Diving Gun Beach

When I first moved to Guam, I quickly learned that a good day around here was one when you had a reason to set the alarm clock... a day when you had places to go and people to see. Nine months into this shindig, I am having a lot of "good days" by that definition! At some point, I reached a level of busyness in which I had more things to blog about than I had time to blog about them. And this, my friends, is the lame excuse introducing why I am just now posting pictures from a dive we did President's Weekend. Yes, in February!


Named for the WWII anti-aircraft military guns that still hide aside nearby cliffs, Gun Beach is often dubbed the "best shore dive on Guam." Thanks to Propeller, Nick and I are not limited to shore dives or dive charters out here, but there is a certain ease and simplicity that goes along with walking from your truck into the water and following the shoreline down into the depths. As you can see, Gun Beach is an absolutely beautiful spot. The tricky part is finding it.

Zack & Alanna

So when our friends Zack & Alanna from church said they were going, we jumped at the opportunity to go with people who knew A) how to get to Gun Beach and B) how to get out to the reef. As I mentioned, the approach to Gun Beach is very tricky. Tricky in the sense that there is a huge "PRIVATE PROPERTY, NO TRESPASSING" sign that you have to drive by to get to this public beach. Rumor has it that property developers put up the sign to keep the public out so when the time comes to try to buy the land from Gov Guam, they can say there haven't been a large number of visitors to the public park. Rumor 2 has it that locals put the sign up to divert all the Japanese tourists stumbling around Tumon from invading their pristine fishing area. Take your pick, no idea which one explains the rude sign.

To start the dive, you have to walk along a fiberoptic pipeline that cuts through the reef. The water was so clear and beautiful that day. Once we started the dive, I could see why this site had received such high reviews. The visibility was fantastic and the sea life was both abundant and larger than other Guam reefs. In fact, it reminded me of the reef aspects I loved about Saipan. On the dive we saw many beautiful, colorful fish, including several new species I had not seen before. We also saw a big turtle, which Nick followed around and got video of for some time. We also saw, though neglected to photograph, a manta ray.

I wish all dives had water this clear!

Another creepy eel

Fish... unnecessarily difficult to photograph because they always swim away

The tiniest little starfish

Made with Love

So I mentioned there have been a lot of preggers in my life here recently. Combine that with the fact that I have much more free time and a much larger house than I did in San Diego, and I have the magic combination of factors to get back into sewing! Those of you who knew me in high school know I used sewing as a way to create things like formal dresses that I couldn't find in stores. I made a few wearable things in college, but for the most part outgrew the idea of wearing homemade crafts. Last December I went to my friend Gemma's baby shower. Many special gifts were opened that night, but one that was most memorable to me was the gorgeous quilt my friend Mallory made for her. We were all just in awe of how beautiful it was. I remember Gemma saying, "This may be the most beautiful gift I have ever received." Wow, I thought. What an awesome way to make new mom friends feel important and loved, by creating something unique, original, from the heart. Mallory introduced me to a popular style quilt called a coin quilt. Do a Google image search and you'll find thousands of them.

With a baby shower in Houston coming up, I started to work on a little girl quilt for my friend Kristin. She was the first of my Texas friends to head to the "other side." I started away on the quilt and was almost finished when I got an email from her with the subject line, "We have some crazy news." I opened the email to find this: "Well you can't say the doctors are perfect.  IT'S NOT A GIRL, its a BOY!!! It is a good thing you have an ultrasound at 29 weeks!" Bye bye pink. With only a week to go until my flight to Houston, I traipsed back to the fabric store for blues and greens. I didn't quite have it finished for the shower, but given the circumstances, I was not docked any points. Her baby William used it for Tummy Time :)

Fast forward to the past few months when babies have been entering this world from all directions, and I had an awesome opportunity to get crafty again. At first I didn't think quilting would be possible out here because of the terrible fabric selection. I went to the only fabric store I knew about only to find they sold 1) solid colors 2) Hawaiian prints and 3) stretchy sequin material. Awesome. So I picked up some fabric in the States and shipped it out to myself. From that batch I made the quilt for my friend Sara, whose daughter Savanna is modeling it so beautifully :) Sara did a whole post about the quilt. A whole new special kind of thank you note :)

  The next quilt was for my friend Kate, who I went to Saipan with. Kate's daughter is due any day now and she has already moved back to the States. But before she left, I got to go to her shower and give her this. The only bad part was that she must have received like 15 other blankets at that shower. OOPS! I guess everyone on Guam thought it made sense to give a blanket to someone moving to Philadelphia.

