Pictures!

Saipan continues to be sunny, beautiful and so relaxing! Yesterday I saw the biggest blow fish I've seen yet! He was about the size of a football. He came lumbering out of the coral, took a lazy look around and after deciding there was nothing worth seeing, floated back into his hole. I also saw another bright blue star fish hugging on for dear life to the top of a spiny orange coral. All five arms were wrapped tightly around it as if the waves were going to sweep him away at any minute. Snorkeling is my favorite part of the vacation thus far! I wish I could take pictures of the things I see underwater. Here are some pictures of everything above the water!

Coral Shark swimming in the pond at the resort

The Palms Resort where we're starying

Palm tree :)

Boonie dogs (wild dogs) live all over the island

Heather and I at Tank Beach

Mom, Heather and I got manicures

The Saipanda! Not sure why the panda has a banana for a nose...

We went to a street market to get yummy island food and buy fun things

There's a lizard in there...

View from my beach chair... this is the life!

Can you believe that I'm at the beach everyday and I'm still this white? Ya, me too.

View of the island from it's highest point, Mt. Topachau

Heather, me and Aaron on Mt. Topachau

Sorry the pictures are small and kind of fuzzy... I couldn't get it to work right... I'll try to fix it.

I'm here!!

I finally made it to Saipan! Getting on the dang plane was a mess - but I managed (with the help of a feisty older sister with a baby) to get my ticket switched and I have been here now for a few days! For a brief recap of what happened at the airport: Got to the bag check-in 1 1/2 hours before scheduled flight, waited in line for a looong time (as airline was waayy understaffed), talked with bag check-in lady who didn't know what to do with my Northwest international flight due to recent merge with Delta, waited some more until she finally re-directed us back to the kiosk, got to the kiosk to scan ticket - was 2 minutes late and the system wouldn't check me in, talk to lady-who-knew-nothing again, redirected to first class where we were told "someone" could get me through, waited more, talked to super defensive ornery old guy, redirected again, missed my flight, rebooked with nice tongan lady (finally someone helpful!), got new tickets for the next day, cost me an extra $250. Whew...sorry that was probably a pain to read - but I didn't feel like rehashing the whole story. It was a blessing I had my big sister with me to help fight with the staff and get me where I needed to go! I couldn't believe how unhelpful everyone was. I only missed the check in by 2 minutes and wouldn't have missed it had the first lady known what she was doing. I guess what matters now is that I am here in Saipan safe and sound.

I don't have my camera to post pictures yet, but I will have some up soon. This place is beautiful! We are at The Palms Resort which has a botanical garden/jungle, tons of fish in a stream surrounding the resort, hibiscus/plumeria/fire tree flowers galore, and a big smimming pool all resting on the edge of the ocean shore. It could not get more perfect than this! I went snorkeling for the first time yesterday and saw soo many mutli-colored fish! There are also an abundance of sea slugs - my goal is to not step on one while I'm here. So far, so good! Today while snorkling my favorite was a whole school of tiny vibrant blue fish that floated out and in from the coral like a synchronized swimming act. Soo neat! There are also as many hermit crabs as there are grains of sand. Every shell I pick up to add to my collection must first be examined - 80% of the time there is a tiny crab still living inside.

We have mainly stayed at the resort so far - but soon we will go to other beaches and check out more of the island. Next time I will post pictures - promise!

Ads For Africa

You may notice that 'ad' bar on my blog now... here's the deal... Check out this website: http://ads4africa.org/
I just noticed this site and thought it was pretty great how even us small-time bloggers can help raise a little money for people in poverty who need the help. Visit the site to find out more.

And also.... two more days until I leave for Saipan!! Two!! This is how excited I am.



Yippee!!

If you like Pina Coladas...

K - don't ask about the title. I never know what to write in that little box - and since I will be discussing (or rather exclaiming!) about a tropical island today, and Pina Coloda's sound tropical to me... eh... just skip this part, ok? I'm not making any sense.

