Aloha and Mahalo!!

This means hello/goodbye/love and thank you in Hawaiian, much of all of those to Mandy and Scott for letting me come and hang with them! I'm extrememly pleased to say that we didn't do a whole lot while I was there; this is my third time visiting them, and we've always done the touristy things and seen the sights, but I go there to hang with my sister and her husband, so to have a week of just doing that was the best thing I could think of to do.

home), so it was great to see where they are now; just like Amy and I were saying, it's so good to see people's space, where they spend their time, how they set up their home. And the Cudas know how to pick a great place. They have a Mandy and Scott moved into a new place in Kailu on Oahu (see next blog for full tour of theirpool, they are a very short walk to the beach, and they are within walking/biking distace to cute shops and coffee places.

Mandy took mostly half days while we were there, oh yeah, did I tell you my parents were also there? Part of the reason why this was an especially good time to go. My dad finds work anywhere his daughters are so the company benefits from his spending time with his family, plus I'm pretty sure they cover his ticket, so everybody's happy. But yeah, Mandy was already planning half days for when my mom was there anyway, so it was good, short timing for me to plan this trip. (This is picture of Mom one morning when we went to watch the sunrise over the beach, yow, so beautiful!)

Got in a couple days earlier than the 'rents, the doctors went their various ways, I read a couple of books, splashed in their pool, swung in their hammock, sat on the beach, tried to play nice with Kili and Hobbes, their two Siamese cats; yeah, guess that runs in the family, and overall just relaxed. Mandy is an amazing hostess, always providing much, much more than just the creature comforts.

She planned a little dinner get-together with a few of their friends for St. Patrick's Day. We dressed in green, drank a few hard ciders and some Guiness, and had our traditional corned beef and cabbage with carrots and potato bread (closest thing Dad could find on the island to Irish soda bread!). It was a blast, and great people attract great people; Jen and Addie joined us that night, and they are so much fun. We laughed, we talked, we drank, we ate; I think our distance Irish relatives would be proud of such a celebration!

Sunday, Mike and I's friend Steve (see picture above and to the left) flew thru Oahu on his way back to MN from a business meeting on Lanai'i. He came and spent the night with us, we grabbed some waves, he with a bit more grace than me as he grew up in California. We had lunch in a great little Mexican restaurant in town, and we unfortunately had to send him on his way home to Shannon Monday evening. Was a little crazy to meet up with him there, but he's a great guy, my family knows and likes him so well, so he's and easy addition to any party!

As Dad and Scott worked hard, and Mandy worked hard for shorter periods of time, Mom and I soaked up as much Hawaiian sun as we could and waited for the others to join us. Whenever Mom's there, plan on at least one shopping trip, and we weren't disappointed. We hit some really fun shops in Kailua, Macy's of course so she could use her card on us, and then the guys would join us in the evenings for dinner, watch the college basketball playoffs, and the occassional game of pinochle.

I can't tell you about a whole lot, because not much happened, but I think I'd be disappointed if it was any other way. Mandy and Scott, I am so proud of who you are, and who you continue to become. I love that you are my family, and I take too much pride saying that; thanks for letting me come and be a Cuda for a few days; there's nothing better than to hang around with you guys and get introduced as your sister!

Casa de Cuda...

Let me give you a virtual tour thru Mandy and Scott's gorgeous new home... And keep in mind, as beautiful as the house itself is, its location is equally as grand: it really is about 500 feet or about a one-minute walk down their street, past one other house, down a cute garden path between two more fairly huge homes, and onto the breathtaking beach in Kailua. About a mile or so down the beach is a park, and though the beach is public, on all sides of where you enter the beach where Mandy and Scott live are private homes, so the beach is hardly, if ever, crowded... Seriously, who lives in places like this year round?!Out front, see the bougainvilla?!? So pretty!!! (and dad's rental car...)
As you come in the front door and look to your left, you see this hallway. This first door on the left is Mandy and Scott's room; the second door on the left is one of the guest rooms (where I stayed); the first door on the right is another guest room (where Mom and Dad stayed); the second door on the right is a full bath; and at the end of the hall is the office/computer room. All the rooms on the front of the house (M&S's and mine) have windows that look into a walled path along the front of the house where there is a little faucet to rinse your feet when coming back from the beach. All the rooms along the back of the house have sliding doors that open out onto the lanai (Hawaiian word for back porch or veranda), and the office on the side of the house has a sliding glass door that opens onto the yard.Mandy and Scott's room. The ladder you see in the right side of the picture goes up to a little latticed-in cubby for storage; Mandy suspects that this used to be a kid's room, so might also have served as a fort! This fort/storage spot then also is open on the other side with another ladder in my room!My spot for the week! See the ladder on the left leading up to the fort? And to my right are shelves and shelves of books! Opps! Mandy, forgot to tell you that I borrowed a couple! I'll send them back, Mave Binchy, I think? Mom said they were good.
The computer room. Sorry this one is kind of dark, behind me is a computer, and to my left is another computer, to my right are book shelves filled with medical, biology, chemistry, urology, you-name-it-scientific text/reference books. Thought this was the view of most interest to the general public, opening onto the back yard.

