October 21: Arrival and Hotel Goodies

We landed in Tel Aviv sometime yesterday. Everyone we've talked to here said it would be a few more days before jet-lag kicks in, but we're pretty sure we're feeling it a bit seeing as we slept a total of 22 hours after we got into our hotel room (waking only to eat an apple and a Cliff bar).

Fortunately, one of JD's co-workers (Adam) ended up on the same flight as us so he helped guide us through the airport with ease.

The Hilton here is amazing! We were greeted with tons of fruit, sparkling water and a bag full of Dead Sea Ahava bath salts, lotions and body washes in our room (pictured below). They all had tags that said complimentary so we basked in the goodies! Haha - we're normally quite hesitant to utilize "free stuff" in hotel rooms but all of the tags said "For our Hilton Honors guests" so we knew this stuff really was complimentary. :)

Travel Tip: Have we mentioned that every traveler needs to sign up for customer loyalty programs? Because you should. Our favorites are Delta SkyMiles, Hilton Honors and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. The rewards are too sweet to miss out on!

The beds are kind of odd because it is basically two twin mastresses pushed together with a King-sized base and headboard. We also get access to the Executive Lounge where they serve free breakfast, dinner, appetizers and yummy specially-designed desserts.

We haven't walked around the entire hotel yet but that's in the plans for tomorrow. We have a wonderful balcony and extraordinary view of the Meditteranean Sea (pictured above). Sunsets are amazing here! The elevator system is kind of crazy so JD and I take the stairs right next to our room when we're together. However, we decided today that the stairway is not the best option if we are alone. :)

Side Note: I tried using the sketchy cement stairway by myself when JD was at work one day. Terrible idea. I ended up in the basement hotel laundry room with people who only spoke Hebrew. All of the signs through the stairway were in Hebrew too, so I was left deducting and opening each floor's doors until I found the conference rooms (which then led me to the hotel lobby). This resulted in us having no choice but to figure out the elevator system.

We feel a lot more peace actually being in the city, yet our nerves are still on edge and we are trying to be extremely aware of all surroundings.

JD has been driving everywhere. The traffic is absolute chaos. Barely anyone drives a nice car around here... not because they're expensive but because they don't want to take the chances of their cars getting beaten up. Probably 99% of the cars here have scratches down the sides and dents engraving the bumpers. Mopeds drive on the white dotted lines (middle of the road) and scrape alongside of cars with their side-view mirrors. No big deal, right? Until you get side-swiped. (A moped came too close for comfort one time.) And public busses? Well, they always have the right of way. Regardless of whose fault it is, the car will always take the blame for a bus accident.

JD starts work tomorrow at 14:00. Because their work hours are still on central time for the most part, we are going to try to keep the same sleep hours. Our plan is to sleep from 01:00 and wake up at 09:00. We may need to alter the times for when we go on tours but besides that, we think we'll be good to go.

We're Proud to Be Newlyweds... Our Wedding Day 2010

Coming up on our two-year anniversary in May, we decided that it was about time to take a break from our travels and write a post about our wedding day. This post will take place on "The Wedding" tab for easy access if you would like to come back and reminisce or get ideas for your future events. Most of these photos were taken by Kike Morales, and a few were taken by our wonderful friends and family present at the wedding. If you have any questions or need references for your own event or wedding, email us at jitneysjourneys@gmail.com. We will be more than happy to share all of our info with you! Have fun browsing!! 

Video by JD and Whitney Todd

Songs in the video:
You're Beautiful - Phil Wickham
You're All I Have - Snow Patrol

*Photo Credit on all wedding and trash the dress photos goes to Kike Morales Photography.

October 21: Travel Tips for a Hectic Trip

What do you do when your layover flight is delayed to the point where you miss your destination flight?

Well, we'll tell you what we did to pass the 28 hours away...

For this particular flight, our schedule looked a little something like this:

Huntsville > Atlanta > New York > Israel

The flight from ATL to NY was delayed by about four hours. We arrived in New York about twenty minutes after the flight took off from NY to Tel Aviv, Israel. There was a pretty hefty handful of travelers en route to Tel Aviv on our ATL flight. 

When we all found the Delta counter (around 9 pm), the majority of passengers ahead of us had been told that they would just have to reschedule their flight. Delta representatives said that the delay was due to weather (couldn't be true - no rain, no snow, barely any wind); therefore, they denied the customers everything except their sincerest apologies. 

