Pause.... Rewind... Play

I really can't believe that it is already September.   I know I know I know... pathetic.  I'm finally feeling like I'm coming through and getting a little better balance in my life.  Not that I'm complaining that I spend more time out on the water, or under the water than I do on top!  I'm still trying to figure out a way I can eat under the water.  That needs to happen, and quick!  It's bad when I see crabs, lobster, eels and fish and get hungry to the point that I can actually taste them!  Not good!  lol...

Some highlights from these past couple months:

My Dad and Mom came out to visit me in August and I was able to certify my own Dad!  It was a pretty cool experience.  In 2007 I remember exactly where I was in Albania when I found out that my Dad had cancer.  I was scared that I would never see him again.  I can remember pleading with God to keep my Dad safe so that I can see him again.  Our first dive was to Kahe Point Beach Park, or Electric Beach, and we were the only ones out in the water.  We were out near the reef and after swimming around a bit, we spotted a turtle.  We dropped on the sand and just waited for it to see what he would do.  Well, that little turtle swam right up to my Dad!  Right in front of him.  I could hear my Dad chuckling under the water and it brought tears to my eyes!  What a special moment.  I closed my eyes and thanked God that we could share that moment together.  Here is my Dad and another one of my divers, Ken Baber from Mt. Vernon, WA on the surface interval before their final check out dive.

My wonderful Mom and I.  They got to come out on the boat with me for the day!  It was so much fun having them there and getting to share my world with them.

Starting the Pool work with my Dad.  It was just the two of us.  Perfect!

Heading in to Electric Beach.  What a wonderful moment this was.  Great viz, lots of fish, just us and the turtle :).

 On our way out.  A great 30 min dive and we survived!

 My wonderful parents enjoying the sunset after checking out the Black Pearl at Ko Olina.

 This was Dive # 2 for my Dad's cert up at Shark's Cove.  This dive was... interesting.  I'll let my Dad explain this one!  We came out alive.... hahhahah.

 Dole Whip at the Dole Plantation. This stuff is ridiculously delicious.

Me... in the office... in my uniform :o).

My girls that I work with.  From L-R: Jo, Chanelle, Me and Krystal.

Looks like I'm lucky to get in about 1 post per month at the rate I'm going! So much is happening and so fast! Here are some snapshots of some of my 'days off' and how I get to spend them. This first one was a great day. My friend Seana let me stay at her hotel while she was visiting another island. Since the hotel was already paid for, parking and all, she insisted I stay there. It was the Hilton Hawaiian Village of all places and was so nice to unplug and hide out. The first day, as soon as I got off work, I went directly to the beach and parked it. I don't remember much other than rolling over and pulling my spare towel over me. I laid there for almost 5 hours! The sun was setting and I got chilly, but didn't move I was so tired. When I woke up, this is the view I saw. I woke up smiling.

Driving around the island.
One of my days off, I was overwhelmed with all the wonderful opportunities at my finger tips and how I should spend my day. I went kayaking, running, swimming and hiking. This is the view from my hike.




Succulents. My favorite. And they are all over this island. They make me so happy.
This picture was taken by a random couple I stopped and asked if they could snap a photo of me. We ended up talking for almost an hour! Their names were Katie and Derek. They had just gotten engaged in Carmel and came out here to celebrate. What a small world. They were such a sweet couple and were asking for recommendations on what to do, where to go and what restaurants to try / avoid. I did what I could to point them in the right direction. I love meeting new people.

This is Spitting Caves near my house. My good friends from back in Cali came out to visit and we came here after eating at Kona Brewery, a great place on the water next to my house with live music and excellent food. It was great to catch up with them and to have some familiar faces!
Marcie, me and Evelyn.
Me and Angela... my roomie.


Stay tuned for sailboat races, a day on the Admiral's Barge and other random stories! All in all, things here are going well. I did hurt my ear drum and have been out of the water for 2 weeks, which is frustrating. I can't dive for another 2 weeks, but at least I got cleared to get in the water. Which means surfing of stand up paddling this week :o)

My Underwater Playground

Welcome to the Underwater Playground located on the West Coast of Oahu! I have been kept very busy after passing the IDC & IE, then following the MSDT (Master Scuba Diver Trainer) certs, but wanted to share with y'all a little bit of what I get to do at work! Theses photos were taken by my dear friend Seana Jardin who is a Major in the Army. She is leaving the island soon which makes me soooooo sad. She is a great dive buddy, a hilarious story teller and will be greatly missed. Really!