My most recent project has been for my dear friend Huy in San Diego. With four weeks before her due date, I knew I needed to get to work. I planned to start working on it on Thursday. The day before I woke up to a photo text of Huy holding a baby. My reaction: "What?? Whose baby is that? Oooooh! Holy crap!" Jackson was ready to get this thing started and showed up mighty early. I finally finished their quilt and she got it in the mail last week. A few people asked for pictures, which is what prompted this post (which Nick calls "fluff" because it doesn't involve adventures on Guam).

I was pleasantly surprised to learn about a bigger, better (though still Guam-frustrating) craft store that has a decent selection of fabrics. So all of the fabrics are from Guam. I have since discovered an even more amazing fabric store: Ebay! Apparently I am the last sewer in America to learn you can buy fabric online. Having the confidence from making a few of these, I did a little extra craftiness on the quilt back:

 

 And I just love the way the fabrics came together.

Quilting for some of these new little miracles has been a lot of fun. But it will be even more fun to finally get to meet the rest of the little snugglers. Congrats to all the new moms in my life. And based on what I've been hearing, I'll add a "good luck" in there too :)

Guam Fabric Stores: I have had a number of people find this post by googling Guam fabric stores, so in case that's what you came here looking for, here's what I know:

The best selection on island is at Ben Franklin Craft Store in Agana, but it's a total hodge podge. And "best" is arguable by the States' standards. Directions: From the airport, take Marine Corps Dr. South past the light at the ITC building (where you would turn right to go to the GPO outlets). Continue through the next light and take a right onto Serenu Ave., the street right by Tick Tock, the clock repair place. It is a diagnoally angled road that should also have signs to the Ocean Jet Club, Agana Towers, and a sporting goods shop. Continue down this diagonal road and Ben Franklin will be on your left.

There's also Radi's fabrics, which is right on Marine Corps Dr., in Hagatna just South of Salon Paradis. They sell solids, Hawaiian prints, and sequins. And that's literally it. I only go there for notions. 

Those are the only places I know of. Your best bet is to order fabric online. I've had great luck on eBay. Find someone who does free shipping using the US Postal Service, and it will be here in 5-7 days (hopefully).

Trash into Treasure

 

So if you've asked me about my job at any point over the past four months, chances are I have mentioned that I am planning a mission trip for the youth of our church to go work at a school and an orphanage in Manila for one week this summer. You probably also already know how excited I am about this trip :) Mission trips are such a great opportunity for young people to experience a new place and to begin to understand how blessed we are as Americans, or even pseudo Americans here in Guam. Not to mention, youth here in Guam don't have the same opportunities that others back in the States do to go to things like summer camp or road trips. The problem, though, is that we have to fly anywhere we could go, which automatically makes the trip expensive and cost prohibitive for families, especially those with multiple teenagers. 

Being aware of this, we decided we'd host a few fundraisers to help defray the costs. You already read about the Valentine's Dinner we did in February, which brought in a shocking $1,000. Last year the youth also did a rummage sale to raise money for their retreat to Saipan. They brought in $2,500 from that event. My pastor warned me it was a lot of work, but I figured it was worth it for the funds we would raise. So back in January I started asking our church for donations to the sale. Several people who were moving off island donated whole truckloads of appliances, household goods, clothing, and electronics. Others donated their leftover garage sale items for us to sell. 

And one big score, a guy called our church asking us if we could use a donation of furniture. Turned out he was trying to unload his entire condo full of stuff before moving back to the US and getting out of the Navy. This enormous donation was a complete God send. We were able to sell his beautiful and practically new couch, bed, bedroom furniture, electronics, and video game systems on Craigslist in the weeks leading up to the sale. So before the sale ever started, we had already made close to $2,000. Pretty amazing start.

