My Life In Sushi Years

Never was much of a fan of raw fish growing up til about 4 or 5 years ago. I tried this one sushi joint and realized that I had been missing out. Sure, I enjoyed the occasional bites of others poke bowls from Foodland or Superette every now and then but never ate a lot because something never sat right. For a long time I had something against eggs, salmon, and chicken too but we could save that for another time. Anyways, if something didn’t taste right to me at an earlier age (I guess this is for most people too) it wont’t see my diet until someone convinces me to have a taste. My junior year in college is when I had that taste and for a good two weeks I was crazy about sushi. The downside of this craze was that the sushi joint was a half hour away from home and I couldn’t really fit it into my schedule. On the other hand, I still had the poke bowls that I would now get to look forward to. And those basically held me over until the next time I made it down to Kaneohe(where the sushi joint is). It just makes sense to me that Hawaii would have great sushi like everywhere. For some reason I took that thought to the gas station and my tummy hated me for that decision.

Moving up to Washington for 6 months, I made sure to get sushi before we left. I just wasn’t sure if I’d find a good sushi place here. I assumed Seattle had good places because it’s by the ocean but def wasn’t sure about Moses Lake. So about the first week of being in Moses Lake we pass this “Sumo Sushi” sign so I began looking up the reviews. Finding good reviews, my next thing was to convince Trev to take me there… Fast forward 5 months, we ended up trying this other joint Rob told us about called Tsunami Sushi. The girls were down for a nap and that was my chance to go on a hunt for it; I say hunt because I forgot my phone and couldn’t GPS it…struggle. Driving downtown in Moses Lake is fun because it goes from like newer looking areas to an old town look in the blink of an eye(and by blink I mean hold that blink for like 20 seconds, lol). Pulling in to a little park I walked down the street to find the restaurant. I loved everything thing about this street for some reason. I just felt like I was on Gilmore Girls because of the small-town vibes this street gave off. There was a small bakery across the street from the park and a little ways down there was a post office, a bunch of little boutiques, a salon, a thrift store and other restaurants.

Walking into the restaurant I was surprised because there wasn’t just a counter to look over the menu and order but rather a sign saying “wait to be seated.” I just confusingly stood there and waited for the guy to ask me if he could help me. Lol I asked for a menu and he asked me if I spoke English or Spanish. I couldn’t tell if he was serious as I laughed and said English quickly taking the menu and saying, “thanks.” Looking over the menu I was flipping back and forth again and again really trying to see what I would like. He would come and check on me and even brought me another person’s order to show me something popular which was the Cali roll. Did I look that basic?! Lol (I am not saying that is a basic order but in my head I was like, “I can eat raw things, bruh.”) Finally getting my order down, I went with the Tempura Cali (lol), Rainbow and the Hawai’i, of course.

Taking the order home, mouth-watering and all during the five minute drive, I went straight to work in the kitchen trying a piece of each order just wishing I had tried this place the first week we were there. The Hawai’i had this spicy tuna roll topped with “Hawaii sauce” and a piece of tuna which was really nice, tbh. Maybe a lil spicy for me but I am pretty sure the Hawaii sauce was just soy sauce with a whisper of sugar, shoulder shrug. The tempura Cali was just a Cali roll deep fried with spicy mayo and eel sauce which mixed together was so YUM like wow I could have that on a lot of things and not be mad at it. The rainbow had a bunch of different fish on top of a Cali roll (okay I may be a lil basic) which was nice on its own but again super charged with the spicy mayo/eel sauce mixture. Overall I enjoyed the experience and sushi from this establishment so much that I went again just yesterday to get the same order pretty much. Just instead this time we tried the Panda which had, I think, a Cali roll with asparagus, cream cheese and I think tuna with the spicy mayo and eel sauce. And maybe double the size of the other rolls which I found I have a large mouth. Lol. Conclusion: Sushi joints don’t gotta be near the ocean to be great, you just gotta find a bunch of dudes that know their sushi and trust them to do their thing. If you’re ever in Moses Lake and stop by Tsunami Sushi and let me know what y’all try and think about they’re food!

Anyways, have a great weekend! And don’t be afraid try new things!

-Kay

Our Month of January!

January was an interesting one for sure. Our schedule went between the Lakers and the Runnin’ Vikes games, hanging out with the Johnson's, and our new fave snickerdoodle making. With the basketball season in full force, Trev has day trips to games a couple days a week so we’re constantly switching between his games being broadcasted and Lakers games to get our basketball fix, while the girls watch Frozen 2 for the umpteenth time in a row and somehow still love it. I feel the need to explain why we watch the Lakers because I feel some eyes just rolling and thinking “such a bandwagon fan.” All I have to say to that is that LeBron(whether he likes it or not lol he doesn’t even know it tbh) has been in my life since Trev and I started dating and will always be in my marriage no matter what team he plays for. Basketball in general seems to be running our house at the moment. I was even that wife that dragged her kid to morning basketball which meant leaving the house around 4:45 a.m., just to watch him play. Lol That being said, I like to watch the team that he helps coach as well, shoulder shrug.