This is an incredible shot of Makaha Caverns. It is a maze of swim throughs and tunnels that sits between 20 - 50 ft feet. I love swimming through them, especially the larger one that has a resident shark that we usually get to see. Yes Sarah, I willingly swim into places where there are known sharks :o).

The famous resident Spotted Eagle Rays of the Mahi Shipwreck. We saw some the other day that were enormous!

More arches and tunnels at Makaha Caverns.

The biggest Barracuda I have ever seen. It hangs out effortlessly near the mast of the the Mahi with his mouth open getting his teeth cleaned. It must be at least 5 feet long!

Sun shining through some arches.

Juvenille Frogfish holding up the rock.

Mahi Shipwreck. A WWII Minesweeper that was sunk as an artificial reef project in 1982. Sits 90 feet deep.

A Whitemouth Moray Eel poking his head out of a part of the shipwreck where he has made his new home.

Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle. We see these guys almost daily! So beautiful!!!!

I love this photo! A great close up of a Hawkfish. They just sit there all stubborn like, doesn't he look like he's pouting!

An Octopus going out for a stroll. I love to get close to these guys and watch them change colors. It is so fascinating!

Come back soon and I will be posting some more photos. Time to go to bed. I get to work the 3-tank boat dive tomorrow night!

IDC & IE

Instructor Development Course & Instructor Examination - PADI (Professional Associations of Diving Instructors)

A lot of people have been wondering what I have been doing out here in Hawaii and what it means so I thought I might take a brief moment to explain the training and examination process I just completed. Feel free to ask questions in the comments and I'll respond :o).

To become an Open Water Scuba Instructor (Open Water Certification is the first level of certification that allows you to go to 60ft. deep) you have to go through a series of certifications. Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver, Divemaster, Assistant Instructor then Instructor. Each having different knowledge assessments, exams, practical assessments, skills, projects, etc. to be completed and signed off before you can advance to the next level. Divemaster is the first level of "Professional" diving.

IDC is the training necessary to prepare you for the IE. Can't go on to IE without getting the ok from a PADI Course Director at the end of the IDC. My Course director was a co-worker named Joanna or "Jo" for short who whipped us into shape for the IE. We started first with training to be an Emergency First Responder Instructor (yes, I can now teach CPR & First Aid). Then we dove right into the IDC course work... literally. For a week we spent every day either in the pool, ocean, or classroom going over skills, standards, theories and learning about what it takes to be an instructor. It was exhasting but very rewarding. We had a group of 5 candidates and shared moments of frustrations, confusion & laughter. One evening in particular after being in the pool for 3 hours, we all broke into the most contagious laugh I have experienced since who knows when. It was wonderful! My favorite day of this training was the last day when we spent 4+ hours in the ocean going over skills and resue scenarios. It was a long day, but so worth it.

IE Day One was held at the Univeristy of Hawaii's campus pool. We started the day off with 2 exams. One on PADI standards and procedures, the other on Dive Theory that covered 5 sections: Physics, Physiology, Recreational Dive Planner Tables, Skills & the Environment, and Equipment. I knocked the Dive Theory out of the ball park and it felt great to be done with it. We had knowledge presentations to give to the head examiners (which we got the hardest ones!) that we got notice of that morning. My topic was Coral Reef Formation. I had an hour to prepare a lesson that I had to cover specific points, reference, etc. So happy it was a topic I knew inside out. After the knowledge presentations we had to do skills in the pool. My name was called first which was nice to be done first! I had to demonstrate partial mask flood and clear, neutral buoyancy, equipment removal underwater, mask removal and clear, hovering and controlled emergency swimming ascent.