Figured we could skip the bath, really nice, as Mandy always decorates, in sages and some plums, but a fairly typical bath. Here's where Mom and Dad stayed. Gorgeous work, Mandy; deep burgandy and a couple shades of orange. Map from Figi on the wall with some other really cool prints and the like. And in this other shot, your first glance at the lanai...



















As you walk out of Mom and Dad's room, you find yourself here, on the lanai or veranda. Mandy and Scott's lanai is completely screened in and their yard is enclosed by this beautiful stucco wall ensuring privacy and quiet...
Then you look to your right and see the rest of this serene little hideaway. I think this lanai is about the same square footage as our house in Duluth...
From this shot you see the back of the house, the lanai, their yard, and yes, they have a pool. The two closest sliding doors lead to Adam, their roommate's suite (see next blog for pictures of that). As you continue to the right you hit the lanai; the far side on the lanai is outside of Mom and Dad's room, and the yard continues around the side of the house, where they've hung a hammock between two palms; yes, hammock naps are still the best...
Going back inside, thru the center doors on the lanai, you find yourself back in the living room. Where the light is coming from on the right side of this picture is back at the front door, my back is in a corner, to my left is the lanai, along the wall and then to my right is the hall to the bedrooms and office. The dining room is straight and a little left, the kitchen is beyond their little breakfast bar straight ahead...
Here's Mandy and Scott's new dining room set made of teke (spelling?). Again, straight ahead is the front door, to my left is the kitchen, to my right is the living room, and you can see the hallway straight and to the right of the door. Behind me and to my left is the door to Adam's suite (again, see next blog; there's a story with Adam's room :)
And here's looking into the kitchen. To the left is the breakfast bar that opens into the dinning room, behind me is another glass door perpendicular to the front door leading out to the front patio (when walking out of kitchen have to go to the right around a corner to get back to the front door). The door straight ahead leads to another walled in patio where Mandy is growing some herbs (she used some of her cilantro in this delicious guacamole she made), and thru the patio you get to the garage. Just past the counter and to the left is the laundry room, and thru the laundry room, you end up back in Adam's room. Well, that's it; granted these pictures do not do it justice, but take my work for it, it's incredible! Maybe next time you can join me here...
...and we'll enjoy the pool and the beach together? What do you think, Mandy? Party at the Cudas?

While Adam was out...

While Mom, Mandy, and I were bashing around, and the boys were either working or watching the college boys' basketball playoffs, Mandy came up with the brilliant idea to re-do their roommate's room in a way reminiscent of the TLC show "While You Were Out." For those of you unfamiliar with this show, one person solicites the help of the show to surprise their spouse/friend/family member with a make-over of one of the rooms of their home as a surprise while they are away.

Adam, Mandy and Scott's long-time friend, groomsman in their wedding, fellow army doctor, and all-around great guy, was away on the Big Island the whole time we were there, doing military training, leaving us complete access to his suite! Adam is very busy, so his poor little room, maybe not so little, hasn't even been unpacked yet, and as a thrifty bachelor, he doesn't necessarily go out of his way to beautify his space, so we thought we'd do a few things, leave all tags attached to the things we bought in case he hated it, and have some fun sister-mom-sister bonding time in the process. Mandy didn't even hint to him that she might've been thinking about this, so this was a total surprise to him!

Here are the before pictures, hopefully Adam doesn't mind me sending these out into cyber space, but really, not horrible, just needing some tender, loving care, and again, imagine the life of an army doctor/resident: little if any time to eat and sleep, busy with patients, rounds, long nights on-call, in addition to all his responsibilities in the army, no time to unpack silly boxes and decorate your room. Bedroom, little hallway with ginormous walk-in closet on the left, ending in full bath...





































