I am!!
My first ever and I thought what better way to do it then a big ol’ huge one hosted by the beautiful, soon to be momma, Megan over on Mackey Madness!
{I snagged her picture from her blog..thanks Megan!!}
So head on over to Megan’s blog and see what I’m giving away (its pretty awesome).. and enter!!
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Monday is here for all to cheer, let’s get a little excited, everyone! This time next Monday, we’ll be celebrating Christmas Eve and that alone has me happy today.
I had such a wonderful weekend with my family. I made an impromptu trip to see them, and as always, I’m so glad I did. I got to eat delicious food cooked by my mom (best cook I know) and went on a little Auntie/niece lunch date with my sister’s oldest daughter, and everything about it was perfect.
It’s always nice when they still like you afterward. Maybe its just me being kid-less and all, but I get a little nervous that I won’t have anything to talk about with them (them being kids) and that my ‘I have no kids’ personality will come out when they do something that is totally kid that would normally totally creep me out.
I’m happy to report that the conversation flowed the whole time..she’s my sister’s kid, they’re very good talkers, and her dunking her whole hand in her water to grab her lemon wedge so she can squeeze it, didn’t phase me at all. In fact, I just sat back and watched and handed her a napkin silently after she was done.
I feel that’s what an Auntie is all about. Letting them do those things that Mom and Dad would get on them for. I hope to do more Auntie dates with my nieces and nephews. Maybe turn it into a little tradition when I’m there visiting. And since I have no imagination when it comes to doing things with kids, maybe I’ll keep with going to Panera Bread first..
Followed by a hot cocoa (with caramel) at Starbucks.
She seemed to love it.
Makes me so grateful I’m in a position to see all of them and spend time with my family. I love them all and can’t imagine not having them around.
If you have nieces and nephews, do you go out with them one on one?
- when I pop kids out, I think this is something I definitely want to do with them. Mommy dates. In the meantime, I’ll stick with Auntie dates.
How did your weekend turn out?
Sooo, you’re saying you want me to talk more about the fog?
I kid. I kid.
I’ll just go ahead and talk about the only other subject I have to talk about these days: Hawaii. yay you!
Most of the trip was rainy. Not just Hawaii drizzle but full on thunder storm rain! We had grand ideas of doing a helicopter tour over Waimea Canyon but the rain was killing our hopes and dreams of it. So we’d put off calling until the last minute each day and the one we really wanted, the ‘no doors’ helicopter (which just typing that has my fingers and toes tingling}, were booked solid!
One morning, on a whim we decided to call another helicopter (with doors) and was scheduled that late afternoon, keeping our fingers crossed it wouldn’t rain.
When we did the helicopter tour in Hilo, we got to sit in the front and it was the best thing ever. I brought my zoom lens and got so many great shots. Had room to move around and saw everything so clearly. So on this trip, I brought my brand new zoom lens; extremely eager to use it, thinking I’d get even better shots with it.
We’re numbered as we piled into the van, declaring where we’d sit. I’m 1, G-man’s 2. He already knew by that we were in the back of the helicopter. I didn’t want to believe him, but he was right.
{My view looking forward} G-man piled in and the couple from Germany immediately followed, cramming me up against the glass. We’re squished, or I should say I’m squished. I kept my happy face on the whole time, knowing we’d be in the air soon, soaring over the canyon.
We take off and..
the sun blinds my view.. but only mine because I’m on the pilot’s side and everyone else can look out the right side windows where all the waterfalls are and the gorgeous cliffs.
I attempted to put my zoom lens on, but I couldn’t even zoom out, I’m too shmooshed up to the glass, so I quickly put my 50mm back on and said a quick ‘thank you’ for deciding to take it along, when I almost didn’t.
He swung around every so often to let me see what everyone else was seeing, but it was obvious the left side of the helicopter is the forgotten side. At that point, 15 minutes in, I was getting really bummed. I hardly took any pictures but just looked out at the view.
Its truly a gorgeous view, there’s no denying that. As everyone was enjoying yet another breathtaking scene, I stared off and imagined seeing something equally beautiful as I fought the feelings of air sickness. I began to dream of those no door helicopter tours since I wouldn’t have to fight looking out bubbled glass that makes me sick every time.
G-man occasionally would tap me on the shoulder and point far off to the right, and I would nod my head and smile. It was obvious he was having a great time, loving every second of the ride, there was no need to drag him into my left side woes.
We neared the famed Na Pali Coast.. something I was so eager to see. The gorgeous blue waters, the fingers going down to the water.. I couldn’t wait!
I had time to take 3 pictures, before he whipped the helicopter back around for everyone else to get yet another look, putting me back into the sun so I couldn’t see anything but ocean. Literally, the man pointed the helicopter so the right side faced the mountains, and the forgotten left had nothing but ocean.
I was getting defeated at this point. Not to mention taking slow deep breaths to calm the heat that was rising inside me from the air sickness, I just wanted us to be done.
