farewell to John O., who has lived on the island for many many years. John will be missed very much. It's sad to see someone like him leave our little community. But of course, we can understand. He said, you know, it's just not fun to live here anymore. There is nothing to buy in the stores, just not much good left out there. I listened, nodded. I do understand what he is saying, and I hear the same thing over and over. The quality of life has greatly diminished. Many have chosen to move on from that. So later in the evening I told him I know what things make him want to leave, but what things about Saipan will he miss? He said the people. He said he's met alot of really great people out here, and he will miss them very much.
Well, John, you also will be missed very much. But we wish you the best in your new adventures in Arkansas. It sounds like you have a great place lined up. I'm happy for you, and hope to hear of your continued life adventures.

Ladder Beach Campfire Dinner

2008-11-04T14:11:00.014+10:00

Saturday night Chris, Sarah and I decided to have a campfire at Ladder Beach. We cooked out our dinner, let Emma play on the beach, and just relaxed in the cave listening to the waves crashing on the shore. It was a beautiful, peaceful evening. Sarah cut up some fresh pumpkin, yams, zucchini and local green beans. We tossed them in olive oil and a few herbs, then wrapped them in foil and placed them on the hot coals at our campfire. Here is the beautiful and peaceful Ladder Beach, at about 6:00 p.m.Emma enjoying her beach and family time. Sarah inside the cave, wrapping our veggies in foil. Chris making sure the fire is going. Emma the ever faithful guard dog - wouldn't want that stray cat to get too close to her family. Sarah and Chris relaxing while the coals are getting ready. Our little foil packs of fresh veggies on the fire. We went to the farmer's market that morning and bought all our veggies. Sarah bought some fresh shrimp, too. Mmm - fresh fire grilled veggies!Awesome grilling results - everything tasted fantastic! But note to self, wooden skewers for the shrimp don't work with an open flame. Ha. If all that good food wasn't enough, we even had champagne with fresh (yes, fresh) strawberries. Were we spoiled or what?Chris and I enjoying our champagne and strawberries. Chris and Sarah - just enjoying a hug. This was an awesome end to a wonderful sunny day on our little tropical island. Good times! - as Josh would say.

Life is Precious

2008-10-30T11:37:00.002+10:00

This morning my daughter and I got in the car and headed to work. We were chatting about some loser driver from our road that cut her off the night before while she was stopped at the end of the road, to turn right. She was in the right hand lane. He was sitting in the left lane blocking the path to any drivers that would want to turn in to our road too. Rude, poor driving skills, yes. But more than that, this type of driving risks everyone around them, and themselves and their passengers too. I have to wonder if life is meaningless to these people, that laziness would allow them to drive like this. So anyway, we finished that conversation, and headed north on Beach Road and approached the Quartermaster Road intersection. You know where this story is going, don't you? I was in the left lane (that goes straight through) and two other cars were in the right lane turning right. As I was right at Quartermaster, the car on that road decided to turn left into oncoming traffic. I hit my brakes, quickly assessed my options, drove around the cement divider into the oncoming traffic lane because it was empty and back into my own lane (all with the assistance of a guardian angel, I'm sure) - ALL to avoid the loser at the intersection who pulled out into oncoming traffic. Really, what are people thinking? Do they really think two cars can occupy the same space at the same time? Did they skip science and physics classes growing up? Common sense, 101? I laid on the horn for quite a while, and I only wish I had been able to see the license number. Not that it would actually help, but I would feel better reporting their wrecklessness. So again, life, is it not precious to some? Not precious enough to drive responsibly? Apparently not, because I've seen a number of accidents in this very same spot. And one was a cop car (not his fault, another loser exiting Quartermaster). Anyway, just needed to vent. I don't like people risking the life of my daughter due to their wrecklessness, or my life for that matter. Be careful out there!

Marianas Dive UW Pumpkin Carving Contest

2008-10-27T15:16:00.037+10:00

Marianas Dive held it's 2nd Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest on Saturday, Oct. 25. This sounded like a fun event last year, but I wasn't doing much diving back then. Things change alot in a year. I was so excited to attend this year's event. The only thing missing was having Mike Tripp there, too. But he'll be home soon. Harry and I went shopping for pumpkins the night before. We found nice big round ones, but they were $25. So we opted for the local version. I got a local squash and Harry got the local pumpkin. Here's my squash just before the event began. Here's Harry gutting his pumpkin. They smelled so good when we cut them open, I was tempted to take it home and have Sarah cook them for us. But we went ahead with the contest - yes, in spite of our art deficiencies. We thought we could still have a fun time. And we did! Here's Tami working at the registration "desk". And Mark busy cooking burgers on the grill. Moon is helping with flipping the burgers.

