Weekend, I love you!

How I've been coping with work.
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow, you're only a daaaaaaaaaaaaay away!"

I decided to switch out the Annie energy and give Rosie the Riveter a try.
Thoughts like
 "I'm a badass."
"I can deal with tough shit"
"I can handle anything" 
got me through a difficult week. 

Finally! The weekend! :)
(And a build-your-own-kebob-bar). 

Huge waves at Volcano ... standing on a cliff overlooking this, I got soaked. 

Waves rolling into several cliffside caves. 

Saturday hike out to see the petroglyphs. My first time to view them.
I was in awe. What an incredible place I live in. 

Post wedding thank-you dinner at K&K's.
 Whole grain garlic bread (done on the grill with loads of garlic), kebob and
a tasty veggie salad.

Cheers to the weekend! It's just what the Dr. (would've) ordered. :)

Yuck. Today sucked. (But I rocked!) Moving on.

I am so seriously pooped today! Talk about the "Hump Day from Hell".

I'll spare you the details, but the summary is this: my day ended up being a total juggling act. I ended up with waaay more work than time to do it in, and it was a challenge to keep all the balls in the air at once.

I did my best to keep calm. To be honest,  I'm pretty impressed with myself and my triage skills. A year or two ago, a day like this would've brought out my worst side. Pretty sure I would've acted like it was the end of the world.

Today? It was just a shitty day.

We all have them.

Thank goodness for my level head, for my friends who let me vent (for a mere 25 cents a rant), for the bottle of chianti that V brought home, and for the pizza delivery guy who made dinner a no-brainer.

BLT pizza from Big Island pizza. That's mayo swirled over the top, lettuce and tomato.
It's good stuff, Maynard! 

Tomorrow will be better. It has to be.

Valentine's Day Feast for the Senses

For Valentine's Day, Hawea made me these gorgeous bacon roses!!!!

Nah... just kidding!
I saw this online earlier in the day and
 and I snagged the picture for future reference.
(Because I might need to make them someday, of course).
Bacon is divine.
Flowers rock.
Need I say more? 

A real blossom on Valentine's day

Dinner was lobster tail with steamed asparagus.

It was the first time V ever cooked lobster, first time I've ever eaten it.
We were in heaven.

Strawberries for dessert. 

Stuffed with dark chocolate cream cheese,
stuffed with white chocolate cream cheese

Dipped in semi-sweet chocolate 

And last, but not least, my first attempt at chocolate cherry cheesecake
The crust stuck to the pan... note to self... more butter next time.

Everything's better with butter. :) 

What else says lovin' like cheesecake in the oven?

All in all, it was a terrific night. Of course there was a Whitney Houston tribute involved, and a bit of wine. The evening was  awesome enough to convince us to start a new tradition of home cooked decadence ("the sky's the limit") on Valentine's day.

I can already see it... bacon roses DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE....

In closing, here's a  little shout out to love:

"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile". 
-Franklin Jones


Muuuah!

Monday munchies

It's Monday again and the weekend was waaaaay too short. I didn't do anything fun or exciting :(, but at least got caught up on house chores. :)


I set some nutritional goals for the week, which should be do-able. They include eating a few small meals every day, and focusing on getting enough protein, and plenty of water.

Here's my lovely lunch sammie:

Turkey, a fried egg, colby jack cheese and mustard on an english muffin. Tasted like an egg mcmuffin from Mickey D's but better. :)

It will be interesting to see what the week holds. My tastebuds are looking forward to our Valentine's Day feast tomorrow night!

Keepin' it real.

 My life isn't glamorous but it's lovely all the same. Here are a few of the moments that brought smiles to my face this week. Enjoy!

Fell in love with this ride the other day when I snuck off to the beach.

Makes me think of Edward

And Bella. :)

A walk in the acres... you never know what you're gonna find. 

The most effective way I've found to de-stress.
 Going for a swim at Richardson's beach. 

It just wouldn't be right if I didn't include a picture of food, now would it? This is the Smokehouse Chicken flatbread pizza from Jamba Juice. Mmmm mmmmm mmmm! 

Wild nene goose on Devastation Trail

Domestic Diva in action. This is my "cleaning hair".
Bathrooms scrubbed, floors swept, furniture vacuumed, dishwasher emptied
and closets cleaned. BAM!

Let another week begin. :)

Missing her already.

The scene in our home today: I was browsing Facebook and saw a status update.  I called to V in disbelief "they're saying Whitney Houston died - I have to see if it's true" and before my sentence was finished, the phone was ringing. V said "I bet that's Jen now calling to tell me". Jen was at the bar in Iowa, and saw it scrolling across the tv. 

She called to see if V was okay. 

V was that kind of Whitney fan. 

It's not surprising, then, to learn that Whitney has been the soundtrack to our 7 plus years together. She's a die hard fan of "Old school Whitney" and I rallied around her comeback CD. Every few months we have a few too many bottles of wine and end up dancing in the garage to our favorites, leaving the CDs out, knowing it wont be long before we "just wanna dance with someone" again. 

It's amazing when I stop to think about it. Her music was truly woven into the fabric of our lives. My earliest Whitney memory was crooning (off key, of course) as a 4th or 5th grader to "The Greatest Love of All". My friend Camron had taped it off the radio, and we listened to it over and over. In the innocence of my childhood, I couldn't begin to grasp the true beauty of that song. 

"Greatest Love Of All"

I believe the children are our future 

Teach them well and let them lead the way 

Show them all the beauty they possess inside 

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be 

Everybody searching for a hero 

People need someone to look up to 

I never found anyone to fulfill my needs 

A lonely place to be 

So I learned to depend on me 

[Chorus:]

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadows 

If I fail, if I succeed 

At least I live as I believe 

No matter what they take from me 

They can't take away my dignity 

Because the greatest love of all 

Is happening to me 

I found the greatest love of all 

Inside of me 

The greatest love of all 

Is easy to achieve 

Learning to love yourself 

It is the greatest love of all 

I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way 

Show them all the beauty they possess inside 

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier 

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be 

[Chorus]

And if by chance, that special place 

That you've been dreaming of 

Leads you to a lonely place 

Find your strength in love

It's remarkable that a woman who entertained us at the ages of 10 and 13 still brought joy at 35 and 38.    From the 80's hits, to the Bodyguard, to club music, to her comeback CD, it all has a place in our hearts. 

In my favorite songs, she's singing about LOVE. And maybe that's why we will always love her. 

An afternoon with Pele

Thank goodness for Friday afternoons! On my way home from work this Friday, 

 I took a detour through Volcano National Park.

One of my favorite places on earth. 

The start of Devastation Trail

It's so easy to get lost in the silence and stillness.

Signs of life: the Hawaiian nene goose

Sunshine wiping the shadows away

Wind whipped hair at the Kilauea Iki crater.