So the craziness of the actual sale started last Wednesday night. After the Lenten service, we moved the chairs out of the sanctuary and started hauling in donations stored in the garage. The following day, we loaded up two trucks of stuff from a friend's garage, where we stored donations when our church ran out of room. We then went and picked up two MORE truckloads from the used bookstore that recently went out of business (after 29 years of being open on Guam... apparently Kindle is to blame - sad!!). Church members continued to drop off more stuff and we got to work sorting like crazy.

The next day, Friday, we hosted a pre-sale for our congregation and parents of the preschool at our church. I got a call that morning from other church staff saying that people from the public had started showing up already---a day early! The local newspaper ran our press release about the sale. Apparently garage sales are the only thing that Guamanians show up early for! As you can imagine, there is a HUGE market for used goods on the island. It's so expensive paying to ship everything here, so used goods can also be sold for more money than they would in the States, and things like this rummage sale attract a lot of attention from the public. My worries were assuaged a bit learning that people knew about the sale and were already showing up.

Check out the gorgeous view of the ocean from our sanctuary!

That was probably the only big risk of the whole rummage sale idea - being left with all this stuff and having to store it again and figure out what to do with it all. Well, luckily, we had a TON of shoppers on Saturday morning! This picture was taken 15 minutes before the sale started... lots of early birds. We had some things left over, which we will unload at a flea market this next Saturday.

At the end of the day we counted our earnings and I was amazed and relieved to learn we had made $2100 more, bringing our total to about $4100 for the sale. Add this to the $2000 already in our account from other fundraisers and suddenly our goal of paying for the kids' trip balances was met. As the person in charge, it was an awesome feeling knowing we had reached our goal and that money would not be an issue to keep kids from going on the trip. But even more rewarding than that was something I had not anticipated ahead of the sale. Among our shoppers were avid yard salers, who we know will resell our items for profit at their flea market stands. But in addition, there were school teachers and librarians who were buying books and toys for their classrooms. There were also families who showed up and were buying things I would consider to be essential life items. Things my friends get more than they can use at baby showers. Things we can all go to the Navy Exchange and buy whenever we run out. Many of these families came back 3 or 4 times throughout the morning, and we ended up giving away many of our clothes, toys, shoes, and baby supplies to them. It was a really great feeling being able to help those so in need so directly. The cycle of giving and receiving for this particular fundraiser was truly remarkable. Everybody won.

And of course, wherever there are youth, there is always fun... and a goofy shot:

And more goofyness :)

No shortage of ridiculous finds

6th grader in a box

All in all a very successful weekend. And man am I glad it's over!

Mail Call!

 I just wanted to say that this has been the best month of mail ever. First of all, getting mail out here is like getting mail at camp. It's really fun and makes me feel like a kid again. For the past six weeks, every time I go to the mailbox it seems there's either a birthday card, a thank you note, a package, or a baby announcement. I realize part of this is credited to Guam post, which can take anywhere from 5 days to 5 weeks to get stuff out here, with no rhyme or reason as to what will arrive when.

Super creative homemade card & letter from Laura - Love it!

That said, I am so grateful that people still keep in touch via snail mail. No matter how advanced our technology gets, nothing will ever replace seeing the handwriting of that friend you've known since high school inked in some pretty color on some beautiful piece of stationery. There's something so comforting about knowing this card I'm holding in my hand was in my friend's or aunt's or sister's hand just a few days ago. And even more special is the fact that they took the time to think of me, write me, dig up our weird GU address, and mail it.

As of yet, I haven't included any of my own poetry in this here blog. But since it is my blog and I can do whatever I want (not sure why I always have to remind myself of this), I'm going to throw it out there. I wrote this poem ten years ago when Nick and I started dating. I have always been drawn to the idea of keeping in touch through letters, and I could never put my finger on just what made it so special. So here it is... a poem I wrote when I was 18 that I think still says it pretty well (though I don't think it will be winning any awards...).

Letter Connected

From miles and miles across the land 

Arrives this letter I hold in my hand

Seeing the rigid marks of your pen

Makes me feel closer, for it's somewhere you've been

Just days ago you sent these words my way

To touch my heart and comfort me far away

Feeling alone, but you help me cope

From worlds away comes love in an envelope

The words so touching my spirit soars

Not for text or meaning, but because they're yours

And it makes the pain a little better

Two hearts connected through the love in this letter.

