aloha!

We arrived in Kauai last night, after spending the previous night in Honolulu, just off Waikiki beach. It was amazing! We stayed at a beautiful hotel called Ilikai Waikiki. We arrived in Honolulu at 3 PM (8PM Central) on Friday. Having that much daylight really messed up our system, but I think we're finally back on track. We headed out to the beach, walked along the water, found our way to the international market and had a LATE dinner (11 PM Central Time). We walked around the shops, and I am just amazed at how many people in Honolulu speak Japanese. It's so fun! C had some great conversations in Mandarin with some of the little shop owners. We had a great time, albeit short, in Honolulu. On Saturday we spent the morning at Pearl Harbor, where we took the boat out to the Arizona Memorial. We also went to the Aloha Swap Meet at the Aloha Stadium :) It was fun to take it all in; this truly is paradise. So it's Sunday morning now, and after a good nights sleep, the roosters woke us up (darn those chickens!) and we are relaxing at the house with family. It's a beautiful sunny day on Kauai, so we hope to spend some time outside today. The view from the Lanai is amazing! I didn't know if I'd have access to the computer, but turns out Jan and Ed brought their laptops ;) You can't keep me away for long! Aloha~

leavin' on a jet plane

Well, tomorrow morning we are shipping out on our big trip to Hawaii...then off to China for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing! Woot! I can't believe it's here already! Wow, time flies. We've waited a year for this trip, and it's finally happening. We've spent the past few days packing and preparing things, so I'm feeling pretty confident it won't be too stressful this evening. We leave early tomorrow morning, fly to Denver, then on to Honolulu for the night. We'll be on the island of Kauai with Chris' mom, dad, step-sister, brother-in-law, and kids, which should be SO much fun. We're going zip-lining, tubing, 4-wheeling, and hopefully we'll get a good tan doing so! We arrive in Beijing on August 4th, where we will be staying with one of Chris' good friends, his wife, and their new baby. Since we won't have access to e-mail or the internet for a while, this will be my only post until we return! Please pray for safe travel for us and our family! I can't wait to update with some amazing pictures when we return! much love to you!

i don't love what you do for me, toyota

Lately, I've been doing a lot of research on fair trade companies, and other such things, and I'm really trying to be conscious about what and most importantly WHOM I am supporting with my business. So, I've become very interested in the issues of human traffiking and sweatshop labor. I recently ran across some very disturbing news, and while a whole 10 people may read my blog, it's the only thing I have to vent the disgust I have with the allegations recently revealed about the Toyota corporation.

I know here in America, most of our goods are outsourced and it's incredibly expensive to buy locally, and to buy green, but I want to make sure that I'm not naive to the fact that these things are happening around the world, and that we DO support them by purchasing their products. Take Walmart for example...for the longest time I refused to shop at Walmart because of their practices. Now that the economy has taken a turn for the worse, I've found myself buying into the idea that I need to save money, so I should get a few things there. Now I'm feeling guilty knowing that even one cent of mine has been given to this corporation, which emphatically denies any wrongdoing. I can't sit idly by while people are overworked, underpaid, and basically abused to make goods. It hurts my heart that this happens, and I want it to stop. Most importantly though, I want to be educated about my buying habits. I want other people to be as well. I wish I could do more, and I hope to one day.

Please, read the article HERE

Learn how to shop smart by visiting this website HERE

For a SweatFree shopping guide click HERE

Link to the National Labor Committee HERE

revamped, renewed, reused, repurposed!

I need a little input. I have been planning on doing this project for 3 years now, and it's finally happened! I have refinished a hope chest (READ: old toy trunk) that my parents wanted to toss out. It had some serious problems, and I had to reinforce a few areas by pulling out some old rusty nails, but I decided to upholster the top and paint the bottom. I'm happy with the results, but they didn't exactly work out as planned. I need help deciding if I should try to achieve a crisp white on the bottom, or stick with the "shabby" finish that the paint decided to do on its own. Chris really likes it the way it is, and I think it looks cute, I just can't decide! Anyhow, I still need to replace the hardware, etc...but here are the before and afters. Feedback please!

i can't put my arms down!

