Auntie Steffers!

CONGRATULATIONS CHRIS AND RICH!!!

Oh my gosh-


I am so excited (and I've had this info for a little while, but I've just been given free reign to shout it from the rooftops and/or internet!).

I am going to be an aunt! My sister, Chris, and brother-in-law, Rich, are expecting their first child! They had their first sonogram yesterday and they got to see the baby and hear the heartbeat! The doctors say the baby and mama are healthy and doing well. The baby is about 2 inches long and in the sonogram, you can see the little head on the lower left and then it's cute belly and arms and legs! How cool is that? The expected due date is Sept. 19th (just in time for Octoberfest!) and everyone is very excited!

Now I get to buy all those cute baby clothes and cool toys and spoil the little guy/girl rotten! And yes, I will be called Auntie Steffers (because that's what my furry nephews, Claude and Cromwell, call me!). Rich has said that my niece/nephew will be spending summers here in Hawaii with me (but I've stated for the record that the child will have to be potty trained before that will be allowed!). I'm going to go ahead and make my prediction that it's going to be a boy.......

So, best wishes to the happy mom and dad-to-be!

The Unpacking Continues!

It's a slow process, but I'm working hard at unpacking all of my boxes. I had a great time flipping through the channels on TV last night as I worked (David Archuleta is totally going to win Idol!). And, Pudge had a fun time getting reacquainted with her toys!

At work, I've been keeping busy too- I'm still studying for my dive exam and then I've been formatting data for coralline algae diseases to calculate percent cover.

I haven't posted a cool Hawaii fact or new word lately, so here goes:

The name mahimahi (for dolphin fish) is actually a Hawaiian word.

Also, it's customary for you to remove your shoes before entering someone's home (a take on Japanese tradition). Some post little plaques outside saying "Mahalo for removing your shoes (or slippers as flip flops are called).

So tired!

Well, I am so happy that my stuff is here! It amazes me though that I have lived almost 3 months without everything and I still made it OK- makes me think that maybe I don't need so much stuff (but that doesn't make me not want it!). I had to work late to make up the time that I missed yesterday morning while I was at home with the movers, but once I made it home, it was like Christmas! I started in the living room (my friend Annette came over to help me arrange furniture). I think the room is a little small and oddly shaped to fit both the loveseat and sofa in there, but we made it work! The cats instantly jumped up and made the sofas their own (there is already Trouble hair everywhere!).
Next, the most items I have been missing are my kitchen supplies (not that I'm a gourmet cook by any stretch of the imagination, but eating off real plates and silverware was missed!), so I worked in the kitchen. I have everything unpacked and most of it put away (but I need a spice rack!). I got a few boxes of knick-knacks unpacked, but I haven't found a home for them yet!
I'm super excited about having a TV again- always having to find DVDs to play in my laptop was getting old!
So, there is still lots to do, but I'm excited (and I slept SOOOOOO good in my bed last night (even if it only had three wheels!)!
Later!

MY STUFF IS HERE!

After 84 days, my stuff has finally arrived from the mainland! The movers arrived this morning at 8:30 (right on time!) and had all of my furniture and boxes loaded into the house by 9:30! All of the furniture looked to be in good shape (except they lost one of the wheels on my bed frame) and most of the boxes looked relatively uncrushed! I haven't had any time to unpack anything (I had to run into work as soon as they left), but I am so relieved that it's finally here! I've got a lot of work to do now, but I've had almost two months of not doing anything around the house.
I'll post pictures once I have things put together!

Pan Pacific Soccer Tournament

Saturday was a lot of fun-

I went over to my friend Dawn's house- she was having a scrapbooking crop and was hosting a Tastefully Simple food party. Although I havent' received my stuff yet and therefore didn't have my scrapbooking supplies, I went to see what other people were working on and to play with her two month old, Declan (he's such a cutie!). Dawn is a consultant for Close to my Heart scrapbooking supplies so she always has all of the latest gizmos and craft supplies! She does really cool page layouts and she's always a great source of ideas!

The Tastefully Simple food party was fun- Dawn had a local consultant for the sompany come over and give a 'food party' where we got to try a lot of the foods that they sell. Most of the items are 'open and enjoy' or they only need 1 or 2 ingredients so it makes cooking great food really easy. I've had a few of their things before (my sister Chris has bought the Beer Bread and the Key Lime Cheese Dip), but they have some great spices and dips. Anything with food is always fun!

After the parties, I met some friends at Aloha Stadium for the Pan Pacific Soccer Tournament Finals. We got to watch two games, the game that decided who came in 3rd between Sydney and the LA Galaxy (that's right, I got to see Beckham play!) and the championship game between the Houston Dynamos and the Gamba Osaka team from Japan. I've never been to a pro soccer game before, so seeing these teams play was fantastic! Beckham played the entire game and had two assists leading his team to win over Sydney 2-1. It was amazing that every time he touched the ball, the crowd went wild! First place went to Gamba Osaka, beating Houston 6-1.

My friends, Annette, Heather, Coleman, Mandy, and Alex

The LA Galaxy and Sydney lined up for the playing of the National Anthems

Sign in

Hello again-
Hope everyone likes the new design of the page!
I've also opened access to the blog to anyone, so you don't have to sign in anymore (I know the whole google account thing was making it hard for some!).
Enjoy!

Hi Ho

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work I go.....

Thought I would share some pictures of my "office"!

As I've said before, I work at Kewalo Basin which is just west of Waikiki and east of the airport and AFB (I can hear jets, helicopters and airplanes flying over all the time). NOAA has a gated compound there with seven trailers (or modular office space) and a large warehouse. We are right next to the Ala Moana Beach Park which gives me wonderful views of Diamond Head and the beach during lunch breaks (I've shown pictures of that before!)!

I am in trailer "C" with the rest of the benthic survey team......

And this is my desk- I need to get some more posters to jazz up the walls, but for now my Florida Reef poster and calander from http://www.banature.com/ (Hey Brent!) give me something to look at and remind me of home!

And, finally, I walk past the marina every day to get to my car- I saw this little guy yesterday on my way home!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!