missing home...

It has now been two weeks since I got back from my trip to Hawaii (hence my prolonged blogging absence) and I still can't get these things out of my head...

the view I grew up with every single day growing up...never gets old

my son beginning to appreciate the same view

H figuring out how to lick an ice cream cone for the first time!

a date with the hubby at Salt where we had the most amazing dinner: kim chee reuben sandwich, "ham and eggs" (pork belly and a space egg on mini english muffins), and a Hawaiian mud pie that had soy sauce caramel.

It was a three week trip that was still too short.  Hawaii, you will always be home.

Have a beautiful day, everyone.

home is where the heart is

It seems that everyone has a place they like to call home.  A place that is comforting, safe, peaceful.  Sometimes this "place" isn't physical and sometimes it is.  But I will be honest here.  I have missed home.

My home...or what I have kept telling myself is home...is Honolulu, Hawaii.  If you have spent any amount of time on my blog you know how much I look forward to trips back and the food and the people and my family. But I have been realizing that with a child (and theoretically more in the future), trips back to my "home" are going to become fewer and farther between.

That reality is hard for me.  And I'm not always sure why.  Or maybe I'm not sure why I still look at things this way.

Personally, I have often (and probably always) struggled with finding my identity in my Savior.  And if I am honest with myself about that reality - that I wholly and only belong to Jesus Christ - then things like physical locations seem a little silly.

But if I looked at things a little more deeply and even more honestly...maybe I would see that I miss the moments of quiet I remember having with my Lord on a beach in the morning.  Or when you are on a surfboard surrounded by an amazing ocean.  And I have struggled to find that peace and still since I have left Hawaii... and that probably has more to do with college and marriage and child and my struggle to find quiet time than anything physical...But still...

Homesickness constantly nags and I wonder if I am missing something in my current place.  A place filled with family and friends and beautiful places too.

Then I realize again.  Christ is universally my identity.  I may continue struggling with homesickness but still I am His child.  And even if it takes me some work to hear His voice again, He still speaks to me and hears me - no matter where I am.

I lift my eyes up to the hills, from whence comes my help, my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. ~Psalm 121.1-2

Hoping you all have a beautiful Hawaiian day!

back to the grind

So...I have (obviously) not posted in quite a while.  But rather than going on and on about how I have meant to blog (and obviously haven't), I thought I would just give you the reader's digest edition of my life this past month.  And there will be consecutive posts elaborating on some of the more interesting happenings. =) But it is good to be back and look forward to seeing my readers around the interwebs!

• Brother's wedding (pretty big deal and lots of pictures to follow)
• Play dates with Hito and friends
• Good food
• Beach time while in Hawaii
• Good food in Hawaii
• Spending three weeks in Hawaii (technically 20 days but let's make me feel a little better and pretend I had another day)
• Friends having babies!
• Lots of inspiration for jewelry 
• More good food...... =P
• Hito rolling all over the floor
• Also, he is eating solids really well now
• Read all three Hunger Games books (my review to follow)
• Good friends getting married
• And lots more stuff that I will share with you in posts that are coming to a computer near you!

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

wedding frenzy pt. 3

So it has been a little while since I did a wedding frenzy post mainly because I have been getting into the frenzy and have hardly had a moment to breath much less post about it but I did want to share some of the exciting things that are going on, so I am forcing myself to take a little mental and physical break and do a little post about everything that has been going on!

In the very first wedding frenzy post I did, I mentioned that I was designing invitations for my brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law's wedding but never actually showed you guys what they turned out like.  Without giving too much away (because the designs keep going throughout the whole wedding), I thought I'd give you this little peek.  =)

aren't they cute as stick people?  =)

Besides my brother's wedding, another dear, old friend of mine is getting married later in the month.  She was not able to find a veil that matched her gown so she asked if I wanted to undertake the challenge. I said yes and it has been a journey.  =P  But it has been a great task and I am working on the final project now but I thought I'd show you some of my practicing.  Did you know sewing on large beads to a porous fabric can be tricky?!  =P  But the earrings are coming out great that I am doing for her bridesmaids.  You'll get a post on that later.  =)

these look almost nothing like the final flower that we decided on but I figured the more I practiced, the better.

