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Fika and Funny Faces

Fika - A Swedish word, pronounced feekah. It is when you eat e.g. a sweet cake, cookie or even regular sandwich, normally with some kind of beverage, preferably coffee or tea.

School buses and technological disparities

Something I found on the internet.  Funny but thought provoking, just the way I like it.

Check out the new school buses in Japan.  State of the art computers.  Streaming high-speed internet.  Air-conditioned.  Just released and serving the community.

Now check out a school bus from India.  Something to think about the next time you call for technical support.  Where does your phone call automatically go?

Throw up them "Thank-you Shakas"

We got some visitors here at Surfing the Nations, a group of high-schoolers from High Desert Church.  It's great to see Wahiawa cleaning up and at the hands of teenagers.  It's also great to see neighbors who love their own community that they smile to see it clean up.

From Real Time Aloha

You know, community volunteers just don’t get enough props when they give.  This morning I was driving back home through Wahiawa and I saw dozens of people cleaning up graffiti from street polls.  Man did that put a smile on my face.  So I rolled down my window and asked what organization they were from and heard a proud young girl say “Surfing the Nations” as she pointed to the location…..right there in Wahiawa.

For me, when organizations reach out withing their communities it fortifies my total cries that charity starts at home…….in this case their own backyard.  When others see that you care, it broadens the circle of awareness of others.  This is not much of a post but I wanted to just say than you Surfing The Nations for what you’re doing for our community. 

If you come by this post and live in Wahiawa and you drive by Surfing The Nationsheadquarters, throw a thank-you “shaka”.

Go here to view the entire article

Football or Soccer?

6 billion people in the world all stopped what they were doing to gather en mass and watch two teams compete in probably the biggest sport competition in the world.  Everyone was watching except for USA.  Where is soccer in the states? What causes soccer to be less appealing to Americans, so much so that we call it soccer, not FOOTBALL.  It amazes me that some people haven't even realized that the World Cup was going on.  Oh well, their loss.

As for me, 1:30AM, 4:00AM, and 8:30AM were usual waking hours, with the games on streaming internet only (funny right, TV coverage of the World Cup was very limited in USA).  Where were you watching the World Cup this year?

Opening Ceremony

GOD is GOOD

24 years of life.
5 years of knowing you.
6 months of friendship.
100s of hours of Skype.
21 days of fasting, Daniel style.
3 nights of prayer.
2 days, 14 hours, 25 minutes of waiting.
18 hours of Air Canada
45 minutes of H1
1 Love.
YOU

Counting can be fun.  Thank you God.

Lost Extravaganza

LOST Fans.  TV Addicts.  Nerds.  Crazy People.  Call me what you like, I love LOST and am sad to see it finished.  The last episode was great.  Closure is great.  But now what am I going to watch on Wednesday nights (I know LOST airs on Tuesday nights, but I don't have a TV and I can only watch it on Hulu.com when it becomes available on Wednesday nights.)

So to commemorate this momentous event, I decided to road-trip, well as much of a road-trip one can do in Hawaii.  I took a car, some food, my camera and my trusty LOST companions and began our circle island tour. We hit as many LOST film locations as we could.  Took as many pictures as possible.  We got sun burned.  We even ran into 2 other LOST groups.  One was a group of friends, like us taking pictures of Dharma-ville, the other was a paid organized tour at Kualoa Ranch.




Pictures are posted on Facebook so that my other LOST companions can enjoy in the pictures as well.  Here is a sample for your viewing pleasure.



When taking pictures with girls, jumping pictures are mandatory




Goodbye LOST.

Humane Rat Trap Extravaganza

Just set up a rat trap for the second time.  First time no success.


Pick out the usual mouse-trap bait.  If you are unfamiliar with these procedures, watch re-runs of your favorite Tom and Jerry episode.

Proceed to fix bait within the bowels of the metal trap

Place trap in conspicuous location.  Somewhere mouse/rat may see it and take the bait.

Remember where you put the trap so that you can check it in the morning.  Happy hunting

Theories on the first rat trapping failures.  Two rats walked in, one propped the door open with a tomato and the other one ate the cheese.  Tomorrow morning better tell a different story

Mother's Day

I had the honor of sitting next to my Mother in our seats at Sunday Mother's Day service at New Hope Farrington.  Then in service, to my surprise, Pastor Elwin Ahu posted one of his favorite Mr. T music videos.

Hope you enjoy

Hug your mother, and treat her right.

Ich bin krank

Funny I just learned how to say that in German, and now look where I am.  Lying in bed writing this blog, sick.  Monday's are awesome, but not in bed.

