Creamy, Chocolate-y, Yummy.... Vegan?!

Creamy, Chocolate-y, Yummy.... Vegan?!

Cycle Your Heart Out

Cycle Your Heart Out

Lahaina Aquatic Center

Throughout my time in Maui, I had always heard about how awesome the local aquatic center is, and I had wanted to go.  It's amazing that there is no charge to use the pool, and it's an outdoor facility.  Every aquatic center I had been to before this, had a regular sized lane pool, and maybe another small pool or a slide or diving board, but they were all indoors.
The first time I attempted to go to the aquatic center in Lahaina, a girlfriend of mine ended up driving by as I was walking under Mango trees, and took me to the beach to hang with her.
A few days later, I headed out from my home, and started jogging down the street, passing under Avocado trees, Coconut trees, various flowers, and the amazing ocean/floral smell in the humid air.  As I change directions, I have full view of the beautiful west Maui mountains, the second wettest place on earth! They are truly a gorgeous sight to see, complete with a rainbow most days.
As I enter the aquatic center, I am blown away with how big the pool is, how clean and open the outdoor area is, and how nice of a center it is being free of charge.  I swam laps for almost an hour, diving under the water several times, amazed by how clean the pool was and how awesome the natural light was.  It was so peaceful doing the backstroke with the amazing view of the mountains, and I would gladly visit this pool again.  

Protein Date Balls

Protein Date Balls

My first Sailboat race

After 4 weeks of practice driving a 30 foot sailboat through the warm waters of Maui, I was ready to compete in my first sailboat race.  This was a wahine driver race, so every boat had to have a female driver.  I was curious how the race would happen, as I had never seen such thing.  Before the race, we had some time to practice, working on smooth turns and quick recoveries.  There was a race boat and a buoy placed in the water making the start line, and another buoy for the boats to turn around.  One person on our boat the time keeper for the start of the race.  A horn sounded, notifying us that there was three minutes until the race began.  During this time I just kept our boat close to the start area making turns and loops, timing it perfectly so that we cross the line immediatly once the race begun.  It was the skippers job to navigate which direction we would head, depending on the wind.  So we headed out making a few tacks towards the buoy.  I steered clean around the buoy, and the way back was only a few quick jibs, and we were close to the finish line.  For the first race we placed in 5th, then proceeded to have 2 more races, placing 5th, and 6th, out of about 15 boats.  This was an amazing experience, and I am so thankful I got the opportunity to achieve my dream of not only learning to sail, but being the helmsman. 

Sailing through the south pacific

Growing up in the praries, with it's lack of water, I end up loving everything in the water.  In high school I dragonboat raced on the river, then had done kayaking a few times, and while living on Maui had the opportunity to take up outrigger canoeing.  I had never dreamed of such awesome activities because I thought being from the prairies that I would never get the chance.  Well dreams come true, and unexpected things happen every day, so dream big, and expect big things to happen.  With my time spent on Maui, I had dreamed of sailing and never knew how to get into it.  So my first day back I met up with an old friend who asked me to go sailing with him the next day.  Luckily there is a yacht club in town with sail boats for members of the yacht club to sign out and use whenever they please.  My first time out sailing was absolutely amazing, it was more of a chill ride then really sailing hard.  There was a rope behind the boat and we could jump off the boat while sailing and hold on to the rope and tow behind, and at 7-8 knots that's pretty fast crusing through the water.  Then when we were done playing at the back of the rope, you just pull into the boat and climb aboard.  After my first time sailing the captain had asked if I wanted to race in an all women driver race in a few weeks.  With so much excitement, the training days began, which were much more hardcore then the initial sail trip.  I have full guard of the helm, making sure the sails are always full, and the sailboat stays on course.  Driving the sailboat took a lot more strength then I had imagined, especially going through rough waters, or when the boat is at a 45 degree angle on the water.  So now my race is on Saturday, and I am really excited to power through the race, making smooth turns and quick recoveries.  I am so excited to have this opportunity, and have been enjoying every moment of it.  Wish me luck in the race, I'll be sure to post how I do. :)

Remembrance Day

On the 11th, day of the 11th month, on the 11th hour, we remember all our soldiers who fought for us to have the freedoms we have today.  By expressing how thankful we are and what we are thankful for it really makes us appreciate everything and everyone we have in our lives.  I am so thankful that my grandparents both made it back safe from the War, so I could be created and get to live this amazing life I live today. Taking in each moment of the day, and really being present in mind and body allows us to fully appreciate everything we have. I am so thankful I get to be in such an beautiful place in this world, have some great friends to hang with, have all the skills and abilities I do, and get to do all that I have the opportunity to.  Remembering our soldiers. <3