I love these girls and we love Managaha!!  

We had such a fun three day weekend- more to come soon.

Saturday trip to Managaha Island

 This Saturday we spent the most relaxing day on a little island right next to Saipan. Yes, it is even smaller than Saipan.   Managaha Island... we love you!

 Brian and I took a morning yoga class at our gym, grabbed some Subway (we almost always grab Subway before a long day at the beach.  It's quick, cheap, and one of Saipan's few fast food places), and headed to the dock for Managaha.  We were meeting our friends who had already taken the 11 am ferry, so we were actually the only people on the 1 pm ferry to Managaha.  We felt kind of weird because they probably lost money on us (locals can take the ferry to and from Managaha for free, as long as we sign up in advance), but it was kind of cool to have the boat to ourselves.

the view out the window of our ferry over

This is the Managaha's dock.  You can usually spot some bright blue starfish or a few very small sharks swimming near the dock- a really cool sight for first time visitors to the island.

my honey

The Coral Queen is in the background- the ferry that locals can take for free.  Saipan really takes care of it's local people.  We can usually get 10-15% off at any restaurant, massage parlor (which are super cheap to begin with, here), water equipment, and some gift shops.  I also think it's really fun to call ourselves "Saipan locals"!

Rachel's Dad in Saipan

I really LOVED having my dad visit Saipan last week. He stayed for a week, and we really packed a lot in to each day. He was tired in the evenings, but had such a great time hiking, visiting the war memorials, snorkeling (his favorite), having bonfires and foil dinners on the beach, meeting our wonderful friends here, and taking the ferry to the little island of Managaha. Brian was able to take off work Monday through Wednesday to be with us, which was even more awesome.

My dad especially loved our Thursday evening Street Market, which is a big event every week in Saipan. A street in Garapan (the tourist district) is filled with stands from local restaurants, and my dad had a great time choosing skewers of BBQ from each of the stands. He also tried Poons, my husband's favorite Chinese restaurant, during Street Market.

Bonfire night at Wing Beach

Visiting the Suicide Cliff Memorial.

Saturday morning, waiting for Brian's race to begin. My dad was really excited to be here to see it, and I can't believe we both stayed at the race site for 6 hours!

Hiking down to the beach of with Forbidden island in the background.

It's a rainy, rainy weekend here on the island of Saipan. Right now I'm sitting at Coffee Care, which is up on the hill above our house and has an excellent view of the hills below and out to the ocean. The rain is coming down in slanty sheets and it's gorgeous.

With our races over, we've had some nice, relaxing time lately. Tonight was supposed to be our camping night for Brian's birthday celebration but it will have to be postponed b/c of the rain, and we are having a date night instead.

The year is starting to come to a close :( as I only have 8 more weeks of school, and Brian's school ends the second week of June. We're looking forward to our weekend trip over to Guam in April for Brian to take his Praxis Test and to do some touring. (They have a Coldstone and a Little Caesars Pizza in Gaum... how I've missed those two!

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas from Saipan!This Christmas in Saipan - Rachel is in Kansas City and I am missing her very much. The weater here is fantastic, 85°F and mostly sunny sky's. On Christmas Eve and Christmas morning my friends and I went camping on a small deserted island of the coast of Saipan.Managaha!

As the locals would say -"We ate plenty coconut".

Canons remain on the island from the battles of WWII

After a full day of snorkeling we cooked foil dinners over a fire.
On Christmas morning we woke up to a very peacful and colorful sunrise. There wasn't any boat traffic or tourists splashing around in the early morning and ocean was full of life. We spent this morning swimming with black tip reef sharks and graceful manta rays.
Matt and Amy walking along the beach Christmas morning.

After we had returned from our trip we had an fondue dinner. I have really appreciated my friends this Christmas. I have really missed my family and Rachel this holiday, but I have to admite this is a Christmas that I will never forget.

"On your mark.... get set.... go!!"

Hello friends and family,

We miss you all and are really happy that you read our blog!

Brian is still really enjoying his counseling job at Hopwood Jr. High, and I've had my first week of work. I'm tutoring first and second graders three days a week- they are so sweet and I'm really liking it so far. Most of the students at the small tutoring company I work at are Korean students, and they are sometimes only visiting Saipan for a month or two, although some of them live here.

Brian is doing a great job at Hopwood- I think he really fits into the role of a counselor well. I love it how he truly cares about the tough (and sometimes dangerous) situations the kids are facing, and he's able to give good advice, or step in the take care of the situation. He will be having his first school hiking club excursion this month, and there are a lot of faculty/students who want to participate.

The top picture is Brian eating campfire smores. Last weekend, a bunch of the girls on the island got together for a girls night, and our husbands went out to have another bonfire on the beach. They made foil dinners and cooked them in the fire, which is one of Brian's favorite foods. :)

I just LOVE these girls!! Jenn, Laura, and Kara at a movie/chai tea night at Jenn's this weekend.

On Saturday, Brian and I went to Managaha Island for a third time with our friends Grant, Kara, and Jenn. Managaha is a free trip by ferry to a little island next to Saipan, and it's a great way to get off of our tiny island for a day! Tourists have to pay $40 to get there, but if you get your tickets in advance, it's a free ferry ride for us locals- a great deal. We love to go out there and lounge on the beach, snorkel, and explore the small island looking for war artifacts.

Please leave us some comments- we love to hear from you!!

Gettin a little tan

On Monday, we all had the day off of school, so we boarded a ferry and headed to our favorite island again: Managaha. Tourists pay about $40 for the ferry there and back, but we have local id's, which get us there for free as long as we sign up a few days in advance.

Brian, Josiah, Josh, Elizabeth, and Laura waiting to board the ferry

Here's Josh and Brian snorkeling

Saipan and Managaha both have lots of tanks, wreckage, and some guns left on the island from the war. There's a tank near the coast on the west side of the island that's partially covered with water- Brian wants to swim out there and check it out. This day at Managaha, we found two huge, rusty bolts that were most likely left over from war equipment.