Mitchell Parents' Visit

This Thanksgiving Josh and I had the priviledge of having Momma and Papa Mitchell here. They stayed for 10 days and we had so much fun! We got to do some fun things and had the opportunity to have quite a bit of time off so we could show them the island. It was fun going to waterfalls, taking them to our favorite beach, (which by the way is considered number 1 as the best beach in the United States), eating at some great restaurants, and taking a boat ride to go see hot lava. Did you know that where we live is the only place in the world where you can get right next to hot flowing lava?!?! How cool is that!?!? Here's to you Mitchell parents for a week of fun!

2 years ago today!

Two years ago today Josh did this......

My husband is so amazing! Josh propsed in a horse and carriage in Central Park, NYC. It was such and amazing day ! I will never forget the beautiful Christmas tree at the Rockefellar center, the dinner in Little Italy, playing at FAO Shwartz, and the amazing ending of a great day.... being asked to be Mrs. Mitchell.

Thanksgiving

These past couple weeks I have been thinking a lot about what I am most thankful for. Of course there are tons of things to be thankful for. I am thankful for so many things, but I have been thinking of things that I am most thankful for specifically about this year. And I must say, I am thankful for moving to Hawaii.

It was a year ago this week that Josh and I moved here. Now, it has been extremely hard and difficult. Especially living so far from family and the price of my grocery bill each week, but I am thankful. I am thankful for the opportunity to live in such an amazing place, and to be able to spend the first year of my marriage with just Josh and I. No friends, no family. We have been able to grow close and he has truly become my best friend. We have learned to depend solely upon each other and the Lord.

The next thing that I am thankful for is the fact that I can find a beautiful beach to go to at any point during the year. Most other people who live in the U.S. can not say that. Unless of course you live in Florida or California. I must say I miss my stylish winter clothes and knee high boots.... and all of the cute fall clothes that are out right now that I see in magazines, I can not take part in. However, the weather here is quite amazing!

This weekend Josh and I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the beach. It must sound like that is what we do all the time and I have to say.... we do! Any time there is sunshine and we have off, its a tradition we like to follow. The waves this week have been quite large so Josh has been doing some body boarding while I relax and read magazines...Fabulous!

I am also thankful for the days when I take Josh to work and I look out the window and this beautiful HUGE mountain can be seen. So big and clear, in the winter if we're lucky we can see the snow on the peaks, and in the evening when the sun sets behind the mountain and the beautiful moutain tops peek through. I am thankful that God chooses to reveal himself through the beauty of creation. I am reminded of a song by Bethany Dillon, when I hear it I think of this amazing place that for now, I can call home.... here is a line " mountain tops peak through, this is where I see you, I've never seen a clearer blue, this is where I see you" May I always remember to be thankful for the clear blue waters and the beautiful mountain tops! Thank you Lord!

Hilton Waikoloa and Dolphin Fun!

Josh and I are home now from a wonderful 3 days on the other side of the island. We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa which was like a dream! The resort covers 66 acres of land and is just so much fun! There are a couple different pools with water slides, hot tubs, and water falls. It is right on the water over looking the beautiful Kona waters... I just LOVE it there! We had a really great time just relaxing and getting some sun. We started off our little vacation with some wonderful malasadas on the way ( they are donut like pastries with fillings inside and are warm... so yummy for breaksfast! ) , then we went to my favorite beach , Mauna Kea Beach, and then went and checked into our hotel. The rest of the time we were there we lazed about hanging out at the pool and just relaxing. I did however, get to swim with the dolphins! They have a little beach that you can watch them just playing and swimming around, its so neat. There was a baby too! I got to play with 3 of the 8 dolphins there.... Helea ( the baby , 10 months old), Kona ( the mama), and Lono ( the father of 6 of the dolphins). I learned so much about dolphins and wish i could be a dolphin trainer! It was so neat just getting to play with them and swim with them, they are such amazing creatures! This experience was one I will certainly never forget and was a dream come true! We had a great time and are blessed by the opportunities we have.

