back to the grind...

It has been a while since a normal blog post has come from this keyboard.  Many thanks to all my readers who sent very sweet notes of prayers and encouragement as you read about my grandmother passing away. Unfortunately, two weeks after posting that note, my grandfather also passed on.  It has been an emotionally charged month and I am still working out some of those details in my head and the ramifications for my life.

But I will say that I am so thankful to be striving for a normal blogging schedule again and hoping to be here more regularly.  I am excited to write and catch up on all my reading that I haven't been able to sit and do with family affairs and illnesses going on (oh, and did I mention that my whole family got the flu right after coming back from taking care of my grandfather's affairs?).

And if you haven't heard it before, I'm going to tell you again.  Don't sweat the little things.  We live in a world that has unseen events and circumstances right around the corner.  Whether they are good or bad, it is never too soon to tell someone you love that you still love them.  Again.  And again.  Enjoy.  Love.  Dream.  And enjoy.  People, places, good cups of coffee, baby kisses, and corn mazes.

1) Corn maze with my mom, sister, and cousins (currently behind the camera)
2) Grandma and Hito walking around the pumpkin patch
3) And a moment of mom and kiddo just enjoying...

Have a beautiful day.

quietness

This summer has been busy.  Between church events, family, friends visiting from out of town, and the constant requirements of maintaining a relatively clean/organized house, I have been staying quite occupied.  It has not left a lot of time for...a lot of things.

Now, I like being busy.  I like having places to go, people to see.  But in the last two weeks, I have come to realize something else.  There is a lot of value in quietness, being alone.

One of my biggest tasks in the last three weeks has been getting up to speed on two classes I will be teaching for high school seniors starting in two weeks.  I am very excited to be doing teaching and am loving reviewing material and being creative as I work on getting these high schoolers ready for college.  In my preparation, the hubby has been unspeakably helpful to take care of the kiddo (who is getting very talkative and more and more mobile) so that I can go grab a coffee and focus my brain power on what British literature I want these kids to read during the course of the year.  =)

As I have been working on my classes, it has also turned into blog reading time.  And then prayer and journaling time.  We serve an amazing God...He uses technology to connect people around the world who might otherwise never have had the ability to keep know each other or keep in touch.

But in the course of my blog reading, I have come across people that I "know" who are struggling with some very real problems right now.  Two bloggers I regularly follow have babies in NICU.  Others are dealing with recovering from illness or difficult pregnancies/deliveries.  People I know in my area are dealing with incapacitating pain from a variety of sources.  Both the hubby and myself have grandparents who have been in and out of hospitals for the last three months.

Life is short.  And precious.  And all in God's hands.

I realize that there is little I can do in a very physical sense to help these people.  There are doctors who are qualified to do much more for these people.  But there is something of value that I have been trying to do more often.

Pray.

My heart is wretched by all these stories and situations.  I want to be able to hold hands, hug, or make dinners for people.  But I'm not always able to do that.  So I take the most immediate and helpful thing I can do and do it with all my heart - pray.

via Pinterest & here

I know we serve a powerful and listening God.  He can see each of these people and has them in his hands.  What more can I ask for?  The Creator of the world is making sure that each person is given strength in measure for the difficulties in front of them.

That is comfort.

Have a beautiful day and stop to notice - it really is beautiful.

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!

happy birthdays and a happy friday!

It is already November!!!  Yikes!  How did we get here sooooo fast?!  It seems like I just found out I was pregnant and now I have a seven week old baby!  It seems like I was just dealing with last winter and here it is starting to rain and get cold again in Cali!  (Dear God, I will try my best not to complain about the heat next summer.)  =)  It seems like I was just doing this last year and here we are, another twelve months have passed!

And that being said, I am giving a birthday shout out to two of my favoritest bloggers and dear friends that I have come to know through the blogosphere.  There are an abundance of wonderful people out there but I think these ladies are two of the greatest!  Sandy has a great blog full of fashion, food, and she is expecting her first baby soon!!  (so excited for you, Sandy!)  Ms. Megan has an adorable blog with movie reviews, her fav books, and she has two Etsy shops for beautiful cards and adorable little embroidered hoops!