By the time we arrived to the counter, a quarter 'til midnight had struck. JD couldn't get in touch with anyone from his company (obviously because of the late night hours) so we were at a loss about what we should do. Delta said they could re-route us - send us to Amsterdam, Paris and then to Tel Aviv, among other routes - but there would be a very large fee. Since we pay out-of-pocket for my ticket and we always want to save the company money, we decided it would be best to wait it out for the next flight out to Tel Aviv. The Delta reps graciously gave us vouchers for a free hotel stay, taxi ride, and meals to cover our stay near the JFK airport. 

Travel Tip: When dilemmas strike, be persistent and be fluid. Your airline reps should take amazing care of you, especially Delta. They strive to have outstanding loyalty to their customers... more on that further down the post. 

We took a taxi to the local DoubleTree by Hilton (yes, we got two deliciously hot cookies upon arrival) and fell asleep after JD finished his email correspondence.

The next morning, we ate at the hotel buffet and had to check out around noon. We were pretty far out from the city so we decided to just head back to the airport. This means that we must find things to entertain us for the next eight hours, only to lead up to our 10+ hour flight to Tel Aviv. Luckily, the JFK airport is a pretty hip place. So hip, in fact, that they have stationary iPads for people to play on while eating.

That's right. We played Tic Tac Toe for at least an hour. And since we like to pretend like we're super secretive spies... we called ourselves Agent J and Sidekick W.

We also ate at Chili's, spent way too long in a cool electronics store, bought tons of candy for our long trip, and finally picked up a nice black coffee and Chai Tea Latte (5 pumps with whip) from Starbucks. Of course, our iPhones kept us pretty good company too.

Alas, it is possible to spend eight hours in the JFK airport without getting bored out of your mind. It makes it a lot easier when you have an awesome travel companion though.

It's finally time board the plane. The terminal is overflowing with passengers. We quickly realize that they overbooked the flight when the Delta reps announced, "If you have a seat on the plane and are willing to give it up, you will receive $400,000 in Delta credit and a guaranteed seat on the next flight out tomorrow."

"She said $4,000 - right?!?" We could hear the crowd murmuring in shock.

"That's right... $400,000 in Delta credit. You can use this for any Delta flight or partner including car rentals and hotel stays," the Delta rep repeated.

"No, she said $400,000!!! That is unheard of!!"

Most of the passengers were there with tour groups, so very few people were anxious about giving up their seat. JD and I had even met a family of four (who rode with us in the taxi to the DoubleTree) and they had been re-routed for the past four days. They had finally gotten a seat - there was no way they were going to give up a seat for one more day.

If JD and I were going to Israel for pleasure, we most certainly would've given up our seats for that type of reward any day. [Did I mention that we pay for my tickets out-of-pocket?] Since our flight had already been delayed by a day, we decided it would be best to stick with our seats as the trip was -above all else - a business trip.

Somehow or another, JD and I were able to get seats in the Economy Comfort section on the flight. It was terribly hard for us to get those seats in exchange for our seats in the very back of plane beside the bathrooms [kidding]. We were excited about our escape from the back!

Travel Tip: When you purchase anything after the security check in an airport, always keep the receipt at hand. You will never know when you will be required to go through a second security check. JD and I had to toss two full massive water bottles away because I couldn't find the receipt as we were crammed in the second security check line prior to getting onto the plane.

The flight to Tel Aviv was fairly uneventful, minus the kid who kept falling asleep on me. The plane didn't have the personal entertainment TV on the back of each seat. Instead, there was a big, bright screen in the front of each cabin which played four different movies. We sat in the first row of the cabin. I decided to purchase a sleep eye mask when we arrived back home.

Travel Tip: Always bring an eye mask. You never know when the person in front of you will keep the window open throughout the entire flight or if the plane will only have the bright screen playing throughout the flight right in front of your seat. 

I'm loving this eye mask by Naomilingerie. You can find it in her Etsy shop for $20.

Dear Friends: What would you do if you were stuck at the airport for eight hours or more?



Please keep in mind that we went on this trip in October. We are not allowed to post real-time traveling events due to JD's job. We are currently setting up camp in Huntsville for a few months finally. Sorry for the confusion!

Be Still: Facing Fear Prior to Traveling into the Promised Land

Preface to our trip to Israel, written the week prior to leaving in October...

You know those nights where you lie awake under the covers, endless thoughts colliding in your head without hesitation?