Vacation

So Josh has 2 days of vacation that he had to use before October, so we are going to the other side of the island on Thursday and are going to be staying at the Hilton Waikoloa! I am so excited! Josh and I had dinner there once at one of the restarants, but we have never stayed there.... We are looking forward to relaxing by the pool, playing some tennis, possibly playing with the dolphins( they have dolphin quest there, its the only place on the whole island that you can actually swim with dolphins... as much as I want to swim with them, its expensive, so I am content to just watch! ), eat some good food and HOPEFULLY get to go to the beaches over there! They have had the beaches over in Kona shut down, because of Tiger Shark sightings.... kind of scary I guess, but I figure they are always there, no need to close the beaches, but any way, we are looking forward to a nice LONG weekend of relaxation and some fun! Pictures will come after our trip!

New Job

So I now have another job.... I am babysitting on my day off once a week. His name is Mason and he is 15 months old. I wanted to babysit, because I missed it. I used to be a nanny and I had so much fun and the kids were so cute. I thought it would be a piece of cake. I am used to running errands and having babies with me and taking care of them. Well, little did I know just how hard it would be to manage a 35-40 hour per week job, worship practice, church on sunday, dance class, and grocery shopping , laundry, cleaning, and a baby! Holy Cow I am tired!!!! I did it before but that was my only job! After a couple weeks, I have finally gotten it down. When grocery shopping put baby in big part of cart so he can still stand up and not get hurt also give food or a toy while shopping, lay beside baby when he takes a nap so he does not wake up, take baby swimming, to the beach, to the park in the morning so you tire him out and he sleeps in the afternoon! Wow I have learned all this in two weeks, I can't imagine what I am going to learn when I am actually a mom! It's been hard and I can't wait til Saturday... its my first real day off in 2 weeks .I am so excited! I am learning a lot though, and its fun having a baby around to play with!

Recipe for the Week

So this week we are mostly doing stuff on the grill for dinner.... steak, pork chops, etc.... the 2 recipes that I have are for home made strombolli and pesto chicken ....

Strombolli :

1 package pillsbury pizza dough
1 can pizza sauce
1 package mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
any fillings u like ( pepperoni, onion, green pepper, etc)

roll dough out and fill with cheese and toppings roll up so all corners are tucked in and brush with olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 min or until dough is slightly brown. Delish!!!!

Pesto Chicken:

1 lb boneless chicken breasts
5T pesto
2T sour cream
2T mayo
2T parmesan
2T pine nuts

Combine pesto sour cream and mayo and brush on chicken then take parm, and pine nuts and sprinkle on top. Arrange in a single layer pan . 450 degrees for 20 min. Serve with pasta tossed with a little bit more pesto.

Please Pray

Prayer Request:

The church that we meet at on Sunday mornings has their service on Saturday night, which is how our church gets to use it on Sundays... Any way, back in December the pastor and his wife of the Elevate church were hiking in a spot in town where the wife fell 68 feet I believe, for a while they did not know if she would make it... she was rushed to Honolulu and miraculously she was healed. She was completely fine and has been ever since... Well 2 nights ago, she passed away in her sleep. This is just totally crazy! She was only 23 years old! Please pray for her husband who has been struggling about her fall ever since. I can't imagine how devastating this is for him to have his wife be fine and wake up in the morning and she is gone! Please pray for their church and her family and friends as well!

Menu for the Week

Okay, so for those of you who like to cook like I do here is my menu for this week.... if ya'll really are not interested in my menu please let me know and I will stop posting it....

1.) Pork chops, apple sauce, and squash casserole ( if I can find squash at a decent price, if not just veggie casserole or a salad)

2.) Chicken Coconut Curry with rice and salad with papaya dressing the recipe for the coconut curry can be found at www.hillbillyhousewife.com

3.) Chicken enchiladas recipe from www.southernliving.com of course there are tons of ways to make them! this one is really easy.

4.) Beef and Brocolli with rice this is also on the hillbilly house wife web site but I am going to try making it in the crock pot.

To save on time I did not post recipes but if any one is interested in any of them let me know and I will post!

