Post of the Day

Aloha,
I had this idea of doing a post of the day (or if things get busy, at least a post of the week) so that I can keep up with posting on a somewhat regular basis. Sometimes the post of the day, (or the week) will be a photo that makes me happy, or sometimes it will be a quote or just a thought of the day.
My post of the day today is of Megumi, the little girl I take care of three days a week. This photo was taken last week, or the week before, and just captures a gleeful moment with Megumi at the park on the swings. It reminds me of the joy of childhood. Remember how much fun it was just to swing on the swings?

A Very Special Moment in My Life

Tonight we went to our favorite restaurant, Sushi Cafe, for dinner. We hadn't been there in awhile for dinner and had been missing the place. Since the last time we'd been there, the article I'd written on Sushi Cafe had come out, and we'd even dropped off a copy, but we hadn't eaten there in quite a while. So we headed over there tonight, and got seated, and then noticed that they had framed the article I had written about them. Nothing I've ever written has been framed and put on a wall, whether it was published or not! I know the the review was a positive review, and restaurants tend to post positive reviews in order to get more patrons. I get it. But still, something about seeing something I'd written framed on the wall made me want to cry. It was such a special moment. I spent so may years pursuing becoming a writer, and then gave up on that dream for so long. To be pursuing that dream again, and to see it happening, is such an overwhelmingly special moment. I know it's a small start, but it's a start. As they say, "The hardest thing...is to begin....."
To a new beginning for both Rob & I in pursuing our dreams. I have no idea where it will take us but I think it will be somewhere good.

More Magic

Is the world full of magic, or not, or is it a matter of perception? I always say I want to experience more magic in life, those moments when time kind of stops and we are in awe for a brief spell.
Some examples are: seeing double rainbows in Kauai, watching two sparrows playfully flying together in the park against the sky full of puffy clouds, watching Coconut run towards me at the dog park, her polka dotted tongue gleefully hanging out of her mouth, catching my first wave in Hanalei, blowing bubbles with Abby at sunset on the beach.....these are the moments that make life so amazing.
I always say I want more of these moments in life but is it a matter of whether they are happening often enough or just whether I am noticing them happening often enough? I want to notice more magic moments in life, and start collecting a list of them. Then if I am having a bad day I can just look at the list and remember how magical life can be.

The Honeymooners' Dilemma

I know, I know. Some people have real problems. But we have a serious dilemma: where in the world should we take our honeymoon? The factor that is making this decision "difficult" (if you are a pessimist) or "interesting" (if you're an optimist) is that we don't have a whole lot of money we're working with here. Or so we think. We can basically afford the wedding, and that's it. Plenty of people have told us to do a "Honeyfund," which we're seriously considering. It's a website dedicated to a couple's honeymoon plans, and people can contribute to it as a wedding gift if they like. So like I said, that's always an option. If we don't do the Honeyfund, we will be using our frequent flier miles to get to the destination, and we will be using a timeshare that Rob's family is giving us for lodging. Between the frequent flier miles having rules on where we can travel using the miles, and the fact that the timeshares are only in certain places, but not others, especially not the places we can use our frequent flier miles to travel to, it's gotten interesting.
For example, the first place we wanted to take our honeymoon was Belize. But there are no timeshares in Belize. Also, if we use our ff miles going to Belize, it will take 3 flights each way, and as if that's not bad enough, we'd have to spend the middle of the night on a 7 hour layover in Dallas. We thought about Playa del Carmen, which is a place where we could use the timeshare but not the ff miles. We thought about the Caribbean, where we can use the ff miles, but no timeshares. Then there is the Punta Cana, Dominican Republic option. This is Rob's first choice. I have my reservations for 2 reasons: for one thing, the Dominican Republic neighbors Haiti, and with all of the devastation there I feel like if I was there I would feel like I should be helping and not being served cocktails by the pool with not a worry in the world. And the other thing is that Rob just discovered that the company his family has the timeshare with, "Moonpalace Resorts," just sold their resort in Punta Cana to the Hard Rock Cafe conglomerate. Rob would love to spend his honeymoon at the Hard Rock Cafe resort, he said, but somehow it wasn't what I had in mind. I'd love something not quite so commercial. Somewhere we could relax and enjoy, but also be exposed to the local culture, not so far removed from it. So as you can see, we have quite the dilemma, but we need to figure out something soon, before flights and resorts book up completely for the summer. Thoughts anyone???

Happy Birthday dear Abby!

I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. It was March 14, 2003, and I had flown up from San Diego, where I was living and working at the time, to be there for her birth. My friend Meghan and I went to the hospital together to see my sister, and when we saw her we asked how she was doing with her labor and everything. "She's already born!" she yelled at us, laughing. We ran down the hall to see her and she was sleeping, but she was just perfect. The most perfect little precious baby girl I'd ever seen. Her eyes were closed and her lips were pouting, she looked very peaceful and serene. Every day since has been better having Abby in my life. I can only imagine how much a parent loves a child, because knowing how much I love my niece it is hard to imagine loving a child more. It's hard to imagine even loving a baby more than I love my dog! But they say that there is no limit to how much love the heart can hold. To Abby Grace, you are such a ray of sunshine in my life, and I love you more than words can ever say.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Kind of like Gerhard's new blog on food & wine which keeps track of good and not so good restaurants and bottles of wine, I have been wanting to compile a list of websites, companies, etc. that I think are pretty great. I am making this list for a few reasons: for one thing, I am wanting to make a list for myself so I don't forget these resources when I need to find them. Also, I want to share these good finds in the hopes that you may enjoy them too. If you are interested, that is.

1.Favorite art prints, cards, journals, paper delights, etc. : www.papayablog.com
2. Favorite dog lover's online store: www.barkology.com
3. Coco's favorite dog treats: www.joybiscuits.com
4. Favorite tropical soap, lip balm & lotion co. : www.islandsoap.com
5. Favorite kinds of coffee: www.kauaicoffee.com, www.konacoffee.com
6. Favorite kind of tea: www.tazotea.com
7. Favorite lip gloss company: www.albabotanica.com

I guess this is kind of a girlie list. Oh well. Sorry guys!

This list will be a work in progress so I will add to it from time to time.

I'd love to see lists of your favorite things too, I always love hearing about new things.

Kauai Love

Our last sunset in Hanalei.

The heart on the beach where my parents renewed their vows.

Our first trip to Kauai together!

The beautiful hibiscus flowers that lined our yard.

Hibiscus blooms.

One happy guy on our first night at Tahiti Nui in Hanalei.

Abby doing the hula in the living room on our first night there.

My sister and my niece Abby after they first arrived. I was so happy that they were there!

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Since we already posted so many photos and so much text on our Kauai blog, I don't really want to write about anything more than I have already. But I have a few more photos that I wanted to share from the trip that weren't included in the blog. I can't promise that Rob won't post some of them on our Kauai blog too, but I wanted to post some here, since this is my LIFE blog, and our Kauai blog was a TRIP blog, which is pretty much over when the trip is over, so there you have it.