IE Day Two was held at Electric Beach where I first taught Hovering and Efficient Fin Kicks then went out in the ocean and was tested on my mouth-to-mouth breathing of an unresponsive diver at the surface. Basically giving rescue breaths while kicking and towing the diver. We then dropped down and finished the skill circuit. Getting that final handshake underwater caused me to start dancing and the examiner just laughed at me. I was so excited and so relieved! We got out of the water, finished our debriefings and then they had a ceremony for us. There was a big group of candidates from Japan so it was neat to see them teach and translate everything. Scuba diving is such a wonderful sport.

At the end of the IE, Jo took us out to Sushi and the boss man said he would cover the bill and treat us to lunch. We looked like little kids! We were so hungry. You burn 5 xs as much calories diving than other high intensity physical activity because your body is working harder during the dive to account for nitrogen and afterwards when the body is "off-gassing". Needless to say... I ate a lot of sushi. Went home, put a towel out in the sunshine and slept for 3 hours straight. It felt wonderful.

Now what? Now I prepare for the next step... Master Scuba Diver Trainer which I will complete this weekend. This will allow me to teach the additional specialties, such as: Deep (certification to 130ft. deep), Night, Underwater Navigation, Naturalist and Underwater Photography. My hours are crazy, when I'm not at work, I'm in training which means its been a month since my last day off! But... I am doing what I love and I am thankful that I get to live in this magical place. I love it here!

Stay tuned for more adventures from my crazy life swimming with dolphins, turtles, sharks!

Kailua = Happiness

Kailua = Happiness. I have been blessed tremendously by two amazing people, Craig & Irina. We are on the same train headed straight to Master Scuba Diver Trainer Town scheduled to arrive within the month. Which means we breathe, dream, live and study the wonderful world of Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatuses. I met them soon after I arrived and heard everyone buzz about "Craig & Irina" which of course only made me more intimidated that I would be training with this infamous couple. They took the Divemaster exam before I sweet Irina made it a goal to help me do well on the test. She would sit for hours with me going over the theories, equations and laws behind the physics of diving. She insisted that I come over to her house the night before the exam and stay so she could help me go over anything. She stayed up with me that night and got up to continue in the morning. I could not have done so well on the exam without her. They had me over again the next couple nights and we sat on their balcony while Craig BBQ'd and we nibbled on delicious octopus poke. Previously that morning we had all been out on the boat together as part of our Divemaster certification to assist and observe certified divers. After reliving the events that took place topped with Craig's new signs for herding cats, I was laughing so hard my stomach was aching. That night I remember having this feeling rush over me that these dear friends are in my life for a reason and I am so thankful we finally crossed paths... in Hawaii of all places!

There are so many moments these past few weeks that make me look back and smile. We've been diving a lot together, obviously, which also includes going over skills that we have to be able to teach to new divers as well as various assessments on our personal abilities. One drill was to test our comfort and confidence in the water, almost like an underwater obstacle course. It consisted of Irina and I exchanging gear underwater while sharing one air source, my regulator. We first found the rhythm of 'buddy breathing', basically I take a breath in my reg then hand it to Irina and she takes a breath while I slowly and continuously exhale. (Rule #1 when diving, NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!) After we established that rhythm it was off with the BCD's (jacket) which we did simultaneously and who ever needed to breath would take the reg while the other continued on with the gear. We continued with each others fins and eventually our masks. Now that was interesting for me. I didn't open my eyes because of my contacts so there I am, underwater, weighted to the ground with no mask, no regulator and no idea when I'm getting that reg back. I just remained calm trusting that Irina would slam that reg in my mouth while pushing the purge just as soon as she could. It probably took us close to 10 minutes, but we did it very calmly and successfully. It felt great to have conquered it so well.

The photo above was taken from their balcony one morning just after I had left the house on my way to work. I was watching it unfold as I was driving and I am so glad she snagged it on her camera. I hadn't seen colors so perfectly accented by the blue ocean and the bright green ragged mountains before. I have seen some beautiful sights since I moved here and either don't have my camera on me, or I'm driving. Go figure!

