Hawaii...ha finally

 Our view from the hotel. You can see our nice pool and the neat waterfall feature to the right of the pool.  There was actually a pool in the waterfall (but we never got in oops!) Pretty beach and we saw sea turtles swimming right up close one day!

 The first Hawaii sunset. Just so amazing!

 I love that we saw sailboats everywhere!

This is us the first day renting our snorkel gear! -->

 Monday of the trip was our crazy day. We woke up at 2:30 to drive the 2 hours to Haleakala an old inactive volcano that is amazing to see sunrises and sunsets from.  This is about 4:50 in the morning so you can see the sun starting to light up the sky, but you can still see stars. Andrew said it felt like you could touch the stars. Unfortunately, I missed the few minute window of seeing stars (adding layers in the car). It was 45 degrees and windy...freezing. Sweet Andrew stood out there with his hands exposed clicking pictures every few seconds.  We need a remote for the camera.

 Brighter! It's coming!

 There it is! The sun has touched the horizon!

 So you see the clouds...yeah we are at 10,000 feet, so we are above them! 

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

  This is a view of a slight rotation to the right!

 So from here we decided to be CRAZY and do the Road to Hana!

 Watch the landscape change from lush, to barren, to lush, to whatever!

 Can I just say...seeing these kinds of coastlines never gets old!

 This was so neat...what looks like at least 6 waterfalls I actually count like 9! Unfortunately we never got to see this view any closer really.

 After this trip we all became believers in the minvan!

 Back to lush...granted this road took us probably 7 hours back to civilization (Paia). This spot is probably somewhere around 3-4 hour mark.

 We made it to a state park and took a quick 4 mile hike/moderate walk to a crazy waterfall! It felt like the tallest I've ever looked up!

 Super neat trees!

 Lots of pretty falls along the way!

 Really neat bamboo forest/hallway!

 And you crossed a couple streams and came out of the woods and booyow! WATERFALL!

Waimoku Falls

 400 feet!

 Just in case I don't look as happy as I should...I fell crossing the stream and didn't think it was bad. When I continued to walk up to the fall, I realized I was hurting pretty bad. No worries it didn't ruin the experience or the trip, but my knee was pretty sore.

 Andrew is pretty into microbreweries...so this was a must!

 The food was pretty good and as cheap as back home!

I don't have any food pictures, but  I should say all of our food on this trip was great! I ate fish daily and had lots of banana mac nut pancakes and great kona coffee! Kona beans are grown on the big island (Hawaii) where the volcanic ash creates a delish bean!

 SAILING! SAILING! SAILING!

 Me happy!

 Me...still happy...and Captain Brian in the back doing his thing!

 Not our boat, but you can see Molokini where we snorkeled (well one of the many places).

 Me stearing the boat.  You wouldn't believe how agile those things are.

 Our Captains! We loved them...sooooo nice!

 The Paragon. If you are in Maui and want a sailing and snorkel trip...this is your company!

 Andrew and our luau...this picture sums it up! Lots of show....lots of cultures...very high energy!

I have a few more photos...from my phone...I'll come back soon, but that was most of the photos we took.  Had a great time...hope you enjoy the pics!

On the Food Frontier

Andrew and I decided to do a little hiking (and by decided I mean he allowed me because he's not a huge fan but knows I love it). I thought I should pack significant snackage, because it was likely to push a meal back (but really we ended up missing it all together). So I made pumpkin muffins with cream cheese, olive pimento cheese and pretzels, and apples for the hike.

Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

Yields: 2 loaves or 2 dozen muffins

1 c oil

1 c water

1 c pumpkin

 (water and pumpkin to equal 2 cups, with at least or more 1 c pumpkin- adjust water ounce to ounce)

4 eggs

2 c sugar

3 c flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Beat all wet ingredients and sugar.  In separate bowl sift all dry ingredients. Add all together and beat until combined.  Bake at 350: loaves for 1 hour, muffins 20-25 mins.

