March at Home

I don't know about you, but for me March is one of those months that tends to drag on a bit. Maybe it's because February always flies by, extra short, sprinkled with holidays, and jam packed with birthday fun and 3-day weekend trips. Or maybe I still associate March with being the last month of deployment to trudge through, which is never fast enough. Well, obviously time is going way too quickly out here because I seriously cannot believe it's April already. In addition to painting a mural with my sister, watching Nick crush the XTERRA, and starting a new foodie column, we did a bunch of other stuff this month that I haven't even mentioned. So here, for you, a photo dump of the random things we did here on Guam, home together for an entire month... something I don't think has happened since we moved here!

 The first weekend of March was 30-Hour Famine with some other youth groups from around the island. Here are me and some of my flock at a beach clean-up at Tarague Beach. At this point we hadn't eaten for almost 24 hours. And we slept on the floor. I am wondering at what age you are officially too old to be a youth director, because I am seriously starting to think it's 29.

 

 Nick and some of his coworkers put a team together for the golf scramble tournament (best ball) against the other commands from around base... and they won! Together they shot an impressive 63! I was so shocked when Nick showed up at home with a trophy. They even used some of his shots, including some clutch putts. They also did a nice job of coordinating their outfits...

I have been cooking like crazy. Other than Court being here, I can count on two fingers the number of times Nick and I have eaten at a restaurant this month. We hosted our dinner club one night and did a farmer's market theme, using as many locally grown or acquired foods as possible, like this yellowfin tuna from the co-op prepared Mediterranean style with herbs from our garden... yum! We are still eating paleo after 6 months. I will have to post some of my favorite recipes soon. They are delicious and easy whether you care to be paleo or not.

 

At said dinner party, Nick decided to get in a bonus workout with our friend's son Noah. 

 We hosted our rummage sale at church to raise money for our Manila trip. The sale was extremely successful again this year thanks to a big furniture donation by one of our many awesome families.

I competed in a QUAD. What's that, you ask? A QUAD is a triathalon with a fourth competition... Swimming, biking, running, and kayaking! It was a lot of fun and a fantastic workout.

Last week Nick took me to play at a new golf course I have never been to, Onward Talofofo Country Club on the east side of the island. There really is no comparison between this and the other rinky dink courses we usually play here. The fairways and greens were impressively manicured, and the cliffside views of the surrounding jungles were stunning. I could have spent all afternoon here just riding around in the cart staring at nature. The golf was pretty fun too, and unlike the other courses that have chickens, this course had some very friendly ducks.

 I've also been doing a lot of singing! Our music director Kevin and I have worked together to put together a number of really inspiring arrangements for Lent, adapted from the album by New York Hymns (free download!).

And as for things I don't have pictures of, this month some friends and I started a workout group on the playground in our neighborhood. Crossfit Lockwood meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. We use the swing set, monkey bars, yoga mats, and steps to put various workouts together. Despite being really hard, the workouts are actually a lot of fun in a small group like this. There's great accountability, built-in cheerleaders, tons of workout variety, plus the bonus of getting stronger and faster along the way.

It's so strange how this island warps and transforms itself every so often. I am loving my weekly routine here and only wish it weren't making the weeks fly by so quickly. Won't be long (only a few days actually!) until this season at home comes to an end and another season of travel begins!

Birthday Blessings

With our trip to Palau so close to my birthday, I decided not to plan anything once back on Guam. I mean, really, what could top that? My birthday fell on a Sunday this year so I decided we'd have our regular Sunday... church then golf. It's a pretty awesome day to begin with, but a bunch of things came together to make this day even more special.

Oddly enough, in our congregation of only 200 people, there are two others with my same birthday. Both Jeff and Gregg are lay pastors and have been leading services since our pastor left in December. In fact, it was Pastor Jeff who helped us discover our same birthday coincidence when we played one of his icebreaker games where you have to line up in order of your birthday. All three of us were February 26th, which I find funny since I have only even met one other person in my life with the same birthday. Last year we all celebrated by going out to dinner with our spouses. This year Jeff informed me that he was preaching and Gregg was assisting... followed by, "So what are you going to do on birthday church?"

I decided to sing a song. Jeff introduced the service and explained our birthdays saying, "This service is brought to you by the people who were born on February 26th." So during the offering, I did a solo with my friend Kevin on guitar. I sang JJ Heller's "Your Hands." It was nice getting to introduce my favorite song to everyone (listen to it - it's beautiful!). And stepping into the spotlight for a few minutes totally saved me the trouble of hitting up karaoke for my birthday :)

The flowers that Sunday were given in honor of our birthdays, and my mom had even called from the States to help arrange that. The birthday boys insisted I take them home where they have been sitting on our kitchen table for the last week. Gorgeous!