Right now I am sitting on the couch at their house and had to take a break from studying and write. Writing is a like a pause button in my life. It helps me to slow down, catch my breath and reflect. This blog is proof that I haven't been so diligent in pushing that pause button very often. At least I'm pursuing a dream in the meantime right ;). Its storming outside and the lightning lights up the whole sky as it strikes down over the ocean, the wind is howling and I look forward to crawling into bed and closing my eyes. I came over here after work while Craig & Irina were out on the night dive tonight. Craig dropped a key off for me at work and I was able to have a peaceful evening with me, myself and I. Equally great company.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we finish up Divemaster and begin our Emergency First Responder Instructor next week followed by the Instructor Development Course. First thing is first, so I will sign off so I can catch up on some reading for Search & Recovery. I will admit that knowing we are going to sushi after we are done tomorrow is very distracting. We went to this place last week and I already know what I want to get! hahaha!

Sushi = happiness too!

Aloha and goodnight

Snapshots

Here are a few photos from my new life over here in Hawaii. They are random, but it's better than nothing. I will try and get more photos of diving, but we can't take a camera during work/training so it's been difficult to document any of that. I will try and ask around to see if anyone has some photos I could borrow :o).

This first pic is from my first dive out on the boat the first weekend I was here. It was a 3-tank night dive and it was spectacular. The first dive was in about 70ft of water followed by a twilight dive and night dive at the Land of Oz. Named for its long windy strips of sand between the reefs. The night dive was incredible. We heard whales singing and I kept thinking I would turn around and see one, but we didn't. Sound travels 4x faster in water which made it feel like it was right over us. Regardless, I could feel it's presence and that alone was amazing. This is a picture of Shawn (aka Sergeant Slaughter)

Andreja, Angela and I spent a day hiking, exploring and introducing Frozen Yogurt to Andreja herself!

One Month In

I have lived in Hawaii for one month now and I honestly feel like I've lived here for years. Everything is so comfortable I have asked myself many times, "What took me so long to move here?" I love how familiar and warm my surroundings are to me, it really does feel like home.

I live in Hawaii Kai just about 1 mile from Hanauma Bay with my partner in crime, Angela Hansen from Canada who is here studying MS in Marine Science focusing on Environmental Toxicology in Whales and Dolphins. I met her just after 3 days here at a Marine Debris Conference down in Waikiki. A night that changed my life forever. I met many people at this conference from around the world and made some great connections in how to get more involved with cleaning up the ocean. It felt so good to be in my element with other people that are passionate about the ocean and making a difference in the places they are from. One of my favorite parts of the evening was overhearing a girl from Slovenia named Andreja talk about this conference she is organizing on the Adriatic Sea in a couple years. I asked her what countries she had representatives from and she names just about every country but Albania. I asked if she had considered Albania and she responds that she didn't know anyone who has been there before or who could translate their material. You should've seen her face when I told her I could translate it for her! She is getting a PHD in Marine Debris and interactions with wildlife. We spent about a week together after the conference and feel pretty confident that this will eventually work out. I felt so strongly when I was living in Durres, Albania that I would be a part of some educational movement to get the young kids aware of garbage in the sea. Who would've imagined 3 years later, in Honolulu, I would meet the link of making that happen. I was definitely in the right place at the right time.

I started work a month ago now, which is crazy, and so much has happened it's pretty remarkable. Somehow I was able to get settled, find a place to live and find a car in just a few days so I could start work right away. I work primarily out of the shop in Pearl Harbor and have a view of the Arizona Memorial outside our front door (Yes, I get to help men in uniform all day long :o). I have learned the ins and outs to booking diving classes, tours, refresher courses, selling equipment, repairing equipment, filling tanks and how to visually inspect tanks as well. I completed the Rescue Diver Course, Enriched Air (Nitrox) course, Visual Tank Inspection course and am currently a Divemaster Candidate with my dear friends Craig and Irina. More on them in a bit.

I have had some wonderful opportunities in the water from swimming with turtles and hearing whales to helping a quadriplegic man go diving. I have had numerous beautiful dives from both the boat and the shore where I'm continuously pinching myself that this is my life. I will load photos immediately following this and please stay tuned for some stories from my first day working the boat on a 3-tank night dive to Rescue class with me being the only female and how I learned to pull grown men out of the water.

Aloha :)