The Lord says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.”

That beautiful verse is one we hear over and over again; yet the repetitiveness may sometimes develop a callous over our hearts, creating an antithesis against it.

“Just be still and be silent, Whitney,” I remind myself.

God echoes back with, “Yes, Whitney, let even your thoughts be still.” 

God knows that it is merely impossible for me to be still. He created me as a woman with passion and determination. I feel guilty if I take a lunch break and watch TV or even when I’m down for the day with a migraine. As I am a stay-at-home-wife, I feel a deep burden to ensure that our home is constantly moving, and it must always stay clean in the process. Because God programmed me this way, I once thought He understood why I didn’t take time to journal while seeking out His Word or why I didn’t continue to journal my prayers as I did in high school. Serving as a busy housewife – cooking, creating, sewing, cleaning, writing blogs, making videos – this is my responsibility now.

Did I fail to remember my covenant between God and my new, handsome groom at the altar? God first. Husband second. Home third. How naïve was I to forget that?

Our God is a God of Truth, not excuses. He is a God of Conviction; and that God of Conviction spoke to me with a peaceful voice, the kind of peaceful voice you hear from your parents that go beyond the spankings, beyond the yelling. The soft voice of disappointment. God wouldn’t take His creation of the “passionate Whitney” as an excuse for my busyness. He reminded me of my fear. He reminded me why He created me to be a passionate woman, not only a passionate wife.

Be still. It’s a tough feat for some, including myself. Yet, sometimes God speaks to you and you have no other choice but to be still. We’re frozen – nay, paralyzed - in awe of what our Savior just said.

I experienced that feeling last night.

As my husband and I prepare to leave on our journey to a war-endangered territory, both of our minds and hearts have been a bit uneasy. He has been quite restless the past two nights. I’m not sure if it is out of worry for our safety on the trip or out of protection of our home in case the creepy photographer taking pictures from his car outside of Barnes and Noble may have actually been a spy. [Just kidding.] I feel his uneasiness - his restlessness – the same way he feels my emotions and knows that something is up.

However, I have also been somewhat restless with the typical “what if?” thoughts: We’re Americans - what if everybody will have a plot against us? What if we are captured and persecuted? What if we never see our families again? What if a foreign enemy bombs the hotel and my husband isn’t there with me? Or worse, what if something happens to my husband and I lose him forever?

Over a course of one week, our excitement and expectancy for God to create miraculous movements in our lives and in our marriage transpired into a dark cloud of fear.

As I lay restless in bed at midnight, God spoke. I had no choice but to be still.

My daughter, I know you’ve struggled in the past with understanding what it means to fear Me. Rest, dear child, and know that to fear Me is much different than being afraid of Me. I know your thoughts. I hear you. You are afraid of what will happen if you continue to follow me with steadfast perseverance, especially in this nation you are about to enter. You hear people remind you that when you follow Me, the enemy will try to destroy you. Why are you afraid of that? Do you not remember My Power, My Strength? Do not lose sight of that. Do not lose sight of My Love and My Hand over you. I am your Protector. All that happens to you will reflect My Glory. We’ll talk more about this during our time in the morning, shall we?

You better believe I woke up this morning on my knees in prayer. As I sought out the Lord and asked Him where to start in my study of His Word, He led me to Jeremiah. I grabbed our family's ESV Study Bible and started reading the introduction to Jeremiah’s writings.

Many authors have called Jeremiah the “weeping prophet.” While he does occasionally weep for Israel’s condition, and this depth of concern speaks well of him, this emphasis on his weeping may mislead readers regarding his toughness. Jeremiah was a determined, dedicated, longsuffering, and visionary follower of God. His courage and stamina serve as examples to even the most faithful of all God’s embattled servants. The apostle Paul certainly viewed his own ministry as being like Jeremiah’s. Thus, Jeremiah’s weeping hardly summarizes his character. He could perhaps more accurately be called ”the persevering prophet.”

Well, God, here we go...

______________________________________________________________________

We are truly excited to share our stories and adventures from Israel with you over the next few weeks. From anticipation to exasperation and joy to fear, an ebb and flow of emotions presented themselves throughout the entirety of the trip. Please don't criticize our moments of weakness and fear, for those were the times where God truly proclaimed Victory as His Power succumbed all. The documentation of this trip will most likely create a very transparent image of vulnerability. It is our prayer that, through what Christ revealed to us, you will be encouraged and draw nearer to Him.




