Trails and Turtles

Yesterday we decided it would be fun to go explore back behind James' house. He made a trail down the mountainside that leads to a river, so we wanted to check it out. We were about halfway down the trail when we got attacked by killer mosquitoes! Okay, well they weren't killer but you'd think so! Actually, they weren't attacking US they were attacking ME! I was so tempted to turn around and get bug spray but this trail is not an easy one, so I decided that I would truck on through. I swear I must have sweet blood or something....they always come for me! By the time we made it to the river, I was covered in bites, but the view was worth it. Crystal clear water with black lava rock spotted throughout distracted me from my itchy legs. We hiked down the river a ways before we decided to have a snack on a rock with water flowing around us and then head back. I can't wait to explore it some more (with bug spray of course)!

Today we woke up to the most vibrant and full rainbow I have ever seen in my life! Oh, and let's not forget about the mountains that played a part in the background! Gorgeous!

Speaking of gorgeous, we decided to go and check out the sea turtles! We had to go through a fancy, more mainland style neighborhood to some back trail to get to them. We brought our snorkeling gear and set out towards a cave hoping to spot some turtles on the way. We didn't see any in the water at that time, but when we got to the cave we saw three HUGE turtles. Houston said that two of them looked like they were kissing. :-) When we left the cave, we swam some more and ended up seeing a lot of the Honu (sea turtle in Hawaiian). They seemed to be totally unbothered by us and we were able to get really close to them in the water. It was super fun!

To end our day, we saw a set of double rainbows to welcome us home!

Aloha!

The Brothers

Three things

Houston and I had a pretty productive day today. James' uncle says that a good rule of thumb here in Kauai is to only expect to do three things in a day. There's no need to rush around. This is the Island life so three things a day is a good rule of thumb. Well, Houston and I did our three things today.

~We went to the post office to get a P.O. box...so we can get mail from you fine people. :-)

~We opened up a bank account so we can actually have a place that lets us take out cash. (we have online banking right now and can't do that here)

~We went to the beach. We bought a truck. 

I happen to be the most excited about that last accomplishment although it was supposed to be "We went to the beach."  Houston called a guy this morning about a truck that was a pretty good deal, but he never answered. After we did the post office and bank thing we were finally about to head to the beach (we haven't set foot in the ocean thus far). Well that was disrupted by a phone call from the truck guy. The guy actually had a day off today so it was prime time to check it out.  Dang it. I mean I was happy that the guy called back, but I was looking forward to getting some vitamin D in my life! We took the 30 minute ride to the truck guy's house and decided that we should probably pray for a bit of wisdom. We prayed for it to be clear if this was the right truck for us or not. We met the truck guy (nicest guy in the universe, I swear) and got to talking during our "test drive". He said something about listening to Christian music so Houston pursued the topic of his "Christianity" and found out that he is a believer. He actually mentioned that he was planning on trying out one of the churches we are deciding between. Anyways, I thought that was something God did for us so we would feel comfortable with the transaction. I felt a peace about buying the truck that usually doesn't happen when we spend that amount of money.  Another trip to the bank later and we were off in our new whip.

Here he is.....

It's gotta be a "he" because it's a truck right? :-)

It seems to be hard to find a reliable vehicle on the island. We wanted a truck because its very practical, especially while roaming the off roads and putting surf boards along with wet clothes in the back. If you go with a cheap vehicle, they are usually rusted out because of the salty air. You end up pouring money into a lemon that may leave you stranded on the side of a mountain. That's no good. We are happy with our find and can't wait to get it dirty so it looks like a local is driving it. :-)

Lot's to tell!

