our first weekend of SUPing

We had wonderful weather this past weekend and were able to take out the paddle boards. On Saturday we went to Agana Bay and paddled out to Alupang Island. It was easy to get to, but with the winds and current, HARD to get back! On Sunday we had a SUP potluck at Matapang Beach in Tumon Bay. It was such a fun event. There were lots of other SUPers and plenty of good food. We paddled out a few times, paddled down to Hyatt to meet friends, and even got in our first night paddle. After the sun went down, they fired up the grill again and we all ate ribs for dinner. I am already itching to get back out on the water!

SUP!

For Christmas, George and I (along with our families) got stand up paddle (SUP) boards! It's a perfect activity for the calm bay waters in Guam. I love that now we'll have something active and fun to do instead of just snorkeling or sitting on the beach! We ordered them from a local shop, SUP Shack Guam in Tamuning. If any of my Guam friends are looking for lessons or to buy a board, check them out. They are super friendly and awesome!! Thank you to all our family members who donated to our paddle board fund. Best Christmas present ever!!! Of course, since they arrived the weather has been terrible! We are so looking forward to getting them out on the water!

me picking up my board

new living room decor!

close up of George's board

our boards tucked behind the couch! 

my carbon fiber and bamboo paddle, the design is what sold me on the board!

tagachang beach

Even though Guam is such a small island, there are so many beaches. We haven't even explored half of them. This past Saturday I went out with a group of friends to a new beach, Tagachang Beach. It's off the beaten path so you don't have to battle with crowds of tourists. We were just about the only ones there. The beach itself has nice sand with a little bit of grass and a few covered areas with tables. There's a reef that protects the beach so there is a nice area for swimming. It was pretty rough the day we went, but if it was calmer, the reef would allow for a perfectly calm swimming area. The day we went was perfect for a long beach day. It was cloudy so we weren't burning up in the Guam sun, yet it didn't rain on us. Perfect! 

looking north from the beach

looking south from the beach

right before we left, the blue skies came out

wedding wednesdays - our 1st wedding anniversary

the flowers George sent me

Our first wedding anniversary was this past September. The 28th, to be exact. Unfortunately, we were over 6,000 miles apart for it. I was in California and George was still gone on a work trip, so we didn't get to celebrate together until we both got back to Guam. He did however, conspire with my best friend, Casey, to deliver me flowers at my parents' house the day of our anniversary! 

the view from our room, the bay is so pretty

Once we both were back on island, we did a staycation to celebrate. We stayed 2 nights at the Hyatt, the same hotel we began our relationship 3 years ago. We have a hotel package that gives us free hotel stays, discounted meals and free bottles of wine so our hotel stay was free! 

anniversary cake!!

The first night we got dressed up and had dinner at one of the restaurants in the hotel, Al Dente. It was so good! The server let us use 2 of our free wine bottle coupons, instead of just the one. Score! The food was really good and so was the service. Our server even brought us a little happy anniversary cake!

nice calm waters for paddle boarding

The next day we walked down the beach and rented some paddle boards. We had wanted to try it since we moved out here but never got around to it. They are so much fun! We would love to be able to own some one day. That night we walked down the street to our favorite pizza place and then got desserts at the cafe in the hotel.

our last day by the pool

Our last day there, we laid out by the pool for a few hours before headed home. It was such a pretty day. The sky was really clear and the air slightly drier than normal. We really love the Hyatt and their pool, it's always so relaxing! So while it wasn't ideal to spend our first wedding anniversary apart, it was nice to have an almost free staycation at our favorite place!

wedding wednesdays - our first guam wedding

Most of the friends we hang out with are already married so we haven't had the chance to go to a wedding since we've moved out here. That all changes this weekend! Our friends are getting married on the beach this Saturday, at sunset of course. How beautiful to get married in paradise, on the beach at sunset?? To prep for the wedding, the bride and I went and got our nails done and went and did a little shopping for the wedding. It's super low key since she'll be doing a large wedding with family back in the states next year. It's still exciting to help her get ready for her big day! Short post tonight, but hopefully I'll have some pictures from the wedding next week!

the girls are here!

finally in Guam after the LONG flights

The girls arrived on island Wednesday night! I had custom leis made for them at the floral shop in Oka Payless. The lady there was so sweet. I told her I needed them special made to be shorter than their normal leis because they were for little girls. She asked their ages and measured out the length so that they would be perfect for them. The girls loved them and felt so special to get real flower leis after getting off the plane. They were WIDE awake when they landed at 10pm and had a little trouble going to bed and sleeping that first night. Hopefully they'll adjust to the time change soon. 

