Home Sweet Home!

Well, I made it back home safe and sound.  I hated to leave but it sure was good to sleep in my own bed last night!  I almost slept around the clock last night!  I only slept about an 1 1/2 hours total on the plane coming home.  Sonny picked me up at the airport and we went to breakfast.  After a quick stop at the grocery store, I unpacked and took a nap for a couple of hours.  That helped me to stay awake until about 10 pm when I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer!  I showered and went to bed about 10:30 and woke up at 9:30 this morning.  Surprisingly, it didn't take me long for my body to adjust to the time difference when I was in Hawaii.  Let's see if the same is true for being back home.  I'll be getting ready for the Quarterly that Debbie, Marianne and I are hosting next week.  I did all my swaps before I left so just need to concentrate on getting everything ready.

I downloaded my photos to my computer this morning so I have a few more to share.  Ashley and I went snorkeling and kayaking last week.  I didn't do so good with the snorkeling.  I have done it before and really enjoyed it but the water and currents were too rough due to the tropical storms.  I ended up losing my snorkel tube when the waves knocked me down.  Ashley was able to get out further and had a good time looking at the turtles and fish.  The kayaking turned out much better.  We rented the kayak for two hours because we thought it would take us an hour to figure it out but it didn't.  We ended up kayaking for about an hour until my back was killing me from sitting in the seat with no support.  We thought our arms would be sore from paddling but they weren't.  This time, I didn't lose any of the equipment but Ashley broke one of the oars!  We were bringing the kayak in and trying to ride the waves in until a big one knocked the kayak over and dumped both of us in the water snapping her oar in half!  It was a lot of fun!  We are going to try and get Sonny to join us in December.

I'm going to miss seeing these beauties everywhere!

I didn't do it this time!

Ashley on our kayak

This is where the kiss scene of From Here to Eternity was filmed.

This is a blow hole - water comes up through a hole in the rock in the middle

Our snorkeling day - when I gave up!

What will $6 Million get you?

I just have to share this house with you!  For the two Sundays that I have been here, Ashley and I have gone to Open Houses for places that are on the market.  We are just being "looky-loos" but we also thought we could get some decorating tips from some of them.  The first Sunday we went to a lot of the properties that she had looked at so she could show me what she was seeing and how you don't get much for your money here!  Last Sunday, we decided to limit ourselves to million dollar homes!  A gal can dream can't she!  Well, some of them, believe me, you wouldn't pay half that for!  This house below is one of them.  It is for sale for $6.9 MILLION!!  It is on the beach although you can't see the beach unless you are standing on the roof because the sand dune is in front.  It was built in 1934 and I don't think anything has been done to it since then!  The selling point is that it is right next to Kailua Beach.  I would think you would just tear it down and build something in it's place but the realtor said because of permits, the smart thing to do would be to build on top of the house and let the house be the garage.  Remember - you have already spent almost $7 million - how much more are you willing to spend?

The "front door" is just to the right.

View of the back yard - the ocean is back there over the dirt.

This is your front entrance!

Master Bedroom!

The bedroom closet!

Great Kitchen, don't you think?  HA!

Lovely shower!

Can you just imagine living there????  Beach or no beach - not me!  If you want to go online and look at the pictures or put an offer in, go to www.cliffshafer.hawaiimoves.com, MLS #201620001.  They definitely had a good camera and did some powerful staging to make it look as good as they did.  Except for that old bed in the picture above, there was no furniture in it on Sunday.

Ashley's condo is much better!!  Not even close to $6 million but much better!

Ashley on the lanai - both her bedroom and the den have sliding glass doors to the lanai.

backyard tropical plants

backyard - not much grass to mow - think she is going to put concrete steppers down.

Her bedroom - it is upstairs with a bath and there are 2 more bedrooms, bath and laundry room downstairs.

More from Hawaii

I'm still loving Hawaii!  Last week was pretty humid until about Thursday when the trade winds started blowing that humidity away.  Ashley and I did a little bit of packing along with a fair amount of sight seeing and beach time. 

This week's forecast is not good.  Tropical Story Madeline is headed this way on Wednesday (coinciding with Pres. Obama's visit on that day) and over Labor Day weekend, they are expecting Tropical Cyclone Lester.  So, doesn't look like there will be a lot of beach time in the next week.

Thought I'd share some random pictures I took last week.



This is Ashley's dining room / living room and out the sliding doors to the lanai.  I am standing at the front door taking the snapshot

We stopped off at the Macadamia Store to try a few samples!!

This was a cool rock formation we found while driving to the North Shore.

Every meal you get here has rice - even as a side at breakfast.  We stopped at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck on the North Shore and it was yummy!

Another yummy stop - Matsumoto's Shave Ice!!

Saturday morning - AFTER I weighed in at Weight Watchers, we went to Cinnamon's Restaurant.  One of Ashley's friends had told her we needed to go.  It was so good!  By the way, we shared this!!

Not sure what this flower is but it's pretty.

This is called  "shower tree"

This is my favorite!  It's a plumeria tree and the flowers are beautiful!

YUCK!  This was in Ashley's suitcase!!  Think he made the trip from Texas to Hawaii?  Hope he has found a new home outside! We believe it is a centipede.
 

My Hawaii Vaca!

