White Light

see birds...sea birds

CRAFTY GOODNESS

C'mon now! I am feeling slightly rejected here...I have TWO places left for my craft give away. Trust me, I will try my best to make it something nice. Hurry now, sign up!

Pay it Forward...

Pay it Forward! The Crafty Way

Chroniclerhas had a post up for several days inviting us all to participate in a new crafting exchange! I signed up at her site and now you can sign up here, or follow the crafty trail if I've already got three.

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange.

I don't know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week... LOL... but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise!

The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

What you do: Leave a comment here. The first three to say they are participating in paying it forward I'll send a gift to. Then you go to your blog and have three friends sign up to participate.

Everyone ends up with cool gifts in exchange for their three they send out! Fun ensues for all! Come on you know you want to!

EDITED: Hey! Don't let that comment counter fool ya! There are TWO more spots available, c'mon, sign up, I'm feeling rejected here!

tagged

Lolly has tagged me with this new meme! So here we go...more gory details about S'mee:

My roommate and I once: flew to Canada to celebrate...oh wait, I never had a roommate. I got married to Thor the November after I graduated high school, so I guess you could say he was my roommate after that and well heck, we did everything together!!!


Never in my life have I: smoked anything.


High school was : necessary, but not much fun.


When I’m nervous : I get sick and want to (and often actually) "ralph", "toss my cookies", "recycle", you get the idea.


My hair : Is never too short to put in a ponytail, which is my "signature style" lol. It's a very pretty shade of very dark brown, auburn highlights in the bright sun, and more and more gray, which is fine by me. It used to be so straight it wouldn't hold a perm, now the grey is coming in kind of frizzy...weird.


When I was 5 : I took one of my best school pictures. Missing teeth and my hair completely messed up, but the cutest little smile...and my favorite necklace at the time.


When I turn my head left : I see my grampa's ukulele.


I should be : tall and thin with cocoa brown skin and a voice like katie lang, but alas, no.


By this time next year : I will have my art room again and hopefully filled with completed paintings, painted furniture pieces, and new sewing projects.


My favorite aunt is : actually Thor's Aunt Marlene who recently passed away. She was totally upbeat, smart, a hard worker, motivated, ambitious, positive, and completely hilarious...(because all my parents are only children. No aunts, uncles, or cousins.)


I have a hard time understanding : Blanket prejudice. And math. And how come English words are spelled like they are. And "reality" t.v.


You know I like you if : I take you with me when I want to have fun.


My ideal breakfast is : served overlooking a beach. If you can't manage that, how about warm fresh beignets with cold vanilla bean cream sauce and chocolate hazelnut dip? Add a few apple sausage links, some fresh fruit (orange, banana, cantaloupe, berries -no strawberries please), and a cup of real hot chocolate and I'll be in heaven.


If you visit my home town : bring your sandals and some sunscreen. If you come to where I live now, bring a fan and a good sense of humour.


If you spend the night at my house : you will probably dance, eat, talk too much, laugh and stay up too late, then sleep on the couch.


My favorite blonde is : 9N Coastal Dune, Natural Instincts, Clarol


My favorite brunette is : 28B Roasted Chestnut, Dark Warm Brown, Natural Instincts, Clarol


The animal I would like to see flying besides birds : I really can't imagine any other animal I want flying over my head and perhaps doing all that birds doo up there. yikes.


I shouldn't have been : so insecure when I was younger.


Last night I: worked on things for a friend's baby shower; gnomes, faery tale games, etc.


A better name for me would be : contradiction


I’ve been told I look like : Valerie Bertinelli, by a blind man who loves me. In my very young days one could s-t-r-e-t-c-h their imagination and see that, perhaps, but now? Not so much.


If I could have any car, it would be: one with insurance, maintenance, and fuel paid for already. I think I'd like one approved by Ed Begley.

o.k. that was fun. I'd like to tagged the usual suspects, you know who you are, let me know if you participate!

snorkle, snorkle, snorkle

around the island in a day...

"pull over babe..."

We were wandering around, killing time until we had to turn in the car and head to the airport. We had done all we wanted to do, bought gifts for the folks back home and so Thor says: "Pull over babe, let's watch the surfers."

We drove until we could find a spot to park and as we pulled up to the curb we could see turtles from the car!

We walked out got a few shots and then we saw they were literally everywhere. So cool! We got really lucky. Wahoo!

Carlton's Log, lava lava every where

So yeah, there's a lot of lava on the Big Island, lots of lava. You notice it from the air when you arrive in the plane, and well when you land it's all around you. You also notice the lack of green. "Hey, this is an island! Where's the jungle?" Hawaii has a little bit of everything for the discerning tourist, white rock graffiti, a jungle in the east, a desert in the west, tacky tourist towns in the south, rain forests inland and in the north, and even snow capped mountains that used to blow up and spew volcanic rock everywhere. Lava has taken it's share of the landscape.