We still had about 15 minutes left of the tour, so I sat there and stared off as far as I could to keep the sickness at bay, fixing on the top of trees as we’d spin around a waterfall or crevice, listening to their questions getting answered. Finally, we landed and I was ready to stretch my legs and take some deep breaths.
I was all smiles again, because really, it was a beautiful view that few get to witness, and I was grateful to be able to take the trip to see it so close. Not to mention, G-man was ecstatic. He declared it the best helicopter ride he’d ever been on and the views the best he’s ever seen. In pure awe of the canyon.
How could I kill his thrill of the ride?!
I thanked him for the trip and we finished the night with having the worst sushi we ever had in our lives, and drove back to our hotel laughing hoping we wouldn’t wake up sick.
It’s that time of year. The time that I absolutely hate and one of the main reasons I don’t like living here. Fog season.
Its not your average fog, it becomes so thick its dubbed “treacherous” on the news and radio, advising people to stay off the roads and incur “foggy day schedule” at schools. A few years back it was so horrible, it caused a 200 car pileup on the freeway.
I get to drive in this every single day lately to work. I take back roads with dairy farms that make the fog even thicker and more dense. Its exhausting and trying driving every morning in fog that only gets thicker each day. If you follow me on twitter and instagram, you’ve seen the pictures and know what I’ve been dealing with!
The past week or so, I’ve really been thinking on the do’s and don’ts of driving in fog. There’s so many that are so crucial, yet even people here don’t follow them. It amazes me…then annoys me.
Monday morning on my way to work..{a 25 minutes drive}. Pretty bad to say the least. It took every ounce of energy I had to focus that morning to get to work. It left me wanting to take a nap all day long.
Tuesday morning. Normally when I get to this point in town, it’s a breeze, but a train unexpectedly came through and we all had to wait while it went 10mph. I couldn’t even see the train for the full 10 minutes it went by and I was only 5 cars from the tracks. It was so much thicker than the day before
Its important to know the DO’S when driving in the fog but even more important to know the DON’TS
DO
~ turn your headlights on (you’d be amazed at how many people don’t do this)
DON’T
~ turn your brights on
~ turn your hazard lights on
~ turn your parking lights on
DO
~ turn your radio down or off
DON’T
~ play with your radio
~ have your radio up loud
DO
~ drive the speed limit or just under
~ set your cruise control so you won’t have to use extra energy focusing on your gas petal
~ pull to the side when someone comes up behind you who’s going faster than you
DON’T
~ go 35 in a 55 (this will only serve getting you and someone else killed who comes up on you)
DO
~ fix your eyes straight ahead while keeping the lines in sight
~ rely on your GPS when you can’t see road signs to tell you when your turn is coming
DON’T
~ look to the left or right
~ look down at your speedometer (why I recommend using cruise control)
~ talk or text on the phone
~ look at the on coming traffic that came out of no where
~ look at what appears to be headlights in the far distance (at night) as a marker. They’ll turn out to be house lights that could steer you off the road
~ think about anything. Getting lost in thought is not an option
~ think about passing a slow driver (even though you really want to)
~ do anything that would in any way distract from your driving
If you don’t know where you are or aren’t familiar with your surroundings then, I would say drive a little slower, but I can’t stress how driving way under the speed limit is a serious danger to all other drivers around. And more so, if you have to pull over for whatever reason; turn off all lights to your car! Keep hazard lights and headlights off. Any glint of light people see, will have them think they need to be over to the right and will slam right into your parked car.
My co worker (who also drives bus) sent me this picture. At first I thought it was her, but thankfully it wasn’t. A van came quickly on a stop sign she didn’t know was there, slammed on her brakes, which had the truck who didn’t know she was there slamming on her brakes, coming too fast behind her, slam into her, shoving her mini van into the other lane and stopping on the other side of the road. Thankfully no cars were coming the other direction.
You can see how thick the fog is (at 10am) behind them.
People drive stupid. Driving too fast… I’m sure people would call me stupid because I will drive the speed limit (55mph) the whole way. I’m very aware the whole time, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t get in a crash still, but I’m not going to risk it and unnecessarily go slow.
The fog is disorienting enough as it is, I don’t need to be staring at it twice as long, going slow.
I’m sure I missed some do’s and don’t, so what are some that you feel are important to follow?
How are you driving in the fog?
- in town and residential areas, I do drive very slowly. I can’t risk hitting a person I don’t see crossing the street. But on a highway, I will go ‘fast’.
..and we did just that.
On the last day in the beach cottage, we did what we are quickly becoming known for; we extended our stay. It seems to be our theme wherever we go. We like a place so much, we just can’t seem to leave; and change our flights, hotel and car rental. We had high hopes to stay in the cottages but they were completely booked for Thanksgiving, so we made the move to the Grand Hyatt.
But not before seeing Waimea Canyon. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t know we were so close to it the entire first 4 days we were there. Like I mentioned before, we only left the base for groceries, so there was no exploring going on whatsoever. Little did I know we were only 10 minutes away!