Ohh, only six more months 'til I can watch that beloved movie, you know, the one with Ralphie...woot! For some reason, this quote was in my head, because my arms hurt! But actually, it's the other way around, I can't LIFT my arms. Our China trip is just two weeks away (and as a result, I needed some immunizations to stay safe in Asia.) So three shots later, and both arms are in MAJOR pain! They said the injection sites may hurt for a day or two, but the entire upper arm? So frustrating!
So I am just a debbie downer today. I can't help it, I have no motivation of any kind. I could barely manage to wash my hair in the shower, so I've been a lump most of the day. We are going camping tomorrow..we're starting off slow, only going about 20 miles from our house, but hey, gotta start somewhere....
I DID, however, find time to update my layout :) and surf the web of course...

4 thoughts on the 4th

1. I love watching fireworks, especially when they fill up the sky
2. I love having parties with friends (and Kabobs, yum!)
3. I miss my parents and family and friends
4. Happy Independence Day from Nashville!

happy july!

A patriotic hello from the ville! Here's Moe in his new star spangled bandana...he loves it! Here he's ready to go on a walk, and not really interested in posing for a picture, ohh well.
Not a whole lot going on here. We're still trying to make plans for the 4th, though I don't know what we'll actually end up doing. So far we know we are going to make kabobs...mmm...also, hopefully go to see some fireworks! I am so excited C has off Friday! Woo hoo!

Foreign Language Poll Update

An overwhelming majority of 75% (3 people, hehe) said that Spanish was the language they would most like to be fluent in. Only 5 votes were recorded for this poll, which makes it nowhere near scientific, but still lots of fun! New poll to come soon!

sew fun!

I am now a seamstress (a very basic one mind you), but a seamstress none the less. I have finally completed 4 sewing projects. As you can see, I'm quite proud of myself. I've managed to tackle 3 bandanas (2 for Moby, one minature one for Soco) and a long flowy dress to wear to Hawaii! I am so excited and incredibly motivated to make more cool things! Unfortunately, I am borrowing my neighbor and good friend Martha's machine. Thankfully, she's willing to help me! I'm really enjoying these new hobbies though. I also covered the back of my plain white bookshelf with some VERY cute contact paper. It no longer looks like a cookie-cutter shelf! I LOVE doing crafty home projects.
We finally have our new camera and I will be posting pics of all of these projects VERY soon! I'm also looking forward to getting my new luggage! I recently ordered Eagle Creek Luggage - I've heard great things about Eagle Creek and I'm REALLY excited about traveling in style (and with ease.) Here's what I decided to get:

The Eagle Creek Wheeled Underseat Tote in Tree Frog Green

The Eagle Creek Hovercraft 25" in Tree Frog Green

The coolest thing about these is that the smaller one attaches through a little pocket in the back onto the handle of the larger one, which makes them easy to tote together! I am super excited about this! I can't wait to get them in the mail!
*pics to come soon!

it's been so long

Traveling sure makes it hard to get back into the swing of things.....especially updating blogs....so here I am once again, and I'm going to try not to be so distant from now on. Nebraska was awesome. I didn't get to see everyone, but the people I did see make me so happy! I wish I could've spent another week. It's nice to be home, but I hate being so far away from friends and family! My recent purchase, and one I am SO excited about, is my new WEBCAM! I can't wait to Skype with my people! Woo hoo! Best of all, the entire thing cost $11 and since Skype is free, it'll be great! We leave for China in just under a month....27 days to be exact...and we're still finalizing hotel plans in Honolulu, and Toronto. We're going to be visiting 4 different countries in 3 weeks (albeit briefly). We'll be in the US (obviously), Japan, China, and Canada! I don't know exactly what I will look forward to when we get back, but probably the fact that we can relax for the next couple of months, until Thanksgiving when we return again to Nebraska. More updates soon!

Here is a recent picture from a stand-up comedy show at Zanies....we went to see Mike Birbiglia. Also, Em cut and colored my hair, so it's the most recent picture I have!