Rose is headed out to the carving site with her pumpkin in tow. Harry brought his pumpkin out to the site via "dribbling". He would bounce the pumpkin as far down as he could and watch it float back up to him. Our carving site was near some beautiful coral, and the sunlight lit everything up really well for us. Even the fish were excited it was pumpkin carving day. They seemed to really appreciate the pumpkin innerds. Dennis is working diligently on his pumpkin. And Rose is busy carving away on hers, too. Tami is working in the background. Here's my squash work of art. Ha. Yes, here he is. I think he needs a name. Any suggestions? He was truly mortified when Harry did this to him. Poor squash guy. I'm guessing the sea cucumber wasn't that happy either. Gross!Susan is modeling her pumpkin, with carved palm trees. Very pretty. Susan won 1st place. Brad is our underwater videographer. Tami is working hard on her pumpkin. Tami won 2nd place. Harry is beginning his carving. And here's the finished product. Alien pumpkin guy. Once again, Harry does mean things to the pumpkins. He's making his barf sand. I think he's smiling in his regulator. Dennis is hanging out near some beautiful soft coral after finishing his pumpkin. Harry is just plain hanging out after finishing his pumpkin. Where are those bubbles coming from?Underwater pumpkin showcase. And here we are, back at the Marianas Dive canopy. Dennis and Judy are enjoying a burger. I brought some of the dried cherries that my Dad sent me for my birthday. They were a real hit. But we also had decorated cupcakes and cold drinks - yum!Well, here are the contestants for the pumpkin carving contest. L to R is Susan's, Kelli's, Harry's, and Tami's. Close up of Kelli and Harry's pumpkins. I know you wanted a better look. Ha. L to R Tami's, Dennis's, Ron's and Rose's pumpkins. And finally here's the group, owning up to our carving expertise. We had a great time! Thanks Marianas Dive for putting on a fun event!

Truth Challenged (PC term)

2008-10-24T14:44:00.004+10:00

It was an honor to have the gentlemen from Washington DC out here to visit the island this past week. They were respectful, kind, smart, honorable men. I was embarrassed more than once by how they were treated during their visit. Have we lost our minds? Is rude and juvenile the new "cool"?

Yeah, I guess I'm struggling with a number of the ongoing issues. I don't know why I keep expecting people to tell the truth or do what is best for everyone. I should know after almost 13 years living here, that is far from likely. I don't want to sound cynical, really, but this past week (and the article about the governor, speaker and senate president's meeting with the DC men regarding the Marine Monument proposal) has just been over the top. The article was, frankly, a blatant lie. http://saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?newsID=84703&cat=1

I heard directly from persons present in that meeting. CNMI Officials certainly did not say - no, no, a thousand times no. Just a plain simple lie. The people of this island should ask themselves why they are being lied to like this? What is the agenda? Why can't they know the truth, and share their opinions openly? In my short life and experience, I tend to notice that people lie to cover wrong, hate, greed and fear. So I have to wonder which one of these or all of these is the motive for that behavior. I'm way beyond thinking that whoever fed the lies to the media will be held responsible. That just doesn't happen.

But I want to thank the Friends of the Monument group. You worked hard to share the proposal and potential good with the island. You were respectful and caring. You stated facts and listened to both sides of the issue. It's good to know there are still people like you all out there.

In other good news, there is a business group coming together to clean up and paint the pavilions at one of our beach parks this weekend. And the Marianas Dive group is having an underwater pumpkin carving contest. Sounds like great fun. Happy Fall!

Turtle weekend

2008-10-21T14:56:00.018+10:00

It was fun diving with turtles this weekend, they just seemed happy to let us hang out with them. But we also saw some other cool critters while we were down there. In the photo below, I stayed hovering overhead while Harry checked out the crevasses. We've been seeing these little stone monuments all over the island. So Harry built a little fish feng shui down there. I was surprised by this eel as he came out in front of me as I was following Harry. Nice scorpion fish photo by Harry. Octopus hiding under a rock. Turtles - up close and personal. This guy was stirring up a bunch of silt wiggling against a rock. The turtles seemed content to have us near, no matter what direction we shot the photos of them. Harry watching this one eating his mid-day snack. This one was really stirring up the silt, but I leaned in for a close look anyway. You can really see all the silt being kicked up from both sides. This was after he settled down a bit. He still hung out with us, just quit wiggling in the silt. He even let us come close with the camera. It's just awesome to watch them watch you. Grabbing another snack. It was fun to be a part of their world for a few minutes. Another turtle - on his farewell exit. Thanks guys, for sharing some ocean time with us.

