Halloween Decorations

So, I could have gone overboard, but I'm saving that for Christmas. Kidding! Maybe.




How much do you love this guy? I found him and the glittery pumpkins at Ross, for the right price!




A couple more of the glittery pumpkins and some Halloween gumballs in a glass on the bookshelf.



Real pumpkins (I've already had them for a few weeks and they are hanging in there really well), and a glass skull filled with Reece's Pieces, as requested by Nate.



Spider webs with 2 different types of spiders (one of which is a glittery sticker). I still need to put some up outside, but we never go out our front door so we wouldn't see them. Plus with all of the rain and wind, I figured I would wait until closer to the 31st to decorate the front porch.





And my favorite decoration of all... kitty sweater!

PS We are finally getting rid of this hideous rug! We ordered one online a couple weeks ago, but it's on back order until December.

Sorry for the poor quality, I took the pictures on my phone.


Other Halloween decorations that aren't included:
-A kitchen towel hanging on the oven door.
-A welcome sign that I rigged up on the front door. Halloween is written in orange and there is a cutout witch on one side and cat on the other, both in black. The entire thing is covered in glitter. What's not to love?
-The fall rug that I made by hand. It's sort of an awkward shape and doesn't photograph well, but I love it regardless.
-I hung small orange lights up around our back porch. This was quite a feat for me as I had to use a step ladder and staple gun (both make me nervous). I did it all by myself except for the last staple because it was in a corner and was super awkward. Something I managed to do while hanging these lights, which still makes me crack up when I think about it, is I started just above where our fence ends. I stapled the lights into the siding of the house, and it make a weird noise but I've never done this before so I thought maybe that was normal. Moved about 18 inches up the wall and did it again, only for part of the wall to bust open. Yes, I found out that siding is not wood. I did not consider that at all. Instead I busted not one, but two holes in the wall. It's just a corner cover that can easily be replaced (I keep telling myself, at least), but still. Twice?!

Last note: I love John Mayer's "Free Fallin'"!

Book Club

Lately I have been reading a lot. I always go through phases of reading and not reading, but for the past few weeks I have been hooked! I think it has been encouraged by my lack of energy from this pregnancy, but either way, I have been loving it!

The only problem is, I need good recommendations! Here is a list of the books I have read in the last few months:



Currently re-reading the Harry Potter series between other books. I am nearly done with this one so I figured I would include it.



My friends Haley and Kelsey said that this was one of their favorite books, but when I asked what it was about, their description sounded painfully boring. About 2 weeks ago Nate and I saw a movie in the theaters and one of the previews was a trailer for this. Starring George Clooney, the movie looks phenomenal! I immediately decided I had to read it and downloaded it on my Kindle. (Side note: This was the first book I have read on my Kindle, which Nate bought me for our anniversary in July 2010. I now recognize the beauty of a Kindle and it will not be the last book I read this way!) The book was absolutely fantastic! I read it in 3 or 4 days and I never wanted to put it down! This is my favorite book that I have read in a while and I am looking forward to the movie being released next month!




My friend Haley let me borrow this book, one of her absolute favorites. It is a collection of short stories by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love. The stories are lovely and sweet, and the perfect length so that you are able to read a story each time you open the book.



Another memoir from Augusten Burroughs (I love Running with Scissors), it tells tales of his Christmas experiences. The book starts out when he is a child and doesn't understand the difference between Santa and Jesus. Parts seriously had me laughing out loud! However the second half takes place in his adult life and is much more dark and troubling.



I know I am a few years behind on this gem. I don't care that James Frey stretched the truth and completely made up some of the story. To me, it doesn't change the fact that this is an incredible story and a very entertaining read.





A very easy read. Pretty interesting but not life changing in any way. Takes place in Nigeria and is about a polygamous family and it's dark secrets.




Enough said.




A great fictional story with a lot of historical accuracy regarding the leper colony on Molokai. My mom gave it to me, and I would absolutely recommend this book.