After church I had a little business to take care of. Sean Harlow, the missionary from the Philippines who we've been working with to set up our trips, was visiting Guam that weekend. We'd had a barbecue at my house a few nights earlier and we got to show him around the island, which is always fun. So we used the opportunity with him here to have a trip meeting, where I got to make an extremely exciting announcement. At the beginning of the month, I applied for a grant that would cover the expenses related to our actual mission work in Manila. In addition to hanging out with babies, we plan to run a medical clinic for the street children, do fix-up projects around the orphanage, and lead a nutrition presentation and provide healthy meals at a nearby youth camp. I had found out just before leaving for Palau that the Frees Foundation had awarded us the funding! So on my birthday, I got to make this surprise announcement to our team about all we were going to be able to do now having received the funding to make it possible. Everyone is really excited :)

We left church and headed to Windward Hills golf course (with birthday buddy Gregg joining us!). We played the same course on my birthday last year, and I scored my best round yet... 100. I couldn't believe how well I was playing the first few holes... then then the next few holes... then a few pars... I managed to get my best score yet... a 94... my best by 3 strokes! I also somehow managed to beat Nick and Gregg...? Must have been that extra dose of birthday magic. I always love playing golf, but it's extra awesome to have your best round ever, especially on your birthday!

So my birthday itself was quite wonderful. But the reason I was glowing all day was because of YOU GUYS! A week before my birthday I sent a message out to close friends and family asking for contributions to our mission trip in lieu of material gifts this year. I wasn't expecting many gifts as it is, but I figured since relatives still insist on sending them, I might as well let them know where my heart is this year. I was absolutely. floored. by the response. Each day for a solid week+ I went to the mailbox and had cards to open with the most personal and encouraging notes... and contributions immeasurably more than what I would ever have expected. And money aside, it means so much to me to have the support of so many friends and family members. I think I teared up reading every single note, even the ones that just said, "Happy birthday." It was more than that... it was a joyful birthday. Better than any party anyone could have thrown or even the best golf round of my life (although that was a nice bonus).

And I had an extra special card to open on my birthday, even though we get no mail on Sunday. Nick read the email too and knocked my socks off with his donation. I was overwhelmed... to tears. In fact, I'm tearing up just recapping this, thinking about everyone's gifts. I was absolutely blessed on my birthday this year and cannot thank everyone enough for making it immeasurably more special than I ever would have dreamed.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

And as if this week couldn't get any better... my sister is here!! Peyts-Island has officially become Peyt-Sis-Land! The blessings continue...

Ha Why Yeee

 

After spending the weekend with my sister, I arrived in Hawaii on MLK Day, where Nick was hanging out between back-to-back conferences. It was great to see him, but after being in the States for five whole weeks, I was really ready to get home. I mentioned I would hang out with him for a few days, then start the process of trying to catch a military flight back. Fortunately for me, Nick had other plans. "No, you are going to spend the week here in Hawaii with me." My reply?

"Ummm, okay... if I have to."

Now I'm sure that my attempt to turn down a week at the Waikiki Marriott sounds to many of you really bratty... or maybe even downright insane. But those Guammies who are Space-A veterans like me know how frustrating it can be to try to get back. And when you're in the mindset of trying to get home, Hawaii is no longer Hawaii. It's checking flights, calling the terminal, roll calls, broken planes, bumming rides at all hours, and complete schedule uncertainty... And those who have traveled with me know I can't stand not being on a schedule! I actually schedule in blocks of time for spontaneity... "Next up, ladies, we have two hours allotted for winging it...Go!"

Not to mention, so much of the things that people love about Hawaii (warm weather, pretty beaches, beautiful hikes, etc.), I can get a-plenty on Guam, minus the traffic and hyper-commercialism. PLUS, I was really ready to get back to start up youth group again and begin the fundraising season for our upcoming mission trip to Manila. There is a lot to be done that my mind started dwelling on but couldn't act on. So hopefully you have a little better idea of why I would be so ready to get home at this point. (I know, I know... many of you are still shaking your heads).

But, okay, looking ahead, I know that this time next January, we will be in a very different place. Nick will probably be gone far away on some training trip, and the days of traveling with him will be long past. I will be left behind scraping ice off my windshield, transferring plants into the garage so they don't freeze, all while wearing multiple layers of long underwear and wool socks. Possibly even the electric kind with batteries. Surely I would like, at that moment, to look back on this time last year and remember the relaxing round of golf we played at beautiful Mamala Bay.