Harry's Birthday

2008-10-20T09:55:00.027+10:00

Friday was Harry's birthday. Sarah treated us to a wonderful dinner at Giovanni's. Complete with Hyatt's delicious ice cream cake!Harry tried to blow out the giant candle . . .But eventually settled for blowing out the little candle at the bottom. In spite of being really, really full - we all had to try some of the ice cream cake. Here's where Harry's frosting ended up. After our amazing Hyatt dinner, we all walked down to Godfather's, where we invited some friends to join us for a couple of drinks. We were greeted by this giant banner out front. Inside friends were waiting to share a drink and some laughs. Here is Kim seated, Brad, Barry and Mike. I think Mike may have gotten a head start on the drinks. Barry, Jim, Maggie, Kathryn and friends share some good company and conversation. Rhea gave Harry an underwater light for his birthday present. It quickly became a light saber, zapping Brad who suddenly became "the dark side" foe. Dueling light sabers. Chris had a psychodelic one with flashing lights. Harry's birthday cake, complete with fish and underwater scene, courtesy of Godfather's. Thanks Ron and Scott, you made it a fun night for Harry and his friends. Harry and the band, singing Happy Birthday. Mike giving us his ninja pose. Good thing he's a dive instructor and not a marial arts trainer. We asked them to do something dorky for the camera - just kidding, I'm not sure who talked them into this pose. We shooed the boys out of the booth for a bit for some girls chats. I like Cathy's pose in this photo. She was only drinking coke. Here's Rhea enjoying her slice of Godfather's birthday cake. Harry and Steve. Kim and Harry. Kim and Steve are friends and fellow Rotary members. Here's Brad , Kim and Mike in the background, with Maggie coming over to wish Harry a Happy Birthday. Maggie is the most photogenic person I know. She always looks great. Here's four of us squeezed into one side of the booth - Kelli, Harry, Cathy and Angelo. I think Harry and I might be a little tired. Barry and Maggie signing the birthday banner. Cathy helping us take the banner down. It was a really fun evening, with plenty of friends, plenty of laughs. Thanks everyone for joining us in celebrating Harry's birthday!

Harry

2008-10-16T16:46:00.003+10:00

It's Harry's birthday tomorrow - October 17, Friday. Please join us at Godfather's for cake and drinks to celebrate! See you there around 8 or so.

October Wing Beach Dive

2008-10-14T09:14:00.011+10:00

Saturday morning Harry, Michael, Rhea and I ended up doing two Wing Beach dives. Yep, I know the season is over, but it was a perfect Wing Beach day. Actually, it was probably the best Wing Beach dive I've ever had - great visibility. Here's a picture of me, with my new prescription mask. It looks kind of funky, but makes diving easier. This guy followed us for a ways on the way out to the crevasse. He was pretty big. And I always enjoy this view as we swim over the corals on our way out. As I was exiting the crevasse, I took a look at my gauge, then dropped down to 104 ft. to take a picture of a nudibranch. I was taking a picture of a lion fish and turned around and Harry had this right up close for me to see. I think he was hoping to gross me out, but I'm no Hozumi. Ha. Harry and I were using up our air towards the end of our dive, and went into this little cave in the shallow corals. It was really cool in there, with many fish hanging out. We saw schools of these little silver fish with black and white checked tails. Very cool.

Great dive morning. We dove Lau Lau in the afternoon, but it was low visibility and a bit of a current, so not that nice.

