We figured heading to Iceland this year was a good idea. Cause, I mean, really ... can that ever be a bad idea? I didn't think so.
You can see more cool photos of Iceland here.
Kismet
On the way to work today, my carpoolmate and I talked about surfing for a good chunk of the ride. Coincidence in light of the photo I shared yesterday? I think not. I choose to believe it's a sign. A sign that it's time to move to the coast ... just as soon as Ty is done with school and I convince him San Diego is far superior to Portland.
When we move to Hawaii
We we move our little family to Hawaii (or San Diego...whatev, I'm easy), this will be me and Hank.
Lunch
In other good news, check out my new white Goodbyn! I have a dark grey one I was using, but I bought a second one so I could pack both Ty and I's lunches in them and save having to wash the billions of tupperware pieces I would send us with. Booyah!
Weekend in review
1. Tinfoil dinners in the mountains behind our house (Hank came too).
2. I had my very first motocycle riding lesson (no stalls! booyah! My baby is an amazing teacher)
3. Planted the garden with my lovely friend, Gules (radishes, beets, purple carrots, orange carrots, broccoli, swiss chard, white eggplant, purple eggplant, lemon cucumber, regular cucumber, butternut squash, zucchini squash, cantaloupe, 8 tomato varieties, 6 pepper varieties, a sweet potato, and string beans.)
4. Picked up a killer old-man desk chair for $3 at a garage sale (I swear my dad has this very same chair when I was little).
5. Took the motorcycle down (I was on the back -- Ty was driving) to a little town south of Provo and saw Salmon FIshing in The Yemen; and also discovered that I look like an alien when I have my motorcycle helmet on (sorry for no picture on this one).
It was a nice summery weekend. Relaxing and still productive -- my favorite combination.
Bed head.
I had a hard time parting with my bed head this morning (see photo on left of my perfectly messy, fantastic top knot). There are some mornings I am just convinced that my bed head looks far better than anything my conscious self could do with my hair. And today was one of those mornings. "Of course this is classy enough for work," I tried to convince myself. But my professional self knew better. I ended up settling with taking a picture of it instead before hopping in the shower. The photo on the right shows what I ended up going to work like instead. Fine. That works too.
Mahalo, Hawaii
If you have ever been to Hawaii, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about when I describe it as completely enchanting; 80-degrees, sunny days, beaches almost constantly within a stone's throw, friendly people, road-side fruit stands, fresh fish tacos, oodles of lush jungle to explore (essentially snake-free! did you know that?) and all the shaved ice you could want. I'm seriously hooked. Really really looking forward to going back.
We were sure to mix in a balanced amount of touristy vs. outdoorsy things into our trip, and I thought we did pretty freaking AOK. So, if you need an agenda for a stay on Oahu, here was ours:
- Polynesian Cultural Center (touristy and good -- the Samoa presentation is the best)
- Pearl Harbor (touristy and great)
- Honolulu & Waikiki beach -- dinner at Dukes with Hula pie as dessert (all touristy and good)
- Dole plantation (touristy, and I would recommend skipping the train tour and opting for the walking tour)
- Laie Temple (beautiful)
- Malasadas for breakfast (yes)
- Shrimp trucks for lunch (oh heck yes)
- Fish tacos for dinner (don't even get me started)
- Waimea Bay with rock jumping (the best beach on the island for sure)
- Pali lookout (such a lovely lookout, and no hiking involved!)
- Diamond Head hike/lookout (such a lovely lookout, and hiking involved!)
- Muanawili Falls hike with cliff jumping (a well-worn dirt trail with a waterfall and a 37-foot cliff jump at the end. Takes about 40 minutes each way)
- Sandy beach (nice for swimming)
- Shark's cove (really great snorkeling, and I even found a puka-shell anklet on the bottom of the ocean)
- Matsumoto's shave ice (of course)
- Waialua Bakery in Haleiwa (family run sandwich and smoothie shop that grows it's own produce to serve in the restaurant)
Breakfast.
Trying decide what to eat for breakfast, I opened the pantry and decided I needed to eat at least three bowls of cereal to get in all the choices I thought sounded tasty. I only made it to 2 before my body told me we were finished, but I think it's the effort that counts.
BOWL #1 -- PEANUT BUTTER CAPTAIN CRUNCH. BOWL #2 -- COOKIE CRISP
Covet no more
It's been a while, but do you remember this little covetous post here? Well, I have great news. I have given up my covetous ways because a few nights ago, after taking Hank out for a walk, I walked in on my husband sitting at the kitchen table finishing the jewelry he had started a year ago! I know! What a great thing to come home to, right? So, I am now the proud owner of two amazing hand-made necklaces from my sweet husband. It goes without saying that I will cherish them always and wear them proudly. I'm looking forward to donning one of them on our 50th wedding anniversary.