Menu for the Week

I have been looking at blogs that other people have been writing and I noticed that some woman write their menu's and post them on their blog. I thought this was such a great idea because I always do a menu too! It saves on money and constantly having to go back to the store. I always try to go to the store just once a week unless they didn't have something that I needed or if there is a sale later on.... I work some nights so i don't make dinner or we eat leftovers but here it goes....

1.) Old Bay Shrimp salad in wraps, and fresh white pineapple ( I got my recipe for the Shrimp salad off of Southernliving.com)

2.) Broiled Mahi Mahi , greek cous cous and salad ( For the mahi mahi I just marinate then spray with pam and put some bread crumbs on top then broil for a few minutes) Also the cous cous, I had at a cook out the other week and it was quite tasty, the recipe is actually on the box.

3.) Meatloaf, green bean bundles, mandarin orange salad, mashed potatoes, and my mom's jello dessert ...

My meatloaf is really good... not to brag but it is! My husband loves it!

Meat loaf:
I take lean ground beef , mix with bread crumbs, one egg, some chopped onion and pepper. And bake at 350 degrees until almost done.When it's almost done( about 30 min.) I pull it out and top with a mixture of ketchup and brown sugar ( just eye ball it, I'm not much of a measurer when I cook) and pour on top, then bake til finished.

Green Bean Bundles :
you take canned WHOLE green beans, must be the Whole kind and wrap in a piece of bacon cut in half then a dab of brown sugar, bake until bacon is done! I got this recipe from my mom in law!

Mandarin Orange Salad:

Romaine lettuce, feta, pepper, mandarin oranges ( canned) slivered almonds, sugar, butter

Mix all ingredients together accept almonds and sugar and butter.... take them and put in a non stick skillet about 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp sugar and mix until browned . let cool then break apart with a fork , put on salad.

Dressing:
1/4 c veggie oil
1 tbsp sugar
1tbsp vinegar

I got this one from my mom in law too! Delic!

Mom's Jello Dessert:
Make Jello according to package then let harden...For topping take 1 package cool whip, one package cream cheese, and a half a packet of dried jello, then mix with hand mixer. Spread on top and refrigerate... I use sugar free everything, so it makes it nice for low carb or a diabetic diet!
The rest of the week we will have leftovers and I am going to but some other stuff to make sandwiches on the nights that I work!
" She is like merchant ships . bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark , providing food for her family.... " Prov.31 I have to admit I don't usually get up before dark, since it gets light here about 5:30 , but I enjoy making food for my hubby and friends!

Dance Lessons

So as I stated in a previous blog Josh and I started taking ballroom dance lessons. Vietnese Waltz, night club two step, and the Samba to be exact. It's a lot of fun and Josh is starting to get the hang of it. It has been something fun and new that we can do together. I must admit though, that it can be hard. I used to dance, I have always loved dancing. I danced for a few years taking ballet, jazz, and tap, and I also used to be a cheerleader and did praise dance at church. When I was in Master's Commission, I danced hip hop. So, naturally I am a pretty good dancer, I think.
Well, a very import lesson in dancing with a partner is that you must let the man lead! No matter what! If he messes up you follow, and you mess up to. If he wants to move left and you know you are supposed to go right, you move left, if he wants to spin you and you don't feel like being spun, guess what you better get your turn on! So, needless to say it was quite hard for me to let Josh lead when of course I am a WAAAAAAAAY better dancer. " I have years of experience " I thought to myself. " I don't have to let him lead right?!?!?" WRONG! And it was in my dance class that I truly have begun to learn submission. Of course I have always known that " wives must submit to their husbands as to the Lord" but I must admit sometimes it just stinks! I so did not want to move to Hawaii and Josh really felt called. I was so stubborn and could have almost missed out on the great plans that God had and still has for us here. Not to mention all the fun we have had and the things we have done!
It was hard learning to adjust to life here and not having friends and no family, but it has been so rewarding to share this with my husband! God never ceases to amaze, even in dance class!

Anniversary Photo

My friend Nina is a wonderful photographer... you can check out her site at http://www.ninabrav.com/

She will travel anywhere to take pictures. Any way, the radio station that the church has ,had an anniversary party this weekend. It was a black and white party which was a lot of fun, and Josh and I got to do some of his songs.... good times! Here is the anniversary photo Nina took of us that evening in our black and white get up!

