North Shore Drive

On Friday we headed up to North Shore with Brett & Eina. We stopped at Chinaman's Hat, Laie Point (stopped to see the Days as well!), Kahuku (for Giovani's Shrimp Truck), and finally Sunset Beach.

After we watched the sunset we enjoyed cream pies at Ted's Bakery... the chocolate macadamia nut and chocolate haupia are delicious! On the drive home there was a beautiful moon... FYI: it is ridiculously hard to capture a photo of the moon while in a moving vehicle, leaning over your husband while driving, and having only seconds between palm trees and beach houses!

Whenever we get days like this... I am forever grateful that we have the opportunity to live here... I am really not looking forward to moving in 2014 =(

Christmas Day

Since church finished at midnight, it was officially Christmas, we mingled a bit then headed home. After some deliberation... we opened presents at 1am! It was fun and it allowed us to sleep in on Christmas Day, wake up slow, savor our orange cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Despite the wind, clouds, and rain I was determined to go to the beach and build a "sandman!" luckily Quinn is a good sport and played along, I think the photo turned out great.

That evening we headed over to Brian & Brittany's for dinner... Eina, Brett, Stephen, Kaci, and their neighbor and her kids joined in. We had a great spread of food, good conversations, and a trading of recipes for our favorite items (Bourbon Slush included!).

The boys were having way too much fun with Stephen and Kaci's motorcycle helmets, if you can't hear what they are saying it's "knock me over!"

I would say we had an extremely blessed Christmas with friends... we even got to FaceTime with both sets of parents, Quinn's brother, but sadly not Alexis. I think being away from family over the holidays makes you create your own traditions and to make sure you get our of your comfort zone when it comes to who you are spending time with!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve started out with sleeping in, we then had to brave the commissary in order to grab last minute items for Christmas dinner the next day. After we finished our errands we headed down to Aloha Stadium for the Hawaii Bowl with Billy, Adrien, Casey, and McKenzie. I don't think I've ever seen that stadium so empty... it was kind of sad. I hope the teams enjoyed themselves and their trip to Hawaii!

We didn't care who won, so we cheered for plays and touchdowns whenever they occured, the half-time show was pretty cool with all the Hula teams from the really little keiki to the seasoned.

 We left a little early so we could grab dinner, I could bake my pumpkin pie for Christmas, we could make our gingerbread house, and take a nap before getting ready for the 11pm service at church.

Church service was great, the message was entitled "Jesus Who?" and Pastor Carl used the analogy of attending a birthday party but not actually knowing the guest of honor. You eat the food, mingle, enjoy some cake, but you can't truly celebrate because you don't personally know the birthday boy... think about how many people open presents, eat dinner, sing carols... but don't personally know Jesus Christ. They're missing the best part of Christmas, the relationship with the King!

 Some of the staff did a fun song playing only on children's toy instruments, haha! I love our church.

...to be continued...

Cookie Tasting Party

Quinn's battalion didn't throw a Christmas party this year and we still don't have a mini-church that we attend together so I decided to host a Cookie Tasting Party on Friday for the ladies while the guys went down to Pinky's to watch "Doc" play his last performance. Everyone brought their favorite holiday goodie along with the recipe to share, we also had a "wine bar,""cocoa station," and the most fun item of the night (besides all the conversation) the photo booth!

Sugar cookies, cookie dough dip, pumpkin pudding cookies, Hershey kiss cookies, pumpkin spice cookies, Mexican wedding cookies, wafer cremes, lemon bars, dark chocolate candy cane cookies, tiramisu cheesecake... and more!

 Eina and I snuck photos in with our hubby's when they got back from their outing.

The impromptu photo booth was a last minute thought, I printed all the graphics on regular paper and modge podged them onto cardboard securing the chopstick handle with masking tape! The hardest part was cutting everything out. The back drop is our Christmas blanket hung over the venetian blinds in front of the sliding glass door. It worked great, sometime the flash didn't go off, so some photos are more yellow than others, but it was still fun and everyone enjoyed themselves!

Mini Church Christmas Party!

I love, love, love my women's mini-church. And even though some of the women have changed over the last 1.5yrs I've been in it...I can tell these ladies anything and they are right there backing me up in prayer, giving advice, or telling me like it is (as a loving friend!). I started going to this group in June 2011, just after the panic attacks sent me to the ER... and I'll say that their prayers and support got me through one of the most challenging times I've personally had.