Or our afternoon lounging in the sun on Waikiki Beach watching Nick surf

Or hanging out with my friend Tina and her awesome workout group, the Buttercups

 Or the view from the top of our hike to Mariner's Ridge

 Or getting together with a dear friend who has sprinkled my various trips to Hawaii with wonderful visits and memories (Thanks, Space-A Angel!).

 Or going out for an awesome sushi dinner only to be informed by the waitress that a random stranger picked up our tab... we have no idea how this happened, but it was pretty amazing!

Or running up Diamondhead Crater with Nick... from the lower parking lot (shazaaam!)

Ooooor the pretty fantastic view from our balcony.

Soooo many great memories from this week. There's a good chance I will be pulling this post up about a year from now, reminiscing about our fabulous time together, joining you all in knowing with certainty I was crazy to try to miss out on this. The things I need to get done will be long done by then, and the opportunity to rendezvous with Nick in a dreamland like this will be but a distant memory. And no matter how cold my feet are at that moment, I will have to smile knowing... Man... we had it good.

Jane & Tim's Guam Getaway!

Our first family photo on Guam taken in the beautiful backyard of our church!

Two weeks. 1,000+ pictures from four different cameras. So many new and wonderful experiences together. Where do I even begin to recap the incredible visit with my parents? In a perfect world, I would have found little pockets of time here and there to post stories and pictures along the way so I wouldn't face this seemingly daunting task of sorting through it all. But with all we packed in, there just wasn't time for that. Any extra time was spent visiting, preparing awesome meals together, recapping the stories from our day together, planning our next adventures... all the things that made the visit, in essence, its own perfect world.

My parents' visit began with a glimpse into the deep. After seeing all our pictures and hearing all of our dive stories, they were both interested in becoming SCUBA certified, or at least trying it out. We set them up with an awesome instructor named Fred who goes to our church. He's a former team guy and won Olympic medals (gold and bronze) in swimming. I've even heard a rumor from other church members that he worked on or with the space shuttle at some point in his career. Crazy! So needless to say, my parents were in great hands going into the course.

Moments before Mom tells me she's never snorkeled!

Having grown up surfing and snorkeling in South Florida, my dad was really comfortable in the water and got the hang of things pretty easily. On just his second day with a dive rig, he went down to 60 feet and had no problems! My mom, on the other hand, chose the moment she was walking into the harbor with a mask and snorkel on to tell me that she has never even been snorkeling before. What the heck?!? We have been talking about this dive course for two months and she never mentioned that! I was proud of her just for giving it a shot. In the end, she didn't like completing all the underwater tasks required to finish the official certification, but she really enjoyed the actual diving, being underwater, and looking at the fish. She went down to 15-20 feet with Fred for about 10 minutes and came up laughing. She loved it! Pretty impressed she got this far, considering my mom was the one who always sat on the side of the pool growing up, never even getting her feet wet. Now she can say she's been SCUBA diving! My dad completed the certification and we ended up knocking out six dives together throughout the length of the trip.

"Everything's okay!"

When my parents weren't in the thick of their dive cert, we filled the rest of the day with sightseeing on some of the island's best overlooks at Nimitz Hill, Two Lovers Point, Asan Beach cliffs and various beautiful vistas all around the island. We took them to church with us, hung out with my friends, and worked out at the gym, so they really got to infuse into our little world out here. We played golf a handful of times and even found a few places to go shopping (which is hard to do around here!).

Introducing Mom to my fab Guam friends!

 The always stunning Tarague Beach

Our first family adventure once Nick returned from his work trip to Hawaii was to snorkel at beautiful Haputo Beach. I was so glad it was a beautiful sunny day, but I guess we did not factor in the high surge and strong currents surrounding the island that weekend. We hiked down the cliffside to the stunning white sand Haputo cove and were faced with some pretty decent sized waves breaking on the rocky reef. But Nick and I don't really have a stop button, so we stuck with plan A. Next thing I know, my mom (who, remember, has snorkeled once in her life two days before) is kicking through the waves and the current, getting battered by the breaking surf on our way to the outside of the reef line. To give you an idea of how hard the waves were crashing, both my dad and I lost fins when one of them zapped us head on.

 

We found Dad's fin, but mine was a goner

At this point, I was freaking out for my poor mother, planning my dramatic apology speech in my head to tell her how sorry I was to put her through this treacherous experience. But when we got the outside of the surf line, turns out Mom was completely fine. "It's pretty rough," she said, but she stayed out and we snorkeled together for the better part of an hour before heading back through the crashing surf once again. As the waves buckled down on us from overhead, I was once again lamenting our decision to take her here in these conditions... and here Mom came up from the waves laughing! "That was exhilarating!" she said. She definitely surprised us with her ability to plow through unfamiliar situations without letting fear stop her. Pretty awesome to have a mom as brave as mine, and I hope I am as adventurous as she is when I'm her age!