And now, ta-dah! The after pictures... There were a few things we had to keep as-is: the curtains were not a bad color, and because there were so many of them, we figured we'd save the money to replace them, and just work them into the color scheme. And because the house is rented, we couldn't really do much painting. In keeping the sort of creamy yellow curtains and the black couch, we needed to find a way to blend to darker cooler colored couch with the softer warmer toned curtains. Mandy kind of thought that going with a tropical, Asian-influenced motif would be a safe and a nice bet for Adam so away we went! We moved the bed at an angle into the room so that it is one of the first things you see when you come in; it faces the hallway to the bath and his entertainment set, while placed nicely between sliding doors which open out onto the lanai and to the pool area which when they are open, catch the best breeze. We also bought him a new bedspread in a delicious chocolate brown velvet with just a couple beads hanging off the corners to give interest, and accented with greens and golds. On his beloved couch (which Mandy said he might be sad if we covered it), we added the golds, greens, and browns with a throw blanket and a few pillows to tie the rest of the room together and give comfort and warmth in color to the black couch. We moved the couch to the far wall between the wall-mounted lamps, bought/made a couple of end tables and a faux-leather ottoman to make a sitting area. And we moved his taller entertainment center to a wider wall, away from the main doorway, to open up the room. To bring everything together, and keeping with the luxury of the bed and the tones of the room, I snapped some pictures of some greenery around their yard, and we framed pictures of palms, aloe vera, croatin plants, and other nicely colored and textured greenery. We added some slik plants (in his busy-ness, Adam may not have time to keep live ones healthy), some candles to add atmosphere and yummy smells, a few items of interest including an interesting mirrored piece that hangs over the couch, a cool drum-shaped something-or-other that stood nicely on his entertainment stand and gave height and depth, and a feline figurine, stretched out on its back and slumbering, reminiscent of Kili and Hobbes, who Adam is quite fond of! You can see from a few of these pictures that they love his new room; we tried to keep them out as we were working to keep them from shedding on his new bedspread and such, but they literally waited by the doors to come in and relax in the new setting! Down the hall in the bathroom, we hung a few more framed palms and a palm tree from their yard; the shower curtain already had little palm trees on it and fit well into our scheme. Mandy and Mom were going to try and pick up a couple of other items to fill his little shelves above his comode, but even with out, it's amazing what a couple of pictures can do! So that's that. Mandy called the other day and said that Adam really liked his new room, so I think I can count this as success #2 in my "while you were out"ing escapades (ask Sarah and Kim Knuth about our first, got before pics of that one, but not after...) Thanks for being a gentleman, Adam, and letting the gals play! Hope we didn't invade your space to harshly!

Long-distance birthday celebration...

Also while I was in Hawaii, I got to meet up with Mike's cousin Leah who is doing her pediatric residency there; what is it with all these doctor types who go and spend the busiest years of their lives in such a beautiful place, but they're so crazy busy that they can't enjoy it?!? It was great to see her though, and her mom sent me with a few belated birthday presents for her; I felt like a little like Santa, although instead of a big red suit, fun brown skirt and tank, instead of snow, warm sun, and instead of reindeer and a sleigh, Mandy's blue beach bike with a basket on the front! We met at Muddy Waters, cute local coffee joint, drank our legal addictive substances and ate cookies and lilikoi bars in birthday celebration. Happy Belated 30th Leah!

Procession to Paradise...

Well, I did it, I used our ticket, and I'm in Hawaii, sitting in Mandy and Scott's fabulous house! And when I say fabulous, I mean amazing, incredible, ridiculously wonderful! I'll give you a virtual tour one of these days, but first I wanted to tell you a little about my jaunt out here...

When I first book my ticket, I was a little disappointed because however I looked at it, I was going to get two layovers on my way out. As
I looked at my options, I noticed one included Salt Lake City (like this sweet shot from the plane?) for two whole hours!! Yeah, Patricks, here I come! Let me give you some history...

When I first started my job with Lakeview Covenant Church in Duluth, one of my first major assignments would be to go on a week-long journey to Tennessee with a bunch of the high-schoolers as a chaperone. We had a good number of students going so we needed a good number of adults as well. Even before I started on staff I went to one of our adult meetings, and there I met Amy Johnson. Amy is cute, beautiful rather, spunky, blonde, energetic, and at first notice, I thought, a little high-strung. We still laugh to this day about those initial observations. Amy, especially over the course of that trip and in the years to follow in ministry and friendship, has proven to be one of my most loyal, challenging, hilarious, loveable, compassionate, and dear friends I may ever have the honor of calling my kindred spirit. She knows when I'm not be entirely truthful, she knows when all I need is silence and a good hard backrub, she askes the hard questions and expects, nay demands me to be vulnerable and honest.

And she recently married a Salt Lake Citian, the marvelous Jim, and they became the Patricks. I was able, in the midst of what I thought might be an annoyance, to be blessed beyond words with 120 minutes with this amazing couple. Maybe should've been a little less, had to run thru security, and the guy at the gate said, "Megan, where have you been?" But it was worth it, and then some. Here are some pictures in their beautiful new home with their beloved Duke in Utah. If you'd like to hear more about Amy, click on the link on the side of this page talking about the organic-pan blog... Yeah, okay that's kind of a funny story, so maybe I should explain that too while I'm at it.

Shortly before Amy got married and moved far, far away, she moved in with Mike and I in our little home in Duluth for a couple of months. She frequently shared her room with Sally and Linus, and she and Mike's favorite past time was to bicker about the benefits of organic foods verses their costs, the dangers of teflon, and the cleaning it takes to shine a stainless steel frying pan. Mike, very affectionately, just lumps all of Amy's ideas into her one "organic pan." We miss sharing a space with you, AmyJ, but I'm glad we're still close, regardless of the miles!

And the nominations are in...

No, not for the Oscars or the Grammys, for various pharm school awards... And Mike was nominated by his peers for two!! This is pretty distinct for a first year, I think he said he was one of two first years out of a class of about 100 to be nominated for two awards! These are awards recognizing fellow students by their peers for their involvement in the class, their general attitudes towards their fellow students, and all that good stuff. I'm super proud of him for one more reason today! Sorry about the short post... heading to Homework 'n' Hoops! More later...