Photo taken on our way back from the Mount of Beatitudes. Can you see the Presence of God declaring Himself in the clouds and the sunset, reigning over all creation? Amen to that! 

October 3: Koko Head Challenge

If you are ever on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, Boots & Kimos is a must-try! MM invited us to this little restaurant that we had to actually sit outside for quite a while just to get a table. Don't let the wait deter you. They serve these deliciously rich macadamia nut pancakes, which had a sweet macadamia nut sauce flowing over the 3-pancake high stack. I read that people love this sauce so much that even the Betty Crocker Company wanted to sell their product. What!? Yeah, it was that good.

After JD's teleconference, we set out to find Koko Head. We drove around for a bit trying to find the start. Somewhere along the road, we ended up at the Botanical Gardens. The GPS couldn't find it either. Just as you shouldn't let the wait deter you for the awesome-ness that will be served to you at Boots & Kimos, don't let the difficult-looking hike ahead deter you from Koko Head. It is most certainly not for the faint of heart, but you can do it.

You'll want to take lots of water (three

Camelbaks

per hiker's back should suffice), a camera, a Bible, and someone awesome to motivate you the entire way up.

{Alright, it's not that bad - but it's pretty tough if you're not in a daily routine of hiking such craters.}

As you may be enticed to hike Diamond Head due to its popularity among tourists, we would suggest against it. Grated, we haven't hiked it but we've heard that Koko Head's views hold many more marvelous treasures than Diamond Head. Plus, it's less crowded, less touristy and more of a challenge. Koko Head was formerly occupied by the military in order to transport personnel and supplies to a lookout post on the summit. How did the military get up to the peak? By trams and railways, of course!

And how do hikers get up to the peak? You guessed it - by walking more than 1,100 steps - or old railway ties. These railway ties have a tendency to be fairly spaced out every few feet so people with long legs (i.e. JD) have a higher advantage of defeating the trail with more ease than those with short legs (i.e. Whit).

This is Koko Head. Doesn't look so bad from here, huh? Please note that, yes, the baseball field you park beside

is

, in fact, the parking lot that will eventually lead you up to Koko Head. Don't second guess yourself... or triple guess if you had the same difficulties as us.  

The small hike's trail from the parking lot to the beginning of the massive hike's trail...

Oh, this is it. After the hill from the parking lot, followed by the paved road, you should embark on something similar to this.

Now

does the Koko Head trail look a bit tougher? 

We made it to the top!! Haha - kidding. This photo was taken maybe 1/8 of the way up. We were still fully energized at this point. 

This is the face of a man ready to defeat Koko Head. Yes, my sweet husband does smile all of the time.  Even in the face of defeat. It's a truly beautiful thing. I aspire to be more like him in times such as this.

He has a stamina that I just can't comprehend. At this point, I'm taking the photo from a little further behind him on the trail... as in, this photo is in full zoom. My energy was fading rather quickly... 

But, there were awesome views to sustain our wariness. 

Yeah, this reminds me of a roller coaster too - right before you lose your stomach. Vertigo, anyone?

Another fully-zoomed photo of my husband trekking at full speed ahead. He would let me catch up with him every now and again, but I just kept falling behind. I kept saying, "Gosh, I really need to get a work-out regimen."

Still working on that one...

The 500th step. 

Hydration is KEY!! I wish we had those Camelbaks about right now...

This is the bridge. Yeah. The bridge. As in, there is nothing underneath these railway ties except a vast span of nothing, and then maybe some grass below that nothingness.

Or at least that's how you may feel when crossing it.

You can also take the side trail to the right, if you're terrified of falling through. In other words, we took that trail on the way back down.

The Hikers vs. The Mountain

The beauty of this trail is that you will find an infinite amount of camaraderie. It's all of you vs. the mountain. This girl was one of many people that we shared encouragement with. I wish that we had gotten a snapshot of

the man carrying a baby on his back

. Oh yeah, and

the guy who was carrying his girlfriend down the mountain

.

THAT

is motivation, my friends. And it helped give us that push to keep going.  

Water break!! Did I mention that you should hydrate during this trek?

And this would have been the perfect place to pull out the Bible. Seriously. It was absolutely breathtaking. I mean that literally and figuratively. :) It was a great place to rest, take in the view, and hope that you would not fall forward the slightest bit or it's Jack and Jill the whole way down.