Boat Dive - Ice Cream and Shipwreck

2008-10-13T08:28:00.023+10:00

Today is my birthday. There was a rainbow out to greet me this morning, as I went to work. I was going to take the day off from work, and go to the spa or something, but we have friends coming to visit from Guam during the week, so I think I'll use the day off to visit with them. But I still got to do some really fun and amazing things for my birthday. Yesterday I got to go on a boat dive on a brand new dive boat. This was such a fun experience for me. This boat was completely decked out, with onboard showers even. In the picture below you see Barry, Harry, Rhea and Mike as we ride out to our first dive site. Here's a better picture of Rhea and Mike. Really, this was such an awesome boat. The adventure begins. Our first dive site was Ice Cream. Harry spotted this nudi on the low corals. In the Advanced Diving Course, one of the chapters is on Underwater Photography. So this was my UW photography dive. Here's Barry taking some pictures too. He wasn't in the class, but was enjoying the photo opportunity.Rhea, regulator out and UW grin. Harry is relaxed and sending up bubbles. The dive boat guy swam right through the ring close to the surface. Harry's UW grin, and Mike in the background. I was practicing my macro shots up close to the anenome, trying to catch the fish swimming inside. I finally got a nice close up shot of this fish. This eel was fairly cooperative for a photo shoot too. Mike found this WW2 bomb. We used his fin to measure the length. Lion fish. Mike keeping an eye on the group. Barry shooting a picture up towards Harry.I tried to follow the dive book's advice and get low for this shot. It turned out ok. Here is the regular level coral shot, and further away. The highlight of the dive was getting to see eagle rays. I got to see three. Here is the first one approaching over the coral. Here's a little closer shot with the fish trailing him. I think this was my best picture. He was a fair distance away, so I was really happy to get this photo. Another nice photo of the eagle ray. These two were busy doing something in a frantic connected kind of way. They separated for a minute when I snapped this picture. This was one of the most fun dives I've had. The sun was bright, the colors were great, and I got to see eagle rays! Happy Birthday to me. Still smiling. The shipwreck was an awesome dive, too. Very fun to explore. But Rhea had the camera for that one. It was so cool, while I was swimming along the shipwreck, suddenly a submarine went by. Awesome day!

Farewell to a Good Friend

2008-10-08T09:52:00.011+10:00

Before I talk about our farewell to Hozumi, I am taking a brief commercial break to ask everyone to help Angelo find his dog, Oreo. He was last seen in the China Town, Garapan area. If you see him, please return him to Angelo as soon as possible. Oreo is friendly and should come right up to you if you call him. This morning we all went down to the airport to say 'farewell' to our good friend Hozumi. We've been friends for many years, shared many dinners, talks, tears and laughter. I will miss her very much. It is so hard to say good-bye to people you love. I guess that's one of the big setbacks of living out here. For Hozumi's final weekend, we did some "last" things together. We chose things that had become our tradition. For the last few birthdays, Hozumi has treated me to a "nailing". So Sarah and I went to the shop with her one more time and got our nails painted. Here's a picture of my very pretty toenails. Tomoko is the nail artist. This picture shows Sarah's fingernails, too. They are so lovely. I protected my nails while diving by putting socks on before putting on my dive boots. It worked great. And here we are . . . at the airport again, saying good-bye. Hozumi, we love you! You are always family to us. I know we'll connect again in other places. Yes, I cried. Sarah says I'm banned from the airport when she leaves.

Hozumi's Last Dive

2008-10-06T11:38:00.026+10:00

After living on Saipan for 8 years, Hozumi is leaving this week to move to Singapore. Harry and I will miss her very much. So this weekend we did alot of "last time" things with Hozumi. This post is about Hozumi's last dive before she leaves Saipan. She chose Obyan. It was a great day for an Obyan dive, high tide, fair visibility. We swam out to see the garden eels, then made our way back along the coral and swimthroughs. Hozumi is enjoying the coral and fish. We forgot to bring her dive skin, so she's wearing mine. Hozumi getting a closer look at the fish. I always enjoy seeing these little neon blue fish. Harry found this nudibranch on a big rock outside of one of the swimthroughs. And this pretty lion fish was hiding under the edge of another big rock. Harry found this slug-like thing with white sticky strands hanging from it. Harry held it closer for Hozumi to see, and she literally shuttered underwater. We all laughed in our regulators. Harry is likely searching for critters. The coral was all lit up really pretty in the sunlight. Hozumi and Harry.Hozumi and Harry checking out some critter in the sand. Kelli and Hozumi.This guy was digging in the rocks, kicking up mud, but he was really pretty with his shiny silver back and black stripe. Here's one of the clams I saw along the way. And I always enjoy the coral. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get a photo with fish swimming in and out of the coral, but not today. Harry is sending air rings to the top, and Hozumi is trying to catch them. Hozumi decided to lay on her back to watch the air ring show. One of Harry's fine air bubble rings. Harry and Hozumi in the sunlight streaming down from the surface. Harry and Hozumi exiting one of the swimthroughs. Hozumi coming out of the swimthrough.I'm still underwater coming in on the rope, so I snapped this shot of Hozumi and Harry - well, their legs anyway. Here they are - heading up towards the beach at Obyan. Hozumi giving Harry a hug for taking her on her final Saipan dive. This dive was also Harry's 200th dive for this year. Great dive, great day.

