Gecko Love or Gecko Hate??

I saw the funniest thing the other night. I was sitting here on the computer and most of the lights were off since Nick had gone to bed and that's when the critters come out to play. I heard a strange little noise and looked over and saw a gecko on the wall not three feet away. That is certainly not unusual - we have plenty of geckos who live in the apartment and since they eat the bugs we just go ahead and leave them be. But he was chirping (they do that) much quieter than usual and his tail was hanging off the wall and moving from side to side, almost like a cat does when it's ready to pounce except it was so mechanical of a movement. With every quiet chirp his tail would jerk a little, like the second-hand on a watch - tick tick tick, chirp, chirp, chirp. It was so odd!

Then I noticed another gecko just below him on the ground. Okay, they were obviously engaged in some sort of communication but was this a hostile kind of territorial call or was this like a "hey baby, check me out, I'm so hot," kind of a thing?

Luckily, my camera was in front of me so I was able to snatch a few shots. The gecko on the ground started to move away but the gecko on the wall jumped down nearby! I was on the edge of my seat... was I about to see some Animal Planet action right before my eyes!? What was going to happen?


Well, they started biting each others' tails! What the heck? At first, I assumed this had been a hostile communication after all but, who knows, maybe that's like foreplay for geckos? Anyway, they didn't last long and quickly dispersed. Perhaps they finally noticed they had an audience. At any rate, it made for an interesting evening for me. :D

STABBED

That's how I feel. Like my legs got stabbed.

Yesterday morning, I decided to try something new. Nick has the P90X series which I had heard plenty about but had never done. So, I thought, why don't I give it a try? I know it's tough and that's probably what I need.

I decided to just start from the top, which was an hour long workout called Plyometrics. We are talking lots of jumping and moving around. Squat your butt down, touch your fingers to the floor, then jump up with your hands in the sky and do it all over again and again and again. A lot of high impact activities...

Right away, these big red flags are waving telling me this might not be the best choice for someone like me - completely out of shape. Tony, the enthusiastic trainer dude, says, "This is the "X" in P90X... this is the mother of all workouts!" That should have been my signal to pick something else for my first P90X experience.

But, I did it anyway...

The aftermath - I have been walking around like a penguin all day, waddling from one space to another and dreading having to sit down or stand up. My legs feel shredded, destroyed, abused, slashed, and burned - oh and my butt too!

So here's to my future of pain with Tony and his killer workouts.

Weekend with the Parkers

These are our friends...

the Parkers!

We had a fun weekend with these, our nextdoor neighbors! On Saturday, Janelle invited us over for a game of Settlers - she's a huge fan. I was excited because, well, as you can see, the Parkers are a lot of fun and it had been quite a while since I'd played Settlers. Then on Sunday, I made my oh-so-special Chicken Taco Soup which adequately lured them into another evening with the Taylors. As a joke, Nick and I busted out our Hungry Hungry Hippoes and Twister games but the Parkers were all for it! What a unique opportunity for some quality photos, not to mention some quality bonding time!!!

We discovered that Mike is quite the contortionists. He was like a spider!



Nick was trying to win Settlers with this swift silent moves.



Janelle tried to win with her plotting and scheming.



But Mike won the game... after we pointed it out to him. "I did?" Haha! Good job, Mike!

Thanks for the fun weekend! Can't wait to do it again!

ANDREA RESURRECTED!

Well...

I am going to try the blogging thing again for a lot of reasons. I really like listing things so here is my list:

(1) I am so very blessed and I want to share my gratitude by blogging. There are better ways, I am sure, but I really like to reflect on everything and see the blessings in my life and this seems like one good way to do that. This includes talking about my friends and family, my husband and our adventures, my travels and so on.

(2) I am FAT. I mean, my body has just completely broken down. I knew this would happen because I was always so hot and skinny when I was younger and I was the envy of every other woman and I knew someday all the irresponsible eating I was doing would come back to haunt me. Suddenly all those brownies would just appear on my thighs. And, lo and behold, they did.

So I want to be ACCOUNTABLE! I want to report on how I am doing with working out and my weight loss. Maybe, if I'm feeling extra-open I will post my weight and my measurements and we can see those go down. And if they don't, well, now isn't that just embarrassing! So I hope this will make me work harder as I report on my progress.

(3) Nick and I are seriously considering a trip to Europe this summer. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially as we will be saving LOADS of money on airfare and will be able to go for SIX weeks! HELLO!

So I figured it would be super fun to BLOG about my trip and why not get started now! I am not sure how much internet access I will have on my trip but hopefully I can get some pics up here and there and talk about our adventures. It'll almost be like my mission all over again - always lots of fun and interesting stories!

OK that is the end of the list for now.

As far as this particular blog, let it be known that I have A LOT ON MY MIND ALL THE TIME! So, this blog may get very deep and reflective at times. I am not a huge sit-down-and-read-other-peoples-blogs person but I have done my share of blog-reading and it seems like most people keep it light - funny stories, mostly, or projects like the weight loss. Well I am sure to have my share of those too but I may be posting thoughts here and there on different things in addition to my weight loss reports. I could easily write five different posts right now on five different topics or incidents. Should I? We shall see.

What I am trying to SAY (besides introduce you to my long-windedness) is that I am not yet decided on how extensive this blog will be. If my reflective postings get nothing but yawns then I will probably cut them out. But I will try it out for a while and see what happens. Maybe people are interested in what I have to say and maybe not. I'll work with whatever.