Props to my sweet husband for taking this cool pic. I'm so glad I wore my wedding shirt that day. It made for a pretty cool element in the photo, don't you think?

Oahu at its finest on a cloudy day. At this point, we were so high and the clouds were so filled with rain that it began to sprinkle on us. The rain was also motivation for continuing on. It was kind of like the voice of God saying, "What's up, Todd's? Why don't you join me on top of this crater? I've got some pretty cool sights for you. Oh, you need water? Here's enough to carry you through."

You may think this is the top, as it is the end of the ties. Don't be deceived, friends. My husband is merely resting for the first time on our hike. 

Follow the trail up to the tippy top (the beaten path to JD's right) and you will see some views that will almost knock you off the peak. It's a great photo op and resting spot!! We also met a super nice couple up here that took our picture for us. 

Here's a view into the crater. I had nightmares of falling off the peak into this crater during the nights that followed taking this photo.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After enjoying the view, get ready....

...give each other a good luck kiss for the way down...

...and go!!

You may be tempted to run, hop, skip, or jog down... but be forewarned. Your feet may run out ahead of you and BOOM. Jack and Jill

again

. Not cool. Especially when you have short legs.

The treacherous bridge. Round 2. I'm pretty sure I crawled down backwards this time.

Is it that noticeable that JD graciously took the camera from me halfway during the hike? Can you also tell that he was super far ahead of me again on the way down? His legs are so much longer than mine.

Time for my muscle pics. 

I AM WOMAN!!... with a Dasani bottle in my hand.

JD took some pretty cool photos as I was cautiously hopping down the roller coaster-like trail. You can check out a stop motion clip we put together at 

this video

towards the end. 

Though this particular hike was quite strenuous, it was awesome and rewarding at both the peak and the end. We encourage anyone and everyone to have a go at it. Don't give up. Rest when you need to. Drink more water than you think you can even handle. Most importantly, enjoy it. Savor the battle because it is indubitably worth it. (Can you tell we've been watching How I Met Your Mother shows lately on Netflix?)

A Coconut Crackin', Tree Climbin', Hula Dancin', Adventurously Hikin' Hawaiian Recap

We still have one more daily recap post coming later this week (fingers' crossed), but we wanted to go ahead and post this video of our luau (finally!!) and the infamous Koko Head hike (post coming soon).

Music Choice

Boy with a Coin - Iron & Wine

Beautiful Day - U2

In other news, it seems like we'll be around Huntsville for a while. Yippee! Project corner, here I come!! I've already been working on some new projects and I cannot wait to post about them, in hopes you get some inspiration. As for Huntsville, we're excited that we may finally get to check this place out and enjoy it for a while.

Do you have any suggestions for our Huntsville adventures? 

Weather willing, we are super pumped to hike Walls of Jericho this weekend. I found out today that Davy Crockett hunted there. This happily serves as Reason #104 to hike the Walls of Jericho. 

Have a happy Tuesday!!

To live by these promises for all eternity...

For JD's birthday this year (Feb 17th), I decided to finally paint him something special. It was unbearably difficult for me to keep it a secret. I ended up surprising him with the paintings the night before his birthday because I was about to burst!!

As we wrote our own vows for our wedding, I thought it would be cool to paint them in celebration of all that has come and will come! The tree is meant to be a replica of the tree growing elegantly beside the aisle in the garden where our wedding ceremony took place (at the Carl House). And the birds on my vows are a replica of the sign we have hanging on our armoire (Love Birds Nesting).

Work in Progress:

The finished product:

I, James Darwin Todd, take you, Whitney Taylor Adams, to be my wife. I am exponentially excited that I will be enjoying the rest of my life with the most beautiful woman that I know on both the inside and out. I cannot wait to show you love and adoration every second of every day. I promise to encourage you and support you in all of your goals and to strengthen you in your walk with Christ daily as we glorify Him in all that we do. I promise by God's Grace, as He enables me, to love you as Christ loved the church; to daily make sacrifices for you and to speak the Truth to you in Love; and to show you Love and Grace as He has shown me Love and Grace. I will trust Him with all of my heart and lean not on my own understanding. I will acknowledge Him in all things, for I know He will direct our paths. I will be peaceful, content and joyful in every situation, knowing that He is guiding our paths and that He will strengthen us at all times. Gosh, I love you, Whitney... I am so thankful for this moment, moments passed and moments that will be. Knowing that I will be spending every precious moment with you forever makes me the most joyful and jubilant man. It is an honor and a joy to live be these promises for all eternity.

