A Little Bit More Fun» Family & Friends

Tsunami Warning in Hawaii

Beth Hood — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:16:50 +0000

Ok, so tsunami warnings don’t exactly make life a little bit more fun, but they did make our Saturday morning quite a bit more exciting as we tried to figure out if we were outside of the evacuation zone. Turns out that we were out of the evacuation zone according to the phone book, but just barely, which made us wonder how generous the zone is and what if it was a “little” off? Should we be worried? We did what we could and prepared extra water and food in case we were out of power for a few days. And then we sat around and waited with the rest of the islands, for what turned out to be a much smaller event than they anticipated.

What did make the tsunami warning a little bit more fun were all the friends and family we heard from across the country, reaching out over phone, text, and Facebook to make sure we were safe. Ahh…we felt loved! Since we had to stay home, Jim did what he did best in times of emergency and made some delicious blueberry waffles, and certainly waffles make tsunami warnings a little bit more fun. Not to mention whales. Prepared with our binoculars for some wave action from our stadium seating of the ocean, we did have a chance to watch whales surfacing and flitting around in the water for a couple of hours.

Technology also makes potential disasters a little bit more fun. We have no cable television and no batteries for our radio, so our connection to what was happening on the island was through our computer. We listened to KBIG broadcast on the web and watched scenes of the Hilo Bay Front over the Internet as well. We were able to update our Facebook status to give immediate relief to anyone who was worried. And having this technology really helped us feel connected to what was happening locally and nationally.

And one more shout out to technology: I truly appreciated how incredibly lucky we are to have the detection and warning systems in place through the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The fact that we had so much warning to prepare for an event like this made it seem surreal, especially in the aftermath of the Haiti disaster and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

A Fun Coach on a Mission

Beth Hood — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:35:11 +0000

I think everyone needs a “Fun Coach” — someone who can help you insert a little bit more fun into your life. We had the opportunity to live for a few months with someone who became our “fun coach” naturally because of her undying enthusiasm, optimism, and zest for life! Our friend Trisha introduced us to the joy of swimming by giving us a few simple lessons on how to improve our technique and this led to us swimming in the ocean every morning which changed our lives completely, as you can tell if you read our earlier posts.

She didn’t stop there. Trisha took us to swim with the dolphins in Kealakekua Bay, to explore caves at Hapuna Beach, to jump off cliffs along the coastline in front of our home, and she gave me surfing lessons. She made “fun” a permanent and essential part of our day, and we certainly have her to thank for reminding us of all the simple things you can do to make life a little bit more fun.

Pardon the sand, but Trisha was encouraging me to so somersaults on the beach!

Trisha has left the islands on an adventure and I wanted to give her mission a plug. She is spending this year traveling the globe with an intention of volunteerism, fundraising for charitable causes, and spreading love and joy. Her travels will take her to Guam, India, the Middle East, Spain and Western Europe, and the United States.

Check out her blog, follow her travels, and join her band of 25,000 optimists—I just did—by donating one dollar at http://trishapatton.com/. Long live optimism, volunteerism, and fun!

Somersaults on Secrets Beach

Beth Hood — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:44:09 +0000

After watching our little friend Sam do somersault after somersault on the sand, getting covered from head to toe with sand, I decided I just had to see what all the hype was about. I surprised and delighted the little guy when I started somersaulting with him, so much so that he wouldn’t let me stop. He would take my hand and pull me up again, and say “more” and put his fingers together in front of him using the sign language sign for “more” which he learned when he was a baby to help him communicate with his parents.

I learned a very important lesson from doing somersaults on the beach- they are fun! And it’s really not all that bad to be covered everywhere with sand, even when it’s all around your eyes and mouth. As painful as it is to look at someone who has sand all over, because you are assuming they are miserable, you don’t even notice the sand when you’re the one who is covered. Of course I was scraping sand out of my long hair for days, but I’d say it was well worth it.

We should clue in a little more to the things that kids do that make us say “They’re crazy”, and instead give them a try.

Meeting founders of Magic Carpet Rides

Beth Hood — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:43:23 +0000

The owners of Magic Carpet Rides

We had the privilege of getting together with Markus and Laura, the owners and founders of Magic Carpet Rides, a gap year organization that takes high school grads to Guatemala for an 8 month cultural immersion experience. Lucky for us, they are staying on Kauai during the summer as they prepare for the upcoming gap year excursion.

Our publishing company Inspiration Publications awarded a Gap Year Scholarship to one of their students this year, named Bill Doerrfeld, from Issaquah WA. For more info about the scholarship, you can visit www.wheresthemap.com. To learn more about Magic Carpet Rides, you can visit www.magiccarpetrides.org.

We hope to create a partnership with them where their students can get the most out of Where’s the Map during their gap year to help them uncover what they are passionate about for their future college and career paths. It was wonderful to connect with Markus and Laura, as we share a similar passion to help young adults through experiential learning. We hope to make it to Guatemala to check in on Magic Carpet Rides this year!