Can I just say that I am soo excited for Thursday! I may have to blog about it every day just to pass time and hope it comes faster. I leave on a jet plane Thursday afternoon for tropical paradise! For those of you who don't know, my father got a 'side' job (is that what to call it? I don't know...) working for a man who owns a resort on a little island called Saipan. Apparently the US owns this island (who knew! I sure didn't) and this man, we'll call him Russ (because that's his name) owns a gigantic resort. He had a couple telescopes installed sometime in January for locals and vacationers to enjoy, but he didn't exactly know how to work them. He needed an expert on telescope-working......enter my daddy.

(that's him...and me also...)

Since Professor Moody (that's my dad) is an astronomer and also is very cool, he decided he could sacrifice some of his time to live out there for a few weeks and get the scopes running. Sacrifice...that was a joke. Get it? Tropical Island? Anyway...

That was in February - and because Russ loved them so much, he wanted my dad back again! And this time, he agreed to pay for the rest of the family to fly out on our own time, too!! Isn't this fantastic? My turn comes this Thursday - I get to fly first to Tokyo where I will have a 4 hour layover and then on to Saipan. I believe the total trip will be around 24 hours. That's a long time - and I'm a little nervous about traveling alone - but I hear that the Japanese people are so anxious to talk to Americans and use their English that I won't have a problem finding someone to help me get to where I need to be. I've also heard that the information they give may not be accurate, but my plan is to talk to many people and follow the most common answer to get to my connecting flight. It's going to be soo great! This will practically be my first time going anywhere foreign! (an hour in Canada doesn't count.... Jersey almost counts, but...nah...) Wahoo!!

Here are a few pictures of Saipan just to get ya'll jelous:








*Sigh" I can't wait! Hey, do you guys want me to bring you back anything? I can totally do that. Let me know! And for real, I'll do it...

Visit to the Ohio!

Update. What's going on in my life? Well, not a whole lot at the moment. I did just get back from a trip to The Ohio to see my brother, Stephen. We got to do a bunch of things that only Ohio could provide such as: Tour around Ohio State Campus, visit the Columbus Zoo, scenic drive/visit to Amish country, hear my brother speak in church, celebrate Steve's birthday, visit a GIANT corn field (and it's not what you're thinking either), and eat at Jenny's (this great little ice cream shop with exotic flavors like Thai Chili and Salty Carmel) I got Lavender, Pear Sorbet, and one more... can't remember... It was an awesome trip! My cousin Katie and her husband and two cute kids were also visiting so I got to spend some time with them too! All in all, I had a lot of fun. My aunt and uncle let me stay at their place while they were, ironically, visiting Utah - that was sooo wonderful. I didn't have to worry about a hotel or food or anything like that. Made for a pretty stress free trip.
I was also very excited to ride a plane for the second time in my life! I know I am 24 and a college graduate - but I was pretty nervous to attempt a plane ride by myself. I am proud to announce that it was completely successful. I didn't even get lost once - even during my layover in the Chicago, O'Hare airport. That place is HUGE! I met some nice people on the my flights and one even gave my an Ohio State hat! Brand new, never been worn - he informed me that if I stepped onto Ohio soil without it, I would get beat up... *gulp* I accepted it graciously :)
What else can I blab about on here? I'm just relaxing and enjoying my free time this summer with no commitments and no school or work. I am trying to find ways to occupy my time until our family trip to Saipan. If you have any suggestions, let me know! I would like to find some humanitarian/service oriented type things to do - but I'm not sure what. Maybe I'll look up how to crochet those leaper bandages or something.... hmm...

Amish Country! Saw tons of little farms like this one

Horse and Buggy

Gorilla! They came right up to the glass!

Steve in some misty place at the zoo. I thought it was cool.

Penguins :)

Happy!

I love my roomates. I love my new ward. I love my apartment. I'm loving life!

Just had to post how good things are for me right now. I needed a change but was worried about where, when, if I was making the right choice. I just decided, went for it, and I know this is the place for me. It's only been a couple of days and one Sunday of meeting people, but I know...it's going to be a fantastic summer.

(thanks Em for helping me find this place. Perfect.)

Blog Title

I think I want a better name for my blog. I picked "Miss Moody" because that's who I was for the past year with my students. Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm still new to the blogging world and need all the help I can get :)