Hopefully this is the return of my blog being updated on a semi-regular basis. I have quite a few things I'd like to share. Whether or not you will care/be entertained may be another story altogether. But regardless I am happy to be back!

xoxo

Slacker

Since returning from Arizona I have hand written something to post on my blog twice, with the idea that when I got home from work I would type it up, but obviously that has not happened. I have quite a bit of down time at work many days, and wish I had computer access so I could update my blog. Instead I have random pieces of paper with semi-organized thoughts cluttering my purse.

My work schedule this month has been unfriendly on my bank account but so much fun on my spirit! The Friday before Spring Break was a furlough day (read: day off), and Nate and I headed to Arizona for a week and a half. We returned on Monday, so I had to take that day off. That Friday was Prince Kuhio Day (also read: day off), and the following Monday, 3 days ago, was another furlough day. This morning on my drive to work, the Kamehameha Highway, the 2 lane coastal road that I drive on, had a water main break and was closed in both directions, so I couldn't get to work. Ah, the beauties of living in Hawaii!

This past Monday was the start of practice for the paddling league Nate and I joined. We are both brand new beginners, but we think we are going to love it! The sport is going to take over most of our free time as we have practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings from 5:30-7:00, and then I have Saturday morning practice 7:00-9:00, and his will be Sunday mornings. The races begin in June (May?), I'll post more details as we get closer.

And just because it's pretty:

Green Thumb

Pretty much the greatest thing- I was making salsa for tacos tonight (surprise, surprise), and I realized we didn't have any cilantro, but then I remembered we have some growing in our garden, and it is oh so good!


Also, today for lunch I had some of our first cucumber that we grew and it is delicious! It is amazing to have a garden that is producing fruits, vegetables and herbs that we can actually use.

Home grown cucumber with hummus.

Romaine lettuce.

We have 4 heads growing in that planter and they have taken over!

Mesclun greens.

They are out of control. We can't eat them as fast as we grow them.

A strawberry growing from the Topsy Turvy.

We have them growing there and in a planer.

Jalapeno peppers.

We also have habanero and super chili peppers.

Sweet bell peppers.

Not sure what color they are going to turn, but they are getting big! We also have green bell peppers that aren't thriving.

Not pictured is our basil which is out of control, 2 types of tomatoes that aren't thriving, chives that we kinda let go because they taste funny, papayas that I grew from seeds (the plants are currently about 1 inch tall).

Unfortunately we are going out of town for a week and a half, and I think we are gonna miss the prime of a lot of our veggies including the Romaine lettuce, 1 or 2 cucumbers, and a handful of strawberries. I hope our neighbor remembers to water everything!

Rainy Saturday

Our plan to spend all day Saturday at the beach was dampened by gray skies and consistent rain. What we ended up with was an amazing rain day!

Nate and I have been talking about doing outrigger canoe, but we didn't really know to logistics of joining a club or team, or whatever the deal is. Fortunately, last weekend when we did that amazing hike, we met a bunch of people that paddle out of a club nearby. Sign ups for the season started yesterday, so starting March 28, we are officially on a beginner paddling team. I hope we like it, as it will be consuming a good part of our spare time for the next 3ish months! I am fairly certain we will.

http://www.kailuacanoeclub.com/

Afterwards we came home, decided that since the rain was pretty much going to keep us indoors, we would blow up the air mattress and park ourselves in front of the tv. After a surprisingly short amount of time, we picked something On Demand. Please tell me we aren't the only couple who, once we decide we want to watch something On Demand, spend the next 45 minutes searching for something until we just give up and watch something stupid on tv, or episodes of Sunny on DVD. Back to yesterday. After about 10 minutes we stumbled upon a movie that I really wanted to see, despite already seeing a 2 hours special about it on Dateline or 20/20. The movie, Catfish. I won't go in to detail about it, but if you haven't seen it, you should. It is, in my opinion, super interesting and a good rainy day movie to watch with your other half, or alone, although it is slightly creepy.

http://www.iamrogue.com/catfish.html

After the movie, the rain let up for a few minutes and we were able to go for a quick ride on our bikes. Then we got ready, headed to the mall for a fancy food court dinner, mmm... Blazin Steaks, and saw the new movie Hall Pass. It was hilarious! Ridiculously funny, and very crude at parts. However, if you freak out about a cheating partner, probably not the best movie to see, since that is the basis of the story. But really silly!