You can imagine my heart was about to beat out of my chest when he said those words - yes, from memory. I am daily baffled and blown away by the man God has set in my life to be my sweet husband. A man of God's Word and desire to follow His will. What more could a woman ask for?

I, Whitney Taylor Adams, take you, James Darwin Todd, my man, as my husband. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with my soulmate who I truly find is the most attractive man I know on both the inside and out. I promise to shower you with Love and Respect every step of this journey we are about to embark on together. I will try to speak beyond my sassy-ness and instead speak to you only in Truth and in Love. I promise to encourage you and support you in all of your goals and to strengthen you as you walk with Christ daily, and to honor Him together. With our Savior's Strength, I'm putting my full trust in you, knowing that you will guide me and our family in the way of the Lord and the directions that He gives us. I promise to honor you be being Faithful, Trustworthy, Serving and Submissive, while especially honoring you in my speech. It's my utmost goal that people see just how beautiful and incredible you are and how incredible our marriage is just by the words that come out of my mouth. I love you. I cherish you. And after that past ten years of praying and knowing that God would provide me with an amazing husband, I can't imagine standing up here with any other man but you... and I am so thankful it's you. It's an absolute honor to promise you all of these things and to live by them for all eternity.

October 1: New Book. Must Read!

As JD drove away from the hotel, we blew each other kisses and waved at each other until he was no longer in sight. Since this is a daily routine of ours, it threw me off a bit when the security guard looked at me and smiled as I crossed the sidewalk.

“I bet he really appreciates you blowing him kisses like that on his way to work. That probably made his day,” said the tall, jolly security guard. To emphasize my shock at his adoring comment, I must acknowledge that he resembled "the tough guy" from the Zaxby's commercial like you wouldn't believe...

Every couple has the sweet, quirky thing they do. We tell each other "I love you" non-stop and we always make it a point to "kiss each other with a thooouuusand kisses" daily.

I’ve always thought that Hawaii was a state for lovers. Even at the shark adventure yesterday, the cameraman said he had never seen a couple kiss underwater with their snorkels on... with the sharks watching. That baffled me. Haven't any newlyweds ever tried this... or were they too smart to do something crazy like swim with sharks on their honeymoon?

With postcards in hand, I walked to the Post Office in one of the towers to send our “Aloha’s” to our family and to send a postcard back to ourselves. I spent most of the day pool hopping (sun bathing at one pool then switching to another). During lunch, I started reading Same Different As Me. Yeah. I had to stop reading because I started crying.

So I walked to the Tapa Pool and started reading again, tears straining down my face.

Fortunately, I was wearing my sunglasses.

I just couldn’t bare it any longer. I walked up to our room with fear that someone had thought I was truly upset.

On the contrary, God was breaking me down through the written words of Texans I don’t even know.

I sat in a chair on our balcony and literally

wept

as I turned the pages. Every once and a while I would get up to change Kleenexes and to try to regain composure, although I consistently broke down again as I started reading.

Close to finishing the book, JD called and said he was on his way back home. He picked up some dinner for me at Outback. Later he told me how flustered he was about the traffic, as this particular Outback only had take-out… not curbside takeout. You would've thought JD was a celebrity, the way everyone was honking their horns at him in frustration.

I had to put down the book because there is no better distraction than having my sweet husband home (in the hotel). Took note that I must finish it tomorrow. 

Valentine's Day Pillow Talk

Happy Valentine's Day!!

What are you and your love doing to celebrate today?

Building forts with blankets, venturing onto a treasure hunt or dining in a remote corner of a candlelit restaurant...?

I'm thinking that we may finally purchase these pillowcases because they're too awesome to be sitting alone in a warehouse.

The pillows are entitled "Say I Love You". However, as I've had the image set as my desktop background for more than a year, I decided to change the name to "Pillow Talk". It suits, don't you think?

I also ran across these pillows...

No, we are not pregnant. BUT when that day comes to fruition, we will probably buy some sweet pillows such as these. Until then, we will just have to shower our baby-making friends with these instead. Actually, I will probably just start making them myself since they come only in blue and pink. Next project to embark on...

September 30 : Yea. We went swimming with Sharks.