ON TO BLOGGING... !!!

Pew Hoggers

You know who you are. You come to church every Sunday, walk into the chapel, and sit yourself down in the same stinkin' spot every single week. Normally, seats have to have a reserved sign on them in order for a designated group or family to sit there. But you've made your own mark. You have etched your family name into the pew by sitting there week after week, making your silent declaration to the ward that these spots are yours and yours alone. And what's wrong with that? The Andrews sit in their pew every week too, and so do the Kellys and the Lockharts and the Wilsons. You've all been there for gosh, how long has it been, and you all know the lowdown.

Now those new people, well they better get with it quick. If they think they can come in and sit wherever they want, in your spot, well they've got it coming. Because now you're all bent out of shape because your sacred pew has been violated and where else is there for you to go but to also violate the Andrews spot or the Kellys spot or the Lockharts or the Wilsons? Well now everyone is discombobulated because no one explained to the new people that they need to sit in the back on the hard chairs because there aren't any unclaimed pews left! Ugh! This is indeed a crisis, folks! Whatever shall be done with the new people who don't know the rules?

Well, speaking on behalf of all who have yet to etch their own name into a pew, let me suggest that each family or couple try shifting around each week so that no one gets discombobulated in the first place. Pew Hogger - Don't Be One.

New Puppies!

As I mentioned before, my mother is watching our dog, Marley, while we live here in Hawaii. Now this is a pretty good arrangement considering that Mom has Penny so the two keep each other company and are happy enough. I doubt Marley is missing his old masters.

Anyway, Penny went into heat last Fall and with a hot item like Marley around and all that chemistry between them what could they do but heed nature's call? Anyway, one thing led to another and now we have two beautiful little puppies! They are both girls and look like they will turn out to be tricolors like Marley. One was actually born Monday night, January 21st, and the other was born Tuesday morning, January 22nd!

So, here are the little cuties. They kind of look like little rats at first but after a few short weeks they turn into real heartbreakers. They are downright irresistible! I wish I could go out there and pet their cute little selves. We'll see.

A Little Friend

There were some big waves going on this weekend and Nick and I decided we wanted to check it out!

We drove up to Turtle Bay and saw the tumult. It was pretty awesome. We marched out onto a set of tide pools and found a horde of hermit crabs! So, I grabbed a bunch and Nick held them while I took shots.

Or rather, one shot, because my camera ran out of battery! So this is the shot I got - our little friend. They are so cool.

Into the Woods

Happy Civil Rights Day! I guess that is what they are calling it now.

Nick and I took a little hike up a trail near our house. It is a gorgeous day and we enjoyed the scenery, although everything was a bit muddy. We weren't sure how long it is so we ended up turning around rather than making the full loop. We'll have to look that up later.

Here are some shots I took. Each shot cost about 10 mosquito bites. They were having a field day with us. I stopped once to count how many were on my leg and I found 17. Next time, we will be bringing the repellent!

Cindy Crawford Wreck Your Body Workout

Here's the bad news - I have gained weight. Nick put the wedding ring on my finger and suddenly my body exploded. OK maybe that is a bit much but I could definitely afford to shed some pounds. The good news is I am doing something about it. I tried dieting before and, wow, I really hated it. So I figured I would focus on getting in shape instead. With no gym around, I am kind of dependent on workout videos and there are SO many out there. While I am shopping around, I went ahead and got this old Cindy Crawford workout video that I did back when I was about 12 years old. I always loved it and I still do. So it has been fun to workout, sweat, and get sore!

I woke up this morning and just barely moved when I got this charley horse in my calf! Wow! I never ever get those! It was so shocking, I said, "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!" and Nick was very alarmed and said, "What what what what what?" Luckily, it went away quickly. So I had to look up what causes that and, of course, there are multiple possibilities. But one cause is strenuous exercise. So, thank you Cindy Crawford for the charley horse, and I will see you again on Monday. :D

Ode to Basenjis

I'm not gonna lie. Basenjis are a real pain. For the most part, they lack those very things that make dogs so very lovable. They have very little desire to make you happy. Stealing food from the table when your back is turned is much more rewarding for them than praise. They are also lacking in loyalty. You open up a door and they'll run through it in a flash. Yeah, they will eventually come back home (you hope) but they aren't too concerned about staying by your side. They don't even like water. In fact, that's one way to punish them - throw them in the pool. It's awful for them, just like it would be for a cat. In many ways, owning a Basenji is like having a 2-year old around. You cannot leave them unattended for long or they will undoubtedly find trouble.

That being said, I am often reminded of ther positive qualities. One which is very unique is that they DO NOT bark! Interestingly, Basenji owners are often very excited when their dog does make a quick bark or a howl. But for the most part, we like our quiet companion.

Last night, probably around 3 am, our nextdoor neighbor's dog, who is some PitBull mix, started barking... and never stopped. I had opened the window before going to bed to enjoy the nice island breeze coming in. After the dog went on and on, I finally closed the window and covered my head with a pillow. This morning, a Humane Society truck came down our tiny little lane and went to their house. Someone must have finally gotten tired of the dog (actually there are two), and I must say, I am glad they came. Dogs bark but it is rude to not quiet them. But then, Basenji owners never have to deal with that in the first place.

... well, most of the time. Unless you own my dog, Marley, who is such a baby that he cannot be left alone without making a huge fuss all day long and then the neighbors call the police on my poor mother who is watching him. *sigh* Basenjis: painfully cute; painfully annoying.