Our 1st Anniversary

As I wrote in a previous blog the 28th was our first anniversary and we went to Maui for the weekend. We left on Saturday morning and and was supposed to come back on Monday afternoon, but we ended up staying an extra day because we were just having too much fun!

Our highlights from the trip include: breakfast at Kihei Cafe',

a sunset dinner cruise,

krispy kreme doughnuts,

the Hana Highway, getting a shower from the Nakalele' blow hole, and hiking down to jump into a waterfall! We will have so many great memories from this trip. It was such a good time for us to get away and just remember the commitment we made to one another one year ago!

There was however, a quite dramatic experience that happened on Monday, the day of our anniversary. Josh and I had decided to hike down to a waterfall that had a pool at the end that you could jump into.... We get down to the bottom and there was a tour guide who told us where and how to jump.... Josh was so excited!!!

So Josh climbs to the top and jumps in.... when he came up his first words are " Tiffany you are going to kill me" ( not exactly what I was expecting him to say after fulfilling one of his adventurous dreams) he said that he lost his wedding band. At first I thought I was hearing him wrong and the realization that he had just lost his wedding band in a dark pool of water on our first anniversary really got to me. I started to bawl. I was bawling so hard it was uncontrollable.( Josh's band is custom made with hebrew writing on it that says " I am my beloved's and she is mine" ) People got their snorkels out and tried to look for it, but after a heavy rain you could not see through the murky water. I was so upset and so was my poor husband.

There was a nice local guy there with his wife who were prawn fishing. The guy kept looking but had no luck, the woman asked for my number and said if he found it she would call me. Josh and I left to go call a metal detecting company. As we entered town in search of a phone book the woman called me. She said " Tiffany, we found your husband's ring" . I could not believe it. Josh and I had both been praying but it was just too good to be true. So we drove back up the mountain to meet the people with the ring.

The guy said that he got out of the water and he prayed that the Lord would help him find the ring for us. Then suddenly he felt the Lord telling him to go to the deepest part of the water. So he dove down deep and there was something shining through all the mud. He said "God placed it in his hand" He was so happy that he found it and so were we!!!!! After we left them they called shortly after to ask what the writing on the ring meant and to wish us a happy anniversary and many more! This may sound small to you but to us, it was a miracle. And such and amazing testimony of God's love for us and the power of prayer! 3 days away, yet so many lessons learned! Thank you Lord for your continued faithfulness!

" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine"

Josh and I woke up this morning to this.... We looked out our window and this is what we saw!

What a wonderful thing to wake up to!

A day at Green Sand

This weekend Josh and I went with some girl friends of mine to a beach called Green Sand....

Yes, it is called that because the sand is actually green. The day that we went the sand was not as green as some days. It was a bit over cast , thus the sand was not going to have the green ness it usually has, still it was really cool to go there. The beach is about 2 hours from where we live, the furthest point on the island away from where we live. It is located at south point, which got its name because, yes it is the southern most part of the united states. South point itself is pretty cool, there are cliffs you can do cliff jumping off of and also a hole that you can jump down into. I personally think that anyone who does jump down into that little hole is not very smart, because there were tons and tons of rocks down there, but to each is own I suppose. Any way , to get to the actual green sand beach you have to take a four wheel drive vehicle , so we rode in my friend's jeep. It is about a 3 mile drive on terrain that is just unbelievably bumby, rocky,and rough. It was a lot of fun though, bumping around.... when I wasn't scared that we were going to flip the jeep over! Josh and I are getting really excited! Our one year anniversay is coming up on the 28th! And to celebrate we are going to Maui for the weekend! I am so excited about this! How many people do you know get to go to Maui for their first anniversary!?!?!?!?! We are looking forward to this opportunity to explore and celebrate, but most of all to thank the Lord for blessing us with a hard, but GREAT first year of marriage. My, how blessed we are!