I feel like it has been a somewhat good enough time for processing since the passing of Kobe. Having talked to many people on the subject, I guess just a couple weeks before we heard that he passed, he was out in Cashmere, Washington to watch a really good high school girl player. My immediate thought was “whoa, I coulda totally driven to watch him watch basketball for a couple hours.”

I was never a fan of the Lakers(until LeBron), especially of Kobe because of the way that he held himself on the court. Of course this was just a naïve 14 year olds perspective having only really seen the “bad stuff” that would come out about him and not actually witnessing a game he played in. Regardless I wasn’t a fan until the last couple of years. Watching him play with all the various injuries while still competing at such a high level against all these players who grew up watching him play and trying to mimic him, he grew on me. After church on the 26^th, I got the text from my brother in our family chat with a news headline of Kobe’s death. At first I was in disbelief as I asked Trev if he had heard anything about it. We both then began to rifle through our social media and google to see if it was real. You guys obviously all know what we found…the explore page was full of Kobe and his daughter.

It was crazy to see and think about how big of an impact he had made in all of these lives in some way or another. Watching Trev was rough; he went silent for a bit before we talked about how crazy it was. Thinking about how young he was and hearing that his daughter was in the accident too made me even more sad. I think I tried to stay off of Instagram for a couple of days to cool off. Not that I was sick of people posting but because I felt it would quickly bring my mood down just thinking about the families during this time. Seeing the posts about how he adjusted his schedule to be there for his kids was sweet. It was touching to see how much he cared to be there. It brought me to think about the time that I have with my loved ones and whether or not I am making the most of that time with them or not.

The girls and I were able to hang out with the Johnson’s in Kent for Halli’s last season home game while Trev stayed in Moses for his games. Grabbing some candies to make lei’s was a must and Trev printed Halli’s number and name on a couple of the girls outfits; which turned out super cute. Watching Grandpa Burt high five the players while walking behind Halli as she was being spotlighted was the best. The game started and Ray was already not having my yelling. I didn’t think that I was such a yeller watching sporting events but boy have I got a lot to work on; especially thinking about my kids sporting events to come. I’ve got some time I guess.

Savannah loves the snow and just loves to be outside. On the days that I get a little cabin fever we’ll layer up and go for a walk. Our walks are never far but they always take a while because of how slow Savannah walks. I don’t know if she is just taking in the time she gets to be outside or if she’s purposely taking so much time between steps knowing I’ll eventually pick her up because of my lack of patience. Either way, we enjoy the walks. 

I have upped my cookie game with the help of Kelly sharing some recipes. Baking is something I never thought I would be good at but with all of the extra time I’ve found hiding from the cold, I decided to jump into the cookie world. Thanks to Auntie Tollhouse and her recipe(along with Kelly’s tweaks), I have achieved my rookie badge and have now even moved onto Girl Scout level; which will also soon be passed with these bomb snickerdoodles! It was a good month filled with fun memories. Now the countdown begins til we’re back on the rock where my skin doesn’t need as much lotion and we can all get our tans back. I think that’s the biggest thing I miss lol didn’t think I’d fade like the end of infinity war… Anyways, hope you guys have a great weekend.

-Kay

Happy Valentine's Day!

2/14/20

A Quick Read

Never have I ever read for enjoyment… until this past week. Reading has always been something I admired from afar and thought I was rubbish at since anything I started to read would end up “lost” or put me to sleep in the first couple of pages. There was a book that I read before I turned 21 that really got me thinking about going on a mission but that was also the time I met Trevor. Anyways, back to reading, my mother-in-law lent me her kindle (which has a lot of books on it) and as I scrolled through the many choices I stumbled on this book called “The List” written by Melanie Jacobson. No clue what it was about, I started it on our way home from Kent Monday afternoon. Just reading the first page it said that it had no connections or affiliations with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and immediately I was like “whoa, am I going to get in trouble for this?,” fingers crossed as I went to the next page. Learning quickly that it wasn’t anything bad about the church, I happily continued reading. I have found that I am a fan of romantic novels and this was becoming a solid read in my opinion.

