Date Night - Drive-In Movie

We've decided that we need to go on more fun, planned out dates. So, last night, we did a drive-in movie. Where? In our car!

Even though I was in charge, I forced Dave to make his DELICIOUS fried chicken for me. With all of our dinner provisions in hand, we set off towards the beach. (FYI for all you mainlanders, we drove past the spot where they film 'Lost.' It's about 10/ 15 minutes away.) We sat in the car and ate our (amazing) dinner while the sun was setting, then decided to get out and explore a little. My camera's batteries were shot, so I only got a few pics. Dave brought his film camera and took lots more, so once we use up the rest of the roll, I can share those.

Anyway, after exploring and taking pictures, we started watching the movie... on our laptop!

Preparing to seduce me...

It didn't work. :) Next time, we'll pick a better movie with a lighter subject matter. (We watched 'Taken.' Bleh.) Maybe THEN he'll seduce me lol.

Spooky

Pity party over. I'm tired of looking at that post.

I know you're going to think I'm weird for thinking about this so soon, but Halloween has been on my mind lately. Specifically, I've been thinking about what I could be for Halloween this year. Last year, I couldn't think of a costume, so I just did something with makeup. (Loved it!) I had a ton of fun doing it, and I think it turned out awesome. I think I might like to do something with makeup again this year... but what?

Anybody else thinking about this? What could I do with makeup this year?

Oh, and if anybody has some suggestions for what my husband could wear, I think we'd ALL appreciate it this year. :)

Pity Party

Cue the violins and cheese...

It has been H-O-T lately! We have a small A/C unit it our back room that I try to use as little as possible. Usually, I wait until 1:00 or 2:00 to turn it on, so it's not running all day. However, it's been so hot recently that I've had it on most of the time. (I feel justified when I sit down, completely still to check emails or something, and sweat is literally rolling off of me.) Not super excited for our next electric bill...

Hmm... do I continue? ...I do...

Remember that washer and dryer we bought a while back? Fantastic, right? Well... our dryer isn't hooked up -- still. It used to not be as big of a problem, because we had a drying rack that we could hang a very small load on... but that broke. And line drying is fine, but I had a sunburn recently, and that plus the very hot weather made line-drying very unattractive.


Oh! This gets even better... So part of the reason why it isn't hooked up is because we can't plug it in! Getting it hooked up isn't something we can just do over the weekend; we need an electrician. (And my favorite part -- our landlord won't pay for anything. His opinion is that if we want it re-wired, we have to pay for it. Peachy.) So we call someone in the ward to come fix it. Dave called him (the electrician) one day, and he said, "Okay, I'll come over Friday afternoon/ evening." ...He never did. Saturday went by... he never came by or called. Dave saw him in church on Sunday, the guy felt guilty, so he came by later that day to look at it... which he did... then he left... and he hasn't been back or called since. So apparently, there's someone out there with all the know-how and materials to get my dryer hooked up... but nothing's happening.

I thought I should go use that electrician's dryer until he got mine hooked up. Dave didn't think that was very Christlike. *shrug*

We really, reeeeally want to move to the mainland. We walked around through City Mill, kind of a home improvement store, and saw all the possibilities of things we could do to fix up our place. But every time we saw something we liked or got a cool idea, we remembered that we aren't in our own place. And -- yet again, I know this is very un-Christlike -- I'm so annoyed with our landlord that I don't want to fix it up, because I know when we move, our purchases and hard work will just benefit him. (Isn't that awful of me? I'm so spiteful.) But seriously, our apartment has been very badly maintained, especially compared to the other units. Frustration! Gah! (That was for you, Breanne.)

We are just itching to get into our own place. I would love to put effort into a home that was mine, and that I knew if I left, I would probably get my money back. *sigh* As we said when we left City Mill, "Someday... someday."

It's just been one of those... weeks, I guess. It seems like all the little irritations -- the bathroom door won't stay shut, the heat, the ants, the dryer, etc. -- just really add up sometimes. I've really come to look at the principle of enduring to the end differently. I used to think it meant reaching some kind of pinnacle, a spiritual, physical, financial accomplishment that you worked really hard to reach, then finding happiness in staying there, staying the same. Now I think enduring to the end means not being worn down by the redundant, monotonous things we face... like dishes. :) I think it means never viewing a point in your life as any kind of pinnacle. There is always room to improve, always something you can be perfecting, and essentially, always something that can make you happier. There is no being stagnant in the gospel. You're either progressing or getting worse. I guess that's what I need to do to be happier with all these little irritations. I just need to improve what I can and find joy in that.

Fo' Sho'ty's Li'l Berfday

Soooo... I've actually been invited to two different places right now, but I'm at home... because I got sucked into this project! It in no way started out this involved, but I just rolled with it, and I'm very happy with the turnout!

We've been invited to a birthday party for a turning 2-year-old, Lauren. We were on our way to Target today, when the sirens of the Waialua Public Library sale seduced us... there's just no escaping them. We've agreed that books are very worth investing in for our kids someday, so we've got a nice little selection started. Anyway, as I was browsing, I saw a Cinderella book, and it occurred to me that Lauren might like it. (Our invite had Disney princesses on it.) Part of her nap routine involves reading a book, and it's cool to see how much she loves them -- hearing them, interacting with windows and flaps, making the animal sounds, etc. I just LOVE how much she loves books, and so glad that her mom has made it a big part of her early learning.

Wow. I digress. Long story short, I came home and looked for something to put her books in, but didn't find much to work with. So... what's that saying? "Necessity is the mother of invention." This is what necessity does with a Costco box of Ritz:

All right. I admit it -- you caught me! That's the front of our invitation that I cut off and put on there. (Hey! If I hadn't, it just would have eventually made its way to the trash. It's a princess party! I had to have something princess on there!)