My buddy Levi and Tammura playing us a beautiful Christmas song that she wrote!

Chiffon, Adrien, Tammura, Levi & Jenny, Landon & Jenny , Yvette
Eunice, Raelynn, Tami, Emily

I know that we'll leave sometime in 2014, and some of them are military as well... but I pray that our friendships continue no matter how far away or how much time we spend apart.

Honolulu City Lights

After seeing how crazy busy Honolulu City Lights was at the parade, we vowed to come back an enjoy the static displays on a weeknight... so on Wednesday that's exactly what we did! We parked in our "secret" $2.00 lot since we didn't want to fight for the free civic center parking and walked the two blocks to the Hale. The displays were really fun, but I think the decorated trees and wreaths inside the Hale had the most character and beauty!

Where else can you find SHAKA SANTA?!

Rudolph was giving us... "the eye!"

So many unique trees inside the Hale!

The peacock wreath is made with broken CDs! The gold wreath is painted green army men!

I definitely see how this could easily become a family tradition if we lived here. The outside static displays may not change but the theme of the 50ft tree, inside trees, and wreaths are different each year. The activities are as well, this year they had a mini-carnival for the kids (we grabbed yummy malasadas!). Last year it was a synthetic ice rink, I wonder what they'll do in 2013?

16th Annual Festival of Lights Boat Parade

Saturday evening we headed down to Hawaii Kai to catch their 16th Annual Festival of Lights Boat Parade, we ended up watching the parade from the wrong side of the marina, but they were still fun to see without the description and information of each boat.

Penguin Style ... Santa & Rudolph ... Christmas Striptease?!?! ... Christmas Dolphins

Brett, Eina, Us, Stephen, & Kaci
(I love the sunset colors peeking over the horizon!)

We finished the night with Panda Express and Yogurtland... and ALL of us were wearing sweaters and/or long pants! We agreed that if we go again next year we'll sit on the right side of the marina so we can hear the announcers, watch the concert, and really enjoy the experience.

WOH Evening in December

Thursday December 13th our church hosted their annual "Evening in December" event for the ladies... I was lucky enough to once again be the photographer for the event. I love the ladies of Women of Hope, they are my rock when things get rough, esp. when Quinn is away.

My new friend Eina came, Adrien, Yvette, and Eunice were there, and I got to meet some new ladies that I hadn't before. We had delicious pupus (appetizers) and desserts, a time for worship, and a message on being the best (God) version of us so we can serve others in the best possible way.

"Guns don't kill people, people do."

It amazes me that in the midst of so many people grieving there are still those who step on their soapboxes and preach to anyone who will listen about how guns are the downfall of our society...

1st: I cannot fathom losing a child never having one myself. The closest thing I've got is losing a pet- but you don't carry a pet for 9mo, feel it move and grow inside you, listen anxiously for it's heartbeat, or go thru the pain of childbirth. Watch them grow, take their first steps, start school, on & on... No, as much as I loved my dogs and guinea pigs I don't believe the loss of a pet even begins to scratch the surface of motherhood (or fatherhood).

2nd- As I type this I feel safe & secure knowing we have a gun safe with arms for our protection. I know the safety procedures for guns and how to handle and shoot them correctly. When we have kids, we will still have guns. My dad taught my sister and I how to shoot BB guns at a young age. I feel it is important to know the power a weapon has and how to utilize and respect it properly.

3rd: While my heart aches desperately for each victim and those they left behind... I can't help but wonder what evil was done to the shooter(s)? Who didn't love, hug, tell them they were important, special, needed, wanted, made a difference, could change the world, invest in them? Were they abused? Why were they so mentally unstable? Why were they forgotten?

4th: Our nation is completely desensitized. Disagree? Turn on the TV. Listen to mainstream music. Pop in the latest movie. Play the newest video game. Any of these outlets will show you murder, destruction, gang violence, death, grisly battle scenes, and more... I'm not saying these items are at fault, but the things people invest in the most often become the items they reap.

Something needs to be done, but I don't think more rules and regulations on guns is the answer- much like drugs, if someone wants it bad enough they will find a way. My thought process goes to love. Are you involved in those around you? When you ask someone "how are you doing?" please don't be fine with the standard "I'm good, things are ok, etc." INVEST! LOVE! BE A FRIEND! Mostly, if you notice something is "off" approach them or someone they trust... I think the world has lost the true meaning of relationships with this digital age we're living in.