Thank you, friends and family, for sending so much love our way. It means so much when we're so far away!

I just reread those last two lines. The poem was over and that wasn't supposed to rhyme.

Okay, that was a total accident.

I guess I have a knack for this poetry stuff... or do I?

Bonus Weekend!

I absolutely love the Bible study our Tuesday morning group is doing right now on the book of Ecclesiastes. The basic gist of our study so far can be summed up in one verse: "I know that there is nothing better for men (or women!) than to be happy and do good while they live." (Eccl 3:12).  In context this verse is saying that suffering happens in this world, painful things happen that we often don't understand, and in spite of hardship and pain and sadness, we can still go out and enjoy life. So despite learning the sad news about Clay, that's exactly what we did this weekend.

 

 The weekend started on Friday afternoon when Nick took off early. Due to a typhoon spinning around in the Pacific Ocean somewhere, there were scattered rainstorms (downpours) for two days straight, which put a kink in our golf plans. So we snagged a kayak from Nick's command and launched it from the beach on base. Nick installed these handy new roof racks on our truck, making it easy to haul adventure equipment. All it took was drilling 8 holes in the roof. No leaks yet!

We didn't know exactly where we were going with the kayak, but we found this beach area between Gab Gab and Spanish Steps that probably only exists at low tide. I guess we got lucky. It was a beautiful area, although it could use some clean up. This spot is on my short list for a beach clean up I am hoping to organize for the wives of our command. Trash everywhere!

 

Also everywhere were these funny crabs. After batting it around for a while, Nick finally figured out how to pick one of them up without getting pinched. Okay, so he still got pinched a little :)











Walking down the beach a bit we found this giant rusted out... uhh... boat reckage? Can't really figure out what it is but it looks like there's a propeller or a cleat on the top.

After exploring the beach, we went out snorkeling sans fins, which means we didn't bring the camera. Too bad because we saw what must have been the world's largest puffer fish! It was about three feet long and its head was the size of a basketball! Here's a small puffer fish so you can get an idea of what this thing looks like:

We had a relaxing Saturday morning getting caught up with family... and sleep... and then headed out for our first boonie stomp together! I feel like I have done so much hiking out here and Nick did his XTERRA jungle run the weekend before, but we hadn't really been hiking together out here yet. We headed toward Tarzan Falls, a classic Guam hike. About half a mile into the jungle we found this car sideview mirror laying on the trail. OOG - Only on Guam!

 Here is something you SELDOM see on Guam, which is why I had to take a picture of it... a trail marker!! An official one showing you which direction to go! For those of you who have taken a stab at boonie stomping on Guam, you know why I am so excited about this. It is SO easy to get lost on these "trails." Wasn't worried about getting lost on this hike per se, but it was still nice to have some kind of confirmation that we were on the right path. Amazing!  Shortly after following the arrow, we came to this set of three cascades. Below is the first one.

 

The second and third cascades... beautiful!

 

After descending the third waterfall, we hiked through the river for a while. Seeing no creative or inventive way of our own back to the trail, we turned around and climbed up the waterfall the way we came.

Along the way we saw this freshwater shrimp eating a dead frog. This is neat because we had never seen a freshwater shrimp out here. They were all over this particular area of the river.

 We followed the base trail back around to the first giant waterfall we'd yet to take a look at. Actually, I followed the trail and Nick trudged through the river (taking twice as long, I might add!). And in true Nick form, not being one to follow trails, he decided to go straight up the waterfall instead of taking the trail. I'm sure you are all shocked like I was. He said it actually wasn't as steep as it looked and was a pretty easy climb. I stayed back and went via trail... so I could take pictures of course.

 Pretty sweet waterfall!

After I hiked the trail back to the top, I met up with Nick and we hiked out of the jungle. At this point we were dripping with sweat, bug spray, sunscreen, and dirt from the muddy hike/river trudging. We headed back to our neighborhood, where I thought we were going home to shower off the grubbyness before heading to a birthday party. But no, only in Guam do you go straight from a disgusting hike to a party with your husband's coworkers. And only in Guam does that birthday party for TWO ADULTS have a giant blow-up slip n slide positioned down a steep hill that crashes into a bouncy house! (You can't make this stuff up).