This year we are told via signs pretty much everywhere and also on the local radio, that we are in a drought. A serious drought; and that the risk of wild fires are looming. We drove yesterday through a valley that had been literally consumed sometime recently. Everything had been charred down to the nub. Nothing left for miles and miles except ....lava.

Lava covered pretty much the entire island and just sat there decomposing for a zillion years and then you get either very rich soil, (coffee growers' delight and rain forest sans cafe), or you get scrub brush that is trying its' darnedest to grow up through rock that hasn't quite finished the decomposition cycle. There is desert scrub on about half the land we see here.

Rain means everything and some places on this island get deluged every day, misted on a regular basis or left to dry out literally. Our hotel brags "the sunniest beaches on the island" for a reason... they are smack in the middle of the driest part of the land. It's true the humidity here is like 90%, but that isn't enough to keep the place green. It takes "green" to keep it pretty...and that means money.

Our hotel was built by Billionaires and they had money enough to plant and keep the surrounding area green and lush. Add mother nature's constant humidity and a few dozen landscaper's to tame it all and you get pretty pictures I keep sending of the hotel.

If you look however at the photos in this set you can tell where the money flows over the lava. The folks right across the highway, the ones who make our beds each day, they live in the scrub. They are also told to "conserve what water they use and to not use too much. Be careful with fire, and make sure they take care of what they have." We tourists are free to waste whatever we want and enjoy the beauty.

Carlton's Log, day 3, quick day trip before noon

camping at Laupahoehoe Point/State Park... I would actually go camping!
Sleeping in a tent with the sound of waves to lull you to dream land and this view to wake up to!
It's actually this icy blue...seriously beautiful.
The shore line is incredible, and yes, folks live on the tops of those cliffs and a few lucky people actually live down on the very small flat land near the water.

Grass surrounds the park, then lush tropical plants, ferns and flowers, then lava rock into the waves.

Carlton's Log, day 3, gooooood mornin'!

There are rumors in the group, of "turtles that feed in the tide pools near the hotel". If one "gets up early, with the sun", one can see said turtles come on shore, have a snack, and then swim peacefully away.

No such luck for s'mee this morning; however all was not lost. I saw pretty things everywhere. The rest of the family stayed in bed and I took a quiet walk along the shore. Thor woke up in time to walk out onto the balcony and see me "taking pictures of rocks". Yeah, everybody's an art critic. Oh well.

I love the last one. You can see the morning sky reflected in the tide pool. Neato.

See you later.

Carlton's Log, day 2, part two much to see!!!

"scenic route, 4 miles long"
















along the "200" ...volcanic rock for as far as the eye can see.














This is Hawaii? Desert for as far as the eye can see.

Itty bitty pink flowers on itty bitty pink stems. the blooms are about the size of a dime.)

Evidently the "Parker Ranch" people have much influence in, near, and about Waimea...including the "whoa!" signs.

Calton's log, day 2, breathtaking

"scenic point ---->" um, yeah.
Umauma Falls.
a pink dragonfly.
a pink flower (about the size of a honeydew melon).

Akaka Falls.

Point of view... Calton's log, day 1

view reflected from the airport bathroom window.
the lobby view.

ceiling in the lobby.


on the tables in the lobby.
episcopal church down the road.

it's a tough job.....

but somebody needs to do it. Yup, being Thor's wife is delightful. We are off to another business trip, this time to the Aloha State of Hawaii. Land of rainbows, balmy evenings, incredible sunsets, palm trees to die for.

Thor has a conference that will keep him busy during the day, but you can bet we will find a few nights to sneak away from the co-workers and have a couple of dinners by ourselves. Oh, and the girls.

We feel like this may be the only opportunity we have to take the girls with us, so we have saved and planned and we are really excited to bring them along. They, of course, will be doing all kinds of snorkley-hikey-surfing-volcanic fun. I am so excited for them I can't stand it.

We are incredibly blessed. Never in my life did I ever think I would be so fortunate to see the places we have. I never thought I would be there with some of our kids! Thor has worked so hard all of his life. His job has been indescribably difficult at times. He had to sacrifice so much for the family in our younger days, and still does. His work then was so physically demanding; now it is more mental and emotionally so. He has a lot of pressure in his decisions. I know he thinks constantly about not only our family, but the families for whom he works. He prays for them, he prays he'll make the correct decisions for all the members in his stewardship. Those families are always on his mind, he never forgets how much responsibility he holds and he tries to live up to their trust. We really have been blessed with him in this particular job, and we never take it for granted.

We are both grateful to be able to attend this kind of a conference in such a beautiful place. Like I said, we never thought this was in the plans for us. We are so happy the girls can come along too!

So yeah, it's delightful being Thor's wife. Not just because of the trips to amazing places (although that is grand!) but because of who he is. I love him so much!

I will be gone for about a week or so. In the meantime, check in often to just gaze at what a beautiful world we have. I will take many photos, so watch out when I get back!

Aloha dear readers.