island girls

swimming with dad

Yesterday was our first full day and George took the day off. We went shopping for some new summer clothes and then spent the rest of the day at the beach. We packed a lunch and had a picnic in the sand then went swimming. They loved the water and are so in awe at how close the ocean is, no matter where you're at. I've also been sharing some old Chamorro legends and they are really fascinated with the stories of Guam. They spent all day looking for the mermaid Sirena. George and I were also pretty exhausted after our first day. Once we get into a routine and the girls adjust to the time change, I'm sure it'll get easier. We also have George's mom and sister coming to visit next week so we are excited to spend time with the whole family!

cupcakes, flags and more

view from the beach bar

The long weekend is over and we had some fun, sat on our butts and did a little exploring. We went to happy hour down the street Friday night and then proceeded to lay around all day Saturday and relax. Going out for a few beers these days seem to really slow us down the next day. We definitely aren't 22 anymore!

festive & delicious cupcakes

The rest of the weekend was rainy so planning any decent beach time was out of the question. Sunday we ran a few errands and then I tried my hand at baking. I made cupcakes from scratch and also tried a homemade buttercream recipe. I flavored the buttercream with a little coconut extract and it turned out very yummy.

 every flag a life

US & Guam flags

Monday we went down to Asan Beach to see the flags on display for Memorial Day. It was a humbling to see all the flags that represented a life lost during the battle for Guam. The 1880 US flags and 1170 Guam flags. I'm glad we were able to see it and spend some time there. It was also nice to see a lot of people at the memorial honoring those lost. 

 the north end of the tide pools

 there's a little cave in that large rock

Tarague tide pools

After leaving the memorial we took a trip to the Air Force base so I could show George the tide pools. I had been down to the two beaches on base, but had never known about the tide pools. My friend, Olivia, showed them to me about a month ago and knew I needed to take George there. I wasn't 100% sure about the path to get to them and even though George kept doubting my route, we made it! We spent a couple of hours there just looking at all the fish. It was nice because it was a cloudy day so it wasn't too hot nor did we have the sun beating down on us. 

the husband

All in all, a good weekend of relaxing before the girls get here next week!

movies movies movies

All last week I was sick. Which meant no working out, limited chores getting accomplished and a lot of laying on the couch. By the time the weekend rolled around, I was feeling somewhat better but not up to going out or anything crazy. This was also the first weekend since George finished his classes this semester. Which meant we could actually have some quality time together. Since I still wasn't feeling 100% we hung around the house Friday night and rented a movie. We rented 21 Jump Street because Channing Tatum and it was really funny! We rarely watch movies and we ended up watching 3 this weekend.

trying not to burn up at Ypao beach

Saturday we went to Ypao beach so George could play with his GoPro. He bought it months ago and still hasn't had time to take it to the beach and film anything. He made a couple of underwater videos while snorkeling. I sat on the beach and just about died from heat stroke. Not really, but daaaannnnggg was it hot! That night we had a date night and went to see a movie and to eat dinner. We went and saw Neighbors and then went and bellied up at Ruby Tuesdays. The movie was funny and dinner was tasty. Ruby Tuesdays has become our spot since it's right down the street, next to the movie theater and serves consistent food. It also reminds us a little of home because we used to belly up at the bar at Applebee's back home. 

about to display my photos

Sunday George went golfing and I did a little shopping at the NEX and framed some of my recent photos. I love that I can display my own work around our house! That night we rented and watched our third movie of the weekend. Since the first two movies we saw were comedies, we decided to rent a more serious movie. We rented Gravity. At first I was a little skeptical because Sandra Bullock is hard to take seriously sometimes, but the movie was good. We were definitely on the edge of our seats most of the time. I made Thai chicken pizza for dinner Sunday night and it was so good. I'm going to make it again this week and take some good pictures of it. Look for the recipe on here int he next week or two!

Thai chicken pizza... I'll post my recipe soon!

american hustle and beach hopping

This weekend I did something that I haven't done in almost 5 years. I went to the movies. We went and saw American Hustle. We picked this movie for three reasons: Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams & it started at a decent time. I have to say I really enjoyed the movie. There hasn't been a movie soundtrack that pulled me in since Forrest Gump, but when Steely Dan started playing in the first scene, I got excited! I was (annoyingly) singing along the whole time.