On our way to the Grand Hyatt, we decided to swing up through the canyon.
As I was crouching on the edge of the cliff to take these pictures, I stood up to turn to G-man, only to have a Russian tourist about 5 inches from my back taking pictures. To say she wasn’t aware of personal space..not to mention there was at least 40ft of empty space where she could have stood, was clearly completely beyond her.
She must have believed where I was, was the only spot for the perfect picture..
I was just so thankful she didn’t bump into me, or that I didn’t freak out when I turned around nearly running into her.
We stopped at a little waterfall where G-man finally had the chance to play with Monty (aka..my camera). I promise I did not have to pee…and yes, I’m that white in real life.
We pressed on..onward and upward. Higher and higher in elevation until we made it to the lookout. What a lookout it is!
Don’t mind the ‘random guy’ walking down the steps.. he was an easy subject to shoot.
It was so beautiful. They say it rivals Grand Canyon..or is a close second..or is just as big. Ok, I don’t know really know what they say, but I heard the words “Grand Canyon” and “Waimea Canyon” in the same sentence so I know they run in the same circles.
We made our way back down to check into the hotel, where I got very lost looking for the room, while G-man parked the car. He found the room before I did, which if you knew how long it took, that’s a very sad thing to admit.
Our view from the lanai..
2 things you should take note of.. 1) old(er) man in a speedo 2) waterslide. Does the view get any better than that?!
Their pools are open 24 hours a day. I thought that was the neatest thing! And in case you’re wondering, no I did not take advantage of that, but knowing I could was all that mattered, as usually is the case with me.
When we set out to Kauai, we took 4 days worth of clothes. Clothes that would be great for hiking in, or lounging around the house in…not strolling around the Grand Hyatt in. I brought 1 dress on a whim. That one dress would get me through 2 very nice dinners, 2 nights in a row… its one of those dresses that stands out, unfortunately, but hopeful no one took notice, because a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do to be able to get into a fancy restaurant.
Monday already! This weekend went by at all sorts of different speeds. Thankfully I didn’t have any repeats of last weekend with getting a flat tire, but it was still crazy. Jam packed busy.
Saturday, I was on my way to do a jewelry party, and I followed my directions to her house just fine until I pulled up to a gated community. She didn’t tell me it was a gated community and I truly didn’t think that’s where she lived, so I texted her…
Yes, all gated communities are hater communities… you didn’t know!?
She bought me a Santa hat (my first Santa hat ever), so I wore it the entire night feeling oh so festive.
Have you ever taken a personality test? Like a really extensive one? G-man and I were to take one years ago and while I was cleaning out the big dresser that’s in my dining room…{you’d have to see it, it totally works in there, promise}, I came across his! I honestly don’t even know if I did mine, but boy, let me tell you, his results are spot on to how he is. I couldn’t believe it!
I called him up and read his results to him and the whole time he would say, yep! that’s exactly how I am. Yeah, I do that probably a little too much…
This almost made me want to see if I really took mine or not, almost. I’m not sure I want to know the truths about me. Voluntary ignorance is bliss.
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Its been awhile since I’ve said what I’m thankful for throughout the week so I feel its high time its picked back up.
- indoor plumbing.. I don’t think I’ll ever take this for granted. Especially in the winter months. And especially ever since my friend who was born and raised in East Germany shared stories of how their toilet was on the landing of the outside stairs for all neighbors to use in their complex. And how inside their apartment, it was so cold, ice would cover her interior bedroom walls…and that they had no running hot water. Her mom would heat it on the stove, and fill the tub up in the kitchen for a bath and my friend would go first, then her husband and the mom would go last, once a week.
I’m blessed with my gas fireplace, electricity, central heat and hot water within seconds.
- extra pillows on my bed. Saturday night, on a whim, I grabbed a pillow and shoved it between my legs to sleep. All night long I slept with that thing firmly in place, and all night long my hips, knees, and ankles had never felt so good. They didn’t hurt once, like they have been…and I feel incredibly old for a) needing a pillow between my legs to not be in pain and b) the sheer fact I’m even bringing it up as a topic of conversation.
- my lia sophia business. It’s going really well and I’m so thankful for it. It’s a little overwhelming with juggling it and my FT job but I’m always so grateful when another person wants me to do their party. Its so fun and I love it!
- and not to mention they’re sending me and G-man on an all expenses paid trip to Riviera Maya Mexico in a few months!!! We’re so flipping excited! They’re sending us here and everything about it is going to be amazing.
I surprised G-man with the news when I was in Hawaii and he was blown away. I worked hard to earn that trip for 2, and its going to make us being there all the sweeter. I cannot WAIT to get pampered!
How did your weekend turn out? Are you finished Christmas shopping or still have a ways to go?
I bought a couple more things over the weekend (that may or may not have included things for myself..) but I’m 50% done..I think.