So, we went completely out of order and somehow the snorkeling trips got easier as we went, instead of more challenging. Whoops! Most of that, again, was the timing of the ocean conditions, but it seemed like no matter where we went, whether North Tip (right), Gab Gab, or Fish Eye, Mom and Dad were in awe of everything there is to see under water around our island. I would get so nervous that they weren't having a good time because there wasn't much to see. I keep forgetting how jaded and spoiled Nick and I are for knowing how everyday all the sea sights are to us. Mom and Dad were continually impressed!

One of my favorite things to do with visitors is to take them around the southern tip of the island. As I've explained before, the southern end is less inhabited, more rural, mountainous, oceany, and, in a word, breathtaking. Doing this tour half a dozen times now, I have learned all the best places to stop on the way and what to bring (like snacks and lawn chairs!) to make the trip most worthwhile. We started at one of the US Marines landing sites during WWII, continued on to Cetti Bay overlook, Spanish Fort to meet the carabao, Inarajan Pools, and up to Jeff's Pirate Cove for a cold drink. We arrived back home via cross-island road, and just like that, in just a few hours, my parents had seen half the island... the better half, at that!

Mom after feeding "Beshy" the carabao a banana

Big John giving us an overview on the organically grown bananas

The always refreshing Inarajan ocean pools!

Inarajan pools vista

We rounded off our fabulous day of Guam exploration by going to Chamorro Village that night for market shopping and meat on a stick. We went out to dinner at a fabulous local restaurant where my parents got to experience trying to order things on the menu the restaurant did not currently have. We still had a fabulous meal, even ordering our second choice. (I think they finally started to understand why we don't eat out very often!).

In two weeks we only ate out for dinner once :)

One of the best parts of the visit was their timing, being here over Thanksgiving. We planned a very low key Thanksgiving meal and ended up combining forces with another family on our street who also had low key plans. In fact, they were planning on having fish for dinner. A few other families came as well and we had an absolutely wonderful meal together. I especially loved that several of my least favorite Thanksgiving dishes (gravy and stuffing) weren't even part of the spread. And I must say, our paleo pumpkin pie was pretty darn good! I had not spent Thanksgiving with my parents since they came to visit me in Annapolis in 2004, so this was a very special holiday for us.

Thankful to spend the day with so many awesome people!

 We also managed to fit in a few rounds of golf!

At the fish market for the third time for fresh yellowfin and poki... yum!

Looking around our quiet living room now, I can hardly believe our visit has already come and gone. Funny to think back now... talking to my mom before they booked their flights, she asked me several times, "Are you sure two weeks isn't too long? We don't want you to get sick of us!" An understandable concern when you've grown up with the mantra that company, like fish, start to stink after three days. And yet, even with all we did, there is still more I hoped to show them that I wish we had one more day to do. And then just one more day after that...

While Mom was worried about overstaying her welcome as a guest, as a hostess I was worried that the trip wouldn't be as amazing as our visit with Nick's family last Christmas, given the timing would be so close to our pretty terrible rainy season. Then there was the ever frustrating factor that we no longer had a boat to jet them around in to all our favorite spots. Turns out, we had completely different experiences with both sets of parents, visiting different sites, doing notably different activities... and yet somehow both trips were equally incredible, once-in-a-lifetime trips for them and visits for us.
And the weather turned out to be pretty fantastic for just about all of the visit. Can't ask for more than that... Thanks Guam!

As we have come to realize how difficult it is for people to set aside the time and the means to make it out here, I am especially grateful that my parents were able to make the trek. One of my favorite parts of the trip was, multiple times, looking at my mom and saying, "Hey, when was the last time we hiked to a waterfall together? Or sumitted a mountain together?" And the answer was never. There are so many new experiences we were able to have together simply because of the opportunity to spend time together on this amazing island. And because my parents happen to be in pretty awesome shape! Grateful for this time together, for these photographs that tell a thousand stories, and for new memories of both adventure and Thanksgiving we will tuck into our hearts for the rest of time. And even so, I still find myself somehow wishing there could be just one more day...

The 2010 Top Ten

Last sunset of 2009. At least the ocean view and palm trees haven't changed!