This weekend was spent working at my parent's house.  I have been helping my dad remodel the living room after fixing the leaky roof.  Apparently mold grows really quickly when you live in rainy environment.  But the good news is all the mold should be gone from the living room.  The bad news I remember how it was living with mold in the air cause now I am sick again.  gah!!!

2 car pile up on the upcoming right lane...drive with caution

A night on the town spent ice skating.  Haven't been there in a long time, and still Ice Palace is a busy hangout spot for all the "cool kids." Imagine Nascar on the I-5 during 8AM peak rush hour.  Kids dodging in and out.  Speed skaters trying to zoom past you.  The random couple clothes-lines you with their hand-holding maneuver. Then there's that one girl who can't figure out the counter-clockwise pattern of skating, and BAM!!! A collision of massive proportions.  I couldn't believe it, but ice skating in Hawaii is a very popular sport, well at least popular enough to pack the ice rink full of hobby skaters.

Would I do it again? Of course.  I mean go ice skating, not run into an unsuspecting girl at full speed.  I'm not the best skater but at least better than most, which is an accomplishment for someone born and raised in Hawaii for sure.  That was one night won by spur of the moment plans.  Wish you could have been there...it was the awesomest (that one's for you Sherry).

Beach day with nothing to do

With the surf contest over I have had no plans to do anything on these couple of days off.  Waking up late in the day to catch up on some loss of sleep was first on the agenda.  Eating breakfast for the first time in a couple of weeks was nice.  Maybe even some surfing just for fun with no time to come in or time to finish.  Relaxing and resting.

And now that I have had this day all planned out (well un-planned out if you know what I mean) it turned out to be a great day.  Sleeping on the beach under the sun was awesome.  Barbequeing on the beach was awesome.  Surfing the south swell was awesome.  Hanging out with friends was awesome.  But really having to be nowhere with nothing to do was the greatest.

Lazy days and enjoying it with people I love.  Couldn't ask for more (maybe one more thing but that is another story).  Adventures in the sun to continue tomorrow.

Peace

Freedom Surf Contest

Work, work, work

I'm trying not to get bogged down by all the work, but the surf contest is this coming weekend.  Naturally, there are a lot of things that will cause me to work overtime.

Everything should go great...I am praying.  If you want to compete, get those entry forms in.  And if you longboard, you best be practicing cause I'm going to shred it up.  Yeah right.  It'll be good times for sure.

See you at Kuhio Beach park this Saturday and Sunday.  If you don't, you will miss out.  I know I wouldn't want to miss out on all of this.

Oh yeah...did I mention we are hosting the first Stand-Up Paddle division competition!!!


Peace

GFMB Premiere

Just finished cleaning up from our Hawaii premiere for Gum For My Boat.  We hosted this movie screening in our place at Surfing the Nations, and it was a packed house.  I'm so tired from all of the planning and working, but in the end everything was well worth it.

It's nice to see the end result of weeks of hard work, and to see that it was a success.  The night started off slow.  We waited around while the people started coming in the doors.  We had Bangladeshi curry, pastries, coffee, and chai tea...mmm good!  And if the food was not a hit we had a photo booth where people could take pictures that would be sent to the surf club in Bangladesh.  Thanks to the Media Ninjas, everything in that department was amazing.

The movie was screened and the band played on.  Arkeo brought the house down.  Thanks guys.

Okay now for some sleep...I heart sleep.

Until next time


Gum For My Boat: Surfing In Bangladesh Trailer from Jedidiah Clothing on Vimeo.

I Heart Sleep

Sometimes I sleep because I love it so much.  Naps in the middle of the day.  Sleeping in and staying in bed in the morning.  Going to bed early with nothing better to do.

Sometimes I sleep because I am so tired.  Almost like a passing out.  Comatose.  Fall on my pillow and out like a light.  It is in this state of sleep where I sleep talk.  I have even been known to sleep walk.  My phone has also been known to butt-dial people.  This state of sleep will most often end in the classic drool on pillow.

Then sometimes I sleep to pass the time.  Looking forward to the next day.  During sleep, time seems to fly by in the blink of an eye.  Lie in bed, fall asleep, wake up 8 hours later.  In these anticipated times of sleep I dream the most exciting dreams.  I always look forward to dreams like these where I can be somewhere I'd rather be.  Looking forward to the future.

Moral of the story:  Sam Loves Sleep
Goodnight

Into A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day...

"Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who preformed great exploits. ...He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. ...He was held in greater honor than any of the thirty, ...and David put him in charge of his bodyguard." (2 Samuel 23:20-23)

Imagine facing a lion head on.  Imagine a 500 pound animal looking at you and the only thing it is thinking about is eating you.  Imagine now instead of running away you give chase.  Now this animal begins to run and you chase it into a pit.  This pit is not only the new home to a 500 pound man-eating animal and you, but is covered in snow causing the ground to give way and lose all traction.  This is the basis of a quick story most miss in the pages of the Bible.  I have been learning so much through this quick passage.

How many times do I turn the other way when challenges face me?  How many times do I choose to not take that leap of faith?  How many times do I regret not taking that risk?  When that lion comes face to face with me, I will chase it and take that risk.  Become a lion chaser.

Love is...

Patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not rude or self-seeking, blah, blah, blah...

Words are pretty and they often sound so good.  We can formulate sentences and thoughts that sound pleasing to other people.  We can remember scripture that tells us what love is, but what is true love?  How can I experience, share, give this love.  Where is the love?

In trying times I feel overwhelmed with emotions and wonder if these emotions are something from within or just a product of my surroundings.  Love can be downplayed so easily in our world through fleeting words and careless conversations.  If I can clarify things a little, I'm not sure anyone can completely express true love to another person.  I think love is something from above, God is love and to experience love is to experience his grace and power.

As mere humans, we can attempt to love people as God loves us, but in our faults we will often fail.  The only true way (as I am learning in the past couple of days) to love someone is to look at them through God's eyes.  See that person as God would, through the shortcomings and failures.  Only in this way can we even attempt to love in God's capacity.

Thanks for being faithful.  Thanks for sharing your heart.

Tsunami came and tsunami went

5:00 am wake up call.
5:30am gas station run to fill up the STN vehicles
6:00am still sitting in the gas station line.  Hawaii State Civil Defense sirens went off.
6:30am meeting in the bar with STN peeps.  What are we doing today?
8:00am Skype time to talk with loved ones
10:00am second meeting in the bar with STN peeps.  Lots of meetings lots of praying for Chile
11:20am watched news on the internet for updates and live footage of the tsunami hitting Hilo
11:50am still watching news.  Some wave activity, nothing spectacular
12:20pm third meeting in the bar with STN peeps.  Tsunami looks like it will be nothing major
1:00pm went to Kamehameha Ho'olaulea for food.  Tsunami warnings are going to be called off
3:00pm all tsunami warnings have been called off.  Praise the Lord.

Pray for Chile

Images: Hawaii Effects Of The Tsunami - Photos - KITV Honolulu

Moloka'i no ka 'oi

In a blink of an eye, my time on the small island of Molokai was over.  This trip was highlighted by the Freedom Skate Contest, but there were many other awesome moments.  Our team served the community here on Molokai over the past 2 weeks through yard work and other odd jobs: weeding, lawn trimming, killing wasps, and planting trees.  We worked down at Kalaupapa, the Drop-in Center in Kaunakakai, several churches around the island, and even out at Mo'omomi planting native Wiliwili trees.

The greatest part about all the yard work was getting to know the people we were serving.  One of our friends from Molokai asked if we would be willing to help out his father's family's house.  After working in their house and cleaning up their yard, the family invited us to spend the day with them and their relatives on the beach.  We barbequed fish and venison, things that they had caught.  It was an amazing opportunity to be invited into someone's family, especially a local family inviting a group of non-locals into their house.  Truly a clash of cultures.

Freedom Skate Contest 2010

This weekend was jam packed with so much things going on.  We held the 2nd annual Freedom Skate Contest on Molokai this past Saturday.  It was so much fun and a lot bigger than last year's contest, there were 34 contestants.

As the person who was planning this contest, I am now relieved to have finished it.  Not that I am glad it is over, because the contest was amazing.  But the pressure of planning the event, making sure things go according to plan, organizing and carrying out everything is now finished.  I know that I lack certain leadership skills like organization, that's why I had to take extra precaution to make sure this contest was organized and planned properly.

Everything did go smoothly and I was stoked to see how motivated and enthusiastic the kids were.  They were so excited from last year and most of them improved.  Last year there were some kids who couldn't even skateboard.  Rolling around the park was the best trick they could do.  But this year they were dropping in to the ramps, grinding rails, and launching bigger airs than I could even imagine myself doing.  I was excited for them.

Wish you were here.  It was a lot of fun.  Shoots!!!

Divison 1 Finalist

Division 2 Finalist

Division 3 Finalist

I like to do the dance they do to the Molokai Slide...

I like the sand spreading out to the sea, I like the tropical moon and the lazy palm tree.

Just got in to Molokai yesterday morning, and just like the song says "there's no place I'd rather be." After 2 days I have fell in love with this place.  It's more of the people and atmosphere than the place itself.  The land and ocean looks all to similar to Oahu.  It's the laid back feeling and the island style that really gets to me.