 

We also got a lot of beach time and photography in this weekend. We started out Saturday by heading over to our favorite, Ypao Beach. We stopped by the ABC store on our way over and picked up one of those mini 6-packs of Sapporo. They didn't have any beer coozies, but the lady did give us this little cooler that perfectly fit the mini beers!

 

mini cooler

 

Sunday we went and checked out three beaches that I hadn't been to before. We met some friends at Old Wives' Beach on the Navy base, Ritidian Beach and Tanguisson Beach. I brought my new camera and got quite a few pictures at the first two beaches. Like I've mentioned before, without my computer here yet, I still can't upload any of my good pictures to this blog. Old Wives' Beach wasn't swimming friendly, but it seemed like a good spot to wade through tide pools, kayak or scuba dive. Ritidian Beach was amazingly gorgeous and I got a ton of great photos there. I promise once I get my computer, I'll share them on here. The water was a crisp, clear blue up against perfectly white sands and lined with lush jungle. So pretty. The only negative is swimming in not allowed due to the strong currents. On a clear day, you can also see Rota, the next island in the Marianas island chain. On our way back we stopped by Tanguisson Beach which is just north of Two Lovers Point. It didn't look like somewhere that welcomed swimming, but it was still pretty nonetheless. I did get some quick pictures with my phone at this beach.

 

Tanguisson Beach, looking north

Tanguisson Beach, looking south

it's tiny, but you can see the moon

George photobombing on accident

 

Once we got home, George showed me the pretty shells that he had collected at Old Wives' Beach earlier in the day. After showing me, he set them down and we went on about our night. About an hour later we notice one of the shells is making its escape. There was a little stowaway hermit crab inside the shell!

 

let me outta here!!

 

Out of the three beaches, Ritidian was my favorite. I can't wait to go back earlier in the day and get some more pictures. We ended the day with a quiet night at home, BBQing and watching some Netflix. Looking forward to this week, our stuff is scheduled to arrive finally!

 

 



weekend fun

Whatever cold I've caught seems to be holding its ground regardless of the amount of Motrin and DayQuil I throw at it. Which trust me, is quite a bit. Don't worry, it's all within the prescribed amounts. I'm not gettin' crazy with the Motrin over here. Anyways, the stubborn girl in me wasn't going to let this cold ruin a perfectly good weekend so we made plans for both days.

 

Saturday we decided to take it easy since I wasn't feeling too great still. We went to our favorite beach right down the road, Ypao. We relaxed in the sun for a couple of hours and of course, got some good people watching in.

 

Ypao Beach, Tumon hotels in the background

The clouds and the colors of the sky here are incredible

George's picture of the day

 

Apparently Saturday we had great timing because as soon as we left the beach, it started to rain. Which of course produced one of Guam's awesome rainbows. I actually was able to catch a picture from the car too!

 

  

Rainbow in Tumon

 

When we woke up Sunday I was feeling a little better so we decided to try out Onward Beach Club down the street. It's a waterpark attached to a hotel resort on Agana Bay. It's not as large as some waterparks back home, but it is a lot cheaper and less crowded. They have four water slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, various kid pools and an awesome slide called the Manta. I didn't get any pictures because we left our phones in the car so they wouldn't get wet. However, the Manta is like a large "U" shaped slide that you ride down one edge in a tube and the momentum shoots you all the way to the top of the other edge. This repeats 3-4 times before you eventually stop at the bottom. It was pretty scary for such a simple slide. We rode it twice! The second time George made me ride in the front of the tube and all I'm going to say is, never again. I'll stick to riding in the back of the tube from now on!

 

I'd also like to mention a few events that happened to others on this island this weekend. Sunday after we left the park and headed to the Navy base we noticed a lot of commotion at Asan Beach. There were firefighters, paramedics, search and rescue boats and a helicopter searching the waters. After reading the news online, it seems that two fishermen got knocked into the water and required rescuing. It seemed as though the search went on into the evening (we could still see the rescue boats from our condo). I did read this morning that both men were accounted for. In addition, this morning a tourist nearly drowned at Ypao Beach. The same place we were Saturday morning. She was also rescued and is doing well. Both events serve as a reminder to really respect the island and its waters. We're always safe when we snorkel and never get into waters we are unfamiliar with.

 

While we had fun both days, I'm still feeling sick and thinking I probably overdid it yesterday by going to the waterpark. So today I'm just relaxing on the couch while George goes to work. Hoping that my body will kick this cold soon!