Monday Recipe Swap (MRS)

Bacon Cheese Dip

2 8oz cream cheese
1 cup of mayo
2 pkgs of cheese (shreaded)
1/2 cup of ritz crackers (crumbled)
bacon bits

mix cream cheese and mayo
add cheese (shreaded)
put in cassarole dish (smaller one) sprinkle with bacon bits and ritz cracker crumbs
bake for 20-30 min at 350 degrees

Fun in the Sun

crusin'

relaxing

it's a big one

making big waves

Some Sunset Photos

waikiki

sunset beach

sunset beach

rainbow

Pearl Harbor

the arizona

arizona's wall

pearl harbor

life raft

the end...

we had a fun filled day yesterday strating with hanuma bay. here we were able to snorkle and see many colorful fish. then we went to another beach and michael did some snorkling but i just relaxed on the beach. it was a quiet beach and the sun wasn't out full blast so there was a nice wind blowing. i got my relax on the beach time. then we were going to go back to hanuma bay but got side tracked by the big waves on sandy beach. here michael played in the big waves while i took pictures and watched the other people playing, surfing, and boogie boarding. then we came home went shopping at the mall and had some dinner. it was a busy and fun day.

today we are planning on hiking diamond head, checking out of our hotel, heading for the north shore to check out the waves, and leaving to go home. but first to start our day we are at michaels uncle john's house and he and his wife jennifer are making us a yummy breakfast of sweet potato waffles, hawaiian sausage, and exotic fruit. mahalo and aloha.

Three Things Thursday (on Tuesday)

first happy thanksgiving. i'm not sure if i will be able to post on thursday so i'm leaving this now.

1. every thanksgiving growing up we had big turkey dinners with my grandparents and great aunt and occasionally my aunt and her family.

2. my grandmother always makes this mandarin salad with marshmellows and coconut and she has to make a seperate batch for my dad and i because both d of us don't like coconut because of the way that it feels in our mouth.

3. one year we had thanksgiving at my aunt's house and my grandmother didn't make the yummy mac and cheese that she makes with skinny pasta and my cousin and i both were like "granny where's the mac and cheese? thanksgiving isn't thanksgiving without your mac and cheese." from that year on she never went without making mac and cheese. she promised it at christmas. (christmas too! she has to make it then too.)

the middle...

we are at the middle point of our trip and having a great time. yesterday we woke up and ate breakfast at a place called the oceanarium. it was a place that had an aquarium wall 3 stories high and we sat there next to it and had breakfast. then we got ready and headed to pearl harbor. what an amazing site. from there we headed north stopping at the dole plantation to get some pineapple whip which was somewhat like ice cream only better because it was non-dairy and micheal was able to eat it. we waliked around there some to see how the pineapples grow. we were both amazed to know how they grew because we thought they grew on trees but they grow from the ground. you learn something new every day. then we headed to the north shore. we found a spot in between sunset beach and pipeline where we relaxed and played in the water. then we watched the sunset on sunset beach and got some amazing pictures. i'll try to post them later when we get them on a cd.

today we woke up really early (5:00 a.m.) and a van picked us up to take us to the west side of the island for a dolphin excursion. we and 20 other passengers, a captain, 2 crew and a photographer went out in a speed boat rafe type thing to swim with dolphins. we were worried about how the day would pan out because it was really cloudy and rainy out. we headed out on the boat in search for the dolphins. they were not where to be found but we had a great boat ride looking for them. finally we stopped got rain coats on because captian ale said we were headed into the storm to find the dolphins. there actually wasn't much rain but we did find the dolphins. here we learned some amazing things about dolphins before jumping in with them. more to come on the dolphins later. we got our fins, mask and snorkle on and slid in the water to see the dolphins. they were never close enough to touch (we weren't allowed to though) but we could see them swimming below us. we also saw a sting ray swimming on the bottom of the ocean floor. after our dolphin swim they took us to one other place where we jumped in again and were able to see sea turtles. that was fun. there were 3 of them swimming on the ocean floor. we also got to see a baby octypus because the camera man (chuck) was holding it. and it inked which was funny. it was a busy morning so our afternoon was just eating a late lunch and resting in the hotel because it was rainy here in waikiki.