Nick had a great time surfing and sliding like a little kid through the slip n slide. He came out with only minor injuries. I did the girl thing and sat in a lawn chair with a drink in my hand watching and cheering and gabbing with the other girls. It was an awesome party.

The next day we had our perfect Guam Sunday... church and a round of golf. After a weekend of kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, relaxing, partying, and golfing, we were back in love with our island. The best part was knowing Nick was actually supposed to be gone this past weekend, so this weekend was all bonus. I am always grateful for bonus time.

Semper Fi

Dressed in the Red, White and Blue 

by April Mahoney

Only eighteen, a baby 
but ready to prove himself as a man
He entered through the side door, 
his cover placed precisely in his left hand
I say congratulations, 
he replies, “Thank You, Ma’am”
Just graduated from Marine Corps boot camp

His face now has a different resolve
Awaiting orders to his next duty call

I see him again 16 months later, 
this time a hidden smile 
and a missing limb
Head, eyes bowed following his chin

He is forever proud, 
Hoorah, Semper Fi
Always faithful 
until the day they die.

My friend April wrote this poem. Some of you know I had the pleasure of helping her edit about a hundred of her poems into a book, Utter Magic, that she self-published and has had great success with. She was inspired to write this poem while working at her other job at a cosmetic counter at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot department store in San Diego. It's one of those strange places where families who have come to town from all over the country to watch their young Marines transition from boot camp to the world of war stop in for discounted designer lip gloss, perfume, and foundation. She would talk about how it would break her heart to see these young "kids," as she would call them, come in on crutches or in wheel chairs. April's husband served 20 years in the US Navy, so she understands the idea of serving one's country, but it doesn't make seeing the wounds of these young men and women any easier.

Nick & Clay at our wedding

Today I found out the sad news that the wounds of war are likely a contributing factor in the loss of another young Marine. Our friend Clay Hunt, who Nick grew up hunting and fishing with in Texas, took his own life earlier this week. I don't know the details, and at this point, knowing them won't make any difference. Clay went to our high school in Houston and was in our youth group. He wandered a bit after high school, trying out colleges in Texas, North Carolina, and Colorado, if I recall, with none of them sticking. He joined the Marine Corps and found great friends but had an overall difficult experience. He lost several close friends in combat. He got shot in the hand by an enemy sniper, an injury that earned him a Purple Heart. And he even returned to Afghanistan for another deployment after healing from being shot. He served honorably, but his scars were deep. In a Facebook note he posted in January, he writes:

"My physical wounds are unnoticeable, and I quickly learned how to deal with the pain that is constantly in my wrist, just by changing the way I use my hand- push with a closed fist, and try not to do anything that makes my hand bend backward. The mental wounds are far more apparent, and have proven much more difficult to deal with, but I have figured out how to make them hurt less- and not with drugs or alcohol like so many vets I know do- like I used to for a time."

Clay has been out of the Marines for a couple years. We last saw him in San Diego two summers ago when we invited him down to go sailing with us. He was in school at the time in Los Angeles and soon got involved with two groups where he seemed to find his new life purpose: Ride2Recovery, a wounded veterans group that rides bicycles across America and Team Rubicon, a grassroots disaster response agency that took Clay to Haiti and Chile after their devastating earthquakes.

It's difficult to make the leap between this seemingly promising post-service life and today's devastating news. And it's certainly not my place to speculate where the break in the system was along the way to lead to such a final solution. So I will divert from that since I suppose it's possible that we will never know or understand what haunted him so. Instead, I think it's appropriate to honor Clay the best way I know how... with words. 

I know Nick spent more time with Clay than I did in all their hunting and fishing endeavors, but my favorite memory with Clay is from two days after Nick and I got married. Clay was in Houston for the wedding and was heading back to San Diego, where he had just finished some pretty grueling training with the Marines. Nick left on a flight early that Monday morning after we got married. He had to get back to BUD/S where he was about to start training. I flew out to join him later that afternoon. When I got to the airport, I was pleasantly surprised to see a friendly face. Clay and his mom were sitting at one of the open air cafes. I joined them and soon figured out Clay was on my same flight to San Diego. It was a Southwest flight so we chose seats next to each other and spent the length of the three-hour flight catching up on everything. It was nice to have a friend by my side on that journey.