On a more somber note, today is the 1 year anniversary of Nate's sister's death. The other day I asked Nate what he wanted to do today to commemorate her, and he said that he would just like to do something fun outdoors, because that's what she would want us to do. Fittingly, it is absolutely gorgeous out today. Sunny, but enough clouds to give the sky an ethereal beauty. Nate is such an amazing and strong person!

Thanksgiving 2009

Food Challenge?

Nate thinks he can easily eat an entire tub of frosting in one sitting, I say that there is no possible way he can do it. He believes that calls for a food challenge. I think it's a horrible idea that will end in excessive vomiting, or a stomach ache at the very least, a trip to the hospital at the worst. :-) Do you think he can do it? I say no, and I don't want him to try. But he is insistent. Just the thought of it makes me ill.

Picture Heavy Part Two

Nate and I have taken a bunch of pictures since he got back, most of which remained on the camera until a couple of days ago. These first few (several) are from my birthday weekend which we spent at Turtle Bay.

We stopped on the side of the coastal highway on our way up there to try out some of the countless rope swings along the shore.

Nate checking out the sunset from out lanai.

My hubby is cute, I am a lucky girl!

Saturday morning was very pretty, we took a bunch of pictures. In order to get both of us in them, they either end up super posed (like this one) or the classic self portrait pose which makes it hard to capture your surroundings. We're down with cheesy.

We took a stroll up the coast, away from the resort, and took plenty of pictures along the way. There were several neat trails to take, and we ended up walking on the beach, past the stables (I spent a ridiculous amount of time with the horses), through the lush areas, and on the beach some more. We really took our time and enjoyed each other and our surroundings.

Goofy. This was right before my less than graceful landing which left half of me wet and sandy. Recreational hazard :-)

Monkey Man!

I can climb trees too! ...Just much closer to the ground.

One of the sweet statues on the property.

View from our lanai.

Relaxing by the pool, which was frigidly cold.

Gotta have a mai tai! They may be $10 a pop, but worth every penny!

Absolutely stunning.

Sunday morning Nate surprised me with a shark diving tour. Unfortunately there were no sharks that day, but the experience was really fun anyway. We left around 6:30 am and rode a boat out with a group of people 3 miles off the coast. They have a cage in the water that is 6 feet deep and you hop in with a snorkel on. Usually 8 or so sharks come around, but they weren't there that day. However we got a refund to come back another time and try again.

To keep the surprise Nate didn't really give me much about what I needed to bring, so I ended up having a bikini, jeans and this sweater. Between the water weighing down my sweater, and the speed of the boat, by the time we got back to land my sweater was hanging mid-thigh. It was cracking me up, and I kept saying to Nate "It used to be a sweater, but now it is a dress!"

Cool bird that visited us at the shark cages. He is called a Brown Booby. Horrible name!

Well, that is all of the pictures I decided to post from Turtle Bay. It was hard to narrow it down with the seemingly billions of pictures we took.

Last Thursday Nate met me after work at a beach off the coastal highway. We just picked a spot and parked on the side of the road. There were like 3 people around so it was less scary but still crazy to be so alone in such a beautiful place. I stopped at a fruit stand on my way and got us some corn, which we ate in the water.

Last Saturday we went to the North Shore for a few hours before Nate had to work in the afternoon. We went to a couple different beaches, but this was by far the most fun! We were able to body board and body surf, and just have a blast... we didn't want to leave!

Me chilling on the beach Saturday.

You probably don't believe me, but I did my best to narrow down the number of pictures I wanted to post. Enjoy, and I hope this encourages you to consider visiting!