In a more thoughtful way than you care to know, Dave and I threaded the ribbon thingy through the box. The last time I babysat Lauren, she was on a purse kick. I thought if I made it purse-ish, maybe she'd play with it... get a little more use out of the box...

Once, Lauren and I went to a park where we found an alphabet on the playground, and she started singing her ABC's... in her own little almost-2-year-old jibberish.

No clue how she is with numbers...

Lovin' my Ritz box!

Drumroll, please...

Welp! I done did it!

As much as I wanted my long hair, I just couldn't deal with it every day. It's one giant "aura" of frizz here in Hawaii. For those of you freaking out, no -- this is not the first time I've done this. It's what I do -- grow it out, then chop it off. It's quite liberating!

This is new, though. I haven't had bangs since I was... like... 13?

Hopefully I like them after they aren't straight, lol.

What Do You Think?

I'm working on a logo. What do you think?

We made a yummy breakfast casserolethe other day, and the way it came out, we thought our oven rack might be a little crooked. What do you think?

Anybody (nearby) Want This?

I cut out two of these for a project, and I was wondering if someone wanted the leftovers... probably someone with a little girl.

They're only a couple inches big, and they're on chocolate brown vinyl, so you can stick it to your wall or mirror or whatever. I used the negative (the white part I've peeled away). You can use the original image with this one, or if you want to use the negative like I did, the other piece still has it on there. Just let me know.

If there's something else you'd like me to cut out for you, let me know. I'm out of vinyl, so I'd need help with that. I got this brown vinyl from Wal-Mart; I think they also keep black in stock. If you want a different color, I know a website where I can order a TON of vinyl in a TON of colors, so maybe I'll refer you there to pick... again, I'd need help stocking up. I can do phrases or simple pictures -- Whatever! I enjoy doing this stuff, so let me know.

Indiana Trip - Game & GIft

Okay, first, my niece's softball game. You know how there's always that one kid in the outfield goofing off, picking flowers or their nose, sitting indian style, facing the fence, taking their glove off and wearing it on their head? Well that's not my niece... but she's pretty close. :)

My niece is a biiiiig gum smacker, and her mom has to remind her (a LOT) to chew her gum with her mouth closed. We all noticed how content she was to stand out there, and chew her gum as loudly and open-mouthed as she could... so in every picture with her mouth open, that's most likely what she's doing. :)

I love that the glove is completely off now, lol.

SWING batta batta!

"Please, oh please hit it."

They won the tournament! Waiting for her award (the middle blue).

Yea champ!

Okay, I know you aren't ennamored with my niece like I am, so I'll move on. This is the gift I put together for my friends' wedding. Here's the card. (Their colors were black, white, and sage, by the way.)

And here's the jars, ready to be covered and given away! For the packaging, my little sister spotted a GREAT, cheap photo storage box (thanks Katie!), and I covered it with that ADORABLE polka dot wrapping paper. I found all the right candies, so that worked out perfectly. (In case you don't remember, I etched the dates of their first kiss, proposal, and wedding on the jars, and filled them with Hershey's kisses, Ring Pops, and Reese's. So fun!)

I LOOOOOVE how it turned out!

Where Does One Begin?

Aloha! We're back on Oahu after a long trip to Indiana -- SO fun! (Indiana, not the trip.) I really can't tell you how great it was to see friends and family. I was even able to see my brother in Utah during a short layover.

I took a ton of pictures, but I don't want to post a travelogue, so I'll try to do a few shorter installments. Basically, I would just like to say that it was great to go home. When I first got there, I thought that it perhaps wasn't such a good idea to take this trip... because I wanted everything I saw! My hometown has LOTS of great, affordable places to shop for everything, and between all the stores and the beautifully maintained houses, I was really envious, and bummed about everything I didn't have. But surprisingly, as we've come home to Hawaii, it's such a relief to know that we don't have so much extra baggage; we have what we need, and that's all we need.

A good reaction to coming home was helped along by my dear, sweet husband. While I was gone, he not only painted, rearranged, organized, and cleaned (no ants in the kitchen when I came home!), but also had re-vamped our bathroom! You remember that nasty laminate floor we have? It was really bad in the bathroom, because it wasn't laid well, and you could see ants crawling in the cracks, and only imagine what was growing under your feet with all the water getting in there. My LOVERLY husband bought new laminate tiles -- MUCH more asthetically pleasing -- and laid them in the bathroom. It looks SO much better! In addition to that and the fresh coat of paint, he got new hardware. He also hung up pictures and other decorations that I just haven't gotten around to putting up. Talk about a welcome home! It was SO great to walk into that! I appreciate him so much. What a guy, huh?

Okay. I know you just want to see pictures. Thanks for humoring me and reading.

THE SIGHTS

My dad saw this and bought it for my mom on the spot. I thought it was great. :)

Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about! Give me "Wide Open Spaces" above anything else. Can't beat the green and blue of summer, with just the right breeze to keep you cool.

Another favorite sight of summer -- little league! This was at my niece's game, and I'll post more pictures of her very intense focus and concentration later... *wink*...

Our last night there, Dave and I just took off for a drive. Believe it or not, during Indiana summers, the sun doesn't set until close to 10 PM, so there's lots of light to drive by on a perfect Sunday evening. This was a house we passed -- GORGEOUS! Complete with lake, basketball court, horses, and porch. Love it.


I went on a bike ride with my little sister and came upon this sight. It made me laugh out loud as I thought, "Now why can't life's decisions be like this?" :)

More to come later. You will NOT want to miss the gift I put together for my friend... remember those glass jars I etched? And the pictures of my niece at her game are just priceless.