Clay lived passionately. He searched for justice. He served this country selflessly. And when his service to country had ended, he turned his sights to serve the world in its times and places of greatest need. He packed a lot of life in his 28 years and though he battled valiantly, he ultimately lost the fight against the demons of war. I think all of us who knew him will always wonder why he couldn't stay longer. He gave so much... and had so much more to give.

Thoughts and prayers are with his family for comfort and healing.  

Memoriam

He is forever proud, 
Hoorah, Semper Fi
Always faithful 
until the day they die.

XTERRA Guam Triathalon

This past Saturday, we woke up at 4:30a.m., and for once, it wasn't for an airport pickup or drop off. It was because Nick, somewhat on a whim, signed up for the XTERRA Guam Triathalon, a modified sprint distance off-road race that consists of an ocean swim, a mountain bike course, and a jungle run. As many of you know, Nick is a fast runner, a solid swimmer, and generally a fit guy (understatement of the year), so I have always thought he'd make an awesome triathlete. In fact, I've always encouraged him to enter races thinking maybe he could use some of that muscle to win fancy prizes for us (airline tickets, helloooooo!). Problem is he doesn't have a road bike, which most triathalons require... only a mountain bike he used to ride for fun in the San Diego desert hillsides.

A guy I work with at church named Dave (left) mentioned the XTERRA to Nick a few weeks ago and piqued his interest. He hadn't been mountain biking since we got to Guam eight months ago, but as far as races go, it was a perfect combination of events Nick is already good at and owns equipment for. He did one practice run of the bike course and signed up. He then went on a weeklong trip to the Maldives and Sri Lanka and showed up back in Guam just in time for the race. I went along to document everything for this here post. Here we have it, folks, Nick's first triathalon! Enjoy!

Stretching at the starting line

Entering Apra Harbor for the water start of the swim just after a beautiful Guam sunrise

On your mark, get set... Go!

And they're off! Can you spot Nick? Me neither...

There he is! So proud of myself for picking Nick out from all the look-alike swimmers! And getting a picture when his face was out of the water!

Nick finished the 1k (.62 mi.) swim 8th out of all the competitors, including the professional racers and those doing relays who were only doing the swim competition, 93 people total :)

Transition time! The hardest part of the whole race... putting on a tight underarmour shirt after getting out of the salt water. Time for the off-road bike ride up the very steep Nimitz Hill into the technical terrain atop Mt. Alutom and then down to Mannegon Hills (Guam speak for "really hard bike ride"). 

And he's off! Right behind this guy...

There he goes! This is the point when I took advantage of being awake so early and got on my phone and called people in the States :)

2:07:32 later, Nick returned from the 20.2 mile mountain bike race covered in mud! I wish I had some action shots of the bike ride... hopefully the official race pictures will post soon. 

Another quick transition putting the bike up and switching into running shoes. 

Up the stairs to start the 5-mile run through the jungle, where Nick navigated tough terrain, climbed down slippery waterfalls, and waded through chest-high river pools. So yeah, that explains why Nick's 5-mile "run" took about an hour. It was more like a super fast hike/cliffside climb/river crossing.

Got a smile and a high five out of him on his way out! He was definitely having fun.

For the next hour I waited patiently by the finish line. I worked almost as hard as Nick that morning. But I mean, someone's gotta keep Peyt's Island in business.

After 1:03:58, Nick emerged from the jungle and began trudging through the ocean towards the finish line. It reminded me of the moment I first spotted him coming up the trail at the top of the Grand Canyon last May. There he is and he's almost done!

After 3.5 hours of swimming, biking and running, Nick finished the race. Woohoo!

Official race time above. Turns out he finished 4th in his division and 17th overall out of 71 individuals competing! Not bad for not training :)

And he wasn't even sore or tired... uhh....

Moments after crossing the finish line, Nick mentioned doing the race again next year. 

Great job guys... You made it look so easy!