Long Time No See

So, I pretty much forgot that I even had a blog, so here's a new update for you all. Life here is good, but busy. I got moved to senior analyst recently, and am also working as my company's language program manager. The summer is moving in, so it's getting hot here (imagine that, it being hot in Hawaii!). I spend a lot of my free time hanging out on the beach, swimming, or snorkeling, most of the time with my girlfriend Alice. Yes, I have moved on to the world of dating again, and couldn't be happier. You'll all get a chance to meet her when I come home this summer, because she's coming with me! I can't wait to get home to see everyone. Oh, by the way, in case you don't already know, I am coming home on the 12th of July and staying through the 27th. Here's a couple of pictures :

This is Alice and I at my neighbor's place... yes that's Smirnoff (with a straw).

Alice and Mika like to make out every once in a while, caught them in the act this time.

I think they are having an affair.

Don't drink and drive.

So, that's all I've got for now, we'll see you on the 12th! By the way. I wasn't drinking in the above picture mom, I was DD.

Stupidity

I just got back from a month of training, at a "Leadership Development Course", which the army thought would be cool to label the "Warrior Leader Course". Yeah, lemme tell ya how much more I feel like a warrior.....grrrrr!!! Anyways, a few months ago they decided that they were wasting time and changed the 30 day course to a two week course, eliminating some things that were deemed unnecessary. All went well, and people loved it, until they decided for no apparent reason to change it back to 30 days. So, to make a long story short, I have never learned so little in so much time. Too often over the past month I found myself with a poorly made broom in my hand, sweeping the parking lot...yes, THE PARKING LOT. And of course, the only reason we had to do that was because we were done with the required training for the day, but because it would be too nice of them to give us any free time whatsoever, they had us sweep the parking lots to burn time. So, needless to say I had a great time while I was gone.

Visions of Oahu

I thought I'd start things out with a melange of pictures I've taken from around the island, enjoy!


This is taken from atop Mariner's Ridge, on the southern end of the island. The hike is about 2 hours, starting on an open lava flow and continuing through steep, wooded terrain. Along the trail I had the opportunity to stop and refresh myself by munching on some wild guava that the boars hadn't found yet.

Another hiking picture, this time of my friend Bram chilling out in a bamboo forest along the trail to Manoa Falls. On a side note, bamboo is very slippery, but once you get used to it, is very easy to climb up pretty high. I had lots of fun with that.


I couldn't resist posting a canoeing photo. This is a few crews of my canoeing club winding down at the end of a practice. The beach seen here is only about a 10 minute drive from my house, on the north shore of the island.


This is one of the microclimates found on the island, the rainforest. This is another photo on the way to Manoa Falls, and really gives you the feeling that you are going to be eaten by a velociraptor at any time, no wonder they filmed Jurassic Park here!

New Beginnings

I've finally found my way into the world of blogs, so bear with me as I get used to this whole thing. I'm about to head out on about a month and a half of training, and won't be posting during that time, but I figured I might as well start this up, even if it's really just for picture posting for now.