We have our skate contest that we are planning.  It will take place this Saturday which is only a couple of days away.  Normally, in a moment like this, I would be stressing out and rushing to get everything figured out.  All the who, what, where, when, and whys would be flying around in my head.  But in Molokai, it is so hard to stress out.  You really have to try to stress out here.  It's a nice change of pace to put worry on hold and just sit back and enjoy life.  Cause life is happening all around me.  God will put everything together according to His plan, we just have to be faithful.  "Do not worry about anything."

As I head of to bed I can just imagine what it must be like to live in a place like this.  The town has everything that you need and the land has everything else you could ask for.

Stay tuned for some live updates from the 2nd annual Freedom Skate Contest this Saturday.

Mount Ka'ala, Ka'ena Point, and Maunawili Falls

I've been on a hiking extravaganza the past week.  We had last Monday and Tuesday off from work so we decided to go on a hike to the top of Mount Ka'ala.

The view was spectacular the entire way, and after 4 hours we made it to the top.  I was treated to a view of the entire Leilehua plains and the entire North Shore of Oahu.  And just 5 minutes on the other side of the summit I was able to see the entire Leeward side including all of Downtown Honolulu.

Then on Saturday I went out to Ka'ena Point.  This hike was a lot less strenuous.  I've been on it many times before through my days working for NOAA on their monk seal research.  It was nice to get back to this side of the island.  And visiting those monk seals really brought back some memories.  Call me a nerd, but I still remember their tag numbers and nicknames we gave them.

Finally the week was finished off with a leisurely hike to the Maunawili Falls.  This hike is always fun.  Who wouldn't like a hike to a tropical waterfall through a beautiful rain forest on a Sunday afternoon.  After all this hiking, it may be awhile before I get back on a trail.  Maybe a week.

Photos available for your viewing pleasure

I have recently been blessed with a new (well new to me) Canon 30D digital camera.  I have always loved photography, but have had to settle with my film camera.  It has always been one of my dreams to travel the world as a photo-journalist, and since I am already traveling the world I have begun to document my adventures.  

All of my pictures are available at the Loving Eyes Photography.  If any of these pictures catch your eye and you feel like you might want to purchase copy to adorn your mantelpiece or living room wall, just let me know.  I would love to make this dream of becoming a photo-journalist come true, at least in your home, and who knows, maybe an editor of National Geographic might walk in one day and see the picture hanging on your wall!

 
The Joy of the World


In His Hands


Oscar the Camel


Directions to Giza


Alexandrian Surf Day


Bedouin Tour


His Glory


Order

Damascus in the Morning

Pricing:
4x6 postcard prints are $4
5x7 matted prints $8
8x10 matted prints $20

all proceeds from the Loving Eyes photography will go to missions in the 10/40 window


Follow this blog at theLovingEyes.blogspot.com

Skate Molokai

President's Day weekend, Surfing the Nations will be on Molokai holding the 2nd annual Freedom Skate Contest.  2 years ago, a small outreach team traveled to Molokai finding a need for skateboarding.  1 year later, they held the 1st annual Freedom Skate Contest.  Follow video for highlights from this awesome trip.





This year we will be holding this skate contest for the local kids of Kaunakakai.  This is merely a teaser on upcoming events.  Stay tuned to for more exciting updates.  If you would like to get involved with this year's skate contest just email me.  Don't miss an opportunity to join this awesome adventure.

Follow this blog at theLovingEyes.blogspot.com

I guess we'll just have to adjust

The Arcade Fire - Wake Up

Happy New Year's

New Year's Eve in Hawaii always seems to impress me, no matter how many times I've been through one.  Every year the fireworks display only gets bigger and better.  I'm on the fence when it comes to the fireworks ban in Hawaii.  Sure the aerial fireworks can be a fire hazard.  And I would hate it if my house burnt down due to someone's negligence and disregard for the rules.  However, after last night's party we were driving home and coming down the H2 I could see across the Honolulu city line and it was amazing.  The number of fireworks popping up across the skyline, in the midst of the residential districts.  It was more spectacular than any hosted fireworks display in Waikiki.


New Year's with the relatives was really awesome.  Our family never really spends holidays with relatives because our immediate family lives elsewhere or is usually busy.  So this year we spent it with my mom's cousin's family.  Big family party.  Lots of food.  Lots of fireworks.  And the Gutter Champ competition, a game based around throwing fireworks into a storm drain across the street.  Its a rudimentary game that seems to only get better as the participants began drinking, but with 4 years of tradition, reigning champions, and a traveling trophy it was a fun game to watch.


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