what i'm reading...err kinda..

i take the bus to and from work because of the insane traffic that is honolulu. i've discovered the time really flies by with my ipod, for awhile i was obsessed with podcasts, but recently i've been listening to The Help by Kathryn Stockett and i cant get enough of it! if you haven't read this i definitely recommend it, also if your like me and cheat (aka don't really read...rather leisurely listen).

xoxoxoxo

Blurb Wedding Book

happy sunday!

i finally got around to taking picture of the wedding books we ordered for our parents. when i started planning the wedding i fell in love with the idea of using our engagement pictures for our guest book. that turned out great (its on our coffee table and i love looking through it every now and then).

for our parents we decided to use the same website (blurb.com) and give them a wedding book for Christmas. they turned out AWESOME. i snapped a few shots (i apologize for the poor picture quality!). they were really inexpensive too, about $150 for both. you can see i used the black background for this book, but our engagement book was white with plenty of empty pages for guests to sign. love blurb.com and definitely recommend them!

XOXOXO,

happy veterans day :)

happy veterans day to all those who have served/are serving our great country!

ESPECIALLY to the two men i hold closest to my heart.

to dan- my favorite sailor- its an honor to be your wife and i love you with all my heart.

to my dad (a 22 year army veteran)- you'll always be my hero and the first man i ever loved.

neat fact of the day: d is a 6th generation academy graduate.

xoxoxoxo

pumpkin bread & christmas music

Im sorry to announce out first haloween as a married couple wasn’t a memorable one :/

With work & our trip we didn’t get the chance to carve a pumpkin, dress up OR hand out candy to the cute little trick or treaters :(

to compensate, i'm made yummy pumpkin bread today. DELICIOUS.

d is on duty, so i've been baking & listening to the christmas pandora station all day. we're having dinner together tonight on the ship, i'm planning on making macaroni & cheese with this new recipe. it looks too good NOT to make. can you tell i've been on a cooking/baking kick?

happy sunday everyone!

xoxoxoxo,

so true :)

found this at our favorite bakery/sandwich shop on the north shore- Waialua Bakery.

SO GOOD & this is so true.

xoxoxoxo,

i have the cutest friends ever

:)

makes me miss colorado fall weather!

xoxoxoxo,

beauty product i'm loving...

1. Boscia Luminizing Black Mask

I first heard about this from Megan on twitter. It took me 2 weeks to track down this mask (one of the joys of living on an island) but once Sephora called and told me they had a new shipment i was all over it. LOVE this mask. its hands down the best peeling mask i've ever used. i have combination skin and this mask leaves me glowing.

a few tips: keep away from your hair/eyebrows, if the mask fully dries it will grab onto your hair and hurt when you try to peel it off :( also, don't be afraid to lay it on thick- the thicker you put it on the easier it is to peel off & i think the more effective it is.

the price is a little steep at $34 for 2.8 ounces, but worth it!

xoxoxoxo,

treasured moments of the week

D & i were talking this past weekend about our favorite times of the week- things we do every week that we look forward to & have become part of our routine.

oddly enough we both said 'early saturday mornings' were a favorite, although we don't spend them together!

d: sleeps in (the saturday mornings he's off duty of course) he's up at the crack of dawn (ahem or earlier) every other day so this is his treasured sleepy man time. that is if navy isn't playing.

me: i however, am an early (freakishly early) riser.

every saturday its become a habit (that i LOVE) to go on an early morning 5-7 mile walk/run, pick up some coffee from a cafe by our house, come home & read the NYT online. all before 9am.

i LOVE getting up and out early. something about our town is so relaxing and quiet in the morning, its almost like stolen time because nobody else is out.

this was taken a few weeks ago on one of my early morning walks:

we both agree our other favorite times are the nights we make dinner, open a bottle of wine & turn on netflix :) recently we've been into dexter (dan is such a good sport he's seen every episode but he's watching them all again with me). this made us realize we're super homebodies. but i wouldn't have it any other way.

what are some of your favorite moments/rituals of your week?

xoxoxoxo,

Military Spouse Secret Santa

Attention all MilSpouses!

If you haven't signed up for the MilSpouse Secret Santa go here and do it now! Hopefully its not too late & you can still join in on the fun! Not only is it a fun lil gift exchange but also a great way to meet more military spouses/fiances/girlfriends.

I received my match on Sunday and she's so cute- I'm excited to start looking for her gifts!

xoxoxoxo

kona weekend (picture heavy)

happy monday ladies!

we're back from an amazing weekend on the island of Kona. it was my auntie's birthday and she REALLY wanted to go on the zip line near Hilo.

let me just say I'm not an adventurous/thrill seeking person. at all. i'm nervous/anxious/boring when it comes to danger & thrill-seeking activities. i always err on the side of caution and am basically no fun ;) thus, going on this zip line was definitely out of my safe zone. however, i'm glad i did it (um but wont be doing it again- a rope hit me in the face and i thought i broke my nose. of course.) because seeing hawaii from 160 feet in the air is breathtaking.

highlights from the trip:

visiting Kona Brewing Company and tasting LOTS of great beer. I recommend their Wailua Wheat & Oceanic Organic brews.

D took this from the zip line- a little scary, yeah?

with D (is it just me or does he look a little creeped out?!)

with my auntie visiting waipio valley (which means 'curved water' in hawaiian FYI!):

sunset in kailua-kona:

so now its back to the weekly grind!

xoxoxoxo