Day 122/365

I'm not sure this is as impressive as the turtle, but The Pho place certainly does have some interesting decor. You just never know what you're going to get when you head into a new place for food. Most are fairly typical, but every once in a while you get a hole-in-the-wall that has some fun surprises!

Day 121/365

I'd say my first go was a success! The water wasn't clear at all, but I was able to get close enough to the turtles to get a shot! We had a great time on the dive without anyone getting sick and made it back safe with a camera that still works! I hope the future brings a lot more awesome photos from the deep!

Day 120/365

Apparently this is a volcano. It's in front of the Aloha Stadium, but Google wasn't much help when trying to figure out what it's there for. I assume the sign would say, but I was too busy taking the photo to read it!

Day 119/365

I had my tripod and my wide angle lens in my car so I'm not sure why I decided not to grab them. This ended up being an interesting angle that I wouldn't have shot with my tripod. Maybe every once in a while it's best to just go with what you have! This is the first time I've seen the lagoons without people! I really like the way this turned out so I may have to go try again soon... with the tripod and an ultra long exposure next time!

Day 118/365

The struggle is real! Reading menus in lowlight gets harder with age. 😂 Sitting the rail at Monkey Pod during cool winter weather is a must-do!

Day 117/365

The sunrise from up here is pretty amazing. Today's was particularly spectacular. I couldn't get all of the horizon, but rain showers off to the west and the clouds over the mountains were absolutely incredible. One of these days I'll go for another pano!

Day 116/365

Today was the day. I finally took the time to put this monsterous rig together! It's going to take some practice and I don't even want to think of what it'll be like to snorkel or scuba with this thing, but I'm hoping the photos and video I get out of it will be so amazing the work and money will all be worth it! Time will tell... hopefully I don't drop it to the sea floor the first time I get in the water. Perhaps a shark or two will come smile for a photo op? I've yet to see one so maybe the time has come!

Day 115/365

I take this road to and from work almost every day. I stopped to see the golf course once and have taken pictures a few times, but it's rare I get to see the view from up here. Kunia road is on the right, Pearl Harbor is in the middle and in the distance you can see Waikiki and Diamond Head. Yes, island fever is a real thing, but most of the time you just go about your day and it feels pretty normal. Sometimes I forget I'm on a tiny speck of land in the middle of the Pacific! Pretty soon this place is going to feel absolutely enormous!

Day 114/365

We had another great dinner at Limon! If you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend it. Great food and great atmosphere... check it out sometime!

Day 113/365

This is the Makai Research Pier. https://www.makai.com/about/ Not my favorite photo ever, but this is where we did our Rescue Diver class so I didn't have many options today! Once we got in the clouds gathered over us so I didn't get any more burned which was nice! And, we passed! So I'm officially a PADI rescue diver!

Day 112/365

This is Kona. She was excited to get in the pool to fetch her toy after we finished our rescue diver course! She wasn't a fan of jumping for it though so she took the stairs each time getting in and out! 😂

Day 111/365

Justin and I rolled up to N. Shore to grab some North Shore Tacos and decided to send up the drone for a few pics! Last time I flew the drone up here was when the waves were crashing hard. Check out that video here: https://youtu.be/Pp_U-0hj9Ns Once again, it didn't disappoint!

Day 110/365

I have to admit, the view is pretty sweet. The fireworks are amazing from up here, the sunrises are amazing, and the rainbows are super awesome when we get them! There's a reason we have rainbows on our license plates!

Day 109/365

I stopped to grab this shot on my way home. It was just starting to rain and the clouds over the mountains made it feel dark and dreary! From Wikipedia: Colocasia esculenta is a tropical plant grown primarily for its edible corms, the root vegetables most commonly known as taro. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the Araceae family which are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic and South Asian cultures, and taro is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants. Probably one of the most disgusting things I've eaten in Hawaii.

Day 108/365

Family day in the simulator was quite the experience! These two were doing well on their low approach over Tripler but some others didn't quite catch on. There was a lot of aerobatic flying... and lots of crashing. I guess everyone has to start somewhere.

Day 107/365

This is my friend Leyra. She and her husband are due to be parents any day now! We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs during my first-ever maternity shoot! There are plenty more to sort through but I thought she looked stunning in this one so I decided to use it for my POTD! I'm looking forward to doing my first-ever newborn session with them in a few weeks!

Day 106/365

This is Hanoi Egg Coffee with Fernet Biscotti from Piggy Smalls. We went yesterday for brunch (more pics to come!) and decided to get a few: Freshly pressed 100% Kona coffee poured over a whipped sweetened egg yolk with vanilla. They're not too bad! If nothing else the experience is pretty neat.

Day 105/365

Props to these guys for being out late on a Friday to fix our broken water main. That's #4 in the last year... it would be nice if the builder hadn't done such a terrible job when he put the stuff in. That would've saved everyone a lot of hassle and money! Either way, they did a great job getting it fixed quickly so we're not without water the whole weekend!

Day 104/365

I finally splurged for some nice equipment. First, plucking the foam out of these boxes is a tedious pain! Second, this stuff is crazy heavy. Once it's in the water it'll be more buoyant but getting in and out is going to be rough. I already have too much... now I'm tacking on another pelican case full of crap. Hopefully the photos of the day will keep getting better!

Day 103/365

From Wikipedia: Phở or pho is a Vietnamese soup consisting of broth, rice noodles called bánh phở, a few herbs, and meat, primarily made with either beef (phở bò) or chicken (phở gà). Pho is a popular street food in Vietnam and the specialty of a number of restaurant chains around the world. Pho originated in the early 20th century in northern Vietnam, and was popularized throughout the rest of the world by refugees after the Vietnam War. Because pho's origins are poorly documented, there is significant disagreement over the cultural influences that led to its development in Vietnam, as well as the etymology of the word itself. The Hanoi and Saigon styles of pho differ by noodle width, sweetness of broth, and choice of herbs. A related noodle soup, bún bò Huế, which is a spicy beef noodle soup, is associated with Huế in central Vietnam.

Day 102/365

Well, the tree is gone now. I figured it was worth taking a few more shots since it was the first time in a long time I've had a tree up. Last time I tried it the dog drank all the water out of the stand so it died right away (the tree, not the dog). ;) This one was fun and so different than what I'm used to. It was easy to chop up and put in the yard waste bin as well! Quick, easy cleanup!