New year, but the same OLD projects!

I've been contemplating new years goals and resolutions but plan to post on that soon. I like the new year, it seems to rejuvenate my motivation. I have had some barn wood in my garage since I did the last barn wood painting. I knew I wanted to make some art for our bedroom. I thought about it for awhile and even sketched out a photo from the Hoh rainforest that we snapped on our vacation two falls ago. I ended up deciding I didn't quite have the skill level to accomplish that. I think it would have looked cartoon like.

So I decided on a silhouette of a tree branch. I found a photo that inspired this on a friends' blog and just went with it.

Thanks Mama for all you expertise!

Inspiration: http://whendavidmetrose.blogspot.com/2012/11/travel-table-rock-sp-26-28-october-2012.html?m=1
that's the link, but I'll put the actual photo up as well. One thing I did differently was to sand the barn wood a little. It gave some depth to the background. Really neat looking and it showed off the blade marks from where it went through the saw mill however many years ago.

A new addition

I'm sure I've had some spare time to blog, but not much. I have enjoyed my freedom from blogging; however I do miss uploading some fun things we do. We have a new pet in our family. She's a she (we think) and a kitten. Our friends rescued her and we have been wanting a cat for a while. You know cats are less commitment than dogs. Also they take up less space and fend for themselves a little better. When I lived at home we got 2 cats and we named them Columbus and Magellan because cats like to explore. So in keeping with the theme... I've named her Livingstone like Dr. Livingstone I presume. I call her Livi... Here she is right when we got her. She's probably about 6 weeks old then and about 10 now. She's honestly one of those really rare sweet cats but also pretty spunky and fun!

Happy Halloween!

Tonight was our church Trunk or Treat. It's a service project for our community. The youth group in our church is supposed to head it up and serve at the food stands. I help lead a junior girls Bible study and they asked me to dress up Sunday night, but I was like nah. Well Monday I was perusing pinterest and saw the Disney hipster princesses. I thought it was hilarious. After a few google searches I was inspired. I asked my sis if she could whip up a "flouncy skirt". She said she could and she had a couple coppertone brand t shorts that were yellow. Perfect! Free! So here are my inspirations and my product made with the help of my sis and my friend Vanessa who blogs about her family and craft/ sewing/creativity. Here is the link to her tutorial: http://www.designsbysessa.com/2012/02/flouncy-gym-skirt-tutorial.html

My sign says "She said the apple was organic" - Hipster Snow White The other common one was "I had an apple before Steve Jobs" but I don't think it's ok to use the deceased to make a joke. Sorry!

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)