The main girl we follow is named Ashley and she is a member so already I am interested in this book. It described the struggles of singles ward probs that go on in the summer down in So-Cal. I found myself laughing and thinking about my own experiences in the singles ward in Hawai’i on the north shore. All of the visitors we would get and those darn “Linger-Longer’s” that I hard core avoided because I for sure thought I was above them. Lol That was all in my head though because really I think I was just socially awkward. You could also say I had no game along with no experience with the male species. So that could be another reason why I ducked out of activities. In terms of visitors-- the amount of times visiting girls would come either dressed like a hippie or revealing a little too much in attempts of catching the eyes of one of the guys… I can’t tell you how many times I eye rolled at that. And I couldn’t have been the only one thinking those things. I guess I can’t really talk though because I may have worn a little too tight of a skirt every now and then. It's just that dating in the community I grew up in (Laie/Kahuku) was already kind of hard being that most of us are related or the guys just aren’t looking your way (at least my way, lol). I didn't need these visitors hurting my chances. Lol I guess we were all just in the same boat though searching for Mr. Right so we didn’t have to attend the singles ward anymore. 

The picture that the author illustrates of the love interest is what every girl is looking for. Just, why don’t guys get that? From the games that we play to get someone hooked on us to trying to seal the deal, I felt the author was spot on with everything until the end which I didn’t love as much but I guess it was realistic. I won’t spoil it for those wanting a nice fun and quick read. And how fitting it was right around Valentine’s Day.

I would say that Valentine’s Day is a fave holiday of mine because I get to celebrate back to back days. Lol At least that’s how I saw it whenever I found my forever partner… I’m kidding. We celebrate it but there is a little pressure for him because it is my birthday the next day. Not kidding. As I think about the holiday, it is special because it is another day of the year to be thankful for relationships; siblings, parents, spouses, friendships. All forms of relationships are celebrated every holiday and that is what I look forward to. I know I am not the first to say this, but sometimes we need reminders. I find joy in my relationships with my parents, siblings, in-law’s, friends and my own little family here in Moses Lake. Hope you all have a Happy Valentine’s Day.

-Kay

Our Temporary Move to Washington

1/25/20

We have been in Moses Lake for nearly 5 months and it is coming to an end. We have had so much fun growing, learning, and experiencing life off the island. In the beginning I thought “how am I going to make it 6 months” and BOOM it’s almost over just like that. It wouldn’t have been so fast I think without the support that we’ve experienced out here from family, friends and PLEX. Joking a little. If I could break down each month to give you a better picture of what we experienced from my side anyways it would go like this:

September

We flew our little family to Seattle to stay with the Johnson’s for a couple of weeks to get everything situated. I for one do not love talking on the phone and Trev won’t even call the pizza in, so that’s fun for me. Getting insurance for the girls was at the top of my priority list and thanks to the help of a couple sister-in-laws, I was able to apply just on an app and the website which was super awesome for my non-calling self. Until I needed some questions answered then I had to call in anyways. The next thing was to get our family settled in Moses Lake. We were blessed to have a good friend of Trevor’s named Rob offer us a room in his place, which was super helpful because I was going to just send Trev up here by himself since we couldn’t find anywhere affordable at least in our budget. Kelly helped me with my nerves by offering anything she thought we needed. I am not one to ask for help but I won’t turn it away. Everything she offered was on my to do list coming to Moses Lake. I love spending time with family whether it be mine or Trev’s. I love them all so getting to spend a couple weeks with great company and Kelly’s cooking is an A plus in my book. Loading up the van that Kelly so graciously offered to us (again another huge blessing) we set off on to our new adventure. Talking to people about what to expect is always so funny because it could take me to both ends of the spectrum so quickly. I was not sure what to expect.

October

It’s been low 40’s since we got here and my skin was in a panic. Something was wrong because to me it looked like there was a bug eating at it; which I believed for the start until talking to my sisters about their skin adjustments since moving to Utah. After that, I learned that lotion and I would become the best of friends. Also, not wanting my girls to have dry skin, I may have went a little overboard in the beginning lathering the two of them up like Robin Williams in Flubber with those various objects he lotions to see their bounce. I don’t know why that scene played in my head just now thinking about it but shoulder shrug I guess. Trying to get the motivation to walk every day is a struggle when your skin feels like it is burning from the wind (which I have experienced before and is no fun and super attractive lol), having the patience to dress Savannah warm enough to go for a walk, and constantly thinking of the dateline shows that I binge watched in Hawaii before flying up here (which I believed was for educational purposes for myself but turned out scaring me and thinking everyone wants to steal Savannah lol). I like to be prepared for any situation so my mind is constantly running with different scenarios and what I must do to come out the winner. I don’t know why I developed that kind of thinking but I can give you an answer for whatever kind of situation you throw at me which is fun. We went trick or treating door to door in high 30’s and Savannah loved every second of it. I only lasted 5 or so houses on our block before losing feeling in my fingers but before that we went to our ward Trunk or Treat which was nice and small. After pulling in nose first to the parking stall I noticed some of the other cars were reversing in and I wondered to myself if they knew how to do a Trunk or Treat..? Clearly thinking I was smarter since I could sit in our trunk to pass out candy, I realized they had the secret all along. When I ran out of candy and wanted to jet I had to reverse out of my spot and that’s not so easy with kids still trunk or treating behind you, so I just waited until everyone else was done and tipped my hat to all those who reversed in.