Option: Cream Cheese Center (like it's even an option)

1 package low fat cream cheese

1 egg

tsp vanilla

powdered sugar (not sure how much maybe 2-3 tablespoons)

Beat all ingredients. Scoop into pastry bag (or plastic baggie). Cut small opening. Put bag into center or muffin batter and squeeze and pull up.  I had no idea what I was doing and it turned out perfect.

 

Olive Pimento Cheese

I think I've shared this before. Lately pimentos have just not been my thing. I remembered that I had made this before and started using olives with pimentos instead of plain pimentos.  We also substitute sour cream for mayo. We just don't like it, no offense. Any way I don't have a recipe. I just grate cheese, chop olives, and dollop sour cream until it's right. Start with less olives, especially if you aren't planning on eating it all in one sitting.  This has become our go to pimento cheese. Dip with pretzels is our favorite, but it's good on toast or sandwiches too.  (no photo...it gets eaten too quick)

4th Anniversary

Man...the time flies! I really can't believe we've been married for four years now. Well, I would say that this year feels like we are growing into one. It seems that we make decisions more fluidly, trust each others instincts more, yet still challenge each other with different perspectives.

I can't imagine not being married to this man. I've fallen more in love with his goofy--doesn't take life too seriously personality--corniest/cheesiest (got it from his daddy) sense of humor. He's crazy with our dog. I just sit back and laugh as he makes her lose her mind running and wrestling. All kids love him (even if I'm the one that's into them). I think he seems larger than life to them with his 6'5" stature and huge smile.

It seems we help each other much more than before or maybe we just are noticing it more. Things seem so easy when we tackle them together. It feels as if there is nothing we can't accomplish together (ha no I'm just being dramatic, but really we make a great team). Practical example, recently I had a bug and I couldn't cut up meat because it made me feel sick. So I needed Andrew to do it for me. He did it so fast! I mean seriously I feel like it takes me forever. Anyway we made the stew together and went so quick. Also during my 5 days of basically laying around sleeping and recouping I think Andrew appreciated all the things I usually keep up. It seems have found our rhythm, which is no easy task for God. He put two of the most strong willed individuals together. The people we are becoming and the marriage that is developing is truly a testament to God's grace. We thank him for continually walking with us and teaching us.

I miss him when we aren't together. Overall, I would say year 4 has been a year of growing together, appreciating each other more, and having fun. What will year 5 bring? Whatever it is I'm looking forward to doing it together.

Here's a photo of us on our sailing adventure in Hawaii! Sorry to tease, I promise I plan to post better pictures soonish!

Hawaii, Maui

Andrew and I had the privilege to be invited for the week to Maui. Neither of us had been before or even had it on our radar of going there. We had a great week with Andrew's sister and brother in law, Julie and Chris. Here are a few iPhone photos. More to come.

So the photos are scrambled, but a few of the first sunset, first sunrise on Mt. Haleakala, a view of Andrew and I over looking our snorkel spot where we swam with sea turtles the size of coffee tables (seriously), the catamaran we got to sail on, one view of the ocean from road to Hana, and this awesome sunset last night from the air flying into LA (it looked like a rainbow all over the sky).

Latest Art Project

I saw this on pinterest and just L-O-V-E-d it!

http://pinterest.com/pin/552253973025791207/

My problem was that it was on barn wood and I already have several art pieces I want to do with barn wood and didn't want to overwhelm my house. I thought of possible using and old canvas, but couldn't find any cheap ones at thrift stores or antique stores that I liked. After my friend, Miriam's wise counsel :) we decided an old window would also serve as a nice palate. 

So this is mine...

I really liked the simplicity of just the white and clear. Miriam had suggested a fabric as a background. I think this would have looked great too! I roughed up the frame a little, for a bit of a rustic look. 

Here it is with our other photos. It kind of makes me sound like I'm having a hard time staying faithful to Andrew. Haha...bind my wandering heart to God...just in case anyone was worried about our relationship.

And then last week I destroyed my wedding bouquet and this is the result. 

This is actually our card stock that we printed our wedding bulletins on, and of course our wedding date.

I like how I turned out. I borrowed this idea from Vanessa after her's actually was destroyed accidentally. Mine was on purpose.