Puppies at work are a great idea
Working from home
One of the best perks (believe me, there are many) about my new job is that I work from home 2 days a week. As a designer, being in the office is important of course. But being in the office everyday? Not as much. Thank goodness my employer feels the same way. Among the perk of getting to work in my pajamas, I also get to sleep in an extra 30 minutes since I don't have to drive into the office. The couch is my workspace (the couch, people). I have very little distractions. And I get a nice view of the mountains all day long (but, honesty in place, I do have a pretty great window set up at work -- I will need to share in photo form). I have journaled my day for you in the photos above.
1. MY WORK UNIFORM: YOGA PANTS, UGG SLIPPERS (THANK YOU FOR THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT, TY), AND MY HUSBAND'S GREY WOOL SWEATER.
2. MY VIEW FROM THE COUCH INSIDE.
3. MY VIEW FROM THE COUCH LOOKING OUTSIDE.
4. THE COMPANY I KEEP (TY AND I PLAN TO ADD THIS TO THE COMPANY I KEEP ON MY DAYS AT HOME VERY SOON).
Yay winter!
I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I am really really glad winter has finally decided to show it's face around here. And while it might be sunny and clear today, this is what my world looked like yesterday and that makes me feel good inside.
Thailand & Gratitude
Today I am swooningly jealous over this woman's trip to Thailand. The temples. The food. The cooking classes. The beaches. It all looks so amazing it has me craving a trip of my own. One thing the author mentions in her trip log is how grateful she is to have been able to spend two straight weeks with her husband; in fact, she sites it as her favorite part about the trip. And it got me thinking about just how fortunate Ty and I really are. I see my husband all the time. We work a total of 3 miles apart so we carpool daily. We spend our evenings together. We go out at least once a week. And I absolutely love it. I mean, he's my best friend; what's not to love about spending all my time with him? And her little expression of gratitude made me remember just how grateful I am that, despite busy schedules, my husband and I still get to spend a good part of every single day together. So blessed.
New Years hiking
Ty (mistakenly) thought he had to work January 2nd, so Kates and I decided to take us a little hike to ring in the new year. I personally was hoping to do a bit of snowshoeing in the New Year, but strangely Utah has been as dry as a bone this winter; barely any snow anywhere (so weird and sad and weird). So, after arranging our hike the night before, Katy and I showed up in normal hiking gear and rung in the new year with a nice little treat of a 2-hour hike, which, at Big Springs is more like a slightly inclined walk in the mountains. But, I tell you what, I definitely do love me some mountainous inclined walking, so it was a great time to be had.
Arriving at the trail head at 11am meant the canyon woke up and warmed up around us as we hiked, and it was so so lovely. Ice formations around the springs and tiny ice crystals on bridges frosted the wintery canyon we enjoyed all the morning, and not even the trail turning to ice halfway in deterred us and our enjoyment.
YOU CAN SEE PHOTOS OF OUR SAME ADVENTURE TAKEN VIA SNOWSHOES TWO YEARS EARLIER HERE.
Tree leftovers
Tuesday night Ty and I hauled our massive tree down the stairs and out to the street for the garbage man to pick up the following morning. Upon returning, however, we found that a fair amount of the tree decided it didn't want to leave the house yet. In fact, it decided to stew itself about so as to occupy as much of the condo floor as possible. Rude. The defiant tree pieces were no match for my broom and dustpan, thankfully, but I still have need to vacuum the stairs (which has obviously taken quite some motivating as it's still not done.) I'm thinking it may take a few more days of self motivation to get the oomph to make that happen though. I mean, let's be honest, who on earth likes to vacuum the stairs? No one...that's who. (EXCEPT FOR MAYBE MY FRIEND JESSICA. SHE SWEARS SHE HAS A SUPER VACUUM THAT MAKES THE CHORE QUITE THE DELIGHT.)
New Year's resolution
It's taken me a few days, but I've come up with my one and only new years resolution: Make more bread. I figure I'll do everything else I want to do without making a goal. I hope you all had a great New Year's celebration! I think New Year's can kind of be a flop sometimes (a real wha-wha), so hopefully yours were surprisingly delightful. This year we rang in the new year with ice hockey with some close friends in Midway! And some of our neighboring celebrators even let off suitable fireworks and asian floating lanterns. Hello 2012, glad to see you.
YOU CAN SEE MORE SHOTS FROM OUR NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATION RIGHT OVER HERE.
