Blessings: work and food

We haven't been on any adventures lately because God has definitely blessed us with a lot of work this week. Houston was asked to build an outdoor shower cover for one of James' aunt's properties. It turned out really great! She was super happy with it.

                                     

Doesn't it look awesome?!?

He was also able to pick up a side job to help out a guy doing lawn work, deliver some materials for someone and mow a couple lawns for Paradise Lawn care.  Houston and James finally got their trailer and a smaller lawn mower so they can get more work done!

                                                 

Just this week he was able to make probably twice as much as I have made the whole time at my job. I am thinking about quitting and joining forces with Houston doing side work! ;-) Not really but it is tempting! It was just really awesome to see God provide for us and still allow us to have some time to go to the beach and enjoy the island!

So, being in Hawaii has made us open our minds to new things a bit. This is a time to change and stretch ourselves. We decided that we needed to branch out with food a bit. We are eating more organic things and planting a garden but recently we gave ourselves a food challenge. This challenge came about when James' cousin Hali was in town and cooked a few meals for dinner. It seemed like every one of her meals had a food that we have never even heard of before. We decided that we needed to branch out a bit and try new foods. Our challenge is to try at least one food a week that we have never eaten or even heard of in some cases. I LOVE trying new foods....Houston not so much.... but he was so up for the challenge. The challenge is helping Houston branch out and try new foods but it is also helping me learn how to cook new foods and have a more versatile menu.  Some items on the list I have tried before but maybe have never cooked. It is SO MUCH FUN! Even Houston is getting all into it and pointing out crazy veggies that he wants to try. So far we have tried leeks, quinoa and kabocha (japanese pumpkin). We like all of them! Houston is even branching out with regular foods. I made some healthy gumbo-type stuff (picture below) and he ate it and liked it! Ya'll, this stuff has tomatoes, green peppers and onions among other things! Im telling you, back in Ocala he would have stuck up his nose to this! I am writing so much about food because this is a pretty big step for us!

Our garden is also doing pretty well. We are learning a lot about gardening and the fact that it takes work and time but it is so worth it to have food that you know where it is coming from! In Hawaii there is big controversy about GMO foods. Most people are so against it and even try to pass laws where all foods should be labeled if they are GMO or not. There isn't a ton of exposure about GMO on the mainland, but here people talk about it often. You should look it up if you aren interested in how our food is being genetically modified. :-) Anyways, we are loving having a garden and we just picked our first veggies today!

Look at those yummy squash! Well, a couple of them weren't so yummy. They had maggots in them.  :-( It's okay though because this whole garden thing is a learning process! We will eat a few of the squash and keep a closer eye on the ones that are still growing. Right now we have a cucumber, squash and some beans that are waiting to be picked. Its pretty exciting! I really find gardening something I can totally get into. It's just amazing to see life sprout from tiny seeds!

Wish you were here,

The Brothers