Viviane (Gilbert) Stein                

Aloha from Kauai, where I've been blessed to live for 3 years now.  It's been a long, strange trip from Emmett ... but hey, aren't they  all? After earning a journalism degree from the University of Idaho, I  worked at a magazine and newspapers in Idaho, California, Oregon and  Washington. I enjoyed reporting but eventually moved over to copy  editing and page design, and took on various editor roles. Shortly  before our 10-year class reunion, I married a wonderful man (Richard).  We had two children while living in Pendleton, Ore. (Jonah, now 6 1/2,  and Sophia Marie, 3). Right about the time I was looking for a break  from my career to focus on the kids, Richard was recruited for a job  on Kauai. Considering we had never even visited Hawaii, it was quite a  leap of faith. But it has been amazing. We both work for the newspaper  here; he's the production manager/Webmaster and I'm a (very) part-time  copy editor. I am also homeschooling Jonah and basking on the beach  whenever possible. And while I haven't figured out how to surf (let me  tell you, that is NOT as easy as it looks) I can grill ahi and toss  back sashimi like a local. Life is good. It's a very small, very rural  island (who knew growing up in Emmett would be good experience for  this?) with almost as many challenges as rewards. But the beauty of  experiencing the aloha lifestyle on what is rightly called "the Garden  Island" balances out paying $8 for a gallon of milk and dodging  cockroaches the size of mice. (Not to mention the zany cultural  issues, geographical isolation, and the occasional tropical storm ...  oh, but did I mention the beaches are awesome?) If any of you are  planning a Hawaiian vacation, feel free to drop me a note at vivstein@mac.com . Or even if you aren't, drop a note anyway; I'd love to catch up.  Looking forward to July. Aloha, all!