we are having exciting times and adventures. stay tuned more to come.

taking you to hawaii with us

diamond head

view from lanai

lanai

flowers of hawaii

lantern flower

pinecone looking flower

the beginning...

yesterday my husband arrived in hawaii. we are on the island of oahu. we have been so excited about this trip that it didn't seem real that we were actually on the plane going and then that we were actually over the island and about to be there. we arrived at the airport and we were greeted by michaels uncle john. it was here that we got laied. (ha ha) the flowers were fresh and beautiful and smelled so good.

so to shorten some of this post we got our rental car (a convertiable), checked into our hotel (beautiful with an ocean view), and got ready for dinner with john and jennifer at willows, which is an outside restraunt, buffett style and very yummy. after dinner we went back to the hotel and crashed.

today we were up before the sun rise so we were able to watch it. we got ready, ate some breakfast, walked waikiki, did some shopping and got ready for our surf lesson. yes surfing and it was fun. exausting but a blast. i got a little queezy from being on my stomach so long and i'm sure i consumed some of that delicious salt water but it was still fun. i may re-thing that statement tomorrow when i am to sore to get out of bed because it is a work out but i am glad that i had the experience. thank you big todd for the lesson. from there we ate some lunch and aquired some more gear such as snorkle stuff, an umbrella, and a boogie board for the rest of our week of fun. we are now about to have a yummy dinner of shrimp eoutfee with john and jennifer. this is the end to our long and busy day. we will go home for much needed rest to gear up for the full day tomorrow.

i don't think that i can put into words the beauty that is around us and we haven't even seen half of the island. hopefully i will be able to post some pictures sometime but if i can't before we leave then i will definatelly get some up when we get back.

i would be

i copied this off of another bloggers blog and thought it would be fun, thanks

Megan

If I were a month I would be: july
If I were a day of the week I would be: saturday
If I were a time of day I would be: sun set
If I were a planet I would be: saturn
If I were a sea animal I would be: dolphin
If I were a direction I would be: west because i want to stay living here
If I were a piece of furniture I would be: fluffy bed
If I were a historical figure I would be: lousia may alcott
If I were a liquid I would be: mercury (good one megan i think i'll use it too. it's dangerous but fun to play with)
If I were a stone, I would be: emerald
If I were a tree, I would be: weeping willow
If I were a bird, I would be: an eagle
If I were a flower/plant: tulip or callalily
If I were a kind of weather, I would be: tornado
If I were a musical instrument, I would be: acustic guitar
If I were an animal, I would be: lioness
If I were a color, I would be: green
If I were an emotion, I would be: joy
If I were a vegetable, I would be: carrot
If I were a sound, I would be: laughter
If I were an element, I would be: fire
If I were a car, I would be: mini couper
If I were a song, I would be: TBA still thinking
If I were a movie, I would be directed by: jerry bruckheimer (producer)
If I were a book, I would be written by: robin jones gunn
If I were a food, I would be: italian
If I were a place, I would be: TBA still thinking
If I were a material, I would be: 97% nylon, 3% lycra spandex (sherpa) it's the material of a sweater that i got for christmas last year from gap and they have then again this year. i love the 2 that i have so much that i may ask for another one this year. :)
If I were a taste, I would be: chocolate
If I were a scent, I would be: sugar cookies
If I were a word, I would be: TBA still thinking
If I were a body part I would be: eyes
If I were a facial expression I would be: smiling
If I were a subject in school I would be: government
If I were a comic book character I would be: superman
If I were a shape I would be : oval

Three Things Thursday

names:

1. if i was a boy my mom wanted to name me blaine. (i'm not sure how she would have spelled it)

2. my mom wanted to name me bethany and my dad wanted to name me nicole (after his horse) haha!

3. so they agreed to disagree and went with one of the most popular 80's names jennifer lynn.

MR. S

this is for all but definatelly for amberj since she loves it and has been asking me for the recipe since last year. enjoy.

dish: pumpkin cranberry bread

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
3 cups sugar
1 15oz. can pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1 cup cranberries

oven temp. 350
time: full loafs 60-65 min. muffins or mini loaf pan 30-35 min.

grease and flour pans.
combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in one bowl and mix.
combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and water in another bowl and beat until blended.
add pumpkin mix (wet) to dry ingredients.
stir unitl just moistened.
fold in craberries.
put in pans and bake.