As someone who keeps a journal, I am a big believer in self-reflection. So as one year ends and a new one begins, it's always nice to remember the significant days, seasons, and moments of the past 365 days. In a year that started off with an Iraq deployment, and brought us through an unexpectedly early international move, and saw both Nick and I through significant job changes, there's no shortage of opportunities for reflection. So that said, I've decided to give you the top ten most significant events/days/moments from this past year, in pictures :)

#10: Teeing Off with MomMom's Clubs
While 2010 was not the first time I had ever swung a club, it was certainly the year Nick and I became "golfers" (I use that designation lightly because as of, well, today, I have yet to break 100). This year when Nick and I headed east to reunite with his family after deployment, I was given an extremely generous offer to take his grandmother's clubs back to San Diego. After playing well into her 80s, MomMom decided her golf days were over. I am so proud to use her clubs and hope I too can keep up this game well into my 80s... and hopefully one day score in the 80s!

#9: Peyton Roberts, Youth Director
Sure, I was pretty involved with my youth group in high school, but I never saw myself becoming a youth director. I got into volunteering with the youth at my church in Coronado and through a strange course of events found myself somehow in charge of the whole program (?) as 2009 ended. Seeing it as my volunteer role, I never expected to show up on Guam and immediately get offered a job doing something I loved doing for free. I am so excited about next year when my big project will be taking our youth to Manila for a weeklong mission trip. Let the fundraising begin!

#8: Nick's Grand Canyon Run
So usually I hog Peyt's Island just for me, but this particular day of Nick's is so awesome, I just have to include it. Before Nick and I ever took our first glimpse of the Grand Canyon, Nick had already put it on his life list that he would run across it some day. After backpacking across it in August 2009, he left on deployment intent on making it happen. When he came back from Iraq, he decided to go for it and continued training even after breaking his hand during a Crossfit workout. On May 26th, Nick ran the 24.2 miles (and over 10,000 feet of elevation change) from the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in five hours and one minute. It was a proud moment to be there as he finished the run and crossed this huge goal off his bucket list.

#7: A Little Propeller Action

While one of the hardest days of 2010 was coming back in from our last voyage on our beloved sailboat, our decision to bring a zodiak to Guam has well made up for the loss. Propeller has allowed Nick and I to get off the island and explore the harder to get to reefs and dive sites. Even more fun is taking friends (and more recently, family!) with us. Instead of using the dive operators, we aren't tied down to a schedule or itinerary. We can explore wherever we want, whenever we want. In essence, Propeller has given us complete freedom out here.

#6: Peyt's Island
Never thought I'd start a blog or be a "blogger." In fact, I hate the word blog, and I hate saying, "You should read my blog." That said, this has been such a fun way to keep in touch with everyone since making the big move across the pond. I have absolutely loved all of your comments, emails, messages, and phone calls in response to these posts. I know no one is sitting at home hitting "refresh" to see if I've posted anything new, but it does make the 8,000-mile distance seem a little smaller knowing some of you are thinking of us. And frankly, I'm pretty shocked to see it's at 5,000 hits in five months. So, thanks for joining me here!

#5: Going Away Parties

Moving Day is always a tough one, but the one silver lining is when it's preceded by some awesome going away parties. We orchestrated one for ourselves on Gator Beach in Coronado on July 3rd and were thrilled that so many people were able to come, many even from out of town who we hadn't seen in several years (thanks Kevin & Tom, Courtney & Ben!).

Later that week we traveled to Houston to say goodbye to friends and family there and were completely surprised to find ourselves at, well, a surprise party organized by Nick's mom and dad and a few clever friends of ours. Great to see everyone in our two hometowns before heading so far away.

#4: Friends and Sailing
If I were to pick out a single favorite day of five years living in San Diego, this beautiful Saturday in May could well be it. It's not my #1 most significant of the year because nothing changed on this day, as things did in the top three to follow. But the fact that some of my favorite people were able to join me doing my favorite thing (sailing!) is what made it so perfect. My girlfriends met at our sailboat that afternoon and together, five of us cruised around San Diego Bay for three glorious hours eating gourmet chocolate and cheeses while sipping sparkling red wine in the sunshine. Toward the end, Nick and one of the other husbands showed up in Propeller to take pictures. As my friend Amy recently said, "I just wish we could go back to that day when everything was as it should be." How I wish we could too. So much has changed since then, but that day will forever be perfect in my mind.

#3: A Thanksgiving Proposal

There's so much to love about this picture! First of all, I am in New Zealand... with my sister... on Thanksgiving... at sunset... the hour that Ben asked her to marry her! It doesn't get any better than that! Well, except for the fact that it means there's a wedding on the horizen. Woohoo!

Photo by www.mallorymoffit.com photography