Helemano Tree Farm + Lights!

So... funny story... I got everything ready the night before so all I'd have to do is get up, eat breakfast, change and head out the door for church followed by home depot (tree stand & ladder) and finally the Helemano Tree Farm.

As we get close to the farm I pull out the camera so I can snap photos of the entry signs, turn it on, and big ugly words flash in my face: "No Card in Camera." NO CARD?! Oh, right, I uploaded all the Electric Light Parade pictures last night... after giving myself a minute of frustration, I pulled out my iPhone and snapped away. They aren't the best quality but I still got to document our fun experience.

They had tons of fun signs!
I love that they are local & they cut the trees so a new one will grow from the stump.

You can see the original trunk and then the new tree growing.
The trees were JUST as reasonable as picking one up from the tree lot right down the road, but a much cooler experience!

I felt like the tree lot went on forever, it was like being in a lush forest!
Our tree-guide measuring the tree for us.

After walking around forever... we finally found THE one!

Into the netting it goes!

On top of the Escape complete with SUP tie-down straps =)

The outdoor lights &  putting up the tree inside.

Once we got home we put the tree inside (it was a LOT bigger than we thought, but when you're standing in a forest of trees ranging from 8-50ft tall a 8ft tree looks small...), then started hanging our outdoor lights. It was so much fun to actually put lights up on the outside of our house, in the Maryland townhouse we had to use suction cups and hang strands of lights on the inside of our windows. We also added some fun plastic light bulbs and little signs that mom sent us. Once the outside was done, we started on the tree... I love how it turned out, the fact that I can see every ornament is cool to me, especially since each one tells a story from our relationship (we buy an ornament for every place we've traveled together).

I love the "magic" lights bring...

Electric Light Parade

Each year the city of Honolulu puts on "Honolulu City Lights," opening night (Dec 1st) consists of concerts, food booths, vendors, and the most popular thing- The Electric Light Parade. Quinn and I headed downtown and managed to get prime parking just 2 blocks from the Civic Center for $11, we also picked that lot because it was 2 streets away from our freeway on-ramp... a quick exit is essential when there are THOUSANDS of people in attendance.

We walked around trying to figure out where to watch the parade from, you could tell many people arrived early and set up shop... tents, blankets, chairs, mini-benches, grills, radios! We snagged some Guava Chicken dinner plates then ended up finding a small grassy hill to throw our blanket down on until the start of the parade, which in true Hawaiian fashion... started late.

It was fun to watch each "float" especially knowing it was a competition for the public works companies. They actually flew the Macy's balloons in from the mainland- rumored to be THE Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons...hmmm... Lights, Christmas music, it definitely started (finally) getting me into the holiday spirit! We plan on going back down to take photos of the static displays (Shaka Santa anyone?!) and go inside the Hale to view the beautifully decorated trees and wreaths.

Video of the PCC Performance:

Thanksgiving 2012

Surprisingly after three years of marriage this was:

• Our first time hosting Thanksgiving  Dinner
• Our first time preparing a turkey
• My first time baking a pumpkin pie

I dare say that everything turned out amazing! We prepared our turkey on Tuesday, I dropped it off at a local elementary school to be placed in an Imu Roast (the same way pigs are cooked for luaus) on Wednesday, then picked it up bright and early Thanksgiving morning. The turkey was so tender it literally fell of the bones, Quinn could barely "carve" it. I had so much fun setting the table, I got a great deal on the table cloth and napkins (mom would be proud that I chose green since it can be used at Christmas and Easter as well), the mini tealights I got for $1/ea (unheard of in Hawaii) and I practiced my silverware pouches until I thought they were acceptable.

Brett & Eina provided the veggies and biscuits, while Stephen and Kaci brough cranberry salad, wine, and a homemade pecan pie. Which meant I made everything else... I applaud every mother out there that manages to juggle cooking, cleaning, and dealing with the kiddos on Thanksgiving morning. What I wouldn't have given for a 2nd oven, haha!

We were all stuffed, only Eina & I managed to escape the post-dinner nap. Once the football game had ended we headed out back to enjoy the cool breeze and play some cornhole. EVERYONE got sent home with leftovers (18.5lb turkey was quite large for 6 people)... not that anyone complained. While it wasn't with family... we haven't actually spent Thanksgiving with family since we've been married... it was a great day spent with friends. We are extremely blessed.