Sunday

2008-10-01T10:10:00.002+10:00

I was just thinking about this past Sunday. We had two nice dives at Lau Lau in the morning, then went to Oleai for lunch. Dennis and Judy were there with a young couple that just moved to Saipan. It was nice to see them again. We had a nice lunch with our dive group, then Harry wanted to head out for dive number 3 of the day. I decided not to dive that one - the Grotto - as I was already tired from the first two dives and getting up early. But I went along with Harry, Chris and Rhea to the Grotto. While those 3 were diving, I stayed in the observation area, rested at one of the tables and read my book. A number of tourists came and went, took pictures, etc. Then a couple of young local girls came over. They looked like they were in about the 5th or 6th grade. They were laughing and having a good time, slipping the occasional foul word into their dialogue - I guess so they'd look cool or grown-up. I just kept reading. Then a young boy came up carrying a little girl about 2 years old. She was at the age where she mimicked everything they said. So the girls proceded to teach her to say a number of filthy words, the kind I never even knew existed at that age. And each time the little 2 year old would repeat the word, they would laugh and clap for her. So the little girl laughed too. She was happy to have their attention and to be making the older girls laugh. So yep, in a few short moments that little one learned to spew words so filthy they offended me, and she learned this was how to impress the older kids and win their approval. It was so sad, it made my heart hurt. I still feel bad about it today. What an ugly way to abuse innocence. Yes, I know there are worse ways. This was just sad to watch. I wanted to say something to the older girls, but you know how that goes - they listen then go talk about you behind your back calling you a meddling blank blank blank. Yep, just sad.

2008 Annual Fall Dinner

2008-09-29T13:51:00.023+10:00

Saturday was the 2008 Annual Fall Dinner at the Blalock home. I was trying to figure out if this is our 3rd or 4th year for the Annual Fall Dinner. Well, whichever year it is, it is likely our last year to have the dinner here on Saipan. It is the last one for Hozumi for a long time, too, I think. She leaves Saipan for Singapore in 9 days. We will miss her so much! So we dedicated part of the evening to a farewell for Hozumi. In the picture below, Sarah and I are finishing some things in the kitchen, and we're about ready to put everything on the table. Sarah was the chef of the evening. I was the house cleaner. This year we had the couch in the entry way. Here are a few of the guests, Rhea, Hozumi and Esther, waiting for dinner to be ready. Here's the table, all set complete with soup bowls, for Sarah's yummy butternut squash soup. Harry's grandmother's china was used again to serve our guests. We get alot of use out of the china.

Here's chef Sarah smiling over her table. We just placed the three big pumpkins on the table. Sarah stuffed the pumpkins with rice, pine nuts, zucchini, etc. and baked them for a dual purpose of centerpiece and yummy rice dish. Harry and I are ready to enjoy our guests and a very good meal. See, Chris and Sarah both smile really nice when giving each other bunny ears. Hozumi is happy to be passing the roast beef along, and Harry is happy to take a picture of me holding roast beef. No, I didn't try any. There were plenty of good veggies. This is a closeup of one of the pumpkins, stuffed with wild rice. We got the pumpkins from our back yard. Last year we bought pumpkins, and I threw the seeds off the back patio. So now we have our own pumpkin vines and fresh pumpkin. Chris in his he-man pose, ready to dive into his soup. Ha. Starting on the left and going clockwise is Chris, Harry, Kaye, Hozumi, my seat, Maggie (behind Barry), Barry and Esther. And at the other end of the table is Rhea (blue shirt) and Sarah with her back to the camera. Our 2008 Fall Dinner guests. Here's a better shot of Maggie. And here's Maggie putting the finishing touches on her fruit skewers. She chased Barry away because he wasn't arranging them correctly. : ) Esther is thoroughly enjoying her fruit skewer. Barry arranged the banana leaves on the table and centered the skewers. Hozumi took one of the banana leaves and is pretending to fan Barry. I think Barry wants to know where the girls with the grapes are. Rhea and Hozumi are enjoying some carmel and nuts to dip the apples and fruit skewers. After all, what is a fall dinner without carmel, apples, apple cider and pumpkins? Mmmm - it was all so good! Thanks for coming to our dinner, everyone. It was a really nice evening.