Stuff Portrait Friday

just a random picture from when my husband and i went to the pumpkin patch with some friends last month. we went through the corn maze there and it was extremely muddy and slippery so we cheated and used the map. it was still fun though.

Three Things Thrusday

these are a few more of my favorite things:
1. favorite t.v. shows: definatelly gilmore girls, my husband and i were big smallville fans (go figure since i love superman) but it's gone a little down hill, alias was another great one until this season, and survivor.

2. favorite bands/music: jars of clay, caedmons call, norah jones, jason moran, jennifer knapp, michael buble', gavin degraw, jason marz, nicklecreek, fleetwood mac, switchfoot, howie day, third day, jack johnson and i have a weakness for 80's music (sad but true).

3. favorite book quotes: "our souls were one, if you must know, and never shall they be apart; with splendid dawn, your face aglow i reach for you and find my heart." (from the notebook by nicholas sparks)
"i miss you. by chance, do you still have the key to the back door of my heart? because i have yet to make a duplicate and give it to another friend." (from sisterchicks do the hula by robin jones gunn)

80's Babies

1.You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE!!!"
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and you know what "the Carlton" is.
4. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start one of your own.
6. You owned those little Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom.
8. Two words: M.C. Hammer
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock ".
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars.
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales".
12. When it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on the big screen.
15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
17. You played the game "MASH" (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House)
18. You wore Jordache or a Chic jean jacket and you were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear....need I say more.
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM" in Kindergarten.
21. You remember reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade nothing", "Sweet Valley Twins" and/or all the Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of " WAX ON ,WAX OFF"
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took Lunch Pails to school.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought Sheera and He-Man should hook up.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged friendship bracelets.
34. You have ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I? "
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were in-line skates.
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds. (Grimace cage anyone?)
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember Popples
43. "Don't worry, be happy"
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down.
46. "Miss MARY MACK MACK MACK, all dressed in BLACK BLACK BLACK."
47. You remember boom boxes vs. cd players.
48. You remember watching both "Gremlins" movies.
49. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!!"
50. You remember watching "Rainbow Bright" and"My Little Pony Tales"
51. You thought Doogie Howser was hot.
52. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
53. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool.
54. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By the Bell ", the ORIGINAL class.
55. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THRU THE HEART.
56. You just sang those words to yourself, didn't you?
57. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
58. You cut your t-shirts in half and wore it with your homemade
59. Levi shorts...(the shorter the better)
60. You remember when mullets were cool!
61. You had a mullet.
62. You still sing "We are the World"
63. You "Pegged" your pants ritually (You're still singing "Shot Through the Heart" in your head aren't you!!)
64. At one time or another, you were the proud owner of a Cabbage Patch Kid
65. Garbage Pail Kid cards anyone?
66. Your world was over if you missed "Kids Incorporated."
67. You did "the wave" with your bangs.
68. Pogs. Enough said.
69. You couldn't wait for recess so that you could "pencil fight."
70. Happiness was the "Wonderful World of Disney"on Sunday night.

Stuff Portrait Friday...something i made

here is the something that i made. i learned to knit about 7 or 8 months ago and just loved it and went crazy making things. it is super fun.

Three Things Thursday

FAVORITES:
1. my favorite movies are: cinderella, ever after, a beautiful mind, sweet home alabama, 13 going on 30, the x-men movies, spiderman movies, pirates of the caribbean, the notebook, miracle on 34th street, my fair lady.........i'm sure there are many more but you get the idea.

2. my favorite books are: clouds by robin jones gunn(well pretty much any book by her), the wimwick childrens books by max lucado, i love john grisham booksw but i think that my 2 favorite are the partner and runaway jury, the liz curtis higgs series that i wrote about 5 posts ago, and a book called twice pardoned by harold morris. i love to read so i could probably go on and on with books that i like so i will just stop here.

3. some of my favorite summer memories: going to week long summer camp with my best friend.