I'm having so much fun here that I forgot I had a blog!!  Thought I would share some pictures of my visit.  I arrived a week ago and Ashley greeted me at the airport with a beautiful plumeria (my fav flower) lei.  Only thing is we forgot to take a picture!  Since I arrived mid afternoon (which was actually about 9 pm NC time), we headed over to Ashley's empty condo.  She had closed on it the week before and had been sleeping on an air mattress for a couple of days.  I was at first surprised at how small it was (for the $$.)  But after being here a while, think it is a great size for her (if we can figure out where to put all her stuff!)  After catching up a bit, we headed to Kailua (the next town over) to eat dinner and I had my first mai tai!  The waitress told me they were so strong they would only serve me 3.  I told her not to worry - after flying for 12 hours and knowing I was sleeping on an air mattress that night, one would be fine!  After dinner, we walked across the street to the beach.  It was a beautiful sight!

 

When we got back to the condo, we saw our first rainbow of the trip.  The view above is taken from her lanai.

 

I actually ended up staying awake until about 8 or 9:00 (2-3 am for NC).  It was not a great night though!  Ashley had put air in the mattress earlier.  Well, when I was ready to go to bed, most of the air was gone and by the end of the night ALL the air was gone.  She had hardwood floors so we were basically sleeping on the hard floor!  Not good for these old bones!  Guess there was a leak somewhere.  Ashley really felt bad about it but it was a good thing I was super tired!  We were up really early the next morning waiting for the movers who didn't arrive until almost 1 pm!!  But what a beautiful view to awaken to (below).  Every morning the clouds sit in the mountains and you can watch them rise while sitting on the lanai having breakfast.  This is another view from the lanai with a coconut tree just outside and further to the right a plumeria tree.

 

Then the fun started!  These are the steps going down to her condo (on the left).  The movers were here until after 6 pm and I know they were glad when they were done!

We had the unpack the kitchen.  Of course all they did was put things on the counter.  Ashley had to work on Wednesday so I spent the whole day in the kitchen getting it in some kind of order.

We've made a lot of progress.  We have all the boxes unpacked and now need the movers to come get them out of our way.   I spent Saturday unpacking her craft supplies and setting up her "craft closet."

We went out yesterday and bought a desk for her so that is next on my "to do" list.  The hardest part is finding a new home for all the decorative items. 

But it hasn't been all work and no fun.  We went to the North Shore one day last week and have gone out to eat several times.  We took a trip one day last week to Costco and the PX which were closer to Waikiki.  Yesterday I went to work with Ashley since she only had a morning meeting.  Our plan was to either go on a hike to Diamond Head or snorkeling but the weather did not cooperate.  It was overcast and raining off and on all day and boy, was the humidity getting to me!  So we ended up going to Waikiki and eating lunch at a restaurant close to the beach and walking through the shops and on the boardwalk before going furniture shopping.

Well, I better get back to work!!  I'll post more pictures later!!

Paradise Found for MDS Monday

I had fun doing my page this week for MDS Monday!  The theme was to follow the sketch (below) and make it PLAYFUL and COLORFUL!  Well, if you know anything about me, you know I love color!  I am not one that wears dull clothes .... or if I do have on black, I usually have a pop of color somewhere!  I like bright colors and my wardrobe and my cards are a testament to this!

I decided that the pictures that would look the best with the challenge would be my Hawaii pictures.  I visited Hawaii in 2005 (I think) and 2008 with Ashley.  Well, finding those pictures turned out to be a challenge since back then, I printed most of my pictures from my camera.  But, I forgot I had saved them on Shutterfly so I was able to access them.  If you have never been to Hawaii, you have missed a beautiful place.  The flowers there are the most gorgeous I have seen.

This page was so easy to do.  I used a pre-made template and just dropped the pictures in.  The background is from the download kit called Paradise Found and I just recolored it to Turquoise.  With all the beautiful pictures on the page, I didn't think embellishments were really needed.  I added the flower behind the text and the Hawaiian girl (from the same kit).  The title (Hawaii) is actually a punch called Smitten Alphabet that I love.  I use it a lot.

SKETCH

The first time we went, Ashley had just had eye surgery but she thought she was "good to go."  Well, the day after we were there, she had problems with one eye so we had to go to the Army hospital to get her taken care of.  A few days later when we went to Maui, she had problems with the other eye so we had to find an eye doctor in town.  She ended up wearing dark glasses during the whole trip!  So, it is pretty easy to tell which pictures are from the first trip and which are from the second!!

 Here are a few pictures from the trips.

If you watch Hawaii 5-0, this building is their headquarters and is seen in most episodes.

Ashley enjoying a fruity drink - 2008

Ashley & I at the luau.  It was dark so no glasses!

USS Arizona Memorial

Ashley reading the names at the Pearl Harbor Memorial (USS Arizona)

USS Arizona

sunset

Ready for the luau!

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms

Happy Mother's Day to you and you and you. Today is a day to celebrate Mom's. It should be a day for Mom's to relax and enjoy their families. My plans for today are not much different from other Sundays since my children are far away. My husband and I will take my brother in law to the airport, probably stopping for lunch before we put him on the plane (Cheeseburger in Paradise is our planned destination hoping to avoid a crowd.) Then we will go to my Mom's house where one of my sisters is planning a spaghetti dinner for us all. So, at least I won't have to cook!! I waited this morning for my hubbie to fix me breakfast but finally gave up and made myself some toast. I should know better - he's always told me I'm not his mother. And after 35 years of marriage, it's too late to change him now. My daughter will be calling me later and I am hoping to also hear from my son. I just spent a week with my daughter in Hawaii and she bought me a gorgeous bracelet for Mother's Day to match the earrings and necklace that I hadbought at the International Marketplace in Waikiki. It's a silver version of the beautiful plumeria flower that is my favorite!

So .... here's to you Mom - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!