In case there is anyone reading this who doesn't know our story, I guess I should tell it in a nutshell. Houston and I have wanted to move somewhere out of Florida since we have been married. We LOVE our friends and family and wouldn't trade them for the world but we felt like God gave us a burden to GO. Where? Eh.... it didn't really matter to us. We prayed about "where" for a long time and some places popped up that we considered moving to, but nothing ever happened. One of our friends moved to Hawaii about a year ago and told us that he was getting a house and that there was a separate area that we could stay in if we wanted. Houston was ready to move right then and there, but I was definitely skeptical. After a whole lot of prayer and consideration, we decided to visit in January. While we were there, we made some new friends and got a bit of a feel of the culture...because it is definitely different than Florida. We didn't' make a decision while we were there but continued to pray when we returned home. Through council, lots of prayer, and God's word, we saw that this was something that God wanted us to do. We are still trying to figure out exactly why he has us here and who he wants us to reach, but we will continue to be obedient and do His work. We don't have a job at this point but we do have a fantastic place to stay and a couple of churches that we are deciding between. We know God will provide.


Well, This is our fourth official day in Kauai so I will recap a bit to share what we have been doing.

Day 1

Three flights and two layovers later, We finally arrived in Lihue's airport. We thought we would be ambitious despite our lack of sleep and go ahead and get whatever we needed from Costco. It seemed like a good idea considering it is 45 minutes away and about 1/3 of the price of the local grocery store. We survived with enough toilet paper and ketchup to last us the year we are here! Seriously.

Day 2

Apparently our trip to Costco wasn't enough, so we decided that we would drive the 45 minutes again to go to Walmart. We got some household things we needed, some food, and seeds to hopefully start a small garden. When we got back home we went into organizing mode to make our place feel like home. It's not quite home yet but our clothes are organized and we have a few pictures on the wall so I have hope! :-)

We needed a break from organizing so we ate a ton of fresh macadamia nuts and then helped James sort some out to sell. He has about 80 mac nut trees at his house! The nuts are delicious!

Later on that evening, our friend James invited a few friends over for a cook out. Its always nice to meet new people and have fun conversations!

Day 3

We woke up bright and early to go on a helicopter ride. James' Aunt and uncle had extra tickets so they asked us if we wanted to go. Uhhhhhh ya! It was an hour helicopter tour around the whole island. It was absolutely breathtaking! Houston and I were talking and decided that God was really showing off his skills when he created Kauai. It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen!

A private waterfall we stopped at

Waimea Canyon

Everywhere we turned, our mouths literally dropped from the beauty. The island is vastly different from one side to the other. The North side of the island is very lush and rains quite often for a couple minutes at a time. The south side is very dry and is home the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." We live on the North side of the island where the beauty abounds.

Afterwards, we ate some food and did a little moderate hiking to see some sites. As usual, we were blown away with how beautiful everything was.

When we got home, we rested for a bit before we went out to an appetizer party....better known in Hawaiian as a pupu party. Yes, pronounce "poo poo". Hilarious. James' aunt and uncle invited us to that as well. They rented a house so a week because a different aunt was visiting. Anyways, I was thinking we were going to be grilling out and be a part of a casual affair but I was wrong. There dress was casual (as always in Hawaii) but the food and the home....fancy schmancy! It was by far the nicest house I have ever stepped foot in. All of the walls facing the ocean were glass so you could see the view....even the bedroom had glass walls. The house was built up on the side of the mountain so we weren't right on the beach. It was secluded and oh so relaxing. The house had a jacuzzi and one of those eternity pools that Houston lusts after in magazines. It was awesome. I swear the couch could seat 20 and the whole house was built strictly for entertaining. The wood detail was perfect and the layout was very open. I obviously loved it. :-) Everyone there was quite a bit older than us, but we enjoyed hearing the stories of how each person got to Kauai and what they did for work. Relaxing in the jacuzzi while the sun was setting was a perfect ending to a perfect day!


Today we went to a tent church. It was a pretty good service but they had a guest speaker. The people were very friendly and welcoming so I enjoyed that. We ate afterwards with everyone (they have pot luck every week. Heck yes!) and got to talk with people for longer. I was amazed to hear about other people being connected to Ocala in some way around here. It's pretty cool. I guess Houston and I should start recruiting some of you so we can all live out here together. ;-)

Well, about to finally head out to the beach because we have yet to get in the ocean!! Sad, I know. I don't have time to edit so forgive me if I don't make sense or my grammar is poor. :-) Other posts will not be this long (hopefully) as long as I try to keep up with it.

love you all,
Houston and Brittany