Her birthday was on the first so this is a little bit of a belated shout out!  Happy belated birthday, Sandy!!!

Megan's birthday is tomorrow so swing by her blog and leave some love!

And then my family has kindly reminded me that my birthday is coming up on Sunday.  And I thought this is a great time to have a little sale in the Etsy shop.  

So check it out and get 15% off your entire order with coupon code "happybdayeveryone" from today through Sunday (11/6)!  I added several new items this past week and will probably be adding more this weekend so check it out and pass on the word!  

Have a beautiful day and weekend!

temperatures are falling and I'm freezing!!!

It is that time of year when this born and bred Hawaii girl starts unpacking.  Unpacking the boxes of sweaters that have barely gotten put away before they are needed again.  Sound a little crazy since I live in Southern California where the weather rarely gets below 40 or 50 degrees on the coldest days or nights?  Yeah.  It is pretty crazy.  My first year of college here, I was the laughing stock of the campus because 1) I went to a small school and 2) I wore about three thick layers of clothes every day the weather got any where under 70 degrees.  =P

I've gotten a little better...a little.  =)  I have acquired some fantastic layer-able sweaters/tees/dresses but I am (still) always looking for something else to layer with.  One of my favorite accessories are scarves.  I can't help myself.  I really do love scarves and how it keeps me warm, accessorizes, and covers parts of my body I may sometimes be less than secure about (usually I wear scarves for the warmth factor but once in a while I have a bad day and use it as a cop out for my insecurities).

a lovely scarf from this shop

I am also in love with open cardigans.  Partially because it is easy to breastfeed while wearing and also because they are just easy to layer and accessorize.  If you don't own one, you are missing out!  I'm thinking I need another one of these beauties from Target.  I already own one... =P

the color isn't quite right in the picture but it is the loveliest pumpkin orange in person

What do you like to wear as the weather gets cooler (or rainier if you live in Hawaii)?

4th Deal til Christmas

I know not everyone has the ability to just hop on a plane, visit family, and come to Hawaii to go shopping but believe me, if you could, it is totally worth it!  I grew up in a small neighborhood called Kaimuki.  It used to be the center of commerce and business on south Oahu but times change and the place was not quite as busy as before.  In the last few decades, small businesses and restaurants have moved in and taken over and transformed the area.

So when I read about a new business that was supporting local and handmade artists, I had to check it out!  I had been reading about this new boutique in  some of my Hawaiian retail and handmade community forums.  And I had the wonderful opportunity to come and visit this particular shop!  Drift Boutique is "locally owned and operated featuring lots of local designers such as Machine Machine, Tiare Hawaii, Stoney Seas, La'akea Designs, and lots of cute clothes and gifts from around the world!"  And they are kidding.  I was able to meet one of the owners, Laura, and she proudly shared with me that 90% off what was in the store was locally made in Hawaii and 75% was handmade.  So I had to do some shopping and it was an awesome experience!  I love the chance to support local AND handmade artist at the same time! I am planning on going back before I fly back to California and will try and take some pictures to show all of you!

their shop is the cutest thing ever!  they named the place "drift" because one of the owners' hobby is to collect drift wood and turn it into awesome creations!

But on to today's Deal til Christmas!  We are getting so close now I can taste it!  For today only, you can get 25% off of Nani Earrings!  These simple but easy to wear earrings are great for so many different occasions!  A little black dress or a swim suit during summer will be magnificent with these!  This style is also part of the new Hawaiian inspired collection I am just debuting this week!  Check out "Me Ke Aloha" in the shop for more items and styles being added all the time!

I hope you like it and have a beautiful day!

P.S.  Head on over to moonbeamwishes and much love, illy to enter giveaways that I'm sponsoring and a little interview I've done with both girls!  And wander around their blogs while you're at it.  They are some of my creative muses - I want to be like them when I grow up!  =)