Girl's Night In

2008-09-25T11:43:00.005+10:00

While the boys were at the Hyatt Golf Tournament, the girls enjoyed a "Girl's Night In". Sarah made us an amazing dinner with homemade squash soup in the pumpkin tureen, baked squash, bruschetta and stuffed mushrooms. Mmm. And yes, her stuffed mushrooms rivaled Harry's.

Here is the up and coming Chef Sarah with her soup and squash, and lovely Axe Murderer Tours apron. Ha. Close up of our delicious soup and baked squash. For dessert we had hot tea and mint chocolate biscotti - mmm mm. Very delicious dinner. We ate our dinner while sitting in my room watching "Because I Said So". Great girl's night.

Power Run

2008-09-18T13:39:00.005+10:00

Mt. Tapochao, a beautiful spot to visit. You can see the whole island from up there. It's a spectacular view actually. I walked up to the lookout area during my last visit. I decided to take some pictures, and just enjoy the view while Harry was down at the tranmitter site refueling the generators in preparation for our many power outages. You know the ones I mean, they supposedly don't happen anymore since Wednesday. Mmm hmm, those. Anyway, enjoy the pictures from the transmitter site and Mt. Tapochao. And pat Harry on the back next time you see him, for running up there all the time to switch the generator over. Have a great weekend.

Truth Stranger than Fiction on Haze Island

2008-09-18T13:39:00.004+10:00

This past week I almost feel like I've been living in a bit of haze. While talking current events over with Harry, we determined some things are at such a point of ridiculousness, that it's like watching a 3 stooges style comedy. Yes, life in some surreal, ludicris comedy. I just keep hearing myself say, "you're kidding me!"

Harry had the head of CUC on his radio show on Wednesday morning promising no more blackouts. I kid you not, it was about two hours later that Harry was running back up to Tapochao againnnnnn to switch the generator on because the power was OUT. Hmmm. But on the upside of that, it may have inspired Harry to write some very good fairy tales. Could just be a coincidence, though. (fft) And as a result of some superb leadership decisions, we lost a newfound friend. Yep, we met someone with a good sense of humor, kind, decent person who came out here to help out one of our business people while he was gone on vacation. He was treated with such rudeness and disrespect, he packed his bags and went back home after 3 weeks. Good job - way to draw businesses and encourage the economy. And I read about and cheered on the peaceful protestors from last night, who are seeking help with our crisis power problems. That's right, hundreds of our citizens gathered in a formal protest with the hope that the feds will have mercy on us and take over this mess, in spite of our leader's prideful foot stomping. I planned to attend the protest, but had two other obligations - one was dinner to say good-bye to the friend leaving after 3 weeks. The other was to attend the Saipan Chamber of Commerce reception for the military ship. It was a pleasure to meet the men who serve and protect our country, but also to thank them in person for their volunteer work on our island.

Yes, strange week. Surreal, like a haze hanging over reality. I think I need to go diving.

Awesome weekend

2008-09-15T08:15:00.003+10:00

I didn't take any pictures this weekend. But it would have been a great dive weekend to snap a few shots. Harry has been taking classes in the mornings, so I've been using that time to do some of the laundry and clean the house. But in the afternoon we have been diving Lau Lau this weekend. Saturday was just awesome, with 5 turtles swimming around. I was able to come up fairly close and just watch them eat and hang out. They didn't seem to mind me at all as I sat nearby just watching.
On Sunday I caught a little extra sleep in the morning, then met everyone at Oleai for lunch. Harry, Rhea, Hozumi and I headed out to Lau Lau in the afternoon. It was a nice relaxing dive. We saw three turtles and an eagle ray. The little ray just followed us around for a while. I was stopped near a turtle just watching him for a bit, when I looked off to the side and saw the eagle ray had come back around to see what we were doing. It was just wonderful to be underwater with all the cool critters this weekend. Diving definitely helps make this a good place to live. You forget all the power outages and political nonsense down there. I am very thankful for my dives this past weekend. And yes, next time I'll take the camera along.