And now we are 18 days away from my brother's wedding, 11 days away from my flight back to Hawaii, and 10 days to finish up all my projects that I am still working on for them!  So I better get back to work!

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

its still all about the little things

I thought I'd link up today as a celebration of my attempts at getting back into regular blogging!  For those of you who didn't know, right after Christmas I got to go back to Hawaii for 10 glorious days of warmth, humidity, and people I haven't seen in a long time.  So this post is going back from the past two weeks but  I have to share some of these sweet moments that I've had and have been enjoying and remembering and reliving.

1) Hawaii

And the camera isn't really doing anything to how blue the sky was this day.  This is the view from my parents deck...it was lovely.

 2) Baby

Grandma got him a super cool Hawaii shirt!

Let's just say that Grandma and Aunty Judy had a lot of fun shopping before we came to visit.  This hat was also among the things waiting for us when we got there.  =)

 3) Friends

Me and Hannah (one of my oldest friends) and our babies who are just over a month apart.  Mommies were ready for the picture....babies don't seem to care.  =)

and I got to meet the beautiful Lindsay in person!!!  if you didn't know, she's the gal who hosts this link-up party every week! go and say hi! aisletoaloha.blogspot.com

It has been amazing...Hawaii, friends, wonderful conversations...life is good, God is gracious, and you will be hearing more from me soon.  =)

Have a beautiful day!

3rd Deal til Christmas

It is the Christmas Eve Eve!  Is everyone else excited?!  I am very excited because in my family, we always open presents on Christmas Eve and then do stockings on Christmas morning.  So it will be really great to have another holiday in Hawaii with my family.  And this is what our Christmases look like.  =)  Santa and Mrs. Claus let their hair down, kick off their shoes, and enjoy the mild Hawaiian holiday!  My family and I plan on going down their ourselves and I'll put up my own pictures as soon as I get a chance.

hawaiimagazine.com

Before I get to the Deal til Christmas today, I wanted to remind people that you can still get a free gift with purchase of any pair of Michelle Earrings in my shop currently.  I still want to try helping Michelle out this holiday season so please consider purchasing something for her and yourself!

That does bring me to today's Deal til Christmas which is: 25% off of Michelle Earrings in my shop.  With this sale, I will still donate $10 directly to Michelle.  If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email (snsandsnsibility{at}gmail.com) or send me a message through Etsy!

Have a beautiful day!

5th Deal til Christmas

So I have made it home!  Ironically, there is just as much rain here in Hawaii right now as it was in Southern California before I left.  =)  But it is also a little interesting because I usually blog in the morning but now that I am another two hours behind the West Coast, you all are probably reading this really late in the day.  =)  But I will try my best to adjust either my posting or my deals for your benefit.  =)

Today's Deal til Christmas is 25% off of Nancy Earrings for Brides and Bridesmaids.  This particular style can be customized in different colors so let me know if you have a particular request.  But I got such a positive response to the necklaces, here is a chance for you to get the earrings that go with it!

Have a beautiful day!  And I will updating more about general goings on from my island home! =)

6th Deal til Christmas

So I am currently writing this post while sitting in an airplane! Today is the day I fly back to my beloved Hawaii with my hubby to spend the holidays with my fam! I can't say I'm real with it because I had to get up at 5am to get to the airport on time. :p but I am excited and ready to sleep through as much of the flight as possible!

Because I am in transit, the deal from yesterday is continuing today! You can still get 20% off the entire Sense and Sensibility store by using coupon code "sensiblesale20" at checkout. 

But one of my surprises this week is the post that Ilene from Much Love, Illy did for me today! It has been a joy getting to know her so go and check out her blog! The link is in my Reading Pleasure section to your right.

Well, have a beautiful day, everyone! I will see you once I land! :)

A Very Happy Friday

I have another little tidbit of news that I have not been able to share with my reader friends yet and that is - I AM HOME IN HAWAII!!!

As you may or may not have known, I was born and raised in the beautiful 50th state of the USofA and am home for a flying trip.  But it is a truly beautiful day here so rather than me talking, I am just going to show you what my island home looks like.  I draw so much of my inspiration from here and am so glad for a little break and chance to see everything again here.