It's November!!! I've now been here for 2 months.  It seems like so much longer but at the same time time has flown by.  It'll be weird to spend the upcoming holidays away from friends and family but good thing for modern technology I can at least see their face when I chat with them.  

Sunday morning we all got to go to Evonuk herb farm up the street, where we get our herbs for our cheese, and go on a tour.  It was so beautiful.  8 am was the perfect time to tour because it wasn't too hot and then sun was coming out and all the plants are fresh looking.  The farm was great.  They walked us around and told us about their products and we got to pick some and eat them right off the plant.  I would love to volunteer there a bit and learn how they grow and operate.  Being a local farm they sell a lot to wholesalers.  They've sold up to 900 lbs of cilantro in one week!!  They also have the BIGGEST pigs I've ever seen.  It's hard to tell in the pictures but good lord I didn't know pigs could get that big, it was amazing.  We were joking around with Thomas and saying he should get one so Charley has a friend.  The farm was beautiful and it was great to see where we get our herbs from.  

loofah plant!!

fresh beets

starfruit

kale!  try making kale chips if you haven't before....really tasty snack

coffee plant

sage

see the rainbow?

Alicia with some lilikoi (passion fruit)

Tuesday was a little bit of a stressful morning as I went in the dairy to pack and then to help Christi with FedEx and Eva says "do it on your own, Christi...no helping!" haha poor Christi had the hardest time being there watching but not being able to help.  She's super efficient and fast so it was hard to just stand by.  I somehow SLOWLY got through and packed a whole 10 boxes of orders...and let me reiterate the SLOWLY haha.  I told Eva even though I hated having to just do it on my own and figure it out it was rewarding and good because I actually learned.  Later I literally laughed out loud to myself thinking about how funny it was that something as dumb and simple as FedEx stressed me out.  O well, such is life.  That morning I got a letter and c.d. from Holly which was perfect because then I could listen to it on deliveries.  Getting a letter from Holly is possibly the most encouraging thing I can get in the mail : )   Thanks Holly!!  After deliveries I got to dive into our pink binder of important goat information as we're preparing for kidding season.  To get to sit and read the binder and talk to Eva about different goat care topics and questions brought back all the excitement of learning and working with animals.  I was reading about things I had learned in classes in college and it felt good to feel like I was studying animal science material again.  I definitely chose the right major....only took me countless meetings and 4 major changes to figure it out haha Lynds knows ; ) 

Happy late halloween everyone!!! And birthday dad!  Wednesday I dressed up as a farmer, yah yah I didn't want to spend money on a costume, and headed out to the Haku Baldwin Center for volunteering.  Allison was dressed in sort of a gypsy costume, Kim a cat, and Shannon a she-devil.  This week we brought the therapy dogs all dressed up (Mana an angel, Bella a cheerleader, and Wilbur a cowboy) and went to the Hale Makua center in Kahului.  I took Bella around to visit and had some great conversation with the residents there.  One I spent a lot of time with told me I should be tinkerbell for halloween haha.  I just love being an animal therapy volunteer, animals can truly heal and enrich people's lives.  I'm also glad I've had the opportunity to work with and meet Shannon, Kim, and Allison.  Allison practices reiki and said she'd love to tell me more and teach me a bit about it if I'd like which would be awesome.  Next week we're going to a facility with kids so I'm really excited about that...definitely miss working with the little critters at Ele's Place.  For halloween all us interns and Monique went to Front St. in Lahaina.  It was so crowded!  They shut down front street so people dressed up in all sorts of costumes could walk up and down the street and go to all the bars and restaurants.  We got dinner and watched a little bit of a karaoke contest and then went to Fleetwood's for the night.  I think the best costumes I saw were some older tourists dressed as the cast of Gilligan's Island and then two old couples dressed up as 50 shades of grey haha.  

                                                 

Thursday was definitely a rough morning waking up early after going out the night before for halloween but I got to open the dairy up by myself for the first time.  I was terrified to turn on the pasteurizer because I was afraid I'd mess up the cheese but being hesitant and getting nervous easily about stuff then doubting myself is something I need to work on so I just did it.  And sure enough Cody informed me you can't really mess it up because program 1 and 2 on the pasteurizer do the same thing!  Deliveries went well without a hitch and it was fun hearing about everyone's night the night before.  Turns out a few people were at Fleetwood's too and I didn't even notice.  When I came home I got a package from Emily...she sent me a yoga mat for the yoga classes I'll be taking!!  Really excited to try it out.   Last night after work Alicia, Erin, and I met Danny, a sociable local here, at Stopwatch in Makawao for dinner.  Below is a pic of me being a huge nerd because we drew pictures like kids do on their placemat and the bar tender thought it'd be funny to hang my drawing up on the wall.  Hope everyone had a great halloween!!!