November

Ray and Savannah had checkups with the doctor and it was nice talking with them about Hawaii and getting all the questions on “why we would give up the warm weather for this cold” and explaining to them why and then getting a look from them like “good luck with that” as I finish the explanation is always funny. Amazon shipping is the best if you live on the mainland; like wow, two days beats two weeks to Hawaii every time no doubt. Tootie Frooties are up there on my faves and ordering a two pound bag was a must, thanks to that I lost a filling during the most crucial time of the year…the Holidays. We were able to spend an early Thanksgiving with my brother and cousin and their families down in Yakima, which was super fun. Getting to see her kids and how big they’ve grown interacting with my girls along with my brother’s daughter. It’s just crazy to think that we were literally the kids running around taking care of each other twenty years ago! Two weeks after losing my filling we were on our way to spending Thanksgiving with the Johnson family; all the kids and their families under one roof! To top it all off Trev was leaving me for two of the six days we were there. Hats off to single parents everywhere, I am not fast to ask for help, like I will literally drive myself miserable before asking for help which is terrible and do not suggest anyone to be like that. The Johnson’s are the kindest most loving family and I am blessed to be a part of it. They stepped up no questions asked; I am an emotional mess and super sensitive to everything when I feel the least bit like a burden or inadequate. The Thanksgiving football game was a smash, so much laughter and if you are on Trev and Jeff’s team and get sacked once just know you will never touch the ball again the rest of the game. Being my first full on Thanksgiving my mouth was having a party with the cran sauce, stuffing, creamy mashed potatoes and all of the delicious pies. I gained a couple pounds just looking at the food alone!

December

December seemed to fly by the closer and closer we came to Christmas. We were able to crash Trev’s hotel room in Spokane the first weekend during one of his tournaments. Spokane is a nice drive from Moses Lake; funny story (kind of) the girls and I left to drive there around 830 pm and it takes about an hour and a half to get there. I text Trev before we left; arriving there around 10-1030 I started calling Trev but he wasn’t answering. In my mind I know he is sleeping and that he didn’t mean to fall asleep but he done did it and I am outside of the hotel waiting for him to pick up, hoping that the girls and I don’t have to sleep in the van overnight. After calling and texting for 15 minutes or so I was losing my cool and thinking of all the different outcomes that could possibly come from this. I don’t know why I didn’t think of calling the hotel first but I finally decided to do so and asked the receptionist to put me through to a Trevor Johnson. When I heard the voice on the other side of the line I was confused because it wasn’t him so the man told me what room to call and I did so. Called the hotel again and asking for this room I got patched through and two rings later my phone started ringing and could you guess who it was… I was not a happy camper but loved the time we got to spend as a family there in Spokane, Savannah even got to go swimming in the pool which she is always down for. My dad visited us the first week, meeting us down in Spokane and it is always fun seeing him with the girls. When dad is in town that calls for trying out new places to eat and that happens every day. There was a little pressure in my mind to try and show him the town and what I do during the day with my girls; but it was all just in my mind because all he wanted to do was spend time with us, mostly just the girls. After my dad’s visit we drove back to Kent to spend Christmas with the Johnson’s. This time it was only Kelly, Bruce, Lindsi and Halli home. Christmas calls for Hallmark movies, a marathon of some movie, good food, great company and While You Were Sleeping. I love the Johnson’s traditions and that I have now been able to witness two years of Santa coming on Christmas Eve. We hid behind the furniture and waited for the call--- Santa comes through the door and makes his way to the fireplace where he reads off a list with a bit about each person (not just random facts though he is Santa so he is particular) then fills up the stockings and leaves. Savannah loved it, her peeking through the two inch crack between the couches was the best part for me; that and calling Santa “Bubba”. Home girl was spoiled, she got a whole lot of toys and loves all of them. There is this velvet dress Kelly bought for her that she got into the day before. She came down the stairs doing a little dance and all of us were like “where’d she get that dress?” Lindsi mentioned that that was a gift for her that Kelly had wrapped, so we rushed Savannah like a blitz. Poor girl, she obviously loved the dress and wanted us to give her compliments about it but we didn’t want Kelly to see that she got into the present. Fast forward to gift opening, Savannah opened it again and there had to be some remembrance of us rushing her to get it off, because she picked it up and then set it right back down like she wasn’t supposed to touch it. We all looked at each other and explained the previous encounter with the dress to Kelly which she just started laughing. I think my fav gift was this air fryer which has changed my cooking game and is literally my toy. I haven’t cooked in the oven since the air fryer and I will ride it until it breaks most likely. This time of year always brings back good memories and always seems to be the best time to step back and evaluate the year; our year brought new adventures, another baby girl, Savannah’s first snow and a whole lotta love.