The Wise Visitors

A couple of weeks ago we had the priviledge to have my parents come and visit! They stayed for a week and we got the opportunity to do a lot of fun things.... things that we don't get to do on a normal basis, because of money but my parents were able to bless us with some fun adventures!

Thankfully the weather was beautiful the whole time they were here!

The highlights of the visit were, horse back riding in Waipio Valley and a Luau in Kona at the King Kamehameha Resort! On Saturday we journeyed to Waipio Valley... The drive alone was worth the money! We had an excellent tour guide who drove us deep into the belly of the valley, he had us laughing and a little bit nervous the whole time... there were no guard rails and the drive down was 33 percent grade. For those of you who do not know what that means... thats STEEP!!! Once we got down into the valley he brought us to the barn after driving through a RIVER, to introduce us to our horses. The trail ride was so much fun and Josh and I realized how much we love to ride horses and hope to get the opportunity to do it again. We got to trot through rivers and streams and it was a ball!

The next day was Sunday, so after church we packed up and headed over to Kona, for the Luau. Josh and I have been to a luau before but this one was really special. This particular one is known as the best on the island, but the cool part was that the entire luau was Christian based. The people who worked there were all Christians, we could see them before they went out to perform all in a circle praying. It was really neat. Also, before we ate dinner the host of the evening said an awesome prayer over our food and the food was great too! We had lau lau ( pork wrapped in banana leaves) ,kahlua pig, poke ( which is raw fish with spices I don't prefer this dish! ) , poi ( ground taro made into a pudding like substance ), and so many more delicious things! My favorite part of the whole evening was they did a hula to " More love, More power " in Hawaiian, then they sang it in English . It was so beautiful and it has inspired me to learn Hula. So, I have been searching for a place to take classes.

The newest news we have is that Josh and I are going to be starting to take Ball room dancing classes! I am so excited about this! I have been wanting to do it for a long time and Josh finally agreed! Maybe I will post some pics up of our dances! As you can tell we have had a lot of exciting things happening. It can be hard living here, especially with the cost of everything. But, the Lord always continues to be faithful and we have learned when you give up everything to serve Him , He will bless you in more ways than you can ever imagine! We are so thankful for the many opportunities that He has given us! Thanks for reading!

Pictures from this weekend's waterfall

These are the pics from when we hiked to the waterfall in our town.... ( Pe'e Pe'e Falls) it was so beautiful!

Friends and more fun days!

Last week my best friend and maid of honor in our wedding , Shelby and her boyfriend Cody came from Dallas to visit us. We had a good time and did lots of fun things.... More kayaking on Kealekekua Bay and snorkeling at Captain Cook Monument ( the best snorkeling on the islands), watching dolphins spin and swim next to us while kayaking, laying out on the beach, watching the sunset, going 14,000 feet high to the top of a dormant volcano to watch the sun set high above the clouds! , good food at Bubba Gump and so much more. Its always fun to have friends visit so they can get a sneak peak of where we live! It's also nice having couple's come and visit, to have someone to do things with. Living here is fun but hard because we don't have any people our age to hang out with so its always a good time when we have visitors!

After Cody and Shelby left we went back to our work week then this weekend we had some more fun. The weather this weekend was just awesome, maybe even possibly the best weather we have had here thus far. Bright and sunny a slight breeze.... just beautiful! Saturday started with going to i hop for breakfast yum! then, off to do a short hike up to a waterfall.... just amazing! Then off to the farmer's market for some yummy fruit and veggies, then to Richardson's Beach park for body boarding and some good laying out. Then,

Sunday church then back to the beach for some more relaxing and tanning! What a great weekend! The Lord has really blessed us with letting us see and experience His wonderful and glorious creations! The sunrises, sunsets, clear blue skies, and turquoise waters! How awesome is He! Picutres from this weekend will be posted shortly, after I get them up loaded!

For cousin Lisa

Lisa,

This is for you.... Pictures of my "Posh" bob.... the pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago and I have gone a bit more drastic since then on the angle of the bob, but I have not taken pics yet.... and as always you can always see more pictures on my myspace page! Thanks for the comments... more blogs from the both of us to come!