I climbed out of bed this morning at 7 a.m. to make our appointments with North Shore Shark Adventure. I love that my husband desires to live an exhilarating lifestyle; yet, I suppose it is a stark contrast to my desire having been to swim with dolphins...

The earliest we could call for reservations was 6 a.m. but we were both exhausted. It was nearly impossible to get either of us out from under our haven of white hotel sheets. The boat was scheduled to leave port at 11 a.m. so we needed to be there by at least 10:30. JD checked his email while I traveled to the lobby for our morning Starbucks run. For some reason, we didn’t have our act together so we left the hotel around 9:20 (it takes an hour to get to the North Shore). We had to stop at Wal-Mart so we could buy an underwater cover for the Flip Cam though. After asking the electronics lady at the weirdest placed Wal-Mart I’ve been to (it was located downtown), she said that she didn’t even think the Flip had an underwater cover (which they do because I saw it on the Wal-Mart website yesterday). Oh well. We drove through the pineapple fields to get to the North Shore, welcomed by exotic trees and breathtaking views of the mountains and ocean. I was so thankful JD finally got to see what I had the opportunity to witness last Sunday!

We arrived to the port around 10:45 a.m.

In other words, we barely made it on time.

This was perfect, as our timing prevented me from thinking about the "What If" scenarios prior to jumping into the ocean. The instructors quickly briefed us on Shark Safety

(can you believe there is such a topic?)

as the boat started into the vast blue. Views behind and beside us were extraordinary. I know I use words like that to describe Hawaii fairly often, but that’s the only way I can express the beauty!

The captain drove out about 3 – 4 miles offshore. The first group, made up of about 7 people, was the first to go down in the cage tied up to the side of the boat. [I got sick during this time, due to the nature of the 4-foot waves tossing the small boat around.] We could see the sharks from the boat but they looked much smaller from above than from down below. The cage was beating steadily against the side of the boat. The top of the cage was surrounded by about one foot of steel bars, held above the water by buoys. The sides of the cage had glass panels and steel bars to hold onto. This is basically what we looked like:

picture courtesy of Masa Ushioda

With blood flowing rapidly through our veins

and fortunately not from our skin

, we counted at least eight Galapagos sharks. I kept bobbing up like I was wearing floaties or something, but JD went to the bottom of the cage, only to find out that there was not a glass bottom... simply steel bars that he accidentally stuck his foot through. He quickly swam back to the top in slight terror. I think we spent a total of 20-30 minutes underwater, amazed at the gracefulness and precision of these giant fish.

The ship crew filmed our time with the sharks but I can't pull the files up on my computer yet. We can't wait to put together a video of this thrilling experience!!

The ship captain commanded us to get some some type of doughy substance in my stomach to soak up the acid which was beginning to settle. I got terribly seasick during this trip. Fortunately, my stomach felt like it could handle a treat from Matsumoto. Shaved Ice. Oh yea!

We also stopped on the side of the road to capture the beautiful view of the tide rolling in. While exploring, JD found this coconut... and he opened it using a rusted nail on a wooden block. Fortunately, we had no desire to eat it (given the rusted nail and all) because it was filled with maggots. We got out of there as quick as possible and took showers as soon as we got back to the hotel!!

Between the nasty traffic jam in Waikiki and dinner, JD said such an amazing thing to me:

“One of those great yet small and simple things about marriage is that I actually have someone to eat dinner with tonight.”

You see, we spent at least an hour calling around and asking for restaurants to deliver to our room. At some point during our frustration, we heard the sky roaring with dominance. “Seriously?? Now we’re going to have to walk through the rain if we want to eat??” We looked outside and realized it was the Friday night fireworks show –

NOT

thunder. JD felt bad that we missed the fireworks show after he saw my reaction from last Friday. But I just laughed. It had just been one of those nights; the fact that we missed the show just added to the amusement of the evening.

When we went downstairs for dinner, we honestly had no option but to get take-out from Round Table Pizza again or to just dine-in at any restaurant. Having been faced with this dilemma last Sunday (not having anyone to eat with nor being able to get take-out, and just eating biscotti bites I bought at the Farmer’s Market earlier that day), we decided it would be best to eat at Benihana. We came to the conclusion that the Hilton just wants to make sure their guests get out of their rooms.

This would not be the best hotel to stay at during a Honeymoon. ;)

We have found a bountiful blessing in marriage today: you will forever have someone to sit with at a dinner table and to sit by on an airplane (as long as you travel together, that is). Praise the Lord for that!