Destination Wedding: Kauai

Kudos to my younger sister for deciding on getting married in Kauai next February. Valentine's Day, of course! So for once, when our family vacation ended last week and our plane was rising high above Kauai my heart didn't sink.

{Well, it did a little!}

I reminded myself that I would be returning in 4 short months to see these two special people become husband and wife:



They are getting married here at the Waimea Plantation right under the natural arch of this banyan tree. {sigh}



I seriously cannot wait for this wedding. Despite the sour economic times a bunch of our relatives are throwing caution to the wind and flying out for this not-to-be-missed destination wedding. Even my dear Uncle Ron is flying out from Kentucky to witness the event.

So here are a few of my favorite photos from our 9-day vacation in Kauai. Since we've been to the island a handful of times we didn't feel the need to do a lot of sightseeing so we enjoyed the slippery slides at the resort, {Darren} indulged in local fare {me!} and caught up on our sleep. {Bruce}

Here's a view of the sunrise from where we were staying in Kapa'a. Of course I was awake at 4:30am since Hawaiian time is 3-hours earlier than home!



My boys snorkeling!



We were lucky enough to come across a sea turtle while snorkeling in Poipu!





My favorite part of our trip - hiking the Kalalau Trail





After a strenuous 2-mile hike in you reach Hanakapia Beach:



My mother-in-law and her grandson



The obligatory luau:



The one lookout stop we always stop at when we visit:



From our last night at the beach:

Can you say, "Vacation?"

We've waited 3 long years but it's finally here! Our first REAL vacation where we actually get to fly on a plane and go somewhere tropical. I don't consider a trip a vacation unless it entails the ocean, warm weather and sleeping somewhere other than in a tent. Although I do enjoy camping trips, a Kauai vacation ranks up there as one of my favorite vacation spots.

I meant to post this picture earlier from my 10K run a few weeks back. I love how Darren is rooting me on in this last stretch before the finish line.



Darren also turned 8 last weekend. I'm not sure when my little boy got to be not so little anymore but I am trying to treasure these last few years before the "tween" years. I don't even want to think that far ahead! So we finally succumbed to the years of asking for a Nintendo DS. We justified the purchase by acknowledging how well he is doing academically in school and that this hand-held gaming system sure would make our 5 1/2 hour flight from SF to Lihue much easier!









Yesterday Ginger & I attended a Scrap Pink! all-day crop in Oakley. It was put on by Crop Til You Drop Retreats. We scrapped from 10am - 9pm and I must say we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I brought a portable DVD player so we watched 5 movies while we scrapped. I also made this:


I call it my 10-hour labor of love. It was fun but laborious to make due to glitter issues and hand-sewing the crepe paper ruffles. But I love it!

Mission Accomplished

I finished my 10K run yesterday morning and had a blast. I ran it in 1 hour and 1 minute.

Thanks to a nearby tropical hurricane we had thunder, lightning and light rain Saturday night and Sunday morning but just before the start of the run the rain stopped and we were left with temperatures in the mid-60's...perfect for a long run!


Crazy as it sounds, I am seriously considering training for a half-marathon. Just the thought of it makes me nervous but the feeling you get from setting a goal, striving towards it and accomplishing it is such a great feeling.

Off to a barbeque with the family and then I'm heading into a busy week next week. Only 2 more weeks left of school before fall break. Yay!

Race Day - T minus 3 days!

I'll be running my first 10K (6.2 miles) on Saturday in Danville to benefit Hats Off America which provides financial support to families of fallen soldiers. I ran my last training run this morning so wish me luck on Saturday morning!

a new challenge blog and some photos

If you haven't heard, there's a new challenge blog that premiered today. It's called Point Blank Period. The Design Team is a list of who's who in the scrapbooking world so you should check it out if you haven't already. I've already snagged myself their blinkie! Rock it out, girls!

I plan to participate in their first challenge as I am planning to start working on a book of "Me" and their first challenge is me-oriented. {Check out Cocoa Daisy's forum's "daily prompt" which is what I am going to follow.}

The closest I've been to scrapping about myself was a daily journal I did in a class by Kerri Lynn. On a side note - did you see KL's Kenner Road sneak-peeks for September? Her specialty kit, "Cautionary Tale" looks like something fun to do for Halloween.

So I spent the past 4 days last weekend camping in Big Sur with a group of friends and we all had a blast! It was incredibly hot so we spent all of Saturday {literally!} in the river. The water was cold but refreshing and the kids swam, splashed and rafted 'til their hearts' content. Here are a few pics from the trip. Enjoy!




















I took Darren out of school for 2 days so the poor guy still had to do his classwork and
homework. Aren't I a good mommy?!?






















































Oh, and today's 5-mile run felt like I hadn't run in a week. Oh, wait...I think it HAS been a week!

Delight Workshop Day 5

I was able to finish these 2 pages on Friday night's crop at Scrapbook Territory. There was a great group of gals there that night so we had a lot of laughs. Besides chatting, I spent the rest of my time there getting messy. I misted, inked and sprayed a new mini-book because I loved playing with these new techniques from Vee's class.

Tim Holtz came out with a new demo video showcasing the new distress Rock Candy Stickles and clear distress crackle paint. I need to get my hands on the stickles. Love the vintage glass-feel it gives your projects! Check out the link below.



So tomorrow we are off for 5 days of camping in Big Sur at Fernwood Resort. It looks amazing. I'm just hoping the weather is nice enough so we can all enjoy the water.

Delight Workshop Day 4

OK - I'm a day behind but here's what I finished last night.

I'm halfway done with today's page but am heading out to Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley for a crop tonight. It should be a good time as Alison from Hambly will be there doing make and takes as well as the ever-spunky Suzy West from My Little Shoebox.

I'm planning on bringing all of the inks, paints and mists that I own and an entire roll of paper towel! This book is fun to make but it is definitely a very messy process!

Hmmm...now I'm wondering if I can get Bruce to bring home some rubber gloves from the lab so I don't keep adding layer after laying of ink to my fingers which are currently turquoise. :)

Enjoy the weekend! What are your plans?